MightyJohnsons

Next stop…Alaska

After Ellie and I returned from Cali, we decided we had so much fun that we would try again but this time head to Alaska to see my mom. Not really. I had been wanting to head up there for quite some time, but wasn’t sure how to pull it off without spending a fortune and hiring a babysitter. After a generous gift in the form of a companion ticket, I was able to book a flight for both Ellie and I for a reasonable amount of money.

We left on a Thursday and returned the following Friday (eight days!). That is the longest I have been away from Seth since we have been married. Taking Ellie made it much more doable since the other kids are in school from 8-3:30-ish most days. Not to mention, a few of our neighbors brought in meals while I was gone. To be honest, I was quite surprised how well things seemed to go while I was away. I guess that means I can do it more often, right Seth? 🙂

Unfortunately the weather was rainy most of the time. We did get a few days where we the sun came out long enough for us to go to the beach and see the wild flowers, but most of the visit was spent indoors.

I made the visit to see my mom. She had a few surgeries this summer that made me anxious to get up there and spend some time together. I spent a lot of time cooking dinner, hanging out, and watching movies. I even got to sleep in most days. Although it may not sound like some crazy, fun vacation, I loved it! I really needed the down time and relaxation. Plus, I loved spending time with my mom. I hate the distance between us. I wish it were easier to see each other.

We also were able to visit with a few other people while we were up there. My dad and Kathy picked us up in Anchorage, saving us the cost of two flights to Kenai. He surprised Ellie with an ENORMOUS bear that she loved and decided to name “Kenai”. We had a few dinner dates with them too. My sister and her boys came over and hung out as well. Ellie made a quick connection with Erika and they had a great time playing together. I also ran into a few friends and acquaintances while we were up there. I went to our old Kenai ward and got to spend time visiting with some of my favorite people from my teenage years.

G’pa Gary & G’ma Kathy meeting us at the airport.

Auntie Erika & Ellie painting shells they found at the beach.

Heidi and I…one of my besties since grade school.

My mom and I took several drives around my old stomping grounds. We visited the home I grew up in…that was strange. It looked so old and run-down and made me kind of sad actually. We also drove out to my high school and I peeked down at the track where I spent many hours running and training for track and field and cross-country. It was so strange to be there and have all those memories come flooding back.

The house I grew up in. I should dig out a photo of it back when I lived there. It used to be so much nicer and the yard was beautiful.

Ellie and I flew out of Anchorage on Thursday evening, just before midnight. We arrived early because my dad drove us up and needed to get home at a reasonable time (it is a 3 hour drive each way). While waiting for our flight the craziest thing happened! My mom was texting my brother, who I haven’t seen in 5+ years, and she realized he had just flown to the same airport. He quickly found Ellie and I and we got to have a short reunion. He stayed until we boarded our flight a couple hours later. It was a great surprise.

Ellie had a sweet setup at the airport and was able to watch her movie while we waited for our flight.

My flight home was interesting. A 26 year-old Canadian gentlemen named Konstantine sat by me on my red-eye flight and was ready to chat. Ellie was out in minutes and I was following suit when he starting talking with me. It didn’t take long to get me talking back. We visited the entire flight to Seattle. I enjoyed getting to know him and learning about his Russian background, but boy did I pay the price. By the time we got on our next flight to SLC, I was beat.

I was thrilled to see Seth and be back home. It took me a few days to catch up on sleep and life, but it was nice to be home. I anticipate it will be a while before I head out on another adventure.

Stewart Falls Hike

I took the kids on a hike to Stewart Falls right after school last Thursday. We did it partly to enjoy the beautiful weather, and partly to celebrate the fact that we survived a couple weeks together without Manina and Ellie. We had a lot of fun together while Mom was away, and this was our last outing.

The fall colors were just starting to turn, and there were a few leaves already fallen onto the trail. The air was cool and had that outdoor piney scent. It was a perfect evening for a hike. We hit the trail at 5pm.

We goofed around a lot on our way there and only saw one or two other groups of hikers. We took a lot of pictures, ate root beer barrels, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the fresh air.

