As you all know, Brandon is home safe and sound from Israel. I'm not sure if he'll ever find the time to blog about it in between working, finishing his two classes this semester, and weeding through 600++ pictures. I hope he does find the time though, because it was a life changing experience and I'd love for him to share it with you all.
Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lindsey came up to see us one day. Noah had fun taking uncle Ryan up and down the "hill" (ditch) in front of memaw and pappaw's house.
We went to the train show one day. Here's Noah watching Thomas. He was so serious and enthralled by the trains the entire time. He really enjoyed looking at all the train sets.
Oooooh! More trains!
Memaw finds good deals on toys at consignment stores around town, but Noah has just as much fun with mine and Ryan's old toys. Here he is playing with Uncle Ryan's old car set (circa 1983).
Noah was in desperate need of a haircut when we went to Oklahoma, but the last time I took him to get his hair cut, it was NOT fun. My mom gave me the moral support I needed to take him to get it cut. He did not like it and it took both of us to hold his arms down, (thus, the reason for no pictures) but the guy did an excellent job. We kept telling Noah he looked so handsome and he would rub his head and say, "haircut". Here he is playing with the toys after his hair cut.
After getting his hair cut, we took him to the new children's museum in town. They had quite a bit for toddlers to do. There was a little grocery store where Noah got to do some pretend shopping. Mommy has him trained well, because right after he picked out his items, he'd say, "pay". He's always asking me to open things at the store and I'm constantly telling him we have to pay for them first. 
Then he got thrown in the county jail...
They had a fun little room with black lights and different lighting displays. Here, he's looking for the fish in the water tube.
I've mentioned before how much Noah loves tunnels. He had a blast dropping the balls down these tunnels.
More tunnels!!
In the kid sized house. "Hewhoa!"
Noah loved this exhibit. He got to dig for "bugs" in the "dirt" with memaw.
It got VERY cold while we were there so pappaw built us a fire a couple nights in a row. Noah LOVES it (so does mommy). He can say fire, but he still calls it a "wow-wow" sometimes because he's so fascinated by it.
It even snowed one day! It didn't stick, but the flakes were big and fluffy and so pretty. It was Noah's first time to see the snow (since he's been old enough to remember). He didn't seem to mind playing (and mowing in it).
He wore this Elmo piano out while we were there! It plays Elmo's World and a few other songs. At the end of the song, Noah would say (almost sing), "das Elmo World!"
We drove up to see Noah's great grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins one afternoon.
While he was halfway around the world, Noah and I were at my parent's house in OK. We had a wonderful time there and both came home spoiled.
Here's a look at what we did to stay busy.
Noah loved playing in memaw and pappaw's big yard! Here he is on one particularly windy day.
Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lindsey came up to see us one day. Noah had fun taking uncle Ryan up and down the "hill" (ditch) in front of memaw and pappaw's house.We went to the train show one day. Here's Noah watching Thomas. He was so serious and enthralled by the trains the entire time. He really enjoyed looking at all the train sets.Oooooh! More trains!Memaw finds good deals on toys at consignment stores around town, but Noah has just as much fun with mine and Ryan's old toys. Here he is playing with Uncle Ryan's old car set (circa 1983).Noah was in desperate need of a haircut when we went to Oklahoma, but the last time I took him to get his hair cut, it was NOT fun. My mom gave me the moral support I needed to take him to get it cut. He did not like it and it took both of us to hold his arms down, (thus, the reason for no pictures) but the guy did an excellent job. We kept telling Noah he looked so handsome and he would rub his head and say, "haircut". Here he is playing with the toys after his hair cut.After getting his hair cut, we took him to the new children's museum in town. They had quite a bit for toddlers to do. There was a little grocery store where Noah got to do some pretend shopping. Mommy has him trained well, because right after he picked out his items, he'd say, "pay". He's always asking me to open things at the store and I'm constantly telling him we have to pay for them first. Then he got thrown in the county jail...They had a fun little room with black lights and different lighting displays. Here, he's looking for the fish in the water tube.I've mentioned before how much Noah loves tunnels. He had a blast dropping the balls down these tunnels.More tunnels!!In the kid sized house. "Hewhoa!"Noah loved this exhibit. He got to dig for "bugs" in the "dirt" with memaw.It got VERY cold while we were there so pappaw built us a fire a couple nights in a row. Noah LOVES it (so does mommy). He can say fire, but he still calls it a "wow-wow" sometimes because he's so fascinated by it.It even snowed one day! It didn't stick, but the flakes were big and fluffy and so pretty. It was Noah's first time to see the snow (since he's been old enough to remember). He didn't seem to mind playing (and mowing in it).He wore this Elmo piano out while we were there! It plays Elmo's World and a few other songs. At the end of the song, Noah would say (almost sing), "das Elmo World!"We drove up to see Noah's great grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins one afternoon. Here's memaw and Noah in front of the pretty yellow tree at great grandma's house.
My grandma has 40 beautiful acres. Noah LOVED looking at the cows. He wanted to get up close and see them. He said, "have one?" He wanted to be able to touch one.
Uncle Terry hooked a trailer up to my grandpa's old tractor and took us for a hayride. Here are Noah and his cousins posing for a picture on the trailer prior to the hayride. During the hayride my child had tears streaming down his face. He did not like it for some reason...wish I would've gotten a picture.
Uncle Terry hooked a trailer up to my grandpa's old tractor and took us for a hayride. Here are Noah and his cousins posing for a picture on the trailer prior to the hayride. During the hayride my child had tears streaming down his face. He did not like it for some reason...wish I would've gotten a picture.Mac, Noah, and Sinjin, handsome boy cousins.
On our way out of town, we stopped to eat at the legendary Ku-Ku Burger, a Route 66 landmark. Noah practically inhaled his Ku-Ku cheeseburger! He loved it!
Noah enjoyed reading Busy Timmy and Stevie's Tricycle. These were two of my brother's classic Little Golden books. 
Nana and pawpaw came to see us on their way to Eureka Springs. Noah had fun running through the purple flowers (a.k.a. weeds) with pawpaw.
Playing tetherball with Nana:
Swingin' high with pawpaw:
On our way out of town, we stopped to eat at the legendary Ku-Ku Burger, a Route 66 landmark. Noah practically inhaled his Ku-Ku cheeseburger! He loved it!Noah enjoyed reading Busy Timmy and Stevie's Tricycle. These were two of my brother's classic Little Golden books. Nana and pawpaw came to see us on their way to Eureka Springs. Noah had fun running through the purple flowers (a.k.a. weeds) with pawpaw.Playing tetherball with Nana:Swingin' high with pawpaw:Noah loves looking at himself on camera after we take his picture. He had a blast having two sets of grandparents there at the same time! Double the attention, double the spoiling!
After 12 and a half days, we finally got to see Brandon! This is our happy reunion. It was SO good to see him after he'd made it home safe and sound. Noah had the BIGGEST smile on his face when he saw his daddy!
Thank you, memaw and pappaw for letting us stay with you for 12 days. Thank you for cooking for us, cleaning for us, grocery shopping for us, building fires for us, doing laundry for us, having toys strung all over your house for us, taking us out to eat, entertaining Noah, making him laugh, changing diapers, and being exhausted. We had so much fun! We love you.
Thank you, memaw and pappaw for letting us stay with you for 12 days. Thank you for cooking for us, cleaning for us, grocery shopping for us, building fires for us, doing laundry for us, having toys strung all over your house for us, taking us out to eat, entertaining Noah, making him laugh, changing diapers, and being exhausted. We had so much fun! We love you.
