The Johnson Family

Summer...Gone, but not Forgotten

2009-09-05T18:10:00.001-06:00

I made some promises to myself and others that I wouldn't just pass over all the fun we had this Summer without posting so, if you care to see, these are some of the fun times we had.

Hiking to Stewart Falls, with a 30-something pound toddler in a back-pack.

The Payson Grotto, a much more suitable hike for the toddler.

My beautiful little Flower Girls, a dream come true.

A Big Birthday for Josh - "He's 12!"

Oh Happy Day! - Brynna's 7th Birthday

Fun on the 4th of July

Also, find out what happens when I tell my daughter "No, you can't have any gerbils, even if they are free!"

And lastly, see what happens when you are in a hurry, getting a birthday present for a party that is about to start, and talking on the phone while getting in the car. Not pretty.

That is it in a nutshell. The last few months of our lives. The good, the crazy and the ugly!

Hiking to Stewart Falls

2009-09-05T18:03:00.001-06:00

I am not sure how I got talked into this hike, except that it isn't hard for Heather to talk me into anything. I really do enjoy doing fun things with her and the kids. Since she got me a backpack for Jonah I decided to go along. I carried Jonah part of the way. Did I mention he probably weighs almost 40 lbs? Jonah is a big boy for his age. 92% for his height and 60% for his weight, last we checked anyway. Heather might not be so quick to invite us next time since she carried him probably half of the time. I quickly learned my hips will not tolerate another 40 lbs. and I don't think her knees will either. Garrett got in on the action and carried him for a little while. We let him walk at the end and it is a good thing we had the back pack because we NEVER would have made it to the falls without it.

The falls were beautiful. A little less so, when our boys were up way up high next to them, but beautiful none the less. It was fun, but I think we will have to wait for Jonah to get a little bigger AND faster before we do much more hiking or I guess, take Don along. Ha Ha!

The Payson Grotto

2009-09-05T18:02:00.001-06:00

With only a couple more days of freedom, (that is how the kids put it) Heather and I thought we better enjoy it and decided to get a little hiking in. We hiked up to the Payson Grotto. It was a nice day, but the water was freezing. Garrett was by far the bravest and Josh the biggest wimp. I think Jonah even got wetter than him. Josh is still saying he didn't want to get his shorts wet. Most of the kids enjoyed taking turns running in and out of the water. It was a fun little hike!

Mike & Greta's Wedding

2009-09-05T18:01:00.003-06:00

We were so privileged to get to share in Mike and Greta's special day. I was Greta's young women's leader and the girls have loved her ever since. Of course why wouldn't you love someone who takes you swimming and to lunch. So when Greta asked the girls to be her flower girls it was a dream come true. The girls love weddings and have been waiting for Chris to get married because they THINK they get to be his flower girls, luckily Greta came through.

Mike & Greta got married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. When Greta walked into the room I had to hold back tears. She looked so beautiful. It is such a reward as a YW leader to see your girls find good young men and marry them in the temple.

After the temple there was LOTS of picture-taking. The girls took their job very seriously and carried her train for her a number of times. It was so cute. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. After grabbing something to eat, we went home to get ready for the reception. Unfortunately Brynna fell asleep and woke up in a very bad mood. She was done! She wouldn't let me fix her hair and had had enough picture taking for one day. I was trying to figure out how I was going to tell Greta her flower girl was MIA. It was then that the bribery began. I was offering sodas, chicken nuggets, whatever she needed to be ready for the reception. After LOTS of crying and screaming she finally agreed to go IF she got a happy meal...small price, we were only a little late and still there in plenty of time to help setup.

The girls ate, danced and just enjoyed being with all the bridesmaids. (4 of them were also my YW) They refused to leave until they saw Mike & Greta leave. Now they are planning a trip to Arizona to visit the newlyweds, even though Maleah thought they kissed waaaay too much and that Mike was much too mushy! I can't wait to remind her of that on her wedding day!

It was such a beautiful day and I was so glad that we got to be there for all of it!

Joshua's Big Birthday - He's 12!

2009-09-05T18:01:00.001-06:00

Joshua is growing up on us. He is now 12 and "supposedly" taller than I am. For his birthday all he wanted was an IPOD touch, a DSI, or a new cell phone. At least he is smart enough to know he won't get all three. We got him a new cell phone with texting. He was very happy! He took a few of his favorite friends, Garrett, Hunter, Calvin, Daniel, and Zane to his favorite swimming pool. I was planning on that being the party, but the boys kept talking me into more fun. We went back to our house to barbeque hamburgers and then they talked me into letting them sleep out on the trampoline. This is HUGE because we don't do sleep overs so this was BIG! The girls were not happy, especially when I told them that they could not sleep out with the boys. Now they are both counting down to their 12th birthdays when they get to have their friends sleep over :) It feels like Josh has really grown up. He started mowing lawns for the neighbors, going to young men's, passing the sacrament, and even bought himself a pocket bike. He has been a big help to me this Summer and I am a little sad to see my babysitter go back to school.

Cupcake Catastrophe

2009-09-05T18:00:00.001-06:00

My family destroys all cake that every enters our house and has even been know to damage a few cakes other places as well. This round of birthdays was no different. Brynna's primary teacher made her some beautiful blue (her favorite color) cupcakes for her birthday. Fortunately she brought plenty extra because when Brynna helped her carry them into the house some tipped over and some slid off the tray. Her poor teacher was trying to hide the pain on her face as she watched her precious master pieces get destroyed. I guess I should have warned her before she brought them over. It wasn't but a few hours later that Jonah managed to dump one whole tray on the floor. (I really should have seen that coming.)

My family has some history with destroying cakes, maybe I doomed myself when Don and I smashed each other with the cake on our wedding day, but someone is always doing something to the cake. Joshua climbed on the fridge and dug through the saran wrap right into the middle of Maleah's 1st birthday cake. Joshua also ran his finger down the side of Dan's wedding cake. Apparently he just can't resist. So if you ever need to put a cake somewhere for safe keeping don't bring to our house or anywhere near any of my children!

Oh Happy Day! Brynna's 7th Birthday

2009-09-05T17:58:00.003-06:00

Brynna was so happy on her birthday. As you can see from all the smiles. I think she smiled from the moment she got up until she went to sleep. She had a busy, fun-filled day. She had swimming lessons first thing, so her first gift was a new swim bag, sunglasses, and swim suit cover-up. She rides her bike to swim lessons so she had to have that first thing. Don had carefully hidden it in the garage for her to find. After swimming she had a neighborhood dance class where the girls planned her a surprise party. She got new dance clothes and a Michael Jackson CD (She is a huge fan! I think I may have created a monster!) At the party they had ice cream cone cupcakes, so cute, painted nails and of course, danced! Big thanks to her dance teachers for doing all that for her! Then we took one of her favorite friends, GG, and went to the pool. We finished up the evening with dinner, cupcakes (thanks, Angie Lemon) and fireworks! Brynna wants fireworks every year for her birthday and since it is the day before the 24th she can have them. She also gets to celebrate with her Grammie at a family party every year, non-stop fun for Brynna!

