Home for the Holidays (Post #2)

Day 2 in the USA we were on our way to Oregon.  I was WAY too excited and also paranoid we would sleep in so I really didn't sleep at all but we made it onto our flight no problem.  I got myself some pink berry yogurt at the LA airport and a nice magazine to read.  We had a short layover in Reno and found ourselves even more cold than the night before.  We had left all of our winter clothes in Utah in our storage unit so we just had to make due with the very few long sleeve shirts and hoodies we had with us.  Once we arrived in Portland we were really starting to feel the excitement of being home and seeing family.  We picked up our rental car, only realizing while in line that we were going to have to purchase the CRAZY expensive insurance from the rental company because we no longer have valid car insurance in the United States.  That put a tiny damper on my excitement because it was a ridiculous amount of money, but I didn't let it get me down for long.  Once we got onto the freeway and on our way, I could barely contain myself.   Oregon is a beautful state and driving on the wide open road was almost shocking to my system.  We hadn't driven above 35 miles per hour in Cebu and therefore 60 felt like we were flying.

Before even going to our hotel we went straight to Ben's parent's house.  We were looking forward to seeing all the family.  Archie and Cowdery had both made the trip home from Hawaii and Utah so the family was all there.  We also got to meet the newest member of the Crisanto family, Teddy.   He is this tiny little dog that nuzzles up and falls asleep on your neck.  How could I not love him?  We greeted everyone, hugs all around and then went off to our hotel to check in and for Ben to get a much needed nap.  While he slept, I made the stupid decision that I would go and get our rental car issue taken care of.  We had been informed that if we rented with American Express they have their own rental car insurance and we could remove some of what we were paying for from the rental.  I made it to the rental car place with no incidents, but got lost on my way back.  It was actually kind of scary because the car was much bigger than the one we drive in Cebu, I didn't know my way around and it was dark.  I was not happy about that experience.  But, I made it to Ben's parents house and they led me back to the hotel.

That night was a ton of fun.  Ben's dad was singing in a church choir at a Christmas festival so the whole family went (minus DJ who was going to be an extra in some movie).  I was very excited that everyone was there to enjoy this night together because in the past I have kind of felt like a nag trying to get them all to participate in the same things together. (and they will tell you, I can be quite a nag).  It ended up being more of a sing along than the choir singing for us, but it definitely got us all in the Christmas spirit.  It felt awesome to be surrounded by family singing the songs of Christmas.  We were home!  Afterwards we went to Ben's favorite restaurant for dinner, Red Robin.  We always go to Red Robin when we are in Salem, but this time it tasted better than I remembered.  I ordered the BLT Crossaint and a peach diet coke and could not have been happier.  This started our two weeks of non-stop eating.  We had missed so many different places that we had to fit them all in.  It was fun to spend the evening with family and get the holiday started right.