MightyJohnsons

Jacob’s Eagle Project

Jacob got his project approved a couple months ago, but due to the weather, holidays, and scheduling, he hasn’t been able to make a big push.

That changed last weekend.

The project was to lead a bike drive for Bicycle Collective, an organization that take the bikes, donates them to needy individuals, but also teaches classes to provide employment and skills for a lot of people. When Jacob and I first visited there were some refugees in there putting together parts to build up their own bikes. Super cool organization.

Jacob got a lot of bikes from our ward and neighborhood, but his goal was to collect more than 50. So last week he and his troop delivered several hundred flyers around Highland. Jacob created the flyer, organized the routes, send out the scouts, helped deliver flyers, arranged a pick-up date, reserved a trailer, assigned scouts to pick up the bikes, help in the actual collection process, then organized a third meeting of scouts to help reload the trailer with all the bikes. He put in a lot of work himself and showed an awful lot of leadership. When all was done, he delivered 64 bikes to Bicycle Collective.

The staff was impressed that he was able to collect so many bikes.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. There were a couple arguments with mom and dad about finishing the project. Some of the scouts didn’t want to help out and bailed on assignments. The collection day took longer than expected, and some people complained that they didn’t get their flyers in time to donate. But, overall I think Jacob did an excellent job and Manina and I are both very proud of him. Many people are going to benefit from those bikes. Jacob still has some merit badges to complete before he can earn his Eagle rank, but having the project done is a huge milestone. Way to go Jake!

Midway Winter Getaway

Tony and Emily Francis and their cute family are good friends, but we’ve never been able to take our families on a trip together. We’ve done stuff as couples (2012 Caribbean cruise, 2013 Vegas trip, etc.), but haven’t been brave enough to take the whole crew anywhere yet, until this last weekend.

We pulled the kids out of school a little early on Friday and drove up to Midway, Utah. Our first stop was to go tubing at Soldier Hollow. We went down that hill in just about every configuration possible, but no group managed to beat Seth and Drew. We were pretty fast together.

We were pretty famished after tubing, so we found a nice little Mexican restaurant called Tarahumara and thoroughly enjoyed their salsa bar.

The Francis’ have a time-share and were able to get us a deal on a 2-bedroom condo for our family. So we checked in there, got settled and then took over the small pool. There was another small family in the little pool, and after we walked in with our group of 14 humans, they decided to find something else to do. Not a bad idea, because we got pretty loud and crazy.

We let the kids hang out and play games Friday night while we stayed up and chatted with Tony and Emily.

On Saturday morning we got up and made a joint-family breakfast (yummy waffles and buttermilk syrup) and then headed up to Dutch Canyon and went snowshoeing on several of their trails. After a while we split up, Tony and I and some of the big kids hiked up a ways and found a geocache while Manina and Emily and some kids stayed behind and made a snowman.

The Francis’ are always go-go-go, so there was no just hanging out and chilling after snowshoeing, no sir. We were off to the South Summit recreation center in Kamas to go swimming. Again. But this wasn’t just a small hotel pool, this was the real deal. We spent a couple hours in the pool and the kids had a blast. Afterward we commandeered a local pizza joint to refuel.

When we got back to the condos, the kids were pretty whooped. So, we popped in some DVDs, and left the kids and went out shopping (I told you the Francis’ were all go-go-go, right?). Manina and Emily made quite a haul at TJ Maxx for our upcoming cruise, and Tony and I were pretty good sports about the marathon shopping trip after a very full day. Still not done, we stopped in for a late-night dessert before heading back.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast together again, packed up, and made it back in time for church. It was a great weekend, but man, am I tired.

Happy 6th Birthday Drew buddy!

Yep, another birthday has come and gone. Drew turned six this year. According to my kids, it was his “golden birthday” so it needed to be extra special. We woke him up singing happy birthday and delivering donuts to his room. We then took him to McDonald’s for lunch (his request). After school we took the family to Lowe’s Extreme Airsports for jumping fun…his choice again. We then finished the night off with dinner and ice-cream sundaes. It was a fun, jam-packed day.

Drew is a crazy character. He loves to fix things and take them apart. He pays particular attention to detail and like to be independent. He still thinks his mom is the bomb (which I love). He is especially into routine. We do the same thing every night. If it isn’t done just right, he has a melt down…not really a good thing, but kind of funny. I always have to tuck him in, give him a tickle song, read him a book and give him a kiss. He sure is a cute kid and dang it, I love him!

Merry Christmas to all!

