June was a month of birthdays. Mine was first. I turned 54 years old. I had several days of celebrating. On my actual birthday I woke up to flowers, presents, and treats. I had sweet and thoughtful gifts from the kids too. Birthday tributes, texts, and phone calls. I was well remembered. Tyler came home from work a little early so that we could start my birthday celebration. I really wanted some raspberry plants for my birthday. I want a raspberry patch like we had at the lake. We have tried growing raspberries two other times and they were failures. This time we have a different spot prepped and ready for them. I hope they work! I also got some more flowers to plant.
Next we went to lunch at a new Korean K-Dog place. I've wanted to try a Korean corn dog for a very long time. Finally a place opened up here in Spokane. I got the Frosted Flakes corn dog topped with spicy mayo. It was delicious! Tyler tried the fried potato corn dog with half hot dog and half cheese and topped with honey mustard. Also delicious.
But our very favorite thing was their Ube Banana Milk.
It was divine!!
I am so excited that we have a place like this in town!
We loved it.
We also did some birthday shopping downtown and went to my favorite used bookstore. I found a 1930s edition of Old Yeller for myself. I was so excited! We did some more shopping at some of my favorite vintage haunts and stopped at See's chocolates for my favorite candy. Then we explored some places that we want to kayak and paddleboard. I'm so excited to get on the water this year! Then we got my favorite Hawaiian food for dinner. It was an all around Kristin Johnson Day of Fun! It was a great day! I heard from so many friends and family and felt very loved. I even had a random Happy Birthday text from my sister Kelley. What in the world? First Jordin and now Kelley. Interesting.
Hello 54!
Then two days later I celebrated with Tyler, Reilly, and Bryn. We went to brunch at Ten/6 which is decorated like Alice in Wonderland and the food is Southern. It's incredible. Our favorite things to order are the beignets with lime curd. Heavenly! I also got Jambalaya which I love!
We had so much fun there! I was madly texting my friends and making plans to come again!
Then we met up with Reilly later that afternoon to go to the movies. We saw The Devil Wears Prada Two. A few days earlier we had a rewatch of The Devil Wears Prada One and I'm glad we did. It made this movie so much more fun to watch! It turned out to be a very fun birthday spread out over several days and plans were made with friends too. I had high hopes of good weather and some boating but it was not to be this year but it was still a great celebration for my 54th year!
That same weekend Tyler and I also attended Farm Chicks as shoppers. It is the last year of this vintage show. It had a 24 year run and it's time. Having attended the very first Farm Chicks event with my mom and then being a vendor there for most of those years it felt appropriate to be there for its swan song. We had a great time and I met up with several groups of friends including some of my old vendor friends. It was good closure and we had fun. My sisters weren't vendors there this year and that added to my enjoyment of the event. We can fully close the book on this now.
The same day that we went to Farm Chicks we also attended the grad party for my cousin's son Gavin. It was fun to meet up with extended family; many of whom we had just seen in Oregon for Addie's wedding. The weather was awful but the company was good. Gavin is a cute kid with a bright future ahead of him. We are deep in grad party and wedding season. Our fridge is covered in invitations. It has been fun this month to attend parties and to celebrate so many kids that we love!
Bryn had her end of the year music department awards concert. She did a fantastic job! I love hearing her play the cello.
She also was elected to be the PR person in HOSA and was happy about that. Her preschool kids had their graduation and Bryn loved participating in that too. She was worried about missing her preschool students but thankfully a lot of them come to the pool and have been so excited to see Bryn there. She has also seen some of the little kids that she teaches gymnastics to at the pool also. So fun!
The missionaries came over one night and hung out with us. Our mission is being split and a new mission has been created...The Coeur d' Alene, Idaho Mission. Our missionaries didn't know if they were going to be pulled from the Spokane mission to the CDA mission. Both ended up staying. They said that we lost about 75 missionaries to the CDA mission. It's pretty exciting though that a new mission has been created in our area.
The Last Day of School
Bryn went on her YW High Adventure. They went white water rafting, rode bikes on the Hiawatha trail, and then did another 20 mile bike ride on the Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes.
Bryn and her best friend Micah.
Father's Day
Tyler requested his usual Father's Day. He didn't want to do anything. LOL. He wanted me to make him a simple hot breakfast and he wanted to do some projects around the house. The kids were all super sweet to him. They called, texted, and sent fun gifts. He felt quite loved. The missionaries stopped by with cookies for Tyler. It was super sweet that they wanted to wish him a Happy Father's Day too. Then he just wanted to watch the movie Project Hail Mary and for me to make homemade spring rolls with peanut sauce for his dinner. The man is easy to please. He is such a good husband, father, and grandfather! Hunter's Father's Day requests always sound quite a bit like Tyler's LOL. Kameron and Erin went over to Ailey and Luke's house on Father's Day and Luke used his new smoker to make ribs for everyone.
