Ode to Stephanie

Jared couldn't pass up the opportunity to answer these questions. I'm impressed that he knew every single one (except my shoe size he wasn't sure on and my feet aren't that small)! I have an awesome husband. Someday I may have time to answer these questions about him too...

1. She's sitting in front of the tv. What's on the screen?
Now that we're on Dish and our package doesn't include HGTV, my first guess would be Oprah. She also likes game shows like Million Dollar Password. And we're HUGE fans of American Idol and Amazing Race. Since Amazing Race is on Sundays, we record it the old-fashioned way (VHS) and watch it on Mondays. Idol starts January 13! And there's an Osmond in the running this season. Sorry, I digress...

2. You are out to eat. What dressing does she get on her salad?
Caesar - easy! She converted from Ranch.

3. What's one food she doesn't like?
Anchovies

4. You go out to a bar. What does she drink first?
Yeah, since we go bar hopping all the time...The closest thing is probably Happy Hour at Sonic. Cherry limeade, baby!

5. Where did she go to high school?
Snowflake - she's a lobo (bonus points for knowing the mascot?)

6. If she were to collect anything, what would it be?
pressed pennies

7. What shoe size does she wear?
5?

8. What is her favorite type of sandwich?
BLT or tuna

9. What would she eat every day if she could?
Homemade bread -- she makes an awesome whole grain recipe. I'm salivating.

10. What would she never wear?
Anything immodest or even close to it. That is one thing I really love about her. And besides, she's so hot she doesn't need to dress that way to get my attention.

11. What is her favorite sports team?
BYU, BYU, BYU

12. What is something you do that she wishes you didn't do so much?
Belch. But at least I've progressed from pronouncing phonetic syllables while doing so. And I no longer attempt to burp any patriotic songs all the way through, so hey, I'm starting to become the slightest bit domesticated after 8 1/2 years.

13. How many states has she lived in?
3 - Arizona, Utah, Texas

14. What is her heritage?
Her dad grew up in Huntington Beach, CA. Her mom grew up in Show Low, AZ. They met @ BYU. All of her immediate family is active in the church, all 4 of her brothers served missions, and all of her siblings who are married did so in the temple. Lots of family traditions and good times together.

15. You bake her a cake for her birthday. What kind of cake would it be?
Brownies with chocolate topping and chocolate syrup and chocolate chips baked in. She isn't the biggest cake fan.

16. Did she play sports in high school?
Track, although she tells me it was just for the social scene (I probably wasn't supposed to say that.)

17. What could she spend hours doing?
Reading, board games, card games and video games.

ER

**Only read if you can handle blood.** Lance had ants in his pants today at church so I took him out to the lobby during Sacrament Meeting. He's only happy when he's walking around (he doesn't like to be held much) so I was watching him walk around. All of a sudden Lance tripped on the end table and fell down. His mouth hit the table and cut his lower lip inside and outside of his mouth. The cut protruded from his lip to 1/2" down his face at an angle. As with any facial wound, blood squirts everywhere. Before I knew it, I had a screaming baby and at least 20 onlookers trying to offer their help. Within minutes, we had someone to look after our kids for the rest of the day, someone who got Jared inside the chapel, and someone else carried out our bags to the car.

We rushed Lance to an urgent care clinic only to be told that he may need stitches from a plastic surgeon since it was a facial wound that was on the lips and we needed to make sure that the lips healed properly (and not crooked). So we then headed to the emergency room at Medical City in Dallas. Lance was attended to by several doctors who finally decided that the cut was superficial on the outside. So they determined that stitches weren't necessary. After a long debate, they chose to have dermabond (a liquid glue) put on his injury on the outside of his face. The inside cut will just heal on its own. As a side note, each time anyone needed to exam Lance, he would literally freak out and had to be held down by Jared & I and the doctor. It was very straining!

