life beyond measure: the johnsons

We're Moving!

2010-07-07T10:35:00.002-06:00

No, not like that... just the blog. With a recent foray of blogger and personal web domain issue we are transitioning our entire blog over to Wordpress. Don't worry we're still easy to find at http://jfamilyblog.wordpress.com. Eventually we'll work on password protecting our site, but until then you can read and follow along just as rarely as before - since we never post anything. By the way how is this for the most lame blog update after a four month hiatus?

This also means that any of you that currently have an email for Shelli or I that point to the @keldesignonline.com address is now utterly useless, so delete that from your address book.

That's all for now. More to come, but not here. No more to come here - ever. More there, so go there. Hurry, go now. Stop reading and do it already. No really, nothing past this point is worth reading. Stop. Now. Fine, I am not typing any more then, that'll show you. I'm done. No more. Starting right... n_

date night

2010-02-22T18:04:00.005-07:00

Funny thing happens when you get married. You tend to go out less. Not because you're less in love, or because you don't want to make the effort anymore, but mainly because instead of having to make plans to spend some quality time together, you're always around each other, thus lowering the necessity and expectation to "go out" but not eliminating it.

When we were first married Shelli and I actually went out pretty regularly, despite this fact.

When you have kids - this is when things really change. Its at this point you transition from going out less, to desperately needing a night out. Now all the time you have is shared with a little one and in order to exit your home to go anywhere it requires a massive procession of tasks lists and check-marks:

"Hey, Honey, did you get the sippy-cup?"

"Don't forget the wipes!"

"Did you remember the toys?" (I'll come back to this one.)

"Did you grab his food?"

And so on. The list can be so long and exhaustive that you are guaranteed two things: you will be late and you will forget something.

So anytime someone comes along and says "Hey, if you guys want a night out just let us know." You both look at each other with that inquisitive "You think they're serious?" perplexity on your face. This is also why when anyone calls back moments later and says "How about next Saturday?" and you have it free, you gasp with excitement and dance around your living room like you're in a Steve Carrell comedy, all the while trying not to let on to the person on the other end of the phone.

So, thank you David and Liz for your overwhelming generosity and persistence, it was an enormous blessing and overwhelmingly needed.

Last Saturday, David and Liz watched Noah for us so we could have a little date night. Which when you haven't been out together in a while can kind of fall apart, but more on that later.

After packing up the Noah and racing through the checklist, making sure to check everything and be certain we forgot nothing, we raced off to drop Noah off at David and Liz's. We of course were running drastically late, not guarantee number one. As we traveled down Bangerter Highway and turned left to head to our destination we both came to a startling realization: yes, we forgot the toys (note guarantee number two). Oh well, too late now. Fortunately, David and Liz had plenty of plastic kitchen utensils, so everything was fine.

After we dropped off Noah, we went out for a nice dinner and a to take in a movie. We first headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner (all to be covered by gift certificates) but instead realize that in our delay we had overrun our time and wouldn't be able to make it there in time, nor back to the movie. So, we settled on a subpar salad bar from Ruby Tuesday in Jordan Landing where we would be seeing our movie. That is, until we realized that our movie gift certificates wouldn't apply there, so we adapted once again and hurried over to the District to catch a movie. Minus some upset stomachs and poor driving, which provided for some funny dialogue, everything worked out nicely. We saw the Blindside, which we both thoroughly enjoyed, and headed on over to pick up the Little Man, before we called it a night.

While nothing went as planned, and the overall night would statistically be considered a failure based on things that went the way they were suppose to, we had a great time and it was so nice to be able to spend some time together just the two of us. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our lives that we forget to let the ones we love the most, know how much we love them, by just spending time with them and honestly, there is probably nothing more important that we will ever do with our time.

Thanks David and Liz, we needed that.

and... we're off...

2010-02-13T18:35:00.007-07:00

So much has transpired in the past few days... wait... weeks... I mean months since we last updated you about the comings and goings of our life via this blog.

A few holidays passed, a lock-in, a new year, some birthdays, nursing school began and we had some "new" stuff, whether it occurred or it was obtained. Let me briefly recap.

Since the end of 2009, I wrapped up the annual youth New Year's Eve Lock-in, went comatose for a day - panicking Shelli for a brief moment when I failed to resurface in a timely manner - recovered and returned to the daily grind. Shelli's birthday came and we celebrated the wonderful quarter-century turn of the clock as Shelli went from college student to well... college student, but more mature and sophisticated.

As I alluded to, Shelli is full-swing into Nursing school and life is a blurry mess of studying, tests, baby firsts and baby lasts, work, and a pinch of sleep in there somewhere. She is performing incredibly having scored well-above the class average on all her tests and, despite the exhausting downside, she is loving it.

I am going through a ton of learning and transition at work as we continue to grow at Capital and the organizations changes I can feel my role and job portfolio shifting. I am not sure exactly where it will end up in the immediate future, I am however very certain that in the long-term I will become more of a Creative Director than a designer/youth leader. As much as it saddens me to think of my role with the youth decreasing, I know it will by far be the best in the end. Other than that I have enjoyed a short-term increased role in teaching and running youth on Wednesday nights, while the group continues to grow and amaze me in their personal spiritual growth.

Little man is growing like a tree. Compared to the clothes we first brought him home from the hospital in, he seems to be a redwood. A very fast redwood. We at one point were convinced Noah would be walking before crawling and then one day he decided that there was too much to discover to wait for that. Noah loves to walk around all over the place while you hold his hand (though he is a little wary of releasing his kung fu grip from your finger), but don't you even think of sitting down and taking a breather, he has no tolerance for such laziness and will be screaming you back to your feet like an angry football coach before the big game. If for some crazy reason you decide you just can go any further, he will resort to speed-crawling his way across the floor. Don't even think about taking a bathroom break unless you tie him down because he'll be in the next state.

In addition to the quick transition to crawling and hand-held walking, he is almost fully onto solid foods (eating only the occasional formula bottle now) which he loves to eat while sitting high in the high chair that Papa Gary custom made for him.

Noah loves to play and is fascinated by balloons, which he affectionately calls "booon" or "Bwah" which sounds almost like a grunt. he still shouts "dadadada" and has added high pitched screaming and grunting to the mix, though at all times he is really referring to Mama, whose arms he would always prefer to be in. He still loves to cuddle and is sleeping wonderfully through the night in his own room in his crib.

He likes to roll around in his walker and loves, loves Gerber Graduate Puffs and any food made of or with fruit. Although, as expected vegetables don't carry the same appeal. He's learned to clap and has no reservation applauding his accomplishments. Along with his likes and dislikes he has become the most curious and adventurous little fella I have ever seen and I can't forget to mention one of his favorite games he has discovered. We'll call it Keep Away. This involves Noah holding out some object, usually a puff, until you reach for it and, at the last second, pulling it swiftly back into his body far away from any of your pursuing fingers. He will then return his hand to the out-stretched position, as if trying to tempt and entice you to have another try, all the while repeating the original process to the tune of his happy little laugh.

Well, january has passed and we're half-way through February. We spent some time in California with Shelli's family in January, but I will let her update you on that journey soon. In addition, there are a few more things to tell you about, but rather than catch up on everything in one blog, we'll just try to blog again sooner, rather than later.

The end of 2009

2009-12-28T11:11:00.004-07:00

Thanks to our loyal readers who have suffered through our empty posts. We have a lot of catching up to do, so here goes in a nutshell:
Thanksgiving: Our little family packed up and went to Moab to celebrate the holiday with Kelly’s parents. We had an amazing dinner, prepared by Kelly’s mom, and the rest of his family. I must admit, I did such a fine job of chopping up the celery for the stuffing. Don’t you forget it! Noah had a bad cold and had a hard time eating sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes that we made. The poor little man was pretty miserable, but was a trooper through it all. We enjoyed conversing with Kelly’s family from Moab, Las Vegas, and Grand Junction.
Accepted!!!: I have been accepted to join the 2012 School of Nursing Class at Westminster College. I begin classes on January 5th, at which point my life will become hectic, and chaos will commence. (Did I mention things will get a bit crazy?) My program is 5 semesters long, and I will receive my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. (Hooray for another bachelors!! HA!)
Christmas this year was truly great. It was Noah’s first Christmas, and this time of year is SO much more fun and enchanting when a little one is around. Noah is so spoiled by his grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends, (and maybe a little by us too!) He got so many toys that we had to set some aside, as not to over-stimulate him. We went to Christmas Eve service, which I really enjoyed. Noah chatted a bit during the service, but was very good. Christmas morning we spent with our little family, opening our stockings and presents from Santa. We then went to my parents house, in which my dad made us breakfast, and we opened presents with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Noah was really tired on Christmas morning and didn’t quite understand the concept of opening presents, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.
My mom’s birthday is the day after Christmas, but this year I decided not to participate in the festivities. :( I awoke with a migraine that I was not able to control, so my wonderful mom and dad and took Noah on her birthday while Kelly and I went to the Emergency Room. (Thanks mom and dad!) We spent 6 hours medicating my brain, and went home to sleep off the rest of it. I was so bummed and frustrated, and I owe birthday dinner to my mom. Happy Birthday to you mom!
2009 has been a year of ups, downs, frustrations, excitements, bliss, and exhaustion. This year has been a true blessing, as this is the year we received our little man, whom we cherish and love. Kelly and I have grown so much in our marriage. We have been stretched, and have had to rely on each other more than ever. We look forward to 2010 and the adventures it will bring. Thanks to all of our family and friends that have made 2009 a very memorable year. Here’s to 2010!

The following are a whole bunch of random pics that make me smile to look at!

I probably deserve the "Mom of the Year" award for letting Noah play with my undies while I fold laundry! Distraction is GREAT when it comes to getting chores done!

Christmas shopping at the mall, disguised as a penguin.

He won't go anywhere without his thumb!

Showing off his top "snaggle tooth" He now has 2 1/2 teeth on top!

Chubbers and daddy playing

Sad baby showing off his two bottom teeth. Nana Pam is so proud!

Noah loves bathtime!

Smiley Chub!

Remember when...

2009-10-12T12:01:00.006-06:00

Remember when we posted blogs? Remember when we promised a blog post from Hawaii? Remember when we were looking forward to vacation, not remembering it? Remember two months ago when the blog never showed up? Well, I have some promises to keep, even if they are overdue...

I would just like to clarify that I wrote this blog on October 12th, just after we returned from Hawaii. Unfortunately, given the extremely convenient usability of Blogger I only had to upload the photos and post, piece of cake, right? (Please note the sarcasm of the usability issue.) So, after several agonizing uploading hours and without further adieu, I give you... Hawaii...

[Okay, blog update. Despite my efforts the photos would not load correctly. You'll have to read on without, but you can check out the gallery of photos here]

After Noah's first plane ride, a straight shot six hour flight from Salt Lake City to Honolulu (which he did great on, by the way), we settled into the Hotel where Pam and Gary had already been for a couple of days. Pam was in Hawaii for a dental convention so we got to tag along and play while she enjoyed the interiors of conference rooms for the first few days. After claiming our bed and getting situated we headed down for an obligatory trip down one of Hawaii's most crowded beaches at Waikiki. We watched a beautiful sunset and then headed back for some much needed sleep.

Day two was marked by an amazing tour all the way around O'ahu with tour guide Gary while Pam was stuck with more of those conference rooms and dental speak. The tour was capped with sights of North shore, the Dole plantation, Pali Highway and the Nu'uanu Pali lookout where King Kamehameha I staged one of the bloodiest battles in Hawaiian history as he conquered the island of O'ahu.

That was all in the afternoon however. The morning was all about Pearl Harbor. We took tours of the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Missouri (site of the end of WWII) and Shelli even snagged a tour of the USS Bowfin Submarine. See the story goes, that while us law abiding citizens (Gary, Noah and myself) toured the small museum of WWII torpedos and weaponry Shelli snuck a free tour of the USS Bowfin while nobody was looking. Apparently she completed the tour unabated; however when Noah and I chased after her we were quickly halted and sent packing the other way be the security forces.

