There's No Place like Home

12.28.07
Grandpa Larry took us to the Portland Airport, and we arrived in perfect time. We checked in our House and Home once again, crossing our fingers, praying our luggage didn't exceed the weight limit! We passed with flying colors!
I have been wanting a Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider since December 1st and haven't brought myself to buy one. I told myself I would get one at the Portland Airport, and to my joy, there was a Starbucks just past security. As we were walking to the Starbucks, Trey turned to us and said, "I love airports, they are so amazing!" Where did this boy come from? Hilarious! Did I mention earlier what he said when the airplane landed in Portland? If I have, skip this section. I will write it any way because I think it is hilarious! WE landed safe and sound (OBVIOUSLY!) in Portland, and Trey lets out a sigh and says, "Amazing!"

Right next to our Gate was not only a food court, but a kiddy play area!





While waiting to board the plane, I ran into an old co-worker, Alicia Moore who was also riding the same plane. She now goes to Law School in Moscow and is hanging in there, she says. It was great to catch up with her.

Everything was fine and dandy on the plane, the take off was a bit swervy, but we made it. The seat belt light remained on for quite some time, and then about half way through the flight, Trey tells me he has to go potty. I hurried and grabbed him quickly, ran him back to the "lavatory" in the rear of the plane, and then was stopped by a snooty flight attendant. "You know, you need to be careful, the 'fasten your seat belt' sign is still on and you shouldn't be up walking around." I looked at her with a nasty grin and said, "When you have a two year old who is trying to potty train and he tells you he needs to go, you CAN'T tell him NO!" and I shut us in that nasty little bathroom. This was the first, but not the last time in the bathroom! The second time, the flight attendant ignored me! Nasty woman! It wasn't as if I was going into the potty with my two year old to have a party! They are only SO large!


Trey-Man fell asleep just as we were landing, what a sweet boy he had been. He slept most of the drive from Aberdeen to Portland, and he was still exhausted. All that playing with his cousins!
Justin's sweet friend from High School, Mike Cook picked us up from the airport and helped us with our luggage. What a nice guy he was.

When we arrived home, our home was 40 degrees, and really inviting! Justin turned the heat down in our home over our vacation, who knew a home could get that cold. Luckily the water in our toilets hadn't froze, but the fruit in our fridge did.

We we were grateful for our stay. Grateful for the opportunity to spend time with our family and share the season of love, happiness, and charity with people we care so much about.

I want to thank Larry and Marie for providing such a wonderful Christmas Vacation for us! Fosha, thank you for the fabulous meals and words of wisdom. Your boys are amazing and so much fun to be around. Thanks Brandon for letting her stay a few extra days. I hope your hand gets better soon. (Poor guy was attacked by a nasty cat and bit on the hand.) You are a fantastic mother, a great role model to me. Christina and Nora, thank you for caring so much for Trey and treating him so well. Trey really loves you two. Jordan, thanks for introducing us to Becky. Hopefully we will get to spend some more time with her. (did I mention they met at BYU and also live around the corner from each other in Aberdeen?!) I hope you will still teach us some of your dance moves soon! And, when can I put your song on You Tube?! Megan, thank you SOOOOOOOO much for letting us use your car. Thank you for riding to Aberdeen with us and putting up with Trey-Man. I know he can be loud and a bit sassy, I hope your ears have healed since you have been away from the noise maker we call Trey. I am so sorry about your other car, but hopefully it is now in working order!
Until Christmas 2009!

Off to "P-Town" once again!

12.28.07
Friday morning, we awoke, quickly packed up the car and headed out to "P-Town" where we were going to help Megan fix her car which was still in the Winco Parking Lot, and fly outa town! Before we left for Portland, I just HAD to get a family picture across the street from Justin's parent's home. They was an old side walk lined with trees and shrubbery. We had past it almost daily, and every time I looked at it, I made a mental note to get a picture of it!




Driving outside of Aberdeen, Justin's parents showed us the aftermath of the wicked storm that just swept through their neck of the woods not too long ago. Their town was out of power for days, trees are still down due to it's wreckage.
I forgot to mention on an earlier post, Justin spent a good chunk of one morning helping his father haul tree trunks out of their backyard. What a sweet son and hard worker he is. The cousins and Trey loved watching he and Grandpa Larry work at sawing the trees and hauling them to the front of the house!

