Michael and Heather Johnson

2011-02-06T14:20:00.001-08:00

This is a test. I can't seem to view my own blog!

Soccer

2009-09-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is Isabelle's 2nd year of soccer and so far she has loved it! This year, her team name was The Stingers and they were undefeated. She is great at being a good teammate, cheering for the other girls, running up and down the field, and she has even scored 2 goals. What a cool girl she is!

Commentations on the movie 'UP'

2009-09-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

So after a great recommendation from Uncle Adam, I took the girls to the dollar theater to see the movie UP. The girls and I loved the movie but one of us has been particularly obsessed with the Papa......and how he moved his house.......up in the sky......and then boom! The balloons popped and the house came down, down, down.......and then that Papa had to (ugggghhhhhh) push...so HARD....to move his house! And then there's Doug the dog, and Kevin the silly bird (bird/duck...you say tomato and I'll say tomahto)......

Well, watch and you can see for yourself. And let me just tell you that coming from an older sister who is never short for words, Isabelle has been at a loss for an original response to the tired question, "Belle-Belle.....did dat Papa move....house?" Her response has been a long exhausted roll of the eyes with an accompanying exasperation of......"Ugh! Not again!"

Bear Lake Classic

2009-09-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

So my college roommate, Melissa, and I did the Bear Lake Triathlon sprint last week and we surprised ourselves by actually surviving and not coming in last. We had a great time! We had no idea that there were official triathlon singlette suits that you can wear through the entire event (I had to surfer change from swimsuit to biking clothes out in the middle of the crowd.....which made me think twice about those official outfits), or that it was taboo to take porta-potty breaks during transitions (which made me think twice about renting a wetsuit in the future since I am pretty sure when and where the rest of them must be taking their bathroom breaks), and we didn't really care about winning (which was good since that would have been a pipe dream), we ran more than we walked (we think), and learned a lot for triathlons in our future.
Overall, it was an all-around great day and very good experience.

Yea, and this guy? Well, we just hoped that #1046 was his wife and not someone he had scoped out during the race. Who knows, maybe she too didn't get the official singlette suit memo and was stripping down in broad daylight under her towel as well. Yikes.

Backpacking in Millcreek Canyon

2009-09-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

The Girlies

2009-09-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

Isabelle's Official

2009-08-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

By now some of you may be wondering if Isabelle has officially taken over this household. Typically my answer would be obviously, where have you been? But since I just up and took my recent 6 month hiatus from the blogging world, saying that would be the proverbial pot calling the kettle black at this point. So, I will just start by saying that if Isabelle needed any additional justification for feeling like she truly has done it all and can write you a dissertation upon request.....I'll say this: Today she started kindergarten.

She took the monumental step in her young life by inviting the family to the cafe strategically situated across the street from her elementary school's front door. And so while she watched the sea of other less-than-fortunate students assuming their oppressive positions in a line that would wrap around the block, Isabelle worked her way down through a stack of pancakes at the bar. (Sitting at the bar was her request. She likes the down-home atmosphere I imagine...you know where everyone knows your name? I assumed this because she kept making small talk with the lady behind the counter and laughing at the jokes of the coffee drinking stranger sitting next to her). We chit-chatted about what it would be like as soon as school started and she chuckled as she pointed out the window and noticed that what the other kids were doing didn't look quite so....well, satiating. We discussed glue sticks and recess and Isabelle seemed to believe this new chapter in life would secure the one spot that has always been eluding her: Being the smartest, most capable, and definitely the boss in our family.

I figured I would let her savor the moment (and the fantasy) at least 'till Friday.

Papa's Kind-A-Girl

2009-07-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

So this is the typical question we get all day, every day from Liv. "Where's Papa?" It wouldn't matter if I said he was off driving the brand new Austin Martin he bought with his lottery winnings or that he had been surfing the coastal waters of Australia and unfortunately had been eaten by sharks. Her response is always the same. I am convinced the only thing she heard is that Papa is gone and the rest is blah blah blah. It seems apparent to this little girl with bed head to beat the band.........

If Papa's not right here "maholdin", it's always going to be "adisappointin."

(And for you Grandmas out there who are feeling left out right about now, just know that I tried. I really tried. What I should have said was, "Forget about the Papa, Liv-Liv. Where's the Grandma who could run a brush through that rats nest that you insist on showing at every angle?)

Draper Temple Open House

2009-03-10T20:04:00.001-07:00

The girls and I spent today at the new Draper Temple open house. Isabelle could hardly contain herself as we got ready, drove there, parked in the 'pretend temple' (they made us park at a local stake center, we watched a movie about temples, and then we were bussed to the 'real temple' according to Isabelle). We were dropped off at the end of a long, long covered temporary tunnel which eventually opened up to the temple basement where the baptistry was. Isabelle and Olivia were both totally enthralled with the baptismal font and the cattle statues. Olivia was so much so, that when our tour group was ushered to the next area, she began to throw a complete and utter temper tantrum. She screamed and kicked, and yelled 'cows, cows!' loud enough that an usher asked us to sit it out in the chapel area so she could compose herself. We sat there while Liv threw herself about the floor screaming, kicking, cussing, and fighting while people walked by with either annoyed or sympathetic looks. (Someday I will have to explain to Liv just how she behaved in the house of The Lord. That may be the first time screaming with those kinds of bowling words were spoken within its walls....and perhaps the only time really). Anyway, she carried on that way until a little old lady came up and looked her in the eyes and in a sweet voice asked, "Honey, is your mommy being mean to you?" Olivia stopped crying and began smiling at this grandma. She tickled Liv's arm, played peakaboo until Liv decided she could soldier on. Isabelle pointed out all the pictures of Jesus, and we talked about the eternal mirrors. She carried her pamphlet like a seasoned tourist and pointed to the pictures as they came up in the tour. Afterward, they led us out and into an adjacent church house where they served cookies. Isabelle thought that the refreshment gesture pretty much made today the best day ever. By this time, Liv had had about enough and would not let me hold her or manhandle her whatsoever. We waited in line for our bus again, and finally our chariot picked us up and delivered us back to our original spot. As we approached our car, I asked Isabelle what the best part of our day had been. She said, "Riding that bus." Later, she renigged on that and wrote on the comment card to put in her journal a different favorite of today. What is it you ask? I will let your read it for yourself.........

What Guinea Pigs?

2009-03-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we wasted good dress-up time on guinea pigs! I will now give my testimonial on cats, particularly to all of you out there who have heard me say I don't like cats and would never allow one in my house. I have repented and seen the light! This animal has offered my girls ample opportunities to be pretend mommies, it has ridden in strollers (down the stairs on occasion), it cleans up after itself, minds its own business when the girls aren't in need of a playmate, gets along with the dog, it always lands on its feet, and in general....has been the pet of the year! Notice how Gypsy's ears make perfect piggies for hair bows and flowers? Awesome!

I NEED YOU TO LOOK AT ME

2009-03-07T20:59:00.001-08:00

Partying Like A Bunch Of Rock Stars

2009-03-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Our twin nephews, Gavan and Tanner (aka The Chums), turned 9 last week and as it turns out, their Aunt Heather was commissioned to make the birthday cakes. They gave strict instructions of how they wanted these cakes to be played out.....literally. They wanted Rock Band cakes, one of a guitar and one of a drum. After serious contemplation and raiding the old Halloween candy, this is what Isabelle and I came up with. We thought they turned out pretty cool.
And thankfully, the chums did too.

