The past week....

First, we have had swimming lessons everyday. I have been wanting to put Jocelyn is lessons, but didn't sign her up! Luckily, a friend in our ward called me saying she had a spot left in her class!

Jocelyn cracked me up the first day. Gretta told the girls they were going to take turns going under water. Jocelyn says, "No thank you. I don't think I want to do that!" Ha ha. Gretta was laughing saying Jocelyn was very polite about it, but she didin't give the girls an option. :) Which is good b/c Jocelyn would try to get out anything that got her face wet! She's done really well! She's not as scared getting her face wet now!



After swimming lessons today, we had an appointment to get Jocelyn's hair cut. I decided to try Mop Tops at the mall. It was pretty cute. They have different animals that the kids get to sit on. Like at the park, the animals that rock and have handles on the ears. Anyway, it was cute. She always is the perfect little client. She sits perfectly still and they are always amazed how well she behaves. Now she has short hair, perfect for summer!


Last Sunday, we went to the mountains to have a pinic with Mom and Dean. It was tons of fun. Besides the blaring music there for a minute, it was peaceful! Jocelyn collected a hundred pine cones and then went back for sticks. She found sticks that were shaped like different letters.

Then she got a scratch on her finger. It was the funniest thing b/c she was soooo dramatic about it! She held her finger out the rest of the afternoon and wouldn't move it. Then she got a scratch on her knee and she had to hobble everywhere!! She couldn't walk flat on that foot b/c it would hurt the scratch on her knee! She is entertaining!

We LOVE Daddy!

Happy Father's Day, Graham! We love Daddy and we are so grateful to have him in our lives! I really appreciate my husband and everything he does for us! He is such a hard worker, but he always makes time for his family!

Jocelyn absolutely adores her Daddy! She can be in the worst mood and then Daddy wakes up and she is as happy as can be! She is always excited when it's Daddy's day off from work! "OHHH You aren't going to work today!" Then she has a list of a hundred things she wants to do with him!! Usually on the top of the list is Lincoln Logs. Daddy is the BEST builder! :)

Jocelyn worries about her Daddy on his motorcycle. It's not a dramatic worry, just a sweet and loving concern! :) The other day we were following Graham to the motorcycle shop. He was on his bike and we were in my car. She was making me laugh the entire way. "Daddy wears a helmet so he won't broke his head!" Yes, so he won't broke his head. So cute! Then she said, "Oh! I'm so worried! I hope Daddy makes it up this hill! It looks so steep!" Too funny.

We appreciate everything Graham does for our family! We probably don't tell him enough but we do try to make sure he knows how much he is LOVED!

Walking in Memphis...

Jocelyn before her recital on Saturday! Doesn't she look adorable?!?!

After such a flawless rehearsal, I was a little nervous about Saturday night! I know that sounds silly, but it is rare that things will go perfectly with a three year old two days IN A ROW!!! Ha ha. Jocelyn was so excited for everyone to come watch her!! She was also very excited that she got to put on blush and lip gloss and wear her costume again!

The girls did so well! The crowd was so loud yelling and clapping for them the whole time! The girls were actually more together and everything this time than at the rehearsal!! I was so proud of them! After the recital, we gave Jocelyn her roses which she was so excited about. My Mom gave her the cutest dance bag that says "I'm dancing, don't bug me!" It has a little lady bug, a bee and some other little bugs on it! She also gave her a little tiara that has little "diamond" hearts! So cute! Jocelyn said, "OHH! A tiara!! I love it!" We were all surprised she knew the word tiara! Then we all went to dinner together which was fun!

When we were driving home that night, Graham and I were telling her how proud we were and that she did such a good job! She said, "when we got our hats, why did you guys laugh at us?" I said, "we didn't laugh at you, we were all clapping and saying wooohooo!" She said, "that's not what I heard. I heard everyone laughing!" Poor thing! I tried to explain that when people think something is SO cute, they sometimes laugh! She seemed okay with that answer! I felt bad though b/c I could tell that the girls kind of froze for a second after they put their hats on during the dance and now I know why!! They thought everyone was laughing like they did something wrong!!! Awwwww!!!

If you haven't checked it out, a video of her rehearsal is two posts down on this page!!!!