We arrived in Vancouver, Washington to find Megan's car had been moved to a different parking slot then the one we left it in. (we later found out Megan had come the night before and moved it, just so it didn't look THAT suspicious! I guess it HAD been sitting in the same spot for 6 days, but at a 24 hour grocery store, who notices!) It was amazing at how many people stopped to help Larry, Justin and Megan with the car. The first was an older woman who said that her car was the same model and year, and it too had the exact same problem as Megan's. She gave some great pointers, considering the three of them had NEVER worked on this car before. The second was a generous man who asked if he could help for a bit. The third, was a younger guy who was a mechanic in training! He did the trick, and refused to be paid with Marie's "Christmas Cookies" for all of his hard work! More cookies for us!!!

Once her car was fixed, it was off to the Portland Airport!

Trey's First Bowling Trip, After Christmas Shopping, and a Reception?!

12.27.07
I am still furious at myself for not bringing my camera for this adventure. Bowling with no camera, what the HECK was I thinking! Well, thankfully my sister-in-laws are up to date with technology and both had camera phones (Christina not only had a camera phone but a phone on her PDA) and they both SWEAR they will send me the pictures. They promise me the quality isn't that great, but who cares! I just want evidence that we really bowled. And I would love to show you Trey's cute bowling shoes. Bright Orange and yellow if my memory is accurate (see, I can't even remember and it was only a few days ago! I NEED those pictures!!!). So sistas, send me those pictures if you are reading this PLEASE!!!!!

It was Grandma Marie, the grandkids and me in one lane and the rest of the fam in another lane. We shared one end of the alley with another little family who was usuing the Bowling ramp. I had used the bowling ramp years ago when I helped out with the Idaho Falls Special Olympics Bowling League and what an awesome invention it is. I was so afraid Trey was going to drop the ball on his foot or that our game would last 7 hours because he couldn't push the ball fast enough down the lane, so the ramp came in very handy.
Trey was terribly anxious the whole afternoon at the bowling alley, wanting to bowl every moment he could! We will have to be taking some trip to the "alley" real soon!

Shortly after arriving back at home, Fosha, Megan and the two boys packed up Megan's car and headed back to Portland. Fosha, Canyon and Cyrus were boarding a train the next day to head back to Sandpoint, Idaho.
Trey sure misses his cousins!

Once they fam left for "P-Town," Marie, Christina and I went "after Christmas Sale's shopping!" Did you know Ace Hardware sells Christmas decorations? Well, in Aberdeen they do-and every Christmas item was already 75% off!

That evening I did one of the most random things I have done in a while. I attended a wedding reception for a couple I had NO CLUE who they were! Larry, Marie and Christina were going and I thought, "Why not!" I love receptions, I love the decorations (or maybe the lack of them or I LOVE questioning the reasoning behind them!), love seeing the bride's dress (or LACK OF in this bride's case. Is that the new norm now? Strange!) and love trying the cake (which this reception did NOT have!!!)
The wedding was a few weeks prior, this was an "open house" and very casual. It was held in a very beautiful log cabin style lodge, with delicious food. Sorry Christina, but the STINKY cheese was disgusting. It smelt like some of my 80 year old patients (no offense Grandma if you are reading this. I know you are close to 80, but, you are not one of my patients, and secondly, you DON'T smell like these cheeses!) Justin's family is really into Cheese, goat, sheep, and really stinky cheese. It is just NOT for me! The dessert was a chocolate fountain (which I am so excited to open and use! Justin gave me one for Christmas!) with fruit and cakes. Also, there were bite-sized cheese cakes.
They had their engagement pictures, wedding and honeymoon pictures on display! A large computer monitor had the pictures on slideshow, and they were amazing! I LOVED the bride's sweater in her engagement pictures. And do you know how gutsy my sister-in-law Christina is? She went and ASKED the bride where she got her sweater! I just love Christina, AND I love FOREVER 21! (That is where the sweater WAS bought, it is NOT on line anymore!)
After the reception, Marie, Christina and I searched the internet for the newlyweds photographer's website and the Forever 21 website!