A Happy Reunion

2009-03-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

So about two years ago, I was getting ready for a new baby to live at our house and was trying to turn the guest bedroom into a nursery. I was having Michael move the adult furniture out to make room for a crib, changing table, and rocking recliner. What Michael and I didn't realize, was that Isabelle had her eye on a certain piece of furniture in that room. When I was young, my dad made Mari and I these cute oak cabinets to put all of our treasures in. He made the doors to lock with a little key and built shelves inside. I have had the cabinet in every house I've lived in. When we got to this house, we had it in the guest room. As it sat in the hall waiting for a new place in our house, Isabelle started throwing a temper tantrum about how she wanted something in her room. I asked her to explain her fit. She wouldn't indicate what it was she wanted exactly but said something like she always wanted a special thing and I hadn't delivered this special thing up to this point in her life. This fit went on for a few days, meanwhile the little oak cabinet sat in the hall right in front of her bedroom door, eluding her apparently. Finally, as we got ready to relocate it, she started to cry. I asked her what she was sad about and it opened this flood gate of expressing unfulfilled childhood expectations. She sobbed, "Mommy, I just want dat.....dat.....um....dat fing dat I can keep my fings in." She pointed to the cabinet and went on, "I just want a fing with a door and a tiny key to hold all my secrets."
So, the cabinet went in her room and right away she went to work gathering her treasures about her room: cards she got in the mail from Grandma Karen, necklaces her daddy bought her at the beach, a random nondenominational bible Grandma Nan gave her (notwithstanding its ambiguous translation, it's little and pink--thus a treasure), rocks and acorns from the yard, magazines from Papa Prisbrey, a doll from Grandma Johnson, bracelets and a jewelry box from Grandma Karen, room key cards her dad collects for her while he travels for work, various items she has "borrowed" from her mom's makeup, etc. She knows exactly where the key is, and she never loses it. When she got a little play kitchen for Christmas, we moved the cabinet out to make room. That lasted about 4 weeks. She would reminisce about the good ol days when she had had it in her room and kept all her 'secrets' in it. Finally, we decided she needed it back in her quarters, and I have come to the realization that the full circle of life has happened. I now know how kids go about "inheriting" their parents stuff. Isabelle will no doubt take this cabinet to every house she lives in from now on. And I am happy to let her do just that.

This is Isabelle rearranging her room to make space for her cabinet with the doors and tiny key, organizing her 4-year-old treasures. It was a happy reunion that lasted well over 2 hours. And her secrets are safe once more.

Snow, Snow, And More Snow

2009-03-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

It always seems like around the middle of February, we feel like the snow will never end! I know compared to others in the states (Ronna) our powdery, fluffy snow is child's play compared to real snow storms, but I still seem to struggle with snow activities with little kiddies. Anyway, Michael is a champ at keeping it real in the winter......and was all over making a snowman with Isabelle after our latest storm.
And of course, every dad needs a redneck snowsuit!

Our Latest Purchase

2009-01-20T20:55:00.000-08:00

While most couples our age are eying those nice Malibu wake-setters, LR-2's, time shares on private beaches in some tropical getaway..........what have the Johnson's got their sights on?
A 1987 Fleetwood Tioga Travel Trailer with the classic Ford Chassis.....AKA "Mac" (After Fleetwood "Mac")

BAUW-CHICK-A-BAUW-BAUW!

This is Michael pulling the rig up curb side to collect his little lady at the Long Beach Airport. We met there on my birthday, ate at the Crab Cooker and stood on the trailer's roof to watch the sun go down over Newport Beach (all the while parked alongside a Porsche and Rolls Royce, no exaggeration). We then drove Mac to a midnight movie on the PCH, and then slept like babies on some side street in our new RV. We woke up and just started laughing at ourselves and our ghetto brown plush surroundings. I had to get out to help Michael out of our parallel parking sandwich but not being RV savvy, I wasn't watching every angle and so we took out a street sign in the process. We then drove the beaut to Harbor Inn Diner, had a couple of trucker breakfasts and then began our road trip home. We spent the next night in some Wal-mart parking lot just to really experience true RV living-- where you can wake up, take your morning breath and bedhead inside for a warm Wal-mart greeting (and no questions asked)use the facilities.....and then help yourself to a good continental breakfast all under a few dollars. Michael came out of the men's restroom with his hair wet like he had helped himself to a sink shower and we both just started laughing! This is a shot of Michael being the sophisticated driver he was and is. I sat shotgun and worked on some Calculus (I have a new student who's about to rock my math tutoring world and needed a quick review during the drive home). So by the time we rolled into Cedar City, Papa Tigger (Michael Carter) renamed our outfit "The Trig Rig" when he saw the math books and notes inside. We loaded up a weight set that Michael bought from Jim, stopped at Rachel and David's house for a birthday dinner, to collect the girls, and give all the nieces and nephews rides around the block. It was singing show tunes and laughing all the way home until reality hit with that #@$%! 35 pitch driveway of ours............and then as suddenly as our party had started, the party was over. We tried and tried making it up the driveway. The neighbors started coming out to watch. Michael tried every angle. Girls started getting tired and crying in their car seats. Tailpipes and bumpers were becoming casualties. Finally, we gave up. Michael drove it to our church parking lot and left a note so whoever found it would know that the brand new stake center's beautiful lot was just a temporary holding tank for the P.O.S. they were looking at.

A few days later, David Iroz came with his brain and 10 feet long steel ramps. He and Michael began sawing and scraping, pounding and hammering until they had custom ramps on our driveway and all the roof components off our trailer. But by then it was David standard time (like 3a.m. or something) and so not wanting to wake the neighbors, they parked the trailer on the driveway until the next morning. Finally, Michael and I started up the driveway with the trailer and almost into the 3rd bay garage when Michael realizes the ladder wouldn't clear the top of the opening by about an inch. "That's it." He says, exasperated. He goes and gets all the weights from his weight set. He secures them on the back bumper. He gets on the bumper and starts jumping. I drove and he jumped until finally......we got it in. Then, we put everything back in the garage and pretty soon it looked like it had been parked there for years.....like it was always supposed to be in our garage, in our era, in our lives.

Getting it out? Another day, another adventure.

NACD Video

2009-01-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know what NACD is.....actually let me rephrase that. For those of you who don't get a sick feeling in your stomach wondering what new reading material or eye patch is available for use through NACD, I will give you a brief introduction into the Bob Doman world. When we were kids, my mom and Grandma were closely knit with The National Academy (now Association) for Child Development and we were their guinea pigs so to speak. Mari, Scott, Adam, Jason, Jared, I, and later Josh, were all put on academic and motor programs to strengthen our muscles and minds. Papa Bob, as my girls know him, was and is known to have some non-conventional ways of doing things and wearing an earplug to school was one of his mild interventions. So, NACD and Bob Doman were icons in our household and we grew up learning that it was exciting to increase in sequential processing and you threw a party when your brain was functioning in a dominantly appropriate manner.

So for those of you who are quite acquainted with NACD and it's dealings with poor unfortunate souls, this goes out to you. Among the NACD village people are Isabelle (4) who is in a red NACD shirt, Olivia (1) who is in the all-color-encompassing ensemble), and their mom, NACD's current OT (the suckered-into-it singer) who wrote the words with her siblings in mind. GO PROGRAM!

NACD (lyrics written out for Grandma Clark) to the Village People's classic YMCA

2009-01-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hey kids, there’s a place you can go
I said hey kids, it’s a place you all know
I mean, hey kids, you will be so much smarter
Just to be with Mr. Bob, Oh
That's right, it’s a place like no other
You can go there, just bring your dad or your mother
Plan to stay long, some of the paperwork’s lengthy
Unless you filled it out ahead of time
You will love coming out to NACD
You’ll have so much fun at NACD
You can get your eval, you can play with puzzles, you can color with Ms. Denise (NACD's secretary)
Hey kids, I was once just like you
I was on program, and wore an ear plug to school
I did pleoptics, and wore an eye patch at night,
And look at me I turned out all right
That’s right, my mom was head of a chapter,
We would all go, to program then the park after
Somehow when Bob, said that our goals were achieved
We’d still leave with HARDER BOOKS TO READ!
I grew up as a kid in NACD
I learned my sequencing in NACD
Bob taught my sister to crawl, my brothers to catch a ball,
We are all so proud of our dominance!
NACD—come on out to NACD
If you get yourself there, you can climb up the stairs
And spin in Bob’s leather office chair!
NACD, come on out to NACD

Family Sledding Trip

2008-12-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

All of the siblings on my side (Heather) are congregating in Cedar City for a big New Year's party.

(Isabelle, Heather, Liv)

Today we took the kids snowsledding at Woods Ranch in Cedar Breaks.

(Belle, Hanna, Mari, Connor)
(Scott, Carter, Sara)
We had a great time! Isabelle loved everything from the snowmobiles to tubing, especially when she and her dad took Zoe down the hill. Olivia had her snow debut this year since she was sick all last winter. She loved the snow and kept pointing uphill to let her daddy know she was ready for another run. I spent the afternoon taking photos, retrieving sleds, pulling kids, keeping babies warm, and enjoying the time with my family.
Zoe got a work out as well as she chased everyone on the sleds and followed the tubing up and down the hill....that is, if she wasn't riding herself.

