Life in the new year

I am way behind in this post. I meant to post on the 1st. When I missed that I wanted to do it on Sunday and missed that to, but better late than never...right?

Quentin turned four months right before Christmas. He is the sweetest baby. He has the best laugh and is pretty ticklish. He still loves to be held all the time which means I'm making dinner to the sound of a sad baby, but other than that he is a happy baby. He is starting to grab things and we have been practicing sitting up with him. He also seems very interested in the food we eat so we have been giving him tastes of real food.

After Christmas we spent our time playing with our new toys. Daphne definitely loves the train set she got as well as her stuffed triceratops aptly named "Tops". We have enjoyed all the card/board games we got. Its so nice to have some games that don't need other people to play them with. 

Johnny hasn't had to go to the hospital very much since Christmas which has been fun. New Years Eve we had our sparkling cider and lucky pickled pigs feet. We watched about 5 minutes of the "Ball Drop" and it was horrible. Not worth all the junk to watch the ball drop for 10 seconds. 

 

On New Years Day we headed down to D.C. Johnny has really wanted to see the Holocaust Museum. So we went there and then headed over to the American History Museum as well. It was nice to take things slow while we were there. We usually are rushing to hit everything in one day, but we were there just to waste time and it was a lot of fun.

After a couple days of work we headed north for Michigan for Johnny's interview in Brighton. I'm so glad we left a day early. We got to go stay with the Price's which was a joy! I love Katie and we had a good time playing games and talking. We did get there later than planned on Saturday because one of our tires blew out. We did beat the storm though. After hanging out on Sunday we drove over from their house to the hotel in Brighton. The storm was going pretty strong by this time so the drive was long and slow. At the hotel we just relaxed and stayed warm. Monday morning we dropped Johnny off and then just went back to the hotel instead of roaming the town like I wanted to. It was just to cold and to snowy to be out roaming around. We headed home once we picked up Johnny, but we didn't get very far with all the snow on the road. We ended up staying the night in Columbus. We woke up to another flat tire the next morning. So after getting the car repaired, again, we drove the rest of the way home. 

Life is going to be crazy for the rest of the month while Johnny finishes up his interviews. He will be gone a lot since he still has five interviews. We will miss him, but I know it will be worth it. Can you believe he will be a Doctor in three months! I can't wait for him to accomplish his dream and to find out where we are going to be living.  

I LOVE Christmas!!!

We had the best week (and a half)! It started Friday morning picking up Joey. We always have such a great time with him. He was a surprise for Daphne and she was...but not as surprised as Johnny was when he saw his dad sitting in our car when we picked him up from school! Joey, Mary and I did quite a bit of scheming to get him here with out Johnny knowing, but it was so worth it. 

The kids had such a great time with Papa and Uncle Joe! Saturday we went to D.C. to be tour guides. We started our very early morning at the White House. I was pretty excited about this. Its one of the things on my bucket list to visit the White House at Christmas and thanks to Joey we got to. John didn't get to see it because we didn't submit his name in time. 

It was so pretty especially with all the decorations, but a lot smaller than I thought it would be. We got to take pictures too, which is normally not allowed. The rest of the day was spent going to the typical places. We were all pooped by the end of the day.

Sunday was the main event! We blessed Quentin. I actually heard what Johnny said this time and it was so great to have family there.

We were all sad when John had to leave Monday. I think he was the most sad though. I know it was the best Christmas gift we could give him, to see his grand kids and to get to help bless his first grandson. On our way back from the airport we stopped at the temple to see the lights. It was beautiful and I loved getting to see the nativity scenes from around the world. 

The rest of the week we spent playing games and hanging out. Christmas day was full of fun. Daphne loved her gifts and I think Joey and I both felt spoiled. Johnny is such a giver. He loves to give gifts! 

It was a sad day when Joey left too. We went and met Lindsay (Joey's girlfriend) down in Richmond. We had lunch with her and then it was time to say goodbye. Daphne cried for a good ten minutes. She kept saying she wanted to see "Joey and Lindsay NOW". It broke my mommy heart. 

Little Projects

So I have been doing a few little projects to keep myself busy and thrifty.  Besides the ones here I finally stitched Quentin's name into his quilt. 

I found this awesome wrapping paper at Target and was so sad when I ran out of it when I was wrapping gifts. I had a few scraps so decided to.....

.....make some ornaments with them. I just started collecting lids from jars and cover those with the paper. I think they are cute and have helped to round out our tree. I get so excited when we finish a jar of something because it means I get to add another ornament to our tree.

 I also made salt dough ornaments. I should have thought this one through a little more. Once I rolled out the dough I realized I didn't have anything to cut them out with. (I have cookie cutters, but they are some where in a box in Colorado...no help here.) So I used a knife. My stars turned out a little wonky, but you can't really tell on the tree. Maybe next year I will toss these out and make new ones. I also made one for Daphne to paint, and one for Quentin's foot and one for Johnny and I to decorate.

My big project was this changing table. I found it outside our apartment in a pile of dressers and book shelves that looked pretty "used", but the table was redeemable. The top was coming off one of the legs so I glued that. Then after a little spray paint and some fabric it turned out like this...

I'm pretty happy with the result. I think the total cost was about $20. So worth it! I can't believe how nice it is not to have to get down on the ground to change the kiddos little bums. I am also using it for toy storage. Daphne's toys are no longer sprawled all over the floor in her room. They are nicely tucked away on her shelves. Win Win!

Thanksgiving....plus a week.