First half of our day...

This morning, Jocelyn had her gymastics "show". They had a floor routine, a bar routine and a balance beam routine. She did great! She loves The Little Gym and her teachers! At the end, the teachers made a little stage and the kids received medals. Too cute!

Parachute time!

Basket hang on the bars!

Jocelyn and Miss Lacey. Her favorite teacher!

Her class doing their "Ta Da's!"

Doing a handstand!

Part of her beam routine

One PROUD mommy!! Dance video!!!!!!!!

Jocelyn's dance rehearsal was tonight and we were allowed to video tape. I have been nervous all day long for this! Graham asked me why I was nervous since I wasn't the one performing and I really don't know why! Maybe just excited nerves?!? Who knows! Plus the fact that the girls would be backstage without us made me a little nervous. The recital is at Pope Joy Hall on the UNM campus. I went to see Phantom of the Opera and Romeo and Juliet there, so I was pretty excited that the recital was there too!

Anyway, Jocelyn's class was second to last to perform! Talk about anxiously awaiting!! I was sitting by some of the other moms from our class and they were just as anxious as I was, so I guess I'm not too weird! When they walked out, the whole crowd was like "AWW!" Then they shocked us with how together they were!! They didn't look lost at all like some of the other classes we had watched earlier. It was so cute! Jocelyn had a BLAST and is so excited for tomorrow night when everyone gets to come watch her! I'll have to get some pictures tomorrow of her in the costume. I forgot to do that tonight!

Side note: You'll hear me say "oh no" on the video. When they go into the circle, they were suppose to go into one big one, but they went into two smaller circles. It turned out cute, so it all worked out! You wouldn't even notice unless you practiced the dance with your daughter A HUNDRED TIMES! ha ha.

VIDEO OF JOCELYN

Ever since Jocelyn was an infant, we have been calling my dad and my sisters in Tulsa. Sometimes she is in the mood to talk and will talk for a long time, other times she is doing her own thing. These videos crack me up! She was only around 18 months old here and she was talking to Grandpa and Aunt Catherine, kind of. They were pretty much having their own conversation on speaker phone and Jocelyn was reading a book to them. I don't know if this melts anyone elses heart as much as mine, but I LOVE that little voice! Be sure to watch both videos!!! They are off my regular camera, so they aren't the best quality.

My baby girl...

A few pics over the years...




Even though she's growing up so fast, she'll always be my baby girl! I thought I'd take a minute to write down a few things about Jocelyn. You think you will always remember everything about this age, but I know I need to write them down!



Some of Jocelyn's favorite things... 1.Daddy! She LOVES spending time with her daddy! He can pretty much do no wrong in her eyes! 2. Boomer...she LOVES our cat! He is her best friend. He waits by her door in the morning until I open it and he runs to her bed and snuggles with her. He sits and watches cartoons with her on her lap. She also loves to run around the house with her jump rope so he can chase her! Oh, and she also loves to spray him with the water bottle when he gets up on the counters! :) 3. Talking on the phone to Grandpa, Aunt Madeline, Aunt Catherine and Uncle John. She pretty much takes control of my cell phone and she learned how to call the most recent person on the call list. If you call my cell, don't be surprised if Jocelyn answers and she talks for an hour! :) 4. Hanging out with MiMi. She thinks that my Mom comes over just for her! I feel bad sometimes b/c Jocelyn has a list of a hundred things to do when MiMi comes over! 5. Ballet and Little Gym class. This is her outlet! She LOVES her teachers and she loves learning new things and running around like a wild child. Actually, I am always told she is the BEST listener! 6. Her preschool workbooks. Seriously! She LOVES learning and would work in her "homework books" all day long! 7. Playing anything with mom and dad! She absolutely loves board games, building blocks, cooking in her kitchen, playing her doll house, anything that we will play with her! 8. I can't forget HORSES! She loves going to Grandma's house and riding Dirty Face. Grandma has a lot of horses, but she knows which one she wants to ride! She loves spending time with Grandma and Opa! 9. Pops and Grammie Davis. She is getting to know them a lot better lately! She loves telling them stories of her latest adventures and loves being the center of attention! 10. Her friends! She asks if she can have friends over all the time! She loves Brianna and Jessica especially! Her and Brianna love to dance! Jessica and Jocelyn love to make crafts! It's funny, she has certain things with each friend she likes to do! She also always talks about her best friend, Gavin! Even though we don't get to see them very often, Jocelyn adores Gavin, Tanner and Aunt Ashlee! She has very good memories of them! 10. Having a baby cousin! She LOVES Aiden and is just so proud to be the big cousin! She is very excited to teach him how to walk, talk and many other things! 11. Church. This sweet little girl LOVES her scriptures. It is SO cute! She obviously can't read them, but she feels something special for them already. She has her own little set of scriptures and takes them to church and "reads" them constantly! She also is the one to always remind us to say the prayer! When we go out to dinner, sometimes we forget and she'll always say "we forgot to say the prayer!"

