Boise

Carrie and I with our cute boys, Callum, George, and Owen.

I have only been to Boise twice in my life, but both times I loved it so much that I thought, "I could live here!" several times.  Of course, both times I was visiting my Aunt Dana, who I adore and am very close to, so that could have something to do with it!  At the end of August Callum and I hopped on a plane and headed to Boise for a short visit to the home of Uncle Mark and Aunt Danish.  (That's the nickname Laura gave her when we were little because Aunt Danish loves sweets so much, as any and all self-respecting women do who have Eulich blood running through their veins!)  Uncle Mark and Aunt Dana are truly the salt-of-the-Earth people!  Just good, good, kind people that accept people as they are!  I love them so much!  Their daughter, my cousin Carrie, was in Boise visiting with her two little guys, and we wanted Callum to meet his (second? third? once removed? Who the heck knows!) cousins.  It was SO FUN!  Both Carrie and Aunt Danish are absolute kindred spirits to me, and it was so wonderful to be able to sit and chat about anything and everything and know that I didn't have to censor ANYTHING and they wouldn't even blink.  They would never judge me.  They just LOVE me.  What a blessing to have people like that in my life!  It is also such a joy for me to be around people who not only knew my mom, but who loved her deeply.  The longer she is gone and the more I move forward in my life the less people I have around me who knew her.  My husband never even met her.  That will always be one of the greatest sorrows of my life.  Incidentally, Carrie's husband Ted is a total kindred spirit to Logan.  If we ever lived near one another we would have SO. MUCH. FUN! eating and playing games together!

Rub a dub-dub, three boys in the tub!

Anyway, we have a fabulous time in Boise!  Callum was enthralled with the "big boys," and they were really patient and loving toward him.  I was thrilled to be able to sit around and chat and chat with two of my favorite women on this planet, and it didn't hurt that they spoiled me ROTTEN!  I got taken out to eat several times and even got a pedicure....all without spending a penny!  What a trip!  I had such a wonderful time.  It is so wonderful to have a close family!

 Uncle Mark has spent a lot of time travelling the world for his job, and he has spent time in Urumqi, China, which is where I taught English.  There is a population of Muslim people there called Uighurs, and these are the traditional hats that their boys wear.  The Uighur people were my favorite thing about Urumqi, so I was tickled pink when Callum found this hat in the room we were sleeping in and put it on his head.  Cutest!  (Although I must admit, chubby cheeked George may look even cuter in it than Cal does!)

Handsome Owen

This is what happened when we tried to pose the boys for a picture.  I think it's a pretty accurate representation of our lives!  :)

(Carrie has all of the pictures that have Aunt Danish and Uncle Mark in them with Callum, so I may be adding pics to this post at a later date.)