November

November

November was packed with all kinds of things. A trip to Montana, a big Christmas show, Reilly's birthday, Kameron's birthday, and Thanksgiving. The month flew by.

First up...Two birthdays. Both were rather momentous:

This girl turned TWENTY!! Wow...that really gave me pause. I have a 20 year old. So very weird to type let alone articulate. I remember the day that this picture was taken very clearly. I took Reilly to the South Towne Mall in Salt Lake to Kiddie Kandids to have her pictures taken. She was super drooly because she was teething so she had to wear a bib while in the car and in her stroller so that she didn't get her little red velvet Gap dress all wet. She was not a fan of that bib. She was not happy to be wearing it. Unfortunately we had a VERY LONG wait. By the time that it was Reilly's turn to get her pictures taken...two hours later...I had done multiple loops around the mall with her in the stroller, she had soaked through two diapers, and her second pair of tights. She had eaten all the cheerios in the diaper bag and we hadn't brought a bottle. We had also gone through two drool bibs. Neither of us were in a pleasant mood by the time it was her turn. The photographer had all kinds of ideas for her pictures. She wanted to put her in a flower pot, (no), put her in a trunk with a feather boa and pearls (nope), a cooking pot with a chef's hat? (never). The photographer was rather disappointed and put out that I didn't want a crazy background or any silly props. I said that I just wanted a plain white background but I allowed her to put those white pillars down for "texture"as she called it. I also didn't want Reilly's pictures made into stickers, a mouse pad, or put onto a coffee cup. Clearly I was not the typical Kiddie Kandids customer. When the time came for Reilly to get her pictures taken she came through like a champ. Even though she was tired and hungry and fussy she smiled and posed on cue. Just like now!! :) Reilly was a fun and happy baby. She loved to smile and interact with people. She was curious and interesting and always learning. She also had a feisty streak a mile long. 20 years later and not much has changed. Tyler and I love this girl dearly. She has made our lives interesting in all kinds of ways and continues to do so. She is funny and independent and smart and, yes, still feisty.

I found this picture in Reilly's baby book and about died laughing. I had to immediately text it to Tyler and Reilly. Our life together in a nutshell. Let's hope her 20th birthday was better than her 1st!! Ha Ha!!

Reilly did have a great birthday. Her work celebrated her with donuts and a little party and after work she went out to dinner with her friends and roommates. They came back to her apartment and had a party with cake and presents. Our big care package actually arrived on her birthday. When we finally were able to facetime with her that night she was glowing with joy and said that it was a great birthday and that it was like her birthdays at home. Yay!

She also had a big family birthday party that weekend at Kirk and Meki's house complete with her favorite birthday dinner, birthday pie, presents, and a game night. Like I said in my previous post...Kirk and Meki have really given her a home away from home. Plus...if it weren't for Meki I would have absolutely zero birthday pictures. Yay for this one!

Happy 20th Birthday Ry-Pie!!

This cute boy turned SIXTEEN!! How?! That old maxim is very true: the days are long but the years are short. Kameron is already 16. This month of having kids turn 16 and 20 gave me a big dose of reality. My babies are growing up and it feels like it is at warp speed. At the same time it is so fun to see them become these amazing and interesting people. But it does make me want to hug them tight and smother them with kisses.

Like I said in a previous post, Kameron's birthday was the day we left for Montana. We celebrated him while we were there and then again the next week. He just wanted to hang out with his friends and then have a family dinner. Done.

I brought him his fast food birthday lunch to school one day. His order this year was a huge bag of food from Taco Bell. Ha ha!

His birthday dinner requests were: street tacos, cherry pie, and cherry Pepsi. We celebrated Kameron in grand style. His little sisters requested a spanking machine for him. They were quite gleeful to get in 16 whaps on their big brother and he was a great sport! We also had to measure him and the boy is taller than me now by an inch. He is 5'10. Kameron is still shorter than his dad but I don't think for much longer. Tyler is 6'1. We had a hilarious night and enjoyed every minute. We even got him to do the usual birthday pose. #miracle

You are never too old for birthday kisses from your parents!!

When I asked him what he was most looking forward to now that he was 16 he busted out with "dating!!" I thought for sure he would say driving!! Guess I was wrong. :)  I think realizing how fast Reilly grew up and headed out into the world makes Tyler and I want to hold onto Kameron even tighter. Kam is Tyler's right hand man and they have a special bond being "the men" of the family. I just look at Kameron's face and my eyes fill with tears because I can see the man that he is becoming. Right now he is a "man-boy" as we call him. He is just on the cusp. I look at him once and see the little mischievous boy I love so dearly and then I quickly glance back at him again and see the man he will be. It is bittersweet. Somehow it is striking me more poignantly with Kameron than it did with Reilly. Maybe it's easier to see both the past and the present at the same time on a boy's face than it is on a girl's. Or maybe I am just a more seasoned mother now and see the signs more clearly. I'll say it again...motherhood isn't for the faint of heart. This rearing and launching of children can rip your heart out but it is truly the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. Tyler and I love this boy of ours so very much!! He is smart and savvy. He makes us laugh. He is full of integrity and honor. We couldn't ask for more in a son.

Happy 16th Birthday Kamers!!

Kameron and Tyler both advanced in the priesthood this month. Tyler was ordained a High Priest and Kameron was ordained a Priest. I love that they both honor their priesthood and take it very seriously. They both have a great sense of duty and service to others and to their Father in Heaven. They make me extremely proud to be a Johnson.

