He came. We saw. We froze!

Yeah Uncle Todd came to visit! Kev's oldest brother came out this last weekend! It was so fun to see him! (we did miss the rest of his family though!)


On Saturday we took a trip down to the district! We actually drove which I could not have been happier about! I think I am trained out from London! That and the Metro is so slow! (sorry but it is!)And I think we got to see a lot more this way!



My little American!



Joey of course wanted "uncle Nodd" to carry her, and he was nice enough to do it! Oh and yeah she brought her dog "jasper" with her, it is always something lately!



We went to the Museum of American History, it just so happened it was the grand re opening of it and was super crowded so we didn't stay long. Just long enough to see Starwars and..



My most favorite photograph EVER! The Original Richard Avendon! This was the cover of Vogue! I have always loved it so much! I think we will be going back often!



Stolled down the mall to Washington and Lincoln! What handsome brothers!!



Joey and Daddy and Lincoln! It was so cold I forced her to wear her hat which I think she kept on for maybe ten minutes, I wore it the rest of the time!



And finally some rest! Yes that is her under the blanket, next time I will pack two or three!



Thanks so much for coming Todd! We had so much fun and can't wait for you to return! However Joey does want you to bring Maisy next time!

Grammy and Pa see Jojo's new house!!

Yahoo! My parents came out for a quick but REALLY fun visit! They of course had a travel nightmare and probably spent more time in the airport than they did with us but it was worth it!

Joey was so excited to show Grammy and Pas her new house and her own room and her own toys! First thing when she would wake up, "I wanna see Pas!" Too cute!



We went for a walk down to the river. This is after we spent one whole day at the mall doing all my moms Christmas shopping! Which I of course loved!



I took some portraits of my parents! (more on my photo blog) They were good sports and I am going to give my siblings prints for Christmas gifts! (no surprise there, sorry!)



It was really nice and warm as we were walking down to the river and then when we were there the weather got worse and worse.



We got soaking wet and had to hide in the trees, but it broke and we were able to make it back home!



Not with out a few more pictures at the end!



Joey loves to find sticks and throw them in the river. Pa's of course was really good at it!



Don't worry my mom didn't carry her the whole way back to our place but close! The day they got here Joey kept saying to me "mama, I want grammy carry jojo" I guess she got what she wanted!



We discovered holly berries on our way back and this is Joey about to eat one... She thought it was really funny to see our reaction so she kept faking for a while!



Kev and I actually had to speak in church today. Nerve racking I know. OUr talks were on gratitude, fitting because I couldn't be more thankful for my parents. I think Heavenly Father knew it was going to be hard for me to see them for such a short about of time so asking me to think about gratitude made it easier for me to just be thankful they came and not be sad they weren't staying for longer.. Not that I didn't try to get my mom to change her ticket, I did. But they came they saw and now they are headed to Seattle. Gotta love em!! Thanks for coming!! I loved every minute of it!!

No Sleep till.....cribby!

So remember how I had to buy Joey a new bed and I had to get all new bedding for her... and I had to have her out of her pack n play?



Turns out after a month of no sleep...



We put her back in her pack n play!!! She would not stay in her big bed and she was so tired all the time! She just didn't know what to do with all the freedom. She fell asleep like this for her nap. After she had gone in her close, got her shoes on (it is usually princess shoes) and gathered all her books to read to herself!

Needless to say life is much easier with her back in her "cribby" she sleeps through the night again, wakes up happy and takes her naps!! I figure I better get all the rest I can now before the baby comes and no one sleeps!!

Sarah Rocks!

Lucky us! In case you haven't heard.... Kevs cousin Sarah and her family live out here too! (note Halloween!) They invited us to Sunday dinner at their house and Sarah brought up totes of boy clothes to give to us! I was so excited! We have nothing for this kid and I haven't even really given it that much thought! (not that I am not excited, just busy) But now we are really set and don't have much else to get! Just some grandmas to make blankets and I can call it good! Thanks so much Sarah, you rock! Not to mention an awesome shopping buddy!

The Main Event

Jowin LOVED Halloween this year! She was so funny and a little confused by the whole thing in the beginning. When we first started pulling out decorations every thing was "scary, scary" and by the end after a Halloween shirt, a Charlie and Lola Halloween book and a Maisy Halloween book, it turned into "mom, more scary!!"



We were lucky enough to spend Halloween with The McDaniel family! Sarah is Kevs cousin and she came up and picked me and Joey up so we could play and trick or treat with them! (Thanks again Sarah!!)




Joey the Lady....bug. Braxton the Rock Star and Kenny the Giraffe!




I couldn't resist the photo ops! They were so dang cute!!





By the end, Kenny was a little sick of my camera in his face! (can't really blame him!) And oddly enough Joey was asking me to take more pictures of her!! That never happens!




They had so much fun Trick or Treating! Joey just love playing with Braxton! We got off to a slow start but by the end Joey couldn't even or didn't want to carry her bag! All that and I don't think she said trick or treat once and snuck a few extra pieces of candy at a few houses! Who's kid is she? Thanks again Sarah we had a great time!!
Happy Halloween!!

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!