Idaho Trip-Part 1: The Reunion

So our most recent trip to Idaho was an eventful one, to say the least. There were lots of fun things planned, lots of time in the sun, tons of playing in the water; and too many fun pictures to count. I'll give you the highlights...

To begin-the day before we left for Idaho, I found out we are going to have another baby. So we were on cloud nine to start :) We had flown out on June 30th, and stayed the night in Boise with Sean's sister. His family was so excited, and Tara's cousin Rylee was already suggesting that if it's a girl, we name her Lily! She's so cute...

Then on July 1st, we had an early birthday surprise for Sean. His birthday is in November, so you can tell how surprised he was to receive his surprise months early. Since we were dating, I've heard so many stories about his college days, and how much he misses all his buddies. So when I found out that the majority of them would be in Boise this summer, with the exception of a couple of them; I figured I'd gather them all together in a local park in Boise to surprise Sean. The couple that wouldn't be in Boise already, said it wouldn't be a problem to purchase tickets for the event. (Thanks again Mike and Laurel!) All his friends and family were in on it, and Sean was clueless as to what was coming. I had spent a few months planning, and gathering everyone from New York, Reno, D.C., Nampa, Boise, etc. to be there for Sean. So when we arrived at Julia-Davis Park on Friday, he spotted all his friends and was completely bowled over. And though admittedly he regretted not having more than a few hours to visit with them all, he was so glad I had gone to the trouble. So that was fun to see :)



How Sean and Laurel spent much of their time in college...haha


When no one was looking, Tara snatched Evan's soda-she had her second sip of soda that day, before we took it away :)


She loves her Uncle Jake...




I love how Tara and her cousin Rylee are smiling as they go through photos together-ones that Rylee took :)



Hilary and Jesse's little girl Olivia, is so adorable! Her and Tara became fast friends...They played together almost the whole time.





The whole crew: Sean and all his college buddies, including the newest generation :)

Christmas 2010

So a couple of weeks before christmas, Sean and Tara flew to Idaho to see his side of the family. They had an early christmas, and it was nice for the girls to be able to share that together. I was sad not to be able to go, but they had a great time. Unfortunately, we only have one photo from that trip; and it's of Tara with her cousin Rylee. They're in the matching christmas dresses that Sean's mom bought for them. SO adorable!



Once they returned, we spent christmas morning at my moms. Here are a few select photos, including ones of my little brother proposing to his then girlfriend (now fiance) Cheyenne. It brought tears to our eyes!









Tara with her uncle Josh :)

Tara with the Elmo airplane from mommy and daddy. She loves that thing...


There's grandma Laurie, Aunt Cheyenne, and Tara :)


And there's my little brother in action!






The newly engaged couple!



Later on that day, our friend Rachel got baptized. What an amazing way to spend christmas day...

Baby's First Vacation

So I forgot to mention the other day that this was Tara's first plane ride; the flight from Portland to Boise. She did fairly well, she was calm and happy the entire time. Then she decided to pull a trick on mommy halfway through the pilot's descent into Boise. I had her on my lap, facing towards me. She was smiling and cooing for us, and all of a sudden she erupted. Spit up was trailing down her onesie-completely normal one might say. She is a baby, and she does spit up; often in fact. But this time, it was a scheme to distract mommy from what she was REALLY doing. All of a sudden, I heard a "pop" and felt a movement around my waist. With her little foot, she had slyly unbuckled me. I looked at her, and she just grinned. Sean and I cracked up, of course; and I handed her to him so I could re buckle my seat belt for the remainder of the landing. She's such a sweet little girl...


On other fronts, vacation's been nice. Sean's family is really into cribbage. Since our arrival in Burley, Sean's played quite a few games with his brother; as well as his mom. However, the score between Sean and Jake still remains 0-0. Same with his mom, 0-0. That's because in this family, when they get close to losing; instead of watching their fate play out, they simply flip the board...First game of cribbage with his brother on Saturday night Sean was gaining on him, and all of a sudden Jake overturns the entire cribbage board. Sean starts laughing hysterically of course, as well as the rest of us. The same scenario tonight, except this time with his mom. It's hilarious...Sean's been know to do the same on occasion; it must be a family thing :)


So we're kinda sad that our vacation's almost over, not really looking forward to returning to the normal routine; ya know? However, we know that we'll be returning again in two months for Christmas. It makes leaving a little easier, knowing we'll be coming back so soon. Anyway, I'd better be off to bed. We want to get to Boise a little early tomorrow so we have time before our flight to hang out with Kayla and Rylee at their place for a while. See you guys soon~