Thanksgiving in Boise

We drove to Boise this year for Thanksgiving. The drive there wasn't bad at all. Hannah was content to watch her movies and it only took us about 6 hours. We had a ton of fun with Jake's family. Jake had a week off for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately his final exam's started right after break, so he spent quite a bit of time studying. That didn't stop the rest of us from having fun :-) I managed to get almost all my Christmas shopping for Jake's family while we were there. We ate TONS of excellent food. We also took Hannah to see Tangled. Such a cute movie!! And Hannah loved it. She sat there and watched the entire thing. I guess we can officially start taking her to movies again, haha.

On Monday night I watched Dancing With The Stars with some highly unlikely viewers: Papa and my brother-in-law Mike. They didn't just watch it with me, they critiqued the performances, predicted scores, reacted when the scores didn't match up with what they saw, and I loved every second of it :-) So fun! Toward's the end of the program the kid's came out of the play room and noticed the music. They all started dancing and even Papa joined in on the fun. Here is a short clip of them getting their groove on.

Dance Party from Gretchen Pollard on Vimeo.

On Tuesday night we drove to Nampa to visit our good friend's the Bower's. It was so good to see them! They fixed us up a fabulous dinner and we had a wonderful time. They have a 1 year old son named Samuel, and they are expecting a baby girl next month. Hannah and Samuel played so well together! Hannah is not big on hugging, but when we said by to them she gave Samuel multiple hugs with pat's on the back. It was adorable, and fitting since they have a prearranged marriage :-)

Illnesses plagued part of our trip. On Weds Jake's sister Aubrey was in so much pain that she had to go to the ER. They weren't able to pin-point the exact cause, but the doctor thinks it was a ruptured cyst. Scary. She recovered quickly and we are sooo glad. On Sat Hannah came down with a high fever. Fortunately it went away by morning, but it was a rough 12 hours for her.

Sunday afternoon we said goodbye to family and headed home. The drive was 8 hours instead of 6 due to snowy road condition's and accident's that blocked traffic. It felt so good to finally get home. It is gorgeous here in Moscow. It became a winter wonderland while we were gone.

Time for pictures!!

Macy, Katelyn, and Hannah played so well together. Hannah and Macy (4 yrs old) just adore each other. I love that even though we are separated by distance, there is still an undeniable love and connection between Hannah and her cousin's.

Above is Hannah with her Mimi, Papa, and Uncle B. She loves them all so much. We truly are blessed with wonderful families, on both sides. We love and miss you guy's already!