Trunk or Treat, Smell my feet, give me somthing good to Eat!

We went to our ward trunk or treat and Halloween party on Saturday! It was really a lot of fun! Joey has said for the past while she wanted to be Elmo for Halloween, but as we were trying to get ready she said "No, Jojo ladybug costume!" So thats what she was!


I still went as Cookie Monster though.


Isn't she cute!


And Kev surprised us when he came out with Joeys Elmo costume on his head! It was really funny!



A few cars were all decked out! This one had this guy who played songs and said creepy things, Joey just stood there and stared at him for about 15 minutes. Not scared just staring!


Joey and baby Callie! This is our friend April and Bryans daughter, she is six months and so cute! Joey thinks she is "cute and best" And I would agree she is adorable!






The party inside was a blast! Just like the ones I went to at my ward when I was little. Complete with bean bag toss and a fishing game! Joey played the cupcake walk and got one on her first try!

As we were leaving I asked Joey if she had fun at the party and she said "No mom. Partys over!" She really did have fun, we all did!

Keeping Busy

So what do you do when you are home all day with a two year old and no way to get out of the house? Well you have to get creative! Well at least I have!

We can make awesome crafts! Joey did the painting, I did the rest! But it did keep her entertained for atleast an hour! That is some kind of record!


We go out hunting for leaves. So we can do our crafts.. (even though they haven't changed at our house yet! still waiting.)


We make cookies.. not from scratch.. sorry!


And there is not a day that goes by that we don't have a tea party with Winnie the Pooh, Brown Bear and of course Snow White!


And we make friends with people at Wendy's (the fast food place)
Joey and Nicholas hit it off! They have played three times now and have a great time together!


Joey kept yelling "Niklas, Niklas, mon Niklas!" as she would put her arm around him and show him the way. It was pretty funny! They play great together and it is so fun to have new friends!


So all in all we are keeping busy the best we can! We really like it out here and can't wait to get out and explore a little more, like actually make in to the city!! I guess we got all citied out in London, go figure!

Ups and Downs

Jojo's first real shiner! Oh is was bad! Thanks to her big girl bed side rails and a pillow on the floor Jowin received this black eye! It happened last Saturday and she got to make her debut at church with it. It was quite unfortunate. I have had the regular comments, people are so funny! (not really) But at least no on has called social services. It is clearing up now, has gone to the nice green stage! The sad thing is I know it was a really hard fall because Jo does not bruise easily, she can fall down the stone steps at Tower of London and not even get a mark but this.... I guess we all have our ups and downs!

Grown Ups!

So for the first time since Kev and I have been married we are actually buying our own furniture!!! Both being the youngest and both blessed with amazing families we haven't purchased a single furniture item! Not tables or chairs or couches or cribs... not even cars! So we have been growing up a little since we have been out here, and I got to say, I kind of like it!!




Kev actually picked out the couch! (I have to give credit) and it rocks! It is super comfortable and super easy to clean!! Joey already got some chocolate on it and I am pleased to say it came right out!



This is the view form our loft. Kev decorated the fire place and we bought our tv! See grown ups!

And we got a table! When we first got here we were sitting on camp chairs and a plastic table for dinner. I have to say this is a vast improvement! We got the table on craigslist for a screaming deal and painted it ourselves. I have to say I love how it turned out!!



Kev was a little nervous when I told him I wanted to pain the chairs all different colors but he didn't argue and went right a long and helped me do it, and now says he really likes it! There is no telling what a few cans of spray paint can do!



The walls are still a bit sparse and there are a few more things we will get with time. ie throw pillows, book case.. things like that. But it is coming together and starting to feel like home... whatever that feels like!!

How is Jojo Doing?

Since we have moved most calls and questions have been about Joey. How she is doing. How she like her new home. How she is surviving with just mom and dad to entertain.... Well...
She was thrilled when we opened up her boxes and she saw "all Jojo's own toys!" and now she has a loft filled with all her own toys! She loves to go up and play... as long as Kev or I go with her that is!