When we got to the falls we were the only ones there. After taking some pictures and playing in the stream a few other hikers showed up, but it certainly wasn’t a busy day along the trail. Megan even climbed to the top (which got her into trouble when Manina saw those pictures).

We made it back without much trouble. Drew and Megan walked along together for quite a while and Megan taught Drew all about lichen and grubs.

We got back to the car at about 7:15, so we’d made pretty good time. But, we were hungry. So on the way home half of us chose McDonald’s while the others ate Cafe Rio. We all needed to refuel after a fun 4 mile hike.

While Mom is away

Manina has been traveling a lot recently. She and Ellie have been away for basically two of the last three weeks. She went to San Diego for a few days, then went to Alaska to visit her mom and other family.

We miss them terribly, but we keep ourselves busy by doing silly things that we can’t get away when when mom is home. We usually create a Photo Stream to share while we’re away so all of us stuck at home can see what fun things Mom and Ellie are doing on vacation. Usually we post some pictures too to make them remember that life isn’t so bad at home either. For example, we’ve had a lot of fun at the pool last Saturday.

We created a couple videos to help describe how crazy it is at home without them. Here is one of us eating dinner.

Then one night, me and the big kids stayed up late and made silly a silly video to document our standard bedtime process.

The kids play a lot of MineCraft and are generally left to govern themselves, but it’s not all fun and games. Dad is pretty strict when it comes to the chores. Almost every day we have a different kind of chore chart.

Those who complete it are sometimes rewarded handsomely (yesterday we went out to breakfast for donuts and Roxberry smoothies).

So, while mom is away, we do play, but we don’t like being without her.

Our California Adventure

When the Denney’s moved to San Diego, our family was devastated. One of the few perks from their move was a good excuse to take frequent trips to Cali. Ellie and I decided to take advantage of the major drop in prices for airline tickets to San Diego. We snatched up two tickets and began planning a trip.

This was Ellie’s very first flight on an airplane. We headed out Thursday afternoon and arrived around 4 pm. We met up with Kristy and her boys and headed over to the water park near the airport. Ellie and Owen picked right back up where they left off and needed no time to warm up to each other. They had a blast playing in the water.

Day two required Kristy and I to make a decision. Anyone that knows us, knows we have the hardest time making decisions. After a really long discussion and weighing out options, we decided to go to Sea World. We hadn’t really even mentioned Sea World in the planning of our trip, but we got giddy thinking of experiencing this fun adventure together.

So we packed up the kiddos and headed out. Kristy, who was less than a month from her due date, was a trooper to spend a whole day trudging around the park with her two boys. The kids seemed to have a great time. Ellie particularly loved all the shows.

Day three and four consisted of playing of the beach. Although it was chore to get everything down to the beach, it was so fun to just sit and chat while the kids played. Kristy and I even tried our hand at making a sand castle but that left much to be desired. We will leave that to the dads. 🙂

On our second beach day we drove to Coronado and went to the beach. It was such a beautiful little place. It made me homesick for Seth. I kept thinking what a romantic getaway this would be someday. I guess I will have to go back with him…darn. 🙂

Unfortunately the trip had to end and I had to get back to real life. Ellie and I arrived home Saturday evening. We had a great time. Ellie keeps asking when we get to go back.

Our Summer with Elijah

For most of the summer, we’ve had a sweet little newborn to care for. It was a wonderful experience having Elijah in our home, and we were sad to see him go, but realize the best thing for him is to go back with his mom and dad.

Elijah’s journey began back in May, when my brother and his wife welcomed their beautiful new baby boy. Elijah’s mom was struggling with some personal matters, and needed to get some help. My brother was thrust into temporary single-dad mode, and needed people to step up and lend him a hand too.

After our quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, we found out that my mom was trying to take care of little Elijah during this tough time. However, both Manina and I knew that wasn’t going to work. We didn’t really need to discuss it a whole lot, we both just kind of looked at each other and said, “we need to help out here.” Elijah was family, and we were clearly in the best position to take care of him.