A couple other things that are worth mentioning... Jocelyn is VERY polite! (Not always to me, but to everyone else! haha) She always makes sure she says thank you for everything! When we are treated to dinner, she will ask me who paid for it and then thank them! It's so sweet!
She uses big words for a three year old. Ridiculous and acceptable are just two of many. The other day I said, "this is riduculous" she said, "Mommy, did you just call me adbidiculous?!?" It was hilarious. She was very tired and very emotional at that moment!

Service auction!!! (A lot of writing...sorry!)

Today was a really busy day! This morning, we had Jocelyn's last ballet class before her recital! AHHH! I was getting VERY nervous b/c three of the girls in her class, including her, had not received their costumes and they are having class pictures done on Saturday! The studio called this afternoon and said they came in. I am so excited for their recital! Jocelyn and I have been practicing her dance pretty much every day and she does great! I don't have to remind her the steps at all anymore! Today Ms. Christy asked all the parents to come in and watch the girls do their dance for the last time. For some reason, Jocelyn has told me not to smile at her while she's in class!!!! WHAT?!?! So sad! I don't know where that came from, but when we went in to watch them, I FORGOT and smiled at her! Little Miss Sassy put her finger up and said, "stop Mom!" right in the middle of the dance! I was so embarressed! I am hoping that all the other moms were watching their own child and didn't see what my little stinker said! HA HA! After class, I nicely asked her why she did that and she said, "mommy you can smile at me"...I think she felt bad!

After ballet, we came home and I had to finish making sixty auction paddles for our enrichment meeting tonight. (For some reason, they decided to make me enrichment leader AND primary teacher! FUN!) Thankfully my Mom had stayed at my house late last night and helped me out! Thanks Mom! We had a service auction and an ice cream sundae bar for enrichment! It was so fun!! I had never been to one, so I wasn't sure what to expect. A lot of people brought things that they had made like food, quilts, a painting,spa items, etc. Other ladies wrote a service on a piece of paper like babysitting, rides to the temple, free haircuts, interior design help, birthday party planning, homemade specialty cakes and all kinds of fun stuff! I was impressed with the variety! Anyway, we had a questionare sheet that we passed out and that's how you earned points to bid. Some questions were did you read your scriptures, have family home evening, make your bed, bear your testimony, do your visiting teaching, etc. and each question was worth a certain amount of points. You would think since I helped make the questionare, I would have had made sure I did everything...nope! :) Oh well. We had one of the husbands lead the auction and he was SO FUNNY! I think that is definitely what made it so fun! He had us all cracking up the whole night! What was my service, you ask?!? Well, I decided to make something instead! Around three oclock I decided I should probably run to Micheal's and get something to make! I ended up getting a scrapbook shadow box frame and found some cute family theme things and left room for the person to add their own picture. I was a little worried how it was going to turn out since it was SO last minute, but I was happy with it. As the night went on, my frame just sat up there and sat up there....I was beginning to wonder if anyone would have points left when it came time to bid on mine! He literally left mine until the very last thing! Usually he would start the bidding at ten points. The most you could have from your sheet was 110 points. I was sooo surprised when he picked up my frame and he didn't even have time to say "do I hear ten?" when people started yelling out 60, 80 and finally 110! We had set everything out on a table at the beginning of the night so everyone could see what was up there, so I guess some people had saved all their points for my frame! Crazy! I seriously don't write this to brag, I was just shocked! It was such a fun night and I walked away with a card redeemable for BABYSITTING! WOHOOOO!