Jason and Angela and kids came to visit. They had a great time riding the mobiles, watching their kids sled, and keeping Jared happy with all the snowballs he could eat!

It was overall a fantastic snow day!

Grandma Karen's 29th Birthday Party

2008-12-29T10:45:00.001-08:00

We all threw Grandma Karen a birthday party which was a lot of fun. The kids caught on that if it was indeed her 29th year old party, she must be the same age as all of their mommies too! What a coincidence.

I asked Mari if she had wrapping paper and this is what she produces. Nice.

We made roast, potatoes, salad, rolls, a huge cake and had bubble gum ice cream. Mari was so gracious to let us trash her house and we couldn't not end the party without a caotic grandkid photo on the couch. Is Papa behind those kids? I think I faintly see his head behind the herd!

CHRISTMAS 2008

2008-12-29T10:00:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

From The Cutest Ladies Ever

Santa's Workshop

2008-12-27T03:28:00.000-08:00

This year, Michael and I decided we would make all of our Christmas gifts so it was a season filled with Santa's helpers in our home.
The girls and I had plenty of shopping and gathering to do and then we made quilts, salt dough ornaments, our signature Creamy Tomato Soup, aprons and more aprons, we assembled missionary care packages, made cookies, dinners, hair bows, and big, big messes! Michael took shifts holding Liv, doing dishes, entertaining Isabelle, delivering gifts, snow shoveling, doing more dishes, vacuuming...in general, keeping the production possible, smooth, and continual.

Here we are making Big Pop and Uncle Don's Christmas Blankets. So we got the fabric and then set out to find quilting frames. It took some doing to even find old school quilting frames, I called every woman over 50 in our ward to no avail! (FYI: We once had some of our own--but that was so 9 moves ago). Anyway, we finally collected some and then it was production time. Isabelle and I started off by taking a field trip into Michael's closet to study one of her dad's favorite Aunt Susan's flannel blankets. She studied the yarn ties and I studied the meticulous bias edging. We agreed it quite a lofty standard but we would do our bests. She learned to needle up and down the squares, and I helped her tie the square knots. She loved the part when she was out of yarn so she could get the scissors and cut all of her own lines she had made. We had a great time. After the nostalgia of tacking the quilt on the frame....(no wait, now this side needs to be retacked because I have too much blanket and not enough 2x4......now wait, the frame won't fit here, so it is untacking it for the 14th time, now remind me how to thread this yarn in the eye of this needle?).....
I am determined to acquire myself another quilting frame once more. Aunt Susan, you better hold on....there may be a new 4-year-old contender in town!

A Christmas FANCY Feast

2008-12-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Michael and I love spending any or all of Christmas eve/day with any set of parents we can get! This year, our Johnson parents spent Christmas eve at our house and so we did our traditional fancy feast. (Isabelle would put up her pinky finger as she says FANCY).

First, Michael and I took the girls to the Santa 3D movie at the Gateway and then we returned home to get ready for our dinner.

Isabelle was mom's little helper, and served everyone their meals on fancy plates, with fancy spoons, and fancy cups. We made soup and salad, bread with cream cheese spread, filet minon, mashed red potatoes, and fresh green beans.
Then for dessert, we ate cheese cake trifles in...well, fancy glasses. Michael went to the store to pick up some sparkling cider (bubbly), and we all ate like kings!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

We had just finished our fancy feast when there was a knock on the front door. Isabelle runs to open it and finds a big stack of packages on our doorstep from none other than Mrs. Claus! We read the note that tells us to open our packages that night because she wanted us to sleep warm and cozy on the night Santa comes. Imagine our excitement when we unwrapped our own snuggly Christmas pajamas! We couldn't end the night without setting a plate of cookies out for Santa. As Isabelle and I were rolling out the cookies and putting them in sugar, Grandma Johnson (Janice) started laughing and said, "Most would have no problem putting out oreos or something. But not this house! No...they will be freshly baked, right out of the oven cookies for Santa!" She and I laughed as we watched Isabelle meticulously roll each dough ball. We both know when it comes to Isabelle, nothing will be done half-heartedly! Isabelle writes a note to Santa (and in fine print you will see that she then asks her mom to circle the N because it was made with perfect composition, space, and alignment). Michael made sure to barracade the notorious Z-O-E into a room so she would not made sure the cookies weren't poisonous, and then it was lights out and off to bed. ...for the girls that is because no sooner had the sugar plums begun dancing in their heads, Michael and I had our own knock at the door with boxes and notes from Santa. We then spent the next 8 hours assembling the mini kitchen and table/chairs that Santa so lovingly dropped off with a note that said he didn't have time to do it himself. At 2 a.m. we fell into our bed and thanks to our night owl children, we all slept in until 9:30. We woke up, and the first thing Isabelle did was run right past her Santa spread to see if he had gotten her cookies. Whew. He had! He even left a note of thanks...(as well as a self-portrait which she found extremely impressive and informative). She saw the kitchen and was overcome with joy. "This is exactly what I've always wanted!" She and Liv then spent the hour playing with their kitchen while I made Michael's favorite sticky buns and hot cocoa for breakfast. Finally, Isabelle looks up and asks where I think Santa put the pretend food and tiny dishes? They were wrapped under the tree as presents from Liv but not telling her this, I said, "Well honey, maybe he forgot?" She mowed that thought around her head and then paused to organize her disappointment. After considering the situation and how hard it was going to be to engage in meaningful pretend child's play with the "stove that doesn't even burn stuff or light on fire" as she pointed out, and compartmentalizing the idea that most adults, apparently Santa Claus included, have flaws and are prone to be forgetful, she smiled and said, "Oh well, that's too bad. I guess I will just have to ask him for the play food and tiny dishes next year." We ate sticky buns, drank our hot cocoa in our Christmas tea party set and then opened the gifts from each other. I know it goes without saying that Livy was the star of the show when Isabelle opened the gifts from her baby sister. Leave it to the 1-year-old to pull through with the tiny dishes! They played and played until it was off to Aunt Tate's for the party continuation. Michael and I realized this year that although we aren't world travelers anymore, life could not get much better than this. Christmas with kids in the house has been heaven on earth.

At The Candy Factory

2008-12-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Since our family is planning on making lots and lots of treats this Christmas season, we set out to get some good preparation and skill in the profession of Santa's Helpers.
To get a better idea of how a real Santa's workshop actually works, the girls and I toured the Sweet Candy Factory in Salt Lake City.
We saw exactly how to make chocolate and then cover all kinds of things in it! Isabelle took to heart the instructions our tour guide gave us about how to keep our arms folded if we ever feel the urge to reach out and touch the candy that was drying on racks within arms length.

She bent her head down super low and folded those arms extra tight and did a great job resisting!

Olivia caught on super fast that after each room explanation, the tour guide had a bowl of sample candy from that particular room (jelly beans, cinnamon bears, chocolate covered whatever, etc...) and before the lady would even start her spill, Liv would start pointing at the sample candy and yelling "That! That! That! That!" She'd rubber-neck from the back and attempt to jump from my arms so she could skip the tour guide spill....blah, blah, blah....and get to the goods! After visiting the candy factory, we all feel we are prepared to now go home and implement some of the things we learned today. Mostly, we learned that you can't go wrong with using lots and lots of chocolate.

I think the girls and I are pretty convinced that most everything tastes good dipped, coated with, wrapped in, and pretty much smothered in chocolate! And to keep up on quality control, we're going to have to eat a lot of it this Christmas.

Girls, let's go home and get to work!

Missionary Christmas Packages

2008-12-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

So Josh has been serving in the Fort Lauderdale mission for 16 months and we decided in the Prisbrey/Carter family that we would do our annual Sub-For-Santa for his mission. Rather than exchange gifts, each year we pick a family in need and give them Christmas. It was really fun this year making gifts for missionaries. I called the mission home and talked to the sister who I imagine is the mission secretary. I asked her what we should send and in the sweetest voice, she said "Well Sister Johnson, you know the answer to that....you just need to follow the Spirit!" So with that missionary reminder, the girls and I set out to make 20 missionaries Christmas packages. We gathered the essentials.....food, hot cocoa, gift certificates, and candy. We wrapped them in individual baggies, Michael and I included our testimonies and a family Christmas card with our photo, and sent them in a big box. Then we wrote a letter to Josh and sent him his Christmas package as well.

