MightyJohnsons

Happy 6th Birthday Ellie!

Ellie turns six today. Where do I begin? She is such a spunky little spit-fire. She is the caboose to our crazy family. She is six going on sixteen. She brings everyone together and they all dote on her like a princess. We just love her to pieces.

I don’t do friend parties every year. However, this year was her turn. I asked her what theme she wanted and she said, “Turkeys.” I looked at her strangely and said, “Turkeys, really?” I am sure much of the idea came from Thanksgiving being just a few days from her birthday but what little girl wants to celebrate with turkeys?! Ellie does. So I went to Pinterest and was able to pull together a pretty fun little celebration with 16 of her little buddies.

She insisted on a turkey invitations and a turkey craft. Check, check. She also wanted to decorate turkey cupcakes. Check. She wanted turkey decorations. Check. She begged for a turkey pinata. Uh-oh. Where in the world do you find a turkey pinata? I checked Amazon. Nothing. I checked Oriental Trading and Walmart. Nope. As a last ditch effort, I stopped by Zurchers and when we walked in, perched on the top shelf, low and behold, a turkey pinata. A little girl’s dream come true! Party complete.

We celebrated and we had a blast. I enjoyed the challenge of making what seemed like a crazy idea, turn out great. Happy six years beautiful Ellie. We love you.

G’ma Gary and G’ma Kathy come to Visit

It has been long coming and after a few reschedules along the way, we finally were able to have my dad and his wife up for a visit. The kids were SO excited. I don’t see my family very often so it is always a special treat when they come see us. This visit didn’t let us down.

They arrived with a trunk full of my favorite popcorn an SIX bag of pumpkin white-chocolate popcorn for the kids! We enjoyed takeout from Cafe Rio and visiting until the wee hours that night.

The next day we decided to take the family to the Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. We hadn’t been. Going there with eight of us costs a small fortune so we have put it off for a long time. Finally, we decided to go and just purchase a membership. Attending twice paid for itself.

The kids and adults alike had a blast. We played for hours! Jacob drug his feet at first, complaining he was too old, but he ended up having a great time. I am pretty sure Grandma and Grandpa were all tuckered out afterward.

On Sunday morning we headed off to church and they headed back to St. George. It was a brief visit but we had a wonderful time. I am so grateful we could make it work before they headed back up to Alaska. We can’t wait for their next visit.

Miss Katelyn turns Twelve

I am not sure why but when my kiddos turn twelve, it feels monumental. They are finishing up six grade, going to junior high. They leave their younger church class and go with the young men/young women. It is also the age my girls are allowed to wear make-up. It just signifies change I guess. So for me, it is a emotional day – both happy and sad at the same time.

Katelyn couldn’t decide if she wanted a party or if she wanted a date with me. For weeks she went back and forth. Finally she opted for lunch and shopping with me.

The American Girl store opened up in Salt Lake so we went and grabbed lunch at JCW and then drove up for some shopping at the store. I am afraid I love the store as much as she does. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive. The store is only a temporary store for the holidays so it was a bit of a disappointment but that didn’t keep her from spending the gift cards my mom gave her for her birthday.

We also stopped at several other stores along the way. Our last stop was Target where we picked out a few things for her to try for make-up. She is beautiful and doesn’t need a lick of make-up but you can’t tell her that. She is too excited.

The only real item she wanted from Seth and I was a new bike. She has outgrown hers and has been searching the internet and stores for months trying to find the perfect one. We settled on an adorable little cruiser from Target. Ain’t it cute?!

On Friday, I did allow her to take two friends to a movie to celebrate. I thought it was fitting for her to see “Once I was a Beehive.” They loved it!

I am so grateful for Katelyn and the unique role she plays in our family. She is so creative and happy. Her voice is beautiful. She loves her mama and is always willing to help me out when needed. Most importantly, she is kind and tries to be a good friend to those around her. I expect to see some amazing things out of this girly as she grows up. I love her!

Ponderize iPhone Lock Screens

Like a lot of other folks, our family really liked Devin Durrant’s talk at the October 2015 LDS General Conference.

