Nothing we did made any sense logically, yet it made all the sense eternally.
For Christmas this year, my parents had planned for anyone in the family who could to come to our house in Rockville, UT. Having heard this plan, I booked my flight to Vegas, where I'd meet my parents and we would drive to Rockville together. After Christmas, we were then going to drive to Fallbrook, CA to see my brother and his wife, who couldn't make it to Utah to spend Christmas with us. The plan was great. I was set to go.
About a week before Christmas, I was talking with my mother and she informed me that she couldn't imagine Christmas without my niece. Since my brother had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas, they would be unable to to make it Rockville. This meant that we were now going to make the drive up to Orem, Utah and spend Christmas at his newly purchased home. Little did I know that this was only the first of many changes that would be made during the trip. All the changes would increased the amount of time I'd be spending in the car.
It was fun to spend Christmas with my brother and niece. It was not fun sleeping on the floor but seeing my niece on Christmas morning was worth it. As you can see from the pictures, she had lots of fun but was exhausted by the end of the day. (Maybe because she couldn't sleep and she fell out of her bed and on top of me in the middle of the night).
The next day we got back in the car and drove to Fallbrook. The car ride was everything you would imagine a family vacation car ride to be. My parents were in the front and my older brother and I were in the back. It took us back to the days when were 5 and 3 years old again. Adding to this feeling was the wall of bags and suitcases that separated my brother and I in the back seat. My mom spent the trip reading and my dad was driving and listening to music on his Ipod (which was entertaining because he'd attempt to sing along), while in the back seat it was good there was a wall between us.
He's some footage of Dad singing and Mom doing Karaoke:
On Sunday, my other niece was blessed at church. It was beautiful to be there with the family.
We spent a couple days in Fallbrook. While there, I fell in love with Olde Town Temecula. It was the cutest little town. It had the cutest shops EVER. There was a fabulous root beer store, a nutty nut store, a store with old school candies, and much more. The people there were so friendly and nice. I even was asked to open up a root beer store in DC.
One of the stores was an olive oil store. You actually went in and tasted all the different kinds of oil. Who would have thought you could get people to drink oil for fun?
We couldn't resist taking a trip to Valley Center and checking out what it looked like so we could get an idea of where my brother was serving his mission. This is a picture of his church! He has no idea his family was less than a mile away from where he's living.
My family also practice our Karaoke skills. It was fun to see my parents getting into it.
We stayed at the Pala Mesa. The weather there was fabulous! I didn't want to leave. I loved that I could sit by the pool and read a book in DECEMBER!
We decided that since we hadn't done enough driving yet that we needed to go to Saint George, Utah and see my brother's family, since they were unable to stay with us in Fallbrook. We met up with them for dinner and then spent the next day with them before heading back to Vegas where we were flying home.
This is the great bed that my brother made for me at his house. It was better than any hotel I stayed at.
The trip may have been a little crazy. We drove almost 2,000 miles in a week. But spending time with the family and seeing my adorable nieces made the trip worth the travel.
For Christmas this year, my parents had planned for anyone in the family who could to come to our house in Rockville, UT. Having heard this plan, I booked my flight to Vegas, where I'd meet my parents and we would drive to Rockville together. After Christmas, we were then going to drive to Fallbrook, CA to see my brother and his wife, who couldn't make it to Utah to spend Christmas with us. The plan was great. I was set to go.
About a week before Christmas, I was talking with my mother and she informed me that she couldn't imagine Christmas without my niece. Since my brother had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas, they would be unable to to make it Rockville. This meant that we were now going to make the drive up to Orem, Utah and spend Christmas at his newly purchased home. Little did I know that this was only the first of many changes that would be made during the trip. All the changes would increased the amount of time I'd be spending in the car.
It was fun to spend Christmas with my brother and niece. It was not fun sleeping on the floor but seeing my niece on Christmas morning was worth it. As you can see from the pictures, she had lots of fun but was exhausted by the end of the day. (Maybe because she couldn't sleep and she fell out of her bed and on top of me in the middle of the night).
The next day we got back in the car and drove to Fallbrook. The car ride was everything you would imagine a family vacation car ride to be. My parents were in the front and my older brother and I were in the back. It took us back to the days when were 5 and 3 years old again. Adding to this feeling was the wall of bags and suitcases that separated my brother and I in the back seat. My mom spent the trip reading and my dad was driving and listening to music on his Ipod (which was entertaining because he'd attempt to sing along), while in the back seat it was good there was a wall between us.
He's some footage of Dad singing and Mom doing Karaoke:
On Sunday, my other niece was blessed at church. It was beautiful to be there with the family.
We spent a couple days in Fallbrook. While there, I fell in love with Olde Town Temecula. It was the cutest little town. It had the cutest shops EVER. There was a fabulous root beer store, a nutty nut store, a store with old school candies, and much more. The people there were so friendly and nice. I even was asked to open up a root beer store in DC.
One of the stores was an olive oil store. You actually went in and tasted all the different kinds of oil. Who would have thought you could get people to drink oil for fun?
We couldn't resist taking a trip to Valley Center and checking out what it looked like so we could get an idea of where my brother was serving his mission. This is a picture of his church! He has no idea his family was less than a mile away from where he's living.
My family also practice our Karaoke skills. It was fun to see my parents getting into it.
We stayed at the Pala Mesa. The weather there was fabulous! I didn't want to leave. I loved that I could sit by the pool and read a book in DECEMBER!
We decided that since we hadn't done enough driving yet that we needed to go to Saint George, Utah and see my brother's family, since they were unable to stay with us in Fallbrook. We met up with them for dinner and then spent the next day with them before heading back to Vegas where we were flying home.
This is the great bed that my brother made for me at his house. It was better than any hotel I stayed at.
The trip may have been a little crazy. We drove almost 2,000 miles in a week. But spending time with the family and seeing my adorable nieces made the trip worth the travel.
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