The tours of the USS Arizona and USS Missouri were incredible. It is amazing to be out there and see the places where all these stories took place. The heroism and strength of all those involved takes ones breathe away. The oil still bubbles out from the USS Arizona all these years later.

Day three we traveled again. We island hopped our way over to Maui where Shelli's grandparents have a time share they were more than generous enough to let us stay in. We were only a short walk away from the beach and it was such a great location. WE settled in and took off to the store to grab some grub for the week. THis turned out to be a little bit more of an adventure than we anticipated. We knew things would be more expensive in Hawaii, just not that expensive. I fail to understand how people can afford to live there, whew! $8 for a package of cheese. $6 for milk. ouch. Fortunately, after offering up our second and third born children we were able to discover that a short distance away in Kahului there is a Costco and Walmart which make things a little more affordable.

Our condo was in a little town called Kihei on the west side of the island. Day four we drove south and toured the west side beaches wn snorkeled around the reefs. We had a great time swimmin' with the fishes and kickin' bakc with the sea turtles. Its incredible what you can see out there on a clear day. After snorkeling to our heart's content we called it a day and headed back for some sleep. Mind you we still hadn't quite adjusted to the time change so it was only like 6pm when we'd all go to bed, but we also were up and rolling at like 5am.

Day five we decided to brave the road to Hana, a 68 mile "3 hour" drive along the north coast of Maui. We started out early in the morning making all our fun little stops along the way. We hiked up to Twin Falls where some gentlemen selling bowls and hats made form leaves fo some local plants made Shelli adn Pam a flower and Noah a little fishy. We proceeded along the road to Hana stopping occasionally to check out the sites including waterfalls, overlooks, the black sand beaches and lava tunnels at Waianapanapa State Park, and Hamoa beach for some body surfing before turning back and heading home. All in all our 3 hour drive took about 9 hours start to finish. But in defense of the inaccurate information I am pretty sure Gary got us home in like two hours. Nice driving. We went out fro a bite to eat at Moose McGillycuddy's and called it a night.

Though exhausting the road to Hana was a blast. The beaches were beautiful, the body surfing at Hamoa was a blast and the views were incredible. Probably won't be jumping on the bandwagon for round two anytime soon though.

The next morning we went out and rented a paddle board form one of the local shops. Just so you are in the loop this is a slightly larger surfboard you stand on with a paddle and paddle around the water near the beaches. We spent the day doing some paddle boarding and hanging out at the beaches. The paddle board was a blast you can just sit back and enjoy a calm relaxing paddle through the waters as you look below and survey the marine life, or your can paddle right into a wave and ride it in.

Shelli went the entire trip up to this point without a migraine, so thank God for that! It was wonderful to have soem time away with no headaches. Unfortunately that abruptly came to an end that night which led to a not-so-memorable seventh day. Day seven we went out in the morning and did some more paddle boarding before we had to return the board. Shelli and I both had a chance to paddle around with a sea turtle. It was amazing. He just hung around on the surface of the water swimming his was around the board as popped his head in and out of the water. After that we sent Pam and Gary out for some fun on the town while I stayed behind with Noah and took care of Mommy. By the afternoon Shelli had decided that she wasn't going to take any more from the headache and we headed out Lahaina just North of where we were staying. Lahaina is a beautiful little whaling town. Much more touristy than where we were staying, but a lot of fun. We walked around the old Banyan Tree and grabbed some dinner from a little Mexican restaurant. We hopped up to Ka'anapali and caught the sunset before heading back. We shot some photos of lil' Noah on the beach at sunset. What an absolutely unforgettable sunset, it was indescribable.

Day Eight we drove up to Haleakala, one of the volcano craters of Maui, and took a stroll around. Its a surreal place being 10,000 ft above sea level on an island. The views were a little masked by the cloud cover but it was still amazing to see. With all the lava rock and little vegetation you felt like you were on another planet. From there we kicked back a little and got the last little bit out of the snorkels and boogie boarding that we could. We toured a few more beaches and ended up landing at Big Beach for the day. Big Beach, along with being the largest undeveloped white sand beach on Maui, is the sight of several neck injuries which we quickly discovered that day. We bolted out to have soem fun on the boogie boards and in one commanding crash of a wave both Gary and I lost our glasses. I managed to locate mine a short while later buried in the sands and the bottom of the crashing waves, and then continued to look for Gary's (A little nicer and more expensive than mine) before I could find anything I was mauled by another ave which ended up popping then lenses out of my glasses that were in my hand. I conceded to return to the shore to discard the glasses and return to the search. eventually we spotted Gary's glasses, deciding it was either a stingray or his glasses. Thankfully (on several levels) it was his glasses. I spent some more time being pummeled by waves (Shelli tried too, but was immediately smashed by a couple waves too.) before tiring out and we packed up and headed home for the day.

After packing up a few things and getting some sleep we woke up ready for our last day, simply hoping that it wasn't really true. After spending the morning working through all the possible logistics of how not to come home and move to Hawaii, we resigned ourselves to having to coem home and darted out for some last minute snorkeling, turned in all our gear, got a delicious final bite to eat at the Five Palms, packed up, grabbed the final souvenirs and caught our flight back to Honolulu at 10pm. In Honolulu we had a short layover where we snagged a quick bite to eat with Shelli's Great Aunt and Uncle barely caught our next flight, switched planes in Portland and landed in SLC at 1pm on Sunday.

All in all, it was a much needed and wonderful vacation. Just need to figure out when we are going again now.

Thanks for waiting...

one big baby

2009-09-11T18:06:00.003-06:00

September 3rd marked Noah's 6 month mark. (Yes, this means I am precisely 8 days behind on my blogging, and 6 months behind on my sleep.) The last month has been one of big milestones and accomplishments. All in one week Noah learned to sit on his own, he sprouted his first tooth, he learned to say "Dadadadadadada", and he became a steam roller, rolling like a rockstar. That makes for two happy parents, one goofy baby, and one dumbfounded dog. (Sam thinks we are the biggest dufuses ever when we cheer at Noah and his ability to roll over. After all, it only took him about a week of training to master the task!)

We took Noah in for his 6 month check-up and here's the stats:

Height: 28 inches (93rd Percentile)

Weight: 18 pounds (61st Percentile....He's thinning out!)

Head Circumference: 17.9 inches (91st Percentile)

Noah is a healthy and happy little man, and we have absolutely loved these past 6 months of watching him grow (albeit a little TOO fast!)

the best remedy

2009-08-17T20:10:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite things in this entire world is the laughter of my boy. The last week plus has been extremely difficult filled with setbacks, trials, bad news and poor developments. I'll spare you the details, mostly because they are not the point. But, as I sat on the couch with Noah today laughing and playing I was reminded of how much I love those moments. Despite everything that is not good its so refreshing to have that, even if it is just a moment.

Noah had been growing fast. He is already five months old, though you would never know it. He sports his 9 month clothing like it were going out of style. Our liitle boy is a very big boy, that why we have affectionately dubbed him Samoa Noah (We have decided that he is albino Samoan - from my side of course). He loves to laugh and play, especially with his little cow that I have dubbed Milford. It seems to be his favorite toy, though he is starting to enjoy some of his other toys too. He is almost rolling over, practically sitting up on his own and is amazingly curious. He is always reaching out for things and investigating everything around him. He is enjoying his Rice cereal though Shelli and I both think it might be time for even more solids as anytime we have something to eat he stares our food down like its high noon at an old western showdown.

I love my little boy. These past few moths have been crazy busy but some of the most amazing of my life. It has been so much fun watching Noah grow and discover the world around him. For right now I owe Noah a bit of gratitude for bringing me some joy when I needed it most this week. I even thought I would share it with you...

Feeding by Osmosis?

2009-08-15T21:05:00.002-06:00

Instead of ingesting his rice cereal, we like to smear it across every available square inch of his body. We have a theory that he will receive the nutrients via osmosis. Okay, so maybe not. It's just part of being a baby, and it sure makes for a cute pic!

Top 10 Reasons why we haven't been blogging/Why we're slackers

2009-08-09T13:10:00.011-06:00

The month of July has come and gone, and our poor little blog has been ignored. Sorry about the lack of posts, we have definitely been staying busy, playing outside, and enjoying the summertime! Here’s the Top Ten Reasons why we haven't been blogging!

Reason #10
We celebrated the 4th of July at Snowbird Ski Resort. It was beautiful, and we were able to catch up with a lot of friends from college at USU. We sure do miss them!

Reason #9

We’re going to be an aunt and uncle and cousin again! Adrienne is PREGO! They are expecting Baby #2 at the end of February! Be praying for a healthy and happy momma and baby!

Reason #8

Kelly and I celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary! Wow, how time flies. This year was a little less eventful than last year….(Remember, we found out that I was prego with Noah on our one year anniversary! Surprise!!! No more babies to report this year….that we know of at least! HA!) Kelly and I both took the day off of work, and spent the day with our little family. I had a terrible headache the entire day, so I ended up being a bit of a slug, but we enjoyed ourselves, nevertheless. My parents took Noah for the evening (thanks mom and dad!) and Kelly I headed up to Park City to enjoy dinner together at Zoom. It was delicious, and we really enjoyed some time with each other. Anniversaries (and marriage, for that matter) are definitely different when there’s a baby! We picked up Little Man, got ice cream on the way home, and enjoyed our day of celebrating two years.

Reason #7
We celebrated the 24th of July with my parents and the Lansings…(well, we actually celebrated the 25th of July!....Hooray for the Mormons coming to Utah…..yesterday!) We had fireworks and dinner, and enjoyed my dad’s biannual fireworks dance. Yes, my dad dances. On the 4th and 24th we see his talent for interpretative dance. It is quite spectacular actually. I’m not sure if I enjoy the fireworks or my dad’s pirouettes more!

Reason #6
Kelly went to Denver for a week. He led the Capital Youth Missions team to Colorado for some good times, and to share the love of Jesus! He headed up the team of 11 youth and 3 other leaders. Kelly’s group of 4 youth spent the week serving in an assisted living home. He came back with some fabulous stories of really neat people! (I feel like he should post about his experience, because I can’t do it justice!) Noah and I really missed him, but he gave us a little gift to open each day while he was gone, and prepared a video for us to watch each night before we went to bed. Noah LOVED seeing his daddy! Each night I would feed him, give him his little massage, and then start the video, and he would get so excited to see Kelly!

Reason #5
While Kelly was gone for a week, we stayed super busy! We went to lunch with Kali to say farewell as she heads off to Denver seminary, went to a horse show with Nana, celebrated Poppa’s birthday (Happy 55 DAD!!!), went to Cowabunga Bay water park with Nana, Poppa, Aunt Adrienne, and Ty-Ty, went to dinner with Rachel, and went to a Relay for Life for our little friend Lola. I met Lola at Primary Children’s where she is a patient. She was diagnosed with cancer of her eye (retinoblastoma) when she was merely 7 months old. She had had dozens of chemotherapy treatments, surgeries, and examinations, and has been CANCER FREE for over a year! She is now two years old and full of LIFE! Lola and her family have become really great friends, and we were honored to be a part of her Relay for Life team! This was such a success, and raised so much money for cancer research for the American Cancer Society! If any of you want to get involved with Relay for Life, or would like to donate to the American Cancer Society, let me know! Amazing things are happening here.

My dad with Tyler on my dad's birthday.

Noah and Shelli floating the lazy river at the water park.

Worn out after a wild day at the waterpark.

Fun times at Daybreak pool.

Playing at Kearns pool with AD and Ty.

Shelli & Lola (AKA: Cancer Survivor Extraordinaire!) at Relay for Life.

