My Visit to California

My little sister Paige is expecting TWINS in June.  She needed a few extra sets of hands to get her nursery all set up for the babies so me and my sister DeNae flew in to help her out.  I had a fantastic few days hanging out with my sisters!  I also loved getting to play with my nephews, they are all so cute:)  The best part of sister time is when we get to sit down and laugh and tell stories and chat and eat and have fun.  I love sister time!

Remy Deshetler and Owen Israelsen...two of my super cute nephews.  They had so much fun playing together!

Paige is pregnant with twins...I'm just fat:)  Paige's husband Zach left for the week so it was really great that DeNae and I could be there for Paige.

I finally got to meet my nephew Emmett Israelsen and he's almost a year old!!!  He was such a cutie, I loved him to death!

We had to paint the nursery...this hideous pink had to go!  We painted 3 walls in cream and the 4th wall this great forest green color.  It turned out fantastic.

Me lovin' on my little buddy Emmett:)

Owen got to participate in Remy's dance class.  It was so cute to see those little boys together in a class full of girls:)

We all had a fun time at the trampoline park.  Little Emmett was so cute crawling around and getting bounced around by the kids!

Our adventurous bike ride.  I had this great idea to take the kids out for a bike ride to get a ice cream treat at the gas station.  It was only about a 4 mile ride which would have been fine except the front tire popped about halfway there...I kept riding on it but it made it so hard to pedal and took so much longer because I had to go slow.  The boys didn't seem to mind and as you can see everyone was happy to get a treat.  Luckily Paige and DeNae came in the van to rescue us so I didn't have to ride back to the house on a flat tire:)

Play time with the boys

DeNae and I were having trouble getting this dumb electric screwdriver to work so Paige had to get her pregnant self up on the ladder to screw in the curtain rods.

DeNae and I show off our awesome crib assembling skills.  I think the nursery turned out so cute!  I can't wait to meet these little twins:)

Woodburn Tulip Festival

This was only the 2nd time I have gone down to Woodburn to see the tulips.  I really need to come back every year, it is so pretty!  This year I got to go with my friend Sabrina Ewert who was visiting from Germany.  We had a fun time even though it was a bit rainy.  The gorgeous flowers make it all worth it!

So many tulips!!

Photo with Sabrina

Every time you turned around there was another great photo opportunity!  

My Visit to Arizona

My grandma Myers passed away this last December, she was 100 years old.  I wasn't able to go to the funeral and felt bad that it had been 3 years since I had gone to Arizona to visit her.  I decided to buy a ticket to Arizona to visit my grandma Merrill, who is 98.  I want my grandma's to know how much I love them and care about them and I wanted to see her before she passed away.  She is still doing remarkably well considering her age.  Her mind is just as sharp even if she moves a little slower.  I had a fantastic time visiting not only grandma but my parents and my sister Riann who also live in Arizona.  I'm glad I went in April before it got too hot down there, Arizona is not my favorite place to visit because I'm always so hot!!

First things first, the night I flew in Riann and I had to go to Cafe Rio!  I wish there was a Cafe Rio in Oregon!

Riann and I went for a walk on the "Lost Goldmine Trail"  It was a fairly easy hike and you get to see some cool petroglyphs at the end of the trail.

Taking a break at the end of the trail to see the neat petroglyphs.

Riann, my mom and I went to the Mesa Temple to see the Easter pageant.  I was lucky enough to be there for Easter weekend and we caught the last showing of the pageant.  

Playing Yahtzee with grandma.  She also loved playing Skipbo while I was there.

Seriously one of the best gelato places I have found in the US is just a few miles from grandmas house...I may have gone once or twice (or more) while I was visiting:)

Happy Easter!  Riann and I each got a snickers bar from our dad (a true Johnson family Easter treat) and we feasted on biscuits and gravy for breakfast...it was amazing!

This is me and my Aunt Teri.  She took care of my grandma Myers until she passed away.  I love this lady and the selfless and wonderful way she took care of my grandma!

My mom and I took grandma to the cemetery where grandpa is buried.  I'm glad I got to go and visit his grave.  Grandma told me some nice stories about her and grandpa.

My dad has been super busy building a "hydroponics" garden in grandmas back yard.  I can't believe how much work he has done on this!

Three generations of beautiful women.  I'm so very glad I came to Arizona to see my grandma...family is so important and I want her to know I love her.

My mom and dad are the best!

Thanks Riann for hanging out with your big sister all weekend...love you babe!

Spring Break in Sun River, OR

This year for the boys Spring Break we decided to head down to Sun River, Oregon.  We had heard from lots of people here that Sun River is a great place to go and we have wanted to check it out for a few years.  We rented a house that was big enough for our family, the Holwege family (my friend Jessie and her 4 boys) and even Oma came with us!  We had such a fun time.  Mostly we relaxed at the house but sometimes its ok to have a break and relax and not just run around doing a million things on vacation!

Jonah Holwege on the giant anchor outside our house.

Sun River is full of lots of fun trails.  Next time we will definitely bring our bikes to explore more of the trails.

The aquatic center was fun but I'm sure in the summer it would be more fun with all the pools outside open as well...we have to come back!

We found a great sledding hill!

Hayden and Milo Holwege having fun sledding

The house was perfect for our families.  There were 8 bunk beds, 2 queen beds and a king bed.  There was a little "boys room" where we set up the boys video game box and they spent lots of time hanging out in there.  The kitchen had plenty of space and there was even a hot tub!

All the boys relaxing in the hot tub!

We drove into Bend and walked around the Farewell Bend River Trail Loop.

The boys loved climbing all over these big boulders.

Then they climbed up some bridges...crazy boys!

The river in Sun River, such a peaceful place.  Hyrum, Oma and I took a walk on our last night.

Goodbye Sun River, it was so fun and we will come back!