Now I pray that the wound will heal properly. I thought about taking a picture but it just grossed me out. It brings back too many memories from two years ago when Alexa split her tongue in half and had to go to the ER (on a Sunday too). Oh the joys of being a parent...

Halloween in Texas

The weather here in Texas was perfect on Halloween! It was a great night to be out walking. Here are the three Johnson munchkins as happy as can be. Mickey mouse loved carrying around his bucket! Dallin picked out his pumpkin costume and enjoyed getting stuffed with balloons and newspaper.
Alexa wanted to be Dora but I didn't find a Dora costume so she instead insisted on being a pink cowgirl. She gets tons of comments whenever she wears her pink boots. (Most of the girls want a pair just like it.)
A friend in our ward, Stephen Bennion, and his dad came with us. And here's the result (yum, yum):

Conversation with a 4-year-old

This is something that happened just moments ago:

Alexa: "Mom, I have a bead stuck in my nose and I can't get it out with this knife."

Me: "What, a bead in your nose?"

Alexa: "Yes, a bead. And I'm having a hard time breathing."

(Having a hard time believing it, I looked and sure enough a bead that's at least 1/4" big was stuck in one nostril.)

(Calmly I used my fingers to push the bead out of her nose while wondering if I was going to have to rush her to the emergency room if something went wrong.)

After the bead was out, I asked "How did the bead get there?"

Alexa: "I don't know; it just did." (And she still hasn't changed her story about that.)

I questioned her about it a few minutes later and she says with a straight face "It just slid into my nose from up there (pointing to her forehead)." Silly girl!

Turning one and walking

Here's Lance opening his presents. Pictured below is a touch and feel book we gave him. He's starting to enjoy looking through books.


We gave him this sit, ride, and push toy. He loves it. Anything that can be pushed around is perfect for this age. Now two weeks past his first birthday, Lance is full fledged walking! He doesn't have to crawl anymore. And he's a fast walker too!


Grammy & Grandpa Johnson gave him this cool car. You can put your hand inside and there are three buttons that make car sounds. I bet this will be his favorite toy in a few months. Thanks for the gift!


Grandma & Grandpa Chapple gave Lance a book that has pictures of him taking a bath, playing with a toy and sleeping. He loves it! Also, he got some money to spend at Wal-mart. Hmmm....where to start? Thanks so much!!


Ok, so it was way past Lance's new 7 p.m. bedtime when we finally had the cake. So he wasn't thrilled about it but we tried. :) He thought the cake tasted fine (it was very sweet and sugary).

Dallin took this great video. It was fun hearing his comment throughout!



Happy birthday to my sweet one year old!

Lance - 11 months

Lance's hair is finally coming in thick and blond! I spiked Lance's hair and, of course, had take pictures of it! :) You'll notice that he's getting close to walking; he can take up to five steps at a time.

This is the first time Lance has worn yellow and I really like that color on him. So I did a little Photoshop altering, as you can see! He is such a sweet and active little boy. We adore him!

What makes me happy....

....is homemade bread! I made 5 loaves of half wheat/half white bread on Friday. And they turned out great. Bread is so fulfilling and yummy. I found someone's blog that breaks down the specifics to acquire the ingredients you will need for a year supply of bread (6 loaves of bread per week). I'm taking to heart that information because I could live on bread everyday. Yum! If you live nearby, come on by and taste a slice! :)

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Our ward had a talent show on Saturday night so check out the video below of our singing Texans:

September 14th

Today my brother James would have turned 39. (He's the one at the left, top row of the picture.) For those of you that don't know, my brother died of a sudden heart attack just 1 1/2 years ago at the age of 37. It was such a shock to our family, especially to his wife and 5 children. I miss James so much! He was the oldest in our family of 8 kids. And he was a great leader. He managed to keep up with his siblings, friends and family with ease. I miss James' constant and good advice; he was well rounded in so many areas and was often called on for advice. James taught me a lot of business savvy and as a result, I'm constantly thinking of business ideas and know that James would support me in them! I really missed having James to talk to when we purchased our house a couple of months ago. I'm inclined to give a full tour of my house whenever anyone comes over. Like James, I like to show everyone all that we have done to make our house a home. He was a pillar in my life. It's apparent to me that Heavenly Father needed James for a greater work!

