Johnson Family Journal

Long time...

2011-02-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

Wow! It has been a long time since I last posted. Since I don't have internet at my house it is always the last thing on my list to check. I was thinking the other day how I wish I could blog more, but that would probably take more of my time than I need it to. We just want to wish all of you a wonderful Valentine's day! We love you and wish you could all come see us!!

Love,

the Johnson's

Halloween

2010-10-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

Here are our little monsters, Mr. Incredible, Blue Toad and Mario. They look sweet and cute...but don't let that fool you!!! Happy Halloweening!!

Moved..mostly

2010-07-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we aren't completely and totally moved in (still boxes in the garage), but we are getting there. We love our house and like our neighborhood. We like being back in st. george, but miss bunkerville and hyde park (mostly our friends). We still think of you often. Please keep in touch with us, you are all such an important part of our lives. We will do our best to keep in touch with you. Anyone is welcome to come visit us...anytime. Please let us know when you will be in town, we'd love to see you!! Take care and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Excited...

2010-05-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that our house is almost done. They've got a few things to fix and touch up and then this house will be ours!! We have met a couple of our neighbors and they have been so nice. We are excited to get to know them.

I am so torn having to live here in Bunkerville until Owen gets done with school. It's only a few weeks away and I've waited for almost two years to get to this point, so I guess a few weeks won't hurt. I'm excited to be able to move in and be in our spot. I feel very blessed that we were able to get this beautiful home and be back in St. George where Jared loves his job and we have friends who can't wait for us to be there. Thank you everyone for helping us out (mostly watching our kids soooo many times). Thank you for loving us and wishing us only the best. We LOVE you and wish you ONLY the best!! Please come visit us...everyone!

Birthdays

2010-05-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling a little guilty that all my friends have posted pictures of their kids and their birthdays and I haven't. So I guess we will do it a little late, if anyone cares (that its late and if anyone wants to look at it). Maybe I need to justify doing it for journaling purposes since my journal is soooo far behind.

For my birthday, my mom surprised me by flying down for a couple of days. She ended up helping me out with Aidan and Owen for the day because I forgot that my driver's license expired. I panicked trying to figure out what to do since I don't live in Utah, yet or anywhere, really. I made a mad dash for the DMV and it all worked out. I still have a license in Utah. By the time I got home, my room was decorated with streamers and balloons. We played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and playdough pictionary. The boys LOVED it! We ate cupcakes that I made for Aidan's class for Valentine's day. I got chocolates and a gift card to Kohls where I was able to finally get some clothes to fit the after-baby me.

Next it was FINALLY Aidan's birthday. After Christmas, he started asking for stuff for Christmas and we reminded him that it was his birthday soon (after mom's). He counted down the days. For his birthday, he was spoiled with his favorite things. A green scooter (his favorite color is green), more Thomas trains, Transformers, Super Mario Bros, and race cars. He had to have a NASCAR "Dale Hart (Earnhardt) Jr." race car chocolate cake. He loved that it was his birthday and loved celebrating it. He was excited about every present. Then he got a trip to Vernal and another party with the Clark's. I made a pathetic Polar Express cake decorated with candy. It looked more like the trains on the Disney cartoon, Chuggington. Oh well, it got eaten and he liked it.

Then for Jared's birthday, we had a small party, just us (mostly for the boys). I made his favorite cake, candy bar cake, and the boys enjoyed bumping him on the head with their presents. Unfortunately, to Jared's dismay ;), my mom didn't fly up to surprise him and there was no pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey or playdough pictionary. His real present was a weekend of NASCAR. Any party can't compare to that!

We're certainly a year older around here and hopefully wiser too.

Updates

2010-04-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

I've been putting this off for a while now. It's not that I don't want to do it...it just gets put on the end of my priority list. I've been trying to catch up with house work and laundry which I seem buried in every day. I have a moment, so I am using it up!

This is my 6 month old baby. He's getting not to be a baby any more. He's sitting up better and better each day and we're off and running with solids now. I can't believe that he's half way to one (glass half empty perspective)! He's such a joy to our family. Everyone just smothers him to death, including me. I think he is the cutest baby ever!! We love our Luker so much!

Our house is only weeks away from being finished. I'd post a picture, but Jared does such a good job keeping it updated, I'll just give you our house blog address and you can see for yourself: http://jmjohnsonhouse.blogspot.com/ .

We are excited to get to St. George and are so grateful for all our friends there who have helped us out so much! We appreciate and love you!

Our Little Plot of Heaven

2010-03-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a couple pictures (exciting, huh?) of our little plot of ground where our house will be. It's so nice out there and I am happy we picked this spot. Hopefully we will be here for a long while to enjoy it.

This is looking toward the front of the house (garage really) from the back corner (behind the master bedroom). And in the background it's St. George looking towards the mall and everything behind it. Our house will look somewhat similar to our neighbors house,

but of course different.

This is standing in front of our house looking to what will be our view out back. Nice.

The Lukester!

2010-03-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

We undressed Luke the other night and sat him up to play for a bit. I couldn't resist taking a picture. Love those rolls and cheeks! I can't decide if he looks more like the Michelin tire man or Buddah? What do you think?

NASCAR weekend

2010-03-06T09:22:00.001-08:00

On Feb. 26, Jared took the boys to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a day of NASCAR fun. There wasn't any real racing that day, just practice and qualifying for spots in the race the next day, but the boys LOVED it!! They each have their own favorite car and driver and cheered them on all day. I think this could be the beginning of a Johnson boys family tradition. (Except I might have to go next year ;)

Nice, comfy set up, eh?

Let's go racing boys!

Aidan driving his favorite race cars on the bleachers

Aidan, the race track, and his nose-reducing headphones. It's really loud!

Owen and his favorite race car#48, Jimmy Johnson, (behind him ready to qualify).

Owen and Aidan with #48, Jimmy Johnson, Lowe's car

Aidan and the 88 car, "Dale Hart Jun-yr" (Dale Earnhart Jr.) as Aidan says.

Our Little Luke!

2010-02-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

I took this one this morning. Cute boys!

Ahhh...tuckered out from playing so hard :)

A usual site... one or two or more fingers....whatever will fit!

I have been SOOO behind in updating my blog. I barely say much on Facebook either. Here are some picts of our little Luke. He's a cute little boy. We all love him very much and he is malled by all. I probably gives him way too many kisses on his soft, chubby cheeks. He is now 4 months old and growing and learning so fast. I keep reminding myself to enjoy him because it is going by quickly. He is quite a vocal baby, more so than the other two were and it's fun to make him laugh and squeal. He is a joy to our family. We love you so very much Lukey!! (that's as nicknamey as you can get with his name!)

PS...We SOLD our house!!! YAAAAAAAAAH! We're building again in Washington Fields. See"this link" for our house plan.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

We took a long vacation over Christmas. It was nice but busy at the same time. We hope everyone had a great holiday season. I have some footage of Christmas morning that I need to get from Jared that I would love to share with all. Our boys had great reactions to what Santa left.

We are enjoying the nice weather here. It has been so nice that the boys can go out and ride bikes or play until dark. I guess that's the great thing about living here in the winter.

I just wanted to share some family picts that we had over the holidays. My sister in law, Emily took them for us in Vernal. It was a VERY cold day and everyone was a trooper. We kept Luke in the car until it was his turn and he was out for a minute and then we put him back. It took us less then 10 minutes and we were done. But she got some great ones of Aidan and the faces that I just can't seem to capture on camera. I'll post them when I get them. But here is a few of us..our newest family pictures.

Blessing Day

2009-12-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Today we blessed our little Luke Henry. He looked quite adorable in his whites. He was very good and quiet during the blessing. Jared did an awesome job. Aidan was MIA during it all. He took off during the opening prayer. My Uncle Brent & Aunt Celeste Merkley from Logandale, NV and Grandma and Grandpa Merkley were there to join us.

Jared bore his testimony and Owen asked me if I would go up with him and we bore our testimonies. We are grateful to have the gospel so we can be with our family forever. We love you all and are grateful for all of the love you show to us.

Love,

Jared, Michelle, Owen, Aidan, & Luke

Luke's Announcement

2009-11-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the baby announcement that my sister-in-law, Emily Clark, did for Luke. I love it!! If you want one or a holiday card, she is very resonable in price and does cute stuff. Let me know and I'll hook you up!!

Thanks Em!

Fall is here!!!

2009-11-03T15:16:00.001-08:00

The air has finally cooled down and we are really liking this time of year!! We remembered really fast why we like fall in So. Utah or No. Nevada (for our sake). The boys had a ball with Halloween. They both wanted new costumes, but we told them that no one here saw their costumes from last year, so they could wear those. They didn't like that answer at first, but once the costumes came out and were tried on, they were just fine!

The boys had a Halloween carnival with lots of junk food, tickets, games, cheap prizes, and people. While we were there, Aidan kept saying, "This is the best Halloween ever!"

Tiffany, my sister from Logan, came down to visit us and to hold her new nephew. The boys all had fun playing with her. I am glad she made the long trip too. We were glad to have some company. She dressed up and went Trunk or Treating with the boys. We finally decorated (we went all out :) our trunk this year. As you can tell, we had a lot of fun with the sticky eyeballs;)

Halloween was another hit! I can't believe it's November and that the holiday season is about upon us!! Crazy how time flies!!

We have a new addition to our Family

2009-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

We'd like to announce the addition of "Luke Henry Johnson" to our family.
Luke came to us last night at 8:18pm, 7'11lbs, 19 in with dark brown hair. Owen and Aidan are excited to be Big Brothers.l

Happy Anniversary!!

2009-10-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today is our 8th year anniversary. It seems so long ago that we were married, but the number just doesn't seem as big. We've been though a lot together and it surely has brought us closer. We're certainly not perfect, but I am always amazed at how well we get along and go so well together. I couldn't imagine my life without Jared. I love you, babe!!!

Almost there!!!!

2009-10-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Time has gone by really fast. I can't believe that I will have a new child to care for in less than a week. It doesn't seem real, but I know it soon will be.

I go to my 39th week appointment on Wednesday and if I haven't progressed enough to have him, then I will be induced on Thursday. So far I'm a 4+ and more than halfway effaced. I am excited to not be pregnant anymore (excited to be able to bend over again and sleep on my back), but know I will miss not feeling him move inside me.

