MightyJohnsons

Drew’s in Kindergarten!

Whoa! Time, please slow down! If you can believe it, my little Drew is starting school. He couldn’t have been more excited to join his older siblings in this adventure. What a handsome little man!

Mrs. Beck’s Kindergarten

Drew has several kids from our ward in his class which has made it an easy transition for him (not to mention an awesome carpool). He has also loved being able to ride his bike to and from school. Megan picks him up each day and patiently rides home with him.

As with each first day of school, the kids get a little treat/note on their bed. Drew has been waiting for the day he would come home and find a treat like the older kids…he was pretty happy about that.

First Day of School

With excited anticipation, my kiddos woke up early to prepare for their first day of school. I think everyone ended up wearing the outfit that was chosen in the fashion show the night before. They all looked beautiful (or handsome) and happy on their way out the door.

This year I was ready for school to start. In years past, I have gotten sad, but this summer I felt like we played hard. We had so much fun and it was time for a schedule to start. However, I am always happy to see them when they roll in on their bikes around 3:30. Here is to hoping for a fun, safe, knowledge-filled year!

Jake had to go to school a day early with he seventh graders a part of his student council duties.

Here is his real first day.

Meg, KK, and Claire

Cute sisters on their way to school!

Do Good Continually – Back to School 2013

Keeping with tradition, we had our annual “Back-to-School” fashion show. Everyone put together three outfits and strutted their stuff on the red carpet. As the kids get older, I find they get more comfortable having fun so each year is more and more entertaining.

After using our cute ballots (see below) that Megan made, we were all able to vote on everyone’s best outfit for their first day of school. This years dinner and dessert consisted of Cafe Rio and Krispy Kreme Donuts. It was a busy, husbandless evening and I didn’t think the kids would mind too much. They loved it of course!

Our theme for the school year is “Do Good Continually”. We try to pick a new theme each year and remind the kids often to live it. I am excited for a new school year to watch my kids learn and grow from their new experiences!

2013 Tour of Utah

The Tour of Utah has grown every year and it’s getting to be a big-time event here in the state. Since I enjoy cycling, I love going to see the races to see and appreciate the things these professional athletes can do. They’re amazing.

This year was a lot of fun.

On Thursday, August 8, I cut off of work early and went down to see the finish of stage 3. It was a great finish with the breakaway rider staying ahead of the pack (a rarity). I was in the picture that was featured on the Tour of Utah home page the next day. (I was alerted to the picture by my co-worker, who was wondering how I was able to be at the finish at 3pm on a Thursday.)

Friday was an awesome day. My boss had passed along an invite for a corporate bike ride. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but signed up anyway. It turned out to be great. The sponsoring company was one of the sponsors of the Tour of Utah and had all sorts of connections. They gave us all full kits (jersey and bib shorts — nice ones too!), fed us breakfast, and had us meet at the Energy Solutions Arena in downtown SLC. The ride went up Emigration Canyon, and we also had a full police escort all the way. It was sure nice to cruise through the city without having to worry about traffic or intersections. Several folks mistook us for the real Tour of Utah and cheered us on. Bob Roll (a former pro cyclist, now cycling celebrity) was there for the ride and had us take pictures with him.

After the ride, they gave out VIP passes to their hospitality tent right at the finish of the stage 4 circuit race around downtown Salt Lake City. I secured a couple passes and sent Manina a text message that I had our date night all planned out. We went up and watched stage 4 and had a fun date downtown.

And, no we weren’t done yet. For Saturday’s queen stage we took the whole family (minus Jake, who had just returned from Timberline scout camp) up Little Cottonwood canyon to see the last few kilometers of a brutally hard stage. We packed a picnic lunch and watched some poor amateur riders try to finish the same course as the pros. We saw one of my riding buddies who is a strong rider really struggling going up that brutal hill. I ran along side and pushed him for a while. It looked perfectly miserable.

When the pros came by we handed out cups of water to the riders, who happily grabbed them and poured them over their backs. Drew and Ellie shot them with squirt guns and rang cowbells. We screamed and yelled encouragement. They looked much less miserable than the amateurs did an hour earlier, but it was obvious that even some of the pros had suffered plenty. The Tour of Utah is known as America’s toughest stage race, and it sure lived up to that claim on Saturday.