Wow, did Christmas just spring upon us this year or what?! With Thanksgiving being a week later than usual, I found myself much less prepared. Of course, it didn’t take long to get me into the swing of things. Thankfully my little helpers (Meg and KK) helped out a ton this year with wrapping, cookie decorating, Christmas decor and more. What a relief!

Following tradition, we went up to G’ma and G’pa Johnson’s house for Christmas Eve dinner, presents, and the nativity performance. Everyone had a great time seeing family and enjoy the Spirit that comes with the season.

Our Christmas didn’t disappoint. Everyone woke up Christmas morning excited to see what Santa had brought them. The kids got all sort of toys, clothes and books. Some of the highlights were Claire’s scooter, Drew & Ellie’s store, and Katelyn’s new Ipod. The kids were also super excited to try out their new Disney Infinity game as well.

As a side note, no Christmas cards this year. We will get with it next year and make sure we send them out. So a belated Merry Christmas to all of our friends and loved ones out there!

Let the Christmas Festivities Begin…

As with every year, we try to fit in as many fun Christmas activities, concerts, and traditions as we can. This year was a little different because of the extremely cold temperatures we were experiencing. Unfortunately we didn’t even make it to see the lights at temple square (an annual tradition). However, we still made time for plenty of other activities. I will let the pictures tell their own story.

Claire and Katelyn before their choir concert.

G’ma Jan and the girls after the concert.

Handsome Drew

Drew at his Christmas Program

Ellie with Santa at her preschool program.

Jacob’s band concert. He plays the alto saxophone.

Decorating a gingerbread house.

White elephant gifts we scored!

We won the “ugly sweater” contest!

Happy Birthday Manina!

Manina usually gets the short shrift on her birthday since it’s so near Christmas.

She used to get fairly frustrated with me and my attitude toward birthdays. You see, I am the oldest of eight kids, we had birthdays all the time growing up and they weren’t a big deal. A couple presents and a from-the-box birthday cake and call it good.

But Manina’s family only had three kids and it was a much bigger deal. Ice cream cakes from Dairy Queen were the norm. Presents were more elaborate, it was a bigger deal.

But, to Manina’s credit, she has tempered her expectations and now just likes to do a fun activity as a family, although a DQ ice cream cake is still mandatory.

So this year, I tried to play off another casual birthday, but meanwhile I planned a pretty awesome day. I purchased some good winter gloves and a nice merino wool beanie as gifts. I planned out a ski day, and totally had her schedule cleared (here is the letter I gave to her as a gift). I even arranged a mini surprise party with the kids. She had no idea it was coming.

Manina and Megan had a great day on the slopes at Sundance. Megan tired quickly, so they were home earlier than expected. The bad part is that I certainly won’t be able to top this next year.

Snowshoeing with the big kids

It’s been cold recently in Utah Valley, and we’ve had an early onslaught of inversion. So, I decided to head up into the mountains for some much-needed fresh air.

Jacob, Megan, and Katelyn all decided to come along too. I have two sets of snowshoes, so Jacob used my other pair, and Megan and Katelyn were able to borrow some from a neighbor. We headed off for the Pine Hollow trail head, which we’d heard was good for snowshoeing, but which was unknown to us.

Almost immediately, it became apparent that this was going to be a rough trip. We started going down the wrong trail. Once we corrected course, we hadn’t made it but a couple hundred yards and the belly-aching began. “This is hard.” “It’s cold outside.” “Why is it so steep?” “Jacob threw snow on me!”

It was a fight the whole way as we trudged along through a beautiful, still, wintry forest. The air was clear, very few other people were on the trail. It would have been really nice if it weren’t for the nearly constant bickering and complaining.

Plus, we were slow. Way slow. We didn’t even make it to the hollow surrounded by pine trees from whence the trail gets its name. Finally, both the kids and I had had enough and we turned around.

I’ll go again, but maybe by myself next time.

A Very Cold Nativity

Last night we went to a live nativity in Alpine as a way to focus on what Christmas is really about.

We knew it was going to be cold, so we bundled up as we left the house, making sure everyone was wearing multiple layers. I made some hot cocoa (from scratch — yum!) and brought it along to warm us up from the inside.

We got there and poured everyone a cup of hot cocoa, and went to stand in line to be shuttled (via horse trailer on hay bales) to the nativity. We stood in line for about 20 minutes, and the kids were getting cold already.