Reason #4
Kelly came back home, we had just enough time to give him a hug and kiss, and he hit the ground running! He’s so busy with work, and is in overdrive to get videos, graphics, pictures, etc. etc. done. We are happy to have him home though!

Reason #3

I am starting with a new neurologist. My migraines have been absolutely out-of-control, and my friend Trina referred me to this new doctor. Neurology clinics don’t really know what to do with migraine patients, and therefore, we kind of get the run-around when it comes to treatment. My current treatment was obviously not working, so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try a new doctor. He has such a passion for treating migraine patients, and suffers from migraines himself, so he gets it and has an incredible amount of compassion and sympathy for this blasted ailment. Please pray for some relief, and that this new physician would get me on a treatment plan that is more successful.

Reason #2

We just booked tickets to go to Hawaii! We will be going at the beginning of October, and can’t wait to feel the sand between our toes! We will go to Oahu for a few days. (Kelly and I would really like to see Pearl Harbor), and then head to Maui for a week. We are meeting up with my parents, who will be there for my mom’s national dental convention. (What a bummer, huh? Her work sends her to Hawaii for a darn business trip! ) This will be Noah’s first plane ride, and biggest vacation, so far. Maybe he will learn to surf while we’re there! Eh?

Reason #1

Why would I want to be staring at a computer screen, when I could be playing with this cute face instead!?

Phew, I feel justified now!

4 months young!!!

2009-07-03T15:34:00.005-06:00

Noah celebrates his 4th month of life today!

Here's his stats from the pediatrician:
Weight: 16.0 pounds (74 percentile)
Height: 27.5 inches (99 percentile)......TALL little man!
Head Circumference: 17.5 (90 percentile)

Likes:
*Mommy and Daddy (of course!!!)
*Laughing and Smiling with daddy
*Cuddling with mommy
*Eating
*Playing with (and eating) his toy cow
*Sitting up in his Bumbo
*Standing (when we try to make him sit he becomes stiff as a board...He insists on standing!)
*Walks in the stroller
*Kicking
*Leg Massages at night time
*Bath time
*Sucking his thumb
*Books
*Being tickled
*Being held
*Hiding small animals in his chins
*Music
*Being naked (that better change before he's a teenager!!!)

Dislikes:
*The car seat
*Taking naps
*Sitting
*Being put down
*The wrong temperature of his milk. We didn't realize an infant could be so picky about food temp!
*Tummy Time (He just growls at us the entire time!)

Still trying to figure out:
*Rice Cereal (pushing all of that food to the back of the mouth and swallowing is hard work!)
*Sammy (also known as annoying furball!). Noah doesn't quite know what to think about him.
*He's trying to figure out his world by putting everything into his mouth! This includes anything from his body parts, to toys, cameras, anything!
*Rolling over

Noah and his cow!

How many chins can you count?

One Great Daddy

2009-06-21T22:23:00.002-06:00

Happy First Father's Day to one amazing dad! Noah and I love you SO much and are so grateful for all you do for our little family!

Poo-Splosion Round Two

2009-06-19T11:29:00.003-06:00

Many of you may remember "Poo-Splosion" Round One, when Sammy decided to decorate our living room with his intestinal contents. Pretty gross, I know. Prepare my friends, for "Poo-Splosion" Round Two!
Noah has failed to poop since Sunday. Today is Friday. Go ahead, count the days...One, Two, Three, Four Five. Five days of storing up for a blow-out! He's been incredibly grumpy, and even more gassy. (Can you blame him?) Kelly and I were getting a little concerned, so I called his pediatrician who wanted to see him. My wonderful mom took him in yesterday, while Kelly and I were at work. After a half of an hour of swooning the ladies in the waiting room, Noah was finally seen by the doctor. He said to try prune juice to get things moving along. My wonderful parents went to Harmon's and picked up the prune juice (ONLY prune juice), and in turn got some pretty great looks by the checker who obviously knew what prune juice is used for!
I syringe-fed Noah the juice last night because he refused to drink the nasty sauce voluntarily.
And so we wait.........
Much to my dismay, no poops in his morning diaper. Bummer. I lie him on the playmat in the bathroom while I take a shower, and 10 minutes later, I hear the most beautiful sound I could have hoped for! (I'll spare you the "Juicy" details!...no pun intended!)
Success! The diaper was full to the top, wall to wall with glorious (horrifically stinky) poop! I have a much happier baby who also weighs about 3 lbs. less now!
I should probably consider putting a disclaimer on our blog, considering this is probably too much info. However, these are the new joys and excitements of my life! Hooray for Motherhood!

Mmmmm....tastes like chocolate

2009-06-16T22:44:00.003-06:00

Noah found his thumb! He has decided it is his new favorite invention! Kelly and I also set up a savings fund for orthodontics! I sucked my thumb until I was about 8 years old (pathetic, I know!), and I had some sweet bucky teeth to show for it! (Thanks mom and dad for investing in braces, and sparing me the embarassment of a lifetime of looking like I grew up in a trailer park!)

100 Days of Noah

2009-06-10T15:48:00.002-06:00

Our sweet little Noah is 100 days old today, and wow has time flown quickly! We are so excited to have a 100 day baby!

Firsts

2009-06-06T20:19:00.006-06:00

We have been staying incredibly busy this last week. Noah is growing faster than we can keep up with him, changing every day! He is quite a cheese-ball! He is constantly pulling funny faces, smiles, and laughing! It has been so so much fun to see him grow these last few months, and he has had a load of "firsts".

First bike race: Noah and I went with Nana and Poppa (Kelly was still quarantined with the Swine Flu). The race was at Sugarhouse Park, and it was a lot of fun watching the bikes go around and around! (I failed to get a pic of the actual race, however! I was too busy looking at my cute fam!)

First baseball game: We went to the Bees game last friday. We went with Adrienne, Travis, Ty-Ty, Nana, and Poppa. (Plus Kelly was out of his quarantine by now, so he got to go too! Woohoo! Welcome back Kelly!) There were fireworks after, which Noah slept through!...but I guess that we can consider that a "first" too!

First Concert: Daybreak (the community we live in) has fun little events for residents, (and whomever else wants to come). We went to a concert at the lake, which was really fun! We had a picnic dinner, and listened to the music, which was great.

When we first got to the lake, the sky looked like this, and we weren't sure we were going to stay very long. Infants + rain/lightening does NOT equal fun time!

But, we bundled up sweet little Noah and waited it out.

Within a few minutes, the sky was looking like this, and it turned out to be a perfect night.

From afar, Sam saw a puppy that he was anxious to befriend.

Turns out, it was a plush little pup that this cute little girl was dragging around. Sam didn't seem to care, he just wanted to be friends!

Noah and I danced to the music, and enjoyed our night out as a family.

First birthday party: Uncle Travis turned 28! Happy Birthday T-Rav! We went to The Pie, and back to the Lansings for ice cream cake.

First Horseback Ride: Cowboy Noah "rode" Summer today! Summer is the ONLY horse in this world that I would trust with my 3-month old on her back! Noah kind of thought we were looney for putting him on top of this huge creature, but it made for a cute picture and fun memories! Summer is my horse, that I competed on since I was 8 years old. She is amazing, and I hope she is around for a long time so Noah can learn to ride on her also.

Happy 32 Years!

2009-05-28T21:29:00.003-06:00

My parents are celebrating their wedding anniversary today, and 32 years of marriage! Wow! Congratulations mom and dad on 32 years, and many more to come!
I love you!

life inside the box

2009-05-23T17:43:00.006-06:00

So I am currently about two days into my quarantine sentence. This means I have like 3 days left. It sounds longer when I say it aloud, I have to be honest. I am just extremely thankful for my family, especially my amazing wife, who has been there to peek her head in and see how I am doing and bring me jamba juice and make me food. This would be a lot harder without her. And, of course, the little man for whom I am hanging out in here to begin with - knowing I am keeping this dreadful illness away form him is well worth it.

Well that being said, the answer to your question is... yes. Oh my heavens, yes. I am bored out of my mind! Which is probably why I have lost it - wouldn't be having this problem if I had just stayed in it. Alas, I digress...

Welcome to the ramblings of isolation and medicinal hallucination.

Actually, it is rather hard to be in here all day - could be so much worse though. On one hand I want to get out and do something and yet on the other I lack motivation and strength. As my body is filled with medicines and allocates numerous resources to the viral battle raging within I find myself weary and unmotivated. However, every ounce of energy remaining in me wants to go run around outside and play like a 8 year old awaiting the bell for recess. It is amazing what conflict your body and mind can be in when working toward the same goal.

I have not been idle though. I have been taking my time to piece together a little photo journal of my fun and exciting day. One day I will blog about something relevant and worthwhile, don't you worry, but that day is not today. Today is about carefully worded nonsense. So far I have enjoyed a rousing day of cinematic entertainment...

And thanks to the modern marvel of television contained on digital video disc I have more than caught up on my Office trivia.

I plugged in some valuable literature time; expanding my knowledge and prowess so that I may converse among the elite high society. (why are you laughing?)

I have certainly performed my share of chemistry experiments...

I enjoyed some of the finer things in life - such as the joy of plucking the ol' six string. Mind you it's been a while and there was less plucking and more mashing. (If any of you watch the Simpsons (Ooo! I know what season series I'll be watching next (Hey! does lack of human contact cause ADD? (Wait! what was I talking about...))) do you remember the episode where Homer tries to get out of going to work by gaining several pounds and filing for disability? There is a part where Homer tries to use the phone but can't dial because his finger are too fat. The operator tells him "If you would like to order a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad now." Wow, did I really just write all that? why? Oh well, too late now I already typed it. Moving on...)

I did what I do often and dabbled in technology. Canon Rebel XSi, MacBook Pro, iPod Classic, iPhone, wireless mouse, all in a day. Did manage to get some work done, though found myself lacking motivation for much of it. Managed to do a blog post - er, umm... doing a blog post.

And finally, I decided what I needed to do most was find someone to talk to. I would like you to meet my little round-headed friend Morty. He is my solitary friend. He is kind of soft spoken and reserved but once you get him out of his shell he is a riot.

Well its time Morty and I got back to whatever it is we do (psst... its nothing. We do nothing! lame.) and bid you all adieu. But, before I do I wanted to mention one more thing I did today. I spent a lot of time thinking. I thought a lot about my family and friends and how valuable and amazing they are. I thought about how much I love them all, and how worthless everything is without them. I thought about what an amazing wife I have and what an adorable and healthy son we have been blessed with. I spend a lot of time thinking about them and every moment I am in here I miss them even more. I realize I am not far away - but I long to hold them both in my arms; God willing that will be sooner than later. I love them both with everything in me. For now I thank God for everything I have in my life.

Solitary Confinement

2009-05-22T21:43:00.002-06:00

Do you know of any good books? How about any movies you've seen recently? Any crossword puzzles or word finds, sitting around that you want to donate? I'm pretty sure Kelly will take anything at this point!
Kelly has been quarantined to the guest bedroom. No, this is not some form of spousal punishment by me! He started feeling sick on tuesday. He had a temperature of 101 F, had the chills, sweats, coughing, sneezing, stuffy.....the works. It kept progressively getting worse, so he finally went in to the doctor, telling the staff the reason he was in was for "flu-like symptoms".
A swab was shoved halfway up his brain, and the doctor gave him the profound diagnosis: "You have flu-like symptoms."
It has been confirmed that Kelly has Influenza Type A. He has been hooked up with Tamiflu to help him as he battles his germs. In the meantime, we await results from the state lab to see if he gets to join the group of Swine Flu Statistics from the CDC.
Kelly has avoided us (especially Noah) in hopes of sparing us the sickness. An infant with the flu can be a very scary thing. Please be praying for our little family: That Kelly would overcome the Flu quickly, that Noah and I would stay healthy, and that Kelly's mental state wouldn't decline too much! (There's a reason that solitary confinement also serves as a form of punishment!)

