Family Fun

As I write this, I am sitting on my parents' couch with my fiancé in California! The past few days have been pretty busy for us.

Sunday, the last time we blogged (ok, it was all Thomas, really), seems like it was ages ago!

On Monday, Thomas and I both worked. I worked in the morning, and he worked in the afternoon (will our schedules ever kind of match? I hope so...). That evening, after wrapping a few final gifts, we headed for Salt Lake City to attend the Italian-themed Bradshaw Family Christmas Party hosted by Thomas' gracious aunt and uncle at the St. Ann Catholic Church.

(Judi & John Morrell)

At the party, we enjoyed mingling for a while with all of the Bradshaw aunts, uncles, and cousins who were in attendance. It was fun to see many relatives we hadn't seen since before our engagement was official. They shared in our excitement and wished us well.

(Party Scene)

We also got to spend some time around Thomas' brother Robert and his wife Camille and their darling twin daughters. They were in Utah to visit her side of the family and so they were able to come to the party. We hadn't seen them since our trip to Seattle over the summer. It was so much fun to see how the girls have changed! They've both grown a lot and they're almost walking.

(Camille and Ruby)

(Robert and Lydia)

Thomas' sister Elizabeth and her husband Saki and their kids were also still in town. Mere had a fun time following Thomas and me around at the party and also coloring on the plastic tablecloths (fortunately, as it was an Italian-themed party, the tables were equipped with writing utensils and disposable coverings for guests to write on!) Thomas' dad also made it to the party so their branch of Bradshaws was well-represented!

(Tablecloth message)

After getting to chat for a while, we enjoyed a delicious Italian feast. We filled our plates and our tummies with fresh salad, pasta, chicken, meatballs, sauces, etc. Thomas' cousin read a few Christmas-themed stories and poems and then Grandma Bradshaw briefly addressed the attendees.

(Jordan, reading)

(Grandma Bradshaw)

After the party (well, we kind of left a bit early), we headed back to Provo in order to facilitate packing and resting in preparation for our trip on Tuesday. As luck would have it, Thomas happened to lock his keys in his car (for the first time ever) when he finally made it to his apartment.

Tuesday, we got up early to get started on our way to California! I packed up my car and headed over to pick up Thomas and his luggage around 6 AM. From there, we drove to my cousin Kevin's place in Salt Lake to meet up with my dad. Once his truck was packed up, we commenced our journey west.

About 30 miles east of Wendover (a city on the Utah/Nevada border), the weather changed to work against us. We hit a snowstorm and were forced to drive around 20 mph through almost white-out conditions. We were relieved when about 15 miles on the other side of Wendover the roads were much clearer and the storm had passed!!

The rest of the journey was fairly uneventful until we reached South Lake Tahoe. There, we hit another storm, just in time for us to have to cross Echo Summit. Thankfully, the storm did not drop much snow and our crossing was successful.

We reached my parents' house a little after 7 PM. We had a lovely time settling in and eating dinner with my family. I don't know about Thomas, but for me, it took almost no time to fall into a deep sleep when I went to bed!

oxox