Thanksgiving with the B's

This year was our turn to spend Thanksgiving with the B's. Just my sisters and our families were there this year so it was pretty chill. Mom had it decorated with cute centerpieces and her real silver. That's one thing you don't get when we have Thanksgiving at our house.

The little girls were so wild - and both love Jer. Bryn is Grandpa's sweetheart.I'm not sure if she loves Err or Grandpa more.

(above) Devin, Lyns, Bryn and Mason with Grandma and Grandpa.

(above) Jer and I with our happy kids. New Years Resolution for 2013 - fit on the loveseat with a kid between us. Comfortably. My mom and dad look cute! I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of Cari. She was there and was the highlight for the girls (as usual).

His HEAD is like an orange on a toothpick

This boy is going to make me lose so much sleep over him. Last Saturday he was playing in a soccer game and collided with a teammate. As they both jumped up for a header, Jake's head missed the ball and hit Josh's face. They both went down. Hard. And Josh didn't get up. He was knocked out for a little over a minute and when he came to, he didn't answer his coaches questions (like what day is it? where are you? what's your girlfriends name?). He stood up to walk off the field and walked toward the goal.

Can I just say that it is a darn good thing I was not there. Granted, hearing the story later wasn't pleasant, but I'm glad I wasn't there watching my son lay face down on the field.

We took him to the InstaCare but since it was a weekend, no one would do a CT scan until Monday. The doctor checked him and had us watch him closely thru the night. We took him back Sunday morning because the doctor wanted to keep close watch.

He slept a lot over the weekend. And, had a hellofa headache.

Tuesday morning at 5am, Josh woke up and started puking. Not a good sign. Never a good sign after a head injury. I called into work and once we got the girls to school, I took him back to see the doctor. He couldn't stop throwing up. There was nothing in him yet he couldn't stop. The first thing they did when we got to the doctors office was give him a shot in his butt for the nausea. He still threw up after that. His So they sent us home so that he could be comfortable while they scheduled the CT scan.
 

Unfortunately, Lynsee wasn't working that day. They sent us to her office (Utah Imaging) for the xrays. But, even though she wasn't there, she called and told the doctor that we were coming and to read the images right away and let us know if everything was okay.

We still had to wait a while before they did the scan, but by about 3:00p.m. we finally knew that his brain was okay and his cheek bone wasn't broken. A word to the wise: never google or search webmd about things that your doctor tells you "it could be."

Josh was pretty upset about this concussion. The one's he had last year (yes, that's plural) were minor enough that he didn't seem to understand how bad it could be. This time, when his blood pressure was way high, his resting hr was racing, his cheek was swollen and cut up, and he was puking for hours straight (all that on top of the headache), he actually considered walking away from the sport of soccer. Post Concussive Syndrome is not fun. And it doesn't go away the next day.

The shot they gave him knocked him out for like 12 hours. Not only did he crash in the front room on the couch, but he never moved while I shampooed the carpets (yes, he missed enough that I had to rent a rug doctor).

So when he uses his head in games or practice or even just screwing around with his friends, you'll know why his mom freaks out. And so help me, if I get my way he will not only start wearing a helmet to play the game, he will be wearing it 24/7. Junior High kids can be mean and they might give him crap for it, but at least he will have his brain cells. Or what's left of them.

My Baby is old enough to get her ears pierced!

The rule in our house has always been that you have to wait until you are 8 to get your ears pierced. Erin has been excited and anxious to get hers done for a long time. I decided to take her about a month before her birthday so that by the time Christmas gets her she might be able to switch them out. She had picked out what earrings she wanted online so when we got there is was quick and painless (for my wallet at least). She was all smiles before the guns came out....

Still okay while getting her ears marked with a pen....

Then, just like that, smiles are gone and tears start pouring. I still don't know how people can do that to their babies. At least when they are 8, they make the choice themselves. She went into it knowing it would hurt and she still wanted to do it.

We walked straight over to Sizzler (at the District) to have dinner and that was a nice distraction. 

Look how red her little ears are. And her shirt is wet from tears.