I have been anxious about being 45 min. from our hospital and my doctor. I've been praying for peace that everything will be ok. I feel that it will, but if you can remember to pray as well, it won't hurt :)

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable fall. It's finally in the 70's and 80's here and I'm lovin' it!!!

Possible baby boy names

2009-09-14T09:34:00.001-07:00

I think we need some help with some baby boy names. It can't start with a vowel and we'd prefer it not be too trendy because Johnson is such a common name.

We have a list, but it's not getting any longer or shorter and I've looked through several baby name websites without any luck. I know you've all heard cool names, so bring them on in!!

It's a waiting game...

2009-09-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Now that we're down to the last 4.5 weeks, it's a waiting game! I don't know when things will go down, but I hope that there is as little drama as possible. I go to the doctor on Tuesday, so we'll see how we're doing. We'll keep you posted!!

Lazy this summer...

2009-08-30T22:49:00.001-07:00

Owen's first day of school

I was looking at last year pictures and we started and ended with a StarWars shirt!

Aidan at the SLC Temple

Aren't they pretty?

I realized that I've been quite lazy this summer taking pictures. I did not take very many which is really sad. No swimming, no grandma's house, no wedding. Wow, I regret it now. I guess I'd better step up my game and soon.

This week has been a busy one. Owen started school on Monday, August 24th. He's in first grade and his teacher is Mrs. Burton. We met her the first day and she seems really nice. Owen has enjoyed going to school, making new friends and seeing old ones. We are back to making it to school right as the bell rings (at least he's there on time :)

Last weekend I made a fast trip to Logan to get all of our baby stuff. We realized that there was no way we could get us and all of the stuff in our car. So I went by myself and it was a good thing. I filled it right up. I think we have the essentials and maybe just a little more. We will be ready for that day (hopefully). I stayed with my sister-in-law and their family. Thanks Jann and Chad for letting me stay. They were kind enough to go through the trouble to get me a ticket to the Oquirrh Temple dedication. I hadn't been to a temple dedication for awhile and it was really nice.

I also stopped in Brigham City to get some peaches and pears. I swear I'm in the nesting stage, if it's possible this early, I have a list of projects and want to can and cook. It's crazy. Unfortunately cleaning my house isn't one of the things I want to do. But I spent this week doing peaches and pears. I got 14 bottles of each and they were, to my memory, the best peaches and pears I have ever tasted. Especially the peaches--so sweet and so juicy. I wish I could go back and get more just to eat. It was a lot of work and wore me out each day, but they sure look nice and taste good too!

Aidan, I am happy to say, is basically potty trained...YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Funny story, you never know what is going to work...

When we were at my mom's, I was fed up with him because he kept going in his pull-ups and we had a few gross messes to clean up. So I went to buy him some diapers. On the way out of the baby section, I saw some Thomas the Train underwear. Something he knew he could get if he would stop pottying in his pull-ups. I stood there for a minute or two deciding whether it would be worth it or not. I decided to give it a shot and bought the diapers AND the underwear. I gave him the bag when I got home and said, "Here's your diapers, Aidan." He looked in there and noticed that there was something else in there. He pulled out the underwear and asked what they were. I said, "Oh, those are underwear, but they're not for you, they're for big boys who potty in the toilet all the time." (Reverse psychology works almost every time on my kids). And the rest is history. He immediately went to the bathroom so he could put on his underwear. We have had a few accidents, but he has been so good and we are sooooo proud of him. Now he has Transformers underwear, too (he's so proud of them) and a new train that he earned. Goal accomplished! Now I've got to start buying newborn diapers!!

We are still making it work here in Bunkerville, thanks to Uncle David. The kids have friends to play with and the people here have been so nice and welcoming (I don't know if that's a word). They keep telling us to stay and we might be for awhile since our house is still sitting there waiting for someone to buy it! Who knows what will happen. We are just rolling with it...

The last of summer...

2009-08-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that I have not posted now for a month and a half. I have been so bad at taking pictures and we've been gone for the past two weeks at my parent's house. It was a nice long vacation and we really enjoyed the cool weather, being with family and having fun.

My brother Matthew got married to Sheena Hall on July 31st! We're so excited to have Sheena in our family, I hope she feels the same about us :) We had a great time with the wedding celebration and now wish the happy couple lots of luck in Tennessee!! We will miss you. Jared, my brother, Christopher and his wife Emily gave them a nice going away present the day before they left. Nice job guys! The kids had fun at the wedding celebration eating anything they could get--especially the cupcake tower!!

While we were at Grandma's house we played alot with Christopher and Emily and their cute little girl, Ashley. Owen and Aidan could make her giggle and laugh. It was quite cute. They took such good care of her--good practice for their soon-to-be brother. We went swimming at the Vernal Rec. Center--fun pool, boys jumped on tramp with/without hose. Aidan surprised us by doing flips on the tramp all by himself. We experienced rain, wonderfully cool weather due to thunder and lightening storms, trip to mountains to get Grandpa from his 50 miler, Wii, legos, games, trip to dino museum, picking raspberries, and helping grandma. We loved every minute of it and were sad to come home, but it's nice to be back at our "home" and back with Jared.

Hopefully I will be better at pictures. I should have taken picts of all the stuff above, but I was such a slacker. Now school is starting and a new baby will be here in a couple months. Things will be different. So is life! Goodbye summer!!

A Few Achievements

2009-06-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

The boys (and us) have been busy these past few weeks. One of our goals after we got down here was to get Owen to ride his bike without training wheels. He always said he was too little and not ready. But Jared took his training wheels off one Saturday and they walked over to the park and he taught him how to ride his bike. He picked it up pretty fast. Within an hour he was riding all over. He still needs to practice on turning, stopping and starting, but he is doing fabulous!! We are so proud of him!!!

The boys this past week took swimming lessons. They were very excited! They went every day for 45 minutes. They loved every minute in the water. Owen was ready and picked up on it very fast. He loves swimming underwater, especially with goggles on. Aidan, he was just there to be in the water. He did stick his face in the water but didn't really like to float. It's OK, he'll be excited to do it next year. Swimming lessons took quite a toll on their little bodies, but they survived and were willing to go everyday, despite raw toes that we had to wrap every day in bandaids and first aid tape. On Friday, I took them to the dollar store and they both picked out goggles to buy (we won a $5 cash Discover card in the cereal box and HAD to spend it!). I didn't think Aidan would like the goggles, but he's worn them every since he got them and wanted to wear them to bed. After the dollar store, we went to Wal-Mart and they insisted on wearing them. They looked so funny with their goggles on and got many laughs and comments. They were having a ball AND they were good in the store :-D

Aidan has had a major break through in potty training. It was time to get diapers again, but I really didn't want to so I asked him if he was ready to go potty in the toilet and he said yes. So we jumped immediately on the potty training wagon. Lots of pull-ups, stickers, candy and rewards later, we (he and I) are doing well for one week of potty training. It's at least lasted one week. My last attempts lasted not more than one and a half days. We still have a ways to go, but we are both positive and Aidan is still excited. We now have to move up another level this week with #2. Except we will be leaving home, I hope we don't regress. I guess we'll find out. I'm so proud of him, he's doing so well and I'm proud of me because I am taking this sanely!

This last picture is of our house that we live in right now. Many of my family members and friends haven't seen it, so here it is. I don't have picts of the inside, but if you're really interested in the backyard and inside, I'll take more. It's working very well for us.

We're excited to travel up north this weekend to visit our "vacation home," family and friends. Owen's birthday is also this week, so we'll be celebrating that also.

I hope that your 4th of July is a great weekend for you and your family and that you take the time to think of all that we have been given. I can't help but think that even though things are tough during these times, we are still greatly blessed to live in such a great country with great freedoms. I am grateful every day for all of the blessings we have been given and the privilege we have of knowing the true gospel in our lives, especially due to the sacrifice of those who lived before us.

Have a wonderful weekend...we love you!!

More news!!!

2009-06-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we have some exciting news to share with everyone...no, we haven't sold our house, I wish but that's not it, instead we are having a new baby boy!!! I know I fooled you again with the news thing! We've been keeping it secret which is kind of easy to do here in Bunkerville, NV. (Kinda hard for me and my mouth though). Our bouncing baby boy will be due sometime around mid-October. We didn't tell our families until Memorial Day weekend and this past weekend at the Merkley reunion. It was kind of fun to surprise everyone, especially my sister, Angela, who is due one week AFTER me! Plus we waited long enough that we could tell them it was a boy. So there it is, our news!

(Don't you love the ultrasound? Our baby is already trying to suck his thumb! We breed thumb-sucking kids!)

We had a really nice time at our Merkley reunion in Manti, UT. Our main event, besides eating, was attending the temple and going through to do my Uncle Clayton's name, who passed away suddenly about a year and a half ago. He is my mom's brother. We miss Uncle Clayton. He was the tease and the laughter of the party. It was special for my grandparents to have most of their kids in the temple and some of their grandkids there too. I am grateful we could go. It helped me realize how important the Atonement is and how grateful I am to have the gospel in my family, especially those saving ordinances that bind us together forever. I feel very blessed.

Jared and I being cheesy after the temple.

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers as always and continue to keep in touch! We love you all!

Updates...finally!!

2009-06-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I haven't updated our blog. We've been a bit busy, but that's not why. I lost the cord that goes from my camera to the computer. I've had to put up quite a battle to get a new one... Anyways, battle over, I have a new one and here are our pictures!

Owen finished out his year in kindergarten last week. He loved his teacher Mrs. Hughes and said he will miss her and his friends. I can't believe that he will go to first grade next year!! He also lost his bottom two teeth the last two weeks of school. He was so excited! He was so brave, too, he pulled them out all by himself. I thought it might be a torturous event, but he made it quite easy for us. The tooth fairy that comes to our house is kind of a ditz. First time she almost couldn't find the tooth and then she almost forgot the second time. Tooth Fairy needs to get her act together! Last week Owen got to play with his good friend Andrew Davis. It was like they just picked up where they left off last time. They both like the same things and have so much fun together. He slept overnight and all three boys played so well together and had so much fun. They were sad to part. We'll get to see them sooner than later, but just not soon enough.

