Wow, Almost a Year!!

I'm really good at keeping up on Tanner's Blog, but not as good on this one!!  We have continued to be so blessed and experience more changes!  Life is good though--we are all healthy, happy and keeping busy.  We are actually not even too busy to be able to enjoy some time together as a family, which is so great!

Tanner went through the Logan Temple on January 12th.  He had some great support from a few of his friends, but more from his friend's parents (those who were serving their missions at the time).  Grandma and Grandpa Johnson also came up for it.  After the Temple--we went to dinner with the Johnsons, and Zach and Nano (Kaden and Brynn were not with us).  We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse.  Nano went through the Logan Temple on January 14th.  That was also a special evening...she is a beautiful girl and we are so lucky to have her in our family!

Zach and Nano were married on January 16th--a snowy day here in Cache Valley.  It was beautiful--they were beautiful and the reception was AMAZING!   I spent hours helping the family decorate our church building for the reception on Friday night.  It was fun--Tongans are great people!  The sealing was beautiful and we had a lot of support from family and friends.  It was cold outside afterwards taking pictures, but we survived and they turned out wonderful.  Zach and Nano went to Park City for their honeymoon---it was eventful!  Their car broke down on the way--what a nightmare!  My friend, Nana, went and picked them up and took them to their destination.  Another friend in Ogden, drove to Park City and towed the car to his house and worked on it.  He is amazing!  We then took them our Honda so they had something to drive around!

Tanner's report date was actually pushed back a week to accommodate missionaries staying in the MTC for three weeks when speaking their native tongue rather than two.  He was to report on Tuesday, February 16th.  He gave his farewell talk on February 14th in the River Heights 4th Ward.  He did an amazing job!  He was blessed to have a lot of family and friend support again.  He was set apart on Monday, February 15th here at the house with the family, President Barfuss and Bishop Longhurst here.  Afterwards, he invited friends to come and say goodbye and we had pizza.  He and Greg finished up the packing and he said his final goodbye to Mariah!

Nano, Elder Johnson, Zach

Brothers hugging goodbye

We rented a car for fun to take Tanner to the airport--it was a Buick Enclave.  Tanner's flight was a little delayed but we left at 7 like we had planned--it's better to be early!  When we arrived at the airport, we learned that because their first flight was delayed, they would miss their connecting flight.  We were told he would have to leave the following morning!  HA, Tanner was like NO WAY!  So, we went to talk to someone else (the sent us to another desk) and she got him on the flight and said he would have to run to make his connecting flight.  Shew--we said our goodbyes in the airport and watched him through security and then he was off!  It's just as hard the second time for those who are wondering :-)  He called us from Atlanta letting us know he landed and that he was going to make his connecting flight and he was gone!

Elder Johnson is ready to go!!

After Tanner left, it was strange to adjust to two kids at home!  They are so quiet and so easy!!  Kaden enjoyed being a part of the Mountain Crest Baseball season his last year at Mountain Crest.  The team did well and went to the State Tournament in Kearns.  They were eliminated from the tournament by Clearfield, which was really sad!  We could totally beat them--it was just a bad day!  Kaden and Brynn finished off their Junior and 8th grade years with super grades.  They both made the honor roll all three trimesters and even got 4.0's the last one!  We took them to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate.  In April, Greg was released from his calling at the Logan YSA Stake serving in the Logan YSA 2nd Ward at USU.  He loved that calling so much--it was sad to see it come to an end.  Now, he gets to go to the home ward with us again--River Heights 4th Ward.  He was called to be the Ward Mission Leader--which he enjoys!

We got to talk to Tanner on Mother's Day via Skype!  It was THE BEST!  We didn't get to Skype with Zach so it was a new experience for us.  We got to talk for about 40 minutes.  He talked to all of us together and then we each got a few minutes alone with him with the iPad in the other room.  Now we can't wait for Christmas--four more months!

