Missing you!

So it is January 11. Melinda's 19th birthday is tomorrow. Our youngest child is no longer a child, but will always be our child. I miss her.

We were so happy to have Ty over New Year's Eve. Ty celebrated the New Year by sleeping through it. Michael and I saw the New Year in, toasted it with some sparkling cider, and then headed to bed since we knew Ty would be up early. He's such a fun little guy and we wanted to have as much time with him (and with his mom and dad) before we headed south for warmer weather. I miss him. I miss them.

We left on Saturday, January 3 for our Utah experience. We budgeted two days driving because of the time of year. (It's 15 hours door-to-door from where we live in WA to where we're wintering in UT.) The mountain passes were not a problem at all and after spending the night in an Idaho Falls Motel 6 (since they're pet friendly), we arrived at our place around 4:00 PM tired, but safe.

We had a vegetarian dinner of cooked carrots, potatoes and onions since that's what we had with us. The 5th through the 10th we've spent time (it seems like a lot of time) driving to and from WalMart and Home Depot. Things are settling down now though I still have plenty to do. Probably only two trips to WalMart/Home Depot this coming week. :)

We've been enjoying the weather and blue skies and have spent time out in it almost every day. Yesterday we went hiking at Snow Canyon State Park. I don't know that I'd term it "true hiking," since quite a bit of the terrain we covered was flat and some of it even paved, but we did do some rock scrambling.

Bret's been helpful with tips on working with a Mac, since the Apple versus PC conversion is a bit different (and sometimes difficult) for us. It's nice to think we're in the same state as he and Laura. Hopefully they can visit soon. I miss them.

Lynette called and she's spending the weekend at Whistler with friends. I miss her.

I wouldn't say that I'm homesick necessarily. I certainly miss my family and I do miss my friends at home and my home, but I have Michael here and where he is is home. I'm spoiled though in that I'm flying to WA next week so for right now I guess you could say I have the best of both worlds. I'll take that, with pleasure.

NS