Aidan is just having fun being a kid. He likes to play with Owen and with the neighbors. He still plays lots of trains, ride his bike, and go swimming. He still remembers our trip to Disneyland and the many rides on the Casey Jr. (Dumbo) train and loves to play it on his bike and wherever we go. He's so cute and sings about everywhere he goes. His favorites are the Aggie Fight song, NASCAR racing song, Popcorn Popping, Casey Jr. song, Wonder Pets, Signing Time, and others he learns from me or in nursery. It's quite cute and he's quite the kid. It's always crazy when Aidan's around.

Jared and I got new callings in church. I'm the Primary Secretary and Jared is one of the Elder's Quorum teachers. It's bittersweet having a calling--nice for something to do and feel useful, but now we can't come and go as we please. Not that we've got a lot going, but I think you know what I'm talking about. I'm happy with my calling and the women that I will be working with are pretty awesome. Jared will get to help the Elder's Quorum presidency teach at least once a month. So that's new. We're getting ready to go to a family reunion in Manti with my mom's family. I think it will be fun.

Anyways, keep in touch and I hope everyone is planning and having a great summer. I'll try to update more often, I promise...

Disneyland 2009 & Newport Beach

2009-04-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Disneyland trip

2009-04-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

What a trip!! We spent three days at Disneyland and we all had a really great time. The weather was just perfect and even though there was a lot of people there, we made the most of it. The boys loved watching the Jedi training and Owen's favorite ride was StarTours (of course). His souvenir was a StarTours ship with Captain Rex and R2 on it. He also got to talk to the sea turtle, Crush, from Finding Nemo. Aidan and Jared talked to him too. They thought it was pretty cool, especially Jared (he still talks about it). Aidan's favorite rides were the trains. We made it to all of them and one of them like 8-9 times (Casey Jr.'s train). He hid from Zurg the first time he saw him, but warmed up pretty fast. Of course, Jared and I loved the roller coasters. The new Toy Story ride was pretty fun. Unfortunately, our favorite ride, Screamin' California, we didn't get to go on--too long a line--always. We stayed in the park until closing because then we could ride on all the rides that had long lines all day. Taking a nap in the middle of the day did wonders for us all.

I can't get the pictures to download, I'll keep trying!

We also made a trip to Balboa Beach in Newport. It is a nice clean beach and the waves were huge. Of course, Owen was all wet within minutes and the water was C-O-L-D. I stuck my toes in a couple of times and that was enough for me. There were bikinis all around me and I was in a jacket! I'm turning into a wimp! The boys loved chasing the waves and playing in the sand. We will have to stay longer next time. It was so nice to be together. The boys were very good and we did most everything that we wanted to do. It won't be our last trip, that's for sure.

Disneyland or BUST!!

2009-04-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

Our last trip to Disneyland

Tomorrow we are off to Disneyland!! A vacation to celebrate our reunion! We are all very excited and will share picts when we get back. If anyone wants to join us, please do...just give us a call to tell us your there!!

Happy #3 Aidan!!

2009-04-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

We had Aidan's 3rd birthday a week ago. He was so excited to have his birthday. We had family and neighbors join in the fun. Food for all and lots of presents for Aidan. He was excited mostly for his presents and his cake. He wanted to open his presents when he got them. So we first sang a big happy birthday and he blew his candle out. He wanted to do it again, so Jared lighted the candle and he just sat there. He said, "Sing happy birthday." So a couple people sang However, that wasn't good enough, so we sang another big happy birthday and THEN he blew his candle out. He was so happy with all of his presents!! What little kid wouldn't be with a bunch of new toys! More trains, new tracks, light saber and starwars shirt were his favorites. Everytime he opened a present he would say, "It's for me! It's for me! Please open it." We all thought that was pretty funny.

Everyone had a great time, even Owen said he had fun at Aidan's birthday. The boys played for the rest of the day with Aidan's presents and Aidan just couldn't put some of them down. (Notice the trains in his arms as he's trying to play with his light saber.)

We love our silly Aidan boy, who is growing up so fast!! Happy birthday, little man!

We made it!!

2009-04-05T01:10:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it down here! I am so glad to be a family again and to be back down here. I have missed St. George, but will surely miss Logan. We had a lot of good times up there...lots of parties, dinners, family, friends, and neighbors. It was hard to go, but it was time and I'm grateful we can be here. We are living in my uncle's house (in NV) until our house sells, then we will make our way back to St. George. We're crossing every finger!! Thanks for everyone's help and for your kind words of encouragement. We love you all!!

I'm making it official....

2009-03-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

We are moving!!! Yes, we are moving to Mesquite, NV (Bunkerville, to be specific) over the Easter weekend. We are excited to be able to have this option to be close to where we will eventually be! Our house selling doesn't look to positivie, but we're hoping for a miracle. Thanks to all of you for your love and concern. It has meant a lot to us. Keep praying that our home will sell and we'll see some of you soon!!

What a week...(sorry it's kinda long)

2009-02-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

This week was my birthday and it was sure filled with fun, parties, and family. My sister, Angela, came up from SF to celebrate our birthdays (her birthday is on the 17th). All but our parents and brothers at home were there. It was so much fun. Eat, talk and play. What we do best when we're together! I'm so glad everyone made the effort and hope they had a fun time. I did!!

Then my birthday wasn't so exciting, because there was no one around to make a big deal. So we just did this and that, ran errands, I got some take-out, Tiffany watched the boys, I went to RS activity and then came home. At about 11:30 pm, Jared calls to ask how my birthday was and I was telling him about our night. Then I heard a noise and went to see what it was and where it came from and there was Jared walking through my front door!!!! I was so happy he came. That was really sweet for him to come see me on my birthday. I have the sweetest, most generous husband ever!! So he, of course, had presents for me the next day...so nice. And then we went to Owen's class and gave his "special me" presentation all about him. Then we finished out the day by going to my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. We were stuffed, but it was good!

The next day we just hung out at home and just enjoyed the time we had together. We went a day early for our Valentine's celebration (babysitter available). It was relaxing and nice, more presents and just a nice night with my husband. That morning I made us pink, heart pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries--yum, yum!! Our favorite breakfast (me and the boys). We'd eat them every day!! Then we spent the day as a family. Tiffany and Matt took some time to play games with us which was fun, even though Jared crushed us in the shooting game on the Wii. However, I did beat everyone, TWICE, at Blockus. I hardly ever win games, so it was a nice victory and I'll take it!

Sunday, I came home after choir practice, changed my clothes and took a 3 1/2 hour nap. The boys were having fun watching the Daytona 500 (NASCAR racing) and playing with each other and their dad. It was a much needed, nice nap!! I don't know when I'll get one of those again!!

Jared didn't have to go back until today. So another day of just staying home and being together. I finally cut the boy's hair. Wow! Aidan had like 2-3 inches of hair everywhere!! But I was so proud of them, neither of then cried!! Maybe next time won't be so bad either (cross my fingers).

It was nice to have family around to celebrate our birthday and Valentine's. I will definitely miss living here in Logan where they are so close. Thanks for all your love and wishes. I wish you all the best and lots of love from us!!

PS: The picture of Owen is him dressed up as a Musketeer. He was watching the Donald, Mickey and Goofy version of the Three Musketeers. He came to me first searching for his lightsaber (for his sword) then he wanted a wide hat, so I remembered Jared had one in the closet and got it for him. Then he needed some boots, but the only ones that fit, were mine. He looked so cute!!

The first picture is Owen reading to Aidan. They know this book by heart and were having lots of fun with the "whoooo, whoooo" (train whistle) part. It was too cute to pass up a picture.

Random pictures

2009-02-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures.

We went this last weekend to Vernal for the blessing of my newest niece, Ashley Ann Clark. She's Christopher & Emily's daughter. She's pretty cute and looked very adorable in her blessing dress and head bow.

This next pict is Owen and his "girlfriend" Sheena. Owen only goes for the girls that are taken. His charm wins them over pretty easily. This is my brother Matthew's girlfriend, and Owen's giving him some competition. Every time Sheena comes over, she says, "Where's my boyfriend?" Owen's past girlfriend has been my sister, Tiffany...until she got married. He was pretty sad when he learned she couldn't be his girlfriend anymore. He even cried. Then my sister, Camille, well, she is the back up. They are on again, off again. He's just such a lovable kid and loves most everyone (mostly girls).

I said that I never got a picture of the tracks that I built? Well, here is one! It was good, too. However, it was torn to pieces by an upset 2 year old. Those terrible twos!! He even looks so cute in this picture! I even built another good one today and so far, it hasn't been torn apart!

I've also joined Facebook for anyone who would like to be my "Friend". It has been so much fun to connect with old roommates and friends from high school. If you're looking for someone, I bet you might be able to find them on Facebook!

Day in, Day out...

2009-01-28T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is what my boys do, day in and day out. I construct an awesome and intricate train track (unfortunately, I never get a picture of that!) and they take it all to pieces and build one of these. I'll have to admit that the length is pretty impressive. It went from the dining room, living room, hallway and the buffer ended at the far end of their bedroom (which is at the end of the house). They love it!! (we sure have a lot of tracks!!)

NOt ToO ExCitIng

2009-01-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

Owen was sick ALL week and didn't go to school. Just a nasty fever and cough. By Thursday his fever was gone and he was finally a little more chipper. But I didn't want to do too much too fast (like I have in the past) and let him miss school that day. Little did I know that he didn't have school on Friday and then, of course, no school on Monday. So he's had quite the little vacation. Too much TV and too much StarWars Wii game. It's going to be back to reality tomorrow, probably a sad day here in the Johnson household.

We also had Jared here from Thursday through Monday. It's always so nice to have him back. I was so relaxed that on Sunday I thought maybe once or twice about changing Aidan's diaper. Good thing Jared was on the ball!! Sunday we have 8:30 AM!! church--try that!! It's NOT fun! We have yet to get to church ON TIME and we always have to sit in the cultural hall where my kids are 5x's louder.

We had Jared's family come on Sunday for dinner. We don't seem to do it often enough. The kids had fun playing the Wii and playing together. We adults did what we do best--talk!