Kaden had a little fender bender the last week of school.  He rear ended a girl on his way to school.  They were all in a line headed to the school and a car stopped suddenly, so the girl in front of Kaden stopped suddenly and then Kaden wasn't a quick to stop!  He was devastated.  We were a little stressed because we couldn't be carless!!  Long story short---they totaled the Honda, we kept it, fixed a few things on our own and bought a 2014 Nissan Altima.  Kaden enjoyed his freedom again when we had the Honda up and running again.

Summer came and went sooooo fast!!  We had a great summer.  It was very relaxing and we got to spend a lot of time as a family.  Greg and Kaden went to Chicago June 19-23 to watch the Cubs vs Cardinals series.  They had a blast, even though the Cardinals swept the Cubs!  We went to Sacramento the morning after they got home from June 24-28.  We drove there for Kiley and Andrew's wedding on Saturday the 25th.  We had a great time visiting with family.  Greg was able to be with all of his siblings, except Patty.  The kids had a great time with their cousins.  We went to a Giants vs A's game on Monday the 27th.  It was fun to be in AT&T park.  We brought Dallin and Elise with us and had a great time.

On their way!

At Wrigley

Sacramento Temple

Greg's family minus Patty

AT&T Park

Kaden got a job at Swig--a soda place here that opened up close to our house.  He didn't start until July 18th because it wasn't finished.  He works about 15 hours a week--sometimes more and sometimes less! He enjoys it and really likes having money coming in, a bank account with both a savings and checking account AND a debit card!

In July, Brynn went to Retreat for Girls at USU for a week.  She roomed with Brielle Merkley and had a blast!  Katie, my cousin, runs it and does such a great job.  Brynn made some new friends and loved her group.  Her counselor was "Minnie" who is from Smithfield.  (Makenzie Mackley).  We got to go and watch their closing program and learn more of what they did during the week.  Next year, she wants to go to EFY at BYU with her cousin Elise.

Brielle, Minnie, Brynn, new friend

Brynn, Minnie and Brielle

The week after RFG, she went to Girl's Camp and Camp Atoka in Ogden Canyon.  It was Stake camp and she wasn't too excited about it, but she came home saying she had a good time.  She even said she was glad she went with our new ward and not the old ward.  She stayed in a tent with a few of her friends, Maren and Eliza and a couple others.  She has now completed three years of camp---one more year and then she can be a YCL.  

Tanner is doing awesome on his mission.  He says he almost knows the language and should be fluent by a year.  He feels good about what he knows.  He has been in the same area since he went out-Chimbote, La Florida.   He is enjoying his companion, Elder Choque from Peru and is grateful for his Pensionista (she cooks for them!).  You can read his blog here.

Zach and Nano are doing well!  They are happily married and working hard.  Zach is working for Catalyst in Brigham City.  It is a place where boys who have struggled with addictions go.  He loves being a mentor and working with the boys and the other mentors.  He works with his brother in law and one of his old companions.  Nano is working at a clinic as a receptionist.  She starts her third year of school on Monday.  Zach plans to get things going in January.

Kaden and Brynn just started back to school this week.  They are going to the new high school-Ridgeline High School in Millville.  I really like that it is closer AND that they are together!  I'm not to thrilled that Brynn is a freshman in the high school--I liked how before we had ninth grade at South Cache.  Kaden will be in the first Senior class to graduate from Ridgeline.  He is excited and happy going there with all of his friends.  He has a tough schedule this year and is looking forward to applying to colleges and preparing for his mission next summer (AGH!)!

Kaden Senior Year at Ridgeline

Brynn Freshman Year at Ridgeline

So Many Changes

Wow, that's all I can say is wow!!  From our last post to now, so many things have changed.  It's crazy how life is like that.  All of the changes are good--but sometimes it's also hard to adjust to change.

Zach came home on June 30th.  What a great day that was!  He flew in in the evening so we just ran around getting ready all day long.  The bad news was our big car had the check engine light on so we ended up renting a car to take down to pick him up.  That was fun (and free thanks to my frequent rentals at Enterprise for work).  Zach had a very hard time adjusting to home.  He just did not want to be here!  That was hard on all of us, but mostly him.  He missed New Zealand every day.  He was still there really!  He spent hours on the phone with people there--and those hours were in the middle of the night!  For that reason, it took him a long time to adjust to our time zone again.  He had his Homecoming on July 12th and we enjoyed having a house full of family and friends who came to share that day with us.  The Taukivea family in Hyrum roasted a pig for us and made some other Tongan goodies that Zach enjoyed.

