Over the river and through the woods

To grandma's house we go! On Sunday we had a little get together with Grandma and Jeff, my sister Kristin and her family and Pop Pop for our annual Christmas gathering. As always, the food was delish and the company was even better. My kids had a blast with their cousins and it is always great to be able to spend some time with Pop. We made Play doh ornaments and watched kids movies and opened presents! It was Christmas all over again. Originally, I was not too keen on having the Christmas party after Christmas, but it was so nice to still have something to look forward to after the big day, and mom didn't disappoint!

Christmas 2009 in pictures

On Christmas Eve we had our traditional Johnson family appetizer feast with grandma and Jeff

My mom read Twas The Night Before Christmas and I read the nativity story

We all opened our Christmas PJ's (Mario Cart, Buzz Lightyear and Cars)

We set out milk and cookies and carrots for the reindeer

Santa came! The kids woke up 4 times that night and we finally let them go down at 7

Good Morning!

After all the gifts had been unwrapped, there was still one that didn't fit under the tree

How did Santa fit a trampoline on his sleigh?

We spent the day playing with gift after gift:

Cameron and his night vision goggles (Thanks Tyler!)

Mason and his stackable ice cream, want a lick?

Gavin with a Pez dispenser in one hand and his car carrier truck in the other

Now the turkey is in the oven and we are listening to the last day of Christmas music in the house. Bittersweet, but we are enjoying every minute! Merry Christmas!

Cameron's 6-7 year montage

Another year gone by...

My oldest turned 7 today. He could not understand why I was not happy that it was his birthday. "You're getting too big, too fast," was my reply and he responded that I ought to ask Jesus to make him into a little baby again. You think it would work? He is my sweet and wonderful Cameron, the boy that goes without in order to prevent Gavin getting upset. The boy that tries to give away his birthday presents to give to kids who will get nothing for Christmas because it makes him sad. The one who also has constantly been reminding us that even if Santa didn't come to our house it would still be Christmas because of Jesus. It is impossible not to love this child and every day I am given more and more reasons to magnify that love. He tries his hardest to please others and is the greatest snuggler ever. This one will do great things one day and be a huge benefit to mankind as a whole, I have no doubt. So as much as I would love to shrink him back down into the babe he once was, I will let him grow into the man I know he will become. But I will always remember how he once offered to put his growth on hold in order to make his mommy happy on his birthday. That's my boy. Happy Birthday Baby!

Playing in a Winter Wonderland

So what do you do when nearly two feet of snow get dumped on you and you have three very excited children, one giddy mom and, one husband who has never seen so much snow?

You admire how pretty it is...

You shovel for hours...

You measure how high up it reaches on you...

You go sledding at Grandmas!

You make snow angels...

You build a snowman

You make a tunnel/igloo to play trucks in...

And you constantly run the dryer as the wet clothes cycle in and the dry ones go out. We are very happy campers with this much snow everywhere. It is so exciting that we are going to have a white Christmas. We are hoping that Cameron will not have school (he was scheduled to go until Wednesday) and are baking and watching Christmas movies and loving every minute of it! Be jealous!

Christmas Traditions

There are a few places we go each Christmas and this week we did two of them, the Bull Run Festival of Lights and the Washington DC Temple Festival of Lights. We love our Christmas lights! Every year we bundle up and drive through the myriad of light displays in Bull Run Park in the back of Jeremy's pickup truck. It is one of the very few times when I am actually grateful for that eye-sore of a truck. This year we went with the Candlands and picked a warmish night. It was still COLD, but luckily we had blankets and carols to keep us warm and hot chocolate waiting at the end. It is a fun activity that we always look forward to year after year.We also took the kids up to the temple on Friday, right before the big storm hit. Luckily there was no big crowd, but unluckily we sat in 2 hours of traffic to get there and the performance scheduled that night was cancelled due to weather, but we were still able to walk through and enjoy the new LED lights they used this year to decorate the grounds like a wonderland. We also saw creches from all over the world and the outdoor nativity. Despite the trek, we never regret going and hope to someday take our boys to the Salt Lake Temple during Christmas where their lights put our 500,000 to shame. We sure were grateful to get this visit in before Christmas and before the big blizzard prevented us from going at all.

4R's Christmas Program

Thursday night was Gavin's debut in the 4 R's Christmas program and he did a great job! Ironically, his part talked about how good he had been all year and he held up the naughty and nice list. His name was on the top of the nice side. Hmm, we'll have to see if Santa agrees... Highlights included the "Reindeer Pokey" and "Guess Who's Beard is Long and White?" Gavin was so proud of himself and we were likewise incredibly proud of him!

The story of Nie

This article was just published about the crash Stephanie Nielson was in and her brave journey of recovery. Read it, it is worth your time.

A day full of cheer

Today was the perfect Saturday. We had nowhere we needed to be during most of the day and set about doing Christmasey things. We made salt dough ornaments and decorated them so they are ready to adorn our tree, we baked and baked some more. I have the best sugar cookie recipe that I just love to pull out during the holidays so we made those and some White chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter crackers. Baking with the kids requires lots of patience and letting go of the perfection, but it is so worth it. We were especially grateful that daddy joined in on all of our fun today and hopefully we made a few memories.

Ho, ho, ho, we've got snow!

There is nothing better than waking up to snow in December to get you in the Christmas spirit! And better yet, on a Saturday when Daddy's home and can join in on the fun! Today was our first snow of the season and it hasn't let up all day. I think Jeremy and I are just as giddy as the kids and I am loving watching it fall from our big windows on the back of the house. We are expecting about 5 inches which is good enough for me! This morning we bundled up the kids and had a big snowball fight! Snow play round one is now over and the kids are enjoying their hot chocolate in preparations for round two- sledding!

Party Hearty

There is this place called Pump It Up that the kids have been begging to have a party at. It is full of all kinds of inflatables that you can jump and slide on and you get to invite 25 of your closest friends to share cake and play hard. So this year we combined their parties to merit the hefty price tag that comes along with such a party and gathered last night for fun and excitement. All we had to bring were the cakes and the goodie bags and the staff handled everything else. I have to say, it was very easy and I actually enjoyed every minute! They bounced until their little hearts were content and then we sang our Happy Bithdays, stuffed ourselves full of way too much cake and tore into the mountain of gifts that rivaled Christmas. When all was done my kids were wet with sweat, their bellies were a bit rounder and they had this strange foreign thing called a smile plastered on their faces until they were tucked in for the night. Hopefully, this is one for them to remember because I don't think we will ever be able to repeat this caliber of festivities. Happy 4th and 7th Gavin and Cameron, mom and dad love you lots! And if anybody out there wants some cake, we've got it coming out of our ears!

Pilgrims and Indians

We had a great day filled with family, food, and some little pilgrims and indians. I am so thankful for holidays like today! Happy Thanksgiving 2009!