And today, we cleaned. I finally cleaned my shower for the third time since we moved in. How sad is that. But I got that new Bubbles shower cleaner and it did wonders... Plus as a bonus, I got to sit and scrapbook! It's been so long and I've been longing to do more. I've had quite the battle with "Creating Keepsakes". Ever since I renewed my subscription in September, I have received two issues--November & February's. I hope that the battle is over and my subscription continues...I look forward to them every month! Here is a couple of my layouts, if you're interested plus a few other pictures from the past couple of days. I LOVE the view outside my back door. I am going to miss it.

Sweet, Unpredictable Moments...

2009-01-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I experienced a very sweet moment between my two boys. It made me smile and all warm and fuzzy inside.

Owen was running across our kitchen floor and slipped. He scraped the side of his stomach pretty good. He cried really hard and I comforted him the best that I could. I had just gotten Aidan out of the bath, so I finished dressing him and then went to see if Owen was alright. We put a big Band-Aid on his scrape to make it feel better. Then I gave him a big hug and kiss. Aidan in turn gave Owen a big hug and then reached up to give him a kiss (he doesn't give those out very often). Then with Aidan's hand on Owen's back, they walked together to their room and Aidan kept saying, "It's alright, Owen, It's alright." It was so sweet!!! I love moments like this when they show innocent compassion and love towards each other. It touched my heart and I was reminded that they really DO love each other--some days I wonder.

Then we went to read books before bedtime and I hadn't made it through the first book before Aidan told me, "I hurt," and that he needed a Band-Aid. He had bumped his eye in my bathtub earlier this week and had a little cut on the corner of his eye, so that's where he needed his "sympathetic Band-Aid." I didn't think the Band-Aid would last very long, but he still has it on tonight. It was a cute, unpredictable moment where I wish I would have had a camera rolling. Something to write in my journal, so I can read it back to them and hopefully remember it vividly in my mind.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas, too!

2009-01-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season this year...I know we did! I helped Owen's class make candy houses (simple and easy!); we had christmas parties & a program to attend; a Polar Express to catch; family to visit, especially our newest little additions to our family, Cadence (Tailona & Chauncy's baby girl) and Ashley Ann (Christopher & Emily's baby girl); snow to drive in & shovel; kids to keep on the nice list ;) and projects to make (Aidan finally has a Christmas stocking--2.75 years later!!) We have a Christmas card this year!! Clark's have a beautiful calendar, Angela & Robb have some fabulous decor, and the sisters I visit teach have some cute blocks!). I can't believe we made time for it all!

It has been a good Christmas season. I've reflected on Christ, his birth, his life and what he has done for me. I have been very, very blessed and I know that he watches out for all of us in all that we do. Thank you, all of you, for your love, prayers, and your goodness. God bless you and may your next year also be full of His goodness and His love.

Reverse Psychology and Doing It Together

2008-12-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

OK--I thought I was patient until I had kids. My biggest challenge these days is getting Owen ready for school. He is distracted very easily and I get very frustrated telling him 10 times to get his clothes on. So I decided NOT to get frustrated and try to get him ready for school in a way that we could both be happy. So I used reverse psychology. I told him that I wanted him to listen to me and that I wanted him to stay in his PJs all day--don't get your clothes on at all. He started giggling and went and got his clothes on BY HIMSELF! Then I told him that I was disappointed that he disobeyed me and that he needed to listen to me and NOT brush his teeth or comb his hair. So he giggled and did it all. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! We were both happy and both ready. He told me, "mom, you're being wierd".

However, I tried to do it today and he wanted to stay in his pjs. So I worked calmly on convincing him to put some pajamas clothes on (comfy pants and t-shirt) and then we brushed our teeth and combed our hair-together. It worked. I wish I was a little quicker and smarter. I might have to use a new technique everyday, but it sure saves me a lot of stress and frustration.

Pres. Uchdorf in his talk at the RS broadcast told us we innately needed creativity in our lives and being a mom and nurturing children requires being creative. So it is! Good luck to all of you and good luck to me as I try to get Owen dressed and ready for school every day!!

Santa's Nice List

2008-12-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

I did this for Owen and he thought it was pretty cool. He kept asking, how did you do it mom? If you want to do it for your kids the link is: Santa's Nice List.

Jared wanted to know if there was one for the Naughty List. If anyone finds anything, let me know. It might be some motivation to be GOOD!

Have fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all you friends and family. I hope you all had a wonderful day. We had a nice and somewhat relaxing day. Jared and I hosted the dinner, but all helped with the food. Jared made the turkey, potatoes and gravy and I whipped out a couple of pies ;). The kids had so much fun playing together that there was a lot of bribery to get them to eat something! Football was on and then the day was over. It seemed to go fast. But it was nice to have a low-stress holiday. The second picture is of the boys and their cousin Siatyl (Nash is in the back) watching Kung Fu Panda. The other pict is the train track we built in the boys' room the other day. Aidan and Owen have had a lot of fun playing with Thomas, again. (It's been in the basement)

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of two little girls (one from Jared's sister and the other from my brother & sister-in-law). They could be here any day and we are very excited to add girls to the family. Good luck you two!! We are excited!!

I am such a pooper and so not into the day(early am)-after-Thanksgiving sales. We had to take our car into get fixed this morning by nine and that was early enough. We pretty much have our Christmas figured out and done. The boys are pretty easy this year. Thank goodness for that. Maybe I'll have to sacrifice one day in order to get a great price, but until that day comes, I will enjoy sleeping. Good luck to you shoppers!! I hope you get all the super-buys you need.

Good luck with all your Christmas preparations and hope your holiday season is fabulous!!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Happy (late) Halloween everyone!!! Hope everyone had a good time. Ours was a good one. Owen got to dress up for school and the kindergarteners had a carnival. He was Dash from the Incredibles, but we couldn't find a Dash costume, so Mr. Incredible had to do. When I asked what he did at his carnival, he just said, "We did fun stuff". That's about all I can get out of him--no specifics. No one else could get anything else out of him either, so the kindergarten carnival is a mystery. I tried all day to get Aidan to put his Thomas the Train costume on so we could go to the store, but he wouldn't do it. They still gave him candy. I wanted to get some picts of the boys, so before we went to our neighbors, I fought Aidan to keep his costume on so I could get his picture. It was a lot of effort, but we got some good pictures. It's a good thing we went to the neighbors, because no one else came to our neighborhood that night. They were happy to see the boys. We went to the 'trunk or treat' at our ward building Jared's sister, Tailona, and her stepson, Drake, and thank goodness for that. Owen was off with his friend and Aidan, I and Drake made our way around while Tai handed out candy. About halfway through, Aidan figured out what he was supposed to do and he was off. We had to hurry to keep up. He had a sucker in one hand and his bucket of candy in the other and he just made his way around to everyone, some two or three times. They had fun and were excited about all their candy. Then after we got home, to our suprise, Jared came home shortly after. It was nice to have him home even if it was for just a short time. We're glad he made the trek. He had been in Florida all week for a conference and flew to Vegas that morning and stopped in St. George for about and hour and then was off to see us. Then later that night we were graced with the presence of my brother, Matthew and his girlfriend, Sheena in their costumes. They wore these to the USU Basketball game. They got quite a few stares, but I have to agree, they were pretty good costumes. Brave, they were. And that was our Halloween!! We're doing pretty good with the candy stash and the boys have been pretty good about getting a little here and there and I'm grateful for that. So here are some picts of everyone for you to enjoy. Hope your haunting was happy and hope your ready for Thanksgiving soon!!!

Sunny St. George

2008-10-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

We made it here to St. George--just to visit though. It's been nice to see Jared, friends and enjoy the sun! Thanks to Janet & Savannah Walker who have so graciously let us stay with them. We sure appreciate you guys. I am so excited to move back and excited to be able to see all of my St. George friends again... on a regular basis--I've missed you guys!!!! We'll now miss all you northern people too :( ...man, I just can't have it all, can I?

Our house is still on the market. We're still doing all we can to get it sold. Soon, right? I sure hope so. Take care ya'll and thanks for all your comments and thoughts! LOVE U!!

7 Years!!!

2008-10-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

Jared and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this past (Conference) weekend. We were so glad that we could be together and celebrated it with a night at the Anniversary Inn. It was LUXURIOUS! We stayed in the room called Juliet's Balcony. It was beautiful and took you back in time to Romeo and Juliet. They had a huge tub, beautiful, soft bed, cool shower with a drip head and a couple other shower heads, cheesecake and just quietness!! It was nice to just be the two of us. Thanks Tiff and Matt for your help!!! I am so happy to be married to Jared. He is always so good to me and loves me no matter what. We've been through a lot since we were married and I'm glad that it was with him. Thanks babe, I love you.

We will be coming down to St. George over UEA, so we'll have to stop by and say Hi! Take care!

Thanks a bunch!

2008-09-28T00:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your love, support, prayers and fasting in our behalf. Thanks to Tiff and Matt for being willing to help, babysit, shop or just talk to me when I need it. My neighbors are so good to let the kids play and to visit with me too. I sure need an adult to chat with or I seem really desperate for conversation. Jared is loving his job and grateful to be back. I am glad to have him happy, but sad that we're so far apart. It's very different not having him around and as always, I took that for granted. Me and the boys are doing good. We have our good and bad days. Aidan tracked mud through the carpet last week--great for house showings! But LUCKILY, it dried, I brushed it, vacuumed it and you can't tell ( or at least I can't see any footprints!) I am learning to love my boys more each day. They are good kids, so different from each other, but I've realized what kind of love they need and how I can better take care of them. It's been a great experience. We've learned to work better together instead of always seeming to butt heads. I love it!

Keep praying for us. We really want to be together and start establishing some roots. I think we will again fast this next Sunday to see if we can't be down there before the holidays start. Who knows, we seem to like to move in November (every time we've moved it's been in November). So maybe this time will be the same.

Take care and LOVE you all!

Jared's last day, Owen's first day

2008-09-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

We've been a bit busy with life. We had many happy travels in August (as listed below) and then after that we began getting ready for Owen to go to Kindergarten. August 28th was his first day. He was pretty happy to be able to go to school. We (I mean, I) had problems trying to find which bus he rode and what times. It took us until after Labor Day to get it all figured out, plus we even got the buses to stop outside of our neighborhood (a big pat on the back to me) for him and another boy. He loves to ride the bus with his friends to and from school. He has a really nice teacher, Ms. Chris and is getting to know the kids in his class fast. He's learning to write his letters and this week he'll have homework!! I didn't seem too excited when I told him about it. He said that it was boring :( We'll see. Me and Aidan have been hanging out while he's been gone. I've been reading books (Sisterhood of the traveling pants series & now I'm on the last book of the Twilight series!!) like crazy. It's been fun.

