Meaghan Grable

A magical view huh? I sure loved it.
This was taken last night (Christmas Eve) at my in-law's home in Sandy, Oregon and it was beautiful! We didn't have such a nice drive over to their house, but once we were inside, we didn't want to leave.

Our adventure began around 2:30pm when we left Salem to head to Sandy. If you remember, we originally tried this on Sunday, but turned around 15 miles into the trip. This time, we were pretty determined to get the job done and be with family for the holidays. We researched some alternate routes to avoid both traffic and bad weather and took our chances. It was definitely slow going, but 3 hours later and no chains used, we made it! Sam's parents live on a steep hill and we were advised to avoid it if possible, so we parked at a restaurant down the road and were graciously picked up by Sam's dad. And boy was I happy we didn't try to make it into their driveway... SCARY!

We walked into the home and were instantly greeted with smells of homemade cinnamon rolls & pizza... good smells! After dinner and some preparation for Christmas morning breakfast, we played games and watched out the in-law's picture window as cars attempted to get up the hill... the success rate was not that high. Before we knew it, we were all falling asleep and retreated to bed.

Christmas morning came early, about 8am, and we were all up and looking sleepy. Sam's brother had been at his parents for a few days already and Sam's sister and brother-in-law came over for Christmas festivities. After we opened presents, we ate a delicious breakfast made my Sam's parents. There was so much food and good conversation, it lasted a while. Of course games followed breakfast (I married into a game-loving family) and since all the boys got knew games, we tried them all out. Shortly after the games, Sam and I decided to head home since it had began snowing and didn't look like it was going to let up. We couldn't afford to get snowed in, since we both had to work the next day, so we packed up and headed out. The trip home was much quicker and uneventful and we were home in only an hour and half.

After we unpacked the car, we ventured out to find something for Christmas dinner (since we missed Christmas dinner with Sam's family). To our suprised, everything was closed. EVERYTHING! We ventured down our main street and found lots of dark stores. Finally we found, probably, the only place open on Christmas night - Burger King. Not a good Christmas dinner, but it did the job and fed two hungry people. But I'll tell you, we're still craving ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and fudge. Maybe we'll have to make all of that soon.

Sam and I definitely loved being able to spend Christmas with family, but wished it wasn't so short. As we drove home, we both turned to each other and said, "Christmas feels weird this year." Who knows if it's the snow. Or it's that we live farther away and have to work the next day. Or that it's our first Christmas and we're not in a "routine" yet. Like I said, who knows. But the time spent with loved ones is always cherished and enjoyed.

Our next Christmas is this weekend... Bend here we come!