July 2022
Reunited and it feels so good!! July was an incredibly exciting month for the Johnsons! Two days after we returned home from our trip...Kameron came home! That same day Reilly announced that she was pregnant with our first grandchild! Are you kidding me?! Our excitement and joy were off the charts!
Kameron returned home from his two year mission to Minnesota on July 7th. His plane arrived in Spokane at 1pm. We were counting down the minutes! I could not wait to hug him! We were all at the airport early. Reilly and Hunter had been at Flathead Lake over the 4th of July and drove from Montana to Spokane early that morning to get to the airport on time. Ailey and Bryn made some cute welcome home signs.
Anxiously awaiting his plane to arrive!
Thank goodness his plane was on time. Of course he was one of the last people off of the plane. A family passed by us and the dad stopped me and said, "Don't worry, Mom! He's coming! I offered to buy him lunch in the Minneapolis airport but he thanked me and said that he was too excited and nervous to eat!" I thanked this man for his kindness to Kameron. I kept my eyes fixed on a crowd of passengers heading into the baggage area.
And then there he was!! His big grin as he saw us had me bawling my eyes out as I made a beeline for my boy! That was one of the best hugs of my life! He looked great! Taller and more filled out. He left a boy and returned a man. Hunter was our videographer and I'm ugly crying through out the whole thing but I love it so much!
It felt like a million bucks to have our family all together again!!
It was so hard to believe that he was real!! That's what he kept saying to us too!
Everyone was starving so we headed to the nearest restaurant, The Rusty Moose, for lunch. What a crazy meal that was! Everyone talking at once...laughing...crying...it was loud and fun and absolute perfection!
When we got home Reilly and Hunter said that they had a gift for Kameron. He sat on the couch and they handed him a gift bag. He pulled out a giant bag of Jolly Ranchers (his favorite candy) and then he pulled out a blue baby onesie.
No one understood the significance (except Ailey who was in the know). I thought they were being facetious and telling him that it was time to get married and start a family... the alleged *duties* of a return missionary.
Then he pulled out a picture of the ultrasound!
It finally dawned on us what the significance was and the entire room erupted in NO WAYS and YOU'RE PREGNANT screams!! We were all shocked and elated and so excited that we could barely stand it! More crying my eyes out!
Reilly and Hunter had us go out on the deck for the gender revel. A BOY! I was jumping up and down and screaming and crying with joy! I kept saying..."This is the best day of my life!!" Kam was home, our family was reunited, and another little one will be joining us in February! Tyler and I couldn't be HAPPIER!! We have some great videos of this perfect day!
Crying some serious tears of joy!!
This was such great news! Reilly and Hunter wanted to wait until Kameron got home so that they could tell us all together. Ailey overheard something prior and confronted them a few weeks ago. They asked her to keep their secret until Kameron got home. Our family has taken so many hits in the last few years that this is such incredibly welcome and happy news! We are absolutely elated!!
After all of that goodness, Ailey and Bryn went with Reilly and Hunter to Hunter's parents house to tell them the good news and Tyler, Kameron, and I headed to the Stake Center to meet with the Stake President so that Kam could get released. He met with the Stake President for a few minutes and then we all met together. When we met together, Kameron was minus his missionary tags. He said that it was harder than he thought it would be to take them off. We talked for about 20 minutes and then that was it! Kam was back in the real world. LOL. Wow! What an experience the past two years have been for all of us! It's been incredible.
What did Kameron want to do after being released as a missionary? He wanted to go home and change out of his suit and into normal clothes IMMEDIATELY. Then he and Tyler drove directly to the Apple Store so that he could get a new phone! Time to plug back in.
That night Reilly and Hunter came back over and we had a big family dinner. Kameron requested his favorite meal of street tacos and Brazilian limeades. Done! My heart rejoiced in seeing all of our family back in their appointed seats around the table. I was weepy all day!
