A Long Weekend in Boise

You may have noticed that I have started doing monthly update posts: I dump all of the highlight photos from the previous month into one post, and I just do a quick catch-up, rather than devoting an entire post to each event or milestone.  I like it a lot.  Takes the pressure out of blogging.

But as I sat down to write my October post, I discovered that I have far too many fun photos from a weekend get-away that Noah and I took to visit family in Boise, Idaho--and thus, this event earned its own post!  (Exciting, right?!  Don't know why I narrated all of that!)

Anyway, Noah and I went to Boise to visit Aunt Ashley & Uncle Nate (Ryan's little sister and her husband) and Aunt Dana & Uncle Mark (my aunt and uncle).  It was such a wonderful weekend.  Ryan's parents also drove up from Pocatello for a day--they couldn't miss the opportunity to see their cute grandson!

We stayed with Mark and Dana, and it was so much fun.  Dana is my mom's older sister, and I love being around her because she has some of my mom's mannerisms and characteristics.  We stayed up way too late talking every night, and there is nothing I love more than chatting for hours with someone who really "gets" me.  It is just so comfortable and so comforting.  It was really fun to see Dana and Mark interact with Noah--they loved him and were so good with him.

We spent the days with Ashley, playing at the park, reading books, going out for pancakes (it's possible we went to the same breakfast place twice while I was in town), and strolling around the farmers market downtown.  Ashley has always had the magic touch with Noah, and I love watching her with him because it is so obvious that she adores him.  Isn't it amazing how much you love people who love your kids? Ashley is going to have a baby girl in December, and we can't wait!  She is going to be an incredible mom.

The surprise of the trip was how much Noah took to Uncle Nate.  For some reason, Noah woke up from his naps on the trip incredibly grumpy, and there were a few times when nothing I could do would console him or stop his screaming.  Then Nate picked him up, and all was well in the world.  Noah immediately got silent and calm.  He wanted nothing to do with me--he just wanted Nate and would sit on his lap and play quietly (very unusual for this active little boy).  It was amazing!  Nate is going to be a great dad.

And we can't forget Grandma and Grandpa--two of Noah's very favorite people!  About a month ago, we called Sally on Skype, and when Noah saw her on the screen, he walked up to the iPad and kissed it!  I was so shocked--I have never seen him do that.  It was absolutely precious.

When they came to town, we went to a rose garden (Noah is obsessed with "zowers," as he calls them), and Grandma and Noah had a grand ol' time sniffing flowers together.  Then we went and played in the leaves!

The next day, we went to church, and Grandma took Noah out during the Sacrament (he was being rowdy--shocker), and she stayed out and played with him the rest of the meeting.  Lucky Noah!  Lucky Grandma!  (And most of all, Lucky Mom! I got to enjoy an entire church meeting without Noah climbing all over me!) That evening, as we were cleaning up dinner, I heard insane giggling from the staircase, and I found Noah and Gordon playing a game with Noah's shoes.  This giggling went on for about fifteen minutes.  Too cute:

Before Gordon and Sally headed home to Pocatello, we went to the park, and Noah had a great time swinging and going down the slide with Grandpa.

 

Overall, it was just a perfect, relaxing trip.  The only thing that would've made it better is if Ryan could have come along.  We are looking forward to a long trip to visit family with him at Christmas!