JOHNSON JOCULARITY

Halloween Dress Up

2009-10-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

And the winner is.....Rob!!! The six-year-old Super Hero!

Dr. Seuss is a Halloween MUST for our "thingy" daughters

Any resemblance?

Admiral Spencer and the Things

Stetson displaying his... well.... his STETSON!

Jeff & Niki's three "good" little witches

Gomez & Morticia with their little leopard and dinosaur....
but what happened to the skunk?

There she is! Ella the Skunk

Brian & Kira with their roaring little lion cub

Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River

2009-10-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

Driving home from Cedar City, we stopped to do some site seeingWe've driven by Lee's Ferry hundreds of times and never stopped
Sally is a descendent of John D. Lee...

so it's about time we stopped!

Mike & Sally by the Colorado River

Sally, Mike & Ella

Kristina

Melissa, Adelle, Ethan

Adelle

Kristina

Ethan

Rob, Ethan, Melissa

Melissa & Kristi

Melissa, Kristi, and Ethan

Melissa, Ethan, Kristi

Melissa & Kristi

Melissa

Kristina

Adelle & Ethan

St. George Marathon

2009-10-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

Sally ran in the St George Marathon for the second time!

She ran it in 4 hours and 2 minutes

Not bad for a mother of three young children!

They fed the runners all kinds of good stuff

Does Bracken have Brian's eyebrows or what?

Some of her cheering section

Melissa, Adelle, Mike, Kristina, & Brian
...and a very PROUD hubby!
... and daughter
...and son
...who also can't resist a ride on Uncle Brian's back
We went out for pizza afterwards.
Bracken is checking out the menu

Adelle, Ella, Ethan and Bracken

The gang giving Sally a leg and foot massage

Then celebrating Ethan's 5th Birthday

With a dinosaur cake! Doesn't get better than that.

Sally Running the Marathon

2009-10-03T01:38:00.000-07:00

Toe Shoes!

2009-09-22T23:52:00.000-07:00

Leave it to Melissa to find TOE shoes.
Think they'll catch on??

TJYC

2009-09-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

This is Sue's 2nd Semester TJYC Class.

They are an AWESOME groups of students! The guys - Connor, Jake, and David
And the girls - Rachel, Kristina and Hilarie
This class is really tough... but all I can say is... WOW!
You would not believe what we are learning!

HIP Retreat

2009-08-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

We went to the HIP (Homeschooling with Intent & Purpose) Retreat at Dairy Springs Campground near Flagstaff, Arizona Trees are just too intriguing not to climb in
especially a hollow one!

Balancing on a log... and trying to knock each other off

Always reading!

Sue was one of the speakers at the retreat... Melissa was her model

Arizona LEMI Training

2009-07-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Sue, Melissa & Kristina all attended the Arizona LEMI Training.

Sue trained for the Liber Community Series, Melissa for Pyramid Project, and Kristina for Shakespeare!

Sue's LCS group.

Training for this class was quite revealing on many levels... and emotionally draining

The Shakespeare Mentors had to perform a short skit for EVERYONE

Kristi played Dogberry (a constable) in an excerpt from Much Ado About Nothing

Taking their bows

Dust Storm!

2009-07-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

The WHOLE mountain disappeared...

As the dust storm moved in!
Gotta love Arizona!

Scenic Drive

2009-07-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

Traveling through Southeastern Utah on our way home from LEMI training and YFA in Monticello

we explored a bit in Canyonlands

and Arches National Park
Can't resist an interesting looking tree
Rob & Sue

Shadows on the sand

Melissa sitting in an arch

Double arches

An Elephant!

Monument Valley

Melissa, Kristina & Rob

UTAH!

2009-07-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

While Sue was slaving away at the Salt Lake City LEMI Training... everyone else was having FUN!
Deanne, Melissa & Kristi want to LAGOON one day.
They couldn't resist the HAT shop.
This was their FINAL selection

Who can resist a giant BANANA?!

Melissa always seems to be BITING something...

They also attended an Open House for the OQUIRRH Mountain Temple

Kristina, Rob & Melissa

With Aunt Loni & Uncle Marvin

They went shotgun shooting too! Rode quads in East Canyon...

...and made silly faces with cousin Robert

...while Sue was sitting at a computer :(

Birthday Dance!

