My Trip to Virginia

 Zach DeShetler just got home in January from a 6 month deployment to Africa. I went to Virginia to watch the boys so that Paige and Zach could take a little vacation, just the 2 of them, to reconnect and have a break after such a long deployment. I absolutely LOVE taking care of these boys and was super happy to help out. Unfortunately there was a LOT of puking. About every 2 days another boy started throwing up. I think I handled it quite well and we ended up still having a fun time together but man...why do kids always puke at night? You get absolutely NO sleep because they are throwing up every 30 minutes or so. Poor kids, I felt so bad for them but luckily each boy only threw up for about 10 hours and I'm VERY glad all 4 didn't throw up at the same time! Paige and Zach totally owe me a trip to Guam to visit when they move this summer 😆

Alistair with his cool glasses on, ready for a walk!

Having some fun after school

Chalk art zoo

Donuts for breakfast

Super fun train museum

"Dogman" in the movie theater

Graham reading a story to his brothers. It is rare all 4 of them are quietly sitting together, I had to get proof!

The last night I was there Paige, Zach and Remy and I played a game all together after the little boys went to bed. Paige and I both hate games that take an hour to explain all the rules but we relented because Remy is so cute and we can't resist his request for us to play:)

I got together with Christine Watkins (my brothers ex-wife) for some lunch at a Buffalo themed restaurant in Virginia before I flew home

The beef on weck was super yummy. It was fun to get a little taste of home as well as catch up with Christine and see how she is doing.

January: Hikes, Protest, Chocolate Making, Twins Birthday, Julian gets Adopted!

 It was wonderful the twins were still with us for a few days in January. The let down after the holidays is real and so it was great to have the whole family still together so we could do some fun things.

We hiked around Mt. Tabor in Portland. I think the boys are reenacting a "Squid Game" scene here. Not quite sure BUT what I do know is that it makes me so happy to see them being sill and having fun all together:)

Group photo on Mt. Tabor

The twins organized a little get together with some of their friends in Hillsboro. Some of these kids they have been friends with since 3rd grade! I'm so glad they value friendship and the relationships they have made over the years.

I attended a protest in Portland. I will not go quietly into this abyss we call Trump and his supporters. If standing up for freedom and the rights of all people gets me arrested or killed...I want to be on the right side of history. I see the writing on the wall and I don't see this ending well for America or her democracy!

Julian participated in the blessing of the sacrament for the very first time now that he is ordained as a Priest. I was very proud of him for being willing to participate and do his part to serve

A group of my friends went to a chocolate making class at Vanday chocolate company in McMinnville, Oregon. It was such a fun and informative (and yummy) class

We all got to take home a little chocolate bar that we made ourselves:)

The twins are 21!!! We drove down to Corvallis to celebrate with them. We took them out to their favorite Thai restaurant and then had cake, ice cream and presents back at their little house. I'm so glad they are just an hour and a half away. I love them and am so proud of all their hard work at college these last 3 years:)

Julian found out a family in Takarazuka, Japan has agreed to host him for the year. He will be a BIG brother for the first time. We are so excited!

December: Christmas Music, Christmas, a trip to Washington and New Years Eve

 December was full of fun concerts, lots of yummy food, visits with family and friends and the wonderful Christmas holiday. We had our twins home from December 7-January 4....almost an entire month! It's getting quite tricky to find gifts for our boys. They are all old enough that toys just won't cut it anymore. I wish we could just give them some money and call it "good" but they do still love the excitement of opening gifts under the tree. Hyrum does a great job every year of coming up with fantastic, practical but also silly gifts. I told him he has to stick around for many more years...our family would be lost without him!

Oma came to Portland for a short visit. We walked around the Portland Audubon Society park.

We went to a "Hawaiian Christmas" concert. It was fun. The singer did a great job and a lot of his songs were accompanied by dancers, so it was really enjoyable.