Last Friday was Jared's last day at USU. I think he would have jumped for joy if he really wanted too. There was so much drama last week that he was so glad to get out. He's pretty giddy to get to St. George, but sad to leave us to sell the house. We had a fast yesterday with our families to sell our house. Thanks for those who participated on our behalf. Please continue to pray for us, we need your faith! We've had a couple of showing and tomorrow the realtors in the valley will be coming to preview it. So we really hope that this will get us some showings. He will be home this week with us and we hope to get many things done and to spend some time together before he goes.

We are happy for our time here in Logan. I've learned many things and my testimony has grown. Our ward has been so friendly and our neighbors great. We will be sad to leave them. We are excited to see our friends from St. George and to finally be able to plant our roots.

Thanks for all your love and prayers. We really do love you and thank you for your support!! We have the best family and friends in the whole world!!!

Much kisses and hugs!

BIG NEWS!!!

2008-08-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Our WHOLE family @ Wolf Creek

Tiffany & Matt Hunting

Hello family & friends,

I am sorry it has been so long. I don't get to the internet enough, but I'm at inlaws and they have it so I'm taking advantage of it.

We are doing well. August has been a busy month for us. First we had a reunion at Wolf Creek. That was a lot of fun. We stayed in a nice, huge house with all the conveniences. Two kitchens, lots of bathrooms, rooms, beds, tvs, ping-pong table. It was like an upgrade from home with an amazing view of the valley. We did lots of swimming at the pool & went to a great beach at Pineview Reservoir. We had lots of food to eat (of course) and had fun being together. My brother brought his Wii and we had too much fun playing it. There was golfing into the night and day, plus boxing matches between father and son (Owen vs. Jared: Owen held up a good fight, but in the end was slowly losing and started to cry, so Jared had to let him win ;) We all want one now!! Thanks Nat & Bob for your hard work!!

Then the next weekend, my sister Tiffany got married to Matt Hunting. We are definitely happy to have him. He's so good to her and a great guy! If he can survive our family, then we'll keep him! The Bountiful temple was beautiful and the reception was nice the next day. Everything worked out good (to the last minute, but good). It was nice to see many friends and family that I have not seen for a long time.

But all of that is not our big news!! No, we are not pregnant, I know that's what all of you are thinking! Our big news is... we are moving back to ST. GEORGE!!!

Jared has not been pleased with his job and so when his job at Dixie opened up at the beginning of July, he just couldn't pass it up. It's been a slow process, but this past week, they offered him the job and we have accepted. He is very excited to be back with Dixie and those he works with there. They have been rooting for him the whole way. Jared has always loved St. George and it's where he's been the happiest in his life.

It's more bittersweet for me. I have a brand new beautiful house, with family and friends so close by. Plus I really like Logan. But I also have lots of friends in St. George and I know that I can be happy there too. Our family is just going to have to make extra efforts to come see us.

I will have to be in Logan until we sell our house, but Jared will start working sometime mid-September or the end of. He has a place to stay w/o paying rent, so that will help us a ton. I just hope that we can sell our house soon, so we don't have to be apart at all or very long. So please pray for us!!

We are excited to go back home, but will miss what we have here in Logan. We have learned much and hope that this next season of life will be a bit less busy.

We love you all!!

Slacker!

2008-07-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have so been a slacker, but I am not connected to the worldwide web anymore. I try to forget about it, but sometimes I wish I still had it. Maybe some day. Anyways, we are moved it, not quite settled, but we are really enjoying the space and all the conveniences. The kids have friends to play with and we do too!! We have a good ward and work is not that far for Jared. It's nice to be on the way to settled. HOpe everyone is having a good summer! We love you!

PS I couldn't get picts to download. Next time!

Moving day!!

2008-06-24T09:49:00.001-07:00

We went to the Parade of Homes this weekend and saw this beautiful house. We've decided to sell our other brand new house and buy this one!! Isn't it pretty? It's even got a trampoline, & playhouse in the basement. The kids will have a blast!

Just kidding. There's no way, even in our dreams, that we could buy that home!! It is a magnificent home that would be lots of fun for everyone!! (It would be quite a job to clean!)

Instead here is our nice, little, (compared to the other one) cute home! We love it and we're moving in today! We are very excited to have more room and I am looking forward to my dishwasher, roomy kitchen & my washer and dryer. Such conveniences that I've missed. YEEEEAAAAAAAAYYYY! We made it!

2008-06-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to have this up for Father's Day and I forgot that I had done it. So here it is. It's my favorite picture of Jared and the boys. Jared is such a good dad to them and loves them very much. He helps me out with them and is good to take them when I need a break. He calls them his "Bestest boys." It's always special to go with him places because he always gets treats :) And they get so excited to watch race cars (Nascar) with him. He is happy to have 2 gr-r-r-r-eat boys and they love their #1 dad!

I also wanted to say that I am grateful for mine and Jared's dad and for my grandpas too. YOu are all very special to us and we love what you do and how you support and love us. Happy Father's Day! We LOVE you!

Quote under "Bestest Boys" says: "Until you have a son of your own...you will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son. You will never know the sense of honor that makes a man want to be more than he is and to pass something good and hopeful into the hands of his son." Kent Nerburn

Neighbors & friends

2008-06-10T23:16:00.001-07:00

Wow! It's been awhile. Nothing great and exciting has gone on. We've just be waiting for our house to finish and it's like watching paint dry--slow, slow, slow. We should be moved by the end of the month. To say I can't wait is quite the understatement!! I can't wait to have my own kitchen (mostly a dishwasher), my washer and dryer back, my own bedroom and bathroom, my own scrapbook room!! Can't wait!

We have had some good times here in Aggie Village. Winter was an experience unlike St. George. We've had fun being close to my brother and mine and Jared's sisters. It has been nice to be close to everything, even Jared's work was just a few minutes away. He loved it! Our neighbors have put up with us and even been nice. Even though the spring has been cool, the boys have been able to find some friends to play with. Most of our neighbors are from out of the country...Sri Lanka and Napal to be exact. It's been interesting to communicate with, but we've done just fine. They are cute little kids. This pict is of the boys and their friends eating popcicles--a universal kid treat! Smithy (I have no idea about the spelling on either one, but that's how you say their names) is the girl and Lavadoo is the boy. Lavadoo loves to ride his bike with Owen and they became fast friends, especially when Owen found out the he LOVES Thomas the train just as much as he did. Smithy is willing to play with anyone, expect maybe Aidan. He's kind of a bully to her, so I don't blame her. But they have played together for many hours out back riding bikes, playing in the sand and on the playground. It's been great. We will miss them and the instant friends that we've had. Hopefully we will be able to have lots of fun with our new neighbors this summer and beyond.

Solution for a Cuter Computer

2008-06-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

One day I was tired of all my desktop backgrounds. So I searched the internet for desktop backgrounds. I wanted one that was kind of scrapbooky ( I hadn't started digi-scrapbooking, yet) and I found this cool website that sends me a new background each month. Plus I can insert my own picts in the cute layout. I thought some of you might like it. It's Scrapbook Dimensions. Here is a pict of my current June background. It's all cute and makes me happy! This one I actually tweeked a little. I added the "remember this" and the other journaling because it was kind of empty on one side and I thought I might turn this into a scrapbook page one day. Anyways, just something fun I found to make my computer a whole heck of a lot...CUTER!

Play, play, play

2008-05-31T12:48:00.001-07:00

It seems like all we've done this week is play. We had a great memorial day weekend with Jared's family. The cousins had so much fun playing together. It was fun to see everyone and we are so grateful everyone made the effort.

We were at home for a couple of days and then Jann (Jared's sister) invited us to visit with them at their time-share in Bear Lake. So we went up Wednesday night and stayed over through Thursday. Jared was glad to have a day off of work. The kids had fun playing and we had fun relaxing. It was pretty cool on Thursday, but the kids had fun playing at the park and walking along the beach, playing in the freezing water and sand. I wish I had had a camera. Owen was wet from the waist down.

Jared and I also revisited the place we got engaged which was fun to remember. Then we took the kids swimming at the pool. It was still cool, but they had fun. They cried because they had to get out. And now we've just been playing with Matthew (my brother), whose up for the weekend. The boys were sad when everyone went home. And next week they won't know what to do with themselves when we go back to normal. But we're counting down the days until we move in (even though we don't know the exact date). Hopefully, VERY soon!

I am so grateful the weather is so nice. We love that we can go outside and enjoy it. Happy summer!

In Memory

2008-05-26T01:23:00.000-07:00

To me, Memorial Day always meant the end of school and the beginning of summer. I didn't care much for going to the cemetaries to visit our ancestors. However, things have changed. I have lost some very dear relatives that I miss very much. I am now grateful for the opportunity to remember them, their legacy and to teach my children about these wonderful people. The most recent that we've lost is Jared's dad, Tom, and my Uncle Clayton Merkley. I miss that my boys won't get to know their Grandpa Johnson very well and that they won't remember the times they had with him. He was a generous, kind and loving man. I am so grateful to have a husband who loves and tries to emulate his father. My Uncle Clayton was always the life of the party. He loved to laugh, tease and enjoy life. We miss him and his laughter very much. It almost doesn't seem real. There are many others who have been an influence in my life and I will be eternally gracious of their lives and for their legacy. I hope I can be worthy to be called their posterity. We miss you and we love you.

Little Trip

2008-05-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

This past week we went to Vernal then on Thursday we went to "A Day Out With Thomas" again.

We had lots of fun at Grandma's and Grandpa's seeing everyone that was there. Thanks for coming to see us. We love being with you all. The boys haven't known what to do with themselves since we left. Owen wanted to go see Samantha today and was disappointed when I told him we weren't. I think they miss the trampoline too.

We also had fun at Thomas. Aidan was almost beside himself and Owen was just as excited. They had the best time playing with trains, riding on the train, and playing at the Dairy Keen (train) restaurant. It's was such a magical day to see and ride a real train pulled by Thomas, see Sir Topham Hatt, and play with so many of their favorite trains. There was a little drizzle of rain, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.