After Reilly and Hunter left, Tyler, the girls, and I all hung out with Kameron as he unpacked and went through all of his clothes that he had stored while on his mission. Ailey and Bryn were harsh critics and informed him that all of his old clothes were lame and that he needed a new wardrobe STAT! Ailey told him that she was going to take him clothes shopping the next day!! We all hung out in Kameron's room talking and laughing until super late. I slept the best that I have in the last two years! Our boy was home!!
The next few weeks were a blur. It was just so nice to have everyone home...including Reilly...who came over almost every night. It felt great! Plus I loved seeing sights like these:
Kam just hanging out around the house.
Impromptu sibling hangouts and chats.
Tyler and Kameron working on house projects together.
Beverly was very happy to have her boy back home!
Kam's good friend Nick got back from his mission two days before Kameron got home. These boys have grown up together...did home MTC together...and flew out one day apart from each other. Both boys had their welcome homes the same day. Kam's in the morning and Nick's that afternoon. I MARVEL at the growth (in all aspects) that these boys (now men) had during their two year missions! It was incredible to see! That special Sunday was a wonderful day as these two boys were celebrated and welcomed home with open arms by people who have known and loved them their entire lives.
A slightly blurry picture of Kameron reporting on his mission with Tyler sitting on the stand in his official capacity. He is looking at his son with such love!
One of the first things that Kameron did after coming home was drive out to the lake. He literally got up the next morning and drove out. We sold the lake house while Kameron was on his mission. He knew it was going to happen and he knew that the last time he was at the lake before his mission would most likely be his last official time out there. Still. He needed some closure.
He took some pictures:
The place looks good. I haven't gone out there yet. As I type this, trying to catch up on an incredibly busy summer, it has been well over a year since I was last out at the lake. I'm not avoiding it but I just haven't felt compelled to go. Last August a chapter of my life closed. It felt good to have that chapter finally close. Someday I'll go...maybe next month...maybe next year. Who knows? But since I haven't been out there (nor has Kirk) it made both of us happy to see how nice and well-maintained the property has remained. It was even decorated just like my mom would decorate it for July. That made me smile. The owner honored his word and all of the historical stuff about my family remains. That was nice to see too.
Just because we haven't gone to "our" lake doesn't mean our family hasn't been at our other favorite lakes! The first lake day, of many, happened two days after Kam's return! That boy needed to get into some lake water STAT! Reilly joined us on an awesome day of boating and floating! LOL.
Lakey and loving it! Ha ha! Ailey had to work that day so she missed out.
Reilly found another one of those crazy giant parrots! Our third.
They don't last long. Kameron quickly claimed it! Hilarity ensued.
We had such a fun day!!
Ailey was busy and gone most of the month of July so most of the pictures I have of Ailey from July look like this:
Hundreds of selfies of her that I find on my phone.
She thinks this is absolutely hilarious.
Ailey started a new job working at Rite-Aid. She worked a lot of hours this month and made good money. She also had an incredibly scary thing happen. The Rite-Aid that she works at is literally 10 minutes from our house and in a safe area. One day when she was working a man came up to her co-worker who was stocking shelves. He said that he was Ailey's dad and asked her co-worker what time Ailey got off work because he was picking her up. The co-worker stupidly told the man when Ailey got off. A little later the co-worker said to Ailey that her dad was picking her up after work. Ailey was surprised and said, "No he isn't. I drove." Ailey's manager overheard this conversation and immediately talked to Ailey and then she called the police. The police came and arrested the guy who was loitering around outside. Ailey described him as looking normal, mid-50s, slightly graying hair. He had come in a few times before to buy things and was "nice." The police wouldn't let Ailey leave until they had checked her car and made sure that there weren't any kind of tracking tags on it. Terrifying. The world that we live in is so scary. Kids have to be on alert all the time. Needless to say the co-worker that relayed the information to him got in serious trouble. A security guard was hired to keep an eye on that store and the one next to it. Thank goodness Ailey didn't have anything weird happen after that!!
Ailey and Kameron started going to the YSA ward together. They both hate it but they go. So there's that. So now it's just me and Brynnie again in our pew with Tyler up on the stand.