2009-07-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Turning 17 deserves a big Birthday Bash!
No birthday is complete without the nieces and nephews

Stetson wearing his Stetson

Kristi always wanted to have a big dance to celebrate her birthday

And dance with all her favorite people

Kristina and Dillon

Ella and Jesse

This is a TWO cake party!

Hayden and Spencer

Kristi and Allie

Line Dancing with the group

Kristina, Spencer, and Amanda

Matea, Sicily, and Regan

Interesting Pose

JT, Clark, Dillon, Courtney

Kristi & Ben

Wicked!

2009-07-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

We had Girl's Night and went to see WICKED!

For some reason, whenever Melissa is around everyone seems to make Fish Faces!

Kristina - Western Style!

2009-06-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Kristina just HAD to have a real live Stetson!

A birthday gift from Dad

Shakespeare!

2009-05-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

Kristina took the Shakespeare Conquest class again this year. This time they did the play, Midsummer Night's Dream and she played the part of Helena.

Kristina with her counterpart, Brennan, playing the part of Demetrius
A scene with the fairy queen (Jean), Bottom (Preston), Oberon (Ben) and the fairies

A scene with the reconciled lovers

The Shakespeare class had so many students this year that they had two full casts. Kristina was in Rachel Keppner's cast (above)

Here is the other cast directed by Megan Packer & Shawna Wilcock

Three happy brides

Mike & Sally offering congratualtions for a GREAT performance!

Three very proud nieces of their Aunt Kristi

Demetrius & Helena

Knight for a Princess Prom

2009-05-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

Kristina was invited to this awesome prom by Gabe

Kristina & Gabe - lookin' good!
They doubled with Kimberly and Spencer

Awwwww......

That is some kind of tux, Spencer

Can't forget the Fedoras!

Never Too Old for the Zoo

2009-05-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

Jean and her Mom, Chattie, invited us to go to the Zoo with them.

They had fun taking silly pictures

Does one ever get too old for the tortoise picture?

The statues are Kristi's favorite

What about the LIVE animals?

The favorite Elephant pose

Caged in

They were trying to impress the peacocks here... can't say that it worked very well.

It was a nice day... Thanks Jean & Chattie! For lunch too!

Melissa is HOME!

2009-04-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

The REAL Welcome party!
All eight grandkids together for the first time!

Melissa with Grandma Judd who "used" to be a Sister Johnson missionary about 60 years ago!

Couldn't resist picking up the "Horton Hears a Who" movie complete with Horton puppet and book. Two of Melissa's favorite things combined - elephants and Dr. Seuss.

Melissa with brothers Mike & Brian

Melissa with Rob & baby Stetson

The foiled greeting party!

Well, the long anticipated airport greeting for Melissa didn't quite go as planned. Melissa’s plane was scheduled to arrive at noon, so we all hopped into two cars at 11:30, then got to the airport gates right at noon. Rob & Brian dropped us all off while they went to park and we hurried up to the gates. We looked at the flight board and it said that the plane was “IN” so we stood there with a “Welcome Home, Melissa!” poster in our little group and waited for her to come out the gate. We waited… and waited… and waited. Mike & Sally came, Jeff & Niki came (but Allie threw up in the car just as they were getting out – so Niki and Allie had to wait in the car in the parking lot). Brian & Rob were taking forever to get up to the gates, so Kristi finally called Rob's cell phone. Here’s what happened: Just as Rob parked and started walking toward the elevator his cell phone rang. It was Melissa! Her plane had arrived half an hour early! So she was already down in the baggage claim area getting her luggage. She was standing around wondering where her family was (and beginning to think it was a replay of the RM movie) so she finally found a pay phone and called Rob’s cell number. Then Rob called Brian’s cell phone because they got separated in the parking lot and parked on different levels. So Brian went down to the baggage claim too and found Melissa. They tried calling Kira’s cell phone to let us all know where they were, but Kira never heard her phone ring. They didn’t know that Mike & Sally or Jeff were up there with us, so didn’t think to try their phones, and forgot that Kristi had her cell phone on her. So just about the time that they were thinking to go find us, Kristi call Rob’s cell phone to see what was taking them so long. Sooooooo…. in other words, we missed seeing Melissa come off the plane! Poo! It never occurred to us to check the flight to see if it was on time or not. So poor Melissa got off the plane and walked through the gates with NO ONE there to greet her. Is that the saddest thing you ever heard or what??? So we all went running down to the baggage claim area and finally met up with her.

