Second October Post, as Promised

Sorry, apparently being pregnant gives me no desire to do anything but the basics, so this post has been long neglected! Even my awesome husband posted something just so you don't all forget about us! This is going to be a very "pictureful" post because if I don't do them all now, I'm afraid I will be so behind that I will never get around to them! So, here comes Elliott's 5th birthday, and Halloween 2010!

Grandma and Pappa Johnson happened to come to Boise for an appointment just in time for Elliott's birthday. Here he is turning 5 at the Cheesecake Factory.

He was very happy that Lucy got him a remote controlled monster truck; it combines his two favorite things.

I've decided that birthday parties are a lot of work, so we have decided to just do the big ones. So far, that is 5 and 8.... I haven't thought about it much past that, we'll worry about it when we get there. Since I was morning sick for his birthday this year, we had his party at our Taekwondo studio...they did an amazing job.

Here's my little kicker.
He got to invite 15 friends from the neighborhood, school and church, and they had too much fun.

He wasn't excited to use the Samurai sword to cut the cake. You can tell by the complacent look on his face in the next two pictures.

We got to bring a piñata, and they had to punch or kick it. Each kid got two whacks at it...

Then the grown-ups got a turn. I played the pregnancy card and got out of it, but Mike, Harmony, and Uncle Jason all had a go at it.

Mike and Harmony got a good hole in it, and Jason's roundhouse kick blew it all to pieces....Chuck Norris would be so proud.

Fun times....Ok, here is Halloween, starting with Lucy's school party.

We almost didn't carve pumpkins this year, but I couldn't let my morning sickness make me the mom that ruined Halloween. So, the day before Halloween, we got down to business.

Lucy wasn't too fond of the slime, but she cleaned it perfectly.

Elliott never gave up either. This is the pumpkin he chose from the patch on his preschool field trip.

They drew on the faces, and Dad did the muscle work. Here is our proud pumpkin man.

Here is Lucy's cutie.

And onto the costumes. My little "Angel-girl" as I call her, was an angel for Halloween. All the candy, costumes and fun, and she was most excited that I was going to let her wear mascara. She is definitely my daughter.

Elliott was Iron Man. He is very excited to have yet another super-hero costume to add to his dress up with Bo repertoire. Because Halloween fell on Sunday this year, we thought trunk-or-treating on Saturday would have to do. The kids didn't mind. They got tons of loot, showed off their costumes, and had fun too.

One last shot of my angel. She turned on the model-mode while I was taking pictures, and started posing like crazy. It was cute....I kinda like her.

Home at last!

Well, it's been a bit since we've had a post, so here is a quickie (this is Mike, by the way.)

Last week was a wonderful vacation to Bonnie's hometown, the first visit there in quite a while. Our first day was a 13 hr drive to Las Vegas, NV. We woke up extra early, only to find that snow had been falling all night, and our shortest route now required snow chains or snow tires, so we had to go to plan b. Luckily plan b allowed for a jaunt to the nearest In-N-Out burger, a mere 325 miles away, (you can tell this is a Mikey post, because I count In-N-Out burger as one of the highlights of our vacation, no offense against Bonnie's family, but it IS In-N-Out)

When we arrived in Las Vegas we found we somehow brought a cold spell with us, and the rain and cold dampened the mood a bit, but we did have fun there.

We had a wonderful dinner with Bonnie's cousins, and we also got to visit the M&M's world. The kids loved the fountain at the Belaggio, which happens to be my favorite spot in Vegas as well. Also, I visited the site of one of my favorite shows, "Pawn Stars" Unfortunately, the stars of the show don't work weekends, but it was fun to see some of the stuff from the show on their shelves, and see what the inside of the store looks like in real life.

Next we headed off to "the valley" to visit the Johnson's in Gilbert, AZ. Highlights there were the Thanksgiving day feast, geocaching (of course,) and just reconnecting with some of our favorite people. Bonnie will be posting more pics and stuff in a bigger blog later for this part of the trip.

Lastly, on the way back we visited the Jackmans in St. George, UT. We had a great time there as well, and ended up chatting into the wee hours of the night only to affirm that it has been waaaaay too long since we've seen them.

The freeway home was closed, so we extended our drive by an extra day and stayed overnight in Pocatello, ID, but we've finally made it home. More later......

