During our two years in London there were six new cousins born; Melissa and Harper (on the Bird side) and JaneAnne, Jeremiah, Eleanor and Frances (on the Hall side.) In addition, all the other cousins were two years older and with the exception of Charlie and Eleanor who visited us, had changed so much since we had last seen them. Needless to say, there were some really wonderful reunions taking place. 

We roughly divided our time between our families depending on which of our siblings would be visiting and other factors. After returning from NYC,  Adri and her clan and Evan and his clan all came to Boise for some good times.  

We mostly did what we Halls do best, we talked and ate good food while our kids made messes and memories. We had a picnic in the park, we had a soccer tournament, we attempted a hike that will go down in the Hall history books as a big joke about how we try to be out-doorsy but maybe we just aren’t… Instead we threw rocks in the river and soaked our feet (or our whole bodies in the case of Mim and Grace) in the hot springs.  Even if we aren’t good hikers, we are at least really good at appreciating the outdoors in more passive ways.  

Cameron and Charlie practiced a little independence and rode bikes to KFC and to the park to play soccer in the heat. Meanwhile the younger cousins spent endless hours in the backyard playhouse and on the swingset.  We went swimming at Meridian pool and Charlie inspired Cameron to do a flip off the diving board, which he quickly became obsessed with. I did some shopping with the ladies and Bryan and Will took the boys to Big Al’s to watch sports. Evan indulged Eli in some games of chess and Stratego.  There were occasional kid-fights and drama, but all in all it was all wonderful.