Mix Family

We are home safe. Boise has grown since I was there 18 years ago. Cannon had work to do and we needed to get some sunshine. The weather was typical blustery Idaho stuff but there were a few days of glorious warmth and sunshine. It was pretty mild compared to Alaska and was very much enjoyed by all of us. While Cannon was working during the day (and sometimes nights) we spent most of our time with Amanda, Tristan and Pierce out in Emmett. We had a great time with them. We also got to go shopping, got to play at Monkey Business, ate at our favorite places, swam at the hotel pool. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Hillam for a brief but wonderful visit. All in all, it was a great visit to the sagebrush ridden, dirt hills of Boise. I will admit that anytime I heard someone mention "BSU", I snickered to myself, rather immaturely. And the flaming orange and electric blue BSU colors have always struck me as annoyingly tacky, but their football team has been so awesome that folks wear their school colors with pride. Boise is in an ugly place, but it's a fun city because there is a little of everything for everyone. We attempted to drive out to the reservoir and some peak that I forget the name of and we were so bored with the barren nature around us that we turned the car around before ever reaching the reservoir, knowing that anything we saw would be very anticlimactic. I will say this about Alaska, NOTHING compares to the wild, spectacular beauty of this place...not even Boise's reservoir, or the deer.

But it was tough to return to Alaska, knowing how far we are from family and not knowing when we would see friends and family again was a hard pill to swallow. It was also difficult knowing that I was no longer going to be paying 57 cents/pound for oranges and $2 for a gallon of milk. We are happy to be back in our home, sleeping in our beds and visiting with friends here. It's just a little bittersweet.