Family Comes to Town

Marc's parents, his brother Chris, and Chris' kids Jacob and Jared came out to Boise to visit us! They started their trip in Yellowstone and made the drive across Idaho to stay with us for a few days. Marc's parents stayed in a hotel, and we had Chris and the boys stay with us at our house which worked out well. The kids were so excited to see each other and took advantage of every minute that they got to play together. The time went by quickly, we took a zillion pictures (excuse me, Marc's parents took a zillion pictures ;) and we had a great time together.

They came in late Wednesday afternoon. We ate a crockpot chicken dinner, Marc and all the little boys made brownies together, and they all enjoyed wrestling with Grandpa.Thursday we tried to keep "open" and really just let the kids enjoy playing together without any real agenda or time schedule. They enjoyed playing t-ball together at the park, flying paper airplanes, and swimming at the YMCA. My mom had invited everyone over to her house, but unfortunately Jared wasn't feeling well, so Chris stayed back with his boys, while everyone else ate at my mom & dad's. After dinner, we grabbed everyone else, and Marc & Chris played softball with the Elders Quorum over at the church.Friday, the kids played at the park, and I got to sneak away for a long run. When I got back we got everyone fed and prepared for our TRAIN RIDE up in the mountains!! We got tickets for the Rocky Mountain Thunder Express (or something like that) its a passenger train that starts in Horsehoebend and follows the Payette River up the mountain to Banks where it turns around and comes back. Tyler & Bryce were in heaven. They loved it! Both of them just hung off the rail watching everything without moving. Our only complaint, it was too long, but I think that was because we waited an extra 25 minutes for a group of people who were running late, and then at Banks we had to wait 30 minutes or so to make sure everyone had their chance to buy ice cream if they wanted it. We had some tired kids when we got home! No problem with going to sleep at all!Saturday morning, Marc met his parents at the temple to do some baptisms for family names, including his grandfather. I think it was a special experience for all of them. We were left with the stack of names to try and get the rest of their work done. Its a good excuse to get keep getting us to temple more often. Poor Jared had to go the Dr. where they treated him for strep throat. They were able to get him started on antibiotics. When they got back from the Dr, Bob & Deb took Tyler & Bryce on a little excursion to Walmart and let them pick out their very own bicycles!! I can't even begin to tell you how ecstatic we ALL were for them, when they got back and had these shiny red bikes to ride. THANK YOU again Bob & Deb! The boys couldn't be happier.That afternoon, everyone went to the Circus. I haven't been to the circus since I was little. It used to be held at the Pavillion at BSU and it was HUGE. Apparently, things have changed in the last 20 years, and the Circus is now held at the Fairgrounds expo building, it was very small, and felt very amateur. The kids still enjoyed it, and even got to ride on the elephant and go down the super slide. We were happy to go, but I think happy when it was over :)We sure appreciated the effort everyone made to come out and see us. It was so nice to see everyone, and we thoroughly enjoyed showing them a little bit of Boise and our home. As we went out to wave goodbye to everyone, Tyler just started bawling as they pulled away. He understands that it will be awhile before he gets to see them. I think we all felt his sadness at being separated from family. But at the same time, it warms my heart to know how much my kids LOVE and ADORE all of their grandparents, uncles, aunts & cousins. I'm so happy that my kids have good relationships with both Marc's and my family.