On Christmas day, I get this phone call. The voice on the other end introduces himself as an Elder from the Florida mission. He then begins to tell me that they were really concerned with some of the contents in our Sub-For-Santa package. I got really worried. Was it the testimony? The family photo? I had specifically said to Sister Dalling, the missionary I talked with, that we would send a letter and photo because we knew the missionaries would never know us but it would make it more personable. I got really worried maybe missionaries found out we were related to Josh and that caused some uncomfortableness....? Then the voice on the phone said, "Yeah, Sister Johnson, some of the things you sent were.....well, inappropriate." I got this sick feeling in my stomach. Then I thought, Isabelle......did she somehow smuggle underwear or tampons in there?" But then I heard his voice crack like he was about to laugh and I new it was Josh! We laughed and laughed.

He wished me a Merry Christmas and thanked me for all the family's hard work and generous gifts. He said that he didn't know we were doing his mission as our family Sub-For-Santa because all of the pictures and letters we sent to him, he didn't get or open until his mission Christmas party....when everyone else got their presents. He said the mission president stood up and told the missionaries that a family had chosen their mission and sent gifts. Josh said he thought that was such a great idea and what a cool family. Then, his companion got one of the gifts. He opened it and read the letter and testimony. He turned to Josh and showed him the family photo. He asks Josh "Isn't that a good-looking family, Elder Prisbrey?" Josh sees our photo and said he was overcome with gratitude and was so humbled to see the familiar faces in the photo. He said everywhere he looked, there were missionaries opening shirts, coupons, treats, cookies that his family sent. He said it was the greatest Christmas he's ever had.

Well, on our end of the experience, it was equally awesome. The girls had a great time helping with the assembly and loved the idea of helping missionaries. Michael and I thought back to our own missions and tried to think of what we would have loved as missionary gifts. We reminisced of our own missionary Christmas experiences. We all loved doing this!

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T21:34:00.001-08:00

The Rabbit And The Magician

2008-11-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

So Isabelle, Michael, and I (but mostly Isabelle) have all decided this is our favorite video right now. Isabelle will watch it over and over and laugh so loud from the office you can hear her in our master bedroom! It is the trailer movie they are showing at the beginning of Wall-E. It's the kind of humor Isabelle seems to be able to sink her teeth into. For now I am just waiting and staying alert. I realize it's only a matter of time before she comes up some way of tricking me into pulling my own pants off........

Doing Family Stuff

2008-11-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of photos Isabelle and I put together just because they are some of our favorites. We have Isabelle's butterflies she grew and then released into our "enchanted forest" when they were ready, and Livy's birthday party, Isabelle helping Michael plant her "birthday trees", and at the cabin with the Burgesses, Belle's snake handling skills with Lys, going to the pumpkin patch, Halloween at Isabelle's preschool, and in general just hanging out photos. Oh, and the song.......currently, it is Isabelle's favorite and her constant stand-by for humming and singing around the house! Enjoy!

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

So here is one of the many Halloween parties we attended this year. This one was at Isabelle's preschool. She of course, did the chicken costume at the ward trunk-or-treat so decided it would be too predictable to wear it for the second time. Thus the old standby--a witch (equipped with the 'stink-eye' glare that only witches can really give out). Olivia spilled chocolate on her chicken costume so while it was being laundered....she's sporting the ladybug. And for myself, their dorky mom, I could only come up with this silly jeannie outfit. Now if I could just get their dad to dream about me, we'd all be set!

Beach House 2008

2008-10-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

ALL ACCORDING TO ISABELLE

So the trip started like any other trip......with a LONG ride in the car. Lucky for me, mom packed plenty of puzzles, movies, books, and even stopped by to pick up two of my favorite things....GRANDMAS. To make the grandmas fit in our car, mom moved my car seat to the middle and not being accustomed to this spot in the car...I got a little green in the gills. I threw up all over the car, all over Grandma Nan, and quickly mom stopped the car so I could air out my drawers and get some "fresh air."

(And although I was totally oblivious to the fact that my panties were blowing in the wind, I couldn't help but point out all the trash people left in the desert and how important it is to keep the planet clean...and the gravity that holds us to the planet...."and I think I just found a treasure amid the trash.......yep....it's a fairy broom and one penny that I can keep in my special box in the car.....when I am done with the fresh air." 45 minutes later we were back on the road. And I kept a bucket handy not to throw up in but simulate mommy spitting in it when she was pregnant.....that's the sure way of reminding everyone all the way to California that I was still a bit queezy.

Immediately upon arrival, I secured my title as Grandma Deanie's exclusive beach buddy.I discussed beach topics with her, helped her with computer questions, sand baths, and general vacationing topics.

We, as usual, hit it off immediately and spent hours just hanging out.

FINALLY A TITLE THAT SUITS ME: OLDEST AND IN CHARGE!
I took very seriously the role of being the oldest kid in the house. I let the babies know very early on that I was the responsible one to ask for drinks and snacks and that they could start right off by burying me in the sand.

I was the responsible one who had to make sure the babies didn't get out when I opened the door. They would stare longingly out the window and admire my ability to take care of myself. One time, I gave in and let Lauren out. Pretty soon, my mom came out and said, "Isabelle, you need to keep the door closed. You are the oldest, and you are in charge." Well, I had news for my mom. Although I love being in charge of these babies at the beach, I don't particularly love when my mom gets up in my business about how I take charge of stuff. Besides, she is always the first one to remind me at home that I can't turn on the stove by myself, run the food processor by myself, or carry Liv around as my personal doll because she said and MOM IS IN CHARGE. So I just calmly closed my eyes and pointed both fingers directly at my mom and said,

"I'M not the one in charge, YOU'RE the one in charge...."

"Now, you better go get Lauren.....she's runnin' down the street!"

Occasionally I had to clean up after them....along with every other patron using the beach board walk for that matter......I mean, someone has to keep this street clean! "KEEP THE SAND IN THE SANDBOX, KIDS!"

AT THE TIDE POOLS
We spent our traditional day at the tide pools in Corona Del Mar.

I took it upon myself to educate Connor on the patterns of the daily tides and the dangers of the open sea. I explained the swells of the foaming rip tides, and which creatures inhabit the pools' shallow bottoms, and let him know right away that the life jacket I wore would completely buoy me up in the event of a tsunami. Then I had to pass him off to Grandma Deanie while I went to check on my baby sister, Liv.

Imagine my surprise when I found her on the beach naked as a jaybird......

WHERE'S THAT STINKIN' MOM OF MINE?!!

She gave me some nonsense spill about how Liv got all wet and sandy and she had no choice but to let her be naked amid strangers but to be honest, I think she was just asleep on the job. So now what, mom, you need me to take care of her and everyone else here today?....I've got Connor out there alone.....and hermit crabs out there who need to be relocated with other crabs so they can be with their families.....I mean do I need to take care of everyone today?

Well, I had to go back to help Connor and I had no choice to leave Liv.....so I left her with Lauren.....and from the looks of things.....I left her in good company.

ON THE PIER

Most afternoons, mom, Liv, and I went on walks or bike rides just to talk and hang out.
We usually went down the board walk and then up the long pier that holds Ruby's Diner.

Inevitably, I would find a fisherman who was willing to give me a run through of his equipment and tackle.

He would fill me in on his particular bait of choice and what was biting on what. We would usually end this nightly exchange with me digging in his cooler to handle the livestock.

This particular day, the fishing was good and the fisherman was unusually friendly.

And he had good things in his ice chest.....

squid and anchovies.

Cool.

AT THE BEACH

Grandma Nan was always willing to hang with me at the beach and even take me in the huge waves.(Mom was always there too, but she can't prove that because she was usually behind the camera). Anyway, we would sit and watch the waves, dig for crabs or sea shells with twirls (like Gary's on Sponge Bob),and Liv, as usual, would be perfectly demure.

She's so cute!

BIKING WITH GRANDMA DEANIE

So one of the highlights of my week was biking with my mom, Grandma Nan, Grandma Deanie, and Liv in the trailer. We would constantly get stopped on the board walk by surfers who tell me, "cool bike, little girl." That's because A...it is cool and so am I, and B...because I ride tandem behind my mom. One day we made our biking a day-long adventure. We rode the entire board walk, then crossed over to Balboa Island on the fairy (not the same thing as the fairy that's small with wings...imagine my disappointment when I realized my mom left that minor detail out)! Anyway, we then rode up and down nearly every street on the island, looking at the cute houses that mirror princesses cottages, and checking out the spooky Halloween decorations.

