November 2012

Happy Thanksgiving from Boise/Meridian Idaho!!! 

They Johnson clan had a  little gathering (all but 2 of the Johnson kids were present, + Aunt Pat), and started off the fun with a turkey trot 5k set up by Emily and Heather. We had turkey bibs to wear, and donated money to the local homeless shelter. Fun and a good cause!

(from top left: Mike, Bonnie, Jason, Kimo, Kimball, Heather, Joy, Ruth, Kollister, Jeremy, Archie, Charice, Emily, Elliott, Christian, Juliet, Karver, Lucy, Lilly and Kason)

Then we made some leaf-turkeys thanks to the great big trees in Heather's yard, and had a photo shoot with Aunt Ruth.

After the summer of Love in New Mexico last September, we asked Pat to spend Thanksgiving in Boise, and she said YES!! It was the first time meeting her for all the grand-neices and nephews, and some husbands, and it was so great to have her here. She and Lucy bonded over the love of tetherball.

My parents were sad not to make it up here, but we showed them some love in a family photo.

 The award for "best face" goes to.... Christian!! Honorable mention is Jason with the demon face and Kimo with the grimace. Kason is also showing extreme cuteness, while Jeremy and Kimball are going to need some practice. Archie is just looking at us all like we're a bit crazy.

We had great food on Thursday, family soup pot-luck on Friday, and then we all went our separate ways. It was very nice.

Archie is busy finding ways to keep busy inside since the CRAZY windy weather means Mom has to limit the outside play. He likes to dismantle the couches for his little obstacle courses.

Some of Archie's other ideas for entertaining himself are emptying the kitchen drawers (luckily they are filled with his unbreakable things), and walking around in, moving or hiding, or eating my shoes. Ah, the joys of toddlerhood.

The kids got an early start on their Christmas lists.

We were able to go to the last BSU football game of the season with Elliott!!! It wasn't that cold, that is, until the wind and rain kicked in. 

We enjoyed the game in high fashion, but at least we were warm...ish., and memories were made.

These are my kids...

These are my kids. I love them. They are beautiful, they are smart, and they are kind. 

In the aftermath of the tragic Connecticut shooting, I treasure them more, am so grateful for them, and am so blessed to have them in my life. I know God loves us all, but the children are sacred to Him. I know He mourns with us all, and I KNOW He embraces those 20 children who have joined Him Home. 

This is Lucy. She makes me smile. Right now, she is reading voraciously, she is writing and typing a play, she is fiercely competing in tether-ball every recess (she is so serious about it! I watched her the other day at school, and she gets a focus-scowl on her face and winds her wrist up a few times before each hit--it's great!).  She is always wanting to do the right thing, she is my picky eater (she likes simple, straightforward food, not any of this crazy-expiramental food Mom likes to cook), she would rather smile and laugh then do anything else.

Elliott. He is passionate. It doesn't matter if he's mad, excited, happy or sad, he is TOTALLY committed and passionate about it. He still loves anything sport-related. He is my helper; helping me make breakfast, grabbing the diaper wipes mid diaper change, or grabbing Archie from his tight-squeeze emergency; he is always willing to help. He is learning to read, and is so proud of himself. He knows that His prayers are heard, and his prayers are always so specific and sweet; he is such a thoughtful little guy.

Ahh, the little one: Archie. His new favorite thing is anything stuffed. He is daily adding to his collection of stuffed animals in his crib because any time he makes a sound, Lucy or Elliott rushes to give him another toy. He smiles, grabs them, makes a growling-monster sound, lays them down, stuffs his face into it and sighs. He still likes to read. He loves his Dad more than anything in the world (Dad claims he just loves him for his iPad, but I know it's really Dad). He is a great sleeper, always wakes up happy and goes to bed happy. He is so friendly! He says "Hi!" to strangers everywhere we go, and says "Bye" to anything he sees...dog, door, person, toy, car, whatever. 

I love my kids. They are my daily joys, tears, laughs and trials. They allow me to be a mother; something I've dreamed of always. I am so blessed to have each day with them.  God must really love  me to bless me with such a gift, and I know He loves them, I feel it in my quiet moments. 

I think I'll go hug them right now!

Last Day of our Anniversary Trip

Ah Sunday, our last full day in the City. We woke up early and walked to church...it was a quikie because half of the ward was already gone to the Rockaways to "muck out basements" from the hurricane. We didn't bring our mucking gear, so we didn't get to go. After church we headed  to the subway to ground zero (not pictured...sorry), and then back to midtown to see some more sights.

We went to The Dakota Hotel, where John Lennon was shot, and wandered around looking at the brown-stone houses.

Before we headed into the Natural History Museum, we grabbed some falafels and philly cheesesteaks and had a little picnic in Central Park. Mike was happy about the philly, and I was happy about the Central Park picnic.

Here comes the Natural History Museum!

We loved the dinosaur bones...

And the Easter Island man. I'm scowling because Mike had just told me that it might not be a real Easter Island head!

We spent a few hours at the museum and headed through Central Park on our way to the Met Museum. We had to stop at the Waffle and Dinges truck, and it may be sad to say, but this might have been my favorite meal in the city!!