2 Month Update

2009-05-13T16:13:00.005-06:00

Our baby is 2 months old! These last 10 weeks have been such a journey, and I am constantly learning and growing as a mom. Noah has already flown by major milestones...he smiles at the sight of Kelly or me, giggles at funny noises that we make, and coos in delight. He is batting at his little toy mobile, and can hold small balls in his hand. What an incredible joy and privelege it is to have this little boy in our lives, and to call him my son. I am so thankful for my new role as a mom. Despite the incredibly exhausting days and nights that accompany parenthood, my soul is completely invested in this little being we call Noah. My heart submits daily to a love that exists purely because he does. There's just nothing else like it.

2 Month Stats:

Weight: 13 lbs. 5 oz. (86th percentile)

Height: 25.7 inches (99th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16.2 inches (86th percentile)

Noah and me on our first Mothers Day!

growing...

2009-04-15T15:36:00.004-06:00

Little Noah is growing up, and fast! It's hard to keep up with our little guy as he out grows outfit after outfit, starts to smile and make cute little noises. Noah has already outgrown the newborn category of clothing, only took 6 weeks, ha!

It's been fun to watch as he used to pull his tiny little legs up to his belly like a leaping frog right out of the legs of his pajamas. The poor pajamas were left with nothing but empty limp legs with a little scrunched up Noah inside the torso. Now he stretches out, reaches his arms above his head and nearly tears the same pajamas right in two.

He's a strong one two! It's become increasingly difficult to dress him as he resists by clenching his fists to his chest in defiance. Little guy can pretty much hold his head up and when I lay on the couch with him on my chest he tries to turn himself in circles like a confused snake.

As exhausting as it can be, what fun it is!

Findin' our groove again

2009-04-09T15:19:00.006-06:00

Wow. Time sure flies. I do realize it's been awhile since I've updated on our lives. It's not that I don't have time: it's the fact that pure exhaustion has taken over! I now realize how precious sleep is, and take every opportunity to nap, when (if) possible! I honestly have questioned my sanity at least 20 times in the last month: While driving, I was absolutely positive that I saw a blind man riding his bike. He had his stick in front of him, directing himself where to go. I told Kelly to look over there to see such a miraculous sight just to realize that my sleep-deprived eyes had deceived me, and made Kelly worry about my mental state. Later that week, Kelly happened to find my phone in the toaster....most likely where I had put it. Just today, as I was getting ready for the day, I found myself putting hair gel on my face instead of lotion. Not exactly the best option for my complexion.

I've learned in this last month that although being a mom isn't always pretty, it sure is beautiful! Our family has been down with a yucky cold the past couple of weeks, and sweet Noah has had the gooey green stuff coming out of his nose. I remember when Adrienne would pick Ty's boogers without a tissue, and think to myself, "hmmm....that's pretty gross". I get it now sis! Although using a tissue may be the preferred method, it's not always possible, and sometimes you just have to dig for it sans tissue! I've learned that there is an art to removing those far-up-there boogers with the baby booger bulb, and mustard-colored poo doesn't scare me in the least bit....In fact, bring it on! The satisfaction of such a sweet face makes all of the "gross" stuff seem a little less gross, and I praise God for such a beautiful little person to call my son. This is beautiful!
As I continue to learn about motherhood, I'll continue to laugh at myself and realize this is truly what it's all about!

My dad took these pics when Noah was about a week old. The "unwrapped" blue ribbon corresponds with the "wrapped" belly pics.

Pretty creative, right? Thanks Dad!

Happy 4 Years!

2009-04-09T15:13:00.002-06:00

My sis and her hubby Travis are celebrating their 4th year of marriage today! Congratulations to you two! You are both amazing people and I'm so proud to call you fam! Thank you for being such a great example of commitment, love, and dedication for Kelly and I! I can't believe it's already been 4 years! Here's to another 70! I love you guys, and congrats!

Sorry Ladies, He's Taken!

2009-03-10T12:45:00.003-06:00

Our baby Noah is one week old today, and I can hardly believe how fast it has gone! Our life has been turned completely upside-down as we are learning the ins and outs of parenting to this new little person that we brought into the world. Sleepless nights, continuous migraines, and new-parent anxiety have worn us out, but brought us so much closer as a family.

This last week has given me an entirely new perspective on the man that I married. I have found so much respect, love, appreciation, admiration, and awe for all he does for me, and for Noah. Kelly would stop at nothing to protect and provide for us! Throughout my pregnancy, Kelly went to EVERY prenatal appointment. He rearranged his schedule because it meant that much to him. Noah has had jaundice, and already been to the pediatrian 3 times this past week, and despite being busy with work, he has been to them all...(He even came to the circumcision appointment! I think Kelly was in more pain as a spectator than Noah was!) Noah has also had a very hard time eating, and Kelly has woken up with us at night to help Noah with his "midnight munchies".
I have loved watching Kelly transform from an exceptional husband, to an exceptional dad as well. I love watching him hold his son, sing to him, and cuddle. I praise God for such a wonderful husband, and am so grateful that Noah has such a great daddy. Thank you Kelly, for loving us so much!

funny looks 2

2009-03-08T00:42:00.003-07:00

Round two. Nipple shields this time, Target again though, same odd looks and even a little more awkward than the first trip. Different Target however, so that's good. Glad I don't live in a small town anymore, can you imagine the speculation? Welcome to being a Daddy!

funny looks

2009-03-06T20:27:00.003-07:00

You know that look, the one where you're in the store shopping - say, like a Target somewhere, like at the District in South Jordan - and you're minding own business in the baby section, but everyone is pulling that 180 degree head turn to see what in the world your doing.

You know what I am talking about, right? The one eyebrow raised like it thinks the eyeball stinks really bad or something. The other one scrunched down like its no longer wants to reside anywhere hear the forehead. The eyes focused in, pupils widening to make sure sufficient light is drawn in, as those same eyes try to look away in decency and respect, but can't due to the sheer oddity and absurdness of what they are seeing. Are ya with me on this? Do you know the look I am talking about?

Well, just for the record if any of you men out there expect to one day visit a Target to purchase the much needed breast pump for your wife and baby - take them with you, it looks a little odd to be a lone male standing inquisitively in the bottle and breast pump aisle inspecting each brand and type of pump with utmost precision and accuracy to ensure the most efficient product is purchased. Its okay with video games, its expected. Its okay with cars, its needed. It is not okay with breast pumps, apparently... its a little weird.

Noah Lukas Johnson

2009-03-03T15:44:00.003-07:00

Entering the world at 12:08pm on March 3, 2009 weighing at a whopping 9 lbs. and 14 ounces and measuring 23 inches: Noah Lukas Johnson! 26 hours total hours of labor, 41 weeks of pregnancy - I guess he was well done! Little man didn't want to come out, but Momma powered through it and did incredibly! I am so impressed and proud of my wifey and Noah's Mommy - not to mention I am pretty convinced she has eternal exclusive bragging rights the the "10" score on the 1-10 pain scale. I am never touching that one!

Here are some photos of the new little guy. He is incredibly cute, and yes... I am biased, so not only is he cute, he is the cutest little man ever! And so now its time to rest for momma and me it has been a long time since sleep, and since we know it only gets more limited from here - we are both going to grab some nap time while we can. Thanks for all your prayers and love!

still counting...

2009-02-20T23:45:00.004-07:00

No Noah yet. At least not outside of his cozy, comfy little mommy sized home. We have a nursery for him all ready to go, however Noah prefers Mommy to the cold February weather. Maybe March will be more to his liking, or so we anxiously hope. The closing months seem to be a little rougher with the wicked crazy (and slightly evil) back pain and cramps. We keep thinking our little boy is going to come out and play an moment, but he doesn't, and so we wait. And wait. We don't want to wait. We are excited to see the little fella. He'll get here when he's good an ready I suppose.

It's an early lesson in parenting, as Shelli brought up, learning that we are not the ones to control our son. Help him grow and learn certainly; but we don't make his decisions for him, we can only help and teach. I pray we'll be good at that... that we'll be patient and loving. I know Mommy will be. She already is so much and more, how much more so with little Noah. She is such an amazing mother kind, patient, loving; so excited and enthusiastic. I love my wife's glow, even despite the uncomfortableness there is just such an aura of excitement and anticipation about her. She is amazingly beautiful.

So I suppose I pray that I will be patient and loving. I mean, I know I will love him, without a doubt; but I hope I am loving or that I show him that. I hope that I can be an example to my son. I hope that he can learn from my strengths and weaknesses and be a much better man than I was or am. I know he can be, but its his choice, all I can do is help... teach... love.

I am so excited beyond measure for his arrival. It's like when you were 8 years old and you first got the glimpse of all the Christmas presents under the tree. You ran down and scoped out the packages that had your name inscribed on their little festive tags. You wanted to tear them open in that moment, but you couldn't. It was still days until Christmas. So every day until Christmas morning you had to wait. Seeing those presents stacked there calling your name each day. Its kind of like that, only with a whole lot more excitement and we have know idea what day we get to open our little present. Oh, and Noah's not Christmas present, he's our son, that's a pretty substantial difference too.

Point is, I am excited. Excited to meet my son. Excited to hold him in my arms. Excited to see him grow, and play, and discover. Excited to be a Daddy. Whether today, tomorrow or whenever... I am excited.

Finishing Touches...

Thanks to Grandpa Gary for the amazing work on the frames.

My creative and crafty wife made the "NOAH" letters, aren't they amazing?

A 9 Month Wrap-Up

2009-02-15T19:11:00.004-07:00

Only a few more days left of sharing a body with my little one, and Kelly and I are getting more and more excited....and nervous to meet the little guy! Calling the last 9 months an "adventure" would be a gigantic understatement. It has been so challenging, yet so amazingly wonderful. It's one of the only times in my life that I will get excited about having an expanding waistline! I am in such awe at this amazing act of growing a little human being inside of me, and sharing literally everything with him! I've gotten a small taste of his temperament and personality, and despite the downs of pregnancy, the ups have been extraordinary!

We found out that we were expecting on our one year anniversary, and I don't think we actually believed those 3 pee-sticks, 2 blood tests, and ultrasound until about 2 months later!

I have perfected my sprint to the toilet in a desperate attempt to spare the carpet, and learned to eat things that I can manage the taste coming UP, as well as going down. I have also taken on a new look, sporting my hot new "cankles". (For those who are unaware of this phenomenon: The official definition, "1. having no defined ankle so that it appears that the calves are directly joined to the feet. 2. Fat ankles.")....yes, they are as sexy as they sound!

The migraines have been furious and have come with a vengeance. They truly have been out of control, and Kelly has been the most amazing in helping me manage the pain, nausea, and frustration of dealing with them. I praise God for a husband who has had so much compassion and love for me! I know that watching me deal with chronic pain is just as hard on him as it is on me. Thank you Kell. We have been to Labor and Delivery 3 times already this year to seek relief for my dreadful headaches, and needless to say, I'm pretty sure we're ready and well-acquainted with how to find our way around the maternity ward! (Kelly knows exactly where the snacks, drinks, and blanket warmers are!....he's willing to give tours if anyone's interested!)

Despite all of the woes of pregnancy, feeling and watching my belly roll around has brought so much joy to both Kelly and myself. Noah can knock an open book straight off of my belly with one fierce kick, and an "ouch" from me!

So...as I finish up with the last few days of pregnancy, I praise God for keeping me and Noah healthy for these past 9 months, for a husband who has comforted me, held my hair while I hovered over the toilet, and most importantly loved me unconditionally, for a family that have done SO much for us by pouring out wisdom, love, and endless gifts for the arrival of our son, and for friends who have joined with us in our excitement and the journey we are about to embark on. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing network of people for my son to be born into!

Here's to a great 9 months, and an even greater lifetime for our little boy!

