March 2019

March was a mix of sickness and travel for the Johnsons. The sickness lasted all month long including during some of the travel but despite Influenza B's best efforts (even after getting a flu shot in October) we refused to be stopped!

The month started off right with a romantic getaway weekend. A lovely stay at a beautiful hotel and room service. Perfection.

I love luxury hotels and romantic weekends!

Pretty much right after this all of the sickness hit. It has lasted and is still going strong for over three and a half weeks. Early in the month Ailey came home with a cold and it has been downhill since then. We all got colds and then seemed to get over them and then they kept coming back again and again.

During a day or two break from feeling crappy we traveled to the Tri-Cities, WA to watch Ailey and her dance team perform at Districts. They did such a great job!! Kameron was working so Tyler, Bryn, and I had a fun day in a town that we only ever drive through going other places.

We watched Ailey perform and then went out to explore the city. We went out for lunch and then went to get dessert at a cute little cupcake shop.

We went to some cute shops that had been recommended to me by my friend Brenda. There are some darling vintage shops in the Tri-Cities. We also walked along the Columbia River which was cold but super pretty!

We loved the swinging park benches!!

Ailey and most of the dance team came home from Districts sick and throwing up with some kind of stomach virus. We hoped that it wouldn't spread through the family since we were just getting over colds. Only Bryn got a mild case of it thank goodness.

We had a ton of snow that has lasted forever!! We had the worst cabin fever!! We tried to get out and get some fresh air despite feeling crappy and being SO OVER winter! That snow bank was almost as tall as Bryn.

Check out this enormous snowman that we saw on a walk. It was awesome!

When the snow got to be too much we headed inside to the Gaiser Conservatory to look at spring flowers. Besides at Christmas, this is when I enjoy the Conservatory the most. I love going inside and seeing all of the beautiful flowers when it is snowy and cold outside. It always gives me hope for spring.

There are even orange trees!

We celebrated Pi Day for the first time ever! I surprised my kids with a homemade pecan pie as their afternoon snack. They were shocked. Ha ha! I'm not sure that will become a regular *holiday* but who doesn't love an unexpected slice of homemade pecan pie?!

One Sunday in an early morning daze Ailey was so tired that she thought that she was putting on lip gloss but it turned out it was MASCARA!! We about died laughing!!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day!

We do enjoy this silly little holiday! It happened to fall on a Sunday so we were scrounging around trying to find green clothing for church. Let's just say that we don't have much in the hue of green to begin with and basically zero in dress clothes but we did our best to be festive.

Unfortunately Kam said NO! to this!! Ha ha!!

We forgot to put our corned beef in the crockpot before church and then I had to go with Tyler and Kam to pick up some furniture in Idaho that could only be picked up that Sunday afternoon so our St. Paddy's Day feast was quite a bit later than we normally eat but it all worked out. Hats and all!!

Reilly and Hunter weren't able to come and poor Reilly was really sad about that! She hates missing out on our weird family traditions. Our St. Patrick's Day meal is one of her favorites and she has even asked me to make it for her birthday...in November. Ha Ha! I loved the texting thread that occurred between me, my siblings, and my mom with all of us talking about what we were making for St. Patrick's Day. We were all making corned beef and we all think that we each have the best way of making it. LOL.

We ate by candlelight this year!

Bryn had spirit week at school but we only managed to take pictures of "Favorite Team Day" and a random pic on "Hat Day":

I got this pic while she was practicing piano that morning. Bryn is doing a great job with piano this year. She is flying through her books and is ready to move up a level. She loves to play and never complains about practicing! Hallelujah.

Hat Day...Bryn loves that crazy minion hat. She wore it LONG after school was over. Ha ha!

Ailey had her spring choir concert but unfortunately we had to leave right after she performed. Luckily her choir performed first because Bryn and Tyler both had fevers and felt terrible. Don't let that smile on Bryn's face fool you. She felt awful.