Then… after we all hugged and talked for a bit, we headed out to the parking garage. We were all parked on different levels so split up. The only problem was that since Melissa had called Rob just as he was getting out of the car… the distraction made him forget to pay attention to where he had parked. He ended up walking all over that parking garage looking for our car! Up and down all the levels. So we stood around with all her luggage on the level where Jeff was parked so that Melissa could go see Niki and Allie in their car. Brian got his car and drove over to where we were all standing, so we loaded part of her luggage in his car…. But no Rob and no car. Rob had disappeared. Finally… about half an hour later he drove up! Talk about a comedy of errors! Well, Melissa has always been the one to do things different around here! No ordinary, run of the mill, return missionary, airport greeting for her! So Melissa had no greeters, a throwing up niece, and a lost Dad/car to make her return interesting.

Anyway, we finally all got home and sat around talking and looking at pictures of Melissa’s mission. Grandma Johnson and Lurline came by and Grandma Judd came over too. Then we had to meet with President Deaton at 5:00 so that she could be formally released. She was kind of funny. When he got to the part of asking her to take off her name tag, she beat him to it. She yanked it off and handed it to him without any qualms. She said she was exhausted and ready to get back to normal life and be anonymous again! That Melissa. She just can’t do anything the “normal” way. Then we went back home and made Mexican food for dinner. Mike & Sally, Jeff & Niki, Brian & Kira and all eight grandkids together for the first time! And just to make Melissa feel even more like the RM movie, we hadn’t had time to get anything ready for her to come home. The Stetson house still has all her stuff packed away in the back bedroom, Brian & Kira were using Rick's empty bedroom. Soooo….. Melissa had to sleep on the hide-a-bed in the living room for the first three nights! Not even a bed or room to call her own. What a greeting, huh?

Blessing Bracken

2009-04-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

Baby Bracken on his Blessing Day
The Johnson Bunch

Proud Parents

Proud Grandparents

Playing with Grandpa

Dancing with Kristi

Bracken checking out the "Hat"

Waving Goodbye and Blowing Kisses

Rob riding the Ellingford's horses

Brian being chased by an unhappy colt

Canoeing

2009-03-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

Rob & Kristi went on a Daddy/Daughter Date

Canoeing on Tempe Town Lake

The weather was perfect and the lake smooth

Nothing like hanging out with Dad!

New Curtains

2009-03-13T09:44:00.000-07:00

Niki & Sally decided to make some new drapes for our living room! I have the best daughters-in-law in the world! But they got in a little over their heads...

They were having all sorts of problems and taking WAY too long to make them... so we had to hire foreign help...
These ladies worked much faster...
A little bent over... but they seemed to know what they were doing.
Ta da! Definitely pays to go foreign!

This is a product of THREE long days of sewing and several trips to the store to exchange hardware. Awesome!

Fedora Date

2009-03-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

Kristi is into Fedora hats lately
Amber, Spencer & Kristina dressed for the Prom -

is this a Fedora Prom?
Kristi's First Date!

Curly Locks

TJLA - Commonwealth School

2009-03-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a peek into our commonwealth school - Thomas Jefferson Leadership Academy (TJLA)

Shakespeare Class

The students were assigned to make masks during the week to bring to class

They used the masks to get in character

This is part of their actor's training
Some made fairly simple masks

Some were very creative

and others very complex!

Hanging out during lunch break - always incorporates music

Lunch Break

Several of the students play the piano VERY well! They really inspire each other!

The Principles of Leadership Class have created a GREAT line dance!

Each of the students contributed to creating the dance steps

Meanwhile... the TJYC Class is busy writing essays

They studied John Brown this week...

and learned to look deep into their own hearts and motives

and to base all their decisions on truth and light - not just passion.
These are an amazing group of youth!

This is Sue's TJYC class - Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification

TJYC is a 3 semester course that incorporates writing, literature, history, government, and leadership. The students can earn college credit for this class - some high schools even give up to eight credits for this course. It is intense! They have written some amazing essays so far!