Movies

12.26.07
It was off to the movies in Aberdeen, Washington. Now, this theater is VERY small, but it has a HUGE history! Here it is!
Weeks after Tom and Katie had baby Suri, Mission Impossible came out in the theaters. Before the big premieres, there was a huge Internet contest, and the winner received a special viewing of Mission Impossible with Tom himself. Well, I believe he was a Wal-Mart Worker in the photo lab (I could be wrong) from Aberdeen, Washington won the contest, and so Tom and Katie (baby Suri was left behind in the private Jet with 30 Nanny's I am sure!) flew out to dinky Aberdeen, greeted fan (including Grandma Marie, thanks to my begging and pleading!) and then met the man who won the contest. Rumor has it, Tom didn't stay for the viewing, but he did take many pictures with the press, Mayor, and fans. Katie, what a trooper, just popping out that cute Suri, and the next week, off to Aberdeen, Washington.
In the food court of this Mall/Theater, is a whole shrine of the perfect day when Tom and Katie visited the little town of Aberdeen!

Okay, on to the movie blog!
Marie, Me, Trey, Jordan, and his friend-who-is-a-girl Becky (yes, there might be TWO Rebecca Bledsoe's, and two Tina Bledsoe's in the future!) went and saw Enchanted! LOVED it! Dr. McDreamy is even THAT more dreamy in this flick. Trey liked it, but unfortunately, when you ask him NOW what his favorite part of the movie was, he will reply, "When the man ate the chipmunk ALL GONE!" WHAT?

Larry, Justin and Megan went and saw National Treasure. I am sure Justin WISHES he went and saw Enchanted with us because we just kept on raving about what a good movie Enchanted was. He wasn't all that impressed with HIS movie!

In the meantime, Fosha went to a friends home with her two boys to teach them an African Dance. Fosha's little guys are limited on how much television they can watch, so they visited a friend instead.
Christina took Nora to the Nutcracker, and then on to Nora's dad's home to spent the majority of her Christmas break.
I think everyone enjoyed their afternoons, wherever they might have been!

Bathtime for Two Brothers!

Just some funny pictures from the Christmas vacation. Larry and Marie have a jetted tube in their guest bathroom which Cyrus and Canyon loved to bathe in. The bubbles would get so high and thick, it was fantastic.

As Fosha was getting Cyrus, mister Santa Cyrus in this picture, out of the tub, he said, "Look mom, I have a bubble butt!" Hilarious, his booty had bubbles on it, so he called himself a Bubble Butt!!!

Christmas 2007-Aberdeen, WA

12.25.07
Christmas morning began with me scrambling to make one of my best friend's Abbey Davis' Caramel Rolls recipes. Marie put them in the oven while I hopped into the shower, and unfortunately, the rolls grew so big overnight, that they started to ooze out of the pans and drip sauce all over Marie's very clean oven. I felt horrible, but the rolls were delicious!



Trey was so excited to see all of the gifts. He has been opening gifts all month long, but has seemed to not get tired of it. We thought it would be too much of a hassle transporting all of his gifts back and forth between airports, cars and states, so as rewards for Potty Training, he has been receiving Potty Presents which were ACTUALLY some of his Christmas Gifts. Are we mean or what?!
He did receive Spirit, the movie that EVERYONE at Miss Michelle's LOVES from Santa as well as some horse figurines which he is STILL carrying around. He also got a box of his favorite cereal which is Lucky Charms. (A Sauter Tradition. When we were younger, Grandpa Bend thought he would teach us at a VERY young age to eat healthy, so, the only cereal we had in our home was Shredded Wheat. NASTY! On Christmas, Santa would bring us sugary cereal, which I am sure we gobbled up in one morning. Mine was usually the BARBIE brand of Lucky Charms!! I had to keep this tradition alive. But, the difference between the Bledsoe and Sauter tradition is that we usually always have sugary cereal in our pantry! AND, the Sauter pantry hasn't housed a box of Shredded Wheat in about 20 years!)


Fosha crocheted us all hats, and they are so warm and beautiful. Trey and his hats, Fosha couldn't have given him a more perfect gift!



We all gathered pictures from over the years course and made a photo book for Justin's parents. It was nice seeing their faces as they looked at all of the pictures of their children and grandchildren. Later on in the day, I saw Larry sitting in a quiet place (which was a very hard place to find!) thumbing through the book!