We had a fun day downtown celebrating the 5th Anniversary of our very favorite place Sweet Frostings Bake Shop. We met the owners, Judy and Sally, years ago at a vintage show when they were the food vendors. They were incredible. We have enjoyed watching as they opened one bake shop, then two, and now soon to open a third. We have delighted in their success. Judy and Sally make Sweet Frostings such a great place. I love seeing their kids work there and their husbands running cupcakes and cakes in the van and I especially love seeing the hard work and dedication of these two super talented women pay off. I love them both dearly.

It is Ailey's absolute dream to work there one day. Judy and Sally are always so encouraging and supportive to her. They are wonderful examples and role models. It is so cool to have such inspiring friends and to celebrate their success.

They had this darling vintage trailer/photo booth out front.

We also drove down to Rockford, WA on Saturday morning to attend my friend Teresa's holiday open house at Hurd Mercantile. It is one of my favorite stores. Rockford is about 15-20 minutes away and well worth the drive. The displays were inspiring and we found some great Christmas gifts.

They also make the world's best hot chocolate!!

Kameron's high school wind ensemble put on a free Veteran's Day Concert at the Fox Theater. It was incredibly moving. They had service men and women from all branches of the military. They had speakers from each branch who talked about their particular branch and their own service and tours of duty. I was moved to tears on multiple occasions. After each speaker the wind ensemble would play the service song from that branch and the veterans in the audience from that particular branch would stand. It was very inspiring. The night ended with an awesome rendition of the Stars and Stripes Forever. It was a neat experience to see and feel that theater overflowing with gratitude for our country and those who defend it. This concert was a few nights before the election and it really touched my pre-election jaded heart. It was a wonderful and unforgettable evening.

In 6th grade Ailey's teacher, Mrs. Sellend a great patriot, taught her students all the military service songs and Ailey was belting them out with pride. I loved it! It was a great night for our entire family and community.

We got our first snow.

Now that XC is over Kam is back at the gym and sometimes we even get to go together!

My mom got a new puppy... Finn.

He is absolutely adorable and everyone loves him. He is super chill and so cuddly.

We have gotten to dog sit him twice already and the kids have loved every minute of it. I love that we can get all of our dog love in and then send him on his way. Perfect.

Bryn brought home a ton of extremely large art projects. Check out the size of those scarecrows!! They were only one of many large projects. What/Where are you suppose to do/put/store those?

For your viewing pleasure:

Kameron got his Learners Permit and started Drivers Ed. Sheesh...trying to fit 6 weeks of that 3x a week and two days of driving with an instructor per week into his busy schedule has been a nightmare. This summer he had week long camps of some sort every month...one month he had two. So that didn't work. You can only miss three days or you have to take it again. It is $500 might I add. (Remember the joy of having it as a class at school? I learned to drive from the baseball coach at our school. I think he did a pretty good job!!) Then once school started he had XC nearly every night. We finally crammed it in after Thanksgiving and it goes until January.

We also bought 4 new tires and paid for an expensive plumbing repair. We had a pipe break under our house in the crawl space and water from our kitchen sink was leaking into the crawl space. It was disgusting and expensive. Tyler had multiple doctor appointments just for check ups. Everyone got horrible colds that lasted forever.

This may have been one of the highlights. Tyler and I finished ALL OF OUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was brutal. We started early in the morning and ended late late that night. But it has been so worth it. We did this by accident last year. After the hellish nightmare that was the wind storm when the power came back on we had to get out of our house. We were going stir crazy. We ended up doing all of our Christmas shopping at the end of November and were very pleasantly surprised at how much nicer the holidays were and how much more we could feel the Christmas spirit. So, we decided to do it again.

On another note...
This was the best (said dripping with sarcasm). OR...actually the worst. I could've rung Reilly's neck!! She decided without telling her parents or even consulting with us that she was going to get her wisdom teeth removed. So she did and told us after the fact. YEAH...YOU READ THAT RIGHT!! Tyler and I were furious.

The back story is that she has been complaining about her wisdom teeth since her senior year of high school. At every dental appointment the dentist has shown her the x-rays and informed her that she HAS ROOM in her mouth for them and to let them come in. She has never cared for that answer and would bring it up at every dental appointment. He would always tell her...if you have room in your mouth...which you do...just leave them. He told her how to deal with the discomfort and prescribed tooth gel etc for when a tooth was coming in. By graduation half of her wisdom teeth were in. Then she headed off to school in Provo and the other ones started coming in. She came home in December and saw her dentist again. He told her the same thing that he has always told her. That they are almost all in and to just leave them alone. When she went back to Utah after the holidays she picked out a local dentist and made an appointment with him. He took more x-rays and told her the exact same thing as her dentist in Spokane.  (She paid for that appointment herself.) She didn't like that answer either so she found an oral surgeon in Provo, had a consultation, scheduled an appointment for her surgery, arranged time off from work, arranged for her roommates to drive her and to take care of her, paid for it herself, and informed us two days after it occurred. What the #$%^?!  Needless to say, it turned out to be much bigger deal than she anticipated. She called home one night in agony and wishing that she had listened to us. What is super annoying is that she had an appointment scheduled with her dentist here in Spokane and if her teeth were still bothering her we had time set aside...over the 15 days that she will be here...to have them removed. Her response was that she wanted to enjoy the holidays. Really??!! See what I mean about life being never dull with her??? But this is the kid who in 3rd grade extracted 4 of her own teeth (a couple that weren't even loose) and when I heard a crash I found her passed out on the bathroom floor because she wanted money from the tooth fairy. I should post the video that her roommates took of her coming back from her procedure where she talks about wanting to go home and watch BARNEY as pay back!! Good grief.

And...that was our November!!