Reilly had a rather hard month. Thankfully, Karson continues to do well with his anemia. His doctor added vitamins C and D to his prescription iron drops. He is doing well with his speech therapy too. But his doctor wanted him evaluated for autism. He was diagnosed on the spectrum. He was given a referral for some different kinds of therapy. That was hard to hear but it is helpful in getting him the help that he needs. While Karson has had different appointments I've gotten to hang out with the twins and Karson too when he is done. I love these grandkids so much!
Reilly is such a good mom! These kids are so lucky to have her as a mother!
Kameron and Erin and baby are doing well. They had a bit of a scare. Erin found out that she carries the cystic fibrosis gene. Kameron had to get tested to make sure that he wasn't a carrier too. Thankfully he isn't. They also did their big anatomy scan and the baby looks great! I'm so glad. We are looking forward to this little girl's arrival!
Kam and Erin went on a babymoon vacation this month. They did another cruise. They love cruising and really have the system down. The next time we do a cruise we are going with them!
Erin is glowing!
I'm so glad that they were able to go and had such a fun time!
Ailey, Luke, and Tate are doing great too! Tate is now three months old. He is chunking out and is so adorable!
Tate smiles and coos and is fun to FaceTime. He really interacts now. It is darling!
Tyler and I stuck to our goal and went to the temple this month. It's true what people say...the more you go...the more you want to go.
We put the boat in for the first time this summer. It felt fantastic! I only got to go boating once last year and it was the world's shortest and slowest boat ride. My arm couldn't handle it. The only time we even put the boat in last year was our week at the lake so I was so excited to go boating this year. The weather has NOT been cooperative but we wanted to run the boat and makes sure everything was working properly before all the kids got here.
Tyler took a day off of work and he, Bryn, and I went boating on *my* lake. The lake I grew up on. It was fun and I had no sad feelings. I guess that is because I truly had closure. I would love to have a lake house but I don't want that one. Even boating by it and seeing new people out on the dock didn't make me feel sad or anything. That chapter of my life is closed. But we still had so much fun on *our* lake despite it being so much smaller than we are used to now. We visited Mom's cove and floated flowers for her.
The minute we got there our old friend Harold the Heron flew right on over and hung out with us the entire time we were there.
Bryn and I soaking up that sunshine. Heavenly!
Bryn also did bunch of wakeboarding runs! She's still got it. She popped right up and can ride forever!
There were barely any boats on the lake so she could practice jumping the wake. I was really tempted to wakeboard but I also have a super irrational fear of hurting my arm again. I cannot take another summer like last summer.
The Extended Johnson Family Reunion
Day One
The next day all of the Utah kids (and grandkid) came to town. Well everyone except for Luke who couldn't take time off of work. It was so fun to have them here! Especially this little guy...
It was Tate's first visit to Lovey and Pop's house.
Kam, Erin, Ailey, and Tate all flew in together. Tate did great on the plane. I was glad that Ailey had Kam and Erin there to help her if she needed it. The day they got here was our only truly nice day weather-wise. The sun was shining and we ate out on our deck and visited. It was wonderful to have them all here.
Day Two
It was Ailey's 22nd Birthday! It was fun to have her home for her birthday. Luke celebrated with her before she left too. For her birthday she wanted to go boating and we were happy to oblige. Before we left for the lake though it was my morning to watch the twins while Karson went to his therapy. Erin, Ailey, and Tate came with me. We had so much fun playing with the twins and getting those cousins together. When Karson saw Tate he came right over and kissed him on the head. It was so sweet!
Tate makes the twins seem so big!
After watching the twins we ran a few quick errands and then headed home to get the guys and the boat. We went back out to Twin Lakes (our lake) and it was fun for the kids. Kameron hadn't been on the water on Twin Lakes since before his mission. We had a fun time!
Tate was more excited about boating than it looks in the above picture! Ha ha!
We dipped his toes in Twin Lakes and *baptized* him a child of the lake. He's an official Ellersick now. A 6th generation Ellersick swimming/dipping in Twin Lakes.
Such a cute boater baby!
We swam and the kids wake boarded. They did fantastic!
The sun came in and out from behind the clouds. This was over us at one point. Very cool!
Tate was the star of the show. Everyone wanted a snuggle with Tatertot! It was fun bringing him to a place with so much family history and taking him to my mom's cove to say hello. It was fun to show Erin the lake too and give her the lake tour.
While we were at the lake...Tyler's mom and sister arrived in CDA. They were renting an Airbnb there. After we were done boating, we went over there to see them. They were excited to meet Tate for the first time. Judie got to meet Erin for the first time too.
Tate and Great-Grandma Judie.
Tate and Great-Aunt Lori.
We celebrated Ailey's birthday!
We stayed until around 9pm. Judie was looking pretty tired and ready for bed by then. It was good to see them and Judie enjoyed meeting her new great-grandson and granddaughter-in-law.
Tate getting ready for bed in his sleep sack. Beverly was very curious and concerned about this contraption. LOL.