Even though we liked the idea, we still stumbled a few times trying to put his advice into practice. We tried starting a group chat, and everyone coming up with their own scripture. But that didn’t work to well. We created memes and shared them via direct message on Instagram with each other. But, some of us aren’t very creative and didn’t participate fully. Plus, some of us aren’t using Instagram direct message every hour of every day, and so that conversation just kinda died.

But, we finally landed on something that works for us. Each week we create a new lock screen background which we all use on our individual devices. The lock screen is an easy setting to change (go to Settings > Wallpaper). Plus, as the lock screen background we see the thought/quote/scripture of the week multiple times every single day.

Here is the breakdown of how this actually gets put into practice: On Sunday, one of the kids prepares an FHE lesson for Monday night. They find out the scripture of the week and tell me what it is. I add some text over the top of a cool background image. Then, we share it out via our iMessage group. All of us put it as the lock screen for our devices.

This process seems to work pretty well for our family. We like having it on our lock screens because it means we see it several times per day. How many times per day do you unlock your phone? Probably a lot. Hopefully some of those good messages are getting burned into our brains enough that it will eventually make us good people.

Feel free to try these out and see if it works for you. We will be creating more of these, so let us know if you want to be added to our iMessage group to receive them on a weekly basis.

Halloween 2015

This year Halloween was especially busy. We attended three family parties, one couple’s party and several school functions along the way. We definitely got our money’s worth out of our costumes.

Ellie insisted on being an Indian princess this year. I ordered her a cute costume but when it arrived it was really large. So large that I ended up giving it to Claire. (I didn’t think it was worth mailing back.) Ellie was devastated. I later remembered an older costume we had from when the older girls were little that I dug out of our bins…a Pocahontas costume. And so we had two Indian princesses.

Drew has wanted to join karate for as long as I can remember. It is year-round and quite expensive. Seth and I always have a good excuse why she shouldn’t join. Because of this, Drew couldn’t think of anything but to be a “karate kid” for Halloween. The pictures don’t do it justice, but his poses were intense. Maybe we better get him enrolled after all.

Katelyn and her friends were super heroes. She just recycled a little girl’s costume we had lying around and added leggings. She is so tiny that it fit her just fine.

Megan and her friends decided they wanted to all be a different fruit. Megan is a strawberry. They got together and made their costumes and I think hers turned out adorable. She wasn’t thrilled I was taking her picture as she was heading out the door to school so ignore the sassy face.

Jake didn’t want to dress up. He thinks he is too old. However, when you are part of student council, it is pretty much required. He threw on his old reffing jersey and was a soccer ref.

Some years Seth and I buy costumes and some year we borrow. Other years we do without. This year I bought them. I saw them online and thought they were cute. So here we are…Alice and the Mad Hatter.

Ellie’s Soccer

This year Ellie’s good friend, Gwen, convinced her to play up a year in soccer so they could be on the same team. Gwen is a year older than Ellie. At first we were hesitant as we worried she would get trampled on by all the older boys that play, but we were wrong. She had no trouble holding her own this season.

Ellie scored several goals and out ran most of the players. There were even a few times I had to tell her not to push the kids over as she stole the ball. I love watching sports, but I especially love watching a tough girl give it her all on the field. What a fun season! I expect we’ll see some more exciting play from her in the spring.

Drew is a busy kiddo!

This year Drew decided to play both soccer and flag football. I was under the impression the seasons did not overlap, but I was wrong. We have at least two games a week for him. He is becoming quite an athlete. He is such a speedy thing on the soccer field. He actually has really great footwork for a 7 year-old.

Flag football is another story. He really hasn’t played football much. He is still learning the rules of the game. After his first couple times I caught Seth outside trying to teach him some technique. Drew is very competitive, likes to win, and gets frustrated if he isn’t doing his best. We are trying to teach him that it is okay to just go out and have fun. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with that philosophy. He wants the win!

He is already eager to start basketball, but Seth and I are trying to convince him to wait until next year to start. It is hard enough with 4 kiddos that play.

You can see what Drew is most excited about…treats!

Our Night Owl Loves to Read

Drew has always been good about going to bed on time. He is usually in bed no later than 8:30, sometimes closer to 8:00. For the longest time he would just toss and turn for an hour or two, but he wouldn’t try to get up or leave his room. He usually falls asleep around 10, sometimes later.

