First day of SCHOOL!!!!

Last night we had a "Back To School Feast"! (An idea I got from Nie Nie.) I made each of the kids a princess or prince crown, and we talked about what it means to be a child of God. We discussed how that princess/prince should behave, the kind of friend they should be, and how they should allow others to treat them. I hope they can remember how special they truly are! We feasted on salmon, garlic bacon mashed potatoes, peas, and sparkling cider by candle light! Topped off with bowls of ice cream.

Sam and Kaeli started school this morning! (Rylie starts on Thursday.) They were so excited and didn't seem at all nervous this morning or on our drive there. I drove them to school and walked them to their classrooms. We dropped Sam off first and as he walked into his classroom I suddenly found myself fighting back the tears! I truly did not expect that! We then found Kaeli's class and I had the exact reaction. In fact, I stood by the window and watched her nervously walk into her class and find her seat. She suddenly looked so scared as she watched the kids around her. I wanted to run back in and give her a hug, but I was sure if I did I was sure to start crying...not to mention embarrass Kaeli and make her nervousness worse. I watched just a moment more before Rylie, Sara, and I returned to our van. It's hard to walk away and let your kids be independent and work through their own anxieties. I am confident that Kaeli and Sam's nerves lessened as the day went on. I can't wait to hear how it all went!!!

Kaeli Ray is in the 3rd grade this year!
Doesn't she look so pretty?

Sam is in the 4th grade this year!
Do you love the red shoe laces? So cool!

The best of friends!

Mmmmm...

Do you wish I was YOUR visiting teacher?

Putting on the WHOLE ARMOR of GOD

School starts next week so we dressed the kids in the armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-18). Of course our greatest desire and our greatest role as parents is to prepare our kids to face the world and be able to withstand temptations and evils that they may face. What a scary world it is out there! Hopefully, we as parents can continue to armor our children every day.

Don't they look intimidating?

Even sweet Sara is ready to take on the world :-)

Reunion in the Tetons

The Johnson Family Reunion was held in the Tetons this year. We camped, hiked, canoed, swam, laughed and feasted. There was a total of 20 of us, 12 of which were kids.

Here you can see Rylie and cousin Porter hiking like little mountain goats. This was taken at the top of Devil's Staircase. Nothing was going to slow them down!

Here we are in the canoe. This was Rylie and Sara's first time in a canoe and they did great! We named our canoe the "Hummer" because it was big, heavy and indestructible:

Each family had a canoe, so there were four. Mom and Dad are in the front with Sam and Porter in their canoe, followed by Ryan's family:

We canoed in three different lakes...I think this one was Leigh Lake. Any way, it sure was pretty! I think this is Ryan's (my brother) family on the left and Erin's (my sister) family on the right.

Sammy and Grandpa paddling around:

Kaeli and Aaron swamped their canoe. And no, it wasn't on accident. I guess it's supposed to be fun, but I haven't figured that one out yet.

Here is Rylie and cousin Hannah. They loved splashing Grandpa and throwing rocks in the water!

Hiking up to inspiration point:

Cousins at the top:

I love this one of Sam and Kaeli on our descent:

We were sad that my brother who lives in California wasn't able to make it. We sure missed him and his family!!!

Miso deprivided

A few years ago if you had asked me if I would ever eat sushi I would have told you an emphatic NO WAY! And that no meat was meant to be eaten raw. When we first moved to Boise, Aaron flew to Japan a few times a year for work. He always enjoyed eating sushi during his visits and I would scold him for eating something so VILE! But he loved the stuff. I'm not sure what switched in me, but when we first moved to Utah I found myself curious about those sushi rolls. They looked so pretty. Honestly, the presentation that goes into sushi is quite impressive. I think it's a whole different art form. The avocado and cucumber and other yummy veggies that were beautifully wrapped up in rice paper convinced me that it might be worth trying, despite the slugs of raw fish poking out of the center. I bravely tried a few rolls and actually liked it. In fact, I think I liked the wasabi/soy sauce that you dip the rolls in just as much. After a few times of eating sushi rolls in addition to my main entree, I started ordering ONLY sushi as my main dish with a side of miso soup. I loved the stuff! I craved the stuff! Aaron and I went out for sushi on date nights and completely pigged out! Yes, you CAN pig out on sushi! Now I am pregnant and any raw meat is forbidden! I felt so deprived...up until yesterday that is! Being very hormone-driven I was really craving sushi last night. I called up our local sushi restaurant and explained to the receptionist my incredible craving for sushi, but my dilemma of not being allowed to indulge. I asked her what was actually cooked and safe for me to eat. I ended up ordering three rolls and two bowls of miso soup (of course) and Aaron obediently picked it up on his way home from work. I enjoyed my not-so-raw sushi. (...can I still call it sushi?) It isn't the same when you bite into tempura shrimp (breaded and fried), but it still satisfied my craving...for now. I told Aaron he just might have to bring me some real sushi after I give birth in the hospital. Now I only can scold Aaron for eating sushi when he's eating it without me.

Weeeeeeee!

Yesterday we spent the day at Utah's funnest amusement park...Lagoon! And better yet, we got to visit the park for free, another perk of being a Dannon employee. The kids loved every ride and had a blast!

Rylie on the carousel:

I was happy to find that there were a lot of rides that Sara could go on. So if the big kids were on a wild ride, Sara and I would run back over to the kiddie rides and meet up with the others later. Her favorite was the carousel and I think she would have ridden it all day long had we let her. Here she is fighting off enemies in space:

Sam and Aaron are in the very front of the roller coaster:

Sam is exactly 50 inches tall and therefore was able to go on most of the big kid/adult rides. He and Aaron even went on WICKED! Sam was thrilled and loved every minute of it. As you can see from the picture below, crazy rides DO have their side affects:
Kaeli wasn't able to go on all the same rides that Sam could, but there were still some pretty wild ones that she loved. Next year Kaeli will be able to go on more:

I am a sucker for cute "sisters" pics. So sweet:

And apparently you are never too old to ride the carousel:

Yuba Lake

On Friday we left to go camping at Yuba Lake. This is the beach near our camp ground. The water was a perfect temp and the kids were in the water before we could even get their swim suits on:
We met up with some friends of ours on Saturday to go boating! Aaron likes to wake board. Here you can see him "catching some air".

The kids really loved riding in the boat. Sara was so content on the boat and later fell asleep across one of the seats.

I couldn't NOT get into the water either, so here I am taking my turn on the skis.

Rylie's favorite part was jumping off the boat into the deep water to cool off:

And the highlight of Sam's day was when he got a chance to drive the boat.

Each of the kids got a chance to go tubin'. Nothing seemed to be fast or bumpy enough for Sam and Kaeli. Sara even got to go tubin' with her momma, but that was a much straighter and slower ride, and I still had a death grip around her.

Thanks to the Rosier's for such a FUN day!