My favorite house was this really random, out of place barn. Of course, being detail oriented (I take after my aunt Tate that way)......I had to get off my bike, go through the gate and well...

acquaint myself with the yard cow, obviously......and then get an apple off the apple tree, stop to admire the coordinating barn mail box....

....and then go back to close the gate.

LONG BEACH AQUARIUM

I have to hand it to mom, she definately knows my passions. I love going to the aquarium, and I can admire those stinkin' sharks for hours! And the weedy sea dragons were Grandma Deanie's and my favorite little things to see in the glass.

But as usual, the highlight of my aquarium visit is and will forever be

petting, loving, admiring, caressing, cooing at, in general getting as physically close as possible and in direct contact with THOSE RAYS! I LOVE THEM!

...oh, and feeding the starving birds they have at the aquarium.

THEY ARE ALWAYS SO HUNGRY!

Livy seemed to feel the same way about the aquarium as I do. She loved watching the fish swim in the tanks and wanted to grab at them all.

Overall, it was pretty much the coolest trip. In so many ways, it seemed perfectly tailor-made for a sophisticated tourist like myself.

We'll do it again next year, LADIES!

A Poem To Our Grandparents

2008-09-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Grandparent's Day--We love you all!
Thanks for being such great Grandmas and Papas!
From, Isabelle and Olivia Johnson

Photos of The Girls

2008-08-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

So I have been trying to get back into taking photos and no better subjects to use than my own adorable girlies (Oh and a few of Lilly as well, but you must view her blog for those). Anyway, what do you think? This is us just getting back from church.....taken in the front room. It helps to have cute kids to practice on!

This one of Liv is also with her favorite doll, Mo. She has attached herself to this doll and sleeps with it, cuddles with it, takes it to church, and well.....calls it "Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo." The name stuck.

And this is of Isabelle with her "handle shoes...." She's still going strong with those at church.

At The Cabin

2008-08-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

I will have to write about this all later. Here are a few photos. We all had a great time. It was good to spend time with everyone!

Ave Maria

2008-08-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite shows to watch is So You Think You Can Dance, and this season is proving to be exceptional no less. Mia Michaels, one of my two favorite choreographers and the one who did Celine Dion’s live Las Vegas show, offered a stunning interpretation of Ave Maria which left me emotionally moved and extremely impressed. With the 5 female dancers as her pigment, Mia used them to paint a portrait of despair, anguish and lost faith on the canvas of the dimly-lit stage. I was overwhelmed by its power, its beauty and the rich tones of despair and isolation that can be appreciated by both the secular and spiritual worlds. I have read a lot of reviews on this performance including the interpretations that the dancers are portraying angels, guardians, like the Virgin Mary prayed to in Catholicism, and who the song names.

I offer a different interpretation to this extraordinary piece. I recently gave myself a brief musical history lesson regarding this beautiful song, Ave Maria. The music goes back to J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major from The Well-Tempered Clavier. A French composer named Charles Gounod in 1859 added a melody and words based on the Hail Mary prayer, creating Ave Maria. Essentially a hymn this version has been done by both classical and popular singers. Though usually sung in Latin like in the Bach/Gounod version, Mia Michaels uses Celine Dion’s English Version of Schubert’s Ave Maria which lyrics are based from the Sir Walter Scott poem, Lady Of The Lake.

Ave Maria! Maiden mild!
Oh, listen to a maiden's prayer
For thou canst hear amid the wild
'Tis thou, 'tis thou canst save amid despair.
We slumber safely 'til the morrow
Though we've by man outcast, reviled
Oh, maiden, see a maiden's sorrow
Oh, Mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!

Ave Maria is a prayer—a plea—to the Virgin Mary by young women (maidens) who have lost their faith, and as a result, been cast out of society (“we’ve by man outcast, reviled”). They are in a state of despair, with the full religious connotations that term implies: loss of faith, disconnection from God, souls in jeopardy. They are not quite fallen angels but they are forlorn, despondent, in anguish at the deepest spiritual level. They cling together and pray to Mary to regain their faith. Once you read the lyrics, the expressions on the dancers’ faces, the hand wringing and yearning looks, the writhing contortions all evocate the despair a fallen maiden may have felt. The make-up and costumes were absolutely integral to setting the tone. The dancers were angelic--notice the feathered sleeves, a symbol of angels without literal wings--pure, beautiful and innocent—and this made their despair all the more poignant. The choreography is no less symbolic—sensual female bodies engaged in some kind of religiously-inspired trance. Dichotomous to the angelic costuming are the clothing typical of prostitution and harlots of the time. The white corsets, the lacy pantaloons, the long unkept hair with braids about the faces suggest these women have been cast out of society because of promiscuity and are scorned and isolated. As to an adulterous woman, a fallen angel and isolated daughter of God, Christ offers hope and repentance to her when he tells those without guilt to cast the first stone. That layer of meaning is undoubtedly here, too, and adds a complexity and depth to the routine that penetrates us on almost a spiritual sub-conscious level.
The beginning of the piece is vital in setting tone and mood. We see the maidens seated on the front of the stage, long hair covering their faces (because, to be in despair is to be shamed); slumped posture conveying deep sadness and social scorning. The slow rolling out of this, wiping their hair from their faces, reveals their yearning expressions. Notice the yearning is distant, above the crowd, to suggest the longing is to belong to God and not man. The tension in their seated posture contrasts beautifully with their upper bodies waving and contorting as they begin to dance. And though the camera caught the group panoramas, like a haunted stage with ghostly images, it also captured some individual postures that expressed a maiden’s inner torment. The lighting was also moving, symbolizing the women’s spiritual emptiness and gloom. Near the end, we saw them on their knees in the supplicant posture, as Dion sings “hear a suppliant child”. And the final move, the hands reaching towards God, then clasping each other as they fall, together, into an exhausted sleep…perhaps slumbering safely ‘til the morrow’ when Christ ultimately judges and offers mercy and rest.
I could watch this dance over and over again. So I am including it on my blog. Random I know, but none the less—beautiful and worthy of sharing. Enjoy!

Isabelle's Birthday

2008-07-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great day celebrating Belle's 4th birthday! Her two wishes were to go on two adventures with Grandma Nan....fishing and bike riding. How many 4-year-olds are lucky enough to have a Papa who will ride her up the trail and a Grandma who will ride her back down. One one of the more difficult uphills, she informed Papa Tigger (Carter) that he needed to pick up the pace because she was getting hot. Zoe lost her paw shoes in the water, but we found them after serious determination and 'critical thinking' as Grandma calls it.

Livy kept producing suckers in the trailer and every time I looked back, she had one in her right hand and another in the left with the wrapper still on. I would take the wrapper off, toss the previous sucker and seconds later, I would look back to find her bent forward, rummaging under the seat to find yet another sucker with the wrapper. We did this 5 times! Then fishing, Grandma and Isabelle just kept reeling....scratch that, at the fish pond, there's no 'reeling' involved, they kept pulling them out one after another. They caught about 15 fish and even....you guessed it, found a snake.
That makes 4, because Isabelle's 4, she reminded us. We planted trees in the back of our yard, providing us a bit of privacy from the Burbs (right Venita?) and Isabelle decided they were her birthday trees.

And no, she is not in her birthday suit, it is a Lion King bathing suit that Abbi Wiscombe gave her and that tends to be the typical summer uniform here at the Johnson's....thanks Abbi, you shouldn't have....really...you shouldn't have. I've seen the suit so much lately, I feel like I myself have a Nala swimsuit. Anyway, Grandma and Papa Johnson stopped by for a visit and gave Isabelle a great book and some really cool bath toys that she had to play with right away.

We ate cake and ice cream after BBQ'ing the trout that we caught. Overall, it was a great day.

Olivia was wiped out after the events but not before she had her share of dinner and some cute time in front of the camera. Isabelle ended the night by telling her daddy, "You know, dad, I'm never going to be 3 again."

2008-07-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

GOT SNAKES?

2008-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

So Isabelle has had more snake encounters in the last week than she even knows what to do with and it is 'freakin' daddy out, she says!