Here is what they study for Level 1 - First Semester:

Read and discuss biographies of Martin Luther, Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. - along with documents written by these famous men - Luther's Defense at the Diet of Wyrms, Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death", Lincoln's Gettysburg Address & Second Inaugural Address, Brown's Final Address to the Court, Gandhi's "It's a Sick World", King's "I Have a Dream", and finally the Declaration of Independence.

Afterwards they write essays on each of these men addressing some very difficult issues and penetrating questions.

Along with reading all of these biographies, they read and participate in a colloquium on the following classics: "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens," "The Walking Drum," "The Chosen," and "A Tale of Two Cities."

They also have four lectures on Leadership Education encompassing the following: the 3 Systems of Education, the 4 Phases, 5 Environments, 7 Keys, Scholarship Ladders and the Liberal Arts, and 6 Keys to Personal Influence.

Finally, they have a written final, an essay exam, and oral exams by a panel of adults. And that's only the FIRST semester!

TJEd Forum

2009-02-28T08:26:00.000-08:00

A few pictures of this year's Second Annual Southwest TJEd Forum sponsored by AzLAF.

We had a Youth Panel for those in attendance to ask questions of a few teens who have been homeschooled mostly using TJEd principles. They were asked various things about how it was applied in their homes and affected their lives.
Kristina answering some questions

Anyone who knows us well, knows that we have been homeschooling our younger children for almost 13 years now. This was initially a VERY difficult decision; after all, aren't homeschoolers just a bunch of weird fanatics?! Well, after 13 previous years of playing the public school game, being involved in the classrooms, PTA, parent committees, school board, etc. we'd had enough and knew that even if we couldn't do any better... we certainly couldn't do worse! That thought alone gave us the courage to venture out on our own. But not alone really. We spent a LOT of time on our knees and felt His guiding hand as we pursued our new adventure in learning. We spent the first four years of our "homeschool experiment" trying out all kinds of methods and curriculums getting our feet wet and discovering what education really was. After floundering around a bit, we read a book that literally changed our lives and the way we thought about education - simple book really, full of basic principles. We had already discovered some of these principles on our own through trial and error, so when we read this book it was like coming home - an answer to prayer. That book is:

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille.

Don't be fooled by the title. It has very little to do with Thomas Jefferson. It's about how Thomas Jefferson and others like him were educated. It lays down those time-tested principles that remain as true today as ever. Principles that make it possible for us to take the education of our children into our own hands and provide the very best for them and our community.

Once we read this book, our little home school took off! We were doing reasonably well before, but now our children began to fly! We have since found a whole community of like-minded people who share these same core values and principles. It has become known as Leadership Education or TJEd for short. Sue is currently on the board of the Arizona based organization called Arizona Liber Association of Families (AzLAF). There are groups all over the U.S., Canada, and quickly spreading throughout the world - even Uganda, Africa! Look at the links on this blog for more information.

Grand Baby #8 Is Here!

2009-02-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

Brian & Kira are the proud new parents of a little boy named Bracken! Where did they come up with such an unusual name? Well, Brian recently read his great, great, great grandfather, B.F. Johnson’s, autobiography, My Life’s Review and discovered that the missionary that baptized the first Johnson into the LDS church was a man by the name of Brackenberry. Having a name with an interesting background certainly makes it more meaningful!

Birthday Blues

2009-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Mylie wanted a blue hippopotamus cake for her birthday. She had a huge smile while licking blue frosting off the feet of the hippo!
Stetson is crawling!

This is what happens when you stay up too late at night. Your brain starts to mush and gets a bit silly. This is a 1:30 AM sword fight after a late night toy shopping expedition.

Walking Stick

2009-02-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

You know, it really pays to be a good neighbor... we have a very "interesting" neighbor. His name is Hugo and he's Greek. He has long, grey hair, wears black leather and chain mail, drives a Harley motorcycle, and is a sculptor. His yard is full of rather unique artwork. He came over one day to chat and asked if he could browse through all Rob's contruction supplies. He was looking for something to complete his latest creative endeavor. As he was looking around, he noticed a couple of walking sticks that Rob had made while on Scout outings. That reminded him of something he made once... so he went home and brought back his own version of a walking stick made out of the tip of a surveyor's tripod, some motorcycle parts, and the top of an old trophy. He proudly presented it to Rob as a gift. Gotta love it!

