Christmas Craziness: The Good Part

The Christmas season was a little crazy this year. I had been looking forward to it for months because I knew Meric would be home to celebrate with me. It was also because we would be spending Christmas and New Years with our family.

One of the things I enjoy about the holiday season in Kentucky is the Christmas lights. In E'town there is a park with a lake that has a large drive through light display every year from Thanksgiving until New Years. Meric and I went through it last year and I was definitely looking forward to it again. There is also another drive through light display in Louisville except this one is in a large underground cavern. A few days before we left for Christmas Meric, Kelli and I went with the Smith family (campground owners) to see this light show.

It was pretty cool and there were tons of lights. If you are ever in Kentucky during Christmas I would definitely recommend checking out these displays.

Definitely a Kentucky Christmas light display



Eagerly waiting to open presents

On December 17th we started the long drive to Spokane. It actually wasn't too bad of a trip. Other than almost leaving Kelli at a rest stop in Illinois and hitting a little snow/fog in South Dakota and Lookout Pass, the trip went smooth and we made it to Spokane in only 2 days.
 

Meric and I stayed in Spokane for a couple days before we headed on to Ridgefield, WA to spend a week with his family. It was December 21st so we got there just in time for their "End of the World"/Christmas party. The rest of the week we had a lot of fun hanging out with family (especially the nieces and nephew), playing games, and doing Christmas. It has been a couple of years since we were with family for Christmas so it was nice to share in the festivities. 



They bonded quickly once Meric showed Connor our truck

After the week with Meric's family we headed back to Spokane to spend a week with my family. We had a lot of fun hanging out with my family and got to spend New Years with them. New Year's Eve is a fun night with my family and I am so glad we got to be there. Meric and I also met up with one of the guys he was deployed with who was also spending the holiday in the area. Meric and I had a great dinner with him and his wife and discovered a resturaunt we had never been to before. It is called The Wild Sage and it features local ingredients in all of their recipes. Everything was delicious and I would recommend it to anyone.



Deric's girls were fascinated with my braces

While we were at Meric's parents house we spoke to Meric's brother Deric. He lives near Tucson, AZ and wasn't able to make it home for Christmas. It had been a long time since we had see him or his family so Meric and I decided to take a few extra days and drive down to see him. I am so glad we decided to go to Arizona. First of all we got to spend 2 1/2 days with Deric, his wife and their 3 girls. We had so much fun! Second I have never been to Arizona and really enjoyed seeing the area. Third driving that far south made the 2 day drive home a lot warmer.

After the 2 day drive Meric and I arrived home. Mike (one of the owners) had made sure that our trailer was all ready for us. He pulled out our slides, turned on the heat, cleared the antifreeze out of the pipes, made sure the water heater was on, and started a fire for us. It was so nice after such a long trip to come home and have it all ready for us. That nice we sat by the fire and enjoyed some hot dogs for dinner.

It was a very long trip but it was a nice one. We drove through 18 states and spent about 90 hours driving. It was so great to be able to see so much family and spend time with them all. The best part is we got to meet a couple nieces and a nephew we had never met before. We also got to spend time with them all and get to know them a little better. I love being an aunt!