The end of July we decided to put our house up for sale and "see what happens".....ha ha!  I am not one who likes change very much, but I was willing.  We went full speed ahead--rented a storage unit to start clearing things out, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and put the house up for sale.  It was COMING SOON on July 30th and officially on the market on August 5th.  We had an offer on the 6th and we made an offer on the 7th.  Holy FAST!!  We moved out September 12th and were officially out by the 13th.  We spent 3 weeks living with Harriett Barlows before we could close on our new house.  We bought a house in River Heights--not even a mile from our old one.  We are still in the same stake even!  We were very blessed and know it was the right move for us.  We moved in on Sep 30th and Oct 1st.  It was a crazy couple of months!!

Tanner submitted his mission papers on October 11th.  He watched the mail for about 2 weeks straight and even called the post office to see if they would call him when it came.  They called him on Saturday morning--Halloween!  We had a call opening gathering at 4:00 pm that day.  Tanner was called to serve in the Peru Trujillo South mission.  He reports to the CCM in Lima, Peru on February 9th.  We are all so excited for him.

On October 29th, Zach proposed to Nano Matangi.  They started dating right after he got home from his mission.  She is the sister to one of his friends, Viliami Matangi.  He needed to ask a date to the fireworks with his friends so he asked her!  They have been together ever since.  They are so happy!  They were planning a March wedding but have moved that date up to January 16, 2016 now after hearing when Tanner will leave.

Lots going on around our house!!  We are slowly getting settled into our new house--beginning to plan a wedding and finishing up with mission prep!  Tanner is preparing to go through the Temple soon, the next big event.  Zach is working fulltime at Convergys as he makes plans for his future (school, other job, etc).  Tanner is working at Wilson Motor detailing cars.  Kaden is working hard in his Junior year at Mountain Crest.  He has some tough classes and is looking forward to the first trimester ending on November 16th.  Brynn is also working hard-she is in 8th grade and doing really well this year.  Her toughest class is Math.  They are adjusting to our new ward--slowly but surely.  Brynn already had a few friends in our ward, Kaden is making a few new friends!

That's our crazy life in a very brief nutshell! ha  It's going to be another crazy couple of months, we'll try to keep this updated---but don't count on it!  Tanner's mission blog has been started so we can document all the exciting things that happen.

That's a Rap!

Well, MC Baseball is officially over.  I can't believe it! We had a great season and had a lot of fun.  Tanner played well and led the team in doubles.  We won region and then won our first two play off games at home.  So exciting!  We went down to UVU to play the next round against Spanish Fork on Tuesday, May 19th and things didn't go our way!  We had a rough season with a lot of injuries (Jarrett Hunt--our ace pitcher, Tanner Leishman--Shortstop, Braxton Elwood--DH, and Austin Jones--catcher).  They all made it back on the field, but not at their best.  Anyway, we lost against Spanish Fork 16-6 and then played again on Wednesday against Maple Mountain.  That game was a heartbreaker....we were winning the whole game--then in the 7th, they tied the game at 8.  They scored a run in the bottom of the 8th so we lost 9-8.  Here are some pictures from that game.  We are all really sad that it's over---at least Kaden will continue to be the manager and we can still go out and watch some games.  I hope they will have a great season.  I am just happy that we enjoyed every minute this year.  It just goes by too fast.  In Tanner's words---that's a rap!!  He graduates on Thursday night.  It is all surreal to me!  So crazy to have two high school graduates.  We are looking forward to a fun family summer though with the whole family under one roof for a little while!

Tanner hit a double

On 2nd

The team after the game--Kaden has his arm around Tanner

Mom and Tanner

Dad and Tanner

Kaden and Tanner

Tanner and Kaden

MC Baseball is BACK!