Bryn had a fun month hanging out with all of her siblings and doing things with her friends. She had volleyball camp two days a week all month. She absolutely LOVED it! She did a lot of swimming at the pool and the aquatics center. She hung out at the mall. She went on a lot of DQ runs with Kameron! Kameron took Bryn driving a few times at the middle school and she's good! I can't believe that we are going to be without a third driver for 3 years!! Ugh. At least she will be a good one when she finally gets to *legally* drive!
They are two peas in a pod!
Kameron got the pleasure of speaking in multiple wards this month. He made the rounds with the stake president and one of the high councilors. Bryn and I followed him around to the various wards and listened to him speak. He did such a great job! Kameron also had all kinds of appointments that needed to be taken care of while he was home. He opened a new banking/checking account. He had his first doctor check-up in two years. He has officially graduated from the pediatrician. LOL. He went to the dentist and got two cavities filled. He had a dermatology appointment. He renewed his license at the DMV. All the fun stuff! He reconnected with some of his high school friends and that was fun! It was just so enjoyable having him around doing normal things!! Hanging out and chatting with me...spending time with his sisters...hanging out with his dad. I loved it so much! Kameron made a good effort all month to spend one-on-one time with each of his sisters. They all needed it and enjoyed it!
It was so fun to do things as a WHOLE family once again. Family dinners, game nights, dinners out, night swims, walks, movie nights. We all stayed up way too late every night. We ate too many treats. Kam would make everyone milkshakes at 10 pm or Ailey would whip up some brownies late at night! Summer is the best!
Reilly and I had a Mother/Daughter date which was really fun! Reilly planned out all of our activities and we had a blast! We went to brunch at my favorite breakfast place in Kendall Yards. Then we had a day of shopping. We also went to the South Perry Street Fair which was fun! We grabbed some dinner there!
After that we went to the movies and saw Where the Crawdads Sing which was excellent!! We stopped in and saw Ailey at work that night. It was so fun to spend a whole day with Reilly! I love that she wanted to plan a day of fun for the two of us! It was the best!
Tyler had his regular appointment with his cardiologist. He wants Tyler to stay on his blood thinners for another year. Tyler and I also got our second COVID booster shots. Tyler did fine. I woke up the next day with a low grade fever and chills but felt better once I had some Tylenol on board. Nothing too dramatic or lingering.
One night Tyler, Kameron, and I met Reilly and Hunter at the Kendall Yards Night Market. It is our farmers market that is held on Wednesday nights. We bought cherries, corn, rhubarb, caramels, and gourmet cotton candy. We also got dinner from the food trucks and had the most delicious lemonades. Tyler got huckleberry and Reilly, Kameron, and I got peach.
It was really fun but it was also incredibly HOT! 100 degrees. Our little prego mama got overheated and swoony. Those pregnancy hormones have really kicked in so we sent her home early. I was feeling overheated and swoony myself. I hate it when it is in the 100s but it was still fun to spend time together.
The weather was so hot this month that we went swimming and boating as much as we could cram it in. Even if it meant jumping in the water for an hour before the sun went down or going night swimming. We did it a lot this month!
Kameron did some work and odd jobs here and there this month. He worked for our bishop who has a film company. He also house sat for his best friend from high school's parents. Then he house sat for our bishop. He didn't really have time to do much else because he was heading out of town at the end of the month.
All in all, we had a fun month of seeing friends, hanging out, staying up late, eating out, and enjoying summer in all of its glory! My friend Lynnette brought over treats for us multiple times this month. She is an amazing baker. We did NOT lose any weight in July!! There were just all kinds of good things happening this month. It really was a spectacular one for the Johnsons!!
At the end of the month Tyler, Kam, and I flew out on a week long trip to visit family. Bryn had volleyball camp and Ailey had to work so they stayed home. Reilly and Hunter kept an eye on them. More on our trip in another post. It was so fun to get Kameron all to ourselves for a week!