Grateful to be a mom

2008-05-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

I did this layout in honor of mother's day. This picture is probably my favorite so far of me and my boys. I love being a mom and I love that I get to watch my kids grow. I love their smiles, their laughs and the joy they find in the very simple things. I am so grateful to be a mom.

Aidan's before and after

2008-05-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

After 4 months, I finally made it to the Logan temple today. Hopefully next time it won't be as long. It was very replenishing and very calm. I needed it. There has been a lot on my mind. So it was nice to have some of that settled and be able to move on with life.

I have been taking care of sick kids this week, again, and now the biggest kid (Jared) has it too. Owen had an earache on Wednesday night, but woke up that next morning with it gone. That's never happened before. I count it as a big blessing--saved us from a trip to the doctor (we don't have very good health insurance).

The big highlight this week was finally giving Aidan a haircut. Last time we did it in Vernal and Grandpa had to hold a screaming kid. So this time we set it up right, a movie, the water bottle, and I started with scissors instead of clippers. He was doing good enough that I just kept cutting. We even used the clippers. He didn't like it, but we got the job done! He looks pretty cute. IT was a big change, but it's grown on us this week. Totally fits the little tough boy that he is. (If you look hard you can see the big goose-egg and cut on his forehead from contact with the slide.)

I am hoping this week that we will be able to enjoy a week of spring--nice, perfect weather with NO snow!

Heavenly Father's buttons

2008-04-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today, was a warm, windy, cloudy day. Perfect for some playtime at the park and to go fly a kite. So after running a couple of errands, we stopped at the park that will be near our house. The boys played for a little while and then I got out Owen's kite so he could fly it. It didn't take long to get it up in the air. He had fun flying it and running it around. Except he kept getting near the trees and the wind was kind of crazy which made the kite dive. I was afraid it was going to get caught and I couldn't get it out. So I kept telling him to go out further in the grass away from the trees, but in a few minutes he was back near the playground, pavilion and trees. After telling him for like the fifth time to get away from the trees, I got upset with him. (I was actually upset about something else and I ended up taking some of it out on Owen.) Then he accidentally let go of the kite and it started flying away. He ran as hard as he could to get it back, but wasn't catching up to it. Luckily, it got caught on top of the restroom shed. I was still upset at him and shouldn't have been and now it was caught. He was sad as I tried to get the kite free and I felt bad for getting mad at him. Then just as I was about to give up and say it was stuck, the wind picked the kite up and I was able to get it free. At that moment I knew that this was a lesson for me and Heavenly Father helped us. So later I told Owen that Heavenly Father sent the wind to help us get the kite free and he said, "Oh" like everything came together and he understood.

When Jared got home, we were telling him about our day. I asked Owen how we were able to get the kite free and he said, "Heavenly Father pushed the wind button and that's how we got our kite unhooked."

I am surprised every day, these days, the things that Owen understands and learns. I am learning that this is prime-time teaching and that I had better step up to the plate. It was really cute and I was impressed with his concept of how things work up there. Who knows, heaven could have all kinds of buttons that Heavenly Father pushes to help us every day :)

All girl!

2008-04-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

OK, I haven't done much this week or haven't found anything profound to say. Plus I like the comments that I'm getting for my pages:) So here is another one. I don't do very many girlie pages, and I've had these pictures for years. So without having to go to the scrapbook store and the photo lab, I had to scrap these pictures. Jann this is for you!

More Digital...

2008-04-22T16:03:00.001-07:00

This is starting to become fun. There are so many things that I can do! Thanks for your comments on the last layout. This one is all from ShabbyPrincess.com. Thanks for your adorable FREE downloads! I have a link on the left side, down a ways, for anyone interested.

Happy Green Day!

Dabbling in Digital

2008-04-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

It's super late and I should have been in bed like two hours ago, but I've been busy creating my FIRST digital scrapbook page! I think it turned out good (you tell me). I have a lot to learn and relearn. Even Jared had to help me remember Photoshop. At the Expo, I got a CD full of papers, embellishments and alphas to try out. I also downloaded a lot tonight from the internet. But here is my very first page that I created.

It was fun to go to the Expo and I enjoyed looking at everything they had and all the GREAT deals! I mostly got things for storage in my new scrapbook room. It might still be a bit eclectic, like I seem to be, but I like the colors. I hope they work. It was also nice to scrapbook. I started on our Disneyland trip. There were lots of people, but next time it will be lots more fun with someone to go with. I did have fun visiting with my mom and my sister, Camille, who were in town for the day.

Anyways, here is my creation. I will post more this week!

Birthday and Run

2008-04-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well first off, yesterday was Jared's birthday. He's now the big 35! He thinks he's old, but he's not really. His work surprised him yesterday with lunch and a party. They overheard him talking to Owen on the phone, the day before, about his birthday being tomorrow. Then they stole his phone, got my phone number to call me and confirm. He didn't think anyone knew, but then started to suspect when surprise meetings popped up and everyone in the office vacated right before noon. He's too observant. We showed up for the party afterwards for a little while. Aidan was going nuts with the Olympus water dispenser, cups were everywhere and he kept pulling the water knobs. Owen was happy typing away on his computer--"working". They liked riding the bus to dad's work and back. Pretty exciting for a 2 and 4 year old. Then later we had a party with his sister, Tailona, and my sister, Tiffany. Owen absolutely refused to eat cake until we opened presents. For his presents, Jared got a two new race cars (one on the cake) and some levi's. He's old ones have to go! He had a good day he said. We love him and are grateful for all he does for our family. He's a fantastic dad and husband.

The other thing is... I was going to run a 5 k on Tuesday night for A-week. But the weather turned awful--rain, snow and wind. SO instead, that night at my fit club, I ran "Michelle's 5k-fun run". I finished in about 42 minutes and I realized that it's not so fun. I did good for about 2 miles, but that last mile was pretty tough. And I am feeling it. But I was proud of myself for doing it. I debated because I didn't think I was ready, but I knew if I didn't do it now, then I'd regret it. I am glad I did. It's the most I have EVER run in my entire life at one time (as far as I know). So here I am, 33 and being able to run 3.2 miles. Not bad, I'd say! At least for me. Now the hard part will be keeping it up. I did realize that running a 5k and a marathon or a half sounds fun, but it's not really my thing. I'd rather stick to volleyball, aerobics, kickboxing and that kind of thing. I like that. Now if I could find somewhere to learn how to ballroom dance...

Have a good weekend! I'm off to scrap!

Happy, Happy Spring!!

2008-04-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today it is snowing, AGAIN! I know it is spring and this is what it does AND I live in Northern Utah now, but yesterday was so nice!! You could actually feel the sun on your skin. It's just one of those years... when I want it to be nice and I just have to wait. I remember having a year like this my 2nd year in college. I was so excited to lay out and do fun, spring things and it kept snowing all the way into May. But it will be nice soon and I'll stop complaining!!

I am excited to go to the Scrapbook USA Expo Friday and Saturday. I am going by myself, so if anyone is going to be there or wants to be there and wants someone to hang with, then let me know. All I really want to do is scrapbook and get great deals on stuff. So I hope that I can do both!! It will be a nice break.

For those of you interested, one of my roommates from BYU has created a blog on getting organized. I know I need this in my life. I mostly lack the know how. I really need you, Denise, to come and organize my house, mostly my scrapbook stuff. So if anyone needs some tips or encouragement, I have included a link on my blog under Favorite Links (right side). I will also make a link right here: An Organized Hand

Happy Spring!!

A Warm, Baby Animal Day

2008-04-13T16:35:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was FINALLY a beautiful day!!! So we spent most of it outside. Our "soon-to-be" neighbors, Tarasha and Taya Haslem, invited us to go to Baby Animal Days at the American Heritage Center. Tiffany and Matt (boyfriend) came and hung out with us. Owen really liked seeing the animals and petting them. Aidan didn't mind looking, but it took a lot of coaxing to convince him to touch the animals, then he'd touch them for a second. He liked climbing up on the wood fences and then he'd point at all the different animals and say, "Puppy, ooh (moo)" I kept telling him the different animals and sounds that we saw, but each new animal was a puppy. It was cute. I think he enjoyed most the ride in the wagon, pulled by the tractor. Every time he saw the tractor, he'd point and say,"tacter, whoa".

They also had some baby turtles that fit right in the palm of their hands. That's the only thing Aidan held in his hand. Owen's favorite was the pony ride. It definitely wasn't long enough, but he loved it. There were too many people and two tired babies to stand in line again. We'll have to find a way to get more pony rides in the future. It was so nice to be outdoors for a few hours. The kids were so glad to be outside. They came home with red cheeks and tired eyes. Even today, Sunday, was very nice. You could actually feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. I hope that this is the beginning of many more beautiful, warm days.

I was wrong...

2008-04-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

I had my hopes up to go to the expo this weekend, but it's next. I was a bit disappointed at that moment, but it's fine, I still get to go! I just get more time to prepare.

I hope everyone was able to do something fun yesterday. We went swimming together as a family for FHE and had ice cream afterwards. The kids loved it. It was Owen's FHE and he did a great job! ;)

Quiet weekend

2008-04-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Owen took a ride with my sister to my mom's house (Vernal). It was quiet, just what I needed. Jared didn't even make me cook and we even got to sleep in a little. Owen had a blast at grandma's playing with them and helping Christopher and Emily build their house. He loves to help and work. They gave him a little tool belt. Pretty nifty! I told him that it was my scrapbook belt, but he said, "No".

I listened to a little bit of Conference. I have the hardest time sitting and listening. Saturday morning I ended up cleaning the bathroom after a little accident. I caught bits and pieces of the other sessions. I did sit down and listen to Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk to young mothers. Something that I sorely needed to hear to fill my bucket and that it did. I am so grateful to get the Ensign, so I can read and reread it. I think I need to be more like Mary (from the New Testament) and just sit and listen.