Surpringly enough, this is my HAPPY girl at 9:30 tonight when we finally got home! She went to the children's class during enrichment and loved it. One of the mom's came out and said, "are you Jocelyn's mom?" I was thinking...OH NO! :) She said, "I have to tell you how much I just love your daughter. She was cracking me up the whole time! She acts so grown up and is just hilarious with her stories!" One of the things she told me was that one of the toys was driving this lady crazy and Jocelyn heard her and said, "Yeah! That toy is just driving me insane!" HA HA. Can't imagine where she got that. Anyway, it was pretty funny.

America's funniest home videos....Here we come!!

I watched our friends little girl, Brianna, the other night. Jocelyn was trying to teach Bri her ballet dance all night. It was so funny. "Bri, you do flip, flop, flip. CLAP CLAP! Do you understand, Bri?!? Follow me." When Mike and Michelle came to pick her up, Mike turned on some music from his phone and the girls started dancing. This video cracks me up...you have to watch Brianna's facial expressions. She is hilarious!! Love that girl.

Can you believe this snow?!?

This is right after we packed up our tent and were driving down from our campsite. We couldn't believe how much snow was sticking on the road! It's almost JUNE!

30% chance of rain = 100% chance of SNOW!!!!!

We LOVE camping! This time was definitely an adventure! We left 93 degree weather in Albuquerque and drove an hour and a half to Fenton Lake in the Jemez Mountains. Graham's family used to have a cabin up there, so he's been there a lot growing up. I checked the weather before we left and there was only a thirty percent chance of rain. No big deal.....so I thought!!!

We got to our camp site, set up our tent (which was so easy!) and then headed down to the lake. After hanging out at the lake for awhile, we came back to our site, cooked hot dogs and then made smores. So yummy! After that, we hung out in the tent and watched a movie.
Here's a funny story....Jocelyn decided to be a little grump right before we ate dinner. We were trying to explain how the park rangers want people to be quiet and not yell. She watches the disney channel and they have a little show "Safety Patrol" which has these two little kids who go around writing tickets for anything unsafe. Anyway, we told her the park rangers are like the safety patrol. "IS THE SAFETY TROLL COMING?!?! WHERE'S THE SAFETY TROLL??" It was so funny! The rest of the night she talked about the safety troll.

The fun started around 10 p.m. It started raining really hard. Normally in New Mexico it rains for about fifteen minutes and it's done. Not in the mountains, I came to find out! It rained until about 4 a.m, stopped long enough for us to go to the bathroom and then started right back up again! It stopped around six for about thirty minutes and we all fell asleep again. We took a short nap and decided we needed to either cook breakfast or pack up. We were hoping to wait until the rain stopped, so we attempted breakfast. We had brought pancake mix for breakfast, which we didn't feel like messing with inside the tent. So Graham ended up heating up the sausage we brought. Jocelyn ate goldfish. We are good parents! :) It's at that point that it started hailing and we decided it wasn't going to get any better outside. By the time we had cleared the tent out, it was SNOWING! I was actually thankful that it wasn't raining b/c we had to take down our tent and you get a lot less wet in snow! Except for the fact that I had flip flops and that's it! :) I know, Graham lectures me all the time to "wear real shoes!" Anyway, we packed up and by the time we headed down the mountain, there was at least an inch of snow! I have some video of the drive I'll post! It was definitely a NEW adventure for us!!!!! Jocelyn said, "If it's snowing then it means it's winter time?!?!" Yeah, confusing for a three year old who was wearing shorts the day before!

We opted for the luxury of air mattresses this time! So comfy! Jocelyn was very excited to try out her new princess mattress and sleeping bag! Too bad she didn't stay in it all night! :)

Jocelyn had a blast throwing rocks into the lake! Next time, we'll try fishing.

We love our tent! It survived ten hours of rain, hail and eventually SNOW! We stayed completely dry! If anyone is looking for a good tent, the Kelty Green River 6 is great and there's tons of room! :)

One LONG week!!

