Pop Quiz

What do you do if it snows the night before your 6am flight home?
Leave by 4am to make sure you will not miss your flight.


What do you do during a 4 hour layover and then delayed flight in Denver?
Eat some yummy whole wheat pancakes and watch the airplanes outside. Then play with your new soldiers, try to make friends with some other kids, and roll around on the floor for a while.


What do you do when your plane is refueling in Montgomery after circling around and around Birmingham but can't land due to weather?
Eat some snacks that Ya Ya packed for us. (thanks Mom!! totally saved the day)


What do you do when you finally land 3 1/2 hours late and then wait forever for all of your luggage and car seats?
Celebrate with some happy meals and sweet new dog Jimmy! Then procrastinate unpacking by blogging about your trip home!

Just a few pictures

 
The kids and I are still in Utah. Apparently we leave tomorrow. I tend to get the dates wrong every time it's time for me to go home. We have had the most wonderful time here in Utah but it will be fun to go home and meet Jimmy. That's what Brooks has named the dog. There was another dog at the Humane Society whose name was Jimmy, but we didnt' end up with him because he peed on everything and we just can't have that. So Jimmy it is. Yes, Lewis went out and bought the dog without me there. It reminds me of something funny. When Lewis and I were engaged his Bishop said that he wanted to meet with us. We went in and he told us that he wanted to meet with us every Sunday before we got married. Then he went on to tell us this story about how his wife wasn't with him once when he bought a piece of land. Without her even knowing. And then he very dramatically asked us if we could trust eachother enough to make decisions like that on our own. We never went back to see him again, but I guess now we know the answer! We can't wait to meet Jimmy!

(and I guess I should have called this just one picture because I can't figure out my Dad's computer. So you'll get more photos when I get home!)

Gunner?

So, I went and got a dog at the Humane Society today. I loved this little guy from the get-go because he is energetic, yet has a calm side and is small enough that he will not plow the kids over when he is energetic. I always swore I wouldn't own a "small dog" and while he is definitely not a "toy dog" size, he is probably no more than 7 or 8 pounds soaking wet. He gets along fine with Moose now that she has asserted herself by almost eating him whole in a dispute over his puppy food. I am not sure, but he seems to be already house trained because he has so far (knock on wood) only relieved himself outside. His story, per the woman at the shelter, is that he is 5 months old and was taken to the shelter by his owners because they could not afford the pet deposit for their new condo they were moving into. His given name at the shelter was Gunner, and so far I kinda like it. Let me know if you have any other ideas for a name for him. So far, Scooter and Gunner are the two we are deciding between. Oh, and he is a rat terrier which is as close to owning a rodent as we will ever get in this house.

Santa Baby

Dear Santa,

For Christmas Aiden would like an American Girl doll, Kit please. Brooks would like a light saber. Cate won't bother to tell me what she wants, so I guess that means she's all set. You already know this, of course, because they told you when they sat on your lap at the church party last weekend. Blah blah blah.

Anyway, what I want for Christmas is to see the sun for once FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. I mean, I know we lived in Connecticut and in our 4 years there we DID see the sun a handful of days, but I've been spoiled here in "sweet home Alabama where the skies are so BLUE". Yes BLUE! So please, all I want for Christmas is to see the sun. (it's been weeks, I swear. Weeks of rain, overcast skies and fog and humidity so bad my toffee was soggy and our doors are swollen). Oh, and I would also like to see my entire extended family (except for Kip who is on a mission) including my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. I heard you are going to make that happen and even throw in a few bonus in laws. That is so amazing and wonderful I can hardly even believe it. I can't wait to see them. BUT, Santa, if you could please let the sun peek out for a minute I would be ever so grateful.

Sincerely yours forever and always BFF,
JJ


PS you PROBABLY already know this too, but Lewis would really like a new dog for Christmas. Because I'm SURE he'll be the one doing all the caretaking of this new dog. I know, he's been to the humane society at least 5 times so far and to every pet shop within 25 miles, but just in case you didn't notice, he would love a new puppy. One that can run with him when it gets bigger. Maybe that sweet lab mix with the sweet blue eyes. I promise we would change his name from Lennie to something much better. Thanks.

PPS we opened family presents this morning and Brooks liked his socks!




PPPS here's a bonus shot of Cate just because

"young skywalker"

Brooks thinks he is luke skywalker. The only problem is that the sword is as long as his leg which makes it hard to walk.

We HEART ophthalmology

Lewis changed the password for me to get on blogger because he was afraid I was going to embarass him on his birthday. Why would I ever do a thing like that? Maybe because he put a REALLY ugly picture of me on the blog?!?!?!? But don't worry, I won't stoop to his level. Yet.
Anyway, he has been on a rotation in medical school that we really like because they don't care if he comes or not. And when he goes in, it's really boring (except for the days they operate, he really really really likes those days of course). SO, he's been here LOTS more than he has been in the last year and a half or so. It's been nice to have him around. It's nice to have another adult in the house who can wipe a bum or let the dog out or start dinner while I am feeding the baby or doing laundry, etc. I feel less outnumbered when he is around. And he got our house all decked out with lights. For the first time ever. (unless you count the time I rigged up some lights outside our apartment in CT. I put up inside lights outside and had to plug them in inside because there was no outside outlet. Unfortunately, or maybe it was fortunately, the insurance guy just happened to be coming by and wouldn't let us keep them up. Bah humbug.) Step aside, Clark Griswald.

And now, without further rambling, here are some pictures. Mostly from a local Christmas parade. Yes, a Christmas parade, not a Holiday parade. We no longer live in New England, that's for sure! This is the south! You can call it a Christmas parade. I especially liked the Whoville float because it was by an orthodontist and those Whos could really use an orthodontist (or an oral surgeon in some cases).


Brooks mostly enjoyed the candy they threw. It was lots of candy and they had dog treats for Moose too.
We were totally bundled up. I mean, it WAS in the 40's people!! That's about as much cold as we can take these days.


And now the lovely Brooks (who won't stop climbing all over me as usual) would like to "blog wif me"

bbbbbrookksssss abcdefggghijklmnopqrrstuvwxxxyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Someone is turning 31 today!

Us in Disneyland a couple of years ago.

Running the NYC marathon. Wayyyyyyyyy faster than Lance.

A tooth pulling machine.

Lew and Cate at the zoo.

Lewis teaching the kids how to sew up faces. On one of my pillows!!

Again, so young.


Us on the beach in Thailand. I was 6-8 weeks pregnant with Aiden.

Can you believe how young we look? Sending Lewis off to Thailand was so sad.

Skateboarding with Paul and Mark

Happy happy birthday Lewis dear! (I think I've posted some of these before, but our scanner is a piece of junk so I'm going the easy route.) If you want to see last year's post, go here
I can hear the kids fighting and it's coming to blows, so I should go. Happy birthday Lewis! We love you!