There's a cute little WiTCH with a HAT

Oh how I LoVe Gardner Village. Especially in the fall. I started going to "The Mill" when Jer and I were engaged (almost 15 years ago). His mom introduced me to it and it's been my happy place ever since. The girls and I went last Saturday with my mom and Cari and there were a couple of the shops/houses for lease. I'm thinking about moving in.



I can't wait for Witchapalooza at the end of the month. There is so much witch "stuff" at the Mill - I could have spent hundreds. I will be back to get a hat.. for sure..

A DoZeN

I am surely not old enough to have an eighteen year old, but am I old enough to have a twelve year old? What does this mean? It means big boy Scouts and Young Men's and passing the Sacrament. I'm not sure I am ready for this. There is no doubt that Josh is ready and has been. He has always been ready for the next step long before it comes.

So, he is big. He does big kid things. But, for some reason, he is going backwards in maturity. He is crazy. He is a lunatic. He is a weirdo. And, at times, he is embarrassing. But, his friends laugh. So, he does it more.

I did not get one "normal" picture from this Birthday. And the gifts he got from his friends when right along with the mood... dill pickles, spam and a card game that is for smart non colorblind kids.

There is only one cake for Josh on his birthday: chocolate sheet cake. He loves it so much, he prefers one all to himself. This is the one I made and he did share with his friends. On Wednesday (his actual bday) his grandma brought him his own. That one was hands off for everyone but Josh.

The geekness spread as the night went on.. even the girls were scaring me.

I would like to think that Josh had a good birthday. I didn't see him much on his actual birthday. He started by doing Safety Patrol at school... had donuts with his class... got out of school and went right to Scouts... came home and changed and went to Young Men's (he needed to finish up with the 11 year old scouts)... and then came home and chilled for an hour before bed. He is an on the go kind of kid.

If you ask him, the highlight of his Birthday was definitely becoming a deacon and passing the Sacrament. He got his Temple recommend that day so that we can take him to do baptisms for the dead. I honestly could not be more proud of Josh and the priorities he has. He is an awesome brother, son, grandson, student, scout and friend. Love you, Josh. (p.s. Thanks for the hug.. I know it was hard, but I appreciated it).

Devil Inside

Does anyone know who this guy is?

Last Saturday (9/11), a bunch of strange people got together in South Jordan for a race.

Look at these crazy's. And they are smiling after running just to run.

Notice they all look thinner already??

He has no idea we are all screaming and cheering and taking pictures. It's all about the music in your ears that keeps you going.

Brent and Karen King, Lisa Harmon, Jer, and April = Team Devil Inside

Look how early it is! Not only do they run just to run, they get up before the sun to do it! I don't understand.

My baby's gone....

When Erin was only 2 and a half years old, I had already figured out that she was a mommy's girl and leaving me for anything was not going to be easy. She had almost 3 years of preschool because I was concerned even back then that come time for Kindergarten it was going to be difficult. But, she has completely surprised me!!! She gets up early, bathes, gets all ready and then we walk over to the school. She lines up with her class and goes right in.

Today I asked her how her first week went and she said "I love it! Kindergarten is fun!" She said she would even like to stay all day like the big kids. I'm not sure I am ready for that.

Back to School (with a little bit of Pirate Pride)

I don't have a back to school picture of Erin yet because she doesn't start until next week. But, I do have the other kids. And oh how happy Josh was to have yet another picture taken of him.


Abby and Emma lining up for class on the first day. Emma has done so well so far! 3 days in a row of staying all day. Whew. I know that sounds pathetic but it's HUGE progress after how last year ended.

This picture is for all those alumni that had to do the Pirate hook and "argh." Tasha came home from school after the first day and said she already had homework. She needed a picture of herself for one of her classes. So we took some pictures. Too fun. For someone that is a Wolverine thru and thru, I'm seein' some Pirate pride in her (maybe it's the giant C she is standing next to).

SwEeper or KeEper?

On the first day of school, the kids usually have to write a paper of some sort about what they did during the summer. Josh tells me that will be easy for him: soccer. In the past, summertime has been "off season" for Josh. But, this new team he is on doesn't ever have "off season" time. They've been doing 60 minutes of drills on their own 6 days a week, two team practices a week, two tournaments in the last 3 weeks and several scrimmages with the other USA team. What makes me laugh is that this doesn't seem to be enough for Josh. What he does during his "play" time is play soccer with his friends outside, practice shooting at the net my dad made him or plays FIFA 2010 on the PS3. He and Logan have been "working on their skills" together lately and the other day Logan brought over his Ipod touch. Josh discovered FIFA on that and insists that he now needs an Ipod touch. Oh, and I mustn't forget FIFA on Facebook.

Don't people say that too much of anything is not healthy? I absolutely feel that way - except in this case. Josh knows how to balance things. We had a 10am game Saturday in the semi-finals of the Adidas Tournament. It was an amazing game and the second half our team played like it was the World Cup. However, we lost 6 to 4. The first half, Josh played sweeper. Sweeper is the center defender. He is in charge of the defensive line. It's his job to move the line up, communicate with the other defensive players and by all means, clear the ball from the box. Well, Josh ran his guts out and had a beautiful slide in attempt to clear the ball. But, he was 1/100th of a second too late and the other team scored. Then, during the second half of the game, Josh played Keeper. This is by far his preferred position. Today was not his day. He let 3 in. Nevermind the fact that he had that many saves as well. It was the 3 that got in that haunted him all day. So (back to balancing), in order to pull himself together and clear his head, he came home and showered and then read a few chapters in Harry Potter. Can a mom complain? Really. Nothing kills a mom more than when their child gets upset over something. He had his grumpy time, but then he got on with it.

I don't often blog about my Josh. As I've said, his life consists of nothing but a whole lot of soccer. But, this summer has been full of proud mama moments for me. He deserves a post all to himself once in a while (he hates it when I blog about him).

Shush It

For those that already know, I apologize. For those that had no idea, I apologize. For everyone else - IT'S OFFICIAL! On July 29, we met with a judge at the Third District Court in Salt Lake City and finalized the adoption for Tash. We were all a little nervous - unsure of what the judge was going to say and ask. She asked each one of us if we understood what we were doing and what it meant. After hearing our 30 seconds worth of "testimony" the judge was a little teary eyed. Then, she congratulated us and sent us on our way. It has been awesome having Tash a part of our family. She has lived here for five months now, but now she is officially Natalia Marie Johnson. It's been amazing having her here, but now she honestly is part of the family! How cool is that? Welcome to the family, Tash! We love you more than words can say!