A Green Thumb!

Or, should I say an ORANGE thumb? I took Erin with me to WalMart the other day to get some potting soil for the back yard. We planted a few tomato plants last week and I wanted to fill in the rest with flowers. So, since Erin was with me, we came home with all orange flowers for the back yard! It's funny because I find myself loving orange now too. What 3 year old loves orange? Mine. And she loved it all the same when she was two. She worked so hard to get our yard looking great for the summer. She had no idea I was taking pictures. In fact, she didn't know I was even outside with her. She was very busy placing all her new flowers where she wanted them planted. It was very serious stuff. Man, I love her!

Happy Birthday, Mom and Lyns!

May 26th is my mom's birthday and twenty five years ago, my little sister was born on the same day! I wanted to say "HAPPY DAY" to both of them. Mom and Dad have been out of town (playing like people get to play when they are empty nester's - no jealous feelings here!). And, often their day lands on Memorial Day, as it did this year. So, even though mom was gone, we had Lynsee, Devin and Cari come over for a birthday bbq. Being the holiday, everyone had the day off work and school. Good times! It rained all day and was kind of cold. We ended up eating inside and then playing UNO and Guitar Hero. It was rather entertaining, none the less. We called mom later and sang Happy Birthday over the phone. It was pretty cute because Erin sang her heart out. She loves grandma B more than anything and she loves the Birthday song! Here's to another awesome year to mom and Lyns!

A New Life

Welcome, Cameron Steven Johnson! Our baby cousin was born on Monday, May 18, 2008. He is so precious. I took the kids over to see him yesterday and now that is all they talk about. Erin asks about every five minutes if we can go see him again. Congratulations to Ben, Stephanie and Noah. He is beautiful!

Preschool Graduation

Erin started preschool in February this year at Miss Katie's. She was only a part of the class for a few months, but it was amazing to see her change in so little time. She still has two more years before kindergarten so she will be returning in the fall to Miss Katie's Preschool. So, she didn't actually graduate, but she participated along with all the kids. Erin is very much a Mommy's girl. She and I get to spend all day together during the weeks while the big kids are at school and dad is at work. We love our time together! She makes me not want any more kids because she loves being my baby. As much as I want her to stay little forever, I love to see her learn and grow. Next year, her cousin Noah, will be in her class at Miss Katie's. She is so excited! Thanks again to Katie Peterson! We love you!

Disneyland Vacation 2008

I apologize if my slide shows are a bit much! I can't help it. I LOVE DISNEYLAND! I got a new camera (nothing special, just a new digital) with a 2gb memory card. So, knowing that I had like 1400 pictures available on my camera, I went nuts. Not that I don't anyway. In eight days, I took 336 photos! Wow! Isn't that amazing? I love watching the slide shows over and over again. It was such a great vacation. We went with my brother, Joel, and his family. It was great because our kids are all the best of friends (as are us big kids, too). One of the funnest things about our trip was how it all started! The kids didn't know when we were leaving. They all knew a Disneyland Vacation was coming up, but they had no idea when. We played it up for a few months; making them earn spending money, slowly buying things for the trip (stroller, cooler, etc), and dragging out the packing process so it wasn't too obvious. On Friday, May 2, Jamie and I checked the kids out of school early and then we met in South Jordan to carpool down. The adrenaline didn't wear off for a long while. It was great! They were all so excited! I didn't think we would be able to pull it off. Josh is very observant and too smart for his own good. I thought he'd figure it out. But, he didn't.

This trip was the longest vacation we have had as a family. It's our third time to Disneyland, but we have never stayed as long as we did this time. We got to see so much. Five days in the Parks, Sea World, the beach, Crab Cooker, and lots of walking. I love California. It was a little cooler there than we had hoped for, but it was nice to not have it so hot on our Park days.

So now that we are home, we can't help but start planning our next Disney Vacation! We love it. Maybe next time we will go to Florida!

Soccer Season

I love soccer season! And, wow! Look at that keeper! So Josh has decided to go for it! He has tested the keeper position a little in the past, but was always so good offensively that he never got to stay in the keeper box for the whole game. This season provided many opportunities for him to prove his talent defensively. Though I didn't keep track, I think the average saves per game so far is like 28! No U9 goal keeper should have to have that many saves every game! Where are the defensive players? Anyway, that's another story. Bottom line, Josh is the keeper for West United this year and is loving it. And, as long as the weather isn't horrible (which it is most of the time), I love watching him play.

GETTING ORGANIZED!

So, this is a picture of my pantry before my organizing mood hit. A few weeks ago, I attended one of Jamie's organizing lectures. She happened to be in Magna one night for an Enrichment night. I have heard her speak several times, but this time when I went, I was in the middle of a project. With notebook in hand, I listened again, and learned how to tackle the pantry. It has taken a while to call it "complete" but I did it! And, can I tell you how great it feels? The whole family has benefited from having things organized. I just wish the rest of my house was done. I have been working on each room, one at a time, getting things in place. It feels so good to give everything a name and a home. Hopefully, sooner than later, I will be able to post pictures of my next "completed" projects. For now, I wanted to share with you some pictures of the details in the pantry. Below are several photos.