A Family Visit in Iowa

We had another visit to Iowa. This time, my sister Cindy was in from Seattle. It had over a year since she had seen Aidan and I was eager for her to see all of his changes. While we were all together we also saw my Aunt Janet and Uncle Jim, Aunt Betty and Uncle Jerry, my Grandma Fern, my friend Elleni and her 3 kids, and of course Aidan's cousins. He was constantly at Sophie's side, as usual. He almost paid attention to his little cousin Sarah. I guess she isn't interesting enough yet. Elleni and I braved an outing to the mall and McDonald's with our combined four kids. I don't know how she manages two kids and an infant and makes it look so easy. I still get overwhelmed with one sometimes. Besides getting to see a ton of family and friends, it was nice to just hang out with my sister Cindy. I remember when she was in college and used to have us come to stay the weekend with her. I thought I was the coolest 4th grader ever! :) Now she lives in Seattle and hopefully we'll get up her way again soon. Seattle is a fun town. And in other exciting news, my nephew and his wife had their baby the day I left. They had a little girl named Claire. That makes me a great aunt. Now I feel old. However, I take some small comfort in calling my brother "gramps". :)
While we were in Iowa, Julien was off for business in San Diego. I know, you all feel really bad for him. This was a longer trip than usual though. By the end of the week, we all were glad to see each other again. Halloween is coming up and I will be sure to take many pictures. This weekend, Julien and I are taking his parents to the Rams game. Now that they're winning, I'm looking forward to it. I know, I'm a fairweather fan. I'm hoping things will slow down a bit. I'm ready for a break.