Fun on the 4th

2009-09-05T17:58:00.001-06:00

We had our usual fun on the 4th of July. We started out with the parade in Mt. Pleasant. It is a great small town parade. The kids love it because they throw plenty of candy. We love it because it starts a little later and we don't have to park very far away or fight the crowds. After the parade we had a picnic and went swimming at the pool just down from the cabin. Then we went up to the cabin to relax and barbeque for dinner. After the drive home we usually like to do some fireworks, but this year everyone was too tired to do much of anything. Lots of fun!

Dog for Sale?

2009-09-05T17:57:00.000-06:00

My kids are in a horrible habit of looking at things online on KSL classifieds and for some reason don't seem to understand that just because an animal is FREE doesn't mean they get to have it. Imagine Maleah's dismay when she called on 10 FREE gerbils and was told NO, even though all we had to do was go to Provo to pick them up. Why wouldn't a mother do that? Well, the poor dog got the blame. So Maleah promptly got him on his leash and took pictures of him so that she could post him on KSL for sale. Fortunately she is not QUITE that computer-savvy, so our poor, innocent (ok, naughty, stinker of a dog) was saved. At least for now!

Not pretty.

2009-09-05T17:54:00.001-06:00

And, just in case you were wondering, it is NOT socially acceptable for a grown woman to go around with a black eye. My Grandma said what everyone else was thinking, "Who did that to you? " She said rather accusingly. I'm not sure she believed me when I said, "I did!" If you don't believe me, just go try opening your driver's side door, quickly, with your right hand, while talking on the phone and holding said phone on your left shoulder.

Farm Country

2009-09-01T17:21:00.001-06:00

Since all the other kids are now in school Jonah and I are hoping to do some fun & educational things of our own. Last week we went to farm country on $2 Tuesday. Probably not the best idea, but we had fun. (It was very crowded.)

I learned I need a much faster camera in order to catch this busy little two year old in action. He loved everything, feeding the big white horse, the baby goats, riding in the wagon with his buddy Sky and was even willing to wait in a very long line for 45 minutes for a pony ride. We did have an embarrassing moment or two along the way, which has led me to wonder if it is better to be with friends or alone when your child does something embarrassing. I still haven't decided, but if there is anyone else who would like to get out and do something fun with their less than perfectly behaved toddler, let me know.

Happy Mom. Happy Kids.

2009-08-21T15:07:00.002-06:00

I have decided I love the First Day of School. And not for the reasons you might think. Although I have been know to say "I love my kids, just not all at the same time." They are A LOT to handle all at once. But, still, I love my kids, I love having them around, I love taking them fun places all Summer long, but I also know that they and I thrive on a good routine. (Kudos to you homeschooling Moms who are able to give your kids a good routine without the help of sending them off to school.) We always start the Summer with a good routine, but by the end it seems like everything has gone crazy. It seemed to be even more true this Summer than any other. I was not at all ready to start getting up and getting everyone out the door, but seeing how excited they are about school makes me happy and excited for them.

Maleah did just as she was supposed to, got all ready for school and waited on the porch for her picture to be taken.

Brynna headed down the street to get her best friend, GG, who you can see in the background.

And then there is Josh. He left for school without even saying goodbye. I went and took him out of class. He would never have smiled so willingly except that I threatened to take the picture in his class if he didn't. He smiled nicely, but was mumbling some not so nice words under his breath. I'll bet next year he will be on the porch right along with Maleah. Unless of course he WANTS me to show up at the Jr. High.

I just loved watching them all run around the night before making sure they had their clothes set out, their breakfast planned and their alarm clocks set. If only that would last all year.

I loved this note that I found. It reads Brynna is having eggs. Don't take too many eggs.Thank you. Sincerely, Brynna. They really were busy thinking of everything they could to be prepared for school.

After school they all came home talking, smiling and happy. Life is good.

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T17:31:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day! I started my day with the usual breakfast in bed, cards, and various goodies from the kids, and of course lots of loves. My girls love to get up bright and early to take care of Mom. At church the YM/YW took care of the primary and nursery so I got to go to RS. It was a pleasant surprise! It was a little bit of heaven sitting in RS enjoying chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels, that is until the kids found us :)

I wanted a picture of the kids and I for Mother's day. It took a lot of work to get them all in the same place, holding still, and kind of smiling.

I got to host the Mother's Day BBQ at my house. It was lots of fun and plenty chaotic. Jonah only escaped the house three or four times. We had lots of good food especially the dessert, thanks Kristy!

Here are all the moms for a Mother's Day photo op.
I don't know how good I am at this whole mothering thing, but I am sure thankful for a wonderful mom, who is always there for us when we need her. Sometimes more often than she might like. I am also so grateful for all the amazing mothers around me that continually inspire me! Thank you all for your great examples!

The Leprechauns were here.

2009-03-19T15:49:00.002-06:00

The Leprechauns came to our house....

They turned the milk green and left footprints on the cookies. Luckily they left a few gold coins!
We hope you all had some St. Patrick's day fun!
Note: To see the inspiration for the cookies and a much more professional job go here.

So Fun. Maleah's Birthday Celebration - Part 2

2009-03-19T15:05:00.000-06:00

Maleah decided this year for her birthday she wanted to go snowmobiling at the cabin. I was a little worried about this choice, but we had a great time and the girls asked if they could do this every year!

Don and I on the snowmobile. This was Jonah's first time on the snowmobile and you can see how he felt about it. On the way down he fell dead asleep so apparently he got over it.

Here are some of the girls on the sled. Brynna, Jonah, Courtlyne, Maleah and Olivia.
They had lots of fun, snowmobiling, swinging on the swing, and jumping off the deck.

Here they all are red cheeked, enjoying lunch and hot chocolate.
Camryn, Courtlyne, Mckinley, Olivia, and Maleah

Cupcake Time!
This was definitely Jonah's favorite part!

It was a huge success! Big thanks to Grammie and Grandfather for all their help!

Olivia said, "This is the best birthday party ever!"

Maleah's 9th Birthday - Part 1

2009-03-18T16:38:00.001-06:00

Maleah woke up bright and early and ready for her first present.

Her present was this dress which I got from Matilda Jane.

Maleah is always happy with something new to wear.

Her dad brought her favorite breakfast, donuts. And one of her favorite friends, Mckinley showed up with the perfect present for Maleah, glitter jeans and scrapbook paper. Maleah loved it!

Then we headed out to lunch at Red Robin and pedicures with the girls. Thanks to Heather for the pedicure, Grammie for lunch, and Kristy and Stella for the Hello Kitty Lip gloss set.

I know I might be in trouble with this picture, but I just had to show how we took up all the pedicure chairs. It is a good thing Grammie didn't want a pedicure.

Stella and Brynna in the pink Panda chairs. They also had DVD players, what lucky girls.

Maleah wanted Brynna to match her today so Brynna also got her new dress.

The final result...look at all those pretty toes!

Then we did a little more shopping and Maleah started to get a little tired. She was buying something with her money and when I asked for her money she threw her purse at me. She forgot the red gatorade in her purse though so when the purse hit the floor red gatorade went everywhere.