The next week Kameron had his spring band concert and I wasn't able to go to that because I was so sick! Ugh... this stuff we have had is horrible. We have had to cancel so many plans and miss so many things. It has sucked.

Track season and Bloomsday Training were supposed to start for Bryn but with all of the snow they were postponed indefinitely. It is now April 2nd and *hopefully* they start next week. That sucks for her though missing almost a month of track.

Kameron asked Abbey to Prom:

In case you need a translation... I did... It says: Abbey, You're always lookin sharp so I thought it'd be natural if I asked you flat out...Prom?

Luckily Abbey also plays the trumpet in the band so she got it! I also needed a translation for the poster that Kam used to ask Carly out to Homecoming that was political. The kid is hilarious. FYI- Abbey said yes.

Also, Kam's hair is something else right now. It is so curly and out of control. His friends bet him $50 to grow it out for several months and it is KILLING ME!! I have offered him $50 bucks to just cut it so many times and he has refused.

Ailey's dance team qualified for State so she got to travel to Yakima. The dance that qualified was one that only the upperclassmen were in... their Military routine. They came in fourth at Districts in Pom (the dance Ailey was in). But Ailey still got to go to state, stay overnight, and had a grand time. She was all dressed and ready to perform in case one of the older girls got sick or hurt. We were kind of relieved that Ailey wasn't performing because I was going to be out of town for 6 days and Kam was headed to Hawaii and that meant Tyler and Bryn didn't have to do a little road trip on their own to Yakima but Ailey still got to go and have fun.

Team Breakfast at Hogan's before they left for Yakima:

The dance team in their military costumes.

Ailey had a blast at State!

Then I flew to San Francisco for six days. More to come in another post. 

And...Kameron flew to Hawaii for a week on a school trip. 

While I was gone Tyler was sick, Ailey was sick, Bryn was sick, Kameron was sick, and I was sick. I thought we were on our third round of colds that just kept coming back with a vengeance. Turns out it was Influenza B...even after getting flu shots. :( It has been kicking our butts. I have never felt so sick in my life.

At the instacare...Tyler refused to be in our sickly photo. LOL.

We are on three and a half weeks of this crap. Tyler also now has a sinus infection and I have bronchitis. It is like the cold from hell that will not go away. I had to have blood drawn to make sure I didn't have mono or Epstein Bar or something else going on. Both tests came back negative. Tyler and I are now both on antibiotics. Kam, Ailey, and Bryn seem to be on the mend. Apparently symptoms from Influenza B can last 3-4 weeks. The doctor said that the flu vaccine covered the first strain of flu that went around and missed two other strains that hit later in the year. It is miserable.

We have missed so many things with friends and fun events this month. No book club for me because I was so sick but the book that we read was:

I learned a lot of helpful information!!

One bright spot was that by the time I got back from San Francisco all of the snow had melted at our house and we had three ft deep snowbanks when I left! Hooray! I couldn't believe my eyes. That fast of a thaw caused some minimal flooding in our basement while I was gone but nothing too crazy which was nice!

This momentous meeting occurred which was pretty cool for our church!

General Conference is just around the corner and I can't wait!

Ailey led the music in Sacrament Meeting one Sunday! Tyler's mother was SO THRILLED to see Ailey following in her footsteps!! LOL. Not the most reverent picture but one that was needed!!

Bryn had Parent/Teacher conference which I was also too sick to attend. Thank goodness Tyler was hanging in there and was able to go with Brynnie. She is doing FABULOUS!! I can't believe that we are already on the downhill side of the school year. It is so crazy.

We are now on Spring Break and it isn't our best one. We are trying to get over all this crap. We have scrubbed down and lysoled every surface of this house so many times!! Ugh...it is relentless.  Kam is still in Hawaii and having an AMAZING adventure!! More to come on that. Here's to April and to better health!!

