Penny's First Road Trip

Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays! You get to eat yummy food and spend time with loved ones (two of my most favorite things!).  This year we got to spend Thanksgiving day with the Terry fam and then drove up to Boise to spend the rest of the holiday weekend with the Benitez Bunch and Cindyloo and Cami (my dog that lives with Cindy)!

(Me, Michelle, and Cinders. Sisters are the best)

(Cami and I. She is my first 'baby.'  I bought her my junior year in high school. When she was a puppy I would carry her around in one of those front carriers all the time. I brought her everywhere I went. I think it paid off because she still remembers me as her master even though we haven't lived together for 4 years. She lives with Cindy up in Pasco now. I love her so much).

(Daddy and Pen playing "Plants vs. Zombies." Sandro bought that computer game for Deven. The whole break Sandro, Deven, and John-Charles were hooked up playing that game.)

Penny did an amazing job traveling. We were so scared that she would scream the whole way up and back. When we tried to go down to St. George for Katie's marathon back in October Penny screamed for a straight hour and a half. At that point I think I was the closest to truly going insane as I have ever been. We ended up turning around and going back home. BUT fortunately she slept 95% of the time on this road trip. There were only two times where she screamed to the point where I thought her head my explode...so I consider that pretty good. It's pretty comical to see her little temper.  I have no idea where she gets it from but she definitely has one.  She'll yell and throw her head back and stiffen up her whole body when she's not happy with something. It will be interesting to see what toddlerhood is like...pray for me. :) just kidding.

(Our little Christmas elf. She was not very happy with us for putting this outfit on her. As you can see in the next picture below).

Deven and Micaella loved Penny and were such good helpers. Whenever she'd cry Micaella would try to put Pen's paci in her mouth or feed her. I'm not sure how much Penny liked it but I thought it was adorable. Both kids were so sweet with her. As soon as I'd crack the door open in the morning Deven would be right there asking "Can I hold Penny now?".  He is such a tenderheart.  Michelle is due to have a baby May 11th and I know that Deven will be such a good help to his mommy when the baby comes.

(here is Michelle at 17 weeks)

This is the run down of events during our weekend:

Thursday we woke up and helped prepare for the Terry Thanksgiving feast. Ann, my mother-in-law, is an incredible cook and goes all out for Thanksgiving. She started preparing the food last week! Everything was homemade and so delicious.  We loved the the time we had to spend with the whole Terry family.  After our feast, we packed up our things and headed out for Boise. We didn't get there till 9:30 pm, but it was well worth it for the days full of memories ahead of us!

Friday night we watched Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. It was actually really funny. I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet! We had some good laughs from the clever one-liners. 

 On Saturday night we made homemade pizzas. Mmmmm. Michelle and Sandro are the best at making them. They learned the secrets of pizza making from a friend that works at Pizza Hut. They put mozzarella string cheese inside the crust to make stuffed crust pizza. It is sooo good.  I was helping Penny with something right before dinner and Deven said, "Ash-baby it's time to eat!". It was so spontaneous and  adorable. I love that kiddo.

(Michelle and "KK" making the pizza crust. Mica was so insistant on making her own as you can see)

(Deven getting ready to eat pizza. He lost his top tooth this month! It's so cute to here his little whistle that comes out when he talks.  I can't believe he's 6 already!)

 After dinner we watched Deven's birth video. It was so crazy to see Michelle with Preclampsia! She looked like a totally different person...like she was in a blow-up body suit. Everything was swollen. Poor girl. The whole video was just hilarious though. It was funny to see Sandro take over after Deven was born and be Mr. Mom.  He was such a proud daddy. It was cute to see him so possessive of Deven. At one point in the video Deven started crying and Michelle said, "He's crying because he wants his mommy." Sandro reluctantly handed over Deven and within a few minutes grab him back. We had some good laughs watching Dev's video. It was so fun to laugh that hard...it had been awhile!

(Right after we watched Dev's birth video. Sandro took us to his school that night as well. It was fun to see where he worked. He works at a school with kids that are emotionally disturbed. He showed us the 'padded' room where they go when the kids start go nuts. It was super interesting. Someday we'll have to go and play Sardines as a family at this school)

Sunday morning we started the drive back to Highland. I hate goodbyes. It's always hard to leave my family...especially since it will be a few months until we get together again! Thanks Sandro, Michelle, Cindy, Deven, Micaella, and Cami for such a magical weekend! I love you all so much! 

(She's getting so big! She is three months old now.)

(Cute Cami. She snores when she sleeps. I had to document this for posterity's sake)