After that we were on the way out the door when the girls decided to throw money in the wishing fountain. Maleah was throwing so hard I thought she might hit somebody in the head, but she didn't do that she just threw her whole bag with new clothes, bracelet and lip gloss into the fountain. When the girls screamed I ran over and seeing that the bag hadn't sunk I didn't waste anytime. I slipped off my shoe and stepped into a VERY cold fountain. Everyone was staring, but the clothes were saved. My favorite thing about this is that Maleah told everyone these stories and was able to laugh at herself. Maleah can get embarrassed easily so I was so proud of her.

We finished the night by going to a beautiful dance recital that Mckinley performed in. Then went to eat with Caycie and Mckinley.

It was lots of fun from beginning to end!

Basketball

2009-03-11T16:43:00.000-06:00

I don't post near enough about this kid. Mostly because he runs from the camera and the other three are busy posing, so you know who I am taking pictures of.
Joshua was on a great basketball team this year, with lots of wins and a good coach, it was a good experience. We finally found a sport that Josh enjoys and will stop what he is doing to go and practice. Thank goodness!

Yes, this shaggy haired boy is mine. The hair will probably be something we disagree on right up until he leaves home. I am just hoping that the girls feel the same way about it that I do.

Here he is in action on the court, #15. Toward the end of the season he wasn't afraid to get in there and go after the ball. We sure enjoyed cheering for him. Good job, Josh!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

2009-03-11T16:30:00.000-06:00

I am a regular reader of Lisa Bearnson's Blog. And on Valentine's Day I actually won something. I refuse to say I never win anything because I am all about positive thinking, but this is my first blog win. I won because I was the first comment of the day and with 453 comments that is quite a feat. Anyhow my prize had perfect timing, what with me wanting to spend all day everyday in bed and having a little girl's birthday to plan. I had waited until the absolute last minute to send out party invitations and was in desperate need of some inspiration when my prize arrived.

It is this Bling kit. Lots of jewels and tools for all your scrapbooking or cardmaking needs.

Here is the card I made.

So, thanks to Lisa! Go check out her blog if you haven't already. She posts lots of great ideas.

I'm Back!

2009-03-10T18:25:00.000-06:00

I would like to say that I have been gone on some exotic trip to another country, but instead I have been hibernating in my frozen little corner of the world. I really should have been born a bear. A fur coat and hibernating through the winter...sounds good to me!

Anyhow, I have some catch up to do and I promised my mother-in-law some birthday pics, so I had better get to it.

More to follow.

Brynna and the 5 Day Old Ham & Cheese Sandwich

2009-03-10T18:10:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time there was a little brown-eyed girl named Brynna. Brynna liked to eat school lunch, but sometimes she liked to take lunch from home. One day her daddy packed her a homemade lunch. A ham & cheese sandwich with Miracle whip, just the way that Brynna liked it. He also included pretzels and a fruit snack.

This day when Brynna got to school she decided to SAVE her homemade lunch and eat school lunch instead. Brynna completely forgot about the homemade lunch until the next week at school. Brynna remembered the home lunch and thought it would be yummy. She also thought her mom would be soooo proud of her for eating all her lunch, so Brynna gobbled it all up!

When Brynna's mom picked her up from school Brynna was eating pretzels. Her mom said, "Where did you get the pretzels?" To which Brynna replied, "From my lunch box." Then Brynna happily announced, "I ate ALL of my sandwich!" Her mom said, "Please tell me it was peanut butter and honey." Brynna smiled and said, "Nope, ham and cheese." Brynna's mom was not as proud of her as Brynna had hoped she would be. Instead her mother said, "Oh, no, you are going to be sick." But Brynna just smiled and ran off playing and eating snacks all afternoon.

The very next morning Brynna's mom was right. Brynna was sick! Her stomach hurt all night long and then the throwing up began. Brynna threw up and slept, threw up, and slept, and then threw up and slept some more. Poor Brynna! After being sick all day, Brynna was better! The next day Brynna felt great! She went to a school field trip to the Scera Theater to see A Year with Frog and Toad. And Brynna never ate a 5 day old ham & cheese sandwich again. The End

The moral of the story is...

For Brynna - Never SAVE your lunch!

For Mom - Teach your children about food poisoning before they learn it the hard way.

Written by Angie with help from Brynna.

The Snyder Family Annual Ice Skating Party

2009-03-10T18:00:00.000-06:00

After going to the Draper Temple we went over to Astro Burger for the Snyder Family's annual ice skating party. We ate dinner and then headed off for ice skating. I am so glad we have this so I at least take my kids ice skating once a year.

I got to skate this year since Don was crying about some injury of his. Knee, ankle, old age, who knows!

Brynna really enjoyed it. She was planning on wearing a dress with tights because, "That is what the professionals wear!" Amazingly we talked her out of it.

Josh also had fun.

Maleah was a little bit moodier. Now she is happy....

And now she's not. I'm not sure this picture really captures the full extent of her sulking, but she eventually got through it. The reason for the sadness, her perfectionistic tendencies. She wasn't able to ice skate as well as she wanted to so she was frustrated.

Poor Jonah. He just got to watch. Maybe next year!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-10T17:52:00.003-06:00

We had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Draper Temple Open House with my sister and her family. It was such an enjoyable experience. Big thanks to Grammie for watching Jonah so Don and I could enjoy ourselves. We traveled without fighting and the kids were generally well-behaved, except for one little fart while in the temple, but we will leave that offender nameless. Joshua said his favorite thing was the huge chandelier, Maleah's was the Celestial room including the chandelier and Brynna just grinned really big and said, "EVERYTHING!" She especially liked all the beautiful artwork. We are so thankful that we have temples so close and we have the opportunity to be an eternal family.

Special thanks to Brynna for the little head tilt that let us see Christ in our picture.

Christmas

2009-01-20T16:06:00.006-07:00

OK, so the rule is you have to blog Christmas pretty quickly because after a couple of weeks pass you have no desire to blog it at all. I am shocked that I feel that way because we really had a great Christmas, but I have been really tempted to skip it, but since I do want a record of all the fun I guess I better just get it done.

The kids woke up about 11:30 all ready for Christmas, unfortunately I was just going to bed so it was a long night. We did manage to hold them off until 5:00a.m. I was just trying to talk them into waiting a little longer when they got Jonah up, after that it was a done deal.

Brynna with her dress-up trunk from Grammie. Look at that pure Christmas joy on her face!

Since Jonah had some practice 5 days before he was much better at opening presents, but he did think every present would be a train.

So I was a push-over mom this year. Maleah told me she wouldn't have a Merry Christmas unless she got a puppy. I laughed my head off at her and once again explained how we are not quite ready for that and why you don't want a a puppy in the winter, blah, blah,blah. Shortly after that when I couldn't figure out what to get the girls I made the small mistake of going to see a really well-priced puppy. Once I had him in my arms I was sold. It was all over, only I had to wait ten days and I just about couldn't stand it.
So on Christmas Eve Don went and picked him up. We have some fantastic across the street neighbors, the Gerbers who willingly took him for the night. I can not thank them enough. It was so nice of them to take on the burden of our puppy. Thanks goodness for great friends!
After all the ipods, snowboards, barbies, and trains had been opened I snuck across the street and got the puppy.

This is the look on Maleah's face when she saw what I had.

Then the kids just lined up in order. Josh was first to get a hold of him. Josh loves him. He is so good with him and helps take care of him a lot!