We first found a snake in Eden while at an NACD conference last week. We stayed in this super nice condo and there were activities to do each day for the entire family. One afternoon we had gone to the little general store to eat lunch and afterwards, Isabelle and Michael played in the stream/irrigation canal while I fed Livy in the car. When I went out to meet them, Michael nearly jumped his height when a snake came swimming by. Isabelle couldn't get her hands up on it fast enough. Michael made me, his wife, catch it and after seeing it to be a small, friendly water snake I gingerly asked Isabelle if she would like to touch it. Touch it? What about handle it, love it, kiss it, never want to let it go.
Isabelle was in love. She was cooing at it, and staring into its eyes, and telling it to not be scared because she loved it so much. Finally, after Michael could take the snake-handling no longer, we FORCED Isabelle to let it go. She asked all night for the snake. "Please, daddy, I need that snake..." she begged and begged for her dad to find it again so she could love it. Michael's famous last words were, "Belle, snakes are hard to come by. It's not like you can find one all of the time. I don't think we'll find another snake anytime soon."

So like 3 days later we were with the Johnson's, fishing on the 4th of July. (I blogged this earlier). What do we find? A water snake. The kind that 'freakeded daddy out' Belle says. Again, it was the love duet all over again. (Refer to the blog below where she tackles the thing before I have a chance to see if he is friendly.) Letting it go this time was a bit easier. By this time, Isabelle thinks her dad is full of @#$% and is certain she will have another snake encounter by dinner. Again, we explain that these are rare findings and to not get her hopes up. Whatever was the look she gave us......

Ok, so what's with these snakes? She's like Harry Potter, the snake whisperer. We were out a few days ago, doing yard work, and what do we find? A snake. This time, an argyle, rattler kind-of looking snake but with no rattle. I am a bit more cautious this time. Michael and I make Isabelle step away from the bucket where I put the snake and he calls his dad. We go through the venomous check-list of attributes to look for....diamond shaped eyes, bifurcated scales below its tale, 9 diamonds on its head, etc. Isabelle is just biting at the bit to hold and cuddle the thing. Finally, Norm determines on the phone that the snake must be a gopher. I decide to drive it down the street to Bird World, the local pet store. They confirm Norm's findings. It is indeed a small gopher snake...harmless and very young. Isabelle is elated. Finally, she gets to hold it. But the woman did warn us that it would be hunting rodents soon, ie: the guinea pigs who graze on our lawn each day. So I explain to Isabelle that we have to find a new home for the snake. By this time, she has named it, put it in a house of her own, and decided it would live in her room and sleep in her bed. I told her we needed to let it go. That went over like a ton of bricks. I know. I am so insensitive. And a mean mom. She was very sad. So, we climbed to the top of our rocks in the back yard and released Snakey in the scrub oak. I was waiting for the 7 gun salute, just to put some music behind the sadness I was witnessing. Initially, it seemed an appropriate time to give her the don't expect to see another one anytime soon speech but at this rate, we could find one by lunch. Anyway, she was one sad snake-lover watching what could have been a great bunk-mate slither away.

Let's be sure to thank Grandma Nan for being so thoughtful in giving you that great butterfly house, Isabelle. Wouldn't she be proud to know that you are making such good use of it. Butterflies are for sissies, I know. (This is the face of my 3-year-old snake extraordinaire who can't bear the thought of letting him go.)

Shoes with Handles

2008-07-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, we were getting ready for church and getting in the car when Isabelle dramatically exclaims that the shoes she had one were not adequate for church-going and she needed to run back in for her shoes 'with handles.' This was all quite confusing for both Michael and I but we have learned to never question her judgment when it came to things this important so both said we would wait. Minutes later she emerged from her room with these......... I think she is referring to the high-heels when describing the proper church shoes. We had to get a picture of mommy and her in our handle shoes. And then, we had to get a picture with Liv at Isabelle's request. We walked into church and Isabelle points down at all the ladies' feet as we passed them..."See mom, everyone at church wears handles. See, mom, everyone everywhere." She walked among the women with high heels like a pro.

One of my best friends, Heather Massey, teaches Isabelle's primary class and when I went to pick her up after church, Heather met me at the door laughing. "Nice shoes," she said as she pointed to Isabelle's plastic princess shoes. She then said a visitor had come to the class that day and as his mom dropped him off she said she was so embarrassed because they forgot to pack church shoes so all he had was his sandals. "That's all right," Heather said laughing, and pointing to the chair next to Belle, she added, "Just have him go sit next to Isabelle, she's got her Costco princess shoes on. He's going to fit right in!" I guess the fact that the teacher even noticed her shoes and that they were indeed of royalty made Isabelle beam all the more. She was so excited to have the visiting sunbeam, with his 'beach shoes' as Isabelle told me, sit 'by her lap.' It was a very good day at church...for all of us, beach shoes, shoes with handles....all was welcome!

.....No one ask Isabelle about the wicked blisters she is sporting after wearing those church shoes for the entire block. We've got band-aids on 8 of her ten toes. But no one is going to bring that up with her, that would spoil the memory, now wouldn't it.

Enjoying These Summer Nights

2008-07-09T01:21:00.000-07:00

We have loved these summer nights! We stay up late doing yard work in the back yard...which inevitably turns into swinging, watering all of the trees, playing with Zoe, and just enjoying each other's company. Oh, and we love our new grill!

Michael's Birthday and 4th of July

2008-07-09T00:45:00.001-07:00

So we had a week of partying and fun with Michael's 34th B-day and 4th of July. The Johnson's came over for a BBQ to break in Michael's b-day present...a new grill! It has been 7 years and we finally have a grill! He was so excited to put it together and have his family over for dinner. We ate and sat around his Volcano stove "firing" marshmallows (that's a Belle-bonic). Isabelle made a birthday cake for her daddy with pink frosting and sprinkles. "His favorite," she told me. We had so much fun that we took up the party the next night just as we left it the previous night! We roasted corn on the cobb, made crabby patties, and again...fired up those marshallows. David and Rachel and their family spent the night, Grandma and Papa Vic came to eat, Big Pop and Grandma Janice were here to hang out too. We watched the neighborhood fireworks (they do them on the 3rd) and then we went to bed.

On the 4th of July, David and Rachel's family went with us fishing at the hatchery/fish pond in Ogden. Michael and Isabelle were reeling them in left and right as soon as they learned the technique of sprinkling fish food near the line. Isabelle and I found a water snake and I caught the back of it just as it was swimming away. It seemed like a bigger water snake with a bright yellow stripe down its back and to be sure it was harmless, I grabbed the end of him and slightly flung him onto the bank of the water. I was going to watch to see his MO before I decided to handle him and let my 3-year-old do the same.

No sooner had I let him go, but Isabelle nose dives to the ground, all but taclking the apparently gentle snake.....so I guess he is indeed harmless....just takes a 3-year-old tomboy to figure that one out! She handled that thing like a pro. She scared the Hispanic family by us as she waved it in their faces, and she impressed her cousins with her snake-handling skills. Finally, after many many "I love you's", she reminded us all that the snake needs to swim home to his family, so she gently lowered him back into the water and waved him a tender goodbye. Ah, my little snake-whisperer.

At The Beach

2008-06-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach with the Prisbrey's, Carter's, and Burgess's. We had a great time. Isabelle had the time of her life....she had her Dad 100% of the time and cousins on the side. Olivia was in her prime as well. She loved the sand and......well, being held. I loved the time with Michael, the girls, and my siblings (Mari pregnant for the second beach season was just as fun!) We found a huge starfish at the tide pools, leave that job to Belle-Belle. She spotted it out and made sure her daddy saw who she was certain was Patrick from Sponge Bob. Papa and the husbands ate their weight in crab legs one night and we even bought a case of Mexican coca cola which they all guzzled. We went on bike rides and walks on the board walk. We saw dolphins and sea lions at the beach. We went to the aquarium and the guys went scuba diving in Catalina. We had a birthday party for Allie who turned 5 and we are quite sure that the highlight of the kids' trip was each morning's demolition wake-up call. They were tearing down the house next door so every morning bright and early the kids would press their faces out of the window to watch the tractors and big trucks tear down and demolish the house. Initially with the loud noises and chaos, Isabelle wasn't as excited about the demolition taking place. That is until Grandma Nan realized she was waking up without her glasses on. Once she had them on and could see where the noise was originating from and that it was an EMPTY house being leveled rather than an inhabited one, she was just as enthusiastic as the others in the project. However, she was still a bit on guard. She went from room to room accounting for everyone just to make sure no one suffered a fatality in the wreckage next door. She was very resolute to be in charge of everyone's well-being while demolition was taking place.... particularly her daddy's. Carter and Connor thought they had died and gone to heaven having front row seats to the show. They knew the name of every piece of equipment used. When the last day finally arrived, we were all convinced someone had taken away the rest of our blissful vacation...it seemed too soon to end it. Oh well, we'll take it up where we left off next year!