But, she did it and she loves them. We have been pulling her hair back every day so that she can see them when she looks in the mirror.

Next fight - wearing "dangley" earrings.

Just a little greeting to wish you happy trick or treating

 Every year we have a little cousin Halloween Party with the Johnson's (cause Jenn is awesome and plans it every year). We did it at the church this year because the weather didn't allow us to do it outside like we have in the past. We had navajo tacos, played games, drew names for Christmas and had a hot chocolate bar. So fun!

 Seth and Emma are only 1 year apart - look how tall Emma is! Or is Seth little? Yes.

 All the little one's love Emma. She is so good with all of them. I love this picture of her with Elliot.

 Grandma and Grandpa B took the kids to the Petersen Family Farm to pick out their pumpkins. They had so much fun and I was sad I missed it (darn that Wells Fargo). They got to go on a hay ride and then picked the craziest and biggest pumpkins they had.

 Josh and Emma are both in the "don't take my picture" stage so I take what I can get. They are both so serious about pumpkin carving.

 Emma didn't actually clean hers out - she tried a new technique. She is so artistic. I love it.

 I had to work on Halloween. I did get to leave a little early to go to the parade at the school, but I still had to pretend to have fun while I was there. These goof balls are so crazy. Even on days like this when I don't want to be there, they make me laugh. Jesse's hat and mullet are awesome.

 Emma decided this year was her year to be independent and not be with her family on Halloween. So Jer and I took Erin trick-or-treating with her cousins. She was such a cute little bumble bee (thanks again, Ash, for making her wings so purdy).

 Josh was a good sport (he always is) and stayed home to answer the door for trick-or-treaters.

 Look at the cavities! Emma was a butterfly and her wings were adorable too, but she wouldn't leave them on for a picture (again - too good for the camera). Erin actually stayed in the same costume all day (and night). She usually has to change 15 times and doesn't end up wearing the costume we worked to hard on.

It was a fun Halloween but, I'm glad it's over. When did this holiday become so much work?

A Johnson Tradition

A few years ago, my mother in law said she would love to have a picture of her grandkiddoes every year before snow falls. It has become a fun tradition and more and more of a task as they grow in size and in numbers. It's funny to try and get just one shot with all of them looking at the camera. This year the kids are 8 months to 14 years (and everything in between).

 Thirteen out of Fourteen smiles.

 Cameron, Elliot, Noah

(Ben and Stephanie)

 Trey, Seth, Sadie, Aiden

(Brady and Melinda)

 Chloe, Hanah, Livy, Collin

(Trevor and Jenn)

 Emma, Erin, Josh

(Jeremiah and Aimee)

Youngest to Oldest.

Sun in your eyes?

Frightmare's at Lagoon

 Cari is so awesome. She is our favorite aunt. For lot's of reasons. One reason is that she always treats us to a day at Lagoon in October. Erin and Brynlee especially look forward to this every year.

 Jer and I took Err and Bryn for a while so that Lyns could actually ride some rides (last year she was prego with Mason). Bryn kept telling us she wanted to ride the boat. So, we took her on the mini-tidal wave in the kids area. As soon as we sit down, she points to the "big boat" (tidal wave) and says "not this boat. That boat." So, we took her on that one. She was so excited.. look - no hands. Until it really started to go. Then that ride wasn't so fun. She is so much fun. She will try anything. There were a few rides that she said weren't good and so we didn't go a second time, but she was willing to give them all a chance.

 Jer, Josh, Devin and Mason were there with us. They just don't love posing for pictures. Shocking.

Thanks, again, Care! It was so fun!

Crazytown

I'm still not thrilled with the fact that Summer is over. I love Summer.

School started on August 27. There were a lot of things on our list of things to do during the Summer that were skipped. There just wasn't enough time. I know I felt like there wasn't, but the kids probably wouldn't agree. They had a lot of boring summer days this year. With both Jer and I working, they were left to entertain themselves part time. Having school start was a good thing, right?