Birthday Month

2009-01-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

Sally made these fabric letters to send a Happy Birthday message to our missionaries
January & February are MAJOR birthday months in our family, so we had a special celebration dinner for our two absentee missionaries - Melissa & Rick. Niki made a GREAT spaghetti dinner for all of us and Sally decorated a DELICIOUS homemade safari cake!

Blessing Day

2009-01-04T21:16:00.001-08:00

Baby Ella was blessed today by her Daddy
Mike & Sally's Family

Jeff & Niki's Family

ALL of US!

(minus Melissa, Brian, Kira, and Rick of course)

The "Older" Grandkids

(Ethan's wearing his first tie)

Stetson & Kristi

(just had to get a picture of that suit!)

Stetson & Grandpa

(That face is too cute not get another picture)

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the New Year by throwing a big graduation BASH for Jeff. He earned his MBA just before the Holiday, so we gathered the cousins and Niki organized a GREAT Mexican food buffet & funny games that kept us laughing clear until midnight!

Stuffing balloons and creating a few extra buff Grannies.
The adults had to see how long they could keep from laughing while all the little kids tried to "wake them up". Brian was doing great, until Jeff suggested one of them lick his nose.

Putting together clues from popped balloons
Finding one last clue at the end of a roll of toilet tissue...

But to get to the end... you had to unroll it around a team member.

The little ones thought the adults a little too silly for them...

So they settled for a much calmer card game... Aye, Aye, Nephi!

Bad Idea

2008-12-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

We thought we'd try riding the new light rail system that just went into service - they were offering free rides before the first of the year....

George & Debbie (our neighbors) joined us! But the cars were PACKED FULL! There was standing room only - people were squished in there like sardines. No thank you! So we thought we'd wait for the next one...

So we waited.... and waited....

After a couple of hours, we gave up and went home. But it was still fun enjoying the warm weather and talking about who's dumb idea this was anyway!

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

One lonely Kristi for the traditional hearth picture

Displaying her gifts

This is what you call a "redneck" conference call - connecting siblings in Honduras, Virginia, Utah and Arizona

Three siblings talking to their other three siblings on three different phones

Penney got a new blanket and squeaky bone for Christmas

Grandkids playing in the leaves on the trampoline while everyone is busy talking on the phones

Baby Stetson just being cute!

Almost Christmas

2008-12-24T08:23:00.000-08:00

Quick mood change
Happy little Stetson
Grandpa & Me

Christmas Cookies!

Eating Christmas Cookies

Kristi with the short, brown hair

Sword of Freedom

2008-12-13T20:43:00.000-08:00

Kristi and Jean showing off their hard earned swords
Kristi punishing Sam for not taking the class - off with her head!

Thomas Jefferson Leaderhsip Academy (TJLA) held their parent night tonight where all 17 "Sword of Freedom" class members earned and were given the swords they earned. The class studied the Civil War and were divided into two groups - the Union Army (wearing blue hats) and the Southern Army (grey hats). In this one semester class they:

1. Learned Military Protocol.

2. Advanced in Rank from Corporal through Lieutenant General

3. Held a Civil War Battle Reenactment.

4. Read, Uncle Tom's Cabin, To Kill a Mockingbird, Across Five Aprils, & Abraham Lincoln Biography.

5. Wrote 8-10 papers discussing various government and moral issues such as: My Prime Allegiance, Compromise, Evil for Evil, Is Secession Constitutional?, Is it ever right to break a law?, Was Sherman right?, Prejudices, Mob Rule, and wrote an original poem about the Civil War.

6. Read & Discussed the following speeches/documents - Gettysburg Address, Dred Scott Decision, The Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln's second Inaugural Address, Constitutional Ammendments 13, 14 & 15.

7. Memorized the Gettysburg Address.

8. Each student gave a class presentation on one of the following: Life as a Slave, Food in the Army, Women's Role, Underground Railroad, Doctors/Hospitals/Red Cross, Weapons, Spies, Uniforms and clothing of the times, The army (origination, drills, manpower), Mathew Brady, & Prisons.

9. Memorized and sang three Civil War songs - The Battle Cry of Freedom, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, & Dixie.

