Happy New Year!

We're back! We were gone btw.
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and a fun New Year's Eve. Our Christmas was great, a little different since a few family members were out of State and Country! It was still great to spend time with family that was around. Christmas morning we spent with my Mom's side and had a great time hanging out, eating and then having a ginger bread house competition, I hope we make that a tradition now it was so much fun.
Joe and I took off for Oregon/Washington on Sunday. Thor was a bit nervous seeing all the bags out. He wanted to make sure we didn't forget him, so he hopped inside!

What a pathetic face, I love it.

We drove to Yreka and stayed the night at a "lovely" Motel 6, they were pet friendly YAY! Thor was served dinner in bed, he didn't like being on the floor much, it was pretty cold.

We awoke to a beautiful rainbow the next morning right outside out door.

The rest of the drive up to Vancouver we saw 5 more rainbows, they were amazing.

Thor was a pretty good traveler, he was panting the entire trip up and only stopped a few times when he was super tired and closed his eyes for a few moments then he would start back up again. Only on the drive home did we figure out that he liked to be in the back part of the car. He loved it back there and slept the entire trip home.

For New Year's Eve we went to the Skamania Lodge in Stevenson Washington with our friends Ben and Vanessa. It was the deal of the year, we were able to get a family and friends rate. We shared a room and when we checked out, our grand total was $27 each! We ate awesome pizza and played Sequence (new fav game for me now) We sat in a great room with a HUGE fireplace.

This real ginger bread house was in the lobby, it was about 4 feet tall!

Ben and Joe, and no they were not posing! haha.

We headed back to our room to countdown with Dick Clark, bless his heart.

3, 2, 1!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Vanessa and I toasted with some tasty apple cider because she is pregnant!! Joe and I are so excited for them.

The proud parents to be.

The next morning we woke up to fresh snow, it was beautiful!

This was the view from our room.

We all headed back to their house and played a game of Monopoly, I suck at it I found out. It was still fun.

The next morning we woke up to more snow!

And for all those doubting that the sun doesn't shine in the Pacific North West... Here is proof.

It did rain later that day. haha!

They also have traffic! We were heading into Portland, the boys went on an art walk to a bunch of galleries while Vanessa and I went shopping and then to The City Grill which is on the 30th floor of an office building to have some great appetizers and yummy virgin drinks. We have been there together once before but this trip we got a table by a window (very crowded place) and enjoyed the view of all the city lights below.

Can't really tell we are there in this picture, but we were!

The next morning Joe, me and Thor took off for our trip back home. We were not ready to leave our friends or the beautiful state of Washington, but it was time to go. We miss our good friends Ben and Vanessa so much and can't wait to be close to them when we make our move, we always have a great time together no matter what we do. Thanks again Ben and V for letting us stay at your house, and thank you Lady too! (their sweet dog).

Our last stop before getting home was my Aunt Sheryl's house, it was nice to see her and Toby (her dog) since we didn't get a chance to see them on Christmas. Thor and Toby had a good time playing together. Thor was only terrified part of the time =/

We had great weather driving back home. My wonderful husband drove all the way home, I think I took over for about a half hour but couldn't keep my eyes open so he ended up driving the entire way home. Thor was pretty sleepy too.

We finally arrived home and picked up our Rusty who we missed very much!! He was happy to see us too I think.