christmas in la grande and a weekend in boise

christmas morning at the airportflew to boise christmas morning to be greeted by super duper snow storms and crazy driving conditions. mom picked me up at the airport and we headed up to her place in weiser. by the time we got there it was sunny and beautiful outside. here are some shots on mama's wonderful little farm. i just love it there.

after playing with the animals a bit we loaded up with her little dog rusty and headed for la grande, oregon. on a good day, its just 2 1/2 hours from her place. but, with the road conditions, it took us almost 4 hours. we stayed at a cute little hotel and had christmas dinner at flying j truck stop, the only place open. it was packed with travellers, truckers, and even some families. we scoped the travel guides and real estate ads and tried to ignore the smoke wafting through the non-smoking restaurant. there was just a small set of swinging doors between the restaurant and the "casino". and by casino i mean a small bar, a couple of tables, and 4 slot machines. although it was dark, after dinner we still drove around town a bit and explored some of the neighborhoods. on one lucky turn, we found quite the christmas display. we found it hilarious in person and when we watched the video twice the next day. see for yourself. we are obviously pretty easily amused. listen closely for the music.


the next day we roamed the town, did a bunch of drive by house hunting, visited shops, and had a yummy lunch at a local deli. also took a short drive to a neighboring town, elgin. there are about 6 little communities within a half an hour of la grande. headed home to weiser that afternoon and spent the evening visiting and knitting. since my mom had to work the weekend, i headed to boise to spend a couple of nights with jim, nikki, emmett, and lily.

here are nikki, emmett, and lily sporting their christmas presents. i didn't get one of jim in his hat though.

nikki and i also got a girl's night out with out with our other friend amy. we had a blast at a little wine bar downtown. just got home this afternoon and will be back to work tomorrow.

p.s. the verdict on la grande . . . i don't know. i still like it there, but am not sure if there is enough opportunity for me. we'll see. being near friends and family and in winter temps that are well above freezing definitely reminds me how much i'm missing my old stomping grounds though. i thought when i moved to anchorage that i'd be here for several years, but recently i've been wondering if moving on is going to be right for me. hmm?