Seth and I decided we would start encouraging him to read books during that time. He was only in first grade when we started this so he began with “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” After finishing the series, I borrowed a few sets of books from my neighbor to find out what he really liked. He loved them all (Magic Treehouse, Captain Underpants, I survived, Big Nate, Goosebumps, and more).

From there it has snowballed into a massive reading habit. He reads and reads and reads! Initially entering first grade he was a very average reader. By the end of the year he was reading at a third grade level. Now in second grade, the habit continues. He finishes a chapter book every night or two. He especially loves trips to the library to find new books to read.

Although I would prefer he get his rest, I am pleased he is able to use that time to gain a love of reading. Other than Megan and Drew, my kids mostly read because they have to rather than want to so I am happy to have another devoted book lover in our home. Many nights I catch him dozing off to sleep while still holding his book. I love that boy!

IMG_8228 (1) — There is always a pile of books on his bed.

Don’t use Drew’s toothbrush

I came into our upstairs bathroom the other day and it looked just like this.

The arrangement was so bizarre that I had to inspect it a little closer. Here is the note:

I’m still not sure what caused Drew to write this note, it just cracked me up. The note disappeared just as mysteriously — no one fought, tattled, or even spoke of this incident. Maybe someone will confess now that the evidence has been posted here on our website.

Scoutmaster Emeritus

On a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, I drove the scouts down to the airport so they could work on their Aviation merit badge. The boys each took a solo flight in a small Cessna 150m, even taking the controls for a few minutes. By all accounts, it was a great experience for each young man — something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

On the drive home I was having a great chat with the merit badge counselor, Jim Olsen. Jim is one of my neighbors and a long-time scouter. Jim has done it all in scouting — an Eagle scout as a young man, then on staff at summer camp as a youth; he’s been a scoutmaster, been to Woodbadge (with my Grandpa Cryer, even), and he’s been a professional scouter and been a big part of the Utah National Parks Council. He asked me how I was doing as a scoutmaster.

I told him that I was loving it. That after four-and-a-half years I was finally getting comfortable in my role. I explained that I loved having an excuse to go camping, backpacking, or hiking one weekend each month. I said I’d much rather be spending my volunteer hours being outdoors and having great experiences than stuck in a series of coordination meetings. I told him about the cool places we’ve been as a scout troop and about the physical and emotional growth that I get to witness in the young men who go out and do hard things. I told him that I love seeing the young men develop leadership skills and go on to do great things. I talked about how rewarding it was to interact with other guys like Jim who come work with the young men on a merit badge and I get to learn right along side them. I went on and on about how awesome it was to be the scoutmaster in our troop because of the other leaders I have around me to clear the way so I can simply go out and have fun with the scouts. I gushed.

Jim said that he’d talk to our bishop and tell him how great it was that he’s left me in there long enough to get to that point. Jim said that too often, scoutmasters aren’t in there long enough to become fully trained, much less get their programs to a point where it becomes fun.

The very next day, our bishop asked Manina and I to come talk to him. I thought it was just a check-in meeting — you know, just to see how things were going. He’s done it before just about every year to make sure we’re not getting burned out. Which I wasn’t. I was ready to tell the bishop the same things that I had just told my neighbor Jim.

But, I didn’t even get the chance. After sitting down the bishop started off with, “Well, it’s time to make a change in our scouting program and we feel it’s time to release you as a scoutmaster.” He told me I had done an excellent job, but it was time for a change.

I’m not criticizing how the bishop communicated this to me, because he did it as well as he possibly could have. But it was still a shock. I didn’t quite know what to say. I was not – still am not – ready to be done.

I’ve been in scouting for a very long time. I spent about 6 years as an assistant scoutmaster, and then I’ve been serving as the scoutmaster for the last 4.5 years. That’s over 10 years of scouting experience. Every Wednesday night, every Sunday, one weekend a month, one full week of scout camp each summer. That’s a lot of time.

I recently learned that my friend Mitch Ogden is taking over my role as scoutmaster. Mitch has been the assistant scoutmaster for a couple years and I’m confident he will do a great job. So, that will make the transition a little easier knowing the young men are in good hands.

But, I’m still not too happy about not being involved. Bittersweet is a pretty good word to describe how I feel about this change, but it’s not a perfect description. Definitely more on the bitter side than the sweet. I’ll miss it.