Nightmare!! LONG STORY

So, being the organized and prepared person that I am :0) I waited until last night to get almost ALL of my Christmas presents. WHAT WAS I THINKING?????? I knew that it was going to be crowded and all, but I was ready for that. Here is how my night went....
My mom offered to watch my kiddos for me so I could get done quick. I made a list of what I was getting and where I was getting it and I was all set to go power shop. I didn't really want to leave my kids, especially Bella. I usually still take her wherever I go. When I finally got out of my mom's house, I had a bad feeling. I figured it was because I just really didn't want to go out in the cold and go shopping so, I trudged on. I don't always wear my seat belt, but something ( more like someONE) told me to wear it. I am usually a little bit heavy on the gas pedal too, but I decided to stay behind the guy going 50 mph. I wasn't in a big hurry. I get almost in to Eau Claire, I have my Christmas songs blaring,( trying to get into the Christmas mood) when all of the sudden I see headlights in my lane. What the crap?? There were cars juking and jiving all over the road trying to get out of the way of this SUV that is spinning around and around uncontrollably. It was crazy, I think he was still going 40mph down the road while he spun around and around. All of the sudden he was in my lane sliding right towards me, all I could do was slam on my brakes and pray that I would stop in time. When we both stopped, I was shaking so bad, I could barely move. I didn't know what to do, I quick turned on my hazard lights , grabbed my cell phone and got out. His vehicle was completely facing mine and less than 3 feet away. CRAZY. He backed up to the side of the road and I pulled to the side too. I got out and he got out to, I asked him if he was ok. He said he was, I thought he looked like a ghost. I probably did too.;) I told him to have a Merry Christmas and I was back on my way. I met my grandma at a store, I was still totally shaking. I knew why I had those bad feelings and I am SO
glad I listened to the promptings I felt all night. That was my Christmas miracle. I was really in the Christmas mood now and thought, well, now I will have a good night. I also met my sister and we went shopping, I got everything on my list and was going to be home early ( for once) . I called my grandma and asked her if she was done shopping, she wasn't. I said Haha I'm done and I'm on my way home now, when I heard this awful noise. Then my vehicle started shaking funny and I hung up the phone with my grandma. I pulled over in the Sam's club parking lot and guess what?? FLAT TIRE. It was only - 10 degrees so I thought I could change the tire. I called my sister and asked her bring me a pair of gloves. Me, who has lived in Wisconsin her entire life is NOT prepared for winter. All I had to protect me from the cold was a jacket. Smart huh? Jessi came and we started looking for the jack and stuff. We found the spare tire underneath the vehicle, I asked Jessi , how do you get it out? She said " Just jack up the car and it will just fall out". I knew we were in trouble then :) I remembered I had emergency roadside assistance so I called them. They had someone out in 30 minutes. He changed the tire and told me to drive to the gas station and put air in the tire. I drove down there, then I couldn't get the valve stem off of the tire. I finally twisted hard enough and it popped off, then put my 75 cents in for the air. ( Who pays for air anyway?? That's dumb :) ) The air wouldn't go in to the tire. I am not very mechanically inclined, but I do know how to put air in the tires. Turns out, there is a hole in the hose for the air. My grandma ( who is so sweet and is following me around with her car, just to make sure I am safe ) says, go get your 75 cents back. UM , nope, let's just go to another gas station. My grandma says," I'll follow you". I look over at her, and her key won't turn in the ignition. It must just be TOO COLD!!!!! She does finally get it. On to Golf road, 2 miles away. BP free air , alright!! Sorry, out of order. On to Kwik trip, sorry, out of order. Next Holiday and finally, I get my tire pumped up. I was SO COLD by the time I was done. My nose was frozen, my feet where frozen, my legs were frozen, my cheeks were frozen ( not just the ones on my face mind you ) . It was 10:30 by the time I finally got home UGH!
My mom always tells me, " You have to be prepared for winter driving Patti. You need a bag full of stuff in your vehicle in case of an emergency". I guess I will listen to my mom now . Anyways , I am done Christmas shopping and I am still alive.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Haircut

After too many mornings like this and too many tears trying to brush it out.....

This is what it looks like now.

Cookie Monster

Bella got a hold of an Oreo fudge cookie the other day and boy did she enjoy it. I didn't have the heart to take it away from her until it got too small. She was so happy and so proud of herself. She just sat there giggling as she savored her first cookie.

Let it snow!

We finally have snow!! I remember it snowing a ton when I was little and snowing a lot earlier than it does now. I don't like the snow, but the kids love it!! The boys and Kate shoveled the driveway for me after school today. They are so helpful!!

