BOISE BALLOUS: October 2009

Hello blogger, how I have missed you. I can't wait to get caught up on everyone's blogs because it's been about a month since I've lurked you all. I thought I was one of the least busy people, but in the last month we went on two trips, closed on our house and moved! After getting just about the last box unpacked, I'm sitting here relaxing at my desk. How wonderful it feels to have a house! The walls are mine to paint and drill holes in and do whatever the heck I want! I don't have a clue how to manage a yard or that kind of stuff, but I'm excited to learn. We pulled weeds and cleaned up our front yard last saturday and it was one of the funnest saturdays at home that I can remember. Is that wierd? I love that Eva has a yard, a place to explore and girls on both sides of us that are her age! No offense Mary and Lloyd (the sweet little old folks next door at the appartment), but it's awesome being in a neighborhood with tons of kids. They are all over the place riding their bikes, playing ball, and going down to the local Mercantile, "Merc" for cookies. There is an elementary school in our neighborhood and some of them ride little scooters to school each day. For real! We came from a ward with 5 nursery kids to this new ward that has 2 nursery classes with a dozen kids in each and 50 new kids coming in January that they don't know what to do with. Eric's dad made a good call, "It's kid mecca." Maybe I'll show you some pics.

As for the fabulous trips I was talking about: 1st Eric and I went to Scottsdale, AZ for a dental CE course and to have a romantic little getaway leaving Eva with my parents and taking advantage of a lovely resort with pools and shopping galore. It was incredibly relaxing for me, Eric learned some good stuff, and we had a great time just the two of us. I was ready to get back to my Eva girl, though, and I was a bit sad to see that she didn't miss me at all. My mom and dad had her entertained every second and it was hard to compete with grandma and grandpa. I was glad she had so much fun. Two days later we moved....

The day after moving we flew to California for Megan and Rob's wedding (dental school friends). We left a house full of boxes with leftover pizza and pop from the night before sitting on top of them. I thought I wouldn't be able to relax thinking about all I had to do, but we had the best time. We flew into Oakland and the next morning went to the LDS temple there for their marriage sealing. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun seeing and catching up with our friends.

The reception was in Modesto that evening so we drove down and it was such a cute wedding. Megan you are so creative!

She made these cute little birds on the cake.

Trevor and Nicole Beck live a few hours away from there in Pismo Beach so we drove to their house the next day. We stopped in Monterey which I fell in love with. Cannery Row and Fisherman's Warf were really cool and we had a nice seafood lunch on the beach. Eva had a blast at the Aquarium. She had a fun time splashing around and jumping on a big bubble, or "bup" as she calls them.

Eric took this one in honor of me and my chocolate obsession at the Nestle Tolhouse bakery. I think it's the truth.

We took the Pacific Coast Highway down to Pismo Beach and it was an incredible drive. It was such a different California experience than the one I have done so many times in crazy, busy L.A. and DisneyLand.

The coast was remote, and quiet and when we made it to the Beck's we fell in love with their little town. It is near San Luis Obispo, which everyone refers to as SLO. And it is nice and slow-paced. It is small, but a fun beach town with unique restaurants and shops.

We were so glad to see that the Becks found the place that is perfect for them! It's awesome and I'm excited to go back and visit them. They were so kind to let us stay with them after Nicole just had their darling 3rd baby boy Weston. They are champion parents and so we didn't seem to bother them too much. Actually, the kids had a blast playing together.