Gingerbread 2010

Can you say SUGAR RUSH...This past week we had our annual Gingerbread extravaganza.  Our friends, the Stewarts and the Evans joined us in the sugar explosion.  It was so fun to see our houses come to life.  They were all so festive and very creative.  Even the kids (well, mostly) really got into and decorated some great houses of their own.

Here is Aiden with his two houses.  They couldn't get enough of decorating and eating the candy of course.  He now proudly displays his on the shelf in his room.  

Here is Brooklyn's creation.  You might notice the lack of candy adorning her house.  That would be because it all ended up in her tummy.  She enjoyed the eating more than the decorating for sure.  Well, there is always next year.

The final product (minus the tree we are going to add in the front yard). 

Miss You...

FABULOUS FIVE...

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY AIDEN!!!!!

We are so grateful to have this sweet boy in our lives and we are happy he had a very THANKFUL birthday. Even though we had 7 Thanksgiving pies to choose from, the day wasn't complete without a Lego cake for our Lego loving 5 year old.

Aiden was also able to have a joint birthday party with his friend Davis.  The both have November birthdays and love to share the festivities together with their friends.  This year they were set on having a, you guessed it, LEGO PARTY!  It was lots of fun with Lego's all around.  

Here are the birthday boys with their Lego cupcakes. 

They were a big hit especially with the Lego candies on top!

Highlights from the party: We made Lego creations, played Lego games, ate Lego cupcakes, and opened presents (of course including lots of  Lego's).  The boys loved it and on our way home from the party Aiden said that his favorite part was playing drop the Lego in a jar.  I had to laugh because it brought me back to the good old days of playing drop the clothespin in a jar when I went to birthday parties.

Here are some fun five year old facts about Aiden

Likes:

His sisters, playing games, 

playing with friends, soccer, preschool,

eating at McDonald's, running, playing with dad, 

reading books, riding his scooter,driving his jeep, 

and, oh yeah can't forget LEGO'S

Dislikes:

Cleaning his room, going under water, 

when Brooklyn hits, bites, or pinches him,

and chicken

Here's to another great year! We love you Aiden!

Not to be overlooked we also had a lovely Thanksgiving!  We are so grateful for all of our many blessings.  We were able to spend the holiday with our good friends the Ledesma's and the Oldroyd's.  Here are a few highlights compliments of Brooke.  

The Oldroyd's were so kind and hosted us at their home for a very delicious meal and good company.  

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We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We are thankful for you!

Birds of a Feather...

Happy Halloween 2010

This years Halloween theme had a slow start but finally came together for us.  Knowing we had a very cute, parrot costume from when Brooklyn was a baby, I had the idea that we should all be birds this year.  Unfortunately Aiden could not be convinced.  His heart was set on being a policeman.  It took a little brainstorming but with the help of Aunt Tara and Grandma Johnson we settled on Aiden being the policeman and the rest of us would be jailbirds.  After many late hours of costume making here is the final product.

Aiden - Policeman * Daddy - Penguin * Mommy -Peacock
Caitlin - Parrot * Brooklyn - Flamingo

Our first Halloween adventure of the month was to the pumpkin patch with Aiden's preschool class.  We had a great time and even found our way out of the maze.  The highlight for Aiden was getting to shoot a pumpkin our of the cannon.  He was so excited, especially since his pumpkin went the farthest.

Other holiday festivities included making a Halloween gingerbread house, going to a school party, church carnival, and eating lots of yummy candy and treats.  One of our favorite treats were the best caramel apples ever.  Our sweet friend Brooke brought us one and then was so nice to help us make a bunch. Thanks!

To top off the festivities we had an evening of Halloween stories, hot chocolate and a pumpkin piñata.  It was a fun month and we can't wait until next year.

Time Flies...

Our sweet Caitlin is one month old today.

She loves to eat, sleep, and, oh yeah, poop!  She also loves it when her brother and sister GENTLY play with her.  We are so happy to have you in our family Caitlin!

