WICKED

I can't believe that I have been missing out on this for this long.  My friends have been telling me forever what an amazing show it is, but I really had no idea until I saw it for myself.  Jo and I have neither one ever been to a Broadway show, so it was a real treat.  I fear that we may have a new expensive habit!  We made a full day of it, getting facials, eating, laughing, getting ready together, eating again.... it was awesome, and I couldn't ask for better company, my sister and best friend, thanks for everything you do for me.  I would say you don't deserve me, :) but the truth is I don't deserve you.  I love you!

The Hunt

We had a little egg hunt with the cousins, and the kids of course loved it and the adults always get a kick out of watching the kids frantically try and get the most eggs.  We spent Easter with all of Dave's family this year and had a great time.  It is always so good to be with family.  

Easter 2009

Genghis Khan

          Ethan as Genghis Khan, 6th grade Wax Museum 

Ethan decided to be Genghis Khan for his wax museum project... interesting, I thought when he told me who he picked.  We didn't know that much about him other than he did kill a lot of people and he was kind of a bad dude.  He could probably give Hitler a run for his money. Anyway, it was an educational experience for all of us and we had a great time putting together his costume (Walmart the night before at 11:00pm shopping for material) lots of hot glue sticks, cutting up rabbit fur,  finding just the right belt, which happened to be hanging in my closet... good work Dave!  Ethan was proud.

Invention Fair

Alyssa decided to invent "Friend Cards" for the 3rd grade invention fair this year.  She thought it would be a good idea to pass these out to all of her friends that don't know her phone #. She cut the cards out in the shape of a house and put all of her info on the front and a magnet on the back, very cute!  She worked hard on them and was very proud to show them off.  They were a big hit.  Good job Liss!

$4,296.00 later...

                                  Ben has a new smile!




Well, one down and three to go, at least braces are cheap.  ; )   We did get a two hundred dollar discount for having 2 kids in braces at the same time, that didn't make Dave feel any better. Ethan has another year left and Alyssa and Jared we have been told will need them too, awesome!  We do have the best orthodontist in town, I have to say.  Dr. Swenson is so great with kids and he has the best staff too.  Ben looks so grown up without them, it will be so nice to eat at the dinner table now without him trying to suck his food out of his braces with his tongue.  Yeah, I know GROSS, but true!  Love you Ben!!  Nice Jersey too, are you from Georgia? Did you know that Knowshon Moreno got drafted to the Denver Broncos?  Of course you do, you have been watching the NFL draft for about 5 hours now!

Karate = Therapy

                                    The Prep...

                             The Kick...

                                  Comin' Down!

I absolutely love these pictures!  Ethan is such a stud and he can definitely get up there.  The teacher holding the kick paddle is about my height maybe a little taller,  and did you see that FORM in the 2nd picture!  So these pictures tell me a couple of things.  First, karate is a form of therapy. :) And 2nd, there is no doubt in my mind that Ethan is letting out some of his little sister frustrations, I mean did you see his face... take a good look, because it is priceless!  Ethan is a brown belt and well on his way to black, he is a great athlete and we love watching him bring the house down.

"Georgia On My Mind"

Introducing the newest member of the Johnson Crew.... meet "GEORGIA""   

