Home is Where the Heart is

Sorry, I haven't been on for a couple weeks, last weekend Laren and I hopped in the car and headed to Oregon for the President's Day weekend. It was an absolutely fantastic trip! We drove all night Thursday night, which was quite the experience for both of us. We hit a snowstorm in Ontario and had snow for about 4 hrs of the drive. I have to say that was probably the worst part of the trip - I do not do driving in the snow very well, so it was a learning experience for me and great bonding for us! We made it in about 12.5 hrs which was awesome time.
Friday we slept and played with my nephew McCoy and niece Oaklee for a few hours. I showed Laren around my hometown, said hello to some old teachers at the High School and then we took another nap! Friday night we headed over to the high school and watched the Varsity Boy's and Girl's basketball games and just enjoyed playing with McCoy and Oaklee. Laren also FINALLY met my best friend Alichelen and her boyfriend Bryce. It was so good to see her and get to spend time with her!!
Saturday we got up and headed to Corvallis to watch my nieces Mckenna and Maia play basketball. It was so fun to watch them! They are both growing up so fast - I can't believe they are both playing basketball. Laren met my sister Stephani and her husband Zak and we spent a couple hours visiting with them at their house after the games. Saturday night we picked up my friend Ashliegh and took her over to Florence. After we dropped her off, Laren and I headed down to the beach for a little bit. I have always had a love for watching the waves crash onto the sand at night and so it was fun to stand and watch the waves and look at the stars. Then we hit up BJ's for some delicious ice cream and headed back to Veneta.
Sunday we went to my home ward for church and visited with some friends of mine. I LOVE going to my home ward because Bryce and Bren are there and I always get to hold Oaklee during church. She is just the cutest baby and I have to say church is a lot of fun with her!! After church we went by the cemetery and visited Brooke's grave. Then ran up to Corvallis for a family dinner with the whole gang! The whole family was really excited to meet Laren and I am excited and happy to say they all approve ( well as far as I was told ;) ) !!! My nieces and nephews loved him and I had to give them time limits and tell him we had to share him with everyone. I'm not sure how he felt about all this sharing, but he's still alive, so I think that's a pretty good sign!
Monday we got up early, hopped in the car again and headed back to Provo. The drive was nice and long, but very enjoyable. We were proud of our roadtrip abilities with each other!! After 14 hours we made it back to Provo and well we just crashed!
But, reality came early Tuesday morning, so that it why I have been absent from my blog. I will start back up on my 31 day photo challenge this week, and hopefully I can get it finished!!

Laren and I at the family dinner