One Year Ago Today...

...we embarked on a once in a lifetime adventure here.

We can't believe it has been a year since Shae donated his kidney to his mom.  We are so grateful for this experience in our lives and thank Heavenly Father for it everyday.  It has been such a blessing in so many ways.  Both Shae and his mom are doing very well.  There have been no residual effects for Shae or his mother.  Other than having to take the daily anti-rejection medications you would never guess that his mom had a transplant.  She is as healthy and spunky as she has always been, especially when she gets to spend time with her grand kids.  

We love you Andrea!  Happy 1 year anniversary, with many, many more to come!

Worth The Wait...

After trying almost everything we possible could, Caitlin Susi Johnson finally arrived, September 7, 2010.  She weighed 8lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long.  

My sweet, friend Brooke came to the hospital and took these wonderful pictures.  Thanks so much Brooke!  Enjoy!

We are so happy to have her here with our family.  Big brother and sister love her so much and I loved seeing the excitement on their faces when they walked into the hospital room for the first time to meet her. 

Look Who's Two!

A couple of weeks ago our sweet Brooklyn turned two.  Aside from the fact that we can't believe how fast time flies, it has been so fun to see her grow and blossom into a little girl. 

Brooklyn was very excited to be celebrating her birthday and we tried to make the whole day special for her.  Of course Aiden was happy with all the extra treats too.  We started the day off with her favorite "Saturday cereal" even though it wasn't Saturday.  Then for lunch I made the kids fluffernutter sandwiches (a first for our kids).  Aiden loved it, but Brooklyn only had a couple of bites.  Then we topped the day off with cupcakes and ice cream.  Let's just say our treat queen was in treat heaven. 

We had Brooklyn's party at the park, which was a perfect location and the best part was I didn't have the clean the house before or after.  I highly recommend it if weather permits.  Our only hiccup was the wind we had to contend with. 

We had a great time with our friends playing at the park, throwing water balloons, and breaking open the pinata.  Here is our successful pinata tip:  Since there was a variety of ages at the party and we didn't want the craziness of candy grabbing, Shae and I made individual bags of equal amounts of treats and then filled the pinata with the bags.  Each child got one bag and no one was in tears because of trampling or that they didn't get enough candy.

Let them eat cake!  Can you guess what Brooklyn's favorite color is?  Brooklyn's only request for her party was that it was pink.  So we had a very pink party with yummy pink cupcakes, pink ice cream, pink everything. 

Presents!  Thank you to all who gave and sent presents for Brooklyn.  She loved everything and still loves to play with her "new" things everyday.  Here are some highlights of her opening her gifts. 

We thought this was hilarious.  Thanks to Grandma Nini, Brooklyn has a new dress up "tutu and princess purse."  She wasn't quite sure how to put it on and ended up wearing it on her head for a while.  A few days later she put the tutu on correctly but decided that the fancy arm bands were for her legs.  She is so funny and once her mind is made up as to how something should go there is no changing it. 

Happy Birthday Brooklyn.  We love you so much and are so grateful you are part of our family.  We love to hear you talk and sing as well as watch you learn and grow. 

Summer Travel Marathon - The End

Welcome back... You have finally made it to the end of our summer marathon, at least as  far as travels go.  Our final adventure took us to beautiful Santa Barabara.  Grandpa B. and Nonnie live there and we hadn't seen thier new home yet, so we decided to visit for the Fourth of July.  Unfortunately Shae felt like he had run a marathon.  The night we arrived he came down with a nasty virus.  He lost his voice and spent much of the long weekend in bed.  At least we were in a beautiful spot and he could still enjoy the ocean views and great weather. 

My dad and Brenda bought a new home a couple years ago and completely remodeled it.  There wasn't enough room for us to really stay at the house until it was finished, but it was so worth the wait.  They did such and good job and the home as well as the view are amazing.  I didn't get too many pictures of the house but here is the view from the deck.  We could sit out there all day,enjoy the view, and actually relax (Grandpa and Nonnie do a great job entertaining the kids too).