Also, our stake had the special opportunity to have President Uchtdorf speak to us in person! It was called a "Special Stake Meeting" and took place of regular church on Sunday. He basically went over each point in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and then talked primarily on having joy in our lives. He told us that we need to smile more and truly enjoy life. Also, we were advised to read Preach My Gospel especially Chapter 3 and we were promised that if we do these things, there will be a "satisfactory solution" to the things in your life that you have need of.

Lance - 10 months old

Here's a picture of Lance & I up close & personal with the horses while we were at the McCleve Reunion in Show Low, Arizona. That's our tent behind us. Yep, we were camping in a pasture. Talk about gross! Anyway, this was Lance's first time to Arizona and first time to go out of Texas. Considering we were driving for 14 hours, he was a trooper! He even complained less than his sister.

We gave Lance licorice in the car and it kept him quiet for a very long time. And happy too!
I bought this washable swim diaper at a garage sale last year. So Lance did a little bit of muscle posing while we were getting his swimsuit on him. You should see the video....it's hilarious!
Here's the low down on what's new with Lance from the past month:

• -Got 4 more teeth for a total of six teeth
• -Measures 27" and is 18#14oz. *Lance is just over 2 feet, Alexa is 3 feet, & Dallin is 4 feet tall
  
• -Had a blow out while I was shopping. For those seasoned parents, you know I'm not talking about a blow out tire. This is a story worth telling so here it goes: While Dallin & Alexa were spending a week with their Johnson grandparents in Houston, Lance & I spent all day together. One of the days I went to the bank and then grocery shopping at Kroger. At the end of my quick shopping trip (since Lance wouldn't stay in the shopping cart), I smelt something funny. So I checked Lance's diaper and realized that my hand was covered in poop, as well as the shopping cart handle and my shirt and arm. I couldn't believe my eyes. Jared has been mortified when a similar thing happened when Dallin was a baby. I just laugh every time he tells that story. Well I had it MUCH worse. So I quickly went to the checkout line to buy my groceries. I knew the person in front of me and she asked if I needed any help. "Um, no! Unless you want to hold my poopy baby!" Haha! She left pretty quick... I couldn't even pull out my credit card. Gross! I had to even cover the steering wheel on my car with a bag and across my shirt (yes it went through ALL layers of my clothing). I had a Kroger worker bring out my groceries and informed him to wash his hands. Did I say gross? Ok, enough about that. I even took pictures but I don't think you really want to see them.
• -Lance can climb all 16 of our stairs without looking back. There are 8 stairs, then a landing, and 8 more stairs. (We are in the process of putting up a permanent gate.)
• -Doesn't like baths or getting dressed or getting his diaper changed
• Likes to eat cheese, graham crackers, pretzels, pear juice, and more (doesn't like mashed baby foods)
  
• -Waves for the FIRST time
• -Claps hands for the FIRST time
• -Started saying "hey" this week. We'll see if he continues to say that!
• -Says "mama" to me only and "dada" to Jared only. Lance only says "dada" when Jared's at home. I'm amazed at how he seems to know who he's talking to (that's quite a talent for a 10 month old). Dallin thinks Lance is talking to him when Lance says "dada". LOL!

We love our busy, talkative and playful little guy!

First day of 2nd Grade

Since moving 1/2 mile away from our other house, we are in a different school boundary. After months of fighting to stay at Dallin's school (Story Elem.), our transfer request was denied. It has been one of the most frustrating things to me. It doesn't make sense that the school Dallin has always gone to is two blocks away and instead we have to go to a different one over a mile away. Anyhow, I'm over the fact that life isn't fair. On the upside, however, Dallin's new school, Bolin Elementary, is an excellent school. We met Dallin's new teacher, Mrs. Barr, and know that she will be a GREAT teacher!