We were thinking the Met was going to be another museum of paintings, so we were taking our time getting there...WHAT?!?!?!? It was amazing in there! We only had 45 minutes before it closed, so we literally raced through ancient Greece absolutely AMAZED at the beautiful and REAL statues and urns, and high-tailed it to ancient Egypt so I could see a real mummy!! It was so beautiful, it killed us that we had so little time there. There is 5 levels, and we only saw about a third of one level...sigh. Another "to-do" on our next trip.

(side-note: I'm smiling in this picture because I am actually face-timing the kids on the phone while Mike is taking this picture!!)

On we walked...we made it to Central Park after dark, which was so beautiful. We barely hunted down the Alice in Wonderland statue, we were within about 20 feet of it and didn't even know it because it was so dark! But, it was empty. During the day, it's covered in kids climbing all over it, but we had it all to ourselves!

We walked down to 30 Rock, which I was so excited about because I am a big fan of a lot of tv show filmed there. We paid to go to the top, and got some fun pictures on the way. The picture at the top of this post is Mike and I in front of the night-time sky as seen from the top of 30 Rock.

After viewing the city, we just walked and walked some more. We didn't want to call it a night, but we didn't have much else we wanted to see! So, we saw Times Square again, walked Broadway again, and found another of the "best pizza in NYC", so good! We then went and got some frozen custard from a local favorite, walked some more, and finally headed home around 11pm. Sigh. Good bye New York City.

As we were flying out, the clouds literally parted and we were able to say goodbye to Manhattan. 

We were so sad to be leaving, but so happy to see our kids again!!

We came home to Pappa and Gramma, and happy kids...THANKS TO THE BEST BABYSITTERS IN THE WORLD!!!

When Pappa and Gramma flew out, they left a lasting impression....Gramma's kiss marks on Archie's face!!!

Mike says we can go back to New York again when we run the NYC Marathon, or when Les Miserables comes to broadway! We'll see you then!

On our own in the Big City!

I forgot to mention something in my last post. There are some more reasons this trip was a bit of a miracle. Mike and I have never left the kids...not a weekend away, not an overnighter; nothing!! So, having the courage to leave the kids was tricky. Having the courage to leave them with an Archie with possible c-diff diarrhea recurrence and crazy diet restrictions was even more complicated. But, much prayer, planned trip cancellations and courage, and re-affirmations, it finally came to pass. I laugh, but I think we mentally cancelled and re-planned this trip about 5 times. I'm so glad we went through with it.

Day 3 in New York City we were on our own. Our gracious hosts had lives of their own to attend to, and they had done a great job of showing us the ropes, so Saturday, we headed out on our own! We had some destination goals, and we got through them all, with many side-ventures that were just as rewarding. It all started with the Brooklyn Bridge.

We walked across it, then turned around and walked back. It was crazy how many runners there were in that tight little space. Mike commented that it is probably one of the only hills around, so they were making the most of it.  I was a little disappointed because I would have liked to explore Brooklyn (they are supposed to have the best pizza there!), but we'll do that next time.

Here is the view of Manhattan from the bridge.

After walking by Ground Zero, we started walking UpTown to China Town...

And Little Italy! We may not have had Brooklyn's famous pizza, but I looked up the best pizza in New York City, and Lombardi's of Little Italy was on the list! Mike was in cheezy, sausage heaven. This is me enjoying a "Lobster Tail" pastry...YUMMY!!

On we walked...

On our way to MidTown, we found a street market, street performers, fun boutiques, and the Flat Iron Building, which Mike was hoping to see...

Washington Square, which we kind of hurried through, but looking back, it was one of the most interesting places we went....next time, we'll be spending more time there for sure!

We found a little Diner with Lucy's name all over it! And took a quick stop inside the Empire State Building (again, next time, we're going to the top!)

We then realized we were awfully close to Chelsea, so we walked some more, finding ourselves at Madison Square Garden! It was so fun to see a name on the map, some place we've only heard of before, and then walk there and say, "huh, so this is SoHo!". That was pretty much how we spent our time on Saturday; that, and EATING!!!

We took a subway from Madison Square Garden to Central Park because we'd had enough walking. Then, we found the best cheesecake in New York, 2 Little Red Hens, was about 2 miles up, so off we were again...walking again! Hey, there isn't much we wouldn't do for cheesecake. We ate it on a cement barricade on the street, then walked the 2 miles back down 5th Ave to Times Square.

We grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor, not because we were hungry, but because when in NYC, you have to have a hot dog from a street vendor, and headed off to BROADWAY!!

Seeing Wicked on Broadway at The Gershwin theater!

They were having a bi-annual fund raiser for Broadway Cares, and if you donated a certain amount, they gave you a backstage tour! We were the only ones AWESOME enough to pay for it, so we got a private tour backstage on BROADWAY!! 

We got to see the set up-close; this is the Great and Powerful OZ, we walked on the "yellow brick road", held the broom and magic wand, peered down the trap door, held the gowns, went in the dressing rooms, saw all the under-stage riggings, the green room...it was ridiculous.

I danced on Broadway!! I tapped at the Gershwin!!

What a night.

We got out a little late, missed the last R-Train to Queens, and had to take a roundabout way home, but by 2AM we were snug in our beds having survived our first day in the city without getting lost!! It was so fun to just wander and stumble upon the things that make the city great. And, we were up at 7AM the next morning to do it all again!