A busy month

Well, I'm tired of looking at all of my laundry, so I better post something again :)

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

37 years old

Garrett had his Book I piano recital. He did fabulous!! We did it at the nursing home and the residents loved it. Garrett felt pretty great after it was all over :) 

Trying to get a group picture afterwards didn't go so great. This was the final straw when I stopped trying. But each of the kids played a number at the recital (except Miya and Kalia) and did so great. It was a proud mom moment for me. 

Miya the "flying-pig" with Kalia as Cinderella

Ty was a "Morph" Suit Guy. I think he is the one in the middle. I love their eyebrows :)

 L-R: Mario, Fred, Pebbles, Wilma, Jack Sparrow, Harry Potter, no-want-to-dress-up girl, Minion

 Pumpkins turned out so cute

And some random photos of my fun days at home with my sweet Miya and Kalia. 

I love my life! 

(sorry about the weird photo formatting--not sure what I did...)

folding party at my house

I took a week off of laundry...not a good idea.

Any good movies you've seen lately?

All tuckered out...

 After such a busy weekend, everyone crashed after Stake Conference. It was so fun to have Tyler home on a Sunday afternoon, even if he was asleep :)

Kalia didn't even finish lunch before her nap.

Four-Day Weekend!

Tyler loves driving in the car, taking in the beauties of fall, and I prefer hiking or wandering around in unique shops, so when we had a four day weekend, we decided to take a drive on "The Great River Road", complete with lots of stops to explore along the way. It was the perfect combination of our loves. Tyler even downloaded an audio tour that we listened to as we drove through each little town. The kids couldn't get enough of the audio tour (do you detect a hint of sarcasm?)

Just to the left of the fam you can see an area carved out of the trees--Archeologists think it might be a bow and arrow or bird that indians formed years ago. Or maybe some trees just died in that spot, who knows.

We stopped at a famous pie shop along the way-delicious! My fav was the triple chocolate pecan pie.

Grant and Garrett at the Amish furniture shop

Learning about the Locks and Dams along the Mississippi. I couldn't believe how fast the water drained to get the level down so the boats could enter.

Gorgeous views, good food and fun stops made for a fun family day.

I don't think we could have any car-family-together-time without at least one selfie of the kids. 

Thanks, Garrett!

Later that night Grant got to play flag football at the halftime of the Varsity Football game.

He was so fast running onto the field!

Grant is the secret weapon--he is so small compared to the others, but man can he run! (Grant is on the far right in the pic)

Getting ready for Halloween with a dress-up birthday party. Grant will be Mario, Kalia will be Cinderella, Shayla wants to be a Minnion (from Despicable Me), but not sure about everyone else.

When Tyler found out Kalia was going to be Cinderella he suggested we all go as the 7 Dwarfs. hmmmm, I think he got his fairy tales mixed up :)

We also had a fun morning at the pumpkin patch on Thursday

Feeding the chickens-Kalia kind of liked it

Choosing the perfect pumpkin

It was such a beautiful fall weekend--fun time with the kids, and Tyler and I got to attend parent teacher conferences and then sneak off to see Wicked. We LOVED it!! So entertaining and fun.

5K

We ran a 5K as a family, with our good friends the Searle's. It was a brisk, early morning, but such a great experience. The kids all did great--I was so proud of them!

 Ty came in second overall, with a time of 19:48, Shayla and Tyler came in at 30:57, Garrett at 25:05, and Grant, Kalia, Miya and I finished at 34:54. It was such a great feeling!

 Kalia was such a good sport--I woke her at 6am and she and Miya rode in the jogging stroller the whole way.

 After the 5K the kids lined up for the fun run--I made them do it because they said they were handing out medals to all the kids. I thought a medal would be a great souvenir for their amazing race and i was pretty excited for them. Well, the medals turned out to be the cheap plastic kind that you buy at the dollar store. We had a pretty good laugh over that, but hey, the kids did awesome on the fun run :)

The kids with their medals, and the superheroes who chased them on the race.

Kalia's 1st bday!

Kalia turned one on Sept. 19th, 2013

Since our family tradition is breakfast in bed, we brough Kalia a bottle in bed. She was sound asleep when we came in and I think we scared her to death.

 Then we went down to the kitchen for some french toast

 Kalia's not walking yet, but loves to stand by the couch

 Kalia also loves to lounge on the couch

 Our neighbors gave Kalia the cutest tutu and headband

 We all enjoyed cake and ice cream together. Kalia thought Ty's face was hilarious!

Presents!

I wish my hair would grow...

Kalia did a good job enjoying her cake

 Kalia loves her new baby doll. She hugs her and pats her back in the sweetest way, and snuggles with her to sleep.

Here is the birthday girl the next day. 

What a fast year it was--Kalia brings so much personality and joy to our family.

Grandpa Johnson

My 95-year-old Grandpa Johnson passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon. My Mom and Grandma were by his side and took such wonderful care of him right up to the end. I knew this day was coming, but my heart sure aches thinking I won't see my Grandpa again in this life.

He is such a source of inspiration to me. He worked hard all his life, riding a bus 1 hour each way to get to The Site in Idaho Falls to work and support his family, and then worked his farm on the side. He always had a funny joke to share and a sunny outlook on life, in spite of the difficulties.  He and my Grandma had 9 children together, one who died just a few days after he was born, and the other 8 that are still living today. They have 56 grandchildren, and over 100 great grandchildren. And the amazing thing is that Grandpa and Grandma know and love each one of us. I would often see Grandpa studying a list of his posterity, making sure he could remember who went with who and all the names.

Grandpa always had a smile and a friendly word for everyone he met and truly never met a stranger. I think he had true charity for all that he met and saw them through the Savior's eyes. He always told me what a joy I was to him and Grandma, and he thought so highly of me I always wanted to do and be better to try and live up to his expectations.

Grandpa, I love you and miss you! I will see you again someday and hope to continue to do my best to live up to the legacy you've given me.

Kalia met Grandma and Grandpa for the first time in June 2013

Grandpa's 95th birthday celebration

Grandpa and Grandma at the Johnson Reunion this June 2013

My sister Angie posted this picture on facebook and I love it. 

This is the kind of love you develop when you stick by your sweetheart for 68 years. 

True Love.

And this is how I picture my Grandpa now--young and full of life again.

Faithful to the end.