Population 80,995 PLUS 4!!

YAY!!!  We are here!!!  As we approached Bend we were welcomed by the crystal clear snow capped mountains in the distance.  The astounding beauty that surrounds this little city is intoxicating.  Every time we experience its charm and splendor we can't help but feel so lucky to call this place home.

Love at first sight. (corny, I know, but one day we might be happy we took this pic)

Our home for the next few months.  :)

I think we made out with this home considering we picked it from craigslist while in Houston.  

The day we arrived it was in the 60's!  The girls loved playing in their new yard!

Joss wanted to take a pic of us drinking out of our new holiday wine glasses from my sister.  These glasses however weren't filled with wine, but were filled with locally crafted beer!!  I am not a huge fan of beer in general, but Bend has the best beer I have ever tasted. 

One of our first priorities after moving into our new home was getting ready for Christmas in less than a week.  After getting the tree, we started making ornaments. We had a blast!

Here we are baking dough ornaments which we later painted outside.  The one thing we have noticed about Bend is that even when the temperature says 30's it really feels like high 40's or even 50's.  It never seems to get cold here.

Our finished tree!!  

Down the road at a local cafe they had an evening of Christmas cookie decorating.  

Getting ready to start decorating!

Autumn couldn't say no to more and more icing on her poor cookie.

Joss and her little masterpieces.

Heading home all sugared up.

Our makeshift dinner table until our furniture arrives in mid January.  It has been fun making do with what we have.  

The Home Stretch

We left Houston for our final journey back home, to Bend Oregon!  We decided to take the southern route so as to miss any bad winter weather along the way.  Our first stop after traveling all day was…Texas.  Texas is freakin' BIG!!!  We made it to the only stop between San Antonio and El Paso that had any kind of civilization whatsoever.

Our next stop was Tucson.  Oh how beautiful!  Tucson had the cleanest air and such beautiful scenery. We totally took note of its beauty and decided to consider it for our place of retirement one day.  We stayed at one of the most adorable places, called Lodge on the Desert.  It was the perfect little oasis.  

Loving the cacti!!  They are just stunning against the brilliant blue skies of Arizona.  

Arizona was one of our favorite states to drive through and visit!!  Full of stunning hillsides covered in cacti and other pointy vegetation.  Just magical.

Next stop.  VEGAS!!  The kids had such a fun time looking at all the lights.  It was hard keeping them away from all the slot machines, it was like torture to them.  Finally we let them sit at them, but were then yelled at for doing so two minutes later by the authorities.  Oops!  At least we got the shot.

Hanging out at one of the nightclubs ;)

A picture with Mickey and Minnie, which doesn't come for free in Vegas.  

Admiring the beauty of "Rome."

Dancing out in the streets of "Paris."

After leaving Vegas we headed North through Nevada.  Here is a picture of the route we took through the mountains.  Never realized how beautiful of a state Nevada was.  

Stopped to pick up some lunch for the road in Austin, Nevada.  It is a small cowboy town filled with stores that sold turquoise jewelry.  The kids were excited to play in the snow.

Lovely little town!

We decided to drive all the way from Vegas to Oregon without stopping.  We made it to Oregon!!  We stayed in Burns, Oregon, two hours outside of Bend instead of risking it on the icy roads.  We are sooo happy to finally make it home!!!

Holidays in Houston

Thanksgiving in Houston was lots of fun.  Lots of scrumptious food, yummy egg nog and wonderful company.  Kids had a blast running around crazy all day.

Here they are calming down at the end of a successful Thanksgiving day.

Joss meeting the newly born calves at the farm we have been getting our milk from in Houston. 

The cutest calves I have ever seen!!

Ready to open up some early Christmas gifts before the Grabowskis hit the road and make their way to Bend, Oregon.

Everyone was so excited with their gifts.  Joss loving her cowgirl boots.  

Auty opening up her cowgirl boots.  :)

Everyone admiring Abigail's make-up job.   

This is how Santa arrives at NASA...T-38 Talon.  I guess Rudolf and Co. were resting up for the big event.

Autumn so excited to meet Santa for the first time.  

Santa came with a bag full of gifts for all the "good" boys and girls.  He came to give each of them an early Christmas gift.

Although Auty seemed a little nervous at first, she did enjoy her time with Santa without one tear.  

Joss was all smiles while sitting next to Santa. What a fun morning for them both.