My Brave Jo and Random Pictures

On our way home from Washington I noticed that one of Jocelyn's front permanent teeth had started to come through, however it was behind her baby tooth and her baby tooth was not loose at all. So I called her Dr. that Monday and they got us in right away. After her appointment it became clear that she needed to have all four of her bottom front teeth pulled in order to make room for the new permanent teeth to come in straight. So Monday morning we got up early and went in. Jocelyn was so brave. She was a little nervous at first to even sit in the chair but, once they got "How to train your Dragon" and the laughing gas on she was fine. She didn't make a peep when they gave her shots to numb her gums and actually started talking up a storm while they were removing her teeth. Afterwards she received two toys from the dentist and a barbie from the store with mom because she had done so well for the dentist. Here is her new toothless smile.

Here are some random pictures of the other munchkins... They are so cute!
Oh and the dog.

Our Thankgiving Trip to Washington

The drive to Washington... Google estimated travel time: 13 hours 24 min

Actual travel time: 18 hours 14 min

So Dave and I thought "hey we will get on the road and miss the massive blizzard headed for Utah"... WRONG!! We met up with it in Idaho and got to sit on the highway for a good hour and a half. Here is a picture of the truck in front of us prior to going into the storm.

This is Preston getting very impatient with the wait and trying his hand out at driving a the car himself. By the way we received at least 4 inches of snow while sitting on the highway during the blizzard.

This is what the highway looked like after we started moving again... um yeah it is safe to say we were the only crazy people trying to drive through it.

Misha has changed so much in her 3 + years. She used to be a puppy that would get car sick driving out of the neighborhood but now she just curls up by the heater and sleeps for most of the car ride. She looks smooshed in this picture but that was her doing not ours, as she had plenty of room in the burban.

Finally, we made it to Grandpa & Grandma Battson's house. We promptly went to bed after arriving but the next day we woke up and hung out at the house all day just enjoying the company.

This is the colossus Sweet Potato that by itself turned into the very yummy Sweet potato casserole Miriam made. It was honestly the size of a football.

Preston giving Grandpa the "Everett Scowl"... such a funny serious kid.

So this year I decided to be one of "those" people who do the stay up all night and shop the BLACK FRIDAY deals. Miriam and Chance joined me in craziness and we made out great. We started the evening off at 10pm Thanksgiving day at Toys r us... well that was the plan until we saw the crazy twice around the building line to get in. We then decided to be more strategic and stood in line at old navy while I purchased what I wanted from TRU online for the same door busting price.

After Old Navy we went home for a short energizing break and then headed back to the Mall for the JcPenney Deals at 4am. It was so fun and exhausting but I ended up saving more than I spent which was awesome. We got home from shopping at around 8am and spent the rest of the day sleeping.

Saturday we stopped by Great Grandma Battson' s for a visit. She had a great time meeting her newest Great Grandson Preston. He and Caitlyn put on a great show for her and had her smiling and laughing the whole time.

After Great Grandma's we had lunch at the Ram... one of my favorites. Then Miriam, Jocelyn and I went off to find boots as our attempts on black Friday were smooshed because the ladies in the shoe department were way too crazy for us. Jocelyn had fun trying on the women's boots but we didn't end up finding what we were looking for.

We left early Sunday morning hoping to have better weather than before. No such luck. This was the last bit of sunshine we saw in Yakima, WA on our way home.

Again what should of taken only 13hours ended up being a horrendously long drive home. Idaho had tons of strong winds and snow which resulted in I-86 closing and causing us to detour to I-84 to Pocatello, ID. Fortunately for us they closed I-84 after we had made it to Pocatello so we were able to get onto I-15 and make it home safely. I must say this, Our kiddos were amazingly good considering the extremely long drive and frequent stops to nurse Preston.

We had so much fun in Washington and wish we could just teleport back and forth from there to here, so we could visit more often.

Jocelyn's Girls Only Club

Jocelyn had been asking me and asking me if she could have some friends over for a "Girls only club" for several weeks now and every time it was just too crazy to have more kids over at our house. Well this last Friday I finally caved and said she could invite some girls from school. She invited over three friends from school: Shaylee C., Afton O. and Elle T. and one of our friends daughters from Pinnacle Lily F.

Jocelyn planned the who afternoon which started with making sugar cookies, then painting fingernails. They then watch a Strawberry shortcake movie, ate popcorn and played card games while the cookies cooled. Then they were give some frosting and topping and went to town on the sugar cookies. Jocelyn and her friends Shaylee went crazy with the toppings. Almost all the girls scarfed their cookies as soon as the were decorated. They finished the evening by playing dress up and pretending they were princesses and witches.

Even though I was exhausted and still getting over a sore throat it was so fun to talk with the girls and see them all interact. It really has me looking forward to the fun girls nights she'll have when she is a teenager.

Ethan, Caitlyn and Preston were great during the whole thing too. Ethan sat upstairs watching Scooby-doo movies and snacking on popcorn with daddy. Caitlyn and Preston both took naps for almost the entire time. Here are some pictures I sneaked in of the girls. I couldn't help it, it was all too cute.

Halloween, Family photos and a growing baby boy....

Okay starting with the most recent and working backwards. Preston is 4 months old now and it honestly feels like he is growing up at warp speed. My last little baby is getting so big. He has gained about 3 lbs and 2 inches from his last visit, which is awesome, as he is now on the growth charts. As for new baby tricks he is smiling, cooing and interacting a lot more. He rolls over almost anytime we have him on his tummy. He has also discovered his hands and has them in his mouth most of the day. Here is his stats card and foot prints from the Dr. office.

He was showing off his strength with daddy the other night.. working on sitting up by himself. Sorry blurry picture but he was a little wobbly.

A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken in Saratoga Springs by my dear friend Mikki (http://mikkigrimleyphotography.blogspot.com/).. She did a great job! She was able to get great shots of us all in such a short time before it started pouring rain. She even managed to get my very grouchy Caitlyn to smile in a few shots. Thanks Mikki! Here are just a few of my favorites:

And last but not least our Halloween fun!! We first took the kids to the Cache Valley Mall for trick or treating but the line was so crazy long that we only did half the mall. We then went to Lee's Market Place for their grocery store trick or treat. I think its my new favorite because they pass out things like doughnuts, chocolate milk, cheese stick and the occasional candy. The kids were brave enough to go through the "haunted back room" this year... BUT got completely freaked out. After all that fun we went home and carved are family pumpkin.. I think it is the best one we have ever done. The kids decided on the shape and size of the eyes, nose and mouth.

After dinner Dave took Ethan and Jocelyn to a few of the neighbors houses but seeing as it was pouring rain they came back soon and helped mommy pass out candy. I think they enjoyed that part the most because every time the doorbell rang they were both right at the door to see what the other kids were dressed as.