Okay, so keeping our family blog up to date has not been a priority...at.all!  We are bad, no I am bad!  Life is good.  We are all keeping busy with our normal day to day activities, but now MC baseball is back in full swing and we are all so excited!!  The season started with our annual tournament in St. George.  We did awesome down there--we went 3-1 and Tanner played well.  He is playing left field this year.  He asked coach during the summer if he could play outfield.  The other Tanner Johnson does well at 2nd base and Tanner Leishman does well at short so--we need some depth in the outfield.  He has had a few doubles, a few singles and not too much action out in left field (he said he was bored out there!).  MC is doing well, but this week will be important.  We play Sky View twice this week and they have been winning (Tanner says it's because they have been playing teams that are not good.....hopefully that is true!).  Kaden is the manager this year again, but with the JV/Varsity teams and he loves it.  It's so fun that they can be together on the team trips and I don't have to worry about rides for Kaden like I did last year!  Even Brynn is enjoying going to the games--that's a first!  This is our year--we are going to go far and enjoy the ride.....it will be over before we know it!

Zach is seriously loving the mission so much!  Go read his emails at the link to the right.  He got his official release date--June 30th.  WAH!  I know, what kind of parents are we--we are sad!  We want him to enjoy every last minute.  I kinda worry about him coming home.  I know he is loving the work so much, he does not want to come home!  We are applying for school for him (he wants to go to UVU--but we applied to USU as well, just in case!).  When Zach gets home, Tanner will submit his mission papers---then we get to go on the missionary ride again (Yeah---we love having a missionary out!).  I was doing the math earlier this week and figured we could possibly have Tanner and Kaden out in the mission field at the same time--for a few months!  Yikes!

The school year is cruising by and soon enough, we'll have two graduates.  I hate how fast time flies, but I'm learning to sit back and enjoy it.  There is no wishing time away these days--we've got to take each day at a time and enjoy the ride.

It was General Conference this weekend.  It's always so wonderful to listen to the Prophets and Apostles speak to us.  I always learn so much.  President Monson didn't look too good this time.  I think he is not well and that his days are short....I took for granted that he was in good health and would just keep going and going.

MLB Opening day is tomorrow---it's funny that the opening game tonight is the Cardinals at the Cubs--the boys are already betting and trash talking (the Cardinals are winning--poor Kaden!)

Fall 2014

Wow, we are really not very good at keeping this family blog up.  We are doing awesome with Elder Johnson's though! ha  We have had a great couple of months.  The kids are plugging away at school and doing well.  Our morning routine is going smooth and everything seems to be falling into place.  We took a fun little trip to Island Park and Yellowstone over UEA--we finally saw a bear!  (actually 2 bears!).  It was the highlight of the trip.  We decided to go in the evening this time--we took every turn off we could off the main road heading to Old Faithful.  On one, Firehole Loop, we saw a buffalo and spent a few minutes checking him out.  About a minute later on the loop, I was looking out the window and right there was a bear!!  Greg had to back up a little--we also saw a little cub with her.  It was so cool---so close to our car too!  They headed back up the hill.  We drove around a little longer and then came back to that spot and saw a group of people with binoculars looking up at the top of the hill.  I guess they were up high--there was another cub with them and they walked into the trees.  We caught the tail end of them. 

Tanner got his wisdom teeth pulled on the 14th and wasn't feeling very well on this trip (it was his choice to have the surgery done before our trip!).  He got a lot of rest while we had down time at the cabin.  We love to take this fall trip.  We, of course, miss Zach (well not too much, he hates that trip and complains most of the time ha ha). 

Today is Zach's 21st birthday!  It's hard to believe he is 21 today.  We miss him so much but are so grateful that he his happy and loving the work he is doing there in New Zealand.  He has many people who love him and are treating him well!  We are all loving having a missionary out in the field.  He has already been out 15 1/2 months--time is flying by!  Before we know it, Tanner will be submitting his mission papers (he is planning to turn them in in June so Zach will be here when he opens his call).

Life is good--we are staying busy with work, school, our callings and spending what time we can as a family. 