It has been a very long week for us! Two days after Graham's fight with the swamp cooler and his injury, we found out that his 23 year old cousin, Alan, had died. He was in the mountains with two of his friends and they had cut down a tree. The tree fell into another tree which was dead from a fire and a twenty foot section of that tree fell on Alan. His parents found out on Mother's Day that their son had died. Being a mom myself, I cannot even imagine how devastating this news would be. I never want to find out. My heart just broke for his parents and for his siblings.



The funeral was on Thursday. It really was a beautiful and touching service. His mom sang "How Great Thou Art" and she was amazing! I don't know how she held it together, but she did. Alan's dad, Dan, gave the eulogy. He talked a lot about all the things Alan loved to do. Ever since he was little, he loved to catch any sort of bug or reptile he could! He even caught rattle snakes and would give them or sell them (?) to rattle snake farmers to be milked for anti-venom! Alan was also the comedian in the family and found a lot of joy in making people laugh! Most of all, he loved spending time with his family.



Alan spent two years in California serving the Lord. He was very passionate about service and loved the gospel. His branch president spoke at his funeral and said that Alan gave many hours each week in service. He also told us that when the police officers showed up at his parent's house the morning after he died, the police officer handed Alan's wallet to his family. He asked them to open it and they found a paper with these words.....Think of the Savior and remember that He sustains you. "Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." That really touched me. What a good example he was and still is to all of us. The church was full of people who loved him and people who he had touched in so many different ways.



Graham and I went home feeling so grateful for our family, especially for Jocelyn. When something like this happens to someone who is so young, it really makes you step back and remember to not take your loved ones for granted. You truly don't know when the last time you will see them could be. We also came home feeling very grateful for the gospel. I am so glad that I know Heavenly Father's plan for us. I am grateful to know that we can be with our families for eternity and that even when we are seperated from our loved ones here on earth, we will see them again.

His battle wound!!!!!

THIS IS THE CULPRIT!!!!

My poor hubby! We had a less than fun trip to the emergency room today! In albuquerque, we have these lovely things called swamp coolers. Biggest pain! Every spring you have to change the pads and do some other stuff to it just so you can turn on the cooling. Last year, we had a guy come out to turn it on and he did a horrible job. He used really cheap pads AND when I turned it on for the first time, we had a waterfall coming from the ceiling in our garage!!!! Horrible. So this year Graham decided to do it himself.....I wasn't going to argue with him.

Anyway, Graham was almost done with it and he comes in the house yelling for me to come downstairs. I could tell something was wrong. I came running and saw blood ALL over his head, face, neck and clothes. He was putting the last panel back on the side of the swamp cooler and it was stuck, so he climbed down the ladder and the stupid thing decided to become unstuck just at that moment!! It hit his head and he had a big gash, so we rushed to the hospital that is just down the road. Usually blood doesn't affect me but this time I thought I was going to lose it. I think it was just too much and on someone I care so much about. Thank goodness I was able to get over it b/c we didn't have time for me to run to the bathroom! :)

Once we got to the hospital, I dropped Graham off at the emergency door and Jocelyn and I parked the car. They attended to him very quickly....probably b/c he had blood all over his head! The nurses were SO sweet to Jocelyn. She was extremely worried about her daddy and I'm sure the knew that, but she acted like a big girl and was very calm! Two minutes after we got in our room, they had brought her a coloring book, crayons, juice and popsicles! It was so cute. It helped her feel at ease and everyone that came in our room was very nice to her! I was really impressed!

Graham ended up getting staples in his head. The nurse practioner came in and said, "You have two options. I can numb it before I put the staples in or I can just put the staples in!" Well, Graham stepped on a big nail a few years ago and they numbed it and he said it was extremely painful, so he opted to skip that part this time! Even after she was done, he said the numbing medicine is a lot worse than the pain of the staples. Then they did a cat scan and everything was fine. So now we are home and relaxing! I'm so glad he is okay! I can't stand seeing my loved ones hurt!!!!

Cousin time!!!

John, Myrica and Aiden drove through yesterday on the way to Arkansas! We were so excited to have them stay at our house for a night! Jocelyn was HYPER the whole day waiting for them!

Aiden has changed so much in the last month! He is using his hands a lot now and it's so cute to see him holding little toys. Jocelyn and I went through some old toys and she set everything aside that was a good baby toy for Aiden. She was SO excited for Aiden to see everything she had for him!