This is Maleah's face once she got a hold of the puppy.

Brynna...well Brynna likes the puppy, but right after this picture she promptly dropped him.
She has a lot to learn.

And here is Jonah trying to hold him. I think that pretty much says it all.

And here is why we have the puppy, I just couldn't resist he is so sweet and snuggly. Unfortunately he also pees, poops, chews on things, and barks. Lucky for him he is cute!

This is Koda. He is a Sheltie and was born October 26th. I didn't think we were ready for a puppy, but so far so good. He is a lot of work, but a lot of fun, just like most good things in life!

As a final note, it only took Maleah two days to hate the puppy. We were at the mall and had to get home to let the puppy out. She was so mad at the inconvience that she said she hated him. Wow that was quick! Fortunately we didn't get him just for her. She did take it back shortly after that. The kids had no idea what we were getting into when we got him, thank goodness Don and I did.

Jonah's 2nd Birthday

2009-01-09T12:25:00.003-07:00

Five days before Christmas we get to celebrate Jonah's birthday. It was pretty low key. He is still unsure about the whole thing. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to open any presents and most of the presents were opened by the other kids.

Jonah was very excited about his Thomas cake.

Presents, cake and ice cream is all you need for a fun 2 year old birthday. He got Thomas trains and some Tonka trucks. He also got a cute tent (thanks, Grammie & Grandfather) that the other kids sure had fun with. It was a sanity saver for me right before Christmas, but still a little sad when the kids would lock him out of the room because he was messing up the tent. Poor youngest child :(

He is growing up fast. He is talking more and more and has more ideas about what he wants. He is such a blessing for our family! We love our Jonah Bear!

Some December Fun

2008-12-30T16:10:00.006-07:00

Each December we sit down and make a list of all the fun things we want to do that month together as a family.

We always start with the decorating. We go get our tree the first Saturday in December and then the festivities begin.

Here is Brynna with the Christmas countdown. This year they got a piece of candy each day from the Countdown to Christmas elf. Brynna was very excited, but also a bit confused when the elf would miss a day or come at different times in the day. I told her he must be a new elf, still in training :)

We made gingerbread houses for FHE with friends and afterwards all piled in one car to see the Festival of Lights at the Spanish Fork Golf Course.

Here are the houses.

Joshua and Brynna proudly posing with their works of art.

Here is Jonah's reaction to the first little snowfall. That face expresses it correctly. He was stunned. It was difficult to get a picture because he was too busy checking it out and yelling, Oh!

This year for the first time ever in our lives we put up Christmas lights. I was stunned when Don told me he ordered some lights, but it was fun to have them.

And yes I say "We" hung the lights because I cheered him on and even held the ladder when he was at the very highest point of the house. I didn't know what I would do to help him if he started to fall, but I guess I can call 911, fortunately he did a wonderful job without any mishaps.

Fun things we did that I didn't get any pictures of include baking Christmas bread for friends and neighbors, this year I baked 24 loaves. Sorry if you missed yours, the family rule is you must be home to receive it, if not, better luck next year. We celebrated Jonah's 2nd birthday, had a candlelight dinner and Christmas lesson, visited Santa with all the Snyder cousins, and various other parties. It was a fun December. The only thing on the list we didn't get to were the lights at Temple Square (the weather didn't cooperate with that plan very well) maybe next year.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-30T15:44:00.006-07:00

I am playing catch-up. I know it is after Christmas and I am just posting Thanksgiving, but sometimes life happens and blogging just doesn't.

Here is our lovely chef with some of the delicious dishes. We ate at my mom's house where she did most of the cooking.

Cute baby Nico (Nate's son) and Jonah.

Yes, I took a picture of my Thanksgiving feast. I mostly wanted to see my cute place card made by Brynna. She made one for almost everyone. Mine had hearts around my name. I was a little concerned when I saw Maleah's place card. Brynna put "It is all about me!" multiple times on Maleah's. I was thinking that we had some serious sibling issues that we might need to talk about until I asked Brynna why she put that on Maleah's. Brynna said, "That is what it says on her jacket." Sure enough Maleah has a sweatshirt that says that on it. (It was not a purchase of mine, but given to her by a friend) It is always interesting what you learn just by asking your kids, instead of jumping to conclusions. I've learned my lesson...again.

There she is. She took the job of making place cards very seriously and she was so proud.

Josh, Jonah and Garrett ready to eat.

Dan and Chris got put at the kid table, just Big kids.

It was a great day and since this year it was my birthday also I didn't have to cook or do dishes and my mom watched the kids so that we could go and see a movie after dinner. Plus I got lots of yummy pie, (thanks Heathe) which is better than birthday cake any day!

Family Pictures

2008-11-25T22:51:00.004-07:00

So, I finally did it. This has been on my to do list so long that I actually had to change our outfits a couple of times, well since the season changed. It is so painful trying to get six people all dressed decently with haircuts and without any permanent marker anywhere noticeable or facial lacerations, but we did it and just in time.

Here are a few of the fun pictures we got.

Our pictures were taken by our friend Jodi Christensen Gallagher. (memoriesbyjodi.blogspot.com) She did such a great job! It was well worth all the stress and strain to get our family ready for pictures. Thanks Jodi for all your patience and hard work! Now if only the kids would stop growing then we wouldn't have to go through all this again next year.

Girl's Retreat 2008

2008-11-22T21:27:00.002-07:00

I can't seem to keep up with anything these days, but I didn't want to let the pictures and fun we had this year at our retreat be forgotten. Every fall my girlfriends from highschool plan an overnight trip. This year we just went to Park City, ate, shopped, talked until the wee hours of the morning, slept a little and did it all again the next day. All the girls were able to make it this year, except Calee, she couldn't make the trip from New Mexico. We missed her.

Kelli, Natilee, Allyson (came all the way from Iowa), Diana (California), Lynette, Me.
Suzy, Jennifer, Dixie, and Melanie (Wyoming)

Here we are getting our picture taken with our cameras. I always try to get some pictures, but usually only get one or two and have to get the rest from my other more faithful picture taking friends.

I included this picture because my husband was so confused as to what we were doing in all these pictures. We are talking. What else would we be doing? I think it finally clicked for him that we spend most of the weekend just sitting around talking. I don't think he is any less confused, but now he knows.
It was lots of fun, as usual and a much needed break, so until next year....

Happy Birthday, on October 31st!

2008-11-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Since Don's birthday is on Halloween, yes I know what you are all thinking, "hmmm, that explains a lot." I have heard it all before. But really he doesn't get the attention he deserves. This year on top of all the Halloween festivities I made him dress up as Dracula. He resisted at first, but then he really got into it. He wouldn't talk to me because he couldn't hold his teeth in and talk at the same time. I promise pictures will eventually come, hopefully by Christmas. I did get him a pie, put Happy Birthday candles in it and sing to him at a neighborhood Halloween party. Anyhow, the point of this post is to wish him a Happy Birthday! He is such a good sport! He is a sweet husband and father. He has kindly given his birthday to the children for the last 10 years, maybe one day he will get to celebrate on his birthday. He is good at giving everyone a hard time, but he has such a big heart and will do anything to help anyone. I was laughing that one of my friend's recently got him to go get her car for her in the rain. He is always willing to help. If I were a really good wife I would list 43 things I love about him, but if he wanted me to do that much writing he should have come on a day other than Halloween because I'm still recovering.
Happy Birthday anyway, Sweetie! We love you!