Aidan watched Toy Story and Cars several times this weekend, while we did what we wanted. I did some scrapbooking...finally! I had a lot of fun. I only got 4 pages done, but I take forever to do a page! It takes me a little while to figure a layout, whether scraplifted or not. But most of my time is taken on trying to figure out which accents to use and where they need to go. It just kind of comes after lots of looking and refiguring. But I'm proud of the pages. I think they turned out good. I tried to do some new things on a couple of pages--like have some shape and not just always square and using my own handwriting for title and journaling! I decided to put them on my blog for you all to see. This will be the first time I'm published! ! ;)

I am excited that I get to go to the Scrapbook USA Expo this weekend. I hope to see lots of stuff and have fun scrapping. If any of you are going to show up, let me know! I'd love to see you. I'll probably be there Friday and Saturday. Jared took Friday off so I could go. What a great husband!! Love you, babe! Here is the link if anyone is interested: Scrapbook USA Expo

We should have some more updates on our house. It got sheet rocked on Friday and Saturday and the brick is waiting to be put up and the siding should be finished. So look for updates on our house blog: house blog.

I hope that everyone has a great day today! Do something fun!

This one's for you, Russ!

2008-04-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, my husband is a big Nascar fan. He loves to watch the race every Sunday and sometimes Saturday. He likes Tony Stewart (Home Depot car), Dale Jarrett (UPS car), Dale Jr. (now that he's not driving the Budweiser car), and Kevin Harvick (Shell car). I like to watch it with him sometimes. It usually lulls me into a nice nap on Sunday afternoon. I still haven't decided on which car and driver I like the best. I told Jared they really need a Wal-Mart car because that's where most of our money goes! During the last race, Owen found the McDonald's car and cheers now for it along with the M&M's car. Aidan loves to play with the race cars and Nascar haulers that Jared bought. I guess it has turned into a family affair.

So today when I drove by Lowes and saw that the #17 Dewalt (Matt Kenseth) car was there, I had to call and tell him. Of course, he had to take a lunch break to go see it. So we picked him up from work and took the boys to see it and take a picture or 10. They liked it and it was cool to see what the car looks like on the inside.

Jared misses talking Nascar during Sunday School with his Cotton Mill buddies--Russ and Jason. So after I took this picture, Jared said, "This one's for you, Russ!"

What more could a 2 year old want?!

2008-04-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Aidan had a good birthday. I only got Happy Birthday Aidan! up because I was trying to download a video, but it was taking way too long. So I don't know if just takes a really long time or there is something wrong. We had lunch with my brother, my sister and her boyfriend. Aidan loved his presents--Henry train, Annie and Clarabel trains, Cars shirt, Thomas and Cars books, train balloon, and a Thomas bike. He can't quite reach the pedals on his bike, but he likes to sit on it and can push himself. He even tries to carry his trains while on his bike. We sang Happy Birthday to him and he tried to blow out his candles, but couldn't get enough wind. Owen helped him out. Then the fun part was licking the frosting off the candles and then sticking them back in for more frosting. Hope no one gets sick :D He was so excited about his trains that he took one bite of his birthday cake and he was done and I don't think he ever got another piece of his cake. It was a fun day. He loved his presents and had fun with his family. What more could a 2 year old want?!

Happy Birthday Aidan!!

2008-03-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Bathing in socks & 4 is my lucky #

2008-03-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

One of my least favorite things to do as a mom is bath my kids. It's such a huge undertaking and in addition to making a huge mess it really tests my patience. I've finally resorted to bathing them separately most of the time just to keep my sanity. The other night I was trying to get Owen in the bathtub, but Aidan wanted to get in instead and in a hurry to get him in, I stripped him and forgot to take off his socks. I didn't realize it until Owen and Aidan were laughing loudly about it and I went to check on them. I had to laugh and then stop Owen from getting some of his socks to bath in. I did have to take a photo because I thought it was pretty silly and this one says it all.

Owen, my 4 year old, loves being 4. He even told me that he doesn't want to be 5, he wants to stay 4. Why not, 4 is a great number? One day I took him with me to weigh in at Weight Watchers and for fun he stepped on the scale. And guess how much he weighed? 44lbs. Then we were visiting my parents and Owen was out helping my brother Christopher who was laminating his table. He had his measuring tape and measured Owen. And how tall was he? 44 in. How often does that happen? It probably doesn't happen very often. I thought it was quite a coincidence and will have to document (scrapbook) this event.

House Blog

2008-03-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Last night Jared created a blog for the construction of our house. He thought that when I created my blog that that is what it was for. Sorry babe, it kind of is my journal. So I will probably not post many more picts of our house on MY blog until it's probably done. BUT there is a link on the right side (and below for convenience) for those of you who are interested in checking it out. It probably won't be too much more interesting until they finish the outside. Most of the work will be on the inside. Have I said I can't wait until it's DONE?!

Link to Johnson House Blog

Need a chuckle?

2008-03-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

Hope all had a wonderful Easter. It was a beautiful, cool day here in Logan, but warm enough to enjoy it. My kids ended the day with red necks, cheeks, and noses and bellies overfilled with candy. It was good to have my family come and we really enjoyed it. We missed you Natalie, Bob, Christopher, Emily and Jeremy.

My brother-in-law was on the internet and found some hilarious clips on YouTube. I don't know if you've seen them yet, but they are pretty funny. I thought I would put them on here if you need a chuckle. I hope you can get a kick out of them, I did. Have a good day!

Old Lady Road Rage Revenge

Very funny lady driving car

The SNL skit is not on YouTube, but the only place I could find the whole clip.

SNL skit: Don't Buy Stuff you Can't Afford

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

Go Green!

I don't think I have celebrated this day for quite awhile (I used to be such a party pooper!), so today I decided we were going out as much as we could! We all wore green today. Owen didn't understand why, so I just told him it was "green" day and he was OK with that. Here is a pict of our beautiful green cupcakes we made for FHE. The boys had green grapes, green jello with marshmellows and green rolls for dinner--I know real healthy. Poor Jared, he had to eat a chicken sandwich on a green roll. It's all fun!

Tonight for FHE, Jared decided to dye eggs. We haven't ever done that yet, and rightly so. Jared gave us a little lesson on the Resurrection which Owen understood and actually knew from Primary. (It's nice to know my child is picking something up in Primary.) Then it was time to dye eggs. I didn't think it would be such a big deal and would be fun for us. Jared was getting the dye ready for the dipping and Owen was so anxious to be able to help and ripped open one of the dye bags. Then Aidan, faster than I could react, grabbed the bowel of red dye and dumped it all over the table, the floor and himself. I wasn't worried about the table, but it got all over our kitchen, multipurpose floor and even got a few splashes on the carpet. Luckily we got everything clean, except the carpet and clothes. Needless to say, we ended up having a divided FHE for a little while until almost all the eggs were dyed. I got to dye a few eggs and Owen and Jared had fun. Always something to remember. We definitely have left our mark here in Aggie Village!

I hope you all had a great green day and you didn't get pinched. And happy dying to those of you who haven't yet!

Saturdays...

2008-03-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I haven't written for a whole week! Aidan was sick for about three days with the flu or the rotavirus. He threw up for a whole day and night and then I gave him too much to drink and eat the next day so he threw that up too. It's been so sad because he's been so sad looking, not my little boy. I felt so bad because he was crying for food and a drink and I couldn't give him any yet. I told Jared that I was grateful that we had food and water and weren't starving. I realized seeing our kids starve would be really hard. I felt for those people who have to do that everyday in this world, (huh, Matthew). Anyways, today Aidan is finally feeling better and coming back to his normal self. He's not staying in his bed tonight, so I know he's getting well.

Now that today is Saturday and it's been a long, tough week, I thought maybe I could do some of the things that I've really wanted to do: shopping for clothes, scrapbook or watch a good movie. BUT NO! I have recently realized that my Saturdays are not very laid back anymore. Does anyone have this problem or is it just me? I look forward to it all week because Jared is home to help with the boys and I think, "I'm going to relax and do something that I want to do." But all I end up doing is cleaning, dishes, cooking, kids, laundry and most of the time, grocery shopping. I always swear I'm not going to shop on Saturday in the madness, but I always find myself there. I've got to figure something else out so that I can enjoy my Saturdays again.

Our house is coming along well, it's pretty much got a roof on it. Here is a pict of it a few days ago.

Hope all is well with everyone. Have a good week and hopefully we can get some more great weather this week!

The BIG picture

2008-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Friday night, I was able to scrapbook some photos of the boys AND I was able to get in a couple of good movies: Jane Eyre and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Both good movies, by the way. As I was finishing up and putting their pages in their albums, I started looking over the other pages I had done. And to my surprise, there were a few that were very inspiring to read. I know I get bogged down in the everyday little things and sometimes it's nice to find something, like Owen's scrapbook, to help me see the big picture and remind me that being a mom is a very special job. It's so easy to forget how lucky I am to be able to share these moments with my kids and also to be able to see them learn and grow right before my eyes. I guess this hit me this week because I've had such a rough week with the boys--always feeling like I'm fighting a battle. But hopefully I can start on the right foot this week and do better. Plus I realized that my journaling isn't so bad sometimes and I shouldn't make it such a big deal. Everything doesn't always have to be perfect!! So I guess I've learned this week to take a step back and look at the big picture to find what really matters.

Terrible TWOS!

2008-03-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

Wow! I forgot how hard it is to have a two year old. This is a picture of him in time-out, or "the corner," as we call it, tonight. It was cute because he actually stayed for 20 seconds with his nose in the corner!

Aidan, who will be two the end of March, has full-blown terrible two's. I have struggled this week with him trying to maintain control and manage my child in an appropriate way. Everywhere I've taken him this week, it has been a nightmare! My four-year-old, Owen, doesn't help much either. This week I went to Sam's club to see if they could transfer my Rx. Well, I wasn't expecting them to take forever! The poor lady behind me. I was trying to talk to them, while trying to keep Aidan from climbing out of the cart and Owen from destroying the blood pressure machine-he just kept pushing all of the buttons and "learning" how it worked. I finally decided to let Aidan out to run on the bench, but that only lasted 30 seconds before he was trying to see how far he could get before I said something or chased after him. We were there for at least 10 minutes which seemed like a half an hour and all the lady behind me had to do was give them her Rx. I felt so bad, I just wanted to get out of there!

