Elder Holland

Today we were blessed to be able to attend a special Stake Conference where Elder Holland spoke to us. He's quite a powerful man, funny, emotional, and very to the point. He spoke mainly to the youth of the church, asking them to give 10% of their lives to the church... he said he got to pick the 10% and wanted this next ten years. He said to just "Stay". "Don't leave." "Whether you're a part of it or not, the church will grow and get stronger and stronger, so just stick with it and enjoy the blessings of it." He told a story of how when he was young he grew up in a non-active family. As long as he could remember his dad had a pack of Camel cigarettes in his pocket and he just thought the shirts came like that. He remembers when he was 10 years old the Bishop, Sunday School President, and Young Men's President coming over to his house and asking his dad to teach a Sunday School class. Before they could say anything else, he quickly responded "But I smoke!" After some uncomfortable silence, his dad looked over at Elder Holland and back at the men, and knew that the class he was supposed to teach was the 10 year old class, the class with his son. The next thing said was: When do you want me to start? They looked at him, quite surprised, and told him that the class was vacant and needed a teacher that Sunday, but that he could take his time and start when he needed to. His dad immediately flicked his package of cigarettes into the fireplace and told them he'd be there on Sunday. There was a lot of work involved, but he got back on the right track. The point he was making is that he decided to change right then, and he did it. He didn't procrastinate, and he stayed with the church.

I appreciated this message even though I wasn't really "going" anywhere. I just feel that we all need the reminder that we are appreciated and loved even if we feel we are small and insignificant. They love us, and need us to stay.

Is it really almost February?

My last post I was waiting for Cash's swim lessons, and yesterday was his last swim lesson. He's so stinkin' cute. The first lesson he was very scared and basically cried the whole time. It's a parent/child class, so I'm in the water with him all the time, but it was a disaster. After the first lesson though, he was hooked. He would ask to go "swimming with Summer" (the teacher) and would now cry if we went to the YMCA and didn't go swimming. It was definitely a lot of fun to take him. Thanks to Ryan watching Marley every time too!

I can't believe he turns two in less than one month. Marley turns 7 months old tomorrow... I was being dumb, and kind of worried that she wasn't crawling, sitting, or rolling hardly at all. Like I said, I was being dumb. Not as soon as I thought it, she started to pull herself around with her arms (she'll grip the carpet and pull herself forward), roll around, and sit like a champion. She just wasn't interested in it until that day and then decided that's what she wanted to do. I wish I took more pictures. The only picture I have of Cash at swim lessons is in the shower after... He spent as much time there as in the water. He's a smart boy, that's for sure.

I had to go to a funeral of a friend that I've known since Kindergarten this last week.. I hated it, and it was much harder than I thought it would be... it really made me appreciate my family, friends, church and large support group that I have surrounding me. I know that I'll never be alone if I'm hurting. So, thank you to all of you!

Holidays

HAPPY 2009!! I'm ready for a new year, with better organization and more energy! :)

I can't believe how fast the last two months has gone by. Cash is 22 months old and Marley is already 6 months! Christmas was so much fun this year because Cash actually opened presents. We got him an 8' trampoline to play on and he absolutely loves it! We put it upstairs in the bonus room since it's so cold outside. It was a VERY white Christmas, which is the absolute best! I love the snow so much! It's just so peaceful and fresh.

Marley talks all the time and flirts with anyone that will look at her. She's such a great baby, and so beautiful! Cash is speaking full sentences all the time now, and is starting to potty train a little bit! He'll tell us when he wants to go to the toilet. We'll see if it actually turns into us not having to change 2 dirty diapers all the time. :) My favorite thing that he says right now is: Marley Jane, sister! He will run up to her room and get up on the bed and lay down next to her and suck his fingers and play with HER hair. It's really cute, except for the fact that Marley is taking naps when he does it. And yes, she's still in a bed, barricaded by pillows because Cash is still in the crib. I'm just not ready to switch him yet! I find my sleep to vital.

Cash starts swim lessons at the YMCA today, and I'm very excited to take him. Hopefully he doesn't throw a fit and he likes it. We'll see. Enjoy the show!

~'Tis the Season~

Can I tell you how much I love this season?! I love the smell of our Christmas tree filling the house... I love the warmth of a fire, the cold air hitting your nose when you walk outside, the perfect beautiful snow on the ground, the fabulous hot cocoa, the Christmas music wherever you go, acting out the Nativity scene... I love that people are generally in better moods and nicer during this holiday, I love the excuse to give gifts to people and get together with family and friends... I love service!! There's just so much to love!


Here's a plug for my brother, Eric. He's found a studio gym to train at, and I went the other day to test it out and it was fabulous! It's clean, new, modern and very user friendly. Any age, any fitness level. They are having a special on January 1st and 2nd. Free fitness sessions all day! You just call: 938-0353 to reserve your time slot and then go in (it's right by Rocky Mountain Fitness in Eagle) and they'll take you through a great workout. This isn't like Gold's free training session where all they do is walk around and tell you what each machine does... very different... I guarantee you'll sweat during this workout, and you'll only be there an hour. Here's their website: http://www.studioe2fit.com/. Check it out and try it out at the beginning of the year. What's the worst that could happen? You end up going and getting a great workout after pigging out all holiday season! :)

I wish I could say that I had more things going on, but it's just my every day life! I'm going to post a few pictures of a few more things that I love... Happy Holidays!


He's such a funny kid. He was SO excited about the snow.

Not only my children, but Lincoln is also a Curious George addict.

She definitely loves her dad... who wouldn't?


I love this picture. He's just handsome!


This is our new bath routine. Marley LOVES having Cash in their with her...

She makes the best faces!!

He loved looking for a Christmas tree...