We all had a great time. This race has gotten better and better each year, so we can’t wait to see what happens in 2014.

2013 Johnson Family Campout

What happened this year that didn’t happen last year, or the year before, or the year before that? Not much really, but that is what is great about family traditions—they’re much the same every year.

We missed Joe and Matt and their peeps, but everyone else showed. Greg and Emily Rowberry and family also joined in the festivities. This year we went on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday which was just long enough. We did the traditional things: played board games, a lot of four-square, rolled homemade ice cream, and ate way too much junk food.

Thursday dinner we had camp calzones (a recent discovery from scout camp) and had a crazy talent show.

On Friday we split up and went for hikes. The big-boy hike was an 7 mile trek up to Red Pine Lake. It was a tough hike, but Katelyn, Megan, Jacob, and I all made it. On the way down Katelyn tripped and cut up her knee pretty good, but that was really our only setback.

Friday night we had our traditional dutch oven dinner and it was delicious as always.

Saturday morning we packed up early, just beating the rain. But we didn’t escape the injury bug. This time it was Drew, who had (what must have been) a pretty nasty wipeout on cousin Wyatt’s scooter. Drew had a pretty good bump on his forehead as a souvenir from yet another awesome Johnson Family campout.

Jacob is a Life Scout!

As planned, Jacob is advancing quickly through Boy Scouts. This past week he earned the rank of “Life Scout”. He can now start planning an Eagle project so he can earn the rank of “Eagle Scout.” We are so proud of him and all his hard work. A special shout-out to Seth for being such a great scoutmaster and father. That certainly has played big part in getting Jake where he is today. Love you both!

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciate Day

For the first time ever, I swallowed my pride and caved in to the pressure from my kiddos and dressed up as family of cows for some free food from Chick-fil-A. In the end, it was well worth it. We each got our own full meal which would have totaled near $50!! Aren’t we a cute herd?!

Drew in his first season of t-ball

I always feel a little bad when I realize my youngest kids haven’t been experiencing some of the things my older kids did when they were that age. For instance, t-ball. It is one of those things that isn’t really a priority any more with our crazy, busy schedule. However, I succumbed to the “mommy guilt” and got Drew signed up. He finally experienced his first season of t-ball and it wasn’t half-bad either!

It was pretty comical to watch each of the kids wait for the ball to be hit so they could all run to it and tackle each other to get it. Drew quickly learned the best place to wait was on the pitcher’s mound. He also had quite an eye for knowing where it was going to go and generally managed to get there before his teammates so he could throw it to first base. The few times he got beat out, he tackled the kid and took it (yikes, kind of embarrassing).

He had a great time though and I definitely foresee many years of baseball in our future.

Up to bat…

Meggie Lu turns 11!

Miss Megan turned 11 this month. For her birthday she chose to have friends over for swimming, soccer, and tie-dye shirts. She had a great time. In the evening she wanted to do a cook-out in the canyon with our family. She is so easy to please. For her birthday she got a keyboard for her ipad mini, a soccer ball, and soccer shoes.

Megan is a mini-me. She takes care of everyone and assumes a huge leadership role in our family. I know I can always rely on her in any circumstance and not worry a bit. At the first sign of contention, Meg will step in and try to smooth things over, even if it means sacrificing something of her own. I can’t express how much I appreciate her in my life. I can’t imagine a day without her. I love you Megs!

Fourth of July 2013

Following tradition, we started our Fourth of July festivities on July 3rd at the Riverton parade with all of our extended family. The kids love it! They have such a great time seeing all the floats and catching loads and loads of candy.

After the parade we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson’s home for dinner and fireworks.

The next morning we decided it would be fun to start a new tradition. We woke up early and rode our bikes to breakfast. Our intention was to go to Kneaders but we quickly found out that we weren’t the only ones with this great “Fourth of July breakfast” idea. The line was well out the door. So we trotted across the street to Burger King and had breakfast there instead. It turned out great and there was no line at all. We treated ourselves to Cinnabons and smoothies…yum!

After we returned home we packed up and headed to the pool for the afternoon. We do this every year because it isn’t very busy and the kids always have a great time.

Later that evening we got together with a group of friends for a barbeque, jump houses, and fireworks. Of course I forgot my camera but everyone had a great time. I always love celebrating the birth of our wonderful nation. Happy Fourth!!