We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you did too. Johnny was done on Tuesday so we got a really long weekend with him, which is always fun. I spent all day on Wednesday prepping for the big turkey day. I like doing this because it makes Thursday so much easier and I get to enjoy spending the time with my family instead of in the kitchen. I didn't do all homemade stuff this year though most of it was. We had a TON of food leftover, but that is fine by me. We made our thankful hands on Wednesday as well. We started this little tradition in Dominica with my good friends Katie and Clair. I loved doing it, so we have kept it going.  Thursday I got up and made breakfast and then got the turkey in. We all sat and watched the parade together. I missed Santa because I was started cooking, but that is okay. We ate early so we could get to talk to family and then go out for "Black Friday"(which for some reason starts on Thursday now!) We didn't get much, but we got a couple good deals. 

Friday I usually put up the tree and decorate, but we didn't have a tree yet so we went out to the mall and walked around. Saturday I was a busy girl. I went out to go get a tree and then I had a practice for singing. I also had to go shopping. When I got home we cleaned up the house. I put up the tree and then we waited for our guest to arrive. 

 One of Johnny's classmates, Bryan, is staying with us for two weeks while he does a short rotation here. It has been fun for me because he has taken Johnny to work with him so I have had the car and been able to go out. I took the kids out one day to just walk around at stores and it was so nice. It was my first time being out just me and the two kids and I'm proud to say a survived. We also went to the Lego store for their Free Build. Fun times!

Three months of perfection!

I can't believe our little man has been here three months! I love every minute of it. He is sheer perfection! He is starting to grab at things and trying to wiggle somewhere. I don't think it will be to long before his is scooting around the house. He loves to be played with and if you smile at him he always has a big smile waiting for you in return. My little heart melted the other day when Daphne said he was her best friend. He loves to watch her and you can tell he can't wait until he can run around and dance with her. He is a little talker and always seems to be making noise and kicking his little legs. He has the most perfect face and his hair is starting to get to long. He may have to get a hair cut before his sister does. We love every piece of him. 

To much fun to handle!

So I have so much to talk about because we have been so busy and I haven't posted in forever! We have had my sister to visit, Quen turned two months, we celebrated Halloween, and we went on a big road trip for a couple of Johnny's interviews. So you can see that we were busy. Lets start with my sisters visit. 

This was something I was SO excited for. It had bet to long since it was just the two of us and back then we didn't get along as well as we do now. We had a time from the moment she stepped off the plane. We spent our first two days walking the D.C. Mall. We went to the Capital, the Archives, Library of Congress, Fords Theater, Arlington and all the Monuments. Even though it was a ton of walking we had a great time taking all the history and all the gelato. Saturday morning we did a session at the temple that was perfect. We were starving by the time we were done so we went out for a big lunch and a little shopping. Sunday she helped me sing at our stake conference. We got home and decided to take one more trip down to D.C. to see the Holocaust Museum. It was a great exhibit even if it was a depressing one. We didn't have anything planned for Monday and ended up driving the short distance to Gettysburg. I felt chills looking up towards Little Round Top and thinking of the men charging and the men defending that little hill. Tuesday was the sad day of her departure, but we did take a little trip to the bay to walk the beach before she left. All in all it was a perfect visit! I can't wait for our next encounter!!!

Now on to my sweet baby. I can't believe how big he is getting! He is wearing 3 month clothes already. He is so sweet and happy. I love every minute of him. I feel like I could never get enough of his face. 

Halloween gets better every year. Some things are just better as a parent. Daphne loved it! We carved pumpkins before Rachel's visit. They were very rotten before Halloween arrived. The ward had a party that was great; great chili, great treats, great fun. On Halloween night we did our tradition and dressed up and when to Chipolte for $3 burritos! Then it was off to trick-or-treat. We went to a person's house that is in the ward to meet everyone and all go out together. It was a really good neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Daphne got tons of loot. We will be eating it for awhile.

Our little interview trip was so awesome. I like to be able to go with Johnny on his trips. I get to see our options for the future and I get to get out of the house for a couple of days. This trip we had two interviews. One in Saginaw, MI and the other in Cleveland, OH. Both would be fine options for us even with the cold weather. 

The kids and I had lots of fun while Johnny was at the interviews. In Saginaw we spent our day with the Walpole's, our good friends from Dominica. We went to a story time at the library and then to the children's museum there. After picking Johnny up we met back at the Walpole's because we were going to stay the night there. We got together with a whole bunch of people from the island and it was the highlight of the trip! It was so good to catch up with friends that were our family while we were on the island. Everyone looked so good and sounded like life was going well for everyone. We stayed up way to late that night talking with the Walpole's (we tend to do that with them). Saturday we woke up to a great pancake breakfast and then it was off to Kirtland. We got in a little later than we wanted so we didn't get to see the temple, but we went to the LDS Visitors center and the buildings they have there. Sunday we Went and did the tour of the Temple and it was really nice. I had been before, but they have changed things since then. Monday was the interview in Cleveland so while Johnny did that the kids and I swam and then had lunch at McDonalds while Daphne played. We headed straight home after picking Johnny up. We got home and we were all pretty tired. Its been a week since we got back and we haven't done anything at all. I'm getting excited for the holidays. We are going to have Joey here for Christmas again and its always fun to have him. 

To much fun to handle! (Pictures)

Sorry, these are very out of order!

Cinderella and her Prince

Halloween

Me and Katie!!!

All the Dominica Kids! They belong to us, Jamie, Holly, Crystal, and Ann.

Daphne had a ball playing with Hayden!

Pioneer Children at the Temple VC.

Two Months

Me and the Sister at Arlington

Kirtland