So this is how it all went down....  The boys and I have been talking (OK.....obsessing) for the past couple of months about how fun it would be to have a real bulldog in the fam.  We have been searching for them on eBay and KSL and emailing pictures and ads to Dave just sending him subtle hints here and there.  Well for those of you who know Dave, he was making sure we knew every reason why you should NEVER own a Bulldog, and trust me the list was long.  At one point, he went as far as actually snorting loudly and drooling (a lot) all over Ben's homework one night as we were discussing bulldogs.  Ben and Ethan would not let it go though and I have to say I was pulling for them.  Ethan went as far as writing his dad a paper on why our family should own a bulldog including  several good (in his mind) reasons why we would benefit from having one.  So we have been going back and forth for a while now not having much luck convincing Dave, not to mention what they cost, (ouch).  Ben has been getting on KSL non-stop weighing all of his options of how we could make this possible.  We found several that we loved but none that were within our budget or even within Dave's terms, which was basically,  "it's not going to happen."  So we kind of (not really) let it go for the time being and we thought we might try our luck again in a few weeks.  When suddenly, yes suddenly, out of nowhere David comes home from work this past Monday night  (a typical night at the Johnson's) and I ask him if he can pick up Ethan from karate later so that I could get dinner going.  He told me that he needed to run an errand first so he was going to leave right away and was going to be gone for a while, but he would not tell me where he was going.  I told him that was fine but wherever he was going Bubba was going to keep him good company!  He was excited to take him, so I really was starting to wonder what the heck was going on.  I went on with my evening as usual when I got a call from Dave almost 2 hours later telling me that we all needed to sit on the couch and turn off the T.V.  Well Ethan and Bubba are with Dave already so Alyssa, Ben, and I start trying to guess what the heck Dave is up to.  Ben's guess:  Rock Band for the Wii, a pretty good guess but not sure why we would need to sit down for that.  Alyssa's guess: A new puppy!  Ben's response:  "Yeah right Alyssa, this is DAD we are talking about." My guess: a new car?  I really had no idea what to think and I have to say a dog never even crossed my mind.   So all this talk went down between the 3 of us in about 2 minutes or less when we heard the garage door open.  We all got quiet and just waited on the couch for Dave to walk through the door. I have never been so anxious to see him after a normal work day. :)  Dave walks in with a white bulldog puppy (she is a 40 lb. puppy) and says, "meet your new bulldog Georgia" (the only appropriate name when you really think about it). Ben might kill me for writing this, but it was a priceless moment that will not soon be forgotten.  Ben jumps up and runs past the dog to Dave and embraces him crying so hard that he couldn't even talk.  I don't think he let go of Dave for honestly a solid 2 minutes.  Then he says, "you just made all my dreams come true."  During the hug a lot went down,  Alyssa bursts into tears, yelling "we got a real bulldog" and running around the kitchen trying to find a phone to call Nana (my sister).  Jared never stopped talking loud but I'm not really sure what he was saying, I find myself tuning him out a lot these days, so that I can remain sane.  Ethan and Ben I believe embraced as well at some point, I am still in shock at this point as reality starts to set in.  So making homemade valentines for Family Home Evening was out the door and so were we to Pet Smart with all the kids, the dog, and a lot of smiling faces.  It was a great night and a day that no doubt my kids will remember for the rest of their lives.  I would have given anything to have that moment on video, it would be really fun to hold that over Ben in about 5 to 10 years from now.  I have never in my life seen him that emotional, it was priceless,  and very sweet.  The story behind the scene is that Dave was doing his own hunting behind our backs and found her from a breeder in Orem.  She is an Olde English Bulldogge (I believe that is the correct spelling, but to lazy to look it up) so not the same as Uga, which is what my kids were looking for and wanting.  For those of you not knowing what the heck I am talking about, Uga is a bulldog, that all my kids hope to meet one day, not likely, but anything is possible!  He is the University of Georgia's real bulldog.  So the name Uga standing for UGA, is where his name comes from, got it?  Go Dawgs!  Dave could not bring himself to buy a breed of bulldog that has a terrible reputation for health among other not so good personality traits.  We needed a healthy, fun loving, good with kids, bulldog.  After much research, he knew he wanted an Olde English Bulldogge and he found her. She is 6 months old and is already house trained, but still very young so we have a lot of other things to work on.  We already love her and are getting used to having a dog again. Her family had a hard time letting her go, but they are excited to know that she will be in a good home.  Well that is the story and I am sticking to it!  Thank you Dave.... although I still can't believe you gave into our kids, I thought you were stronger than that. ;) Don't hold all the typos against me, it's 2:00 in the morning.