February got off to one heck of a WONDERFUL start with the birth of our grandson Karson! The whole month has been a Karson lovefest!! Supposedly a green comet flew across the earth on the day that Karson was born. I'm not sure about that but a strange Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana that day which kicked off a month of very strange happenings in the sky.
Two days later Tyler turned 52!
Bryn didn't have school on Tyler's birthday so they did a donut run for his birthday breakfast. The kids all called and did sweet posts for Tyler on FB and Insta. This was the day that Karson came home from the hospital so we were all there helping with that. Snuggling a new grandbaby is a pretty great way to spend your birthday!
After we got Reilly, Hunter, and Karson all settled in at their apartment... Tyler wanted to get lunch at Subdivision. This is the sandwich shop that he and his work friends all love. Bryn and I had never tried it before. The subs were good but the ambiance lacked. We got drinks from Sonic. Then we were on the hunt for the perfect chair. Now that we have a baby in the family again we needed some kind of rocking chair but rocking chairs are ugly. We also wanted it to recline so that it would be comfy when Reilly is breastfeeding but recliners are ugly. I wanted to find something that looked like a stuffed armchair but that also rocked and reclined. That isn't quite a unicorn but it is difficult to find something that looks nice and still has all of those functions. We found the perfect chair in Coeur d' Alene! I'm so happy with it. It looks like a stuffed armchair but it also rocks, swivels, reclines, and is comfy!
It also is the perfect cozy reading chair!
Tyler requested Italian food for his birthday dinner so we went to Tito's in Coeur d' Alene.
I also made Tyler's favorite dessert for him that weekend.
We had such a fun day with Karson and celebrating the birthday boy! I sure love this cute Grandpa!
The first part of February is a bit of a blur. It has been a joy to bring meals to the kids (along with Colleen) and to have lots of visits with the new little family. Reilly is a rockstar and did so well recovering from her C-section and settling into motherhood. Hunter has done a spectacular job too. We are so proud of them! We knew that they would be good parents but they have blown us away with how well they have done. Amazing! Much better than Tyler and I did as we adjusted to new parenthood. LOL. Thanks to the State of Washington they each get 4 months paid maternity/paternity leave. That is definitely helpful in the new parent stage. Tyler literally had to be back at work two days after every one of our kids were born except for Bryn when he got to take off a full week and that was amazing. My mom wasn't the type of mom who would come and stay with me after our kids were born so I've never had that either. I was always on my own and a crying exhausted mess after having our babies with postpartum depression after Kameron and Bryn. Thankfully Reilly didn't seem to have much of that either. I think it makes a HUGE difference to have your partner there with you (for months) and not having to worry about going back to work.
A day after Tyler's birthday another Chinese spy balloon traveled across the USA before being shot down by F-22s off of Myrtle Beach on the South Carolina Coast. Craziness.
Surprising to no one... Ailey got sick yet again this month. Kam took her to the doctor. This time it was a double ear infection. Thank goodness the one round of antibiotics kicked in and worked. There was a fire in her apartment building and she had to be evacuated for awhile. Kam's building was not affected. This apartment complex has a lot of fires! She also got a new calling. She is still the Family History Specialist but now she is also the FHE Mom. LOL. She continues to date up a storm. She has gotten into country dancing. Ha ha! At the end of the month she and some of her friends took a little road trip to Provo. This was during all of the intense snow that Utah got this month. Ugh. They have two friends who are attending BYU on the exchange program with BYU-I. It was one of their friend's birthday so they surprised them. Ailey got to hang out with her bestie from last semester, Elsa, and they were thrilled to be reunited. Ailey went to church with Elsa to her BYU ward. She was not impressed. Ailey decided that BYU-Idaho is a much better fit for her. I think it is too. In so many ways. They had a great time and survived the snow. Ailey and Elsa sent me pictures from Sundance. Ailey also got to see one of her good friends, Savannah, from Spokane.
Elsa put in her papers for her mission and is just waiting for her mission call. A lot of Ailey's friends are all putting in their mission papers. Ailey hasn't really felt a confirmation that she wants to go on a mission. Tyler and I are fine with that.
Kameron continues to be somewhat of a man of mystery. :) He does call home and we get to have good conversations with him about every two weeks. He is good to text though but they are short informative texts. Ha ha! It's so funny the difference between boys and girls. Kameron has been doing some serious soul searching about his future. I'm not sure that BYU-I is a good fit for him. He hates the cold. He probably would enjoy the environment of the BYU (Provo Campus) more despite the cold.. Even Ailey said that she thought that Kam would like BYU Provo when I talked to her after her little road trip down there. Thank goodness for BeReal so that I get a daily glimpse of Kam. The picture above is one that Ailey sent to our digital frame. It is proof that Kam and Ailey occasionally hang out together and are getting along. No fighting this semester. Yay!
One night Kam called us late. He had just gone to the temple and was excited to tell us about the new changes to the endowment session. He loved the changes! He wants to go to the temple with us when he is in town in March. He had us sign up for a session while we were on the phone with him. LOL.
Bryn started basketball. This month is all practices and then the games start up in March. She is happy to be back in sports although this year the intensity in coach, practices, and frequency has really gone up.
She got her orchestra pictures taken. She doesn't love her picture but I love pictures of her with her cello. Even if it is only half a cello?? Who is taking these *professional* pictures?!
Bryn helped host an orchestra night at the middle school for the incoming 6th graders. She got to take the incoming 6th graders on a tour of the school and give them advice from an older and wiser 8th grader. Bryn loved that! The high school chamber orchestra came and performed too. They also all got to have a giant pizza party. She had a great time!