My talented dad took some last pics of my prego belly. The next pics will be of baby Noah himself! (Sorry, I have no intention of posting post-baby-belly pics! You're disappointed, I know!)

dear dad

2009-01-20T00:09:00.002-07:00

Something in me couldn't hold this one back. Too much has gone on. So, here it is...

Dear Dad;

I write you now for so many reasons. Some I understand and some I don’t, regardless I write everything because I love you. Not only do I love you as much as any son could love his dad, I admire you so much. In many ways it may be because I am learning, albeit slowly, what it means to be a dad myself. The closer my own son comes to arriving the more and more I feel of what I can only imagine you have felt for years.

Years you spent as my Dad. Oh, how I loved those years. I know I didn’t always show it well, as a matter of fact, often I showed it poorly, but I really did love having you as my Dad. All those times you played basketball with me in the yard. Not on a basketball court, mind you, but that rocky desert terrain of dirt we called a court. The place I received my first and only bloody nose – from my Dad. The place I learned to dribble a basketball and shoot free throws. The place I learned that a basketball is not that hard to dribble when you have a flat surface. I cherish al those hours, the nights you would come home from work and I would time my basketball time just as you got home. “How about a game, Dad?” You would be so tired sometimes, but you’d still play. I can’t thank you enough; it meant the world to me.

All those times you helped me out, and let me pay you back by doing projects with you around the house and yard. I thought you were exploiting me sometimes; I came to learn you were spending time with me. Teaching me. Loving me. I learned to shingle a roof, re-roof a garage, change a transmission, change a clutch, change the oil, change a tire, frame a spare room, drywall, drive a tractor, among many, many other things. I learned the value of sacrificing and serving those you love. I learned so much.

Oh, and the cars. How I love the car stories. The Chevy? The Sprint? The Nova? The Pathfinder? The Metro? The other Nova? Sorry, Dad. I learned a lot though. Yes, I learned them the hard way, but I sure was glad you were always there for me. I can only pray to have a tenth of the patience and grace you gave me with my own son. I do have to say though; I like sharing the projects with you way more then the repairs. I look forward to finishing that Nova; I wish I were closer, so we had more time to do it together. I am glad we share that though.

I remember the sleep-overs when I was younger and how you would wrestle with me and my friends. How you would set up the tents outside. I remember how much fun I had wrestling with you in the living room. Sometimes I got out of control, what a little temper I had, but you had more patience than a monk. Good thing for me.
I used to have so much fun going to the mountains with you to get fire-wood. Learning to run the chainsaw, or how to chop up the wood. Betting double-or-nothing on whether or not you could chop the log in one swing. You could, about 95% of the time. Good thing you never held me to the rules, I’d still be paying you off. I had so much fun and learned so much. How I admired my Dad.

As of recent memories I can think of all the four-wheeler trips and geocaching. The crazy stuff we would find. I love your stories. Stories of growing up. Stories of when times were simpler, easier… harder and more complex. Stories of Alaska, stories of family. Stories of Moab and stories of mining. You have great stories, I hope I tell stories as well as you do. I won’t have as good of stories so I hope you don’t mind if I borrow a few of yours to tell my son. I will tell him about you all the time because I can only wish to have just a little bit of you in me. I hope with every breath I can be more like my Dad

I’ll never forget some advice you once gave me, simple advice, but good advice: “Don’t do anything stupid.” You told me as I got into my car off to party with some friends. I don’t know if you realized the impact of those words, but every time I forget to think and jump into some idiotic decision those words scroll through my brain. You have kept me from a lot of mistakes. You never stopped me from being able to choose, you never locked me down from making mistakes, but you taught me to learn from them. You let me grow; you let me become a man on the terms that they needed to happen. You gave me the advice I needed when I needed it – without controlling me.

I want you to know how much I love you, how much I look up to you and how grateful and blessed I am, that you are my Dad. It is because of you that I am able to be who I am today. The things you taught me, the strength you gave me, the love you showed me, the life you lived – all of it – is part of who I am, and I cannot thank you enough for everything. Words cannot express how much I love you and what an amazing Dad you have been to me. I love you Dad.

But I want you to know one more thing. Even more important than knowing how much I love you and look up to you, I want you to know how much God loves you, even more so than I love you or, as hard as it is to believe, you have loved me. I believe this with everything in me. My life exists to share this with everyone else, how much more importantly my own Dad. One thing you taught me above all these stories and lessons, is that who you are, who God created you to be (especially in my own life) has shown me more than any other single person or thing what God’s love is like and how much he loves me, and you. Why he would give his son to die for us, simply so that he could be with us.

I know this is where my letter bridges into the far-fetched, possibly the unbelievable, but I want you to know this more than anything else, Dad. This life, the one we live today, is the beginning, not the end. There is more – I sincerely believe that with everything in me. Its not far-fetched, its not unbelievable, I spend my days, my career, teaching these truths to junior high and high school students for a reason: because it is real and it does matter… more than anything in this world. I have seen God change my life, change these kids’ lives; I want you to know that in your life.

I want you to know my God, Dad. To know how much he loves you, to know that his son died on a cross for you. I want you to know that with everything in me I believe this. I can only pray that I live it out too, more than just telling you. That I live it out for my son, the way you, likely unknowingly, lived it out in so many ways for me for me. A Father’s love was such a wonderful example of how God loves us.
Dad, you showed me through your own life a glimpse of God’s love; through you, God revealed himself to me, in my life. You have been an inspiring example of love, patience, tenderness, grace, mercy, strength, sacrifice and friendship. I don’t know what you think, nor what you believe, so that’s why I say these things, because they mean so much to me – more importantly, because you mean so much to me.

Thank you Dad, for being such and amazing father and friend. For teaching me so much, for being such a great example, for loving me when I know I was so difficult to love sometimes… for believing in me. For playing with me, wrestling with me, and laughing with me, for being patient with me and for forgiving me even when I least deserved it. Thank you for loving my Mom, she means the world to me too, and I know you mean more than the world to her.

I hope, I pray that I have just an ounce of you in me. If I can just share that much of you with my son, he’ll turn out ok. I pray I can be as close to as good of a father to Noah as you are to me; to be so understanding, to be so patient, to be so loving, so sacrificing, so… good.

I admire you more than anyone Dad, I look up to you as a standard of something to I strive to be, but most of all – I love you Dad – don’t ever forget that.

Thank you,

Your Son

happy birthday

2009-01-10T14:38:00.003-07:00

24 years ago today my lovely wife entered this world, and as such my life, making this one of my most favorite days of the year. I have been celebrating this day every year with lovely wife for 5 years now. So happy birthday Shelli! You are my everything. Thank you for being the most amazing, loving, understanding, supportive, compassionate, indescribably wonderful wife ever! I in no way deserve someone as beautiful and special as you, but don't think that for a second I don't thank God for how grateful I am for you. Words just aren't good enough.

So from the little Kangaroo growing inside, to the little crazy puppy chewing up the house, and from the extremely handsome husband (hey! don't laugh), we love you - our amazing mom, wife and friend. Happy Birthday!

I love you!!

maiming of a Christmas penguin

2009-01-06T21:34:00.002-07:00

Sam, our adorable little wood chipper disguised as a dog. The peeing and the poo-splosions have ceased, but the gnawing, chewing and shredding of our happy little home continues. Sam has managed to chew up door handles, baseboards, blankets, and just about anything within range of those little chompers. This led to a theory – give him something to chew on and he’ll be too occupied for anything else, right? Ahem, no. See I bought Sammy an over-sized tennis ball not to long ago. It was a holiday deal at Petsmart and I thought it’d be a nice treat. Turns out, it was more of a treat than I had originally anticipated. I arrived home at 3pm. Played with Sam for about 45 minutes. Resumed my holiday baking, and by 6pm when Shelli arrived home, Sam had about 1/3 of a Tennis ball remaining intact. 3 hours – dead ball. Poor ball never stood a chance.

This entire story thus far is merely a preface of the main point. See for Christmas Sam received a cute little Penguin from Grandma Pam and Grandpa Gary who periodically, and thankfully, watch our little raging puppy from time to time. I have posted two photos: the first document the little penguin in his original, pristine state on Christmas Eve. The second, documenting the result of one night with Sam. The unfortunate little penguin was able to walk… errr… roll away with only the loss of his limbs, a much better fate than the tennis ball.

Christmas Eve...

the Aftermath...

the puzzle

2009-01-04T21:22:00.003-07:00

So every year a little voice in the back of my mind creeps in to convince me of how much fun a puzzle would be. This epiphany usually makes its presence known right around Thanksgiving and carries itself to an excruciating fruition right about the New Year. This fun little bout with insanity usually costs me a couple sleepless nights and countless uninspired hours of staring blankly at a table full of random pieces glaring back at my frustration with their own uppity contempt.

A delightful not-so-little 864 square inches of 2,000 microscopic evil amorphous puzzle pieces met their match just a few days ago. Of course, the question must be asked, who met whose match? Considering somewhere near 35 days of puzzle war before the victor was crowned. A victory nonetheless.

I am proud to say the battle is over, the war is one, and the wife is much happier without the Van Gogh inspired monster hogging the dinner table.

I survived...

2009-01-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

the New Years Eve Youth lock-in. Barely. 7pm to 7am. 30+ Junior and Senior High youth. 6 leaders. 1 hour of basketball, 1 of dodgeball. 4 movies, countless video games, 12 pizzas, who knows how many sodas, and one amazing and extremely good God.

See I was reminded of why we do all this. Last year’s lock-in we were completely impressed if we had 15 youth. Lets just say we under-planned this year when the kids kept pouring through the doors. Thirty!? Really? And we still had a handful of youth who didn’t make it. Tons of friends. For a moment I realized, many walked through the doors of a church for the first time, some walked through having their perceptions of what a Christ follower really is, shattered, some heard God’s wisdom in ways they had not yet imagined, some were inspired to know Him more. Some were inspired to love Him more. Whatever happened, I pray, I hope God changed lives for the better. That they all, we all, would know Him more. For some it opened doors for them to enjoy this journey with us, and I hope and pray they do. God is amazing. I love being part of this ministry with Him, with my wife, and with these kids. He is indescribable. She is wonderful, and my everything. They are outstanding. I am so unworthy of all this.

Christmas Thoughts

2009-01-02T23:54:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful year. It came with its ups and downs, but overall it was refreshing holiday. We enjoyed a slew of Christmases this year starting by visiting my parents and family in Moab for a few days. We enjoyed a wonderful time with my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Niece, Nephew, Aunts, Uncles and Grandma. We made the tours of several homes, opening presents with all varieties of family. My Mom always goes out of her way to make sure everyone enjoys the holiday and she was hard at work as always this year. She did a wonderful job I might add, always waiting on everybody and making sure we were having a good time. It was a great time to see my family. Working for a church, which of course means working weekends; I have less opportunity to go visit. Though my family understands, I still have times where I miss them greatly. I don’t get to see my nieces and nephews grow up and my Mom and Dad and Grandma and Sisters seem so far away sometimes. I relish holidays and time to spend with them. It was a good year.

We played board games, video games (my family got a little into the Rock Band scene), ate food, enjoyed the Christmas Eve Service at my church back home (it was so good to see all my long lost friends, it had been a while), opened presents, played outside and lounged around. We even took little Sammy down with us and my Dad had a great time with him. My Dad was so convinced of Sam’s excess energy that he had the great idea to hook him up to a sled. After hooking him up and sitting down on the sled… Sam sat down next to him. Not exactly a sled dog I guess.

After Moab we made the trip home to enjoy a Haskins family Christmas. We spent Sunday with the Lansings and Haskins opening presents and eating more food. Gotta love the holidays, right? We had a wonderful time, and Gary made these amazing wooden toys for Travis and myself. He is quite talented. Shelli’s present was pretty amazing too, but I will let her detail that one.

Noah and I hit the penguin jackpot this year from Pez dispensers and giant pens to stuffed penguins and ornaments, the list goes on. I like penguins so I was pretty stoked, although I think Shelli is on penguin overload. Good times.