We moved her to her big girl bed the second night we were here! I just couldn't let her sleep in a pack n play any longer! That said I am now thinking I could have maybe waited a little longer! Kev and I both cringe when we hear those little foot steps coming in to our room at four in the morning! Luckily she goes back to sleep and sleeps through the night most nights.. She will get it in time! I hope!



She finally put on her Snow White dress! She got it for her birthday and hasn't put it on since. But she loves to color in her Snow White coloring book and today she announced she wanted to put on her snow white dress and shoes! Pretty cute! The funny thing about this picture is I don't usually see it when people say she looks like me but I swear when I look at her face in this picture it is like looking at a picture of me when I was that age.. spooky!




Kev goes to work on Monday and I think it is going to be a really big adjustment for us all. He has been home with us all day for a month now and Joey loves loves it! Hopefully she gets used to the idea of dada home at six o'clock again... but we will see!

She does tend to run through a list of people when we are in the car or playing with toys.. "grammy, pa's, jeffy, ty's, Ella, essie, jen.... grandma, bompa, kay, aussie, tuckder, ery.. lonan and lily, menan and todd, aunt lanie and abby and baby and emma"... and then "I wanna see...." and the list goes on! Thank goodness for blogs and skype so we can actually see people every once in a while!!

Do You Smell Something?

Well we didn't until 8 pm rolled around and we were putting Joey down to bed in her big girl bed! (which I love by the way!) When there was an insanely loud banging on the door and a fireman standing there telling us there was a gas leak in our building and we had to evacuate! We of course grabbed jackets and shoes and headed for the door, where we were greeted by four fire engines and many more fire fighters! Lights ablaze and hoses out! It was a little crazy!



We were outside for more than an hour just wandering around, having races and dance parties passed the time quickly enough. We went back in and Joey was so wound up it too her a while to calm down and get to sleep and I couldn't sleep all night for fear we were all going to asphyxiate in or sleep! However we survived. They found the leak and a few apartments had to go with out gas for the night. Nothing says welcome to your new home like fire fighters and fire engines! At least we know they are on the job!

We're Here! We're Here!

So after two short airplane rides we landed in our new home State! There was no way we were going to drive across country! First off we don't own a car and second Joey is way better on airplanes than she is in cars! (go figure!) So we landed got our awesome rental car and drove right to our new home! Thanks to Kevs new iphone we knew exactly where to go and didn't get lost once! A real first for us, we always get lost! As we pulled up to our newly rented apartment and had to sigh a huge sigh of relief! It is awesome! So pretty! gated community, two swimming pools and a tennis court and the front office gave us a welcome home bag with the essentials like toilet paper and a free pizza from Dominos!



It was a great start to our big move and things have been going smoothly since. Our Pod arrived on time and Kev managed to unload the whole thing carrying everything up three flights of stairs by himself! So we are slowly unpacking and enjoying the sights here.





The Potomac river is just down the hill from us! These were taken with Kev's phone. I have yet to unpack photo stuff! :) So more pictures to come! We are so excited to be here and start living life.... for more than a few months this time!

Look Out East Coast!!

Moving out of state?? Why YES we are! Across quite a few actually...



Tuesday our pod arrived with enough time to pack it and meet it out in Virginia next Wed! Since we have been living out of suitcases for the last 10 months, we had quite the time trying to gather all our stuff to one place in order to get it all packed in this thing!



But we found it and Kev packed it all! I tell you he has a real knack for packing. I just got to sit back and relax! (doctors orders, I'm not just really lazy...well maybe:)



He filled every square inch of our pod, top to bottom wall to wall. In the end I had to hold our mattress in while he got the doors to lock it in! It was funny and weird to see all our stuff we haven't seen or forgotten we had. I can't wait till next Wed when we can actually unpack and have a place to live!!! Can you believe we haven't lived in one place for more than six months since last May! Talk about nomads! It is going to be an adjustment for all of us to have a place we can actually call home!


After a long day of moving there is nothing like playing with cousins and a few kittens. Joey just wanted to hold and hold this kitty.



Normally I would have said noway! (not a big animal lover)... but Lily was doing it.. and it was pretty cute!!



