Idaho and Family Time

We just got back from good ol' Idaho--don't the hay bales just scream "farm town"? My little brother Adam's mission homecoming was this weekend. We left on Thursday afternoon....and for the first time EVER, the Las Vegas airport was actually running smoothly. So, instead of it taking us two hours to get through security, we were done in about 30 minutes. While getting done quickly was great, it also unfortunately meant that we had a lot of time to kill, and if you aren't into playing the slots then there's not much to do in the LV airport. It didn't help that Mike and I were both tired, and Nick was totally wired. So, we spent the hours taking turns chasing Nick around--sometimes literally chasing him. He's into saying, "Race me!" and then taking off, and the kid is quick. He was pretty good on the plane, though, and in some ways it was good that we had a layover in Reno, since it gave him another chance to get some energy out. However, just for those who've never been to the Reno airport, let me just warn you that it is by far the most boring airport I've ever been in. Every time I end up there I marvel about how boring it still is--and people complain about Boise's airport! Those people have obviously never been to Reno. Seriously, the only food option is Quizno's, unless you want to go out to the McDonald's or the burrito place, or the bar, and if you do that then you have to go back through security all over again. But we did this time, as Quizno's was just got going to cut it. ANYWAY, enough about Reno...eventually we got to Boise, and my grandparents picked us up. We decided to stay with them on Thursday night, although I think it might have killed my dad to have to wait to see Nick. My mom said he was having thoughts about driving over on Thursday night to steal him, and just leaving me with my grandparents. But, instead, he came over Friday morning to get us. We hung out for a while, ran some errands, went to the pumpkin patch, and then the family started pouring in. My dad's two youngest siblings came with their families (that's 12 people), plus my step-grandma (that's 13), plus my sister and her family (up to 17), and then my brother Aaron drove in with Adam (19), so by the end of the night there were 24 people in the house. The next day my mom's brother came, plus my grandparents, and my brother and nephew, and my uncle came with three of my cousins, and so by Saturday night there were 35 relatives in the house. Plus, my brother's friends from high school came over and such, so we ended up with a house full of about 50 people. So, while it was crazy and loud, it was also a lot of fun. Nick had a fabulous time, since there were so many people to play with, and I had a fabulous time because it was like having 20 built-in babysitters. It's so cute to see him with the big kids--he's so happy to be included with them and do "big kid" things. And I have to say that my cousins are great with kids. Some of them are still pretty little themselves, but even the high school-age ones are excellent with kids, and don't mind playing with them. Anyhow, so all in all it was a fun weekend. When you're around family, especially for reasons such as this, it's easy to see why the church focuses so much on family. It really is what it's all about. I'm proud of my brother for serving in Ecuador, and serving well, and I look forward to going in May to see Aaron off. Here he is, in all his glory: Hillarious kid--I swear, he does have a serious side.