It's too cold for Bella outside, but I took some pretty cute ones of her inside. She is 7 months old today. Where does time go???? She weighs 17lbs and is still such a good baby (as long as you don't leave her by herself) :)

Kate shoveling snow with her new shovel.

More shoveling.

Jake

Cody

$ Cody $

This happened a few weeks ago and I completely forgot to post it. Cody wanted a new game for his Nintendo DS. He has like 20 games already so I told him that when he saved up enough money for it he could get it. He collected all of his allowance money and then he came up with a bright idea. His top tooth was loose and about to come out so he asked me to take him to Grandma Jeri's house so she could help pull it out. I thought he should just wait until it fell out but he wanted the tooth fairy to bring him money so we went to Grandma Jeri's. Grandma got out some string and hooked it to his tooth. As you can tell from the pictures, it would NOT come out. He could actually turn it around in his mouth. ( pretty gross). He ended up not losing it until 2 days later. Too funny!! He cracks me up.

Bella Bee

Katie

Jake was a bounty hunter. He can't wear a mask to his program at school , but I think he looks pretty good without it. My mom made the boys' costumes. She did awesome!

YODA Y-O-D-A YODA

See any resemblance?

My goofy boys are totally into Star Wars. I don't get it, nor do I pretend to get it. On our 30 minute ride to Trunk or Treat last night, I was bombarded by true or false questions about star wars from my little sweeties :) They think it's funny when I don't know the answers. My mom took them to see star wars the clone wars movie and it's been their new favorite thing since then.

Flashback Friday !!!

I was looking through my sister's pictures a few weeks ago and came across this beauty. I laughed SO hard. Every time I look at it , it cracks me up. I have been waiting for a Friday to post it for flashback Friday, but I keep forgetting . I have so many great memories of growing up with the Kemp/Berry family. We had so much fun together. They were like family to me, (Lorna was like a mom to me too). I was so sad when they moved to Utah. I'll never forget the day I found out. I cried and cried. I was about 16 and my mom sat me in her lap and held me and we cried together. I am so glad we have kept in touch over the years. I love to see pictures of their beautiful families and read about their adventures through blogging.
I'm not sure what we were doing here. I think we put all of the hair accessories we could find in our hair. Love you guys!!!!!!!

Old Uncle Johnny

My great-great Uncle Johnny had his 92nd birthday. We went to the nursing home for a party for him. Kate has a special bond with him. She is always trying to help him. She likes to push his wheelchair for him. When I see the compassion that she has for him, it gives me a glimpse of the woman that she is going to be someday. It brings me to tears, she is just amazing. This is "Old Uncle Johnny" and all of his great-great-great nieces and nephews.


My mom found a wheelchair to push Kate in. She thought it was pretty cool. ( I'm not sure what Cody is doing here )

We had a little scare with my grandpa's health a few weeks ago. It really made me step back and realize that no one is guaranteed tomorrow. I started taking more pictures of little things like his hands. When I look at this pictures of his hand, I know how his hands feel, how they soothe, how they put my babies to sleep. This is a hand that I will always remember.

My little cub scout

My camera battery has been dead for a few weeks now and guess what? I couldn't find the cord to charge it :) I found it now . It was with the boys' video game cords.

This is a picture of Jake in his cub scout uniform. (Please excuse all of the hand/nose prints on the window behind him ;) He was on his way to an airshow to see the blue angels with the scouts. He waited all day to see them but the weather was bad and they couldn't fly. The next day they were supposed to fly again but I wasn't brave enough to take 4 kids to a crowded airport, so we sat on a hill next to it. It was AWESOME!!!! I have never seen anything so cool before. It gave me such a sense of pride for my country. My kids loved it. I wish I could have video taped their reactions. It was something that I will never forget. We are definitely going to go next time they are in town.

Kate LOVES this movie.

I don't know why she likes it so much. I would think it would be scary for her. Her favorite part is when they hook their fingers and chant hook, hook, hook, hook. She does it all of the time. The other night our family was at a pack meeting for Jake's cub scouts and the Pack leader was telling a joke about pirates. Kate stands up in the middle of the meeting, throws her little arm in the air with her finger shaped like a hook and started chanting, hook, hook, hook, hook. It was SO funny. My life is never boring. :)

Jake's writing

I am going to let the kids do updates once in awhile. Jake wants to do it first. Here's Jake............

I am so thankful that Belle-Belle came. She was a gift from Heavenly Father.- Jake West