The next day, Elijah came to stay at our house.

His first day with us was June 16, as a three-week old infant. He was a pretty good baby from the very start. He wasn’t fussy much and was generally pretty happy when not sleeping or eating.

At first, Manina got up with him usually twice each night, but after several weeks, she was able to get him to wake up only once each night. With everything else on her plate, it was remarkable to see how much time, love, and attention Manina could give to Elijah.

Manina cried when Elijah left. Throughout Elijah’s stay, Manina insisted she “wouldn’t become attached” and that she’d be “ready to have her life back” when it was time for Elijah to go back home. But, Manina invested and sacrificed and loved like she has with each one of our kids—like all moms do for their children. I don’t know how they do it, these mothers. Even knowing it was temporary, Manina gave Elijah everything she could, and it was neat to see her back in action mothering an infant.

The rest of us also really liked having Elijah around. Our older girls loved holding and feeding him, especially at first. The novelty wore off a little bit, but there were still fights over who got to hold him.

Jacob and Megan feigned disinterest, but almost always helped with Elijah when asked, and sometimes even when not asked (as long as no one was looking).

Katelyn and Claire had a special bond with Elijah and were great little caretakers when Manina needed some help.

Since we had all of our kids pretty close together, none of them really had a chance to learn how to care for a baby, since they were practically babies themselves. So it was a great learning experience for them.

Perhaps the cutest relationship was between Elijah and Drew. Drew quickly figured out the role of big brother. When coming and going as six-year-olds do, he would always stop what he was doing and sit down with Elijah for a few moments. Usually dropping to his knees and holding Elijah’s little hand, often giving him a little kiss on the forehead before running back out to play.

Ellie, of course, practically smothered poor Elijah. To her, Elijah was a real-life dolly. A baby that she could hold and snuggle and lay next to. Ellie would often cuddle up to Elijah where there wasn’t room, once even collapsing a little bouncy seat (no harm was done).

Elijah came with us practically everywhere, but he was such a good sport. He really did mostly just sleep and eat. His crying was very limited and he was usually pretty easy to cart around to whatever events we had going on.

Bottom line is we all loved having little Elijah with us for the summer. We miss having that little dude around.

Back to School 2014

We played all day and then walked the red carpet all night long. Continuing with tradition, we had our annual back-to-school fashion show. The kids picked their three favorite outfits and strutted their stuff. After voting was complete and tallied, each kid had a new outfit chosen to wear the next morning.

We also discussed our “back-to-school” theme which is: FROM A SMALL SEED A MIGHTY TRUNK MAY GROW.

Our Back-to-School theme for the 2014 school year.

The next morning Meg was off to 7th grade and Jake was off to 9th grade. Notice there aren’t any pics of Jake. He is far too cool to take part in a fashion show. 🙂

The littler tykes went off to Highland Elementary. Drew started first grade, Claire started 3rd grade and Katelyn is a big fifth grader this year. That just leaves Ellie and I home to hangout together. It sure is going to be quiet around here.

I love that the kids can walk to and from school each day. Not only does it make things easier for me, but it is good for them too!

A desk for a doll

Katelyn is quite creative. She has always been interested in any artistic project, but this is one that she did all on her own.

On Saturday, Katelyn came in from the garage with a jigsaw and two 8x8x2 pieces of wood. She was wearing oversized gardening gloves and ski goggles. She asked me, “Dad, if I cut one of these in half will you do the other one?”

How could I say no?

She ran out in the garage and started working. I came out, sawed mine in half pretty quickly (hint: I didn’t use a jigsaw) and I asked what she was creating. She explained her plans to make a desk for her doll.

Katelyn loves her doll. She saved up for months, working hard babysitting and doing extra chores so she could buy a real American Girl doll, which she named Sammie. They play often with other girls in the neighborhood and their dolls.

After explaining her plans, she went back to sawing her wood. She sat on the garage floor holding the wood between her legs, sawing away. She was still wearing the gloves and ski goggles—safety first!

She was almost finished, but the saw blade got stuck and while trying to pry it loose, the blade snapped in two.

