Wednesday, January 12, 2011

There's no place like home for the holidays│Idaho.

After opening presents in Utah that morning, we headed to Idaho, to see Scott's family.

Scott hadn't been home since we left to come to Virginia in July of 2008. He was thrilled to be able to see his parents! and to make it even more fun Scott's older brother C.J. and his family were there too.


As soon as we got there, we were all showered with gifts!


It was Christmas morning all over again!


It was so nice to see great-grandma Jensen and spend time with her.

Karen, Scott's mom, cooked a yummy dinner. We had such a great time visiting with everyone and it was fun for the kids to see their cousins. Scott and I had fun playing games with C.J, Lenell and Lanie.


One of the days we were there, we went sledding.


It was freeeeezing!!!!!


But these kids, their dad and aunt Lanie had a blast!!!


They couldn't get enough.

Seriously, they were receiving royal treatment!


I didn't go once! I know, I'm a party pooper!

All I could think about is how cold I was!

I took a few pictures and then headed with Clay, Grandma Jensen and aunt Penny, who were sitting watching in the warm, toasty car.



Lanie is the sweetest auntie. She is so good with my kids.

They LOVE her.


Braden was in heaven.


It was such a slick hill.


Braden could have spent all day and all night there. But once it got dark, it was toooo cold!


We headed to great-grandma Jensen's house to warm up and talk. Braden found this little train and played with it the whole time we were there!

It was a fun night.


Aunt Penny was there too. We love any chance we get to see her.


Penny is a super talented lady. She hand-made most of the gift she gave us for Christmas.

She sure is a sweet aunt.


Our last night there, we HAD to go see the Zohner's. Nic and Scott grew up together. I think they have known each other since they were 9 years old. He is such a fun guy and has such a zest for life! He's so much fun to be around and Natalie, his wife is just the cutest girl! We love those guys and are so glad that we got to see them, even if it was just for a couple of hours.


Then we headed to Reese and Em's. It was such a fun night! We talked and talked and wished we lived closer. We are so lucky to have such good friends.

The next day we began our drive back to the east! Man! To say that it was an adventure is just way too positive. It was a little bit of a nightmare! The weather was terrible. I was scared out of my mind!

Scott is my hero.

He really is. He is just an amazing man. He drove through it all.

...and I have to say that our children were AMAZING! They were little angels. They behaved so well and made this crazy trip not as bad!

It took us FOREVER to get to Cleveland.

We were so glad we made it alive!!! It was so fun to see Jonathan and Daija who were visiting Justin and Stacey. We were originally supposed to be part of the New Year's party they were having but instead we spent New Year's crossing the Ohio border.


We got there at 3 in the morning and were so bummed to find out that Jon and Daij were heading back to Boston that morning! At least we saw them for a few minutes!

It was fun to have all the kiddos together but so sad we had to say goodbye so soon.


We were left with plenty of entertaintment from Justin, though!!
ha ha!!!:)

We seriously LOVE these guys so much! What great friends. It makes me so sad to think that we won't be just a drive away from them any more. They are moving to Mississippi this summer.

We got to drop off some presents and see Scott's brother Ryan and his family who also live in Cleveland. I forgot to bring my camera, so no pictures. But we had a nice visit with them too.


...I know I already said this...

...but this man is seriously amazing! He pretty much did all the driving. I probably drove a total of 7 hours...that sounds like a lot, but not really, when our trip was well over 70 hours of driving!!!!.

He really is my hero.

6 comments:

granyj said...

Oh and he is one of my hero's also. I do have quite a few you know. I was so grateful when you called to let me know you were home safe. Many thanks for the time spent with me and Penny and the fun watching the children sleigh down the hill at community park I loved seeing them all have so much fun.

Justin and Stacey said...

LOVE the updates!! Oh my heck that picture of Justin is hilarious!! Hahah!! He is going to love you when I show him that. Ha! Thanks for coming to see us you guys. We are really so grateful to have such wonderful friends in our lives. Even though you only came for a day, I'm glad that you were able to spend that special time with your family and with Scott's family. Thanks again! We love you guys!

THE DOBSON'S said...

How wonderful that Scott got to go home after so long...that truly is great. I'm sure it was a very warm welcome for you all. Denisse come on...how cold could it possibly have been to not have atleast gone down once???? You remember one of the last winters we were all still single and going sledding with all the cousins. Fun times. Scott and the kids looked like they had a well deserved blast. Sunshine State doesn't quite provide us with snow...kids keep asking, "Where is the snow?"
Scott...God bless you for driving cross country twice in such a short amount of time and keeping your dear family so safe. Yes, I see Saint hood in your future...hahaha! Love you guys and miss you all!!!!

Nat said...

What a fun update! I'm so glad your trip went well, despite some crazy weather, and that you had great holidays. It was so much fun to see you! We just love you guys so much, and have great respect and admiration for you. You're beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Hope all is going well back home!

Justin said...

You are so dead!

Justin

Timber said...

Denisse,
I just loved your post. It reminded me so much of college. I loved seeing Nic and remembering how fun he wwas. I miss Em. The picture of Justin was just so funny. I am sad that I didn't know him better. And last of all Scott is amazing.
Love Timber