Halloween Hangover

2008-11-01T17:52:00.005-06:00

Am I the only one who has this day after Halloween experience? This year it was so much fun that I had to take pictures. It seems everywhere I turned there was a bucket of candy. Close by is usually a kid that has sticky drool running down their chin. When I got up this morning I kept stepping in something sticky. I demanded that all the kids put up their candy so that Jonah couldn't get anymore stuck to the floor. After they all put it up and he still came in with more candy I finally figured out he had his own bucket that he was getting in to. Uuuggghhh!

This is Jonah after I put up his bucket of candy. Yes, he is throwing a tantrum because he can't get to it.

And as if all the candy everywhere isn't enough we seem to have pieces of everyone's costumes strewn about. Here is Brynna posing with the mess. Yes, she slept in her costume, but she did get her teeth brushed before bed even if she never got around to pj's. This is totally Brynna!

I hope everyone recovers from their day after Halloween and if your day is just smooth sailing with no stepping in sticky or tantrums, please don't tell me....lie!

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T17:31:00.004-06:00

The kids were invited to a Rockstar Halloween Party this year. The girls posed for pictures, but Joshua protested and ran off before I could get one. Aren't they cute! Brynna loves her blue hair and has been looking for an excuse to use it. This was the perfect opportunity.

On Halloween day I got to go to school to help with Josh's class. His class got to frost cookies and watch the Sound of Music. I am not sure what the Sound of Music has to do with Halloween, but he has a really good teacher that doesn't want to do anything non-educational so since they have been reading a book that references the Sound of Music they got to watch that.
After the parties the kids had a costume parade.
I somehow ended up with a picture of Brynna and Josh, but none of Maleah. For Maleah just picture the same costume on a taller body with a bob hairdo. Maleah really looked super cute in this costume as did Brynna.

Joshua just went with the all black costume this year. He says he is organization 13. It is a guy on the Kingdom Hearts video game.

Here is our sweet baby vampire. He wasn't sure what was going on and in the middle of the parade he completely lost it and had to be rushed home for his nap.

Luckily he got the rest he needed and was back out for trick-or-treating. After trick-or-treating we went to a friend's house for food and fun. Don was dracula and I was a witch. We got a family picture taken of everyone in their costumes, but you'll have to wait for me to get those back. I will post them and soon as I have them! We hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-30T10:13:00.004-06:00

For Family Night we got together with friends to carve pumpkins. We had a lot of carving to do and a limited amount of daylight so we had to get right to work.

Don doesn't like to carve pumpkins, but he sure worked hard anyway. What a good daddy!

Maleah chose a simple pumpkin face because she wanted to get done quickly so she could go play.

Here we all are hard at work.

Luckily my friend Sheri took over picture taking so we got a couple pictures of me. Brynna talked me into a cute pumpkin pattern with a mouth that said, "BOO!" See how happy Brynna is.

Joshua hard at work on the skull pumpkin pattern he picked.

After getting the pumpkins carved we had a delicious dinner of chili, ham chowder, and corn muffins. We then roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Fall is the perfect time for roasting marshmallows. It was lots of fun. Thanks to everyone for their hard work so we could have a fun family night.

Fall Break, aaaaahhhh!

2008-10-21T05:46:00.010-06:00

Notice I said, aaaahhh! That is the same aaaahhhh as when you sink into a warm bubble bath, not the screaming aaaahhhh like when you want to tear out your own hair or rip off your own arm and beat yourself with it. Yes, this fall break was like sinking into a warm bubble bath and not the kind where small children run in screaming, taking off their clothes and begging to get in with you either. It was a pleasant surprise to have such a fun and enjoyable fall break. I have a few people to thank for making it all possible. But first I will start with the events of the weekend. We did start the weekend with a little bit of fighting to get our chores done so we could go to the pumpkin patch, but chores wouldn't be chores without a little bit of resistance.

Heather and I took our kids to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin. Here is Jonah looking out at the fields and the hay wagon that we ride in to get to the pumpkin patch.

Josh, Garrett, Brynna, Hunter,Maleah, and Jonah all ready for their ride to pick out the perfect pumpkin. This was Jonah's first year to really get in on the fun. Note: I was not responsible for Josh's "faux" hawk or Brynna's gypsy attire. Those two definitely have fashion ideas of their own.

All of my kids happily posing with their pumpkins. This is possibly the longest amount of time Jonah held his pumpkin. He kept throwing it and saying "ball". Fortunately I was smart enough to get a very hard pumpkin. He has yet to break it even though he has thrown it many times. You might notice Brynna's legs are a little awkward because Brynna had her pose all set when Maleah sat down. Brynna was not changing her position for anyone.

This is how the pose was supposed to look, aaahhh Brynna.

After getting treats in the Red barn boutique and sending the girls to the cabin with Grammie and Grandfather the relaxing part of my weekend began. I was left with only two children and although the youngest is definitely the hardest he does nap and his older brother can do a limited amount of babysitting. I got to go to the scrapbook store and get a haircut.

On Friday the scrapbook weekend began,

many thanks to my good friend Brianna for inviting me. We scrapbooked, did a little shopping, went to dinner, scrapbooked some more, slept a little, went to the scrapbook store, and finished up with more scrapbooking. It was lots of fun and all I can say is, aaaahhhh. Thanks, I really needed that. Brianna is such a good little hostess, she gets everything all clean and ready for everyone to come. She even makes a big breakfast in the morning, which I am sorry to say I missed because of my getting out of bed issues, but she still saved me a plate. So, thanks Bri!

Special thanks also to my mom and dad for taking the girls, Josh for babysitting without much complaint and Don for always being so supportive of my girl time. He even brought me a dc while I scrapbooked.

OK, OK, I'm it!

2008-10-14T15:07:00.006-06:00

I guess I have put this off long enough. I have been tagged twice now and the natives (my sister and cousins) are getting restless so I guess I can procrastinate no longer.

The first tag is from my favorite sister, Heather. Now that I look at her blog she tagged me a month ago, wow, time sure flies when you are having fun.

Now for the quirks...

1. I love to-do lists. I have to make one every night before bed. Every to-do list is dated and the first thing on my list is always Get up. I am afraid if I don't plan on it I won't do it, plus just by getting out of bed I get to cross something off my list. And if I do something that is not on the list I will write it down, just so I can cross it off.

2. When I eat I can only eat so much because I have a full lever. We call it the full shivers. Once I am full I can not eat or smell any food or I start to gag and shudder. Don thinks it is great fun to put food in my face and watch me gag. I recently found out that my brother, Spencer also gets the full shivers.

3. When I put on my deodorant I have to have the same number of strokes under each arm. I count and usually as high as 15-20 strokes.

4. I love salt. I put salt on everything. I salt my ketchup instead of my fries because it sticks better to the ketchup than the fries.

