Home at Last
I AM HOME!! My goal was to get home in time to attend our Coronado Ward Christmas Party, and it all worked out thankfully. The weather and the roads were very cooperative for me to travel home on Thursday and Friday, and I arrived home around 3:45 pm Friday afternoon. Very tired, but happy and relieved. 😁
During the last 10+ mile stretch coming toward Idaho Falls, I was listening to Christmas music and found myself overcome with joy and gratitude for all the blessings that I've been given the past several months. Tears were flowing down my cheeks, making it difficult to see while driving, but I couldn't make them stop. I felt like I was being given a huge, warm, collective hug from my guardian angels (along with a perceived and relieved exhale) as my pending exit to Idaho Falls was coming up. After I got home, and as I was unloading the car, two of my neighbors (Jeshua and Sherry Hanks) saw me and came over to hug me, which caused more tears to flow because of how much I have missed my neighbors and friends. It is just so good to be home.
The drive itself was quite beautiful on Thursday. (Less so through Nevada the following day, ha ha) I took a new route so that I could rendezvous with my brother, Ryan, and his family to pick up some Christmas gifts to take home. I drove south to Petaluma, CA and then headed east toward Vallejo and Sacramento. The only reason I mention this is because that drive along Hwy 116 and Hwy 37 East between Petaluma and Vallejo is SO GORGEOUS!! Especially the miles along Old Lakeville Road. It had all the elements that I love on a drive: rolling green hills, sheep, horses, dairy farms, vineyards, lush ranches and estates with handsome fencing along their borders, eventually meeting up with San Pablo Bay, sprinkled with all kinds of waterfowl near the road. I wanted to take a million pictures but since I had a long drive that day, I opted to just take photos in my mind. You'll just have to use your imagination!
I met Ryan and Karen, along with their two youngest children, Lily and Blake, at a gas station just off the freeway at Cordelia, CA. We spent a few minutes visiting and hugging, then he passed off some Christmas gifts for me to take home. We've had a sibling gift exchange for many years now. You may recall the "Sniderville" playmat I made for my younger brother's family Christmas gift - we had his family this year, while Ryan has my family.
Something Ryan is good at, is to make something useful out of old wine barrels from the Napa Valley where he lives. He had recently asked me what our family might like. My quick response was to request a Lazy Susan like the one he made for my mom and my sister, Charmaine. I'm excited to open it and use it before I hit the road again! And how nice that I could drive it to Idaho myself instead of him paying to ship it - it's really quite heavy!!
(Me with Lily and Blake holding one of Grandma Linda's oranges)
Thursday morning, as I was packing up the last few things in the car, my mother put on her boots and went outside in the rain to pick some fresh oranges to send home with me. What a thoughtful thing to do! I was happy to bring them up to Idaho to share.
I also went out to lunch one final time with my sister, Charmaine, on Wednesday. What a treat it was to be in such close proximity to her for so many months! We really get along so perfectly. I have never doubted our friendship all these years, but I knew we'd be put to the test last August as we traveled together for 2 weeks all over England and France. We are a perfect traveling match!! We did not get under each other's skin at any point during those 14 days, even though at times it was stressful - mostly because of driving on those narrow country roads, ha ha. Some people would naturally get sick of each other after that many days together on a trip, but not us. So yeah, it was fabulous to hang out with her as often as we could this fall. I will miss her the most, but we will continue to keep in touch as usual.
And so here I am, back in the land of winter and snow. I love it. Yes, I've been spoiled by being in a milder climate for so long, but I love the winter season. I especially love the beautiful white mountain tops, and a freshly fallen snow, . . . just in time for Christmas.
(At the top of Donner Pass, overlooking Donner Lake)
Benson will be flying in on Christmas Eve, just in time to be married on December 27 to Kylie Merkley. They were planning to be married next summer already, but decided to tie the knot over Christmas break so that they can get everything lined up for her to join him in Italy. She needs a passport, he needs to arrange for married housing, etc., all of which take time, but first they needed to get married. There are a lot of steps to get it all lined up properly in the military, so they are trying to stay on top of it all.
Here they are with my Dad back in July as we were setting up for Jacob and Hannah's wedding reception:
And I love this photo so much.
The wedding will just be a simple ceremony at the Bonneville County Courthouse, and then next summer they will have a larger celebration once Scott is home from his service. Benson returns to Italy on January 7th, and Kylie will return to Idaho Falls High School to finish up and graduate at the end of May. Benson will come back for her then, and off they'll go to Italy to live happily ever after.
Jacob and Hannah are also coming up to Idaho Falls on Christmas Eve to spend a few days, which will be so nice! My plan is to play ALL the games together, watch ALL the movies, eat ALL the popcorn, and hold ALL the hands over the time that we will all be together.
Scott has a new focus at work that just started today. He can't tell me about it (dang it) but he said in a text this morning: "Good morning beautiful. I am at my cool new job. I will love it but can't talk about it." I'm just happy that he's happy. That's all I want. And his safety, of course.
