Two Fun Celebrations!

Celebrations x 2

We've been celebrating all kinds of festivities these days. Last weekend was Homecoming!! This has been a MUCH anticipated event at our house. Reilly was really excited to go...for once. I think it helps when you have a boyfriend and you know that you are going to have a good time. Plus, it's her senior year and that always adds some extra excitement.

This is how Justin asked her to the dance:

The girl has a freakish love of Jimmy Johns and their tuna fish sub in a particular. Ew! You couldn't pay me a million dollars to touch that thing with a ten foot pole but Reilly loves them. Justin picked her up from work and had dinner waiting for her. She was THRILLED.

Then it was time to find a dress. I was dreading it. If you regularly read this blog you will recall how much I dislike shopping with teenage girls. Anyone recall the Easter dress debacle or the Christmas dress shopping trip from hell? We have been super busy lately so I ended up having to check Reilly out of school early one day and head to the mall.  Glory Be! A dress was found fairly quickly and with only minimal drama.

See? We  are actually smiling.

Finally the big day arrived. Our niece, Elle, was staying with us for the weekend and so Reilly had quite the group of little girls squealing over how beautiful she looked and how she was "just like a princess" when she did her big reveal. Justin was suitably impressed and even Kameron told her that she looked "really nice" and she did!

Pinning the boutonniere...much more difficult than one would think. How many Johnsons did it take to pin that blasted thing on? THREE.  I wish had a picture of when Tyler was doing the honors. Ha ha!

Justin had a much easier time of it. (That was the first attempt at pinning the boutonniere...don't worry...we fixed it.)

The cute couple!

Justin even brought her a dozen red roses too. Pretty sweet!!

They left our house and headed to his mom's house so his parents could take pictures too. Then they went to dinner downtown and to the dance. They had a great time!! Reilly came home with stars in her eyes!! I'm so glad that they both had fun.

Then...the weekend before that Tyler and I got to head out of town for a little romantic getaway and to attend this fun event.

My cousin Jen's wedding to Aaron

You have never seen two happier people to be heading out of town!! We left as soon as possible. It had been awhile since Tyler and I had gotten away together...especially a getaway that wasn't work (Sisters Creed) related. It was PERFECTION. When can we go again?!

See ya suckers!! And by "suckers" I mean our beloved children. Ha Ha!! Sometimes parents just need a little vacay. You know? Plus, I think our kids enjoyed the break just as much.

We arrived in Boise (yes, Boise counts as a romantic getaway) in time to shop, eat, and enjoy our luxury suite at our hotel on Friday. Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast and got ready for the main event. We had such a fun time at Jen and Aaron's wedding. It was so great to see family that we love and we enjoyed every minute. We laughed and danced and then laughed a lot more. It was wonderful and so special to see Jen (and her son Jackson) get all the happiness that they deserve.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin. We are selfie challenged.

Cutting the cake

One of my very favorite moments from that day...Jennifer dancing with her dad...my amazing Uncle Mike. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. So special.

Another one of my favorite moments...Ha ha!! My cousin Justin and his wife Hannah coaching their children on how to do the Macarena. Who knew that Justin had such moves? The man can dance and not just the Macarena!! He has been hiding that light under a bushel all these years. Dance Justin! Dance! Ben and Tyler are pretty sweet dancers too. ;)

Since our whole family has no shame...we all ended up on there on the stage dancing the Macarena and a whole slew of other dances too. We had the fever!! The Dance Fever!! Yes, there is all kinds of video to prove it. Such fun! I love my family. My uncle Mike was up there dancing away too. It was awesome.

Part of our crazy group!!

And...when it is time to tear down it is helpful to have a cousin who is a scientist that studies trees in the rain forests of the world and has experience climbing coconut trees. Go Tania!!

Late that night we had a fabulous Thai dinner at Chiang Mai House. So delish!! It came highly recommended by my Uncle Mike and Aunt Bonnie and it didn't disappoint. Can't wait to go back another time. The next morning we had a family brunch at my Aunt and Uncle's house and got to hang out with family and eat and laugh. Is there anything better? Then it was time to head for home. It was a wonderful and much needed weekend away. We came home relaxed and happy.

Growing Pains

Growing Pains

The past few months have caused me to have some serious growing pains. I am stretching, growing, changing, and evolving. It is, at times, painful and occasionally sweet. Usually a combination of the two.

1.) Back-To-School

This year I have a senior (bittersweet), an 8th grader (last year of middle school...bittersweet), a 5th grader (sweet), and my baby is in all day Kindergarten (mostly sweet). The day finally arrived that all of our children are in school.