5. I have two cordless phones that are exactly the same, but one has a scratch on it. The scratched one has to go on the base in my bedroom and the other one in the kitchen. And I WILL go to the effort of switching them if I find the scratched one in the kitchen. This is a little OCD, I know.

6. I hate blogging. Don't get me wrong, I love reading others blogs, but the idea of others reading mine completely weirds me out, not just others I don't know either. Which is why I have invited very few people to read mine. I am trying to get more comfortable with the whole thing, but while I am writing this I am cringing about posting it.

And for a bonus quirk, I frequently say my prayers in the shower or while drying my hair. It is the only time when everyone will leave alone, but if I have my choice I prefer to pray in the pilates position, "a little piece of heaven".

Phew... Now for my second tag, thanks Kristin

8 things I did today...

1. Got up and resisted the urge to go back to bed.
2. Exercised.
3. Made phone calls for work.
4. Helped arrange childcare and meals for a sister in my ward who fell and hurt her back. More phone calls.
5. Took a friend to the store and went to get a dc.
6. Made the agenda and attended primary presidency meeting.
7. Picked up a neighbors kid from school and ran to another school to give a poor little girl with chapped lips some chapstick.
8. Blogged while helping kids do homework, get snacks and get along. (Oh I wish I would have finished while they were at school.)

8 Shows I Love...
1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. Medium
4. Survivor
And mostly a bunch of reruns...
5. Scrubs
6. King of Queens
7. Still Standing
8. Yes, Dear

8 Restaurants I Love...
1. Pizza Factory
2. Outback
3. PF Changs
4. Art City Trolley
5. Los Hermanos
6. Chick Fil A
7. Olive Garden
8. Training Table

8 Things I am Looking forward to...

1. My next dc (diet coke)

2. My husband coming home from golfing.

3. I am with my sister on this one...Spring!
4. Sleep, always!
5. Scrapbooking...this weekend
6. Girls Retreat...Oct. 24th & 25th
7. A haircut and a pedicure...I am due for both.
8. My basement being finished.

8 Things I am wishing for...
1. A decorated home.
2. More time to scrapbook.
3. A fence on the other half of my yard.
4. Financial Freedom
5. A scrapbook room, completely stocked and organized.
6. A chef that will feed me and my family delicious, healthy well balanced meals.
7. A new car, that is not a gas guzzler, is not a minivan and still fits all my kids and their stuff. (Let me know if you have any suggestions.)
8. A good presidential candidate, but while I'm wishing maybe I will just wish for the Savior to return so he can rule and rein.

And I almost forgot, since I don't let enough people read my blog to possibly tag 6 or 8 people I will just do one for each. I want to hear my sister-in-law Kristy's 6 quirks and my friend and neighbor Lindsey's 8 things.

My Grandpa Zobrist

2008-10-03T11:22:00.006-06:00

My Grandpa Zobrist passed away early yesterday morning. He was 88 years old. Grandpa lived a good, full life and will be missed by many. He has 6 children, 34 grandchildren, over 100 great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. A couple of my cousins, Larae and Melanie have written some beautiful tributes to Grandpa. They are older, wiser, and have a better memory than I do.
To me Grandpa was just who he was, no excuses. Sometimes when you went to visit you had to wait for him to get his pants on. Often times he didn't have a shirt on. I was so glad to find I had a picture of him with his shirt on, but I do remember him putting it on right before we took pictures. He was often watching T.V. in the other room when we were there and just when you thought he wasn't listening he would hollar in some comment from the other room. He always said things just how they were. I loved riding in style in the back of the Lincoln Towncar and listening to a few of the choice words he had for other drivers. He cracked me up! I also loved being in the temple with him because you never saw a sweeter guy than Grandpa in the temple. One other random thing I loved about Grandpa is how much he loved T.V. and how he recorded cartoons and mailed them to us. I will sure miss visiting him in Las Vegas and having him tell me good-bye before I'm quite ready to leave. Good-bye to you for now Grandpa! I look forward to the time when we will all be together again.

Family Night - Temple Marriage

2008-10-01T23:03:00.007-06:00

We had our annual anniversary family night. Every year the Monday closest to our anniversary we have a family home evening lesson about temple marriage. I put on my wedding dress and talk to the kids about being an eternal family. We watch our wedding video and the kids love to see Mom & Dad smash each other with the cake. This year the girls found some old dresses of mine and put them on so they could be the bridesmaids. The girls love this! They each have to have a turn wearing the wedding dress also. Joshua isn't as into this as the girls are. We had a nice talk about marriage, the right time and place to get married. Joshua just sits there and grins when we talk about it. He is finally admitting he likes girls, but Maleah...well... she is not quite ready for the whole idea. She stated that she was making a note to herself about marriage and the answer is NO, she is not doing that! We shall see! We finished up our family night with cake of course. It is a fun tradition and only a little embarrassing when someone shows up at the house and your husband invites them in. I am truly thankful for my sweet husband, that we were married in the temple, and for the knowledge that I have that we can be together forever.

Happy 12th Anniversary to Us!

2008-09-27T20:11:00.005-06:00

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson on our happy day, completely oblivious to all that lay ahead.

Our 12th anniversary day began when I was awoken by a little girl saying, "Mommy, I puked." In a bit of a daze I asked, "Where?" To which she replied, "Upstairs, on the carpet." Which wasn't exactly accurate since it was down the side of the bed, on the books, toys, carpet, door handle, and bathroom floor. At this moment I knew our day would not go as planned and I really regretted not leaving town. Then I stumbled back to bed and remembered one of the many reasons I chose to have kids with Don Johnson. Don cleans up puke! Don has watched me dry heave on multiple occasions anywhere near puke. He usually orders me from the room. So, my amazing, sweet, fantastic husband cleaned up all the puke. He truly is the best! So, our 12th anniversary didn't end up being all that fun, but all the days in between have been great! The Lord managed to lead me to the one man on earth that through all the craziness of life, kids, bills, and puke I still Like and I mean really Like. He is still my favorite person to be with, who knew? I give God all the credit because he is the only one who could have known.

Happy Anniversary, honey!

DigiScrapping

2008-09-17T15:43:00.005-06:00

I have been working on learning how to scrapbook, digitally. Slowly but surely I am figuring things out. Here is a layout I just completed from last Halloween. Many thanks to Ryan Lemon for taking these cute pictures and editing them so that I didn't look completely bad...

Our Little Rockstar

2008-09-11T16:18:00.006-06:00

This is the view I saw when I looked out my kitchen window. Jonah is such a little climber. He was able to climb on my desk before he could even take a single step. Because of all the climbing he can get himself into a bit of trouble. He likes to climb on the air conditioner, but I have never seen him do it while it is going. He thought it was so funny that I had to take a picture before pulling him off, telling him no, and taking him in the house. His fun in the backyard was definitely done for the day. I had no idea when I became a mother that I would spend so much time trying to keep the kids from getting killed or injured. It is definitely a full time job!

Don's New Mode of Transportation

2008-09-04T09:53:00.006-06:00

I almost forgot to post this. I think because I am not sure what to say about it. So I'll just say this Don has lots of experience riding motorcycles, although none since we met. He rode his motorcycle from Ohio to California. He always wears a helmet and I have good life insurance.