February

February 2019

February was a straight up snowmeggedon. We have about 2 feet of snow and 3-4 foot snow banks and berms. It has been terrible to try to drive anywhere this month. The roads have been HORRID. It was also abnormally cold. We are caught in the midst of a hellacious polar vortex with a subzero weather pattern that has hung around for most of the end of January, all of February, and is going strong into March. I AM NOT A FAN. I have tried to hygge it up but this has been too much. I am done. Winter sucks.

Something that doesn't suck...Tyler's birthday!! He turned 48! We had a big family dinner and Superbowl/birthday celebration. He likes to do that every year. Although this year we almost broke with tradition. We almost didn't even do it because he threatened that he wasn't going to watch the Superbowl because he was so disgusted by the teams that were playing. He HATES the Patriots!! He absolutely LOATHES them!! It didn't help that his favorite team the Kansas City Chiefs were SO CLOSE to being in the Superbowl and then got knocked out. It was a hard blow and it took awhile for Tyler to rally. But traditions are traditions and as his birthday actually fell right on Superbowl Sunday we went ahead with his Superbowl Birthday Party! More on that later...

The day before Superbowl Sunday we met up with Jordin, Ramon, and kids. They wanted to celebrate Tyler's birthday so we met them at Ailey's dance team competition and they got to watch her perform. Ailey was so excited to have them there cheering her on!

Then we all went out to dinner at Fujiyama! It was so delicious! We haven't had a good Japanese Hibachi restaurant in town before and now we do! It was fantastic and I can't wait to go back!

We had so much fun!!

Then the next day was the Superbowl and we partied it up some more!! Tyler requested Mexican casserole and chips with homemade guacamole and salsa. He also requested his favorite southern specialty... pimento cheese and crackers. He didn't want a cake this year...he requested ice cream sundaes with my granny's homemade hot fudge. So despite his initial reluctance to watch the game he got right into it. There was a lot of yelling and cursing of the Patriots and everyone was riled up and seemed to enjoy it. Although I did think Tyler, Hunter, and Kam were going to lose their minds yelling and cursing those !@#$ Patriots! LOL.

Ailey and I were bored! We were only in it for the food!

The next weekend we had a lengthy power outage. It was terrible. Our power was out for 10 hours on a Saturday and the temperature outside was 5 degrees. All of the heavy snow, ice, and wind  took down power lines left and right. We had some serious flashbacks and PTSD to the windstorm of 2015 when our power was out for 9 days straight. But unlike the windstorm of 2015 we had a generator this time! Hallelujah. Tyler hooked that thing up and we were able to stay warm.

During that same storm a pine tree came down on Jordin and Ramon's house in North Idaho. Thank goodness no one was hurt and that the damage...while annoying...was minimal.

Kameron had his oral surgery and got the post, which is the first part of his tooth implant, put in. How crazy is this picture?! Now he waits while it heals into the bone and then he goes back in 6 months to have the faux tooth created and put over the top of the post. The post is titanium and it should last for a lifetime. I am so glad that we got this done! Kameron did really well. He said that the procedure didn't really hurt and his recovery was quick and not too painful. I was quite surprised at how well he did!

Kameron started going to physical therapy twice a week for his knees. The physical therapist did a bunch of tests and several different assessments like the zero gravity treadmill. They analyzed all the videos and data that they collected. They found out that Kameron's knee issues are actually the result of a hip issue. He has a very weak right hip muscle that has screwed up his knees and caused him to have a weird running gait (unnoticeable) but it forced Kam to have to overcompensate with both of his knees and it put stress and strain on them. Who knew?! His PT is continuing on into March...not sure how long he will have to go. But I am glad that we are getting this situation dealt with too.

Tyler also finished up all of his dental work. He DID need to have a root canal and crown but only on the one side. He did great and said that it didn't hurt during or after. Dental technology must have really improved over the years! I have heard so many people say how horrible root canals are. Tyler had no issues at all! I am glad that he is done! Sheesh!

Due to the incredible amount of snow that we have had...we had two days of "late start" two hour delays and one full snow day. Tyler was able to work from home on those days which was nice. I just had to stress about Reilly driving to and from work.

