Paint The Town

Back in April we volunteered to participate in "Paint The Town". The Neighborhood Housing Services put take applications of people who are unable to afford, or physically unable to paint their homes, and then takes volunteers and places them with each homeowner to get their home painted. This was the first year Watermark Landscapes participated, and I must admit, it was a lot more work than I thought it'd be! Not that I didn't know painting a house would be a big task, but I guess I forgot about all the prep that went into it. Remember we volunteered for this in April, and the paint day was June 13th... needless to say, Ryan has been EXTREMELY busy lately, so it was up to me to get it all put together. Luckily my dad helped me a TON.

First we went to the house to spray it off, and scrape off any peeling paint. My dad of course has a client he thought he'd ask to help out... DPC... A painting company! I kind of felt like a cheater at first, but honestly, they were volunteering and wanted to do it. So, by the time we got there, they had already sprayed the house off, and my dad and I were left with the scraping. A week later we went back to do the prime coat, and caulking... This time when talking to the owners, Kelly and Carla, they mentioned something about sod and some bushes that we might put together a bid for them on (considering we were a landscape company). Keep in mind that the past few weeks around here have been CRAZY weather with totally random downpours. Not the best painting weather. But, we managed to finish the prime coat just as it started to sprinkle then pour.

The week heading up to June 13th, I put together the missing supplies that we'd need, and got some donations put together for the owners... The Turf Co (Darwin McKay) donated the sod, and Quiznos gave us a discount on food to feed all our volunteers and delivered it... It was AWESOME.

June 13th! My dad of course got there before I even did, and started right away. DPC (Jim Doufas) decided to volunteer and help us a TON by spraying the body of the house. In the meantime, everyone I thought, plus some showed up! Lyman Belnap (Dad), Ryan, Cathryn Griffin, Dustin Pinther, Mark Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Eric (her friend), Eric Belnap, Joe Emily Aaron Micheal and Jacob Piscione, and Matthew Ferguson. Seriously, amazing that they all showed up right around 9 am on a Saturday when there were so many other things they could have been doing. We literally finished putting in sod, planting flowers, rose bushes, removing bushes, and PAINTING THE HOUSE about 30 minutes before it started to pour rain.

Thank you SO much everyone... If just one less person showed up to help us, we literally wouldn't have finished in time. It was a great time helping out the community and spending time with people we care about!! Also, thank you Mom and Adria for watching the kids the whole time... Couldn't have done it without you either!

He Did It!!

So, life is awesome, and we've been busy, but CASH SLEPT IN A BIG BOY BED!! We have been trying and trying since around the time Marley was 2 months old, and he has refused to do it. But, last night I got him to sleep in the bed! It took me laying by him for 40 minutes, but he finally relaxed enough and fell asleep... He even stayed in bed all night until 7 this morning. I'm so proud of our buckaroo. He's getting to be such a big boy! He says and does things every day that make me laugh outloud. One of my favorite things is what he says when he wants something... We are trying to teach him "Please may I... _________" So, he says things like "Please may I have some hold you?" Or "Please may I have some open the door?" It's adorable.

Let's see... Marley is almost a year old and I can't believe it. She is simply adorable and a big huge bundle of personality. I remember when Cash was little we would tell him "trouble" or "danger" or "no" and he really did a good job of avoiding those things after just a few times... NOT Marley. She finds it absolutely hilarious to play in the dog water, water cooler, dog food, etc. She will look at me, laugh and then go for it as quickly as possible. It's so funny. She does say a few words... She says: dog, hi, dad, bye bye.... and when she plays peek a boo, she covers her ears, not her eyes. It's really hilarious.

Also, I have to brag about Ryan... He just landed a job of a lifetime!! We found out last week (on our anniversary actually), and he starts tomorrow. He's really excited, and I'm so proud of him. It was nice to see him do a drawing, he hasn't done one in awhile, and he's so artistic and talented. It's going to be a 3-4 month job, so I am expecting not to see much of him this summer, but I'm so proud of him and to see this job completed, it's totally worth it.

For our anniversary I set it up through my dad for Ryan to drive a race car at Meridian Speedway on their practice night. He didn't get to tear it up like he wanted to, but it was still really cool for him to drive in one and on the track. The only problem is he now really wants a race car of his own.

I'm going to put up some pictures of some fun things... With all the ups and downs, I really love life.

Happy Mother's Day

Anyone that knows Ryan know that he's the best when it comes to gift giving... As hard as I try, I'll never be able to give gifts with the thought and perfection that he does. I honestly wasn't expecting anything for Mother's Day, except a lot of help, but I was wrong!

On Saturday Ryan totally surprised me with a new bike and trailer!!