So, my plan is to head south on January 6th. I'm super excited to go spend some time with Amber and her cute little family. But more on that later. For now, I am content to just be present. In my beautiful and comfortable home. *peaceful sigh*
During the last 10+ mile stretch coming toward Idaho Falls, I was listening to Christmas music and found myself overcome with joy and gratitude for all the blessings that I've been given the past several months. Tears were flowing down my cheeks, making it difficult to see while driving, but I couldn't make them stop. I felt like I was being given a huge, warm, collective hug from my guardian angels (along with a perceived and relieved exhale) as my pending exit to Idaho Falls was coming up. After I got home, and as I was unloading the car, two of my neighbors (Jeshua and Sherry Hanks) saw me and came over to hug me, which caused more tears to flow because of how much I have missed my neighbors and friends. It is just so good to be home.
The drive itself was quite beautiful on Thursday. (Less so through Nevada the following day, ha ha) I took a new route so that I could rendezvous with my brother, Ryan, and his family to pick up some Christmas gifts to take home. I drove south to Petaluma, CA and then headed east toward Vallejo and Sacramento. The only reason I mention this is because that drive along Hwy 116 and Hwy 37 East between Petaluma and Vallejo is SO GORGEOUS!! Especially the miles along Old Lakeville Road. It had all the elements that I love on a drive: rolling green hills, sheep, horses, dairy farms, vineyards, lush ranches and estates with handsome fencing along their borders, eventually meeting up with San Pablo Bay, sprinkled with all kinds of waterfowl near the road. I wanted to take a million pictures but since I had a long drive that day, I opted to just take photos in my mind. You'll just have to use your imagination!
I met Ryan and Karen, along with their two youngest children, Lily and Blake, at a gas station just off the freeway at Cordelia, CA. We spent a few minutes visiting and hugging, then he passed off some Christmas gifts for me to take home. We've had a sibling gift exchange for many years now. You may recall the "Sniderville" playmat I made for my younger brother's family Christmas gift - we had his family this year, while Ryan has my family.
Something Ryan is good at, is to make something useful out of old wine barrels from the Napa Valley where he lives. He had recently asked me what our family might like. My quick response was to request a Lazy Susan like the one he made for my mom and my sister, Charmaine. I'm excited to open it and use it before I hit the road again! And how nice that I could drive it to Idaho myself instead of him paying to ship it - it's really quite heavy!!
(Me with Lily and Blake holding one of Grandma Linda's oranges)
Thursday morning, as I was packing up the last few things in the car, my mother put on her boots and went outside in the rain to pick some fresh oranges to send home with me. What a thoughtful thing to do! I was happy to bring them up to Idaho to share.
I also went out to lunch one final time with my sister, Charmaine, on Wednesday. What a treat it was to be in such close proximity to her for so many months! We really get along so perfectly. I have never doubted our friendship all these years, but I knew we'd be put to the test last August as we traveled together for 2 weeks all over England and France. We are a perfect traveling match!! We did not get under each other's skin at any point during those 14 days, even though at times it was stressful - mostly because of driving on those narrow country roads, ha ha. Some people would naturally get sick of each other after that many days together on a trip, but not us. So yeah, it was fabulous to hang out with her as often as we could this fall. I will miss her the most, but we will continue to keep in touch as usual.
And so here I am, back in the land of winter and snow. I love it. Yes, I've been spoiled by being in a milder climate for so long, but I love the winter season. I especially love the beautiful white mountain tops, and a freshly fallen snow, . . . just in time for Christmas.
(At the top of Donner Pass, overlooking Donner Lake)
Benson will be flying in on Christmas Eve, just in time to be married on December 27 to Kylie Merkley. They were planning to be married next summer already, but decided to tie the knot over Christmas break so that they can get everything lined up for her to join him in Italy. She needs a passport, he needs to arrange for married housing, etc., all of which take time, but first they needed to get married. There are a lot of steps to get it all lined up properly in the military, so they are trying to stay on top of it all.
Here they are with my Dad back in July as we were setting up for Jacob and Hannah's wedding reception:
And I love this photo so much.
The wedding will just be a simple ceremony at the Bonneville County Courthouse, and then next summer they will have a larger celebration once Scott is home from his service. Benson returns to Italy on January 7th, and Kylie will return to Idaho Falls High School to finish up and graduate at the end of May. Benson will come back for her then, and off they'll go to Italy to live happily ever after.
Jacob and Hannah are also coming up to Idaho Falls on Christmas Eve to spend a few days, which will be so nice! My plan is to play ALL the games together, watch ALL the movies, eat ALL the popcorn, and hold ALL the hands over the time that we will all be together.
Scott has a new focus at work that just started today. He can't tell me about it (dang it) but he said in a text this morning: "Good morning beautiful. I am at my cool new job. I will love it but can't talk about it." I'm just happy that he's happy. That's all I want. And his safety, of course.
So, my plan is to head south on January 6th. I'm super excited to go spend some time with Amber and her cute little family. But more on that later. For now, I am content to just be present. In my beautiful and comfortable home. *peaceful sigh*
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