The Drive to Oregon

I don't have a tremendous amount of pictures from our drive to Oregon, mostly due to stress levels and driving so much at night.  Here are a few I managed to snap:

 

On the road, leaving Tucson heading to Phoenix

Sleepy puppies already, they have no idea the ordeal we are about to put them through.

 Wednesday night (12/28/11) we stayed in Kingman

 Thursday morning (12/29/11) we left for California, we visited San Luis Obispo where my sister lives and than headed towards San Francisco.  This photo is from somewhere between SLO and San Fran. We ended up staying over night in Petaluma, California.

We left Petaluma on Friday morning (12/30/11) and trekked on. This photo was somewhere in Northern California.

Humboldt Redwood State Park

Humboldt Redwood State Park

 Outside Eureka, California

 Double Rainbow!

 Crescent City, California (close to the Oregon border)

Sunset along the North Pacific

We technically arrived in Portland on Saturday 12/31/11 just after midnight.  We stayed in Hubby's hotel room which he had been using since arriving in Portland and when the sun came up, we picked up the keys to the house.  That day we unpacked the entire truck and moved everything into the house.  That night we stayed up and watched the ball drop and were promptly in bed around 12:02. :)

We were greeted in 2012 with the most lovely of sunrises.  Welcome Phillips family to Oregon!

Hello Oregon!

Hi everyone!  Just wanted you all to know that we arrived safely in Portland on Friday night.  We picked up the keys to the house on Saturday morning and celebrated our first day in our new house on New Years Eve.  Unpacking has commenced and all the animals are settling in nicely.  Our internet was finally hooked up today, so expect pictures and more in the coming days.

Portlandia: Battlestar Galactica

This made me laugh out loud.  If you and your spouse have watched this show together, than you understand!

Video of Inside House

Here is a video of the inside of the house that Hubby took with his iPod.

Check out those pink countertops!  Good thing I love pink. :)

Also: moving truck has been reserved.  December 28 is the big day!

Our New House

Hubby and I put in an application for a rental property in Portland over the weekend and found out today that we got the house!  Don't have all the details planned out yet regarding when the big move will take place but should be this month.  The specs are:

• 1600 square feet
• 2 stories
• New carpet thru-out
• New vinly in kitchen
• New range and dishwasher
• Fireplace in living room
• Large family room
• Double car garage
• Laundry area upstairs, hook ups only (no worries, we have a washer and dryer)
• Forced air gas furnace and gas hot water
• Large deck at back of home
• Spacious yard and landscaping

Here are some preliminary pictures and a small video.

Hudson Family Trip

B, C and Liam made their final trip to Tucson to visit me this weekend.  We had so much fun!

 Watching Monsters Inc.

 Liam quickly discovered the kennel door...

 Than he discovered that he was small like Lily...

 and then he decided it was time to go in!

 Winterhaven Festival of Lights

 Liam and his Auntie

 Beautiful Family

 Liam and Auntie in their footie pajamas

Lily was never far away

 Liam even made friends with the Evil Kitty

 Talking to Piper about Elmo

He had so much fun with the cat

Doggie Wardrobe

I recently realized that I am "one of those" pet owners.  Lily and Trudy's wardrobe rivals those of most toddlers. Ridiculous!

Last UA Home Football Game

In honor of our last month of Arizona residency, Hubby and I went to the final UA football game of the season yesterday.  We won, 45 to 37!

End of the First Quarter

 Half Time!!

 Third Quarter

 End of the Game!  Winners!

Goodbye Arizona Stadium...

Our Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Hoping that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Munds Park

Instead of renting hotel rooms in Sedona for Robert's wedding, Hubby and I decided to have the family stay together in a cabin.  The cabin was located in a community called Munds Park and it snowed!  We were both shocked to discover that the dogs adore the snow, especially Trudy, who thought she was invincible in that pink sweater of hers.

 Snow is a rare sight where we are from!

I am very glad I invested in a coat for Lily before the trip.

Cancer-Free

We received a message from the veterinarian this morning that Lily's biopsy results came back as benign. She is cancer-free but we should anticipate more of these tumors in the future as she is prone to epithelial cysts.  We have just been so blessed this week!  Good news in all directions!

The Search is Over

Remember about three months ago when I told you that Hubby flew to Oregon for a job interview but he didn't get the job.  Well that same company called about a month ago asking if he would like to interview again, this time in their Portland office instead of Medford.  He flew to Oregon at the beginning of November and we received a call on Wednesday...

Goodbye Tucson...

Hello Portland!!

We are just a big ball of nerves now, trying to get Hubby ready to go to Oregon ahead of the rest of us. The "kids" and I will stay in Tucson for about a month or so while Hubby looks for a place for all of us to live.  In the meantime, I will pack our home and hopefully call in some favors with one of my Tucson friends to get a job at OMSI (where she used to work), one of the largest and most prestigious museums in Oregon.

We are so excited and feel so blessed that this opportunity came our way!  Thanks to our family and friends who supported us and kept our spirits up while we waited!