Here's Dallin ready to go on his first day of school. Dallin & I went school clothes shopping Saturday evening for two hours and bought all his new clothes. Boys are really easy to shop for. Dallin helped me find every shirt that was his size and we eliminated it from there. He is such a good helper and so fun to be with!


A nice & bright sunny day for the first day of a new school and a new school year.


The man on the left is Mr. Bolin, who the school was named after. He greeted the students as they entered the school.


Dallin quickly said his goodbyes and went straight to his desk. A funny side note: Alexa was waiting for a big hug and kiss from Dallin. He will normally give her one but he seemed a little embarrassed this time. Instead he quickly gave her a side hug. :)

Dallin is looking forward to making new friends in his new school!

Alexa turns 4!

Alexa's party was on Saturday and her actual birthday on Sunday. So Alexa opened the family gifts on her birthday. Grammy & I wrapped two of Alexa's gifts identical with pink & multi-color ribbons! We didn't even plan it. Obviously we know what Alexa likes!

Alexa is having a blast opening presents!

And here are the presents.....thanks to Grammy & Grandpa Johnson for the clothes & pink purse and Grandma & Grandpa Chapple for the doll, bracelet, and gum. Also, we gave Alexa her first Webkinz dog that she can interact and "play" with on Webkinz World online. Alexa got a new bike in June as an early birthday gift. She LOVES to ride her bike and is very good at it. Some of the other presents are from us and the things on the right are from Alexa's friends.

The binkie is attached to the doll which is so nice. Alexa named the doll "Katie" after Katie Brown, her friend who lived in this house before us.

Pink purse? Check. Pink stroller? Check. Pink doll? Check. Pink shirt & pants? Check. Now the hard question: what's Alexa's favorite color? Betcha can't guess!

Alexa's Birthday Party!

My sweet, little Alexa turned four years old! She is a joy to have around. Alexa loves to be held (but at 27 pounds it's still manageable) and loves to always be right there with anything I do. Sometimes that can be a pain but overall she's such a sweetie. We've been counting down for a month. Alexa is very decisive and knows exactly what she wants down to the very detail. One of those things was a Dora party with a pink cake. I've had in mind to make her a bubblegum machine cake and had to "clear" it with Alexa to use a rainbow of colors for the gumballs (she really wanted EVERYTHING to be PINK). So on Saturday we hosted Alexa's very first friend birthday party with 5 friends + 2 of their sisters came + Alexa. Thank goodness our toy room is large enough for lots of kids! :)

L to R: Julia & Heidi Grant, Hailey Erickson (front), Carolyn Maggard, Alexa, Dallin, Isabella Maggard (hiding - in red), (back) Kate Peterson, Amariah Isom.

Carolyn had a lot of fun playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". I wonder where all of the four-year-old girls are?

This game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" only lasted a couple of minutes. I guess four-year-olds are all too reserved to do formal games like this. Instead we: (see next picture)

...played with toys a majority of the time. After all, what's a party when you can't hold a baby doll and pretend at the kitchen?!?

Oh boy, opening gifts can be so much fun!

And it takes a lot of concentration (stick out tongue).

Here's the first fancy cake I've made. I just made it up as I went (meaning no formal training). It was the first time (also) to make buttercream frosting and thanks to my Kitchen Aid, it turned out to be the perfect consistency. Anyone want a gumball?

The kids loved the cake and especially loved free reign of the bubblegum balls in the little machine we had in the livingroom. We also did a treasure hunt and the treasure goodie bags were an instant hit. It was a fun party!

Alexa's New Bike

Our little miss independent wanted a pink bike. In fact, Alexa started trying to ride Dallin's big bike so we decided that it was time to get her her own bike! And she has loved it! Alexa is a natural at riding a bike. We go on long walks nearly every night and have to run pushing Lance's jogging stroller to keep up with Dallin & Alexa.