My front entryway. I bought the Santa just this year to go with the elf...I think it's pretty festive:)

I work with the Activity Day girls for our ward (girls age 8-12) For our December activity we combined with the boys group and we made wood block nativity sets. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to do this, there was SO much paper to cut out to prep for this activity. I think the kids had fun and they turned out pretty cute but I won't be doing this again any time soon!

We found the best little tree for our Christmas (we went on December 21st and we were so happy the tree farm was still open!)

Did I mention it was an absolutely gorgeous evening. The sunset made the entire hillside glow:)

Katrina and I braved the crowds and went to Tuba Christmas in Portland. Always a fun concert, especially when the rain holds off:)

We took the whole family to see a "Charlie Brown Christmas Live" We thought they would play the movie while the orchestra played the score but instead they had live actors play out the movie while the orchestra played. Not nearly as good as if they had just shown the movie.

We walked down to Pioneer Square after the concert to see the giant Christmas tree all lit up.

Jason just bought his first house and needed some help painting some walls. We all showed up and knocked out the whole house in a few hours. It was the boys first time painting and they all did a great job!

We attended "A Celtic Christmas" and we all agreed this was a wonderful concert. They played Celtic music and had some Celtic dancing but there was also a man from Ireland that told wonderful stories about his childhood growing up...it was a heartwarming event

We enjoyed our Christmas Eve with the Doxey family where we have to perform "talents" to get a special "grab bag" surprise. This year Emerson wrote with his right and left hands (which they looked pretty identical) I performed the Maori "stick game" with Hyrum, Julian and Townsend did a balancing game where they tried to push each other off balance...it was a very fun night.

I went to Midnight Mass at St. Mathews Church in Hillsboro. They didn't have an organ or a great choir so I might try a different church next year.

Christmas kitty waiting for Santa to come

The tree awaits Christmas morning

We have a relaxing morning. The boys don't usually wake up until around 11 and then we have a wonderful breakfast before opening gifts. I like how slow and easy our Christmas mornings are.

The boys posing with the ornaments they got from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson

The aftermath!

Hyrum cooked up an amazing Christmas dinner that we shared with the Doxey family

We are so lucky to live close to the Doxey's so we can share so many wonderful times together.

I took the boys to the mall after Christmas so we could donate with the "Giving Machine" We donated shelter, clothing, migrant legal services and vaccines. I'm glad the boys were eager to donate to those in need.

The weekend after Christmas I drove up to Washington to spend some time with the Christensen family. Their daughter, Maggie, is getting married in May 2025 and she invited me up to go wedding dress shopping with her. I had a blast! It was so wonderful to hang out with this great family and to participate in Maggie's wedding preparations:)

This was my favorite dress she tried on...unfortunately it was $4,000 and she just couldn't bring herself to spend that much money on a dress. But she looked absolutely stunning!

Hanging out with the crazy Christensen crew:)

I requested Aaron's homemade sushi and we had so much fun making it together.

Ready to dig into the sushi feast! The man on the right is Maggie's fiancé, Heller

And on top of being able to hang out with some of my favorite people...their goats had some babies just a few days earlier and I got to snuggle baby goats!  Best trip ever!!

The power went out on New Years Eve around 5:00. We were going to go to Katrina's for our annual party and almost cancelled but we are so glad we made it work. We just ate and played games with lanterns and candles...it was actually quite cozy and memorable

Ringing in the New Year at midnight with some fireworks.  Goodbye 2024!

In all honesty I'm not very excited about 2025. For one, Donald Trump was elected as President AGAIN even though he is a liar, criminal, cheat and all around terrible person. Who knows what insane and crazy things will happen this year just because our country is led by a complete idiot!! I'm also a bit sad because Julian will be leaving us for a year to study abroad in Japan. I am beyond excited for him to have this experience but I can't help but feel a little sad at the same time that my baby boy is going to be gone. I hope that in December 2025 I will have wonderful things to remember...but looking ahead I fear 2025 will be a bum year!