I felt a little bad for John and Myrica when it came time for Aiden's bath! Jocelyn LOVES to help and doesn't always listen when you tell her what to do! She wants to do it all! Good thing John and Myrica are very patient!!! :)

Another thing that was adorable...I was walking around the house with Aiden when he was a little fussy. Jocelyn went and got one of her baby dolls and was walking around with me, patting her baby. Everything I did with Aiden, she would do with her baby. It was so sweet!

Here's Aiden in Jocelyn's little chair! After Jocelyn went to bed, we stayed up playing Guitar Hero. John went and got the chair and put Aiden in it! So funny! I think Aiden thought he was hot stuff sitting up like a big boy! I LOVE my nephew's big smiles... Oh and his wild hair right after a bath!!!

Zoo Day!

Jessica and Jocelyn watching the tigers

The girls thought the flamingos necks looked like snakes!!

We had such a fun day at the zoo with our friends! Jocelyn was very excited to see Jessica, ride in the wagon and have a pinic! She was happy to see the animals too, I think! It was a very chilly day, so the girls stayed warm with a blanket. When we were watching the chimpanzees, Jocelyn said, "Mommy, his bum looks gross!" Yeah, I have to agree with that. From then on, she had to talk about animal bums and things that come out of them. It was embarrassing, but what can you do?!? When she told Grandpa and Uncle John about the zoo, she talked about how big the rhino poop is. I think she was truly amazed by it. Ha ha. Anyway, enough about that! We had a great day today!

Big girl bike and ABQ wind!

The other day we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Jocelyn wanted to ride her tricycle, which she hadn't been on for probably five months or so! Well, she definitely grew in the past five months b/c she is way too tall for it now! So we thought we'd check out bikes for her and we ended up getting her a little pink one! We picked it up today and of course, she wanted to try it out! We knew it was windy, but thought we'd give it a shot. Not a good day to learn how to ride a bike! I couldn't see anything because my hair was blowing everywhere, had sand in my mouth (yuck!) and the wind kept taking Jocelyn and her bike speeding off...which she did NOT like! So hopefully we can give it a shot another day...preferably a calm day!

Sticker tattoo??

Jocelyn was in her playroom being all quiet, which means she is up to something! She came into the living room and had lined these stickers all the way from her finger up her arm!! Pretty creative, but we're worried that means she'll want a tattoo or something when she gets older! Hopefully we are just being paranoid!

Little Gym

Here is Jocelyn at her Little Gym class. I'm sitting in the lobby filming through the window! Sorry this is so long. We don't have the tools on my laptop to cut it down! Grandpa, this is for you! :)

Our daily dose of entertainment....

Jocelyn got a small scratch on her cheek so we put some neosporin on it. A couple hours later, she comes up to me and says...

Joc: "Mommy, is my scratch all better? Is it gone?"
Me: "Yes, it looks all better"
Joc: "Well, then we have a small problem, Mommy! You have GOT to get this cream off of me!"
I wish I could have videotaped her saying that. It was SO dramatic!! :)


I have been meaning to write about this too. We have a GPS in our car and it talks and tells us where to turn, etc. Well, after spending a few days in Utah and being very worn out, Jocelyn got a little sick of the GPS lady! She started having arguments with her every time we got in the car...

GPS: "In .3 miles, turn right."
Jocelyn: "We are NOT turning right LADY!! Nope! Not today, Lady!"
GPS: "Exit left in .2 miles"
Jocelyn: "NO! We are not going to exit left, Lady! Mommy, tell her we aren't going to exit left!!"

Every time, she would put up her hand to tell her to stop. It was very entertaining! Never heard of someone arguing with a GPS!


One more thing... I have been watching Jocelyn's friend, Bryson, lately and usually Brianna is over here playing too. Jocelyn has been enjoying the role of the little protective mommy when she has her friends over, so Bryson gets an ear full most days! I guess Bryson and Brianna had a little tiff over a toy or something and Jocelyn took it upon herself to fix it! This is what she said,
"Bryson Paul!! (she got his middle name from his mom, not me!) You need to be nice to my friend, Bri!"
Then she looks at me and says, "Mommy, I will handle this!! Just let me deal with it!!"
OH goodness! That girl! :)