 We were able to get some play time in.  We visited two fabulous parks.  The kids loved climbing around and going down the slides.  Grandpa's garage also doubled as a great playroom for the kids, especially since Nonnie had saved all a lot of our toys from when we were kids.  Aiden was in Lego and train heaven. 

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the beach.  We were able to play in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans all within a week.  The Pacific was much colder, but it didn't stop the kids from enjoying the sand and water. 

Our kids are not huge dog lovers.  Okay let's be honest they fear most of them.  However, Aiden has been able to bond with my parents dog, Hobbes, the last couple of times we have seen him.  Brooklyn was quite a bit more timid around him.  Now, however, whenever we see a dog she says, "Hobbes is nice, Hobbes is nice."  I think he is growing on her too. 

Besides visiting with family and celebrating the Fourth of July, my dad also planned a surprise 60th birthday party for Brenda.  Little did she know starting months before we had something up our sleeves.  The party was on Sunday the fourth and our cover was a party she had planned for a few friends and family to have dinner and watch the fireworks from their deck.  It was very funny trying to hide the real surprise as she basically cleaned the house and got lots of things ready for "her party." 

Our biggest worry was getting Brenda out of the house because she was getting ready for her party.  Literally an hour before, we weren't sure how we would pull it off.   However, her dear friend Kathy bailed us out and called her in hysterics telling her she really needed her to come across town.  You know it is true friendship when Brenda said I have to go right now and left everything in our hands.  I think the picture speaks for itself as to how surprised she really was.  It was wonderful and one of the best surprises I have ever seen pulled off. 

The best part was we were able to have the whole family together.  My brother and his girlfriend, Sandi, flew in just hours before the party and were a bonus surprise for Brenda. 

It was also wonderful to have Ron and Nancy visit from Rhode Island.  We spend a week every summer with them in New Hampshire.  Unfortunately, because it was too late in my pregnancy, we were unable to make it this year.   We were very glad they were able to come to California so we could see them before next year. 

The party and the fireworks were fabulous.  We had a spectacular view from the deck and the best part was that we were able to enjoy the awesome fireworks, but didn't have to battle any firework traffic.

                                

It was a great party and Fourth of July.  Aside from the illness that struck our family, we had a great time and can't wait to go back again. 

Thus ends our summer travels. Don't worry though, the summer isn't over yet and we had lots of fun at home too.  So stay tuned for more summer fun!

Summer Travel Marathon - The Middle

As promised our summer adventures continued.  After returning from Reno, we repacked our bags and headed for our big trip of the summer.  We spent a week with Shae's family on Kure Beach in North Carolina.  We had a blast and enjoyed being with everyone.  I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures.  Therefore, consider this is your warning that this is a long post.  Also, if you click on the pictures it will enlarge them.  Enjoy!

We traveled by plane on 4 out of 5 trips.  This was the 3rd and longest of our journeys. Our kids were quickly becoming seasoned travelers, and, minus a couple difficult times, they did very, very well.  We endured a few delays, as well as running through the airport to catch the next flight with only minutes to spare  On a previous flight, we missed a connection, resulting in an unscheduled overnighter with grandparents in Utah.  Anyway, we are off to the beach, YEAH!

Our first North Carolina outing took us to the local aquarium.  It was fun to see all the sea creatures and learn new things about them.  The kids loved looking in the different tanks.  I think the sharks and jellies were some favorites. 

For those of you who have met Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, you already know that they are amazing.  If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting them, I will tell you they are so wonderful and enrich the lives of our children so much.  Once again, they didn't disappoint.  We had to poke a little fun that the two of them brought more luggage than the four of us.  However, we didn't know that two of the big suitcases were full of fun projects, water toys, and goodies for the grandchildren.  Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for all your creativity and hard work, making our vacation even more special. 

Here, we are working on two of the projects Grandma and Grandpa brought for us.  We loved building and painting our boats as well as making our shell necklaces. 

