FINALLY!!!!

We are FINALLY home! We got home yesterday afternoon and not a moment too soon. Another snow storm is in the process of hitting the Pacific Northwest, so we are so happy to be here!

Our original plan was to be home on Monday night. We stopped in Redding, CA on Sunday night since it was snowing and we didn't want to go through the mountains in the dark. So, we knew we had about a 9-1/2 hour drive home, but we were still confident.

We start out Monday morning through the mountains and everything seems fine. The mountains look GORGEOUS with a new blanket of snow and the roads are good. Then we cross into Oregon. (**DISCLAIMER** If you are from Oregon or even happen to love Oregon, I apologize for the following.) It just went downhill from there.

The roads became more and more icy until we reached the backside of the mountains when we hit 2" thick, nothing but ice, road. It was the most HORRIBLE driving experience EVER. And I grew up in Utah where we had to drive through white out snow storms and enough snow to push with the front of my car. So, Brent drove for about 2 hours at 10 miles an hour. We had bought chains for our ride home, but there was NO WARNING that we needed to put them on. All of a sudden you were on ice. About half way through the "fun" there was a flashy sign that said, "Winter driving conditions." Gee, thanks.

So, on Monday we drove for about 8 hours and only went 313 miles. That should have only taken us 5 hours. Once we got through the ice "fun," we were ready to go a little farther when all the cars on the freeway stopped again. We have no idea what that was for because we got off and stayed in Eugene, OR.

Yesterday was a little bit dicey in spots, but NO WHERE NEAR as bad as Monday. It seemed that the closer you were to cities, the icier the roads, which seems a little backwards. Once we crossed over into Washington, the roads were fine the whole way home.

What's up with Oregon? Can't they plow the roads? Don't they know to put ice melt or even sand down? I'm NEVER EVER EVER driving through Oregon in the winter again!

But, now we're home and it's even decorated. Court put up the Christmas lights outside and a few inside along with the tree for my birthday. That was the coolest thing to walk into. I'm feeling a little under the weather so now I can just enjoy the beauty without having to do anything! Thanks guys!

It's so good to be home, but a little weird at the same time. I was just cleaning out the dishwasher and I had to stop and think a couple of times to remember where stuff goes. I'm still a little confused on the colander. :)

I'll post more about my birthday / Disney weekend in a couple of days when I'm not on cold medication!

Oh, and thank you for your prayers and well wishes for us to get home safe. We know we were protected and we are so thankful for that.

And, as I said, I'm on cold medication, so if this post is a little loopy, that's why.