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!

March Madness

We had lots of adventures in March!

Julian showing off his great climbing skills, what a monkey!

We took time on a beautiful Saturday to go for a hike.  The boys were NOT happy about it and we spent most of the first part of the hike listening to them all complain loudly about going on a hike!  The weather was perfect, the hike was great...it's just the boys attitude I would have liked to change.  Notice, the twins refused to be in our photo:(

The hike ended at a little shrine in the woods to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Great day for a hike!

Hyrum and I are training for Cycle Oregon this September.  This was on one of our practice rides.  We biked into Vernonia, OR and found this cute little ruin of an old logging factory.

Julian got to participate in the flag ceremony at his Elementary School

My niece, Taylor Doxey, had her Bridal Shower.  Her and Parker are super cute together!

Took a day to go snow shoeing up at Mt. Hood.  We did a 3 mile loop and it was perfect weather.  I took my jacket off after about 1/4 mile...it was so sunny!

Me and Katrina with beautiful Mt. Hood in the back ground:)

I turned 41!  I'm getting old but thanks to good friends who make chocolate, peanut butter cheesecake for me...I think I'll enjoy this birthday:)

This same friend (Elizabeth Van Horne) organized a surprise birthday lunch for me.  All these ladies came to celebrate with me.  I feel so loved!


Hyrum and I went into Portland for a yummy dinner and dessert for my birthday.  We split this delicious cake from Papa Hyden's...yummy!


Took the boys and some friends to the "10 Grands" concert for kids.  All the performers are in high school and they play fun songs that kids like.  My boys still complained about going (they seem to do a lot of complaining lately) but I think it's good for them to experience some culture while they are young.

Spring Break in Sunriver Oregon

We have lived in Oregon for 6 years now and finally made it to Sunriver!  Everyone always talks about Sunriver and how much fun it is and how much they love it down there, so we decided to give it a try.  The smartest thing we did was invite the Holwege family to join us.  They have 2 boys about the same age as my twins and a younger son that Julian really gets along well with.  We also brought Oma along for the fun!  It was a great week and definitely a place I would love to visit again in the summer.  There were quite a few hikes that we wanted to do but they were closed for the season so we really need to go back:)

The house we rented had a hot tub.  It was a real hit with the kids.  They used it every day we were there!

There was also a pretty fun water park right in the resort we were staying in.  I think the kids would have had more fun if it was hot outside.  The outdoor pools were open but it was too cold for them to stay out there very long

Cute Jonah Holwege

The twins with their friends Grady and Hayden...I think they had a great time hanging out together.

Sunriver resort is full of great walking or biking trails.  We got the kids to go on a short little walk one day and Julian's face will show you how excited he was about that!  This little guy thinks any kind of "walk" is a hike!

Jonah and Hayden sledding on Wanoga hill

Julian loved sledding

Cute family shot

The house we rented was so perfect.  There were plenty of beds for everyone and the table could seat us all for meals.  The older boys had their own little section of the house with a tv that Hyrum hooked the xBox to so we didn't see much of the older boys:)

The whole group (minus Hyrum taking the photo) We went for a great walk along the river in Bend, Oregon.

They kids all had fun climbing on the big rocks next to the trail

My boys will climb anything they can find!

On our last night in Sunriver Hyrum, Oma and I took a walk down to the lake.  It was a gorgeous evening and such a nice relaxing walk.  I really want to come back here again!

Until next time Sunriver!