It has also been so cute to see her as Aunt Brynnie. She is so good with Karson. Especially as the youngest in the family who hasn't had a younger sibling or even a younger cousin who lives close to help take care of. I've loved seeing her go from being a little hesitant and asking me..."Mom, what am I supposed to say to a baby?" to seeing her coo and talk to Karson and watching him respond to her. His little eyes follow her and he will turn his head whenever she comes into the room. It is the sweetest thing!
Bryn registered for high school and she and I attended the orientation night for the incoming freshman. Surreal.
Our high school has a preschool that runs all year long and the child development class helps with it. Bryn was a preschooler there for two years so it was fun for her to go back and visit her old preschool. She was excited that she remembered so many fun things in the classroom. For one year Reilly and Bryn both attended the same school and Reilly likes to say that Bryn was more popular than she was. LOL. Bryn wants to work in the preschool while she is in high school. It's so fun to see things come full circle.
Every day Tyler and I are so grateful that of all of our children (who we love and adore) that it is Bryn who is our last one at home. She is just so easy going. She's 13 and occasionally has her moments but she is truly so fun to have around. I hope I don't jinx us with high school around the corner. Ha ha!
Karson had his first visit to the pediatrician.
He was not a fan!! That side eye is giving me life!! Ha ha! He's doing great though and has regained his birth weight plus an ounce. He is in the 99th percentile for everything.
Tyler has had a good month. He was named the new HEAD of the Standards Committee at work. That is exciting! He has been busy with stake stuff as per usual this month. Our ward has since gotten another new counselor in the bishopric. After the stake snagged Tyler...the guy that took his place was only in the bishopric for about 4 months and then he moved. Now our friend Josh is the new counselor in the bishopric. Kind of crazy for our ward!
Then this happened:
No one loves the Chiefs or bitmojis more than Tyler!
He was super excited about the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl! It's kind of sad that the Super Bowl is now a week later so he can't have his Super Bowl Birthday Party anymore. He had bets going with his co-workers and they bought him a new Chiefs jersey to wear. LOL. He's still wearing his Chiefs swag with great pride!
Reilly and Hunter live close to Tyler's office so occasionally on his lunch hour he gets to do this:
So cute!
Valentine's Day arrived and we had a good celebration! We sent the college kids Valentine care packages and we sent them early so that they would have them in time for Valentine's Day. In classic Ailey and Kameron fashion... Ailey opened hers immediately (on the 8th) and facetimed us while opening it and doing her (in her words) "unboxing". LOL. Kameron let us know that his package arrived but that he is a "purist" (his words) and he left it on his desk untouched until the 14th. These kids crack me up!
Bryn let me know that red lunches were still wanted on Valentine's Day despite her being the only kid at home. She is often worried that some of our family traditions are going to be stopped now that there is only one Johnson kid at home to do them for. No worries! After school Bryn helped me deliver some Valentine surprises to some of my friends. Tyler delivered Valentine surprises to Reilly, Hunter, and Karson. Tyler, Hunter, and Reilly also got red lunches which they also requested. Ha ha. That night Bryn decorated the table and we had our traditional Valentine's Day homemade pizza dinner along with surprises and love notes. I really do love these traditions and everyone participated in the love note tradition but I'm not sure how much longer we can keep that going with everyone in different locations. It was logistically challenging this year but it has sure been something special! Everyone felt the love!
After dinner we watched the new Reese Witherspoon/Ashton Kutcher rom-com. It was cute!
The day after Valentine's Day I caught the cold that I had been avoiding and had to stay away from Karson for a week. That was TERRIBLE! Thankfully it didn't last for too long and Lovey was able to get back in Lovey action. We try to only come over when invited and to not over stay our welcome. Reilly said that we are doing a good job so we must be because she won't hesitate to tell us if we are over stepping our bounds!
Karson had his first visit to Lovey and Pops house! He was so darling in his little sweater and jeans!! He was looking all around and just so cute. Later this month he was introduced to Beverly. She was very curious about this little guy. I thought she might bark or be jealous. Nope. She seemed to know that he was one of us. No barking, just a lot of sniffing, and then a big lick of his face. Ha ha!
My brother, Kirk, sister-in-law Meki, nephew Kirin, and our good friend Julie came up over President's Day weekend for a visit. They were excited to meet Karson. We had such a blast having them here! We crammed it all in! So many good meals and fun times. Can you believe zero pictures were taken of them with Karson?! Ugh. (I have also failed in my "take pictures of friends" this month.) But I did get some pictures of us. Reilly and Hunter are limiting taking Karson out in public due to RSV and other viruses going around. Everyone visited them at their apartment. While everyone was here we ate at the CDA resort. Went out for breakfast in Post Falls. Roamed around Gonzaga campus. Played at Riverfront Park. Ate at Yards Bruncheon and Mac Daddy's. Hung out in Kendall Yards. Got ice cream at the Scoop. We all had so much fun and can't wait for our cruise!!
I guess I did get some "friend" pictures! Although Julie is more like a sister to me! I love her and she is THE MOST supportive person!! I was so glad that she hitched a ride with Kirk and Meki.
Kirin didn't want to ride a horse so Uncle Tyler got to ride with him on the non-moving dragon. LOL. He was also the official coat and purse holder. He's a good one that Uncle Ty!
Kirin was pretty excited about not being the youngest in the family anymore!
Julie and Bryn first in line at Mac Daddy's on their opening day!
