MightyJohnsons

My in-laws and I started a tradition of taking a “girls’ trip” every year. Last year we went to St. George, but this year we headed to Park City for a couple days of fun, food, shopping, and relaxation.

We stayed at the Marriott Summit Watch on Main Street. It turned out to be a really nice hotel. We had plenty of room for the five and a half of us (Seth’s mom, Rachel, Abby, Lisa and brand new baby Ava joined us for one of the nights). On Thursday we arrived around 2 pm and decided to spend the afternoon walking main street and visiting all the galleries and shops. Unfortunately because we were visiting in the off-season, many of the places were closed. We were able to visit a consignment shop and score a couple cute outfits. As dinner approached we decided to pick up a couple pizzas and take them back to the hotel to eat.

Me and Franz hanging out on Main Street.

After dinner Mom pulled out her traveling sewing machine and an old vintage table cloth and we began working on cute little aprons. Most of us quickly realized that our sewing skills left much to be desired. Rachel, Abby and I never even got them finished (but we plan to get them done soon). Lisa kicked butt and knocked hers out really quickly. We’ll have to get a picture when the rest of us get our apron strings attached.

The bunch of us attempting to sew (with the exception of Mom and Lisa who actually have some skills)

We finished off the night watching a wonderfully depressing movie called “Rabbit Hole”. None of us knew much about it but since it had good ratings on Rotten Tomatoes we figured it was worth a try. It probably isn’t the best movie to rent for a fun girls’ night at home and left us all feeling a little disappointed in the end.

The next morning we began our shopping marathon. We hit the outlets and hit them hard. Abby and Rachel were shopping maniacs! We arrived around 11 and left around 6. I was exhausted. I am convinced that Abby and Rach had a few more hours in them. Everyone scored some cute outfits and jewelry. Each of us, including mom, spent enough money at the outlets to earn our own complimentary pearl necklace (valued at over $200…yeah right!).

Here we are with all of our loot!

We ate dinner at the Butcher’s Chop House. It was a really nice restaurant and the food was delicious! The prices were way over my budget but thankfully since we were there during the off-season we were able to get “bogo entrees” so it ended up costing us half what it would have cost. I got halibut, Rach and Mom got salmon, and Abby got a sirloin steak. It was truly one of the best meals I have had in a long time.

Of course it was getting late and the goofiness had set in. Mom and I couldn’t stop laughing all night. The waitress thought we were crazy. Mom ended up spewing her rice across the table scouring the table, my plate and Rachel’s plate. That pretty much set us up for the rest of the night. We never really stopped laughing until we finally went to bed. What is it about these type of settings that brings out the extreme goofiness in each of us?!

This is just before rice came flying out onto our food. (*I had a better pic of it coming out but to be fair to Mom and all of you viewing I saved that one for future black mail.)

The next morning we woke up and got everything packed up and then did a little more walking along main street. We went into two really amazing art galleries (where Rach pocketed at least 10 pieces of candy from the “take one please” plate) and hit another consignment shop where Abby, Rach and Mom made some great finds. We also hit a really lame, and very picked over, garage sale before heading back to the outlet shops where we made some last minute and returns and purchases before heading home.

Overall we had a great time. I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy Park City but the weather was great and the town was really interesting. We saw a lot of cool artwork. Along the trails we saw a tree full of people’s shoes (and I mean full, like a hundred or more pairs). There was also metal artwork, murals, and really amazing old homes to view. It is definitely a trip I wouldn’t mind taking again in the future. Thanks to everyone for a fun, kid-free couple of days. I am glad Lisa and Ava were able to sneak out and join us, if even only for one night.

Notice all the shoes in the tree above us…kind of cool!

Megan has been taking piano for just over a year now and has really improved. Last week she had her second piano recital. Her teacher, Ms. Lovell, says Megan is doing great and has real potential if she’ll keep with it. Megan practices hard and Ms. Lovell gave her a piece that would stretch her a little bit.

Ms. Lovell lives in our old AF neighborhood and is a great family friend. She held this recital at her home, and didn’t want to call it a recital since it makes her students too nervous. However, Megan did great and it was fun to get to see her perform.

I know this post is a tad overdue, but Ellie hasn’t been such a little stinker about walking that I felt it was important to make note of the fact that she is finally walking. She started crawling really early, probably earlier than all my kids (minus Jacob). I just knew that she would walk before she turned a year.

Along comes her first birthday and she is still crawling. She alternated between a normal crawl and a monkey crawl, which I still catch her doing every now-and-again. We even got her to take her first steps before she turned 13 months. By 14 months we had her walking across the living room, but no matter how hard we tried she wouldn’t walk unless we forced her. She preferred crawling. So months later, and many, many cute jeans later (all ruined because of worn, torn knees) she finally started walking all the time at about 17 months.

Drew didn’t walk until 17 months but he crawled much later than she did and he was definitely my latest walker. Now Ellie has joined ranks with him. I am so grateful to have her up off her knees. I rarely find her crawling around any more and although sometimes I get sentimental about her growing up and being my last baby, I can’t say that I miss the crawling.

Ellie Belle walking down the sidewalk at Thanksgiving Point

My cutie pie!

We have been throwing the idea around for over a year now that it would be fun to do a little tea party with all the granddaughters but nothing has ever come of it. A few weeks ago we decided it was time to make it happen so Rach, Mom and I put a plan together and this past Saturday we enjoyed a lovely little tea party.

