what in the wrong direction on the way home?!

You can barely tell, but Curt is standing by the sign that proves we ended up in Placerville (on the way to RENO people, headed east ... we needed to be going south to Fresno, whoops) on our way home from Christmas break a couple weeks ago. More of the story to follow below :)

Sooo... It's been awhile since my last post! I am currently getting cozy on Facebook (I like it much better than Myspace, which I seldom frequent anymore...) and realized I hadn't updated our blog for weeks. Christmas was wonderful with meeting our two new nieces for the first time (they are beyond precious), but it was hard leaving too, as the next time we see them they will be about 6 months old! Goodness how time will fly.

In other new news... I finished my last class for my Master's in Teaching program this past Wednesday, and will start student teaching in another week! I am scared and excited all at the same time, but I think it will be fun :) It will just be an adjustment switching from homework to early mornings! hehe -- something I haven't been too familiar with the past couple years.

Another fun tidbit is that Curt left at 4 am this morning for Washington D.C. for the inauguration! He has 10 high school kids in tow with him (and many chaperons from the tour company, so not to worry there. They even have night guards at the elevators and stairs in the hotel! haha) But they are all wonderful kids, so he's not expecting any trouble that way. It will be utter craziness though with a projected 4+ million people attending! We are praying they are able to do everything they had scheduled, no one gets lost, and they all come home safe and sound :) I am way excited for their adventure!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas.... and ooooh! Our trip home from WA a couple weeks ago was quite the car ride. First our cat lily (who lives to torture us) leaped out of the car at a rest stop and we chased her all over the place until we mercifully caught her right before a pack of dogs got out of a truck to use the potty. (Cat, you would've been soooo dead). Second, we somehow took a wrong turn as we busily chatted away, and ended up going 45 miles in the wrong direction until we realized what we had done (by the grace of God). We then tried to take a sneaky short-cut back to the interstate we needed, only to be thwarted by 35 mile an hour mountain roads and pitch darkness. We opted to turn around and back track. We were SOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo tired. Then, as luck would have it, kitty cat couldn't hold it any longer and at 2 am tinkled all over in her cat carrier. This wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't braked suddenly to get off the road to clean it up, only to have her cage pitch forward and spray urine all over the dashboard. Cue tears. We almost let her go in the field we pulled over by, needless to say. Also, in our defense, we had given her chances to use a to-go litter box, which of course she did not take. Bad kitty cat, bad.

But hey, we made it home, in one piece, with funny stories to tell, so we were thankful. :)

Will update again soon.... Love to everyone!

Our beautiful nieces... Curt is holding Lucy, and I have Madeline :)

Lucy with her eyes open and arms up... Madeline sleeping so sweetly! They are the cutest EVER.