So say an extra prayer for Don, just know I will be. Then when winter hits I can rest easy, he will be back to driving his car, while eating, texting, talking on the phone, and checking his laptop. (Maybe he IS right about him being safer on a motorcycle.) All safety concerns aside, he loves it, my bank account loves it, and the kids love it!

First Day of School

2008-08-28T12:48:00.006-06:00

Despite all the complaining, mostly from Joshua. They were all up bright and early, getting their hair done and making sure that their outfit was just right.Joshua was a little nervous. He had not met his new teacher and the girls saw her and told him she was scary. Don Johnson and I looked in on him about 5 minutes after class started and the whole class was working, not a smile in the room. I asked for a teacher with good classroom control and I think I got it.

Brynna and Maleah were so excited they couldn't stand it. Brynna got a teacher that asked for her to be in her class, apparently there were a few who wanted her. Brynna was so excited to go all day and eat school lunch. Maleah got the cute, young, fun teacher that she wanted. She came home and told me, "I love my teacher! I just want to stay at school!" I hope that feeling lasts.
Jonah is now at home all by himself with Mommy. He is a little lonely and so happy when they all come home.

End of Summer

2008-08-28T12:41:00.004-06:00

This was our last day of Summer fun. We went up to the res with Heather and the boys.

I think everyone felt the same way that Jonah did, tired.

The kids had fun playing in the sand,

floating on the tubes, and fishing. Although we didn't any good fishing pictures.

Joshua & Garrett both enjoyed fishing from their tubes.
I had to throw this picture in of Heather in her bathing suit. Just trying to get even for my bathing suit picture, but of course she looks great! Oh well, I tried.
The funniest thing was when Joshua figured out school started the next day. He was so mad, for some reason he thought August 20th was a Thursday. He tried arguing about it and then determined he had to go to school the next day and it was all my fault. It is amazing all the things I am responsible for:)

Thanksgiving Point

2008-08-20T11:55:00.008-06:00

Thanksgiving Point had $2 Tuesdays throughout the month of August so we joined with the crowds of people (Utahans are so frugal) and went to the Dinosaur museum with some friends.

Jonah was as sweet as can be while in his stroller. Maleah made the big mistake of getting him out and then things got a little crazy.

Jonah trying to climb on anything he can.

Joshua still loves the big dinosaurs.

The kids posing in front of some ancient sealife, with our cute friend, McKinley.

Both girls really enjoyed playing at the sand at water table.

All the kids, plus a couple of friends in front of the shark. After it was all said and done all three children said, "That was boring!" Funny, they sure don't look bored.

Fishing

2008-08-06T12:04:00.006-06:00

Joshua has taken a new interest in fishing. He got a fishing pole for his birthday and couldn't wait to try it out.

His friend, Bailey, Maleah, Brynna and Jonah all came along for the fun.

The kids kept casting and casting and casting. I wasn't sure we would ever catch anything, but wouldn't you know it, Brynna sat down and waited for about a minute and caught a 2 1/2 lb. trout. She was so proud. She spent the rest of the time prancing around and getting anyone she could find to come see her BIG fish! Bailey caught 5 small ones. Maleah talked Bailey into giving her one of his. And Joshua was growing more frustrated by the minute. But just when I started saying some silent prayers that he would catch one, he did and it was a decent size. After that he caught another one, bigger than the first.

Here he is with his catch. He was so happy!

After all the fishing and gutting were done we took them home for Don to cook. We ate a little, but there was something about catching them, seeing them all slimy that made it a little unappetizing to me, but it was a lot of fun.

Joshua's 11th Birthday

2008-08-05T23:10:00.007-06:00

When Joshua figured out his birthday this year was on Sunday he said, "I don't have to go to church on my birthday, right?" Too which, we smiled and said "Nice try." By the time his birthday rolled around he miraculously had a new attitude.

When we talked about what he wanted for breakfast and the fact that Don and I would be fasting he announced he would also fast. He has never fasted so we were very surprised. He woke up that morning got all ready for church and fasted with Don and I. He did great at church and even waited until after church to say a pray and break his fast before eating a twinkie. Don and I were very proud of him.

We came straight home from church to open his presents. He got some stuff for his bike and a PS2 with some games. He knew he was getting it since it was what he wanted and shopped for on eBay, but the mail lady actually brought it when he wasn't home and since he checked the mail everyday he thought it hadn't come. I had to threaten Don to not tell him. Joshua was pleasantly surprised since he thought he was going to have to wait until Monday.

We had family over for a BBQ and cake and ice cream.

Make a wish, Josh!

Brynna enjoying the party.

Jonah, enjoying his cake.

Jonah loves food. The kids love to give it to him because when he gets something he likes he says, "yum, yum." I have no idea why. I don't think we even say that, but here he is...

The 24th of July Celebration

2008-07-30T18:51:00.006-06:00

We woke up the day after Brynna's Birthday bright and early to go to the Spanish Fork Parade. Most of us enjoyed watching the parade with family and friends.

Thanks to Sheri for taking this picture of Don and I. We so rarely get a picture of the two of us.

Here is Brynna looking remarkably similar to the day before. When she woke up and put on the same dress I decided it was too early for a fight and let it go. When I asked her if I could fix her ponytail she said, "It's not a pony tail and you aren't touching it." Luckily I woke up with extra patience and let that go too. So here she is as beautiful as ever at the parade.

Jonah and Don, all smiles at the parade.

Here is Maleah at the parade. She is really not much of a morning girl.

After the parade some friends and I took our daughters to Primrose Retreat for a Royal Tea. They had finger sandwiches, fruit, and cupcakes, even Maleah couldn't help but smile.

Then there was face painting and more dress-up!

Here I finally got a picture of Maleah. Believe it or not Maleah will not pose very often. I don't have near as many pictures of her and Josh lately, but it is not for lack of trying.

Brynna and Miss Spanish Fork

Brynna posing with the rest of the Royalty.

I love this cute picture of Jonah's favorite friend, Sophie and Brynna. They were so cute in the matching cheetah dresses.

It was lots of fun, even though it felt like a bit of a repeat. We finished the day up with fireworks with friends. It was a fun celebration!

Brynna's First Lost Tooth

2008-07-30T18:50:00.003-06:00

After Brynna put on her brand new Hannah Montana p.j.'s, she finished up her 6th birthday by pulling out her very first tooth. She was so excited to put it under her pillow she actually went to bed quite nicely.

She came down in the morning a little disgusted. She couldn't believe that the tooth fairy only left her $5.00. Maleah told her she has never gotten more than $2.00 and I explained that it was probably a birthday present from the tooth fairy. She still thinks the tooth fairy is cheap. I can't imagine what she will think the next time when she only brings her $1.00. I'm sure we will hear about it.

Brynna's Big 6th Birthday

2008-07-27T17:43:00.013-06:00

Brynna's Birthday is the same week as Spanish Fork Fiesta Days and Pioneer Day, so it seems like a week long celebration. Monday we went to the carnival. Wednesday we had her birthday party with her friends and a family BBQ. Thursday we went to the parade and back to Primrose Retreat for a Royal Tea with the Spanish Fork Royalty. Thursday night we watched the fireworks with friends. By the end of the week we were all partied out.

But here is how it all began...