Next year will be Noah’s first and I can’t wait to share Christmas as a full-fledged family. Couple more months and the little guy will join us, I am so excited.

Whatever happened to holly and snowflakes?

2008-12-12T17:05:00.012-07:00

Christmas is coming fast! (A little too fast, actually!) I love this time of year: the smells, the lights, the snow (unless you live in Utah-Ha!) the love, the joy, the excitement. Kelly and I decorated our house all festive, and filled it with Christmas candles....love it! We still have yet to buy a REAL tree, that's the next thing on the list to do. Hopefully this weekend! (Please pray that Sam won't chew on it, demolish it, knock it over, or pee on it!) We have a little tradition of getting a new ornament every year to adorn our tree. Hopefully 30 years from now it will be so original and "us"-something we can cherish, enjoy and have to remind us of the fun memories of our journey as a family. (Sidenote: this is what my parents' tree looks like. It has so many different ornaments from all of their years together, and to top it off....a homemade star that I made when I was about 5 years old! --At least, I think it's a star!-- Their tree is one of my favorite parts of Christmas!) In my quest for some cool Christmas ornaments, and decorations I came across some not-so-traditional...and quite creepy Christmas decorations. Deck the halls with......Eek!

I'm pretty sure this Santa was drinking something other than milk with his cookies. What is in that gold package, anyway?

Did I miss the part in the Bible where the manger scene was at a KFC?

Nightmares in Evergreen.

One of Santa's elves gone VERY astray.

Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a pile of poop hanging from the boughs of your tree.

Did this Santa tie the other Santa up? He's looking a little mischevious, isn't he? This brings new light to the song "He sees you when you're sleeping...." Eek!

This ornament needs no explanation. Pure creepiness. What is it, anyway?

What is this little elf thinking? He's probably been hanging out with the creepy, kidnapping Santa above.

What a beautiful mantle-piece. Any takers?

I am beginning to understand how penguins feel

2008-12-03T18:22:00.004-07:00

Penguins happen to be Kelly's favorite animal....yes, the awkwardly shaped, funny looking, waddley little creatures. What a funny idea, to create penguins. Next to the duck-billed platypus, I think they are one of the weirdest little animals. However, I now understand why Kelly likes me in my current state: I am awkwardly shaped, a little funny looking, and a waddley walker. Perhaps God created penguins so that pregnant women could have something to empathize with, or maybe use for reference on days of excessive awkwardness? Whatever the reason, I welcome Week 28 of pregnancy and all of the joys and hardships that come with it, including being confused with a penguin.

Housing the "little one" truly has been so much fun. I love feeling him wiggle inside of me, and miss the hours of absence when he's resting...(I'll admit, I have poked him a few times, just so he would poke back and entertain me!....Sshhh....don't call Child Protective Services!) Kelly and I have been learning a lot and preparing for the arrival of our little baby boy. There is so much I have yet to learn, and I am sure that 99% of that will come from experience, but it's hard not to get a little nervous about being completely and utterly responsible for the life of another human being. Kelly has been the absolute most amazing husband and friend during my pregnancy. He has cherished my expanding waistline, tickled my sore back, held my hair when my head was lodged in the toilet-puking up breakfast, lunch, or dinner...take your pick, and NOT ONCE called me a "crazy, hormonal, moody, grumpy, pregnant lady" when I am a crazy, hormonal, moody, grumpy, pregnant lady. What a guy! Thank you Kelly for loving me in my hormonal nuttiness! These last 28 weeks have been pure joy, (with a little exhaustion and sickness mixed in there!) I look forward to 12 more weeks of penuin waddles, and even moreso, the arrival of the little bambino, whom will be cry-free, poop-free, and have his own job by the time he's one, I'm sure of it! And I promise, I won't poke him to play with me once he's here!

POP! goes the belly!

2008-11-02T21:08:00.003-07:00

I don't usually feel inclined to post pics of my body (which is super-hot at the present time) online, but I have had a few requests of friends wanting to see the growing tummy. I only started taking pics the last few weeks. However, it is within the last few weeks that I have "popped" perse.
What a fun adventure this has been! Our little baby has become very active, especially at nighttime! He's got some pretty sweet taebo skills, which he reminds me of almost hourly! I thank God for this little guy growing inside of me, and look forward to the rest of my baby-cookin', and finally getting to meet him in February!

22 Weeks

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

Rock Your mullet off!

2008-11-02T20:53:00.002-07:00

I must say, I have never seen someone pull off a mullet so well as Kelly! Maybe it's the honky-tonk in me, or maybe because I'm a product of the '80's, but Kelly's mullet this weekend only stimulated by gag reflex twice!
We went to our church's Halloween party on friday for the 20-30 yr old couples. We had fun, and enjoyed dressing up 80's rock style, for which we were awarded "Coolest Costume"! The highlight of the evening, however, was when Kelly rocked so hard that he actually rocked his mullet OFF....I'm not sure that that's something to be proud or embarassed about, but nevertheless, it's a title that not many people can claim! We hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!

Pumpkins, turtles and Sams, oh my!

2008-10-31T00:15:00.006-06:00

Ah, that wonderful time of year when you can dress up as anything you want and nobody will give you that awful glance that makes you wonder why you didn't just go ahead and wear the straight-jacket. You can be your favorite superhero or you can even make one up. Like those days of your youth when you would run around the house in your underwear with a towel safety-pinned around your neck jumping from couch to couch. I know I wasn't the only one exercising his imagination as a child, c'mon, what's your story?

Well, we took our little nephew Tyler out on loan for Tuesday night to go play at Capital's "Fall Fest" which was themed around "Slime Time". It had a great turnout, was a ton of fun, and Tyler had a blast. There were fun games, prizes and even some Bible stories. The best part: Tyler was the cutest dang little turtle ever. his adorable hat and velcro shell - I have to admit I was slightly jealous of the rockin' costume.

We had a blast hanging out at the fall fest, but Tyler plum tuckered us out, not to mention himself. By the time the night came to a close we were all walking out of the church like a hoard of zombies. Thanks for the Tyler loan Lansings, it would've been a little awkward for us, me especially, playing the games without him... I mean, I had... errr, he had so much fun.

Welp. Halloween is tomorrow, so we decided its about time to get some jack-o-lanterns out. Kind of like going out to get your Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve. Just for the record Pumpkin selection the day before Halloween gets a D+ grade at best.

We hopped in the truck and cruised on down to the ol' pumpkin patch only to find several pumpkins we wanted nothing to do with. Gang green, cancer and leprosy had ravaged the pumpkin population like a relapse of the plague. After sorting through the graveyard of orange and death, we found the pick of the litter and decided that we should just go someplace else. Off to Harmons!

3 stores, 2 large pumpkins, 1 tiny pumpkin, 2 classic halloween costume ideas and attire to bring it to fruition, some sore feet and hungry tummies later and we were back home and ready to carve some pumpkins... right after we eat.

After eating we dug in - literally. Once we finished up with the fun part: scooping and shoveling pumpkin sludge, the intricate, methodical and precise facial carving began. Alright, whatever, we carved in to those little orange spheres with reckless abandon, slicing and dicing like a chef at Beni Hana's. What transpired was a cute little family of pumpkins all lit up with teas candles smiling an looking as goofy and happy as can be. Even Sam got into the action trying to carve Noah's pumpkin with his teeth.

Don't forget to notice the detail and accuracy portrayed in the faces carved into these pretty lil pumpkins. Baby Noah on the Right, Goofy Shelli in the middle, and Clueless Kelly on the left.

As much as this holiday brings a lot of confusion and conflict, and even things I may not agree with, I have to admit that there are a lot of fun, and healthy things to enjoy and its a great time to bond together with your family and just enjoy the good things. Shelli and I have a tradition of always carving pumpkins together and I have to admit I look forward to it every year. There is a unique silliness and playfulness that always transpires.

I can't wait to share these things, among others, with my son. As each day grows closer to his arrival I grow more and more excited for what the future brings. Holidays take on new perspectives, our traditions and what we want to pass on to our children become clear, as does what we don't.

This is an exciting time and I am thankful for a silly family, a fun wife, and a little bawling baby boy on the way.

Happy Halloween!

recommendations

2008-10-23T20:06:00.004-06:00

For the majority of you who aren't thoroughly aware, I work in downtown Salt Lake City for a church called Capital Church. I split the majority of my time between two jobs: Creative Director and Youth Leader.

Well, being on the inside I get all the juicy info... actually I get none, but regardless, thats not the point. This weekend we have a pretty cool opportunity to hear from a up and coming author Margaret Feinberg. She accepted our invite to speak at all 3 of Capital's services this weekend! Woohoo! Although I haven't read a full book of hers (i know, i know, how lame is it to recommend an author who's book you have never finished?) I have read much of her blog and numerous excerpts from her books, and she is an extremely entertaining and enjoyable author from what I have read. Her most recent books include Organic God and The Sacred Echo among others. If you get the chance to catch one of them I highly recommend it.

Anyhow, all that to say if anyone would like to sit in on her messages this weekend (Sat Night (25th) at 6pm pr Sun (26th) at 9:15am or 11am) at Capital, I invite you to join us. Should be a good time.

you can find out a little more at www.capitalchurch.com

Wakey-Wakey!

2008-10-14T13:28:00.003-06:00

This little phrase happens to be Adrienne and Travis' favorite thing to hear in the morning...ok, so maybe that's not true, but I sure have been saying it a lot this last week! I don't know if it's the cold weather, the shorter days, or just that everyone's having way too much fun (thanks for the invite!) but everywhere I look someone else is lazily resting away. In the meantime, I'm most likely scrubbing toilets, doing dishes, or cleaning up more doggie poo. (Notice there's no pics of Shelli here! Hehe!)

I love all of my sleepy little friends, and wish you the best dreams! Zzzzzzz...........

Ty-Ty and Uncle "Ki-Ki" taking a snooze. This must be the position for the cool guys to sleep in!

Grandma Pam got Sam this little soccer ball that he LOVES and plays with endlessly, at least until he's too pooped to continue playing!

"baby no-no"

2008-10-07T19:16:00.003-06:00

Its a boy!!! Noah Lukas Johnson is his name, or as Tyler so eloquently put it "baby No No."

Per our ultrasound today we are expecting to see a healthy, beautiful little baby boy enter this world on February 23rd (yup, it was moved up again!).

poo-splosion!

2008-10-07T18:26:00.004-06:00

Not once, I repeat, not once has Sam dropped the deuce about the house. This morning however, he independently made the decision that it was time. So our story begins...

I was curious this morning when Sam acted strangely distant and a little recluse, like stray cat trying to figure out whether or not to eat the food out of your hand. I thought little about it however. Shortly after I took the little rascal out for a potty break, but... nothing. Hmmmm... thats interesting.

Upon my return inside I found the little trick-or-treat surprise. Trust me this was not a treat, not by any account. Plastered for about a three foot length up and down the walls and piled along the floor was an incomprehensible doggie poo-splosion! I swear I have no idea how in the world he managed such a mess, nor how he managed to produce such quantities of poo, I can however tell you that at 7am, mopping the piles of putrid doggie doo-doo off the floors and returning to scrub the smear of crap across the walls is not my idea of a good morning.

I have to admit my weeks leading up to this event have not been on the positive end. It seems that one thing after another just falls apart. I can only hope that these things will turn around soon, but alas, today was just not that day. Following the poo-splosion I enjoyed my typical commute into work, listening to 101.9 the End, only to be interrupted by some beautiful red and blue lights. Did I say beautiful, sorry, I meant gut-wrenching and horrible. My bad. Yes , that is right - speeding. Might I add the exact numbers of the ticket: 60 in a 55. What!?!?

