July 4th

Joe and I are very grateful to live in this beautiful country and have the freedoms we enjoy and for those who freely serve our country and protect our way of life! We're also especially grateful for family and good friends to share our lives with.


We spent the morning recovering from AJ's party, and then hung out with our friends, the Gimmesons, for most of the rest of the day, with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson thrown in there. After another BBQ at Aaron and Melissa's house, we watched the city fireworks from the Stake Center lawn. The kids were pretty pooped by the time we went home last night.

AJ is 7!

We were still feeling guilty after promising AJ a pirate party (because we live on Pirate Lane) last year and not being able to pull it off (because we had just moved, and I was pregnant and tired). So this year, we got it done right.

Friday evening, AJ's and his cousins/friends got to make their own pirate flags, fish for pirate gear (swords, eyepatches, etc.), and run an obstacle course with water balloons. There was the necessary water wars, and even the adults didn't escape. After games, we ate dinner and cake and ice cream. AJ got some great presents this year. He's really excited about playing LEGO Indiana Jones for the Wii.




We're really grateful to have AJ in our family. He's an awesome kid, and we love him so much!

Brooklin can eat real food

Brooklin is experimenting with solid foods. Mostly, we just mash up whatever we're eating and give her a bit. I've heard someone say that it takes at least 3 tries for your palate to get used to and like or dislike foods, which makes feeding babies interesting. Here's Brooklin trying peaches. By the way, she ended up really liking them. She's also very fond of bananas, potatoes, and ice cream. However, the Reese's Piece that got dropped on the floor in front of her, which she promptly put in her mouth, was not a winner. She spit up chocolate and peanut butter all over her clothes.


This baby likes to be outside, especially in the grass.

Concrete or bust

Joe and I poured our concrete counter for the island this week. It turned out that the only day he could get that done with the guys from work was the only day I had available to make my years' supply of jam. So we just worked around each other!! But man, it was a mess (and still is in places).



The deal with concrete counters is that (1)It takes a lot of either research and/or know-how to do them. (2) It is very labor and time intensive. But (3) The materials are ridiculously cheap. I think we're in less than $100 total, where it would have cost us more like $400-500 to do granite or something else on our island. The concrete has to cure for 7-10 days before we can polish, acid stain, polish again, and seal it. Oh, and you can't set anything on it or use it at all before it's sealed. I hope it looks good when we're done!


My sister-in-law told me about a place that sells strawberries for $1 a pound if you come and pick them. So I took the kids with me and we picked 15 pounds of strawberries! Liz came over with a bunch of blackberries Nathan picked last time he was camping. We used my kitchenaid to get the seeds out of the blackberries. Then, I canned a batch of blackberry jam, two batches of strawberry jam, and two batches of mixed berry. It was a lot of work, but I'm really pleased with the results. Jam is not cheap, and we go through a lot. Plus, homemade jam is so much tastier than store jam packed with high fructose corn syrup.


Yesterday, we took a little trip to Spokane. AJ's birthday is on Friday, and we decided it would be cool to celebrate a little early and take him to the new Transformers movie in IMAX. He is still raving about it, even though we had to walk 1.5 miles to the theater because downtown was closed off for Hoopfest. We're busily putting off getting ready for his birthday party on Friday!

Happy Fathers' Day!!!

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to all the fathers out there on their special day. I appreciate everything you do! I firmly believe that our world and its prosperity is directly linked to the work you do within your home and the good example you set for your wives and children. My own father is an incredible man who I respect and love more than I can say. I look back and realize that every choice he made was done with love and with the best interests of his children at the heart of it. I would not be who I am nor have my faith in God except for his example to me, so THANK YOU!!


And I want to say a special thank you to my poor abused and neglected husband (he informs me that this is not usually the case, but you can refer to the previous entry for your own judgment)!! Joe is one of the best people I have ever known. He is absolutely my best friend in the whole world. He loves his children dearly and desires more than anything their happiness in life. His family is the most important thing in his life, and I couldn't have picked a better man to spend eternity with!

This week's adventures

With the warmer weather, we've managed to make it to the pool several times already, taking advantage of our season passes. The water is still a little cold, but it feels good when it's over 90 degrees. Even Brooklin has seemed to enjoy splashing around in her floatie. I need to get pictures next time we go. The kids are taking swimming lessons from their cousin, Zachary. AJ can tread water, reducing my "I hope my kids don't drown" anxiety a smidgeon. They both have water-in-the-ears fear, so that's the next hurdle to tackle.

Saturday, we celebrated my niece, Arri's, third birthday at a party at her house in Tri-Cities. She's adorable, and her mother, Dyana, threw a very enjoyable party for both kids and adults. Even Becky and Toni were able to make it on their way to visit Becky's parents in New Mexico.

After the party, we had a bit of time to do some summer clothes shopping for Natalie before we headed home. Natalie loves to play "fashion show" with her new clothes, so I took some pictures. Here she is in one of her favorite new outfits.

I have to confess that I'm a horrible wife. We played with friends late Saturday night after we got home, and I completely forgot it was Fathers' Day on Sunday morning. Joe, very politely, asked me if I would make him pancakes for breakfast, and I told him no because we didn't have time before church!! I didn't even realize
it until we got in the car to go to church. So I made Joe a big dinner with pie and ice cream for dessert to try and make up for it, but I still feel miserable about his being abused and neglected. We also had Joe's dad and Liz's family over for dessert. Check out the strawberry pie that Nathan made...it was at least as good as it looks!

Ballet Recital

Andrea and Scott came down to support Natalie at her second ballet recital. Grandma and Grandpa Johnson made it as well. Nat got to wear a new costume and makeup; it was so exciting. The theme was Stars and Stripes Forever. The Pre-Ballet danced to the William Tell Overture. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!