The girls played outside and ate jello in the snow! Looks terrible but tastes delicious!

Kameron had a big competition preview concert at the Fox Theater downtown on truly one of the snowiest nights ever! They should have cancelled this concert. I cannot even describe how treacherous the roads were that night!

Kameron did a great job and we survived the drive. Barely.

We had an early family Valentine's Dinner. I had a vintage show on Valentine's weekend which was inconvenient but what can you do? We celebrated early!

The kids requested homemade pizzas, (I had tempura shrimp), teriyaki green beans, and strawberry jello pretzel salad for dinner. I found the cutest mini Martinellis for us to drink. Reilly brought over cake pops for dessert and we had lots of chocolate!! :)

We had a fun night and played a bunch of games! I love our Valentine traditions!!

I also love tulips in February!! 

Tyler and I also had to celebrate early since set-up day for my vintage show in Post Falls, Idaho was actually on Valentine's Day so we were pretty low-key this year. We went out for Thai food a few days before and then took Ailey and Bryn out on Valentine's Day. That was okay because Tyler had planned a birthday/late Valentine's day weekend at the Davenport Hotel for a few weeks later. Things were so crazy with all that we had going on. (Kam was in Portland over Valentine's weekend.)

Bryn made this cute unicorn Valentine box for school!

The same day as I had set-up for my vintage show Kameron headed out of town to go to a band competition in Portland. The roads could not have been worse. I felt like this trip also should have been cancelled and expressed those feelings but it was not. I am not the biggest fan of Kameron's band teacher right now. But this picture shows that Kam had a great time despite my worry. He texted me multiple times to let me know that he was still alive. Much appreciated.

FYI... Kam's girlfriend Abby is the blonde in the red sweatshirt. ;)

I participated in the Pickin Post Falls Vintage Show and Artisan Market in Post Falls, Idaho. Ailey and Bryn totally stepped up and helped out. Normally Kameron helps Tyler with all of the heavy lifting, but for this show it was Ailey, Bryn, and me!!  Ailey and Bryn did such a great job! They loaded and unloaded the trailer and lugged furniture and bins like champs. They were awesome!!

Reilly stopped by the venue later in the day so we got to see all of our girlies on Valentine's Day!

The weather and roads were so awful that after I was done setting up we followed Reilly back to her apartment to make sure that she got home okay. It was TERRIBLE!

Here are some pictures of my booth:

Tyler was a great helper! It is really fun to do shows together!! I love working with him.

Ailey and Bryn also got to help out in my booth on day two of the show. They are so cute and such good helpers!! The weather was still a nightmare. It was an absolute blizzard all three days in a row. But people still showed up! I was shocked... and appreciative. Vintage shoppers truly are the best! Kameron made it home from Portland that night after my show was over. He got home while we were all out to dinner celebrating a job well done. I was so relieved that he made it home safely. They ended up leaving half a day early in order to deal with the snow and icy roads.

 Ailey got her official dance team pictures back:

So cute!

I had book club at my friend Arianne's house. We read this book...sad but good.

We all really liked it!

Here's proof that I actually *tried* to enjoy winter. I tried to be outside as much as possible despite knee deep snow and subzero temps!

Some days... actually many days...it was way too cold to be outside at all. (Bryn hasn't had an outside recess in weeks.) On those days we hit the gym. I had to stay active in order to combat severe cabin fever! I also read a lot! I flew through the books this month. Unfortunately, nothing really helped. I am SO OVER WINTER!!

Kameron had so many band and jazz concerts in February! He had the competition preview concert. He had a jazz concert. He went to Portland to compete. He went to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho. He was supposed to go to another competition at Central Washington University last week for another competition but due to weather and sick students (half of the band was sick) they ended up cancelling that trip. Hallelujah. It has been too much this month! Oh yeah, there was also a wind ensemble retreat but Kam wasn't able to go to that. He also had multiple rehearsals for Hawaii. (He leaves for that school trip at the end of March.) It was craziness!