A Very Merry Unbirthday To Us!

2008-05-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

So the girls and I took Michael to the airport tonight and Isabelle (as usual) began to get sad and cry because she couldn't go with him to work and fly on the airplane.
She still thinks anytime Michael is going to work, he is choosing to be with snackshop Todd over her (Todd, the homeless fix-it man who occasionally...well, you know, fixes things at the rentals. He has no affiliation with Medtronic, Michael's actual job. Isabelle and I have gone over this, yet somehow she sees her daddy walk away and envisions him going to work with Todd, her nemesis who she has all by herself named...Snackshop Todd, Stinkin' Todd, Stinkin' Snackshop Todd, and inevitably will end the conversation with, "I don't wike him, mommy, I don't wike dat stinkin' Todd"). Anyway, so on the way home, we called Big Pop (Grandpa Norm) to wish him a happy birthday. I thought that would cheer her up for sure. But then she overheard a conversation I was having with him and was certain the chums (her identical twin cousins) were having a party for Pop and she was not invited. If the thought of Michael partying it up with Stinkin' Todd hadn't done her in before, well...the thought of this atrocity completely set her reeling. So, I asked her what we could do fix things. I suggested we go to the grocery store and buy some things and make dinner together. She was in....As long as she got to choose what we made. It was a plan.

First on her menu--CRABBY PATTIES.
For those of you unaffiliated with Sponge Bob Square Pants, these are the highly sought after hamburgers he makes at the Crusty Crab's diner.
Of course, Isabelle gladly assumed the role of Sponge Bob so it was hands off for me as she flipped and flipped those crabby patties right here in our own greasy spoon of a kitchen.
Olivia was content to watch from the sidelines, as long as she had her toys and her big girl chair. Finally, Isabelle presented her masterpiece of a creation.....The Crabby Patty (which were were not raw, what you are seeing is actually Isabelle's true creation, loaded with ketchup of course).

Second on the menu--BIRTHDAY CAKE, obviously.

Still thinking she was somehow shafted out of a birthday celebration, she decided we needed to have a cake for Big Pop. So we mixed it, baked it, frosted it with pink frosting (Pop's favorite color, she told me), and then garnished it with stars and chocolate sprinkles. We put a ? candle on the top because she still can't grasp the concept of 62 years and we didn't have that many candles, and then we sang 3 times so she could blow out that candle to her heart's content.

Then she cut it and gave us two of the most generous pieces of birthday cake I've ever seen. She poured us both some milk (by this time, Olivia has given up and called it a night) and we sat side by side on the bar stools talking about how good our dinner was and what a good job we did.

We called Big Pop to wish him happy birthday one more time, and then Isabelle looked up and said, "Mom, I need my so-soft blanket. I gotta get in my bed." We brushed our teeth, said a prayer (that we can all get in the car and drive home to see Grandma Nan about 4 times), and then she was out....in less than 5 minutes.

Happy Birthday Big Pop and all you May 13th babies out there....and for you Sponge Bob enthusiasts....A shout out. Good Night and Oh Barnacles!

INGENUITY AT THE FINGERTIPS---(strike that)--AT THE MITTEN TOPS.

2008-05-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

PROBLEM POSED: How does one go about eating Mac-N-Cheese fresh out of the microwave? "Mommy, I need doze...uh, um, doze fings dat go wike dis.....(brief demonstration of me putting on gloves and then taking out a cookie sheet from oven) (I go to the drawer, take them out, and hold up my oven mits) "Ya mom, doze. Fanks."

Problem Solved.

Saturday Hike In Salt Lake City

2008-04-29T21:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday we did 'family stuff' as Isabelle calls it. We started the day off with homemade sourdough pancakes which are Michael's favorite and then decided we needed to go enjoy the beautiful weather. Isabelle wanted to go camping but we compromised and went hiking instead. After a great lunch at Trio's Pizza, a local favorite, we went hiking behind the Zoo up towards Emigration Canyon. On the way to the hike, we walked through the dog park so Zoe could give a shout-out to her friends and Isabelle could see all of the other dogs and play with them.
We threw rocks and sticks for Zoe to fetch in the river and we laughed and laughed as she jumped in the water and then bounced like a deer. We then got the backpack out and started up the trail. Isabelle loved the adventure of collecting rocks to throw in the river and Liv was perfectly content to be in the backpack because it is indirectly---Maholdin of course. Michael and I loved the day with the kids and each other and we all couldn't get enough of the sunshine!

After our hike, we went to Woodland to hang out with David and Jill. Isabelle saw us turn the corner to get to their house and couldn't contain her excitement. "JEFFREY'S HOUSE?! HE'S MY BESTEST BOY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!" We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs on their fire pit and 'fired marshmallows' as Isabelle so descriptively calls her version of making (burning) smores. Jill and I talked about sewing projects and played with Livy inside as it got cold outside. Zoe had the usual time of her life with their farm dogs and ran the neighborhood with freedom not allowed in ours. We stayed until we were all beat tired and then made the trip back home to sleep in our own beds, Isabelle's favorite place to crash after a day like today.

Overall it was a great introduction to this summer. Michael says he is very excited to have me back on the team (with the pregnancy summer we survived last year). But, as we say in the Johnson house, "THAT WAS SO LAST YEAR!"

Glasses--Take 2

2008-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Belle's in glasses again. After months of noticing her previous symptoms returning (looking at you with her head up and eyes down, gazing at the TV telling me her eyes are broken, etc) I took her back to NACD and back on program. I then to her the eye doctor on Monday and she is wearing glasses by Friday. He is the same pediatric opthamologist who I took her to when she was just a few months old. I got the chastisement of my life when I briefly explained NACD, Bob Doman and his philosophy, her success with vision therapy, and my reasons for ever taking her glasses off in the first place. As I left his office, with Livy and Belle in tow, he made it clear that this time I needed to be the responsible parent and KEEP THAT KID IN GLASSES. Now, I've got some explaining to do with Papa Bob.

So we went to the optic lab to pick out glasses and while I am talking to Ellen, the same lady who helped me with her last pair, Isabelle is trying on all the kid frames. Ellen explains to me the different components of the frames most suitable for Belle now when suddenly Isabelle is showing us her favorite pair. "Mom, these are my favorite!" She has these Buddy Holly cat frames on. Ellen said, "Actually, those were the frames I was going to suggest......but maybe in chocolate brown...not in lime green." So Belle picked them out all by herself, with a little direction in a more neutral color. Pretty cute, eh?

AT THE CLARK COUNTY FAIR

2008-04-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

We went to Logandale last week to see Grandma Nan (Marijeanne), play with Aunt Mari and her kids, and go to the Clark County Fair. The only bummer, was that Grandma and Grandpa Clark weren't home. They were in Virginia with Jason and Angela's family. Oh, well, we made the most of the trip and even snuggled in Grandma's office chair on the night before the fair. We watched Enchanted and all around.....had a great fair day eve! We just needed some rice pudding from Grandma Clark and a ball cap from Grandpa and things would have been PERFECT!

Belle Showing a Green Egg

2008-04-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Isabelle was fascinated that some chickens lay "Easter" eggs.....pink eggs, blue eggs, and as you can see--even green ones. Pretty cool, she says (now if I can just convince my mommy that we need green egg-laying chickens.......)

The Small Animals were a BIG hit!

2008-04-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

The small animal pavillion was all around a huge hit with the kids at the fair. Isabelle truly thought she had died and gone to heaven....small animal heaven. She wanted everyone to see everything and couldn't tell Connor enough how much she loved the animals. In the middle of it all, she looked up at me and said, "Mom....this is going to be SO MUCH FUN!"

