Nana is the Best!!!

The kids love their Nana. They always enjoy doing special things with her. We are so blessed to have a Nana like her. Jaycee helped decorate sugar cookies and make pies, Jackson was the taste tester for the Jesus birthday cake, they made cool Christmas ornaments, she has the best toys, she makes the best floor beds (Byron and I thank you for that), the kids love for Nana to read to them. If you weren't aware there is even
"Nana's bread" for your tummies.(its cinnamon bread) Around our house if those words are spoken the kids will eat it. Do you think that would work for veggies??? We might just have to try that! Thank you Nana for making our trip such a special trip. It always feels like home when we are there!!!

NCCTK SMALL GROUP PARTY!

Monday December 20th we had a get together party with our small group from North County Christ the King. It was so much fun. Its amazing how in 5 years life can change. The small group started in January of 2006. At the time, we had Jaycee, Toby and Kelly were pregnant, and Caleb and Hannah had Aurora. Since then the group has grown a lot!!! Joel and Amy have Kaleb and Jessa. Toby and Kelly have Ella and James. Greg and Bekah have Alina and one on the way. Caleb and Hannah have Aurora, Kaina, and Trinity. Dusty and Rebecca have Isaiah and Gabriella. Ben and Jenn have Audrey and a boy on the way. We have Jaycee and Jackson. Outside of Aurora, who is now 15 1/2, the kids are 5 years old and under. It was a total blast seeing all the kids playing and laughing together! Thank you Joel and Amy for organizing the evening and letting us invade your home. It was a great evening!

Christmas Road Trip 2010

This post is so I won't forget the little details of our trip.

2500 miles Velma, OK-Bellingham, WA Left on Tuesday December 14th at Noon CST. Arrived at Nana and Papa's on December 16th around 7:30ish PST. The states we went through-Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Oregon- We stayed at Sleep Inn in Gallup, NM and Days Inn in The Woodlands, CA-

2200 +/-(my guess I haven't actually asked Byron yet) miles Bellingham, WA-Velma,OK Left on Monday December 27th at 4:30 a.m. PST arrived home on December 29th at 12:30 a.m. CST- The states we went through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas- We stayed at Best Western in Rock Springs, WY

The kids state total way surpasses Byron and mine at this age in their life! I was excited to add Wyoming to the list of states I have been to. I loved the scenery on the way home until hitting Eastern Colorado. Its flat and boring. We saw a lot of snow and a lot of beautiful mountains. I would have loved to see Ogden, UT in the daylight, but they by far blew all other cities away in Christmas lights decorations. So that was quite beautiful to see. Ogden, UT, Boise, ID, Denver, CO have made it on my list of places I could live.

The kids were absolutely amazing on the trip! We look forward to many more family road trip/vacations!

So far...

we have just been relaxing and enjoying it! The kids have had so much fun just playing at Nana and Papa's house. Today, we went to Bellingham Christ the King. It was a great service. Jackson did well sitting with us and our social butterfly, Jaycee, went to class.

Thursday night we got to meet our precious niece, Gwendolyn, for the first time. What a joy she is. All of the Lohrer cousins have grown and changed so much. Each one of them are so unique in their personalities and they are such a delight to be. Jaycee went home with the cousins Thursday night and had a splendid time.

Things we have already checked off our list of things to do, Wood's Coffee and Taco Time. I am sure that we will hit them a couple of more times while we are here. We did some shopping too today. I so love being close to places to shop. That is probably why God has us living in Velma so I won't be shopping everyday. Ha!Ha! That goes with coffee places, too. I enjoyed going to the mall this afternoon with Nana and then went shopping at Fred Meyer's with Byron tonight. I am pretty sure we are going back to the mall again in the morning!

This week will get a little more busy, but we are excited to see our friends. Tomorrow night we will be getting together with our small group from NCCTK. It will be wonderful to see everyone and their families. When the small group started Jaycee was the only child and now everyone has one, most have two, or moving towards that. Tuesday, we are spending time with the Lohrer 7. Wednesday is the get together with the Nooksack gang at Red Robin. We are very thrilled to see everyone there. Thursday we are having a Lohrer girl day! Amanda takes her girls every year down to Seattle for a girls day. She has invited Nana, Jaycee, and myself to join them. Pretty sure its going to a magical day for all of us. Christmas Eve we will have dinner at Phil and Amanda's then attend Christmas Eve service at NCCTK. Christmas Day will be at Nana and Papa's! WOOHOO!!! Busy full week with lots of time to share, love, and be thankful for all the wonderful amazing blessings God has given to us. THE BEST GIFT OF ALL IS JESUS!!!

2500 miles later...

we are in Bellingham,WA!!!! It was a great first family road trip. The kids were amazing. I can't even begin to describe how well they did. They never whined or complained. We knew that Jaycee would do well, Jackson of course was the one we were concerned about. He is very much a home body little dude and he loves to have room to play. He did great! Both kids are loving every moment already at Nana and Papa's.

We left out at Noon on Tuesday. We drove to Gallup, New Mexico. We left out at 7:00 a.m. and made it to Woodlands, California on Wednesday night. We left out of there at 4:00 a.m. arrived at Nana and Papa's at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night.

Our trip consisted of lots of music, games, leapster games, movies, snacks, and naps. The best was being able to see God's beautiful creation with our kids. They loved seeing all of the scenery. The first time Jackson saw Mt. Shasta in California he said it looked like a big pile of yogurt!!! At dark we did a lot of "I see some" which translates into Christmas lights being spotted. That was probably one of my favorite parts is just driving and seeing cities and towns bright with lights.

We are having a great relaxing day. The kids are enjoying their freedom of running up and down the stairs, playing with "new" toys, and playing outside. So thankful that we were able to make the trip and blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family to enjoy this time of year with.

Things are always changing!

We are still leaving today but have adjusted our course and have reverted back to the original route. The original route being California. Driving I-40 forever. Its worth it to get us safely to Washington. The weather doesn't play too much of a role in what we do on this route so that helps tremendously! Thanks again for your prayers. We might just be in Bellingham early on Thursday! Woohoo!!!

Quick Update!

Well, good news we are actually heading out today around Noon!!!! WOOHOO!!! After checking many different weather sites we decided that we needed an extra day to travel. That way we wouldn't hit potential hazards with weather early in the morning or late at night. The plan is to drive to Denver or Ft. Collins, Colorado today. Get up in the morning and make our way to either Boise, Idaho or Pendleton, Oregon. Then we will have a relatively short drive to Bellingham. Also, Thursday is the best weather day to cross Snoqualmie Pass. I think taking the extra day will be great for all of us. The kids are very excited as we all are. We can't wait to be in Washington Thursday afternoon!!!! Thank you to all who are praying for our travel. I am sure we will keep out status updated on Facebook. If I do get a little break to blog I will. See you all soon!!!!