Bryn has been SO READY for kindergarten. It has been exciting to watch her go to school and blossom. She and my niece, Elle, ended up in the same class and that has been a huge blessing and a relief to know that they have each other during the day. 

Kameron is kicking butt being an 8th grader. He is busy with friends, jazz band, scouts, and  running cross country. He is in all Honors classes and is kicking butt academically too. I am slowly adjusting to his being an 8th grader because I know how fast the time will fly once he gets into high school next year...gulp.

Ailey is loving 5th grade. She has the same teacher that Kameron had in 5th grade...Mrs. Antonio...his very favorite teacher. Ailey just adores her as well. Ailey ran for ASB (aka Student Council) and was nominated by her classmates. This was huge. Ailey is a little shy and she really put herself out there for this. She even had to write and give a speech about why the kids should vote for her. She did a spectacular job. We are so proud of her.

Reilly is loving her Senior year. Fun classes, cute boyfriend, exciting opportunities, decisions to be made, and planning for the the future. This is what I am having the most trouble adjusting to...a SENIOR. It's real people. My child is a senior and will soon head out into the world on her own. Ouch.

Tears. Deep breaths. Worry. Love. Joy. Excitement. Faith. Prayers. Love. Tears. Worry. Deep breaths. Concern. Prayers. Comfort. Joy. Excitement. Faith. Tears. Love. Deep breaths.

(You know all those well meaning ladies who used to annoy you when you were up to your eyeballs in diapers, bottles, and babies. The ones who would tell you "enjoy this time, it will go by so quickly" ...yeah...they were right. It sure has.)

My adjustment to being home without kids has been an easy one. Thank goodness. I had several people ask me what I was doing now with "all that time"?  I liken it to when you get a raise. You think all that extra money is going to be so amazing and then your spending increases and your financial obligations increase and you end up just about the same financially. It's kind of like that for me time wise. My days just fill up and I am just as busy, actually busier, than I was before. Funny huh? Yesterday was my first day at home that I didn't have to go ANYWHERE or do ANYTHING but to get it I had to say no to a few things. So I guess it still wasn't a free, do nothing, kind of day.

Here are some more pictures from the first day of school...you have to have pictures of the full outfit, right? And the the obligatory sitting at their desk pics. Kids don't let you take those for very long. Boohoo.

In Reilly's picture you can see her full outfit so I won't repost. Here are the rest...

Checkerboard Vans are the BEST!! Kam has been rocking those since he was a baby. Those were the first pair of shoes we bought for him after we found out that we were having a boy. The tiniest little pair of black and white checkerboard Vans. He wore a little pair of red and white checkerboard Vans on his first day of kindergarten too and has had so many pairs in between. Kam has Vans that he wears to school and Vans that are his church Vans. These are actually his "Church Shoes". Love that kid.

Ailey was super stoked about her chevron dress, new jean jacket, and her favorite blingy sandals that she wore everywhere this summer. This year was also momentous in that she requested a carrier bag rather than a backpack this year.

She also let me take a picture of her at her desk in FIFTH GRADE!! That is a family record. It was a no go for both Reilly and Kameron by 5th grade. Thanks Ailey!!

We were even able to have our traditional back to school breakfast at the Cottage with Brynnie because Kindergarten didn't start until a few days later (they had to do all kinds of assessments this year.)

Finally the big day arrived!! Love her cute outfit and blingy sandals too. She also had a blingy backpack and a blingy lunchbox. Such a cutie.

Heading to school with her big sis. I love that they will have two years of elementary school together.

I also love that Tyler is the kind of dad who likes to be there on the first day of school. How lucky are we?

Cousins!! Watch out Kindergarten here they come.

We did it!! The old pros and the first timer. 

2.) Reilly has a boyfriend.
.
A real one. A serious one. It is so weird. There is something completely unnerving about watching your nearly grown daughter run out of the house, yell good-bye, and jump into the truck of a cute boy, and take off without so much as a backward glance at her two parents who are standing on the porch waving. How did we get here? It wasn't that long ago that I was the one running out of the house, yelling good-bye, and jumping into the truck of  a cute boy without so much as a backward glance. It's so weird when life comes full circle, isn't it? So.Weird. It's like teenage Reilly ran past teenage Kristin and teenage Kristin ran past my 40 year old mother and then turned into her. Time slips and slides.  The good news is that we really like the BF (his name is Justin). We actually REALLY like him and he appears to like us due to the large amount of time he spends hanging out at our house. He is cute, kind, helpful, sweet, funny, treats our daughter well, and is extremely respectful and responsible. He is enjoyable to have around and fits in well with our family so things could be a lot worse.