Fun While It Lasted

2008-04-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is Mari and Connor riding the ferris wheel. This is before the man running it became the carnival patrol and said Mari couldn't ride because she is pregnant. She looked at him and said, "No I am not, I am just fat there...but thanks a lot!" He said he heard her already say she was pregnant so her manipulation didn't work for him. "Stinkin' Todd", as Isabelle called him.....he and any other scroungy, bearded, homeless-looking guy. That's right, Isabelle, Stinkin' Snackshop Todd.

A Bunch of BIG girls!

2008-04-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Olivia has had no desire to eat solid food or sit up on her own. That is, until she saw her cousin, Lauren, working it at the fair. Suddenly, she threw a huge fit when I tried to give her a bottle while she watched Lauren pound about 4 cups of noodles. That's all it took. From then on, she has wanted nothing but crackers, cheerios, lolipops, and is determined to sit up like a big girl. Big is relative though......I don't think she will ever sit up using quite the thunder thighs that Lauren has. Oh well, Liv, keep up the good work.

Pony Ride

2008-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Isabelle truly thought her ship had come in when Grandma Nan bought her a $5 pony ride. That's another thing she is just dying to have her daddy buy her when she gets home.....a pony to keep the green egg-laying chicken company in the back yard!

Cowboy Camp

2008-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Grandma Nan, Connor, and Isabelle who is sporting her 'cowboy camp' hat just like Woody on Toy Story. We even went to cowboy camp when we saw the guy doing rope tricks and showing off his well-trained horse. Truly, our ship has arrived at the fair.

Doin' The Twist! Dust Devil Style!

2008-04-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

The dancers on the stage asked Isabelle and Connor to come up and do the twist with them. Connor wasn't quite as into the moves and hip action as Isabelle. For the next hour or so, she practiced in the dirt to truly perfect her twist. It was another highlight of her time at the fair. So, after the twist lesson onstage, Isabelle decided to go try her moves off stage. She and Connor then discovered that they could dance and at the same time, kick up lots of dust! They did this while those sitting down wind began complaining, gritting the dirt in their teeth, and waving their hands. Finally, we mothers-of-the-year moved our dancing children to a place far from the stage. But then, out of nowhere, this Asian woman who was selling sunglasses popped up from behind her table and started yelling at them. I have to admit, I was completely willing to direct the kids to another place to play in the dirt, but when she started throwing water around to get the dirt (and them) wet, it was all I could do to not yell at her right back. But no, I contained myself....and I passive-agressively smiled and said,"Belle you go!"

Isabelle tearing it up at the Fair

2008-04-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Visiting Grandma Clark in Logandale. Opening Pandora's Box for Isabelle.

2008-03-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

2008-03-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Grandma's house in Logandale (Refer to her blog page for....well, those updated photos I was just talking about). She rolled out her usual red carpet for us immediately upon arrival. She fed us rice pudding and roll n' doughs, taught Belle how to dig in the flower beds (not sure how I feel about that now), she bathed my kids, fed them more rice pudding, and then she just sat and rocked little Liv. We Johnson's may have been the only ones who sat outside and truly enjoyed a yard bigger than 1/3 acre and one fresh out of retaining rock walls! I forgot how big our yards were as kids, and Isabelle wonders how I could have been so cruely withholding from her all the secrets only a small town has to share. She saw frogs and cows and sheep and camels (she told me that but I think she may have been stretching the truth a bit), she fed carrots to any animal willing to take them, she and Connor played under the fig tree in the "magical tree house," and well....mostly ate lots and lots of rice pudding. At nights, she and Grandma Nan (her very own pet name for Grandma Marijeanne) had sleepovers in the 5th wheel and then it was wake up, eat rice pudding, and do it all over again.The Grandma's (Nan and Clark) kept the kids while Michael and I had our first official date since......um.....?......well........back somewhere in my subconsciousness I vaguely remember a time when we traveled to Spain and Italy and Costa Rica.....?...was there ever a time.....?.....yeah, it's all a distant memory. So anyway, I left the kids with the Grandmas and drove to Vegas to meet Michael and get some dental work done. After David so lovingly fixed my tooth (which is much better by the way, David. Thanks!), Michael and I went to the Venetian and watched Phantom, we went to dinner and then enjoyed the first date in......a long time. We slept in which was a DREAM! And then we went back to Logandale to get the girls and make the exodus back to Salt Lake. It was a great week. And since we have been home, the request has been to make rice pudding with constant reminder that I don't make it like Grandma does. I just explain to Belle that someday I will get a pressure cooker and then we will be in business. All day today we dug in our planters (again, not sure how I feel about that little tid-bit she picked up in Logandale), but with her "help" we managed to get about 200 bulbs in our seriousely neglected yard. Isabelle and I got so much done and we loved it. Now if I can just channel her digging up flowers into digging with purpose. Overall it was an awesome day. Which brings me to another topic.I have been reading everyone's posts for the last year and I can't explain to you all what it feels like to read your thoughts and feel your love and support. While out in the yard today I couldn't help but feel like a caged animal who has finally been given freedom. Michael came out and about fell over when he saw how productive I was and how happy it was making me. I think he has forgotten just how much fun I have when I am not pregnant. It is AWESOME feeling the sun on my back and not because I am bent over, throwing up in my neighbor's yard on the way down the street to get the mail. Olivia just sat and bounced in her jumper which is also another story of survival as you all wrote about. She just turned 6 months this week and her doctor has given her a stamp of good health. Everyone in his office as well as the professionals at Primary's are just amazed at her complete recovery with no symptoms secondary to anoxia. I didn't do much last year through that pregnancy which rocked my world, nor did I do much through Olivia's illness. I didn't read the blog, I didn't call anyone, I didn't leave my house for fear she would get sick again. But now tonight, reading all of your comments and postings to one another has reminded me that you were all right there with me and I feel so grateful for you all. Thank you for your prayers and support through such a difficult time. Thank you to whoever you are who kept everyone else updated with the Johnson drama. Thank you all for taking care of Isabelle because I literally could not. And thanks so much for the things you all did, big and small, to let me know I have a family who loves me and who would help me get through it all. I can't even begin to say in words how awesome it is to say THAT WAS SO LAST YEAR! (sorry Mari).

2008-03-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

Isabelle giving Connor the gardening lesson just received from Grandma Clark. "You dig and throw, just dig and throw. Occasionally, you pull up Grandma's favorite perennial bulbs, but other than that....dig and throw."

Guinea Pigs Everywhere, Everywhere!

2008-03-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

So Grandma Clark in her blog briefly mentioned the part where along with us to Logandale came our guinea pig I paid top dollar for from the pet store (I know, that phrase alone makes me sound like a complete moron, but wait for it.....it gets better), and with her came the three little piggies she was secretly carrying when I took her home from that very pet store where I paid top dollar (yes, I am a moron. I buy a guinea pig who was, as Mari so eloquently says, "knocked-up.") No one made me aware of the activities which take place when three little piggies are born. First of all, they come out with hair on, eyes wide, famished with the want of food, and they are ready to play. They look almost as big as the poor female who just bore them. As fate would have it, she has fallen into the right hands. You have to know how invetibly sympathetic I am of any woman who carries three HUGE babies through a pregnancy of stroller rides, accidental trips down the stairs, tea parties with 3 year olds, and then unassisted labor and delivery. But night and day it is cage fighting in my mud room. These pigs throw saw dust and hop around each other trying out their WWF moves. They carry on with their endless chatter while all of their bedding has made a yardsale on my floor. Someone online described baby guinea pigs as acting like "popcorn" in their cage. I have a testimony of that. And it makes it worse if I step into the room. Suddenly in a second, the steel cage match is over and they all frantically scurry for their little igloo, saying "Hurry up! Quick.....here she comes, let's run as fast as we can into our house and in doing so, we will kick up the rest of our pine shavings so it ALL is now on the floor!" I am finding it difficult to keep groceries in the house as well. They require an endless supply of food and they all squeak when Isabelle gets out their Timothy hay. I'm beginning to understand why Venita was so quick to throw any rodent, weathered or not, out to cohabitate in the chicken coop. At this point, I may go live in the chicken coop. So, on that note, anyone out there in need of a guinea pig, please.....step into my office. Oh, and they're probably pregnant.
Well, gotta get to bed. Isabelle has reminded me several times that there are lots and lots of plants still waiting to be with their friends outside.