While we were at the beach house we were able to celebrate a couple of birthdays and Father's Day!  We love our Daddy(s) and Grandpa.  To celebrate the dads, we made a special french toast breakfast and the kids (thanks again to Grandma) made their dads and grandpa some very fashionable ties.   

Okay, okay!  So, you are probably thinking didn't you say you went to the beach and stayed in a beach house.  So where is the beach?  Yes we did go to the beach several times and enjoyed the warm water and very hot sand.  Aiden loved playing in the waves and had a blast chasing them or trying to jump over them.  We learned quickly that low tide was much easier and safer to enjoy the ocean.  Brooklyn loved playing in the sand and the kiddie pool we would haul to the beach.  The kiddie pool was one of the best ideas of the week.  We would fill it with water and it would keep the little ones entertained in the water while keeping them safely out of the waves. 

While relaxing on the beach would have been nice, it wasn't really an option with 7 children all age 4 and under.  However, we did enjoy boogie boarding, swimming, sand castles building, and collecting lots and lots of shells.  We LOVE the beach!

 Grandma and Grandpa had another fun activity up there sleeves for our Father's day celebration.  This beach adventure took us on a pirate treasure hunt!  The dads and kids were each given a pirate hat and their first clue.  They had to find and dig up the clues, leading to a buried treasure chest, full of pirate gold as well as yummy treasure. 

While the beach may not have been the most relaxing for the adults we were able to get some relaxation in, mostly during nap time.  Here are some of those more relaxing moments.  We all enjoyed different trips to the local pier.  It was a short walk from the beach house.  We could walk and watch the many fisherman trying to catch the big one.  Unfortunately, we didn't seen any big ones caught, but here you will see a baby shark.  Yes, that is a baby shark.  The baby didn't  bother me as much as the 8 foot shark Shae saw swim out from the pier into the ocean crowded with swimmers.  I guess they weren't too hungry though because no one ever mentioned danger from sharks in the area.

The other fun thing to see on the pier was the pelicans.  They would just hang out.  You coud even take a picture with them (notice Dave posing with the pelican).  Once someone would pull in a small catch they would flock around hoping for a snack from the fisherman. 

Here is some relaxing at the beach house.  It was nice to have a beautiful home base where we could just hang out and do what we wanted to.  The kids loved playing together, watching movies and enjoy some time just being kids. 

On one of our days, we visited the battleship USS North Carolina.  It was one of the highlights, especially for Shae and Aiden.  But, I do have to say about a third of the way into the self-guided tour, Aiden would have been happy just getting to the gift shop at the end.  It was extremely hot that day and the battleship was even hotter.  I can't imagine how it was for the soldiers who actually lived on the ship.  It was neat to see all the nooks and crannies of the ship.  Seeing the doctors office and surgeon's room were a little eye opening and made Shae grateful for the office he works in.  Here are a few pictures from our battleship day, just don't mind the sweat dripping off of everyone.

Well, those who know us know that we can't go somewhere without mentioning the food.  We were able to enjoy some very good food while on the beach.  Here is the whole Johnson clan just after enjoying some delicious local seafood.  Another favorite that isn't represented with a picture were some very delicious donuts from a local donut shop that was rated #2 in nation for small town donut shops.  It didn't disappoint.  The only disappointment was that we only had them once. 

We also had lots of yummy food at the beach house.  Each family picked a night and and chose a menu to cook for the group.  It was fun to try some new recipes and enjoy more good food. 

Thanks to Uncle Dave (Tara's Dave), one evening we were able to go down to the beach for some new family pictures.  Here are a few highlights.  Thank you so much Dave, you did a great job!

Well, if you made it this far in the post you truly love us and you probably feel much like we did in these pictures.  Thanks Johnson family for a fantastic vacation.  It was a wonderful week packed with lots of fun but on our way home we were very tired. 

That wraps it up for the middle of the marathon, and our adventures aren't over yet.  Stay tuned for the end of our travels, coming soon!