While Kameron had an unbelievable amount of performances this month...so did Ailey. It is dance competition season. Ailey had dance competitions every Saturday and so many rehearsals and practices. It has also been craziness! But just like with Kam, it has been fun to watch her perform.

For this competition, my mom, Reilly, and Hunter were able to come and cheer for Ailey. She loved having them there!!

We went out to dinner with my mom afterward. It has been fun having her come to all of the grandkids different events lately. Tyler and I also met up with Jordin, Ramon, and kids for a fun weekday lunch at PF Changs. Ramon had just flown back from a trip to Colorado and we were all able to meet up for a quick lunch before they drove back home and Tyler had to head back to the office.

We have had so many doctor and dental appointments! But it feels good to get things like this taken care of early in the year. Tyler had his yearly cardiology appointment and things looked good so that was a relief!

The church had another delightful bombshell of an announcement. I literally burst into hysterical tears of joy upon reading the statement from the First Presidency... that missionaries can now call, text, and video chat with their families WEEKLY!! I read that and promptly began sobbing. I had been dreading Kam's mission on bad days and trying to come to terms with only talking to him twice a year on good days. I have been so stressed about how I was going to deal with that. It was hard enough sending Reilly out into the world and I was able to track her and text her and talk to her whenever I wanted. Not being in regular communication with Kameron was going to be very difficult. I know that Kameron was apprehensive about that too. I like how one church blogger put it, "The shouts of joy from the moms of the church ascended to heaven!" I immediately texted Kam at school to tell him the news. He was pretty happy about it! He said that the news was spreading fast because he had several of his non church member friends come up to him to talk about it and to tell him this good news if he didn't already know. I think it is so great that families will be able to share more in their child's missionary experience and that the missionary will also be able to receive regular support and encouragement from their families.

Under the category of it's hard to parent adult children.... we have had several family meetings with Reilly and Hunter. Hunter moved in with Reilly at the first of February. Tyler and I knew that it was coming so we were somewhat prepared but it was still a hard situation for our family to come to terms with...particularly for Kam, Ailey, and Bryn. I think as parents of faith you always hope that your kids will stay on the path that you have set before them. It is hard when they seem to reject their upbringing and faith. I wouldn't say that Reilly has rejected them as much as she feels that she has put them "on hold" for now. Regardless, there were repercussions and ripple effects from their decision to move in together. I think we all handled it pretty well under the circumstances. Hunter, not coming from an LDS background, didn't really know why we felt the way that we did when his family didn't seem to have any issues with it. We were able to have several really good family discussions where Tyler and I explained our position, where we were coming from, why we feel the way that we do, and our concerns. Reilly and Hunter were very respectful. Everyone was very loving and no one was angry or defensive. We did have to set some boundaries with them which they agreed to and they were both very understanding about. Tyler and I prayed HARD before those conversations and they went pretty well. It all comes down to the fact that we love our daughter... unconditionally. Nothing is going to change that or put a wedge into our family. We love each other, we support one another, and we are there for one another...the end. Those conversations were filled with a lot of love on both sides and they took place early in the month and as we are all still hanging out and having fun together I consider that a win. We still talk a lot as things come up. It isn't easy but keeping the lines of communication open...and lots of prayer...has been helpful.

On a lighter note...Ailey and I are planning a fun trip this summer with my sister-in-law, Meki, my niece, Kaiya, and my mom. We are going on a big crazy road trip to Texas! We are going to Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Galveston, Fredrickburg, and who knows where else. My niece Kaiya will be spending the summer in Houston for ballet and we are all going to drop her off. It should be quite the adventure! Ailey and Kaiya are so excited!

Also, my sister-in-law Lori (Tyler's sister) moved to Salt Lake. We are super excited to have her closer and to be able to see her more often. It is going to be such a great move for her.

Now onto March!