Emma was a little nervous on the first day because she wasn't sure who was going to be in her class and she has a new (to the school) teacher. But, once she got inside and found out that her teacher is the class clown, she relaxed and has loved every minute of sixth grade. Mr. Pendleton is good with all those 11 year old dweebs. Joking about poop a lot seems to keep them all on task. Em is really having a great year so far! No anxiety. No stress. She is all smiles. I couldn't be more thrilled with how far she has come!

Erin spent her last week of Summer counting down the days till school was starting. She went with that beautiful smile on the first day. . . and must've left that smile at school. She is doing the Emma thing all over again- school phobia. Even though Erin is shy, she has never been so attached to my leg before. The anxiety has actually landed her in the hospital already this year. She has worried herself sick. So sick that she spent Wednesday at Primary Children's Hospital with doctors worried that she might have appendicitis. She comes by that naturally - the anxiety part. Darn! I was hoping that would skip her and she wouldn't have to go thru what Emma did.

Josh handled the first day of 8th grade like there had been no summer. He continued with his tradition of wearing the current ManU jersey on the first day of school. For being a kid that doesn't care about girls or fashion -he sure cared about what he looked like on the first day.

Sadly, this picture is the only B-day picture I got of Joshie. His Birthday was on a Saturday this year and he had a soccer game that day. So, we opened gifts that morning and I promised no pictures in his jammies. He had a great Birthday this year. He scored in his game that day (first goal for him in 4 years since he's played defense till this season), he got bacon and spam from the B's (and $ for college), an Amazon gc from the J's, earbuds from Cari, FIFA and a Panda gc from Jer and I and as always, money from Grandma Morton. He really could have gotten nothing and he would have been happy. Josh is an amazing kid. He was ordained a Teacher in the Priesthood by his dad on Sunday and we had family over for dinner. I can't believe my Joshie is getting so old (and BIG-taller than  me). He really is everything a mom could hope for in her son. (Even though he changes the password on his sisters iPod often just to irritate her. Last time he changed it to "I'mnottellingyou" so that when she asked what it was he would tell her and laugh as she cried because she couldn't figure it out).

 Sunday, September 9 was my big sisters fortieth birthday. Wow. We are getting up there. :) Her best friend threw her a Surprise Party on Saturday night and then we had a family party on Sunday.

 I found this cute idea on Pinterest (a major addiction of mine) and turned it into my own thing. It was cute and hopefully made for some fun decor in her office after the party.

 Mom had fun finding all of Cari's best pictures and displaying them all over for everyone to laugh at.

Erin keeps changing her smile. She is losing teeth like crazy lately. I do love her smile - teeth or no teeth. I mentioned before that she  has worried herself sick lately. It's killing me. She is such a mommies girl any way, but the last couple of weeks have been really hard. She's been working with the school counselor and today she got a candy bar from her for going to school 8 days in a row!

 She spent Wednesday at the hospital having tests run (found out she has an intestinal blockage due to stress) and as if that wasn't enough torture, I took her to the dentist on Thursday for two root canals and three fillings. This wasn't my best idea. Her stress level is already off the charts. So take her to the dentist? Ugh. After an hour of her clinging to me and screaming, I caved and said I would just suck it up and pay the extra for the laughing gas. She calmed right down and watched an entire movie while they drilled and poked and filled her cavities. I do wish I could have her suck on some laughing gas every morning before school now. Is that so wrong of me? If we could use it to calm her nerves just until she gets over the morning anxiety she might not feel so sick all the time.

 On a whole other subject - I moved branches last week so that I could have more hours at work. After my first day of a "long" shift, I was on my way home and a teenage girl did this to my car:

I wasn't hurt. She wasn't hurt. But my car that I love so much was definitely hurt. I hate driving it around like this. It looks so WT. The insurance adjuster is supposed to come do an estimate next week and I will probably have a rental for a bit while my baby is in the Acura hospital. So sad. But, I do love my job and the new branch. It's so not convenient as far as location, but it's a fun job with lots of benefits that make it worth it.

So that was a super random update, but at least I can sleep tonight knowing I finally blogged. ;)