After some fiddling around with alternatives I suggested she ride her bike over to the Ace hardware store and buy a new blade. She ended up riding back and forth to Ace four times before she finally got everything right, and it wasn’t just for the free popcorn. She’s a determined one, that Katelyn.

She finally finished her sawing, then started painting and decorating. This was in her wheelhouse, so it went pretty quickly. To assemble everything, she had to learn how to drill pilot holes, and then used screws to secure the legs to the top of the desk.

Finally, late Saturday night, the desk was completed. Katelyn was pretty happy with the finished product, and we were all impressed with her tenacity and dedication. Not many other 10-year-olds would devote an entire Saturday to such a creative project, and my guess is even fewer would have stuck with it after encountering a few of the obstacles that Katelyn eventually overcame.

Great job Katelyn!

Rappelling FHE

Tonight for FHE we went rappelling. Yep, you read that right. Our family went rappelling down a 50 foot cliff face with an overhang and a waterfall. It was awesome.

We totally lucked in to the whole experience too. Yesterday, by happenstance we found out the Cryers invited the Rowberrys to come rappelling for a joint FHE. We felt a little silly, but we totally invited ourselves along too.

My Uncle Bryan has been a scoutmaster for a lot of years and knows all the tips, tricks, and fun places to go. He was the one who showed us the Meadow Hot Springs earlier this year. So, we jumped at the chance to try something new.

We hiked up Battle Creek Canyon near Bryan and Michelle’s home in Pleasant Grove. The falls were only a half mile up the trail, and when we got there with our little kids, Uncle Bryan already had the ropes setup and cousin Kayla was halfway down the rope.

Most of our kids were able to get time in the harness. Jake had tried it before in scouts, but still had some butterflies to overcome while stepping over the ledge. Megan and Katelyn had no troubles at all (other than they weren’t heavy enough to get any real momentum). Manina and I each took a couple turns.

Poor Claire, Drew, and Ellie didn’t get a chance. The smallest harness he had wasn’t quite small enough, even though Claire tried it out before turning back. She’ll get it next time for sure.

Afterward, all the kids piled into the back of Uncle Bryan’s pickup truck and we went back to his house for ice cream and a quick lesson and prayer. We all had a great time.

4th of July 2014

We began our Fourth of July festivities by attending the Riverton Parade. It is an annual tradition that we do with all of the Johnson family. The kids LOVE it! They get to load up on salt water taffy, enough to last us through Christmas!

Next we went back to G’ma and G’pas house for a cookout and fireworks. The kids had a blast as always and G’pa lit up the sky with all of his fireworks.

On the actual Fourth of July we have a tradition of riding our bikes to breakfast. This year the kids wanted donuts from Ridleys and Seth and I got smoothies from Roxberry. After returning from breakfast, we packed up and headed to the pool for the afternoon.

Drew love jumping off the diving boards.

What a great weekend filled with lots of fun family memories!

Happy birthday to my first Young Woman!

Megan turned 12 today. This is a pretty special birthday for her because it means she gets to advance into Young Womens in our church and leave behind Primary (kids 3-11). She has always been mature for her age so this transition will be so good for her. I expect to see a lot of growth this coming year.

She woke up to her room being toilet papered and a yummy breakfast of German pancakes.

Not only does she join Young Womens but she also gets to start wearing make-up. She has been counting down the days for this occasion for some time now. Originally we had grandiose plans for her celebration. We had all sorts of items on her list from hot air balloon rides to paragliding. In the end, she decided she just wanted to go to lunch and then go to Clinique and have her make-up done and do a little mom and daughter shopping. So that is just what we did.

We had a great time. She got a few new clothing items and a quick tutorial on applying make-up. Meg is such an amazing girl. I can brag because she is my daughter. I may even be a little biased, but I am pretty sure if you met her, you would completely agree. Happy 12th birthday girlie!

What twelve year old girl wouldn’t want an airsoft gun, right?

A few of the girls in her Young Woman’s group, and her new leader, came and sang “Happy Birthday”.