Admittedly, it is my own fault I was speeding, and in all reality I was going higher than he recorded (I was probably going more like 64). I did however think the speed limit was 60mph (again, my own fault, but in my defense that is the speed in some places on this same highway). Its hard to swallow though when I watch the other people around me, as I go to and from work, weaving in and out of traffic and speeding well over the numbers I just mentioned, cutting people off and endangering lives without punishment.

Oh well, what are you gonna do? Pay a ticket, I guess.

What a fun day... and the chaos continues...

life comes at you fast.

2008-09-29T18:27:00.006-06:00

Wow.

That statement has never rang more true in the Johnson household than it has in the last few months. The chaos of the summer was marked by the extreme family road trip, our first anniversary, two new family additions, and culminating in a new home. Yes, thats right, we're finally settled enough to post a blog about the new place.

They say that three of the top five stressors in life include buying a new home (check), having a child (check), and changing job (check). I think one of the other two is getting married, so in the last year we have experienced three, four in the last two years. Stress, ha! I laugh in the face of stressors!

Chaos is an understatement.

But it is sorting out now. We are finally just about settled in to the new home, we finally find out Peanut's gender this week (so get ready for a name not associated with with the vague embryonic resemblance), and Sam (the newest family member introduced in the prior post) has finally started to get the idea that peeing inside does not result in a happy outcome, though the little fella still manages to produce about six times as much urine in contrast to the amount of water he consumes. It is absolutely mind boggling! Shelli is getting into the rhythm of classes again, and my busy season at work is about a third of the way complete, culminating at Christmas, of course.

Getting back on topic to the entire intent of this post which is, predictably, our new home. We purchased a condo as our first foray into the housing investment scene. God provided us with a brand new, beautiful little 1300 sq ft condo located in the desirable community of Daybreak in South Jordan, Utah. The only foreseeable downside thus far - the commute. 45 - 90 min. depending on the traffic along Bangerter Highway. A small price for the benefits, I promise. I would tell you more about it, but why don't you just check out the photos for yourself.

We couldn't be more excited for the ways God has blessed us over the last few years. I can't thank him enough for my wonderful, beautiful, loving wife and healthy marriage, my adorable little baby on the way, an amazing new home, a leaky, yet cute little dog, a prefect job, and an unforgettable and amazingly generous community of friends and family. God is good and I can never forget that everything we have comes from him, and as little as I may understand at times about the why's and what's of what and how he works, I know my God and I know he is good and working all things for the good of those who love him. We would not have all we do if not for that. Thank God and all our friends and family for everything.

Oh, and now that we have a place thats not an apartment, you'll have to come see us.

A look back in time...and regretting it!

2008-09-29T15:46:00.019-06:00

Being on the road to motherhood, I've been thinking about all the things I want to do and share with my children: the love of Christ, the love of family and friends, family vacations, horseback riding, soccer games, dancing, holiday traditions, and of course good looks, which will most likely come from Kelly's side! :)
It will be fun to look back at old pictures with my kids and see all of the fun places we have been, as well as the goofy hairstyles and make-up that we thought were oh-so-HOT! (Who wouldn't?!)
I happened to stumble upon this website called http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ where I could take a blast into the past and see how glamorous Kelly and I would have looked in the 50's and up. I suddenly decided that maybe I will reserve my pictures and yearbooks for private purposes only. I don't want to traumatize my children too soon!

1950

A match made in heaven!

1960

1970

My hair is not to be confused with a football

helmet. It really is supposed to be hair, I think!

1980

Between the 2 of us , we would have gone through at least 4

4 cans of hairspray a day!

1990

Nice.....mullet......Kelly! (At least I didn't post

the real pic of him and his mullet!) One word: H-O-T!

Back off ladies! He's a married man!

2000

And finally, who could forget the bangs!? Girls, don't you

remember perfecting these beauties every morning?

Curling iron, ratting brush, and a WHOLE lot of hairpray,

and you're on your way to the perfect bangs!

Season of Change...and a whole lot of pee!

2008-09-23T10:37:00.004-06:00

Being the super-intuitive, always-knowing-what-my-husband-wants/needs/and hopes for kind of wife I am, I have the intuition that Kelly is planning on posting about all of the changes and exciting things that have consumed our lives for the past month or so here very soon. (Actually, I just happened to look at the camera and saw that he got some snapshots of them....ok, ok, so I'm not as sharp as I'd like to think!)

So in the meantime, I would just like a small vent session about how much pee a 4 month old puppy can produce. Did you know that if a puppy drinks 12 oz. of water, within the next 30 minutes 40 gallons of pee are produced?....or so it seems with our magnificent pee-hound. Kelly and I are a bit tired of scrubbing our brand new carpets and swiffering up puddles (P.S. Thanks AD and T-Rav for the swiffer, it's quite possibly the most useful gift we have ever received!) We did expect accidents, just not this many! I am taking this opportunity to plan for motherhood, however! When little baby Johnson comes, I'll be sure to post the stats on his/her flood gates!...I'm sure you're all waiting in anticipation for that ingriguing post! Patience!

Peanut

2008-08-26T22:18:00.003-06:00

At about 10 weeks, this is the basic shape of a little embryo forming into a fetus which will soon transform into a little bawling bundle of joy to be "delivered" on March 2, 2009. Oh, that's right, you heard me... we're bakin' a baby.

The news is out! Shelli and I are expecting a little addition to our family this coming March, who we have affectionately named 'peanut' (due to he or she's striking resemblance) for the time being until we discover the gender and give he or she a proper name. We are so thrilled! This is such an incredible blessing, though a surprise, and we couldn't be happier.

The amazing news really hit us when we got home from our anniversary festivities and Shelli wasn't feeling well. Since we knew there was a possibility that Shelli could get pregnant we thought we better make sure she wasn't just encase. Well, to our surprise, pregnancy test numero uno came up positive. We realized there was no possible way that could be accurate, so we tried again. Positive. Of course, something must be awry, right? We figured to try again in the morning. The next morning came and test numero tres... positive?!?! How can that be? So we went and saw the doctor. they needed blood test to confirm, of course, and we knew they would reveal the inaccurate performance of the pregnancy test we had first turned to. Ummm... not so much. Not only were we expecting a baby, but we found out a week later at our ultrasound that we were 10 weeks along! Umm... how... really... but... wow.

that ultrasound was one of the most incredible moments of my life. Though we didn't necessarily expect to be pregnant at this point, I couldn't be more happy and excited about it, and I know Shelli feels the same too. At the ultrasound we expected to see the little fella still in 'blob' stage, but that was not the case, you could totally see the little baby! Arms... legs... head... it was amazing! I could not believe that we were about to be parents and this amazing feeling of joy and anticipation came over me. I couldn't help but beam with excitement.

Ever since that moment it has just been sinking in more and more. This past Monday we went to our first visit with the midwife and she has been very helpful. Everything was A-Okay and we even had the chance to hear the babies heartbeat! Again, I was breath taken and amazed. I cannot believe how amazing it is to hear my baby's heartbeat like that. I don't think I have ever felt more overwhelmed in all my life.

I love my wife more than life itself and I look forward to starting a family together and sharing our love with our children. I don't think I have ever been as ill-prepared and excited about something at the same time.

"Woohoo, I'm gonna be a good daddy!"

I love you Shelli and "Peanut"

the adventure

2008-07-30T21:30:00.006-06:00

As you can tell, I am catching up in the blogging lately. Don't worry there is more to come, its been an eventful couple of weeks. Today we'll turn our attention to July 24th: Utah Pioneer Day and the narrow-minded ambition to conquer the mountain.

For what its worth, I'd done it before. This was nothing new, except that I'm older, balder and fatter, but then again, that's not the point. I woke up at 7 am to begin the trek, by eight o'clock a.m. I was packed up and ready to go, however my overly ambitious hiking buddy was not. None the less, it was an hour later when we finally pulled off the road and claimed our parking spot. For the next six hours my little white truck would wait faithfully for our return.

It towered upon our approach and even more so standing at its base. She goes by the name of Mt Olympus and Paul and I were determined to reach the top, clinging to the recklessness of our youth. 3.7 miles, 4,000 vertical feet, and little did we know at the time, 99 degrees of sweltering heat awaiting our descent. Let's roll.

If you want a beautiful hike scattered with breathtaking views and well trekked trails I highly recommend this particular day-hike. Though be warned, its not a casual undertaking. At about the half-way mark you're headed straight up the mountain. That aside, if you get the chance - do it, its worth it.

As we set our course for the peak we stopped off from time to time tracking geochache after geocache on our GPS's, and resting plenty in the shade so as to not overwork ourselves. My buddy Paul is preparing for a trek to the top of Mt Rainier come mid-August, so he decided to take it to the next level and load his pack with and extra 30 pounds of rock. Not my idea of a good time, but to his credit he hauled that bag of extra devil-rock hitchhikers up one side and down the other. Kudos, Paul.

We caught a few photos of butterflies and lady bugs, incredible valley overlooks and all types of natural beauty along the way up. The first half is relaxed and enjoyable, but half-way through you begin the real hike. Shooting straight up the mountain then twisting through switchbacks, resuming your straight ascent and finally rock crawling your way to the peak you'll discover your reward. Gorgeous panoramic mountain and valley views stretch across ever horizon. On a clear day you'd think you could see the ocean from there. We enjoyed some sustenance upon reaching the top, signed the log book and took off back down. The way down was a straight shot, no photos, just descent.

What we least expected was that the way down was the most grueling of the excursion. About a sixth of the way down I made the process a little more complicated. Getting a little careless and wearing my old hiking shoes (hence retired) I recklessly took a step of a rock and lost my footing. Okay, so thats an understatement, I lost my feet and came down hard, landing on my right thigh... on a rock... a big pointy rock. I thought I knew what a charlie-horse was, oh lord I was wrong! I spent the entire descent with a severe limp and slow pace. Trying to carry all my weight on my healthy leg only wore it out, by the time we reached the bottom both legs could hardly bear the stress, I near collapsed. Though I must say the heat played its part.

Long story even longer: well, we made it down alive and fairly well - all limbs, though bruised, attached. I must admit I am not a bruiser, so I questioned whether or not I would have some legitimate evidence to corroborate my story. I am proud to say that at this time I have a brutally colorful bruise adorning my thigh.

That night we enjoyed the Dancing Cyber Monkey and Keg o' Color fireworks down at the Haskin's farm. I do have to say my Father-in-law Gary puts on quite a fireworks show complete with a mesmerizing choreographed dance number. If you see plan on seeing a broadway show anytime in your life, cancel now, its got nothin' on this. Oh and I must add, I celebrated the conquering of Mt Olympus with not only fireworks but a delicious steak dinner. Kudos to Gary for yet another delicious steak, a perfect follow-up to the days activities.

The next day Shelli and I got away again after work, heading up to Deer Creek Reservoir for some camping. Though we had a lot of fun, and I would certainly go again, I have to admit this throws off my youthful ideas of camping. We were right next to the restrooms so our campsite was incredible during the day providing every convenience we could ask, however at night it was the Vegas strip complete with an accordion serenade. Let's just say we didn't exactly 'rough it'. However, that being said we had so much fun: cooking dinner, playing cards (yes, Shelli will boldly announce she cleaned house in the card games, i didn't stand a chance) and playing in the lake. We'll have to make another trip soon, right when I get done practicing my 'Go Fish' and 'War' skills.

one year and the infamous flower debacle

2008-07-29T22:07:00.007-06:00

373 days ago... 365 days ago as of July 21st, 2008 (I am a little behind) Shelli and I were saying our "I do's". I can't believe how fast this year has gone by and how much has happened. It has been an incredible and wild ride. I have discovered many things in marriage in one year, none so much as discovering that I love my wife more with every breath and every moment. I am unexplainably excited for everything the future holds for us. It is going to be an incredible year two with many more memorable days.