Then the next day we went to the library to let Owen go to a story-reading activity. Aidan knows right where the Thomas the train movies are and went to look for them. So we found one (thankfully only one) and then I went to find some books. Last time we went, he sat very good at the table, just looking at his videos. Not this time! He was running everywhere, pulling out videos and looking at them and then coming back and saying in a loud voice, "Mommy, what doin?" It's cute, but I was a little embarrassed because we were in the library. I was trying to stay calm and make sure he wasn't destroying anything. While I was trying to find some books for Owen, Aidan was taking a Thomas book away from the little boy across the table and adding to the Thomas books he had found. He screamed when I gave one of the books back to the little boy to read and we went to find another one. He also wouldn't stay away from the computers--banging on the keys and looking at me to see how long before I'd notice. When I was trying to get our stuff checked out, Aidan walks right up to the automatic doors, they open and he takes off down the hall. While Owen stands there giving me a report of what Aidan is doing, I'm trying to get my library card out as fast as I can and telling Owen to run after Aidan and not let him out the second set of doors which lead to Logan main street. Luckily, I caught him just before he headed out of the other doors. Scary to think what could have happened! Then he cries and becomes limp (that's his signature move) while I'm trying to hold his hand and get ahold of all our library items to take out to the car. Whew! These days I wonder why I go out of the house, but if I didn't we'd all go crazy! I'm praying for the snow to melt, so they can go out back and expend some energy!!

Bedtime is also a joke. I try to get him to take a nap early enough that he will be ready for a bed earlier. But as soon as we shut the door, he's up and climbing over the edge. I am bound and determined for him to learn to stay in his crib and go to sleep. But after putting him back in his bad at least 20 times, it's hard not to give up and just hold him or lay next to him until he falls asleep. This week we have put some soft music in their room at bedtime and he has stayed in the bedroom a little better. At least he hasn't turned on the lights and started playing under the bed like he used to. Now, he usually climbs in bed with Owen, but Owen starts getting bugged, because he won't lay there and go to sleep, then we have to get tough.

There must be a reason (for us) for having to go through this and I wish I knew what it was so I could just embrace it and deal with it. I also wish I would have saved my child development books, so I could know what to do to tackle these terrible twos and why they are so terrible. I don't remember.

I am trying to savor the cute little moments so I can rack up many of those in hopes to cancel out the bad ones. I sure hope my kids turn out normal. It will be a miracle!

PS: After I wrote this post, I googled, "terrible two's" and found this website that helped give me some direction. I hope it can help you!

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/toddlers/a/05_terrible_twos.htmh

Sick and tired...

2008-03-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick pict of our hole. It's coming along quite nicely. They have framed the basement as much as needed to put in our floor boards next week. It's exciting to see it come along (I'll probably say that more than once).

This past weekend and week, Jared had to go to Georgia for a work conference. He tried to get me a ticket, but it was too expensive. I would have loved to have gone to the part of Georgia I haven't seen. Jared didn't have a great time. He was lonely and not too impressed with Savannah. The only thing that interested him was seeing the ocean and the fact that there used to be pirates there.

The boys and I were able to visit for a short time with Jared's brother, Tommy, and his family, and we were off to Vernal to visit my family. The boys have fun with Grandma and Papa, Jordan, Jeremy, Christopher and Emily. Emily spoils Owen and he LOVES it! Grandma and Grandpa Merkley always have treats and love to see "their boys".

Unfortunately, after being there a couple of days, Owen got sick and Aunt Emily did, too. Owen was quite unpleasant to everyone and they felt bad. That is Owen. He is not a very nice sick boy. It was funny one morning when Owen came in crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said "I wost (lost) my boice (voice)." He said he didn't think he would get it back. As I tried to supress a chuckle, I had to reassure him it happens to everyone and he WOULD get it back. Luckily, he believed me. Then after we came home, poor Aidan got sick. We've had a rough couple of nights. Luckily they both weren't really sick more than two days. I really hope we are on the mend and neither Jared nor I get the sick bug. **Emily, we hope that you get tons better this week too!

So to all of this I am quite tired. I need a good night sleep. I want to be out of our tiny apartment. AND it snowed yesterday and I am tired of snow. Winter was fun, but now it's spring and I'm ready for snow to be gone, so we can go out and play. I'm really missing St. George right now and wish there was some way we could come and play with all of our friends. (I miss you!)

I hope no one gets this yucky bug, and if you do, just stay in bed! Hope it's a great week for all!

Super Survey: Getting to Know Me...

2008-02-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged, so here goes:

Where were you born? Vernal, UT

Middle name: None, but I always wished that I did.

Nicknames: Mich, Shelley, Shells

Are you taller than your mother or father? Mom, yes, Dad, no

Do you cry often during movies? More now than ever before!

What is your biggest pet peeve? Littering, gum chewing/smacking

Favorite color: Depends, but right now, I really like orange and green

Favorite foods: Italian and cheesecake or raspberry cheesecake shakes (arctic circle-yumm)

Favorite beverage: raspberry lemonade with real raspberries in it

Favorite cold cereal: Golden grahams

Favorite smells: clean laundry, clean babies, homemade bread, and a clean-shaven husband

Favorite time of day: Evening when it's quiet

Favorite makeup products: Mary Kay--always makes my skin look better.

How many pillows do you sleep with? two

Do you play an instrument? piano, tiny bit guitar, and once upon a time the clarinet.

Did you play any sports in High School? Soccer, one year.

What was the last movie you saw in the theater? National Treasure or 27 dresses I can't remember.

What is your favorite article of clothing? My sweatshirt these days

What is your dream vacation? A month or two in Italy renting an apartment and living there.

What was the first impression of your spouse? He was the ward clerk in my single's ward and got my name, but I didn't think much about it. Then we were at a ward activity later, playing a get to know you game, and he kept throwing the ball at me and I was a little annoyed--just a little though.

If you were an animal what would you be? Maybe a cat--walk around like I owned the place,eat, get fat, and take naps all day.

What is your favorite "me-time" activity? Scrapbooking and working out, if I can.

Favorite TV shows: Grey's Anatomy, the Office, Project Runway, LOST, Dancing with the Stars

What is your dream car? I haven't thought about this for a long time, but something sporty and fun and bright.

What is one of your weaknesses? Being on time and being patient with my kids.

What do you fix for dinner when there is nothing to fix? Breakfast

If you could live in a different decade/era which one would it be? Maybe late 1800's if I were rich.

What is the emotion you feel the most? Frustrated

Do you consider yourself outgoing? Sometimes

What is something you are constantly working on? Being more easy going with my kids

Any hidden talents? I give great speeches--in my head!

What is a word or phrase you overuse? Talk to Owen, he says most of them.

What was the hardest thing(s) that happened to you this past year? Thinking that my mom might die, losing Jared's dad, and moving to Logan leaving all my friends.

What is the best thing that happened to you this past year? Vacation to Nauvoo and Wisconsin with Jared.

What is one thing you hope to accomplish this year? Lose my last 35 lbs to look like a hot mama!

The best piece of advice you learned this past year? Make every moment count because you don't know how long you will have with those you love and Heavenly Father will always guide you if you will listen and obey.

I tag: Angela Young, Camille Clark, Nora Thompson, and Stephanie Jones

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

I just wrote a whole post and realized that I put it in the wrong place and lost it all! I will get this some day. I am sorry that I haven't been keeping up. Every time I pull the computer out, I have two curious little boys that want to know, touch, and see what I'm doing.

Happy Valentine's Day (late) to all of you! Thank you for all of your love and friendship. You all mean so much to us.

We had a nice Valentine's Day. I woke up to two girls who brought me a singing telegram from Jared. I was cute as I wiped the sleep out of my eyes. Then Owen was so excited for Valentine's Day that he had to show me the flowers and card that Jared gave to me. He was even more happy when I pulled out the Thomas the train heart card that I made and candy and balloon that I got for each of them. It's so cute to see them excited.

Then we invited Tiffany and Matthew over for breakfast to give them their Valentine's cards. I made heart-shaped pancakes and everyone was amazed! Mom's are magic!

We had an even bigger surprise when we drove by our lot and found a hole where our home will one day be. The boys enjoyed watching the backhoe and the dump truck. Then we had to get Jared and take him over to see our hole. It is coming along quite quickly these past few days that we've drove by. They have been taking advantage of this clear, dry weather. Today we drove by and they have the forms up and will be pouring our basement tomorrow. So needless to say, we are thrilled!! I don't have any pictures today, but will get some soon.

This past Sunday we met our next-door neighbors who are thrilled that we are moving in. They are really nice and have a little girl that is Aidan's age. Today we also met some old neighbors of Jared's who will also be building soon. We are happy to have such nice people, so far, in our neighborhood.

Thank you for all you that have posted. It's nice to hear from you. Keep them coming!

Lots of love!

Today

2008-01-30T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well, we're on our way to building a new house. We've finished choosing everything and are pleased with our selections. It was actually pretty easy. We're also next on their list to get our house built. I am excited and ready for it to begin (and be over)!

I was saddened to hear about President Hinckley's death, but I know there was great rejoicing in heaven at his arrival. I will always be very grateful for his words, his love, his enthusiasm, and example. What a wonderful, inspired prophet to have lead and guide us through these times.

Family--I am still in shock over Uncle Clayton's death. So sudden. I will sincerely miss him. We always looked forward to his visits. He always livened up the atmosphere. I hope to see all of you very soon in Vernal.

Love you all!

Today

2008-01-23T23:33:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family,

Several of you have already beat me to this and I appreciate it! It has motivated me to create one myself. I love reading yours. Hopefully you'll enjoy mine.

For an update, we have moved from St. George, UT to Logan, UT the end of November. Jared, my husband, got a new job at Utah State University. He is now the Director of Online Ed. We are now living in Aggie Village, married student housing, with two tiny bedrooms, no dishwasher or washer/dryer, and lovely center-block walls. However, this past holiday weekend, we made the decision to build us a house! We are so totally excited!! It will be really great--something we have dreamed of doing. If you'd like to see the tentative plans, go to www.buildwithvisionary.com. Our home is the Denali plan with Elevation B. I'll get some pictures of our lot this weekend when I go to pick out the colors of our house and flooring. We will be waiting it out here at Aggie Village, but I think it will be worth it!!

I am happy to be living here in Logan as that we are closer to our families. But I do miss St. George and all of our friends. It is really cold up here, but Owen and I are excited to have snow.

Until next time!