3.) I found my first true gray hair.

Coarse, wiry, and nearly white. I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean I know that I am 42 and that hair does go gray but really nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing it on my own head in all it's terrible elderly glory. It's proof that I am aging. As if the universe isn't already telling me that at every.single.turn. these days. I blame it on Tyler's heart surgery. The shock of it and all. Tyler suddenly sprouted a whole patch grays on one of his temples after all that business. On Tyler I think it looks sexy...on me it reminds me of my grandma...not sexy.

4.) Tyler's Heart Issues

First off, I am so beyond grateful for that stent. I am so grateful that Tyler is doing spectacularly. I am so grateful to have him here healthy and happy. But...I am so mad that this happened in the first place. The man already has one life threatening disease that somewhat controls every thing we do... do we really need to throw in another? (I realize how lame that sounds and in light of a family member who is going through something so much worse it  doesn't even compare...but still.) Life isn't fair and it really really sucks. It seems like if you already have one terrible thing that you shouldn't get another, or even a third, like my beloved family member. That said...Tyler is doing great and has had such a good recovery. We are truly blessed but it also changed us. How could it not? We aren't as carefree as we used to be. We aren't as lackadaisical about things as we used to be. We don't just throw caution to the wind anymore. We are more serious. We are more deliberate now in many ways. We are adults. We have arrived. We arrived on August 13, 2014. I miss those goofy carefree kids sometimes.

See...S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G....evolving...changing... and with it comes some growing pains.

Utah Day 3

Utah Day #3: FINALLY

I am finally finishing up this little trip because life is going at the speed of light and I am getting way behind on posting. So here it goes...

Day 3 we got up and met my brother Kirk for breakfast in Sugar House. We had been wanting to try one of the waffle places that seem to be the all rage in Utah these days. (No waffle craze in Spokane...shocking I know!) We met Kirk at Bruges Waffles and Frites and the place was PACKED!! Nowhere to sit...nowhere to stand. So we placed our order and took it back to Kirk's house. Meki and the kids were out of town so it was just Kirk and the dogs. The waffles were delicious... although I thought a tad expensive for a waffle. I still want to try the famed Waffle Love food truck though. I have since found one place here in Spokane that serves the Liege style waffles but they weren't even half as good as at Bruges.

It was so nice to have a few hours to kick back, chat, and catch up on all that is going on in Kirk's life. He wasn't able to come up to the lake this summer and he was SORELY missed. I love that brother of mine and loved seeing all the projects that he has been working on. Very cool.

Our kids loved playing with his enormous dogs...

Milo is Bryn's favorite!! She just adores that dog and doesn't let him out of her sight or clutches whenever we visit. We hear about "Sweet Milo" for weeks and weeks afterwards.

The newest addition to Kirk's family is Kuma a Landseer Newfoundland. He is gorgeous but an enormous beast of a puppy!!

The older kids like Kuma best but he kind of freaked out Ailey and Bryn with his gargantuan size.

All to soon it was time to go, but we made one more quick stop on our way out of town at the This Is
The Place Heritage Park. I sometimes forget that only our older kids have seen some of these sites.

It was fun to walk around and talk about church history. While we were there Reilly's YW leaders texted her a video of our Bishop opening up her envelope from our area mission president and reading  Reilly where she was called to serve for her Mini-Mission. (Spokane Valley, WA) Reilly was scheduled to head out on her mini- mission the VERY NEXT DAY which was the reason why our trip to Utah was so super speedy quick.

It was roasting hot and hazy and we were looking forward to getting back to the cooler temps of the Pacific Northwest. We bought a couple of these icy beverages for the road and headed out.

Sarsparilla!! You don't see those every day!!

On our way out of town we drove around the U of U campus for a little college tour. Lucky for us the U held no allure for any of the Johnson kids. Whew!

We made another stop in Rexburg, Idaho for another little college tour. It has been years since I have been in Rexburg and not much has changed. We drove to the temple so Reilly could add another temple picture to her collection and let the kids out of the car to run around for a bit. The wind is UNREAL. I am so not a fan...of wind...or of Rexburg.

Look at the at flag whipping in the wind!!

We walked around the grounds and took pictures. There were quite a few other families doing the same thing. The temple and grounds are really beautiful. Rexburg not so much.

Our attempt at a picture of the kids. Wind...it brings out a rage in me. Seriously.