We checked out some sick bugs



And went for skateboard rides!



In the end we tried to get them to watch a movie all together but it was short lived. Joey was up five minutes later playing with toys..


as Joey would say "ni-night Lily, ni-night Logan, ni-night Megan, ni-night Todd!" Thanks for letting us use your cellar for almost a whole year and letting us play at your house!! We will certainly miss it when we are in Virgina next week! So anyone planning a trip back east you can totally stay with us! We will love to have visitors!

One Hundred and Three!!

This last week we went to my Grandads 103rd birthday! That is right! He is my dads dad and he is one amazing man! I guess you could say that his age is finally catching up with him. But up until about a year or two ago he could still mow his lawn and still have a really firm handshake!




He and my grandma were married for over seventy five years! The funny story is that they went to stop their friends from eloping and ended up being the ones to get married instead! When My grandma went home her dad told her she had made her bed and now she had to sleep in it. Which she did for 75 years!






This last one might be my favorite. My brother Jeff and my Granddad.

I guess you could say we come from pretty good genes! Thank goodness for grandparents! I love mine and you should see how much Joey loves hers!!

Since We've Been Home...

We have been enjoying many things....

1. Finding out we are having a baby boy on March 8th!

2. Having live in babysitters

3. Having my mom buy me Lucky Charms and Caffine free diet coke

4. Having my father in law call a Dr friend and getting me more anti nausea meds.. I left mine in Logan.

5. Watching Joey get to play with grandparents, cousins and cousins !dogs

Needless to say I like being at home!

We Like To Party!!!

Happy Birthday Jojo Happy Birthday to you! This fun party is for you!!



A party complete with a bounce around, a ball pit and George!



Popcorn, corndogs, watermelon and lemonade!



And Jojo's "happy cake"! Which she loved this year! I am not sure why the frog won the theme for her party other than she loves Kermit the frog!




She practiced all day blowing out her candles. So when the time came she was ready! She didn't even cry when we sang Happy Birthday to her! Instead she smiled and clapped!



She was spoiled with gifts! And woke up the next morning and played with all of them! She loved it! She even got Pa to play pretties with her! That was pretty funny!



Snow White her favorite princess!



She has played with everything, from her chalk board, piano and tea set and bee book! She has had to take her doll and her dog with her everywhere she goes!





The bounce around was a huge hit! Joey loved to go boing boing! So thank you grandmas for sewing your fingers to the bone to fix the huge hole! The party would not have been nearly as much fun with out it!!









All in all I would say her party was a huge success! Even I had a good time! And Joey stayed out in the bounce around until after nine when we could finally get her to say goodnight! Thanks to everyone who came and played! I know she loved it!

Joey How Old Are You?

"Umm..two!" As she holds up all five fingers!
But she is right! She is two today! I can't believe it! Two and visited 3 different countries, lived in another nation and can say complete sentences!



She loves nice dogs, babies, baby Ella, grandmas and grandpas and to ride in Pa's cars! She was obsessed with "Scotts boat" until she went on "Jeffs boat" and now that is her favorite. When we were in London every boat we would see she would yell "Scotts Boat!!" But it has been replaced by "Jeffs Boat!"



Her fist word was mama and now she wakes up in the morning and will explain to you exactly what she wants, "dad, watch Elmo on Pa's tv." She still likes Elmo but has moved a little into Princess's she is allowed to watch Cinderella but really likes Snow White the most but can't watch it, she picks up the case and yells "scary! scary!"



She loves to count to ten but mostly gets to "1,2,3, x,y,z" Loves to dance and sing "book" to her baby at bed time. She still loves the bath and would play in there for hours if I would let her. (some times I do!)



Jowin is really such a sweet girl! She loves to gives loves and is very caring and sweet. She is extremely opinionated for someone so small but that is one of the things I love most about her. She has to be given options and make her own decisions or else we would never get dressed in the morning! Sometime I have to remind myself that she is only two years old. She seems so big to me! I love her so much and am so thankful she is my daughter! Happy Birthday Jojo! I love you!!