10. Watched 5 Civil War movies - Gods & Generals, Gettysburg, Shenandoah, The Red Badge of Courage, Gone with the Wind.

11. Wrote a comprehensive report on a Civil War Hero which were then compiled into a book for each class member.

Now THAT's a loaded class!

Grandpa's Chair

2008-12-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

Three little monkeys sittin' in Grandpa's chair

Cool Arizona Sunsets

2008-12-12T20:33:00.000-08:00

December 8

December 12
These were taken from our front yard - Awesome!

Ethan's Nativity

2008-12-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ethan's Nativity - Mr. Bean style

Baptism & Christmas Lights

2008-11-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Today Hayden celebrated her 8th birthday by being baptised! Doesn't get better than that! She had tons of family and friends attend and then everyone stayed for a spaghetti dinner afterwards at the church. She opened presents... and then we drove out to Mesa to see the Christmas lights at the temple.

Jeff & Niki with Hayden, Allie, Mylie and Stetson

Hayden and Niki

Mylie

Allie

Stetson

Mylie dancing with Grandpa Rob

Here we are!

Oh, the Indignity!

2008-11-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

This is how you toughen up a little boy with three big sisters.

Poor little Stetson will learn how to growl soon enough...

Watch out girls!

Ella & Company

2008-11-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ella Jolee

Adelle, Ella, Ethan

Adelle & Ella

Ethan & Ella

Mike & Adelle

Ethan the Dinosaur

Princess Adelle

Ethan & Adelle

GRAND BABY #7

2008-11-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

Ella Jolee

Born Wednesday, November 5

Proud Parents

Proud Grandparents

Proud Aunt

Family Ball

2008-10-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

The AzLAF community had their first annual Family Ball on Saturday night! It was a HUGE success! I was on the committee and have to admit to a certain amount of reluctance... being that Rob & I don't dance. But I kept myself busy taking pictures. It makes for a good excuse not to embarrass myself on the dance floor, but also a great way to meet everyone! I can live with that. We went on blind faith in putting this ball together not knowing what kind of response we would have or if we would be able to cover our costs. Appropriately enough, the name of the band we hired was "Blind Faith Jubilee". Fitting wouldn't you say? They were great!

Although the dance was semi-formal, Rob and Kristi couldn't resist sporting their Savers' finds - a tux and gown, so they were a bit overdressed. No matter! Can you believe we found Kristi's gown the day before for only $7! Doesn't get better than that!

Friend or Foe?

2008-10-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

If you can answer that question...

then you're either one or the other.

Electrifying Celebration!

2008-09-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Rob's new nickname - Flash

Our Hero - Grandpa Rob with baby Stetson

Mike with his little bookworms

Celebrating Grandma's Birthday - 84 years young!

Well, the scariest news of the week is that Rob was almost electrocuted! Scared him pretty good, too. He was doing a job for Breinholt taking down a power pole. They were told the wires were dead and had been shut off. Well…. obviously not! Rob went to cut the wires with his sawzall and WHAM! It arcked and knocked him to the ground giving him a flash burn across his face and eyes. Nothing serious; more like a light sunburn. His eyes hurt for several hours, like sand in them, but by night they were fine. It also melted the saw blade. So that was a close call! Now he has the nickname of “Flash” with all the crews. So on Friday, when he went into the office to pick up his paycheck, he wore a partially melted old pair of work goggles, then painted an old shovel handle white with a red tip (to look like a blind person’s cane), tied the melted saw blade around his neck, then walked along tapping with his improvised cane. He gave them a pretty good laugh. Silly Rob. But I definitely said a big THANK you in my prayers that night!

GRAND KIDS!

2008-09-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Tender Moments
All Snug and Secure

Baby Bruiser

The BOYS

Little Girl Cousins

Marshmallow Squad

2008-09-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Brian & Kira came down for Labor Day weekend.... so we shot them.... with marshmallows.

Phone Call

2008-08-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

I received a phone call the other day... it was Ethan. He had big news to share. "Grandma, I went poop in the potty!" I love being a grandma...

Work & Play

2008-08-23T23:20:00.000-07:00

Rob on a Freeway Demolition Project - Always Working!

Three Musketeers - Brighton, Dillon, & Kristina - Always Playing!