Bryn and Ailey holding onto the doors of the temple...a la..."I Love To See the Temple....I'm going there someday..." To get those two girls to even touch the temple doors took some major cajoling and near threats on my part. They thought for sure they would go to jail...or maybe hell...for even TOUCHING those doors. So funny!! Finally they did it.

After that we booked it on towards home, arrived around 1 am, and headed straight for bed so we could get up early the next day and send Reilly off for a week to live and serve with the sister missionaries. That's a post all it's own. Perhaps now that the kids are all finally back in school I will have time to catch up on this long neglected blog. Until then...

Back to Our Utah Vacay

Utah Day #2

I now return to my posting about Utah...after a short update on Ty.

(Tyler is doing well and has had a fantastic recovery. He never actually felt bad before he had his procedure and didn't feel much different after...except for a bit of an energy increase. He just had his first cardiac rehab session and was given the clear to exercise and the initial tests on how his heart was reacting to moderate exercise looked completely normal. Whew. We are so blessed that he didn't actually have a heart attack. There are so many restrictions on people who are also recovering from that and the addition of the stent. Tyler really doesn't have any restrictions at all besides moderate exercise for the first four weeks after his procedure. He has been doing great. Me? I have had a few breakdowns just thinking about the "What ifs?" But, all in all, we are hanging in there.)

Now back to that trip:

Day Two:

We got up and headed to Lindon to meet these girls (and cute Ethan) for breakfast at Kneaders. Again, I will express my love for that place. So good. The company was even better. My awesome friend Shannon and her kids moved from Spokane to Utah in June and we have missed them dearly!!

Jessica and Reilly

Bryn was pretty thrilled to hang out with her buddy Ethan too.

It was fun to catch up and hear how things are going in Utah. We are so glad that is has been a pretty smooth transition for them. Still though... WE MISS THEM ALOT!!

After our fabulous breakfast, we drove to Alpine to attend a family reunion for Tyler's Kofford side of the family. For my kids, this was like they had landed on an alien planet. They have never gone to (at least that the older ones remember) a big ol' Mormon family reunion. They have missed out and have the croquet skills to prove it!! Our kids just didn't "get it". It was hilarious. It is something they have missed out on living in WA. My family gets together but we all just gather at the lake for certain events...the last one being my Grandma's 90th Birthday. We don't do a tradition family reunion. My dad's side of the family, I think, still gathers but since my grandparents passed away I haven't attended one. I do remember going with them as a kid and being introduced to all the ancient great-aunts and uncles and hearing family stories etc. I thought they were great! I particularly liked the family auction and loved bidding for the dilly beans!! Delish.

When we got there we had to put on name tags and write whose family we were...Verl's. (Verl was my mother-in-law's father) The teenagers instantly balked at the idea of wearing a name tag and asked very loudly "Who's Verl?" Awesome. (They have family history books put together by my mother-in-law...they have heard stories about him from both she and Tyler...but they chose this particular moment to have loud selective memory) Humiliating. There were antiques and things that certain ancestors had made and lots of pictures. There was a treasure hunt for the little kids with family history facts and candy. There was a taped interview with the last remaining sibling of their great-grandpa Verl. They thought it was all "weird" and "corny". Yes! But that is the beauty of family reunions!! Reilly said, "So we're just supposed to sit here and eat an awkward lunch with random family members we don't even know?" YES! Now you're getting it!! They couldn't even be swayed by a tempting potluck...hey...there's always something interesting served up. Nope. They were particularly put off because the main entree was pulled pork and the guy that was hosting made a joke about vegetarians and how if there were any vegetarians in the crowd they had the stuff to make PB&Js. Hardy Har Har. The kids were not amused. But it's not a family reunion unless you are somewhat offended by someone or even multiple someones!! I was SO EXCITED to see the ginormous cooler labeled "Rootbeer". It has been over 13 years since I have tasted that sweet homemade nectar. Is there anything better than homemade rootbeer served up icy cold? No. I had multiple glasses and had my own sugar buzz going for the afternoon. Turns out none of our kids like rootbeer. Seriously? More for me. Weirdos...they would never have survived growing up in the 70s and 80s.