October Stories

Ok, apparently being pregnant means I don't take pictures or blog or write in my baby journal very well. Sorry. I have an entire month to catch up on, so here goes!

Both of our kids had field trips this month, Lucy's first as a first-grader, and Elliott's first EVER!! Here are some pictures.

Lucy went to a local high school to meet the FFA animals and learn about dairy and stuff. She loved it.

Elliott went to the pumpkin patch for a hay ride, a pumpkin, and some information about the life cycle of pumpkins. What you don't see in this picture is Pappa and Gramma who happened to come up for his birthday and field trip. They were such troopers, it was the coldest, windiest, most miserable day EVER, but they came anyway and had a lot of fun.

Speaking of freezing, Mike entered our name in a drawing at the Honda dealership, and WE WON! We won tickets to the BSU game the very day of the windy, miserable field trip. Somehow, we made it through our first round of exposure at the field trip and decided to freeze ourselves out again, at night, in the rain, on the blue turf! Thanks Mike's Mom for making Elliott and Mike these birthday hats that just happened to be Bronco orange and very warm! Not to mention super cute!

(proof: you can actually see the wind blowing in my hair! What you can't see is the fine mist of rain or the biting cold. Thank you hat, coat, mittens and hot chocolate!)

We also had two taekwondo belt advancements in October. Elliott finally got his blue-stripe belt! He has been waiting so long and trying so hard. He was so proud.

Lucy tested for her green belt this month. Here she is kicking a board! She is amazing.

The testers all lined up after passing!!

The proud little green belt.
I still have to catch you all up on Elliott's birthday, and Halloween, so don't worry, there will be another post soon to come!

More family fun

Last night, Lucy was so happy because she got to sleep downstairs with her cousins. I have no idea how late she went to sleep, and that's a bit crazy, but she seems fine today, so it's not too bad!!





At Walmart I found some cheap costume accessories. Here are how they were received.






Elliott was a member of the swat team. He has been putting people in jail and communicating with headquarters all day.





Lucy gets to be a butterfly fairy. At first she thought it was a baby costume, but once we explained that she could control butterflies and use them to attack her enemies, she and Elliott had much fun playing together.





Aunt Charice gave me, Christa, Lucy, Sarah, and Cassidy all pedicures!! What a nice lady, thanks Charice!! Then Breana drew on the little flowers.





Here is another one of baby Kason because he's so cute I just can't stand it!!

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Pocatello trip

We are in Pocatello without Dad. That's the bad news, we miss him. But, the good news is that we are visiting Pappa and Gramma, Morgan Christa and their family, Breana and her new baby, Ruth and Karver and Kason, and Uncle Kimball!!! What fun getting so much baby loving and family fun in.

Gramma got the grandkids some silly, Halloween mouths. Here are some cute pics.














I am a great Auntie now!!! Here is my new little niece, Carmen Flores!!! She is such a doll, and between her and baby Kason, I am in heaven!! More pictures to follow!





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Guess

Guess what mike and I did for our date tonight:










It was our first date in months, and it was very fun. I kinda like him.

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My favorite kind of lunch

One funny thing about this pregnancy is that I am craving FLAVOR!!! Every morning sickness remedy in the book suggests bland food, but I just can't get enough wasabi, kimchi, or PIZZA!! I woke up Saturday morning dreaming about my favorite pizza--forget about the fact that I'd already had pizza 2 times this week, I wanted more! I didn't say anything to mike, and he suggested going to Flatbread Community Oven to eat...what?!?! Can he read my mind! So, off we went between conference sessions ( which is my nap time so you see how much I wanted this pizza) and I was so happy. The kids liked it too, because we ate on outside and it is right by an open, outdoor fountain, as seen below:



They also love it because the get to make their own pizza and then watch them cook it in their million degree, Neapolitan pizza certified, brick oven.



I love it because the food is local, organic, certifiably European ;), and SO GOOD!! I get mini pizza with grilled chicken, goat cheese, prosciutto and balsamic glaze...are you kidding!?!? And a great flatbread and side soup or salad. Heaven!! Being pregnant, life is all about food for me: Food I can't eat, food I crave, food that makes me want to die, and food I love. This is my story about food I love.



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