Drew and Ellie loved seeing the animals. They had sheep, donkeys, camels, turkeys, geese, pigs, llamas, you name it. Roman centurions stood guard at the city gates with more riding around on horseback. It really is a cool production, but it was frigid cold. We started to spend less and less time with the animals and exhibits and more effort to just getting through it so we could get back inside.

However, when we saw the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph exhibit, we were able to pause for just a few minutes and think about things more important than toys and clothes and being cold. Those short reverent moments made it all worth it.

The next stop in the tour was to stand in line for hot chocolate and get hit up for donations. I bribed the kids with another batch of my homemade stuff if they skipped it and got home. They agreed, so we hustled back to the shuttle and made our way back to our car.

When we all got in the car and started driving home, I looked down at the outside temperature reading on the dashboard. It was 6° F. That was one cold nativity.

Megan Scores Gamewinner in Final Minute

Part of the reason we went down to St. George for Thanksgiving was that Megan’s soccer team had at tournament to play on Friday and Saturday.

I took Megan to her first game early on Friday morning. I was a little worried that our previous night of early Black Friday shopping would not have her playing her best in her early game.

In the first half, Megan’s team (Utah Surf) had a couple chances, but they weren’t able to capitalize. At the end of the first half, the score was tied 0-0.

Late in the second half, the opposing team caught a break. Their forward went down after a clumsy challenge by a Utah Surf defender and they were awarded a penalty kick. There were only a few minutes left in the match, so this would likely be the game. But, their penalty kick went straight to our goalie.

With just a couple minutes to go, Utah Surf surged forward. Megan was playing left forward and helped move the ball up the pitch. Surf had a few chances, but never really got off any good shots. Then, in what had to be the last minute of the game, one of the Surf forwards controlled the ball on the right side of the box. She beat one defender and then whipped in a cross.

Megan was in perfect position. She volleyed the ball right out of the air and into the back of the net from less than 5 yards away. The goalie didn’t have a chance. The defenders didn’t have a chance. Megan threw both hands up into the air, and then was swamped by her teammates. The Utah Surf sideline went nuts.

“It was such an emotional finish! I might have gotten teary-eyed, although I would never admit that publicly,” said Jacob Johnson who watched from the sidelines.

Almost immediately after the resulting kickoff, the referee whistled three times signalling the end of the game.

Early Black Friday Shopping Haul

After we’d totally gorged ourselves on our deep-fried turkey, we sat around in a tryptophan-induced coma for a while, played some games, and let the kids watch a movie in Grandpa Gary’s office. As the evening went along, the kids grew restless and so to give Manina and her dad some time to chit-chat, I took the oldest three kids out shopping the early Black Friday deals.

Now, I don’t like shopping all that much. I view it as a necessary evil. I don’t like spending money in the first place, and I quickly tire of the looking around, walking, trying-on, waiting in line, and dealing with cashiers. Shopping the early Black Friday deals is another level of hell altogether. I’d much rather be home munching on leftover turkey and pie. But that’s just me.

Jake, Megan, and Katelyn must have heard stories of epic deals because they were very excited as we left Gary and Kathy’s house at around 8pm. When we arrived at the Bloomington Walmart, the kids were flabbergasted at the number of cars in the parking lot. We made the trek into the store, where I pointed out the end of the checkout line (which started at the door, wrapped all the way around to the back of the store before heading up to the cash registers).

Nevertheless we walked around and checked out all the deals. Nothing was very exciting since all the real madness had probably been at 6pm when the store opened. Megan wanted to look at clothes, but was crestfallen to find out that not everything was on sale. I explained that there were only a handful of items that were worth buying. So, after perusing for a half hour, we hid a couple items (which we came back and purchased the next evening when there wasn’t a line), and moved onto the next store.

Target was much the same experience as Walmart, and I could feel the kids’ enthusiasm waning. Which was good, because I was already thinking how nice it would feel to be snuggled up in bed. We left without purchasing anything.

The Gap, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Old Navy were our last stops. Each one got progressively faster as the kids figured out this early Black Friday shopping thing wasn’t all that fun. In Old Navy, Katelyn found a gumball machine full of bouncy balls and spent two quarters for two bouncy balls. Finally, we had purchased something — we didn’t get a huge discount, but at least we didn’t have to stand in line!

On the way home I stopped and bought them each a hot chocolate from McDonalds. We were home by 10pm. Mission accomplished.

Early Black Friday Shopping Haul:

McDonalds: $6.40
Old Navy: $0.50
Total: $6.90
Discount: $0.00 (0%)

Now, that’s my kind of shopping trip.