Day 3
The weather was terrible. Gloomy and cold. Not the kind of weather that we were hoping for but we made the best of it. Bryn had to work but the rest of us went shopping. We found so many cute baby clothes for Kam and Erin's baby. We took Erin to our favorite baby consignment shop. They had some great things! Lovey and Pops even got a bumbo for our house and one for Kameron and Erin. It's so funny that all of the baby equipment and toys that we just cleared out of our house are all coming back in again. It's so fun though!
After that we headed back to CDA to spend time with Judie and Lori. Reilly, Hunter, and the kids came over too. Judie was so excited to meet Reilly's kids. She loved having all her grandkids and great-grands there. I brought everything to make dinner there and let her enjoy her time with the kids.
That's the TRIPLE DOOZY!
There were so many cute grandbabies to snuggle.
It was fun having all the kids together! Most nights we stayed up late talking with one or more of the kids. Tyler and I love these late night chats. And...babies in pajamas. It's the best!
Day Four
We absolutely loved waking up to this cute face!
Today was Judie's 82nd Birthday and the reason for their visit. Judie wanted to do her birthday celebration that afternoon so we all went to CDA and bummed around for awhile. We went to the CDA resort and got fries and gooeys.
The weather was pretty gray and blustery but we still did a little shopping downtown and walked on the boardwalk.
We did all the things.
Then it was time to celebrate Judie's birthday. We met Reilly, Hunter, and the kids at Judie's Airbnb. We ordered pizza for everyone. Judie wanted to take grandkid pics and 4 generation pictures.
Judie and her grandkids.
Judie with her grandkids and great-grandkids.
Four generations with Ailey.
4 Generations with Reilly.
Almost 4 Generations with Kameron. LOL.
The kids asked Judie questions about her life and filmed her responses. They were *interesting* to say the least. Did I at times feel petty and wished that this was my mom instead? Yes. My mom was the most involved and loving grandma who 1000 % deserved to know all of these new grandbabies and fun in-laws and taking these pictures hurt my heart a bit. Terrible to say but true.
The birthday girls of the week.
It was so cute seeing the little cousins play together and be interested in each other.
Judie had a good birthday celebration. Reilly, Hunter, and the kids headed home that evening and the rest of us had a game night at our house. Kameron and Erin taught us to play a fun new game called Codenames. Hilarious! I am laughing just thinking about it. "Toronto"..."Pumpkin." LOL.
Day Five
The weather was garbage yet again. I am so glad that we got at least one boating day in. Judie wanted to go to church with us so Lori drove her to Spokane and then hung out at our house while we all went to church. Our ward is always excited when the kids come to town and people were excited to meet Tate.
Our church is early...9am...so after church we drove back to CDA and had brunch together. Reilly and the babies came over. Karson wasn't feeling great so Hunter kept him at home. Tyler made crepes. The only downside is that Judie is gluten intolerant so we made gluten-free crepes for everyone and they were horrible (to us) but I think that Judie liked them. Her gluten-free birthday cake wasn't good either but I am glad that those options exist for the people who need them. The rest of us were really glad to be able to eat gluten. Or as Bryn put it..."I am gluten dependent!" LOL.
The kids were scheduled to fly back to Utah that evening so we bid Lori and Judie goodbye. Kam and Erin wanted to stop at Zip's for huckleberry shakes on the way home. Reilly and the twins came back to our house to hang out with everyone until it was time for the kids to leave. We just put all the babies on the floor and watched them play. Who needs more entertainment than that?!
Kam was working on homework whenever he could. He graduates from college in December. We are so proud of him for working so hard and taking a full load of classes while working full time. Go Roni!
All too soon it was time to take the kids to the airport. Tyler, Bryn, and I saw them off. I hate that part. It is always hard for Reilly and Bryn when the kids leave. I know that Reilly loves having them here and having siblings who are in the same stage of life as she is and Bryn really hates being the last one at home. I get it. It's hard for me and Tyler when they leave too. Thankfully most of the Johnson crew will be reconvening in Utah in a few weeks for Erin's baby shower.
The kids had a safe and uneventful flight home and Luke was waiting at the airport to pick them all up. Judie and Lori left early the next morning and made it home safely. They had so much fun with all the kids. Judie said that it was the best birthday that she ever had. The next day the house was TOO quiet. No babies in jammies early in the morning. No bustling around. No waiting to get into the bathroom. No chatting in the living room. It's rough. It takes about 24 hours to readjust and then life feels normal again. But that readjustment day sucks. I deep cleaned, listened to my audiobook, and got outside to walk off my funk. It helped. Reilly and family were all feeling sick so we had pizza delivered to them so that Reilly didn't have to cook or go to the store. Thankfully none of the rest of us got whatever they had.
In some sad news another Springdell parent passed away. This time it was Mrs. McGown. Naomi told me the news. Boy do I have some funny memories of Mrs. McGown! The wearing of her infamous bathrobe even made it into her obituary. Naomi and I were laughing!! My mom would've gotten such a kick out of that. We are down to only maybe 5 dell parents left. We need to protect Keith and Jerri/Marc and Ruth/Georgia at all costs! The dell parents literally parented all of us and I am so grateful for each and every quirky one of them!
June was a busy and fun month. Onto July!
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