The saving grace was that Tyler's family was there. Particularly his brother Brett and his wife Marissa. Tyler's mom swooped in and took the older kids under her wing and regaled them with family history while the rest of us were able to chat and enjoy ourselves. The little girls...Bryn and our niece Liv.. ran wild with Ailey in hot pursuit trying to keep them under control. It was about 500 degrees that day. It was roasting hot!! The family reunion was held at a park under one of several pavilions. When you say "park" to me I envision shady trees and lush green grass. Clearly we have been living in the NW too long. This park had no shade whatsoever...none...zilch...nada. Guess which parents didn't come prepared for their kids developing potential heatstroke. Oh yeah. No sun screen, no hats, no shade structures...no nothing. Luckily my sister-in-law was prepared and kept her nieces and nephew from getting fried. Thank goodness this park had a splash pad and Marissa and I quickly excused ourselves from the reunion and headed over as fast as we could go. Little Liv was prepared with a swimsuit and towel. The Johnsons were not. Who knew there was a splash pad...but I guess if there aren't any trees you definitely need one. I just had our girls get their clothes wet and drip dry...we're classy like that.

Before getting wet...look at poor Ailey and Bryn's faces. We are unaccustomed to such heat and direct rays from the sun. Poor Pacific Northwesterners. Liv, on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber...little desert dweller.

The kids had a great time!! Bryn and Liv ADORE each other and ran into each other's arms upon seeing one another. Ailey is a little mother and loved fussing over them and watching out for them. She was a great helper!! Marissa and I found some shade under a mini-pavilion and settled in for a good chat. Finally a breeze blew and I settled back to enjoy the gorgeous mountain views. Alpine is a beautiful place. It was delightful. Eventually Brett and Tyler joined us on the far side of the park. We were proud of them for lasting as long as they did at the ol' reunion.  It was so fun to hang out together, laugh, and watch our children play together. Eventually Reilly and Kameron were able to extricate themselves and joined us saying, "Some guy is singing a song that I'm pretty sure couldn't be sung in the state of Washington." I think it was some kind of mountain man song that was not...shall we say... politically correct. We also missed out on the ventriloquist...bummer. Once the whole gang joined us we had our own little Johnson Family Reunion and loved every minute. Tyler's Mom was happy too because she finally had someone show up at the reunion,   the kids got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa, the cousins got to play, our kids got an education in family reunions, and it all worked out well in the end.

Liv and Bryn demanded that Ailey do a "photoshoot" for them on my phone and she was only too happy to oblige!! Enjoy!

There are about 20 more but I think you get the idea! These two girls crack me up!! It is never fun to say good-bye. It's hard living so far away but it was great to see them and spend the day together.

The Johnson brothers and their offspring. Marissa and I were at this event even though there is no photographic evidence in existence. :)

After that we had to hurry back to our hotel to get showered and all dolled up to attend...THE ACTUAL HIGH SCHOOL REUNION.

Tyler's actual high school reunion was held at Thanksgiving Point. It turned out to be a really nice and fun event. Tyler had a great time and it was fun to see him laughing and chatting with his classmates. At one point I saw him getting enthusiastically hugged by two girls and chatting for quite a long time with them. When he returned to where I was I asked him, "Who were they?" He replied. "I have no idea." Ha ha!! Pretty funny. He did eventually recall who they were and they turned out to be good friends of his...even more hilarious.

Tyler and his high school buddies: Nate, Kevin, Matt, and Darren (who wasn't there the night before) Missing is their good friend, Joel, who wasn't able to attend.

We had a fun time too!!

The food was great! They had a really nice program. Their class had invited several faculty members to speak and that was my favorite part. Most of them had just had/or were going to be attending their 50th high school reunion and they gave some really neat talks full of advice about what they wished they would have known/or done when they were Tyler's age and in that stage of life. It was really cool. Some got right up and bore their testimonies...one even about the plan of salvation. It was weird...but I liked it. The whole night was full of heart and I loved seeing how much this MVHS class of 1989 really loves and cherishes one another. I think that is pretty rare. My SME class of 1990 is DEFINITELY not like that!! It's a pretty special thing. I met some great people and enjoyed reconnecting with those that I did know and have come to love and cherish myself.

It was a great night of friends, laughter, memories and genuinely celebrating one another...and the 80s!! Seriously? Was there a better decade? Good movies...good music...awesome fashion. It was a pretty RAD time!!

Speaking of rad...we took a few more selfies too.

Again...saying goodbye is never easy. Especially to these guys. We enjoyed each and every moment with these two amazing friends. Love them!!

Leaving the party... in the time it took to snap this picture...I got not one...not two...but five mosquito bites. No joke. Then it was time for Tyler to pay up...in frozen custard that is...I was promised custard and I did collect and it was delicious. Why is there no custard in Spokane?! How can you eat boring old ice cream after you have had custard? Not. Possible.

Another wonderful day was had by all!!

To Be Continued...