Glorious Thanksgiving

So many things to be grateful for this season... obviously the big ones: family, a home, transportation, jobs, health etc... but right now I'm mostly grateful for the priesthood. Marley has been VERY sick this last week with a fever of up to 105* and vomiting all her food up. She didn't do anything but lay there and was basically starving because she couldn't keep anything down. We managed to keep pedialyte in her, which kept her from being totally dehydrated, but it was very scary. Thanksgiving night Ryan and our friend Ryan gave Marley a blessing... she wasn't immediately healed, but she started to get better and it seemed easier to know what to do with her. She is now just fine and back to being a firecracker. She has so much personality! We missed that for a week.

Thanksgiving was fabulous! Other than Marley being sick, things couldn't have gone better. We had it here at our house and the food was glorious and we had way too much of it, and it didn't seem chaotic (considering how big our family is... We had 17 adults and 19 kids running/crawling around.) which is a miracle. My dad brought his horse, Thunderjet, and we rode him around the park. Some neighbor kids came by for a ride even. Becky and Ryan were visiting -- it was so fun to have them here. Cash and Ollie are definitely buddies for life. And they were here for my birthday which made it even more fun. Ryan seriously spoiled me!!!

All I can say is that there are so many things to be grateful for, and I LOVE THIS SEASON!! :)

The dessert table.

(Deborah, Damien and dad!)

MMM.... Good Food.

Stahle, Sara, Rachel and Emma running w/ the Jet. I love this picture.

The little kids table (THANKS, RYAN) was a hit!

Grandpa, Jaxon and Sebastian.

He was just a little bit nervous.

This was Cash's face when he saw the horseeeee... :)

Just a few people watching horse rides.

(Bart, David, Adria and Ryan)

She's due Christmas Day! She looks beautiful...

Best Buds for life.

Emily and Kate.

Guitar Hero World Tour. What a fabulous birthday gift!



Eva Voncille... Cute as ever!

Ryan and Ollie checking out their next adventure.

Thunderjet. He's beautiful!

That looks like one happy dad.



That's one tired mom with a sick little girl...

He loves playing with Marley.

Cash LOVES his colors.

My husband is so freaking talented it makes me sick. We'll get some better ones of this amazing waterfall he built.

That's the grin we love. Look at those teeth!

The Things Kids Do

It's been quite the two days here in the Johnson household. Saturday morning started at 3:00 with Cash screaming. I went up there and picked him up and we laid in the twin bed for 30 minutes until I decided I was going to put him back in his bed. Then I did something I never thought I'd do in this life... caught hands full of vomit. My poor little boy had thrown up all over his crib and now all over himself and the spare bed as well. So, I cleaned him up, started a very large load of laundry and then took him into our bed to try to sleep (a first). Didn't really work out and at 5 Ryan took him out to sleep in the chair with him. All day he was walking around and would say "Button, ouch" (he knows his stomach as belly button) and point to his belly. Later that day after he wanted to finally eat -- he projectile puked again. Not fun. Good news is, he went to bed and was feeling better this morning. Bad news is Marley woke up at 4:30 and I had the same experience with her. I never thought so much liquid could come out of such a tiny body. So sad because she had no idea what was going on. All she's had today is Pedialyte and a tiny bit of milk which I think is upsetting her b/c she's crying right now and should be asleep. I just went to check -- She just wanted a little cuddle and to rid herself of some toxic fluids.

On a happier note, Cash really touched my heart tonight. We missed church, so we were watching some of the talks from Conference... Cash was playing by our front door, shoving stuff under the bench singing "Clean up" and then the Primary Choir started to sing. He immediately sat up, walked right over and sat right in front of the TV watching those kids sing. It made me cry. Children are so beautiful and honest and perfect. It was a wonderful moment. I really love those kids.

Birthday!!

Ryan's 30th birthday was on the 8th and he absolutely would not let me throw him any type of a celebration. So, we planned an escape to Tamarack for 4 days! We rented a nice 3 bedroom townhouse that had it's own hot tub, deck, grill, etc... the best part was, nobody was up there because they don't have snow yet! It was pet friendly too, so we even got to bring Max and Lincoln with us. The mountain air is so wonderful... we could have easily stayed up there a month. Sadly we only had 3 nights, but it was absolutely fabulous. Cash loved the hot tub, which he thought was a huge bath with bubbles, and loved helping Ryan start a fire every day. We got a gift from Ryan's employee, Ismael, and we now have 2 parakeets! Any name suggestions? One of them got out of the cage while we were at church today and was hiding on top of the cabinets above the fridge. Quite the adventure.

Because it was Ryan's birthday, I want to list a few things that I absolutely love about him...

1- He is a wonderful father and loves his kids SO much.

2- He treats me like a queen.

3- He makes me laugh at least five times a day.

4- He lets me eat next to him even though it's his biggest pet peeve to hear people chewing. :)

5- He loves dogs as much as I do -- absolutely a miracle.

6- He's honest and will always tell you the truth when you ask him something.

7- He's extremely loyal to those he trusts.

8- He's proud of his testimony.

9- He's very talented -- especially at his profession.

10- I can always talk to him about anything and not have to worry about judgment or criticism... sometimes all he does is hold me and hug and let me know it will all be okay.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

She loves her daddy.

Last minute dinner in WinCo parking lot. Cash bit every piece.

We saw our state bird!! So pretty. Cash spotted it.

Speaking of birds... Our newest addition.

Look how old he looks!!

Oops! Calvin is running away now.

Marley loved her first Moto ride.

"Moto" ride for Dad... I mean Cash.

Ryan couldn't have received a better gift. This is a first!

Marley loves Cash -- Cash loves Marley!

The dogs loved bird watching

Handy Manny on Dad's phone?! NO WAY!