I've had my same bike since I was 12 when my parents gave it to me for Christmas. It's a great bike and means a lot to me...I'd even ride it to work when Ryan and I lived off the green belt. But, truth be told it's 14 years old!! It's all luxury now... I'm so excited because now I can ride my bike to WinCo with the kids. I already have once with Marley and we've gone on rides almost every day since he got it for me. It's fabulous.

Not only that, he took me out Saturday night, slept on the "monitor" side of the bed to get up with the kids Sunday morning, made me one of the best omelets I've ever had (it even rivals Ted's Bakery in HI), made me dinner, took us all (including dogs) to the park even though he was exhausted, gave me the best card with a recording of Cash saying "Happy Mother's Day, mom... I love you!" and even made me a little sundae when I came downstairs from putting the kids to bed.



I'm one lucky woman!! I have two wonderful kids who make me laugh and smile 100 times a day and a husband that does the same.







Our 5th anniversary is coming up in a week, and I must say, it's FLOWN by. I know everyone says that the first five years is the hardest, but if that's the truth, then we've been VERY lucky and VERY blessed because "hard" is not a word I would use to describe it. It's amazing how much life can change in 5 years!! :)

"How does your garden grow?"

I feel like so time has passed since I last "blogged"... We finally planted our garden and last week I found a nice suprise!





Bad news is the other day we had a nie hail storm and I think we lost our basil and possibly our peppers. They got beat up. But I'll keep you posted on the development. I must say, for someone who thought they could have a garden, I knew/know VERY little. :)

We also had such a great Easter, and a fabulous visit from our fabulous friends the Facer's! :) Little Cash and Ollie loved each other to pieces, unless they were tired. We discovered a niceand cheap 3-par 9 hole golf course that I didn't know existed and the weather was gorgeous. Marley found herself a boyfriend too! She couldn't get enough of Ryan (Facer) and his guitar while they were here. Becky is so cute pregnant, even though you couldn't realy tell because her belly is tiny. But it's very exciting! We even flew kites. The first time since I was little, and I absolutely loved it... it's so peaceful!

Cash is talking and growing up so fast. We went back and watched some videos that we posted on here, and it's crazy to hear him and him not being able to talk and communicate with us like he does now. It makes me kind of sad. Marley is growing up like a weed too! She pulls herself up on everything and she is definitely the boss around here. She knows what she wants and she usually gets it. Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

In Like a Lion....

I thought March was supposed to "Come in like a lion and out like a lamb"... not really the case, but I do love the random snow and hail and thunder storms we've been having! They definitely keep life interesting and makes me enjoy those days that are just sunny and beautiful more. I guess everything has it's opposite so we appreciate it's opposite more! Today I went out and got my garden boxes ready to plant and planted a couple herb starters that I bought. I'm so excited!! We're going to have potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini squash, onions, lettuces, bell peppers, rosemary, oregano, basil and cilantro. We'll see how much of it I can keep alive!

Not much is happening here on the Johnson front, just loving how my children play together, make each other laugh, and I'm sad at how quickly they are growing up. Marley is crawling everywhere, will walk REALLY slowly with your hands, and pulling herself up on everything. She's getting quite the personality... it's hilarious! Cash is so smart is is such a little boy! He just loves playing, going swimming, reading books and learning new things. Cash is starting to show that he is jealous of Marley lately... He'll want exactly what she has, and wants held when she's being held. She can be quite the pistol as well. It really is hilarious, they are fabulous! It's precious to see Ryan with them... it makes my heart warm.

Check out the video... they sure are precious.

**Dos Anos**

February 27th came, and it was Cash's birthday! Despite a tragic morning, we managed to pull off a pretty good birthday bash for our little boy. Thank you everyone for your help! Cash thouroughly enjoyed his day, and loved having his friends over to play. He had two little car cakes to eat and did so with his hands. I love it! We sure love our little boy. He'll say "tengo dos anos" if you ask him how old he is, and he'll attempt to hold up just two fingers. He's so stinkin' smart and growing right before our eyes...

Reunion!

Cash and I recently went on a trip to Arizona to visit some of my friends from college! Fabulous is the best word to describe the experience.... Cash was SO excited to see his buddy Oliver and to fly on an airplane. I swear that kid can spot an airplane that is so high in the air I can't see it... let alone would have noticed it flying above me. He did miss Ryan though. My wonderful husband stayed at home and watched Marley... she can be a handful too! :) Thanks Ryan, you're the best!! We had such a good time going on walks, visiting the Zoo, shopping, swimming, and watching movies. Krisitin even had her cousin and another girl come over to babysit for us so we could all go out to dinner and a movie! Good times... good memories. Thanks for making it work eveyone, and thanks again to Ryan for helping so much. Love you all!!