Christmas PJ's 2007

12.24.07
I have been waiting ALL year to give these pj's to Trey. There isn't much Christmasy about them, they are just puppies everywhere wearing scarves! He seemed to like them, or is it the idea of opening all of these presents the following morning bringing this smile to his face?!


Trey and his cousins Nora, Cyrus and Canyon

The Nativity

12.24.07
Just like many families, the Bledsoe's act out the Nativity Story, complete with a Narrator (Grandpa Larry), hymns complete with accompaniment with Grandma Marie on the piano, and costumes to die for.
Justin as I have been Joseph and Marie the last two Christmas', although, the Baby Jesus decided he wanted to be a Shepherd, wise man, and a Disco Fever hot babe. In the end, he ended up being a sweet, adorable baby Jesus.



Too bad that decision was made AFTER the whole Nativity was completely over! Maybe in two years Trey Man!

Christmas Eve at the Beach

12.24.07
I am sure you are expecting beautiful pictures of sunny weather and woman in bikinis, but this IS Washington State. The weather was sunny, but all of the woman were bundled up in many layers of clothing-no bikini's on this day!


Trey was very excited to go to the ocean, and the only way he was getting there was in Grandma and Grandpa's Mini Cooper!


Kites were flown as the wind blew like crazy, waves were dodged (as you can see the tide was VERY, VERY high!), and kids and dogs ran around like crazy!

Trey and cousin Canyon

Trey flying a kite!


Before watching this video, please turn off our music so you can hear how windy this day really was. (The music is found at the bottom of our blog, on the right hand side.)



Grandma Marie

The Sunday before Christmas!!!

Doesn't Sammy the dog look like he should be apart of our family?!!!

12.23.07
We attended church in Aberdeen, and were able to sit in on Marie's Marriage and Family Relations class. Considering she is a counselor, it was an amazing class!
When we got home we were greeted by a wonderful aroma, thanks to Fosha (one of Justin's 3 sisters!) and her amazing cooking! She had lunch for us already prepared, and then it was games once again followed by wrapping the Secret Santa Gifts!

Secret Santa and Games!

12.22.07
Every year, the Bledsoe's do a "Secret Santa" for someone in their community. Every other year, it is always a sweet adventure buying the items for the family members, wrapping them and then eventually delivering the gifts! Today, it was off to Ross (Aberdeen has very little options for shopping in this little town! Side note, in the parking lot of Ross, a large SUV with a beautiful wreath on the front of the grill drove by, and what would you know; their license plates said 1A, indicating the SUV was from the Boise area. STRANGE!) to purchase the gifts. We had a one year old and a 7 year old, and $30 to spend! We made out like bandits; purchasing a coat, a wheel launcher (Justin swears it was the coolest gift in there! I believe it!), a bead runner for the baby and some PJ's!

After our shopping adventure, it was game time! This family LOVES games! I usually feel inadequate, but always feel included none the less! Trey loved playing with his cousins Cyrus and Canyon, and Nora was the best babysitter EVER!

The "letter game" is what the boys called this game. It is actually supposed to be "Go Fish" but with letters. The boys had a great time spelling words out!

Arrival in Aberdeen, Washington

12.21.07
We were greeted by a HUGE party in Aberdeen, Washington. Justin's mother had said we would be making "just in time for the party." Justin took that as a joke, that they were having a party just for our arrival. NOPE, it was a full on party with food and presents galore!
Grandpa Larry and Grandma Marie belong to a "running club" in Aberdeen and there is always a Christmas party. It just so happened to be the night of the Christmas party and it was being held in their home!
We walked away with a great game called BANG! and a fun "tailgating cookbook" from the "white elephant present exchange." We had a wonderful time!

A Day with Grandpa Bend!