G’ma, me, and my girls

Everyone arrived in their finest “tea party” attire. We began by applying make-up to each other’s faces. Even little Ellie loved staring at her face as G’ma Jan put red lipstick on her. All the girl’s looked beautiful as one could imagine!

G’ma Jan and Ellie

So pretty!

Katelyn

Next G’ma read Fancy Nancy to the girls as we waited for a few other relatives to arrive.

G’ma and some of the girls reading Fancy Nancy

Upon their arrival we had a sweet little brunch. G’ma Jan had purchased a variety of tea cups and saucers for the girls to take home. Those were filled with a slushie punch. We had a variety of sandwiches: carrot ginger, cucumber/cream cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. We also had fruit and vegetables with coordinating dips. Abby made a yummy blueberry cobbler. Everything was delicious!

We then worked on making tiaras with glitter and gems. Once the girls finished their tiaras we then moved on to decorating pillows. G’ma had scored some monogrammed pillows and most of the girls were able to find a pillow with their initial. They worked on stuffing them and some girls chose to use fabric pens to decorate them.

Claire

G’ma with all the girl grandkids (minus Aleah who didn’t come)

The party turned out great! My girls are already talking about the next one!

Yesterday we decided to meet up with Rachel, her kids, and Grandma Jan and go to Thanksgiving Point to see all the beautiful tulips. It turned out to be a beautiful day (not too hot, not too cold). The kids had a great time. The fish were a favorite and we probably spent 45 minutes throwing crackers into the pond. They also loved the water. There are several areas where water is available for splashing and the kids loved it. I am amazed no one fell in.

The tulips, as expected, were glorious in variety and color. We tried to get a lot of pictures of the kids. Unfortunately Claire was the only one up for posing for the camera. However, we still managed to get several cute shots of the kids. We all got home rosie-cheeked and ready for naps.

Claire and Drew playing in the water.

Claire, Wyatt, Lucy & Drew…love this picture!

Claire – my poser

G’ma Jan and Ellie

Ellie Belle

Claire

The whole gang

Drew

Claire and G’ma Jan

We had a great Easter holiday. Saturday we did a city Easter egg hunt where the kids got to decorate cookies, eat candy, and visit with the Easter Bunny. We came home and colored eggs with our neighbor’s kids. Then Sunday we had a little Easter egg hunt in our back yard for the kids where they found the candy and money-filled eggs and their baskets. Everyone seemed thrilled with their loot.

After church we went up to G’ma and G’pa Johnson’s house for dinner and more Easter fun. Seth cooked the turkey this year and everyone loved it. Who would have thought I married myself a chef?! We enjoyed a lovely evening with family and friends. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Normally I get a picture of the kids before we head off to church but for some reason this year was a little more hectic than in the past and by the time we were heading out the door we didn’t have time for a photo. Maybe next year.

Highland Easter Egg Hunt (my girls with Seth’s cousin Kate)

Coloring Eggs

After letting the little kids go, Seth finally gave the older three permission to head out and look for eggs.

Ellie didn’t really get what the excitement was about. She just stared at the eggs mostly.

Drew was thrilled with his basket. He spent most the morning playing with his dinosaurs.

Katelyn at G’ma and G’pa’s Easter Egg Hunt. She scored big finding one of the $5 eggs.

Ellie playing in the grass during the Easter egg hunt.

Lucy and Drew stuffing their mouths with all the Easter candy.

Ellie is my sixth child and never before have I had a baby attached to a blanket or stuffed animal quite like this girl. She absolutely LOVES her kitty. As a matter fact, she is obsessed with it. She won’t sleep without it and if she finds anyone holding it, she just screams. The kitty is practically as big as she is, but that doesn’t keep her from toting it around.

As she prepares to go to bed she likes to lay her head on it and pull the tail around to her face and hold it in her hand while sucking her thumb. I am sure someday I will regret this habit but for now I can’t help but to think it is really cute!

Megan came home from school last week asking if she could get a pet snake. Apparently a boy in her class brought his pet snake to school to show to her class. Neither Seth nor I are big fans of pets, especially snakes. That was an easy “no.” Later in the day she asked if she could get a hamster instead. Initially I said I didn’t think so. Seth said absolutely not. Like I said, we are not pet people. I will admit that I do feel a little bad that my kids haven’t really had the opportunity to take care of any animals just because Seth and I don’t care for them. So the next day…

We started checking the ads on KSL. I figured there were several parents in the same boat who bought hamsters only to turn around and sell them a few months later. We found many, many ads actually, but one in particular sparked Megan’s interest. There was a little black and white dwarf hamster named Speckles. The ad said he never bites and it came with the cage, food, and a bag of wood shavings for his cage all for $20. After a few phone calls and reassurances that he doesn’t bite and won’t stink too much, we gave in and let her get it. We ended up talking the lady down to $15 which I felt was a fair price.

Seth grumbled the whole time and kept saying that I give in too easily. I am not denying that I do, but so far I don’t regret it. Megan has taken on the responsibility and is doing great. She cleans the cage one to two times a week and makes sure he has enough food and water. She holds him a few times a day and checks on him regularly. Speckles seems to be doing really well with the adjustment to his new family. He gets plenty of attention from our six curious kiddos. I am not sure how long before the excitement wears off, but for now we’ll enjoy our newest addition to our home. If, at some point, we feel it isn’t working out I won’t feel too bad selling him to another eager family.

Megan getting Speckles out of his cage.

Katelyn and Claire playing with Speckles