My Boise Trip! (Beware..Long Post)

Last Saturday, my little family headed off to Boise for a week of fun at my Grandpa and Grandma Fahnestock's house! My husband had to go on a business trip from Sunday to Wednesday to Vegas, so he drove us to Boise and flew out from there! It was my first experience handling both kids by myself for 4 days, but luckily I have pretty great kids and we had a blast! My grandma was a HUGE help though, and Chayse couldn't get enough of his "gramma ca-cock" (Fahnestock). He was attached to her hip the entire week, and she of course loved it! So here are a few pics..ok a lot of pics recapping our week in B-town!

Here are the kids dressed for church. Don't they look adorable?

This was Alexa's first time..and she seemed quite uninterested in listening, as she slept peacefully the entire time!

Chayse sure does love his little sister! He loves to pose in pictures with her!

Our little angel, sleeping peacefully after her she ate!

Here is Brandon with the kids right before I took him to the airport! As I said before he had a business trip in Vegas..and he ended up having a pretty decent time. He worked during the day and played at night. I was worried he would come home and inform me we had to sell all our belongings to pay off his gambling debt..but luckily he only lost a couple dollars. (Oh and he won a quarter...we are rollin in the big bucks now!) I was really sad to see him go, because we haven't ever been apart that long and though it wasn't horrible, Im not ready for him to leave me again any time soon. Thats a good thing right? :) haha.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

My dear sweet Grandma turned 79 this past Monday, and we had an open house celebration throughout the day to honor her. I just want to take a minute and say how blessed I feel to have her in my life. She is such an inspiration and a great example to everyone she comes in contact with. She takes such great care of my Grandpa, who's health isnt the best right now. She adores him to this day and I love seeing the love and devotion they have for eachother playout in their everyday lives. She is also the first one to get down on the ground and play with the great grandkids or take them to the park to feed the ducks, or to blow bubbles in the backyard! The whole week, she played with Chayse..reading him story after story, letting him help her clean, building castles out of blocks and didnt mind helping him make a mess, only to insist on cleaning it up later. She loved playing with Alexa and always jumped at the chance to hold her, burp her, feed her or just plain stare at her, soaking in the circle of life, in which newborns remind us of. Thank you grandma for the special place you hold in our hearts and family. We love you!


Grandma and Chayse blowing bubbles in the backyard.


Chayse chasing the bubbles!


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On Tuesday, I had a photo shoot with the kids. Audrey Lewis is a phenomenal photographer and the pictures she got made my heart melt. She put up with us for three hours, was so patient with my not so patient 2 yr old, and really went above and beyond for us. Her prices are unbelievably reasonable. She is so great and I really recommend all of you in Boise to check her out. You can visit her website here:

Audrey Lewis Photography

I just have a little sneak peek here of a couple pictures of my kids..but her website has a few more!

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Chayse LOVES going to the park and playing. He gets pretty timid of new parks at first..but then once he gets warmed up..he loves playing on all the toys. He feels so accomplished when he makes it downt he slides without falling on his bum at the end. He usually gets nervous about climbing up onto things..but he definitely overcame a little of his fears and was climbing around, having a blast!

Here he is..being a "brave boy"..a foot off the ground..haha! :)

He loves to ride on these little things. I have no idea what they are called..so things they are.

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This trip to the park was very special to me because Chayse was able to meet Luke for the first time. Though neither of them knew the significance of this meeting, Im sure they will be thankful for the pictures later. Thank you Heather for the fun time at the park, and the wonderful opportunity!

After the park we headed to the airport to pick up Brandon and we were so so excited to see him! Chayse definitely missed his Dad. Chayse had just gotten to the point that he really didnt feel the need to listen to what I said anymore..but he shaped back up when his Dad got home haha. We went out to dinner at one of my favorite restraunts in Boise..Cafe Ole and Chayse was just cracking us up with his silly antics.

I told him to smile..and this is what he pulls.

He tried a lemon..and this is his lemon face! :)

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Little Alexa did so great the whole trip. She was an angel and everyone commented on how calm, and peaceful she was. She got a lot of compliments on how "tan" she is..cuz you know...I take her tanning and all. Haha..JUST KIDDING! No one report me! No, most of it is from her being jaundiced, but that is slowly fading now. She did get her dad's coloring which is a little more olive. She didnt get my "porcelain doll" complexion..(as my friend Mandi would always say). Really I think its a nice way of saying I'm pale..haha! :)

Here she is just hanging out..being patient while I take the millionth picture of the day!

She is so much more alert now! She is awake more and more aware of her surroundings. On Monday..she smiled her first real genuine smile at me. It made me melt. She has really started to fill out more. While I was in Boise, I decided to stop nursing because I just wasnt able to give her what she needed. She would nurse for 45 minutes and still need to be supplemented with a bottle. I still am not comfy with nursing outside my home..and so it was hard being out and about at other people's houses and what not..and have to nurse...and worry about what Chayse was doing..or always make sure someone could watch him while I nursed. I just decided for her sake of getting what she needed and my sanity..Bottle feeding it is. She is doing awesome with it and putting on more weight and its working out great for us!

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BABY SHOWER

So this is picture is right before we left for the shower..and its the ONLY one I have. After the fact, I realized we hadnt taken any..and that is so unlike me! Sorry Alexa, we dont have anything to prove you really did have a shower in your honor..but I promise we did! :)

My sister and Nicole (Cleverley) Lee threw me a great shower at Nicole's beautiful house! Thanks to all the girls and family that showed up. I really enjoyed spending time with all of them and am so thankful for the sweet gifts! Alexa will be the best dressed in town..with a great Bumbo to sit in.and an awesome Excersaucer to keep her entertained. You have to check this thing out! My Grandma got it for her and its pretty intense! You can look at it here ! Thanks to Kimber and Nicole for the great time! Too bad we didnt get any pictures!

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Saturday we headed home to Logan. We had so much fun and are so thankful for the hospitality of my grandparents! We were definitely excited to get home and back into our element and everyday routines. We hit snow on the way home, from Burley on..and had a couple of close calls with skidding and fish tailing..making me really mad that I have to deal with this still..but Spring is almost here! So..there you have it..my trip to Boise! Thanks again to all my friends and family who hung out and made our trip a blast..specially the days my husband was gone. We will be back in May..see ya then!