12.21.07
My Father works in Portland, Oregon for the week and then travels home to Bend, Oregon for the weekend! He has a wonderful apartment on riverfront in downtown Portland, it is always a treat to go to Portland and visit him! He is in the heart of "P-town!!!"
My Father met us outside the terminals, along with about 300 other families and friends, and greeted us with a red-heart, smiley face balloon which Trey carried around everywhere!
After gathering our house and home (we had 5 items we checked in. We are only going to Washington for 7 days, but it looks as if we are moving there. After today's rainy weather, we have decided we will probably NEVER live here! At least, that is JUSTIN'S comment!) from the baggage claim (which by the way amazed Trey!) and used the restroom (TREY!!!), we headed off to IKEA which is SOOOOOOOO close to the airport! Justin had only been to one in Washington, about 6 years ago, and since we had the afternoon, we thought, why not?

Trey in the IKEA's cute little shopping cart! The only shopping cart he will sit in!!!
We have decided they have the BEST cinnamon rolls EVER! For a tray of 6 for $4, you can't beat it! Unfortunately, we lost our friend, the balloon somewhere in the kitchen/dining section of the store, but Trey was happy to find his sucker from Auntie Sommers he could STILL suck on!

After IKEA, it was back to Grandpa Bend's apartment for Trey's nap and Pizza Schmitza for lunch. DELICIOUS! Pizza and cinnamon rolls. We were able to chat and relax before the Trey-Man awoke, and then it was Caillou for the next 2 hours. We don't get to watch Caillou at our home, although Trey has been asking for it for weeks now! My sweet Dad has hours worth on his TV, TREY was in heaven!
The afternoon with Grandpa Bend came to a close when Megan's work day was done. Justin's sister Megan, also lives in Portland, but works at a beautiful middle school in Vancouver, WA. Our plan was to go to Megan's home off of Alberta Street in downtown "P-town," get her spare car, and drive it to Vancouver. There, we would meet up with Megan and follow her to Aberdeen, Washington.
Well, our plans shifted a bit when Megan's car broke down on the freeway. Luckily, it broke down about 2 minutes into our trip and the car came to a halt in the most ideal place off an exit. Next, we did something I have NEVER done or seen before in my life. With us in the working car, we pushed Megan with our car, Megan was able to steer herself into a WINCO parking lot, and that is where her car still sits!!! We all hope it is still there, all in one piece.
Thankfully, Megan packed light, because remember, we packed for an eternal stay, and she hopped into our car and off we drove to Aberdeen!

Flight from Boise to Portland

12.21.07
Our flight departure was 9:15 am from Boise, and Trey really enjoyed his experience. It was his 2nd flight of his life, the first one taking place when he was 7 months old. He was a bit confused with the security check, removing the coat and shoes, but he emerged as a pro!




Justin must have told him he could get some candy while waiting at the airport, because he left our home with a quarter in his pocket, and ended up finding the arcade AND candy machines! I swear, he has a candy radar, just as Derek has a soda radar! They can smell OR see it from miles away!

He got the seat next to the window which was an excellent decision of Justin's. He loved to look out the window at the clouds, the streets and the mountains!

He enjoyed coloring, sucking on his sucker from Auntie Sommers, and sipping on his apple juice! (Before our flight I told him that a lady would be asking him if he wanted a drink. He told me he would ask for Orange Juice. When the time came and drinks were handed out, he changed his mind and asked for Apple Juice!)


The flight only was an hour, and towards the end he was wanting out of his seat belt. Thankfully, we landed just as he was getting anxious! He did great!!!
With the time change, we landed in Portland, Oregon at 9:15 am!!!

Trey is 2 and a half!

12.20.07
I am posting this a day early, but Happy 2 and a half Birthday big boy! We sure are proud of you!!!

We Depart for Christmas

12.20.07
We are departing in less than 8 hours for our Christmas travels, and I can't wait! The packages are wrapped, we are packed and the boys are sleeping. What am I doing up? Getting all caught up before the big departure!
We fly into Portland, Oregon where my dad will pick us up at the airport!

Trey is estatic and can't wait to not only fly on a plane, but see Grandpa Bend! We will sight see and browse IKEA! Now that Trey is just about potty trained (that will be a later post!!!) he can venture into their kiddie playground! We plan on eating lunch, and then departing to Aberdeen, Washington!

The home of not only the late Kurt Cobain, but the Bledsoe's!!!

We look forward to spending time with Megan, the Mimb's family, Jordan and his girlfriend Becky, Christina and Nora, and who could forget Grandma, Grandpa and the dog Samson!

***Merry Christmas to all!***