Happy Birthday, Sunshine! The day started out with new clothes from Mom and donuts from Dad, but that was just the beginning.

Then Grandfather brought her a new dress sent by Grammie, which she promptly put on. She got some new sunglasses from the Mom Store and pranced around most of the day and part of the next day like this.

She had a party at Primrose Retreat. They let the kids dress up, do their hair, nails and a little bit of make-up, mostly glitter, which Brynna loves. Brynna tried on almost everything there was and strutted down the cat-walk to have her picture taken. It was so much fun to see the girls different personalities come out. Some of the girls are a little more shy about it than others. I had trouble choosing which pictures to share so here are a bunch of them.

Brynna loved these fancy silver boots.

Maleah and Brynna in matching dresses. I think this was definitely their favorite dress.

This is Brynna's friend, Bailey. She really enjoyed posing for her picture to be taken.

Stella, Spencer & Kristy's daughter. She was so cute and a bit shy about the whole thing.

Maleah, finally getting a little more courage to come down the cat-walk.

Avery in the leather pants, loved them.

Sweet Sydney!

This is all the party girls. They were so cute and we had so much fun.

Here is the final fashion show. Sorry about the amateur videography.(if that is even a word)

After they got all beautiful they had a little tea party , complete with china, linens, pink hot chocolate and gourmet cupcakes.

Brynna didn't ever remove her sunglasses, even while opening presents.

We finished up the day with a family BBQ, more presents and more cake and ice cream. Brynna says her favorite thing to do is to go to Primrose.

Salem Pond

2008-07-20T16:01:00.004-06:00

Salem Pond has been our favorite park to go to this year, so I figured I better take some pictures of all the fun we have had there.

This is Danielle (Dan's Daughter), Joshua, and Maleah. They were hunting for all sorts of gross creatures in the pond.

Danielle and Brynna floating away. The kids enjoyed floating way out on the tubes. It was a little scary since Danielle doesn't know how to swim, but everyone survived.

Brynna enjoyed playing in the sand and the water.

Jonah enjoys the playground. For some reason this day he started posing for pictures.

Here is a great shot of Heather. I think I caught her trying to say something :)

Jonah, posing again. He spends a lot of time in the stroller, and lots of snacking.

This was the first time we let Jonah in the water. He loved it!

Here I had to stop him from trying to drink the water. I think he managed to get one mouthful down. That cannot be good.

Swimming Lessons

2008-07-13T15:04:00.006-06:00

The girls had another great year of swimming lessons. We decided that Joshua swims well enough that he doesn't have to take lessons anymore. Now Maleah thinks she should be done also, we shall see.

Maleah happy in the water as always.

Maleah loves jumping off the diving board.

Brynna has always been happy in the water. She loves diving for things.

Another happy picture!

Waiting in line for the diving board.

Floating with one of the teachers.

Our July 4th Celebration

2008-07-08T17:13:00.008-06:00

We started our 4th of July Celebration at the parade in Mt. Pleasant. It is a fun, small town parade where they throw lots of candy. The kids love it!

Jonah, hot and not sure what to think. The noise didn't seem to bother him, but when he got hit with some water he bawled his head off.

Brynna & her cousin, Stella enjoying the parade.

Joshua & Garrett, they are just about too cool to be at a parade.

Maleah & Brynna, with Brighton in the background.

Next we had a picnic and went swimming at the pool in Fairview. It is at the bottom of the mountain from my parent's cabin.

Maleah enjoyed jumping off the diving board.

Jonah had to enjoy the kiddie pool, which is where all the kids with swim diapers had to swim. Jonah was a little timid at first, but then he got into it. On the video you can see him face planting right into the pool. There was an older guy watching and laughing his head off. He said, "That kid is going to be a football player. He is fearless!" If he only knew, he cries in the carwash.

There were other kids in the pool, but I think Jonah ran them all off with his splashing.

After swimming we went to the cabin for a BBQ, four-wheeler rides and a sleep-over.

Here is Don doing what he does best, anytime, anywhere.

He did wake up long enough to take the kids four-wheeling.

Jonah couldn't be happier than on the four-wheeler with his dad.

Maleah and Brynna are pretty happy also.

After a somewhat restless sleepover at the cabin this is what I woke up to

I got up as fast as I could, packed up and went home. Love ya, scary little Sis!

Cat Catastrophe

2008-07-08T16:48:00.004-06:00

This Spring we had a bit of a Cat Catastrophe when our cat, Cali became pregnant. We ended up losing her and her 5 kittens causing me to start a list called, "All the things in life I never wanted to do, but got to do anyway." Helping a cat give birth to stillborn kittens currently resides at #2. Anyhow, because of all the cat trouble, not even including the time I ran over Cali, which she survived and I only had to carry her to and from the litter box for a week, Don is vehemently opposed to having a cat at all at this point. So when this cute little kitten showed up (thanks, Grammie) the kids were delighted and Don, not pleased. I couldn't help but take a few pictures of Jonah loving the kitty.

And what happened to the cute little kitty after the kids enjoyed it for a few days? I woke up one morning and the kitty was gone. I asked Don where the kitty was and he had no idea, but then Grammie called. She said there was a kitty just like the one she gave us in the parking lot at Gold's gym. The very gym that Don goes to every day. Luckily for the kitty there was a nice lady there that said her kids would love it and took it home. So, the mystery remains...We think the kitten climbed up in Don's car and climbed out at the gym, but for now it is only speculation. One thing that we know for sure, No more kitty's for this family!

Maleah's New Hairdo

2008-07-01T17:25:00.005-06:00

Maleah has always wanted her haircut in an A-line. She finally got brave and cut it. It looks so cute on her. She loves how it looks, but doesn't love all the blow drying and flat ironing to get it done.

Summer Fun

2008-06-26T17:18:00.005-06:00

The kids are having plenty of Summer fun. Here they are on their new slip-and-slide in the back yard.

I know this video isn't all that exciting, but I wanted you to be able to see some of Don's hard work in the yard. He has done a great job. He just keeps working on it.

Jonah has learned to enjoy the pool. When we went to a time share for Spring Break he hated it. He sat on a chair at the side of the pool the entire time. I was beginning to question if he was really ours, but apparently he is as stubborn and independent as the rest of the kids. He is happy in the water when he can touch the ground and everyone leaves him alone so he can do his own thing. With 3 siblings being left alone doesn't happen that often.

The girls posing with Jonah.

They both sure do love having their picture taken.

Jonah is all wet and enjoying the picnic that the girls set up on the front lawn.

Here is Brynna with her newest friends, Summer and Winter having a picnic.

Brynna & T-Ball

2008-06-26T15:59:00.013-06:00

Brynna decided she wanted to play T-Ball this year. I think mostly because of the pink mitt. The team being the purple Pixies was also a huge bonus. I think it even made Maleah a little interested. Since Joshua decided not to play baseball our family schedule was wide open for Brynna to give it a try. She has a big grin on her face as she prances around the bases. She has been know to wear flip-flops, a princess crown, and or a lei. All much to her father's dismay. She has enjoyed it, but the treat at the end is still her favorite part.

She doesn't usually look so serious, or so fashion unconscious.

Brynna says, "That is what you are supposed to do to get ready to run."