Yesterday's Trip HOME - Portland to Boise

Friends, first of all...WE MADE IT!!! I'm sorry I didn't post anything yesterday after the trip, but it was a whirlwind of activity with getting the rental car back to Boise and spending as much time as possible with my girls. Overall, it was a great trip! We made a few stops here and there and it didn't seem like as long of a trip. Here's us getting ready to go at the hospital EARLY yesterday morning. This is the first time she got into her car seat.

And then we were off! Traffic wasn't too bad getting through Portland so we were soon on our way. Janelle's shopping but hit her as we were going past the Troutdale Outlet Stores however we had left so EARLY that they weren't even open yet (we got there at 8:30-9ish). So she'll just have to make up for that later!

Here was our next stop for a feeding (Janelle AND Hadley!!). We stopped at the hatchery to top Hadley off for a longer drive. Before that we went and saw "Herman the sturgeon." This HUGE sturgeon was 65 years old and 400+ pounds!!! It was amazing. Hadley liked it alot!

Back on the road, our next stop was a bathroom break at the great city of Arlington, Oregon. The gas station was nice and so were the people! We've learned from our experience that Hadley is a SNACKER when it comes to feeding. She'll eat a little here and a little there and then go to sleep for awhile. She has done great thus far in the trip too because she has been sleeping most of the way!

Lunch was had at the thriving metropolis of Pendleton, Oregon. It was nice to stop and have some food. No pictures from these last two stops because they would have been of a gas station and a Subway. Back on the road ASAP...we were making good time as my dad would say.

It seemed like a pretty quick jump over the Blue Mountains into Eastern Oregon, past La Grande (HI E.O.U!!!), and into Baker City. I shook off the urge to stop in La Grande and fill the rental car up because I just KNEW we could make it. Well, we did make it into Baker however the gas light went on outside just over the mountains between La Grande and Baker. I think we were coasting on fumes.

We planned to stay for awhile in Baker because my family lives there and the grandparents were missing our little Hadley. Here's some pictures. The first one is just walking into my parent's house where Grandpa, Grandma and Great Grandma Marie were waiting to see her! It was the first time Great Grandma Marie had seen Hadley and almost a week and a half since my parents had seen her. She was pretty much plugged into a bunch of stuff so they were not able to hold her. They got to hold her most of the time here!!! On a fun note, Hadley got to meet her 2nd cousing, Olivia, who was born on the same day as Hadley!!!!

After awhile, it was time to head home. We only had 2 hours left to drive and it went fast! Maybe it was us that just went fast, we couldn't wait to get home. Ella, Nana, Papa, Uncle Cody, and Aunt Lisa were all waiting at the house for us. I can't begin to describe how surreal it was to finally be driving down familiar roads and into our subdivision. Rounding that last corner to our house was amazing. Our neighbors and friends had helped us keep up our house/yard while we were gone and it looked great. Ella ran out screaming, "Mommy, Daddy! Mommy, Daddy!" She looked like such a big girl! I realized that we hadn't seen her for almost a week and a half at this point...she grew like crazy in that time. She is fully aware of Hadley and that she is a big sister. She wants to hold her all the time and doesn't like it very much when Hadley is sleeping. She wants her to be awake all the time. I can only smile and take in all of this.

So I look forward to updating you all as we continue on the journey here at home. Thanks again for all the support, love, and prayers. We still need all of those on a daily basis!!!

Casey