More than potatoes...

Let's just start off by saying that there is more to Idaho than FAN-TASTIC potatoes!!! One thing it has... my sister KIM!!! Cour d'Alene Idaho is where she lives... and I was lucky enough to escape the blistering hot Las Vegas (high 60's), and retreat to beautiful Cour d'Alene (which was a frigid 28... and that's daytime temperature!). Jefferson and I left on Thursday around noon. He was an ANGEL on the completely full flight (ugh). Happy and playful until we were 45 minutes from landing... at the first sign of crankiness, I nursed him into a peaceful and deep sleep. He woke up we were getting off the plane, and was happy to be inside Kim's van where he watched Elmo (a first for him), during the 30 minute trip to her home.

By the way... this wasn't just ANY Thursday... THIS Thursday just happened to be the day that Breaking Dawn: Part 1 was being released!!! My sister had bought tickets months ago for this awesome Twilight Premier Party! I received my "ticket" in the mail in early October and was COMPLETELY confused. It said "Happy Early Birthday" on the outside of the ticket... but there was no clue who it was from! I had to find the shredded envelope and piece it back together to see where the postmark had come from. Spokane, WA. My sister Kim was the closest person I knew who lived near Spokane (which must be where the post office "hub" is). I called her immediately and started rattling off questions, because I was SO excited. She played dumb for 15 seconds and then explained how it had all come about. The tickets for this party sold out within 2 hours!!!! CRAZY!

So anyway... I had 5 hours to "acclimate" and to try and get Jefferson to sleep before partyin' it up!! These are our pre-party glam shots!!

It never works out when you say... "ok, now a serious shot". We were laughing too hard, this is as serious as we could get! Life is so fun with a goofy sister!

At 9pm we arrived at the theater. The person throwing the party had rented out the foyer (I didn't know you could do that) and the only party room they had. When we came inside we got a punch card and a V.I.P pass that we HAD to wear ;)

The punch pass had a list of items we could go around and collect...

A book mark, a pair of earrings, a collectable tin with 4 journals inside, an apple, a cd, a t-shirt, a glass, a mini bottle of sparkling cider, and snacks for the movie.

Oh, and a wedding favor ;) 

In the party room, there was food for munching and some sweet displays! You could see how much hard work went into this event! It totally make me want to go ALL OUT for Hunger Games and do something similar!

Outside there were people sitting/standing/camping in the SNOW. Yes.... it had started snowing when we arrived, and it didn't let up the entire night... in fact when we woke up the next morning this is what it looked like 12 hours later at 9am ....

Rewind... back to the party... There was a D.J there for about an hour (10pm-11pm)... and we danced our bums off! I wish I had video footage... because we were pretty awesome! There were only 100 tickets to this event, 15 of which were bought by my sister and her friends. So when the music started pumping... it was pretty much just my sister and her posse dancing. A few other people joined in eventually, and I'm sure EVERYONE else thought we were crazy!

The movie was great. Best one yet! I actually just went and saw it a second time with Zach just last night. I wish they would remake the 1st, 2nd and 3rd movies. The actors really picked it up a notch, and the makeup artists were exponentially better!!

Jefferson had apparently woken up around 10pm, but Tom (being the great brother-in-law that he is), just tried to pat his back and console him so that I didn't have to come home. I felt a little bad that he cried for a while... but he survived and then slept until 7am. So... it was ok ;)

Friday Kim and I were on a mission to find her the perfect black or grey boots! 4 hours and 6 stores later... FAIL! But she did find some cute things in our adventure that made it all worth it!! Plus it kept us from falling asleep!

  Paige & Jefferson were buddy/buddy from the start! Well... as buddy/buddy as an 18 month old and 13 month old can get. They shared food, toys and sippy cups really great! Here, Paige is even sharing her pj's! 

Here is Jane, Paige, Braden and Jefferson.  

I was debating on wether or not to ween Jefferson (yes I'm still breastfeeding) before the trip or to take him with me. Zach had reassured me and urged me to leave him so that I could enjoy myself and have a break from ALL the kids and chaos of home. But in the end... I decided I better just take him. And I am SO glad I did! He did SO great the whole time. I would have been super homesick for my hubby and kids if he hadn't been with me.

I will always remember my early 30th birthday present from Kim. It was SO great to get away. Having a little break, always makes me appreciate my home just that much more. 

Speaking of which... when I walked in the door I was surprised to find that Zach had REPAINTED my WHOLE DOWNSTAIRS! And in less than 18 hours, mind you! I was gone from Thursday until Sunday night, but the only time Zach had to paint was from Saturday around 2pm until Sunday when he picked me up! Not only was the house painted... but EVERYTHING was put back together! I almost wouldn't have noticed except for the three bouncing kiddos who were so excited for the surprise that they actually blurted it out when we were 50 feet from pulling in the driveway. I am one lucky woman!