Johnson Family Reunion

This year our family headed to Michigan to participate in my family reunion.  My sister, Eryn, was hosting this year and lives in Michigan so we all traveled to her house to get together.  It was so much fun to see my family.  It's a bummer that we live so far away from each other that we rarely get together, but when we do get together it's lots of fun.  I spent the week laughing and hanging out with my sisters and brother.  My kids didn't really warm up to cousins as much as I would have liked but it's hard to form a relationship when you only see each other every 3 years!  I think by the end of the week they were enjoying themselves.  I love my family and I'm so glad we got together.  Also, we celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary...so that was pretty cool.

On the flight to Detroit.  It was a night time flight so we were pretty exhausted by the time we landed.  I flew out early with the boys and Hyrum joined us a few days later.

First stop was Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.  The plan was to meet cousins here and have a fun day getting to know them while at the amusement park but things fell through and in the end it was just me and the boys.

Julian and I got a "bit" wet on the rapids ride:)

Taking a break to cool down.  It was very hot and humid...something our Oregon bodies just aren't used to!

At the top of the Ferris Wheel.  We had a fun day at the park but it would have been a blast if more cousins could have made it work to join us!

With my family at the cider mill.  They make fresh pressed cider and super yummy home made donuts!

Swimming at the lake.  My sister had some kayaks that we could use and the water was so wonderful and warm, it was just fun to swim around.

Sisters!  Me with Eryn and Tanya:)

Water balloon fun in Eryn's back yard.  She had such a great piece of property where kids could run around and have fun.

50 years of being married.  I'm sure it hasn't always been a walk in the park and I know they have had some really hard times but they are a good example of sticking together and always sharing love with their family.

The kids swimming in the lake near the house we stayed at on Lake Orion, Michigan.

Working on the quilt for my parents 50th wedding anniversary gift.  I'm glad I could add a few stitches to this memory quilt.

Paige could't make it to the reunion because her baby twins were just a few weeks old.  We were able to chat and keep her connected with a few FaceTime videos but we all missed Paige and Zach and their cute family!!!

Campfire fun at Eryn's house!

Me with my big brother Del...love this guy!

I'm so glad I could make it out to the the family reunion.  I wish we all lived a bit closer but I'll take what I can get.  Love to you all!!!

June Time Fun

My twins graduated from 8th grade.  That means that I will be the mom of two high school students in the fall...I'm not that old yet, am I?  Townsend graduated with a 4.0!  Emerson did really well but slacked off on a class that he hated so didn't get the 4.0

Julian with his teacher Ms. Marshall on his last day of 3rd grade!!!

Picking blackberries with Julian and Aunt Katrina

Bowling with a friend, Jacob Greathouse

Mini golf with the Holwege kiddos.  I had a lot of one on one time with Julian in June while his brothers were off on scout high adventure.

My little sister Paige had her twins!!!  I get to go visit them in September and I honestly can't wait!!!!

I have been obsessed with the music from "Hamilton" and so I got tickets to a tribute band called Rise Up.  They sang a bunch of the songs from Hamilton and it was so much fun.  The whole crowd was singing along and dancing!  It was awesome!

Twins on High Adventure

The photos are all courteous of the leaders that went with the twins on their high adventure.  They spent a week kayaking in Puget Sound up in Washington State.  When they came home they said, "it wasn't as bad as Trek."  Which I guess means they sort of kind of maybe had fun??  Talking with the leaders they reported that the twins had fun with their friends and were always at the front of the pack of kayaks.  I hope they have good memories of the time they spent out in nature.

Photo of the entire group of scouts they went with.

Looking very tired at the first camp site.  I guess their guide messed up and they paddled an extra few miles to back track to where they were supposed to be

Townsend taking a break

Emerson

The twins kayaking next to each other

Townsend in a canoe with some friends.

Pretty good shot of Townsend in the kayak.

Girls Camp 2018

I had such a fun time at camp this year.  I love my calling as our Ward Girls Camp Director.  I love the girls that I get to know but mostly I love the other ladies I get to hang out with.  We have so much fun! I can't wait for next year:)

Hiking around with my buddies Audrey Burdick and Jacki Fisher

I led the 4th year girls on a hike up to this little shrine.  It was pretty much up hill the whole way and some girls didn't make it...but I had fun:)

Our ward "color" this year was orange.  I had to make 50 of these little skirts for all the girls!

4th year cabin moms are the best!

My home away from home.  I was on the top bunk at the far end of the room.  Not the most comfortable sleeping situation but it was fine...better than a tent:)

Jacki Fisher always brings cards and we stay up way too late playing.  In fact, one night a girl came into the kitchen and asked if the leaders could be quiet because they were trying to sleep...ha ha ha...we were such goofs

"The Circle of Light" on the last night of camp.  We all stand in a circle with candles and sing songs.  You could feel the spirit testify of the beauty of the world around us and the beauty of the friendships we had made.  Such a wonderful experience.

What happened in May?

Julian got to babysit his class ducklings for a night.  He had so much fun taking care of the little babies.

There were 4 bigger ducks that had hatched 2 weeks before and then 2 little ducks that had only hatched a few days before we got to babysit.

Our cat, Peter..."watching" the baby ducks:)

Long bike rides each weekend...thank goodness we live in such a beautiful place that has such nice weather!

Hyrum and Julian planted our garden...can't wait for the peas!

Hyrum did a solo hike up Saddle Mountain...

...not much of a view from the top but he said it was still a great hike!

The boys with their piano teacher, Becky Baker.  The twins say they want to quit piano but I'm hoping they will continue again in September...we'll see.

Hyrum spent a weekend in Utah hanging out with his mom.  I think they both had a fun time hiking and cooking yummy food!

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!