February: Things I am Loving

Things I am Loving:


1.) The Last Kingdom on Netflix

Tyler's favorite author is Bernard Cornwell. He writes historical fiction and Tyler is a HUGE fan! He has been trying...to no avail...to get me to read some of his novels. I don't know why I haven't because I love historical fiction. It is my favorite genre. I guess it is because most Bernard Cornwell books center around war and they just haven't sounded that appealing to me despite hearing hours and hours of book synopses and discussion from Tyler. :)

A couple of years ago the BBC made one of his series of books...previously called The Warrior Chronicles/Saxon Stories and now called The Last Kingdom series... into a TV show which Tyler watched and loved. Then Netflix bought the show and made a third season and they are currently at work on season four. Tyler has been begging me to watch this series and I just haven't really wanted to. Vikings...Saxons... whatever. BOY WAS I WRONG!!

Due to Snowmageddon here in Spokane and having to be cooped up even more than usual in the winter I relented and said that I would watch the first episode. I will warn you that the first episode is probably the worst one so I wasn't completely sold on the series even then but I wanted to know what happened next so I watched another episode and that was it! No one saw me for the next four days!! I binged watched the entire show. IT IS SO GOOD!!!

The Last Kingdom series tells the tale of Alfred the Great and his descendants through the eyes of Uhtred (all the heart eyes for him!!) an English boy born into the aristocracy of ninth century Northumbria. He ends up being captured by the Danes as a small boy and being raised by a Viking warlord and taught their ways. I will also add all the heart eyes for Ragnar Ragnarsson too!

I loved this show so much!! It is fantastic!! It is also quite racy, violent, and bloody so if that isn't your thing you have been warned and should read the books instead. I loved this show so passionately that I went into serious mourning and could have killed Tyler because he told me that there were four seasons to watch and it turned out there were ONLY THREE!! (Season four is in production). You did not want to be at our house that night when the series...just...ended.... I was not a happy camper!! Now while I wait...for months...for season four... I guess I will read the books. I need more Uhtred and Ragnar!!

2.) Silicon Egg Bite Maker.

Tyler and I like those weird egg bites from Starbucks...Sous Vide Egg Bites. If I have to eat something fast-foodish I get those. Anyway, Tyler found this silicon egg bite maker on Amazon that works in your Instapot. Tyler has been making us all kinds of different egg bite combos with all sorts of different ingredients. They are so good! They are the perfect protein packed snack or meal. We are loving them!

3.) Audible Membership

Have I done this one before? I don't think so but I do think that I have talked about it. I got an Audible membership for Christmas and I love it so much!! I always need to have an audiobook on my phone. I love listening to audiobooks while I'm working on Sisters Creed projects and driving my kids all over the place. This has truly been the gift that keeps on giving!

4.) Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Sauce

How have I never even heard about this until a few weeks ago?! Tyler and I were at Trader Joe's one Saturday night trying to find a dessert for Sunday. We came in for mochi but our favorite flavors were sold out but right above the mochi was this little jar of heaven!! We decided to grab some ice cream for our Sunday dessert and we also grabbed a jar of this caramel sauce to try. It may have been our most brilliant idea! Or my diet down fall....  IT IS SO DELICIOUS!! It tastes just like homemade caramel sauce. I am a big caramel person and I am super picky about my caramel. It has to be REALLY good or it's not worth my time. THIS is worth my time! You can hold the ice cream please...just give me a spoon. And period week? This jar is a real friend!! ;)


5.) Magnolia Table Cookbook

I read this cookbook last month and thought that it was great! There were so many recipes that I wanted to try. Fast forward to the end of February and I HAVE tried a bunch and we have loved all of them!! Seriously! We haven't tried a bad recipe yet!! This is a great cookbook and I highly recommend it! Also, the holy grail of pimento cheese has been found within its covers. Joanna Gaines' recipe is THE BEST!! I am LOVING making, baking, cooking, and preparing all of her delicious recipes!!