Summer 2014

Summer is in full force here at our house!  It seems like we haven't really slowed down since school got out.  At the end of May, Denise went to Kansas City to be with her family for her brother in law's funeral.  It was under sad circumstances, but it was a great trip to be with family.  She drove with her parents and enjoyed spending that one on one time with them, listening to their music and driving the speed limit :-)  The kids and Greg finished up the school year on their own and managed just fine!

 back row Chris, Brandon, Grandpa, Brayton, Chad front row Denise, Diana, Debbi, Grandma

Trappers Baseball started right away with a tournament to Boise, however, Tanner chose to attend the Pre MTC Aaronic Priesthood Camp at USU with the Stake so he did not go.  There are two AA Blacksmith Fork Trappers teams this year.  Tanner is on the Blue team and Kaden is the manager for the Red team.  He loves to be able to participate and be with his buddies.

Kaden got to travel to Seattle with his best buddy-Kaden Bowler and his dad and brother.  They left from Boise so Greg drove him up to meet them on June 8.  They then left from there and headed to Seattle to watch a couple Yankees vs. Mariners games.  They had a great time.  They toured the stadium, went on a ferris wheel, went up in the Space Needle and toured around the city.  He had a great time.

June 12-16, Greg and Tanner flew to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play the Nationals.  We have decided to take the boys to the stadium of their choice when they graduate.  Tanner hasn't graduated, but we couldn't wait until next year when Zach will return from his mission and Tanner will leave on his.  So, they went this year and had a great time.  They toured the stadium and spent as much time there as they could.  Kaden returned from his trip on the 13th so Brynn and Denise only had a small window of "girl time"!  After they dropped Greg and Tanner off at the airport, they went to Target and then In and Out Burger--and stopped by to visit Grandma and Grandpa Butler on the way home.

Tanner and Greg in the dug out

Greg and Tanner

Greg and Zach at Turner Field, Tanner and Greg at Busch Stadium

On June 17-20, Denise and Brynn went to Girl's Camp!  They went to Beaver Mountain up Logan Canyon.  Camp was so much fun---even in the rain, cold and snowy weather!  The girls were troopers and everyone got along and didn't complain, it was crazy!  They played a Fear Factor game (Denise won!), went hiking, went snipe hunting, and went to Bear Lake.  They enjoyed camp fires, testimony meeting, good food and spending time with fun girls and leaders.  Brynn was so happy she could go to camp a little before she turns 12 (they let the two girls turning 12 in the summer go to camp).

Brynn headed off to Girl's Camp

It's nice to slow down a little, but now we are going to baseball games and preparing for our tournament trip to Southern California again later in July.  Summer goes by way too fast!  We are trying to enjoy each day and do some fun things.  The kids have a few things on their "bucket lists" so we need to try to cross things off before it's all over!

Zach hits his year mark next week--holy cow!  It's going by so fast but we are all loving every minute of it.  We miss him like crazy, but are so happy he is happy and enjoying the work he is doing.  Missions are awesome!

Talking to Zach on the phone on Mother's Day

St. George and Zions

We look forward to the annual baseball trip to St. George every March.  This year we stayed with my friend, Kim Hazlewood and had a great time.  The Mustangs started the weekend off playing a Varsity and JV game in Cedar City at Cedar High School.  Then we were off to St. George.  Friday they didn't play until evening so we took the opportunity to drive to Zions National Park with the Banhams.  We had a great time--we hiked Angel's Landing (well, we didn't go to the top, that is CrAzY!).  It was a beautiful day and so nice to get out and enjoy a hike together.  When we got back, I went to the St. George temple with Kim, Greg and Kaden ran a few errands and Brynn went swimming with her friend, Breckelle.  We all met up again at the baseball game at 7:00.  The Mustangs played two games that night.  Saturday we had two more games.  It was so fun to get back outside watching baseball and hanging with our baseball friends!  It was a long winter.  The team headed back to Logan Saturday, but we decided to stay the night.  Brynn, Kim and I went shopping while Greg and Kaden rested a little.  We had a great time!  We came home to cool weather--we want to go back!