jared & whitney: Adjusting to change

A LOT has happened these past couple months and so I'll try to sum up, but feel free to skim to get the gist of it :)

In August we moved from Texas to Idaho - Jared drove up with his dad (so kind of him to help us out), while Chloe and I flew. We got to spend Thanksgiving with Jared's family which was a lot of fun and Chloe loved all the attention and people that were there.

We knew we wanted to buy a home in Idaho, but we weren't quite sure where, so the hunt began. We found a home that we both really loved in Nampa and started the homeowner process; and closed right before Christmas (Dec22nd). So now we can say that we are homeowners - or as we like to say, loan owners ;)

Here's a before and after photo of our home (in late November to now).

We've gotten way to much snow these past two months, those mounds are from Jared shoveling our driveway!

The Friday before Christmas we took off to Pasco, Washington to spend some time with my parents and siblings for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We got all packed up and hopped in our car and started driving early Friday morning. We were closely monitoring road conditions because we needed to drive through the Blue Mountains in Oregon and didn't want to get stuck in the storm that was coming "later" that day. We got to Baker City, OR and roads were already getting really really bad and visibility was almost zero because of all the fog and snow. Guess that storm came early. . . Road signs were telling us freeway closed ahead, use alternate routes . . . there were no alternate routes, because those roads were all closed. We took the only available exit into Baker City and filled up with gas, got some lunch and talked about whether to wait it out and see if the storm passed quick enough for us to get to Pasco before dark, or if we should turn around and go back to Boise. After about an hour of being in Baker City, we decided to turn around and go the 2 hours (really 3 1/2 hours because of weather) back to Boise :( we were sad, but really grateful we made it back to a warm home. An hour after we left Oregon, they closed all the roads and those that were still in Baker City/La Grande area were stuck for the night. Here's a little bit of what the roads looked like -- p.s. turn up the volume so you can enjoy some GREAT elevator music :)

We did get to have lots of fun with Jared's family for Chloe's first Christmas! She was fascinated that there was a book "hiding" underneath the paper. She took this task very seriously :)
We have had a lot of fun watching Chloe's funny personality grow and change each day. She is such a people pleaser and LOVES to make herself (and other people) laugh.

Moving into our new home in a new area has definitely been an adjustment; a good one, just different. Austin was significantly warmer and there wasn't all this white stuff on the ground; however, I will say that adventures with this little clan of mine is so much fun no matter where we are! Chloe is loving a new area to explore and we will soon have baby gates up all over. Most of my day consists of making sure Chloe is fed, clean diaper on and not bee-lining for all the cords we have out everywhere (that will have to change very soon; even if there's TONS of toys out she goes straight for what she "can't" get in to hehe silly girl).

I've tried not to include too many photos, but, well it's hard. So feel free to enjoy, or not to enjoy :)

You can't ever get enough of Chloe ;)
Chloe's Aunt Amelia and cousins, River and Sage.

This is one of my favorite photos of cousin River playing with Chloe :)

One of her many "I'm trying not so smile" faces.

We're working on her waving (she's usually too busy to care about waving at anyone),
so I'm not sure if she's getting it, or I just happened to capture this at just the right moment ;)
Either way, I'll take it!

One last Christmas adventure - we visited Jared's brother's home and passed by this beauty in someone's yard! Haha, very clever "snowman".

For those who don't know who this is -
Jabba the Hutt - Star Wars

After Christmas fesitivies, we spent time moving into our new home! Chloe is a funny little one to unpack with.

These are a little late. On December 17th, Chloe was officially 9 months! Here's some photos of that attempted photoshoot that turned out wonderful because of her many faces :)