Gardening

2008-07-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd include some pictures we took at Thanksgiving Point after leaving Rick at the MTC. The Gardners treated us to a tour of the gardens, then out out to dinner before we caught our plane back home. It was so beautiful!

MTC Goodbyes

2008-07-23T10:09:00.000-07:00

Elder Johnson - the newbie with a dork dot

Rob, Sue, Rick, Loni, Marvin

We took Rick to the MTC today; figured we might as well have that experience with the last one, since we could hop on a plane for free. Now we're definitely glad we didn't go with the rest of them! Talk about tear jerkers! There wasn't a dry eye in that entire building - with tissue boxes placed stratigically throughout. I was doing fine until they started showing videos of missionaries saying tearful goodbyes to family. I cry at anything on the screen, so that did it! Be advised... saying goodbye at the airport is much easier!

Gravesite Tour

2008-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Marvin & Loni took us on a little sightseeing tour of the gravesites of past prophets in SLC. It was raining at the time, plus the sprinklers were going... but Rick was a good sport to let us take his picture in front of President Hinckley's grave. Rob's backside is in the corner of the picture because he had his foot over one of the sprinkler heads to spare Rick from being totally soaked while I snapped his picture.

Picture This

2008-07-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

Oh, almost forgot... I don't have an actual picture, so you'll have to use your imagination. While at Girl's Camp, there were warnings of mountain lion sightings. After retiring to bed, Rob heard one of the girls yelling for help after spotting the mountain lion in the path in front of her. He quickly leaped from his cot wearing his cowboy print pajama pants that Niki sewed for him, strapped his gun around his waist, grabbed his HUGE fifteen million candlepower flashlight he kept next to him and ran down the hill... only to be met by the Stake Young Women's President running toward him wielding a garden tool. She offered him the tool, but he replied, "No, I've got this" and pulled out his 40 caliber. What a duo! That mountain lion didn't stand a chance!

Missionary Melissa

2008-07-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Melissa has a blog, (click on her link) but couldn't leave her out! She is currently serving in the West Virginia Charleston Mission - having reported last November 2007.

Ketchup

2008-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thought it might be nice to insert a brief "catch up" on the most notable events of this past year...
First and foremost - we have a new grandson! Jeff & Niki had their fourth child, first son - Stetson Jeffrey born on June 6. That makes six grandchildren for us... with two more on the way! Sally is due in November. Kira is due in March.

Rick got his mission call to Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission - reporting on July 23 - speaking Spanish of course!

We flew over to Philadelphia in June to visit Brian & Kira. Brian is there on a summer sales job selling alarm systems. Not much fun... but it pays well! We took in a lot of historical sites and are standing in front of Independence Hall in this picture. Notice the manly poses.

Brian saying a tearful goodbye to Rick just before we leave. He won't see him for another two years, so we had to make it look good... not too staged is it?

Rick sitting in his apartment at college while opening up his mission call. The cell phone is sitting there next to him with US on the other end... so we wouldn't feel too left out of this momentous occasion.

Kristi decided to cut her hair this summer. She turned 16 and got her license already! But not to worry... she's actually a very good driver. She was also quick to pilfer through Rick's belongings he left behind until she found an old T-shirt to tie-dye. Not to mention she took over his cell phone and lap top. I think she really misses him.

Rob went to Girl's Camp again this year to help out... but he came home a bit damaged. He somehow managed to break his wrist and forearm while working on the zip line. He's sporting his splint as well as Kristi's braid stuck in the back of his cap.

Well, if you're going to do something... you might as well have an audience! Kristi was the entertainment for the night at Girl's Camp while they braided and cut her hair. They cut off 13 inches!

Kristi took a Shakespeare class this past year where the "final" was to perform an actual play. She played the part of Fabian in Twelfth Night. Here she is in costume.

And here's the rest of the Twelfth Night cast (Kristi on the left). Let me tell you, this was no small time production... they did a FABULOUS job! A first rate production! They recorded it onto a DVD, so it's fun to have that as a keepsake. What a great experience!

And that's all folks! (unless I think of something later... )

Here We Are

2008-07-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Time for the Johnsons to join the BLOG world. Seems like a good place to keep updated on the continual comedy that seems to surround our lives. Or maybe we simply choose to see the fun. It's all about choice. We choose laughter!