exactly.

one year ago.
the Barben fam packed up everything they had.
Said goodbye to the shining sunshine.
and to all their childhood friends and neighbors.
And headed on the road for a 19 hour drive.
But before we left we got a new little friend: Nike, Champ, foo dog. Whatever you want to call him.

After a long. long. about 2 1/2 day drive we finally entered a little place called, Whidbey Island.
And found our new little yellow home in Oak Harbor, Washington.

We fixed it up for 4 1/2 days and then finally moved into it on Christmas Eve.

So last Christmas Eve/Christmas I will never forget. So many memories were made. :)

Here are just a few:

So, I will explain this very attractive picture of Whit. Everyday before drving 45 minutes from my Uncle Dave's and Aunt Jeane's house she was woken up approximately 2 minutes before leaving. After 4 1/2 days of driving, painting, cleaning, unpacking, and adjusting, She turned into what my family would call a hobo. Her theme song: "This is the hobo blues, and that's the news for you!" This is just one of the many snap shots I was able to capture.

"Listen to your trainer there's nothing else you can do, just listen to your trainer"[remix of "Listen to your Heart"] Yes yes, I was her personal trainer for the next day. I helped make her who she is today, not a hobo.

This was the Christmas Eve Rite Aid so kindly donated a free tree to us. This picture is part of the h.o.b.o. collection.

Sometimes I wonder how my mom pulls off all that she does. With the tree Rite Aid donated to us my mother transformed its hobo look to this beautifully decorated tree you see here.

This was the Christmas Eve we stayed up way too late moving in, decorating, and wrapping. Then, went to bed on this comfy little matress waiting for santa and getting trampled in the morning from little kids waking up at about 5 a.m.

This was the Christmas morning Whitney basically slept all the way through.

So, I have little brothers who miraculously turned into pyros in that week. They loved burning all of our boxes. This was the Christmas the boys all got B B guns and cooper brought over the Red Rider.... luckily no eyes were shot out.

This was the year I finally realized what a great sister and friend I have. She was the one reason I was okay with moving, because I knew I would be with her. We have eachother, through the tears, the laughter, everything and anything. I love her.

This was the Christmas we had a little photoshoot in our yard. yes these big junky cool little antique trucks were in our yard when we got there. See they were good for something. :)

I like the sunshine in this one. Yes, Washington actually has sunshine. It only rained once out of the seven days we were there our first week. I was surprised. {oh and notice no more hobo}

This was also the Christmas Jeanne and David's family came over and we went and ate at a Chinese Resteraunt for Christmas dinner and sang "Farararararararara." in honor of The Christmas Story.

I am so thankful for the great experience we had moving to Washington. Even though it was a hard move for us all, it helped us grow so much. During this time, my family grew so much closer together and we relied on each other more than ever before. Living in WA was short and sweet, that is the way I like it.

It's crazy how it has already been a full year since the big move. At the time in WA it seemed like time went by sooo slow when we only lived there for 6 months, but now it feels like the year just flew by us.

The memories of Christmas in Washington will be unforgettable.