I will spare you any anniversary photos, however Shelli and I had a blast on our trip to the Anniversary Inn in Logan. We reminisced back where it all began and had a chance to get away from all the craziness of our lives (not to mention we had a chance to soak up the deliciousness of tiny spicy chicken from Formosa, one of my favorite dishes).

I tried to be somewhat surprising and have flowers delivered to Shelli, however I forgot she traded shifts on Friday and when they went to deliver the flowers to her the missed her by about 30 sec. They called me right as Shelli was walking through the door (with no flowers) to confirm that she had received them. I informed them that my wife had not gotten the special delivery and they decided they would pick them back up and deliver them on Tuesday the next week (Our Anniversary was Monday). Well, too late, because a co-worker had already texted to let Shelli know that she had a little something waiting for her, thus blowing any shot at a surprise. This is my life. Surprises just aren't my forte, but I try, though I fail about 98.6% of the time (of course, this rule carries over into most facets of my storied life).

Well thanks for reading my lame anecdote. If nothing else it should help you fall asleep tonight. Its has been one of the best years of my life and I know they can only get better from here. I am very blessed to have such a loving, wonderful and beautiful wife. I have no idea how I ended up so blessed, but thank God! I couldn't be happier.

I love you Shelli and I only love you more with every moment - here is to many more great years of marriage!

The infamous flowers...

back in the saddle...

2008-07-29T16:37:00.008-06:00

For years Shelli and Summer blew away the competition in the 4H circuit as an indomitable team. Shelli has been on sabbatical for a few years while she was attending college, however Summer has continued her all-star form with a new rider. Well, they're back. Shelli is back in the saddle and Summer was certainly glad to have her as they completely stole the show a few weekends ago cleaning house with 4 first place awards, a second place and a third place. They were both so excited they even did a little pole dance for the audience (if you weren't there you'll have to ask Shelli, and its not what you might think). It was incredible to see Shelli back atop Summer and to watch how graceful and powerful of a team they make; it was beautiful. Shelli plans on training their other horse Milly to jump this next year and get her ready to take the world by storm. Shelli is an amazing and gifted rider, and Summer is an incredible and beautiful horse. Milly has a ton of potential and it is exciting to think about what lies ahead. So for now, may I just say great job to my wifey and to Summer for an incredible show.

The secret is out.....

2008-07-15T22:07:00.005-06:00

.....I am a slight.....(ok, let's just be honest)....big fan of American Idol. It's my guilty pleasure that I just can't seem to break. I plan my work schedule so that I will be home to watch AI during it's season. I plan the most important of life's events around it! Who wouldn't? Kelly (either by default, or perhaps because he knows it's amazing as well) is a big fan of American Idol also. So, when my mom got him and Travis tickets to the American Idol Live Tour for their birthdays, I was a little bit pumped. (Thanks MOM!)

The concert was last night, and it was a lot of fun! The concert began at #10 (Chikezie) and went to #1 (David Cook). They all sang 3 songs, except for of course Utah's one-and-only David Archuletta, and David Cook. They also sang songs as a group mixed in there a bit. The crowd (comprised of mostly teenage girls with very high squeaky voices) was pumped, and whenever the word "Arch..." was mentioned, it was all over!

We refrained from buying any memorabilia, but Kelly did admit to me that he really would like a Mrs. Archuletta t-shirt.....I'm pretty sure that it would look awesome on him. I know what I'm getting Kelly for Christmas! Hehe.

Here's a few pics that captured the night, just make sure you're sitting down. That's how incredible it is!

The 5 Year...

2008-07-15T21:00:00.004-06:00

After almost a year of planning, we pulled off our 5 year high school reunion this weekend. It was a success and it was really great to see everyone that I was buddies with back in the good ol' days! Being a Sr. Class Officer in high school means that I now owe my life to Riverton High...eek! Let's just say that getting a hold of 750 people from your past isn't exactly easy! I look forward to the next 4 years of rest before we have to plan for the 10.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy KeLlY!!!

2008-06-23T14:24:00.002-06:00

Today was the day, 26 years ago that Kelly came into the world!....and I'm so glad he did! We started the morning with a cool song and (almost) dance from none other than His truly! Unfortunately, it's back to work for me, so we'll have to party like it's 1982 when I get home!
I love you Kelly, thanks for being such a wonderful husband, and I hope your 26th year is the best one yet!

Road Trip Math

2008-06-23T13:36:00.011-06:00

4 Haskins (2 former), 3 Lansings and 2 Johnsons for a total of 7 family members crammed into one Ford Explorer loaded to the brim with blankets, pillows, over-packed bags, climbing gear and snacks stacked so high they would rival New York’s Skyscrapers. Tack on a total of 10 days and five states (Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California and Nevada) over 2100 miles and who knows how many hours and you have a one-of-a-kind recipe for fun.

I can’t even do the stories justice. Since our adventures in Prineville where we last left off, and also first began usage of our favorite word ‘obligatory’ (the word first took off in description of the obligatory climbing butt-shot, and has carried through), we have visited Cannon Beach, Oregon. Cannon Beach, located in Northern Oregon, is probably best known for most visible landmark: Haystack Rock. A prominent monolith located just off the beach that plays home to a blanket of seagulls. We spent hours walking up and down the coast, snapping photo after photo of the rock. We walked downtown and enjoyed dinner at some local restaurants, explored the quaint local shops and nearly passed out from all the ice cream (actually, I am pretty sure we did pass out from it once or twice). During our exploration we also discovered a new catch phrase for our trip, ‘mostly’. It seems that the work mentality along the beautiful Oregon coast is slightly more light heartened than our inland Utah, typically opening from “10am-5pm, Mostly”. We caught the ‘mostly’ days.

We topped off our Cannon Beach portion with a bonfire and s’mores, mmmm… mmmmm… good. Travis, Adrienne, Gary, Shelli and I roasted ‘mallows and ate s’mores by the ocean until Gary and the girls decided they had had enough. Travis and I enjoyed a few more hours before calling it a night. After the bonfire and a good nights sleep (mostly) we packed up and traversed the coast all the way down to Gold Beach (very Southern Oregon) stopping along the way for ‘feely rocks’. We learned the intricacies and anatomy of the perfect feely rock, the necessity of the hand to rock fit and the appropriate smoothness and texture by the expert herself Mrs. Pam Haskins. And after Shelli gathered close to a half ton of rocks we were done.

Gold Beach was nice, but short. We pulled in, found dinner, went to bed, got up and said ‘goodbye,’ waving in the distance as we closed in on the Majestic Redwoods and the Trees of Mystery. Travis turned us on to this little wonder where we had a conversation with a 50 foot tall Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. After strolling through the mammoth redwoods we backtracked our way back to Oregon and along the border to our present destination: Tulelake, California.

Tulelake is the hometown of our one and only Gary Haskins. Gary’s parents still live here in Tulelake making the population a strong 10 or so. Actually, it’s really like a thousand, but you get the picture, right? We spent yesterday eating delicious food, and then eating some more. Grandma Joan has fed us well. After eating again we checked out the Lava beds and went spelunking in the caves. It was an awesome experience. Some of the lava caves are absolutely endless, weaving in and out and over each other. Others are so untouched by the sun that they still house Ice even in the warm weather. Still others house bats and other creatures. It is incredible to see how the lava has cut its way through the rock melting it away. You can still see the organic drips of rock that solidified into unbreakable little points that kept jabbing our kidneys and foreheads as we crawled our way through the narrow passageways.

Post-caves and more food here we are today. The girls took off this morning for a girl’s day out and the boys spent the day around the house being lazy. It’s felt good to be lazy.

It’s been a great vacation, one that will not soon be forgotten. Tomorrow we head back for the homestretch Tulelake, CA to Salt Lake City, UT. It’s a long one. No one has killed anyone yet, in fact, we all seem to be pretty good friends still. It will be good to be back home and in our own bed, but it will be sad to leave all of our wonderful family and all the fun sites we have seen. Our families have been great to us from Prineville to Tulelake and everything in between. I am thankful to have seen all we have seen; I feel like I have been able to soak up a wonderful portion of Shelli’s family history through the places we have visited and the amazing stories we have heard. I’m glad to have a place in all of this and it has been an exciting time.

Well, I am done for now, mostly. One more long day on the road and its back to the real world. Salt Lake City here we come…

Tyler having the time of his life in Prineville

Shelli and I after a day of climbing at Smith Rock just outside of Prineville. We were told it is one of the premier climbing locations in the world, it was pretty incredible.
No Comment.

Next Stop Cannon Beach, b-e-a-utifiul!

Shelli was excited to see Haystack Rock.

The views were pretty, but nothing compared to my beautiful wife.

Downtown Cannon Beach outside the shops.

Cannon Beach Panoramic.

Look ma, I can hold up Haystack Rock!

This Seagull thought he was hot stuff.

Found a few sand dollars on the beach. Unfortunately I left them at the beach.

And then we started down the coast...

The Lansings on their way down to the beach

Beautiful Cannon Beach views before we leave.

Sad to say goodbye, but we had fun...

Bye, bye.

The Girls having fun on the beach...

Still having fun...

Cute little Tyler enjoyed the Redwoods.

The Cathedral Trees at the Trees of Mystery.

Last Stop Tulelake, and the Lava beds.

Greetings from OREGON!

2008-06-16T21:57:00.005-06:00

We're almost halfway through our Haskins' family roadtrip vacation....complete with a packed Ford Explorer, 2100 miles of driving, and chili for dinner! Don't YOU wish you were here? So far we have stayed in Ontario, Oregon at the hotel we renamed "Ghetto Inn", (I think you get the point), a two-day trip in Prineville, Oregon to see our Aunt Pat and Uncle Randi, and we just arrived at Cannon Beach today.

In Prineville, we had the awesome opportunity to go to Smith Rocks....a world-renowned National Park known for it's great rock climbing. Kelly and I scaled up the mountains, and even my brave dad gave it a go! I'm happy to say that my dad belayed Kelly and trusts him to be a good husband to me because he came down the mountain safe and sound! Phew! My Aunt Pat treated us to delicious food, and even went out of her way to cook veggie version for me....thanks Aunt Pat! We ended the day galloping away into the sunset on my Aunt and Uncle's new horse, Badger.

Happy Fathers Day Travis and Dad! We love you guys!

After 6 hours of driving, and a stop at Mount Hood, we arrived here in Cannon Beach. The weather is gray and cold, but nevertheless it is gorgeous here, and we are happy to be out of the car for a few days! The water is a bit too nippy to take a dip, but we plan on seeing haystack rock tomorrow and seeing some of the other sights of this gorgeous area.

Kelly and I hope you all are doing wonderful, and if you're a dad, that you had a great and blessed Father's Day!

Shelli and Badger the Horse! (He looks so excited to go for a ride!)

Cool Dudes Kelly and Ty getting ready for more fun times in the car! Woohoo!

Kelly showing off his sweet climbing skills up Rope-de-Dope at Smith Rock, OR.

Trusting my life with dad belaying me! He did awesome!

Dad's ascent up the mountain, in boots! I'm impressed!

live in the now

2008-06-09T13:20:00.004-06:00

Nothing quite gauges your own age like an all-nighter. Nothing. There was a day when all-nighter recovery was a 2 hour deal. Then it took half-a-day, then you needed to take the entire day after off just to get back on your feet. And now... now after an entire night of no sleep and running around on a Sunday night, by Friday I'm about 95%.

So, friends and family welcome to Monday morning coming in at about 25% coherent, 70% exhausted and 5% hungry, yet here I am, blogging away in my partially comatose state. I spent the duration of Sunday night jumping between movie after movie on the big screen, some brutally vicious glow-in-the-dark football, video games everywhere, all topped off with pizza and junk food. Shelli took part in a good portion of the night, but she decided on being the wise one and heading home early, in time for enough rest to get up for work today. We obviously know where the brains in the relationship are.

The all-nighter capped off an awesome year of youth ministry where we witnessed some incredible growth in our youth. We are switching gears for the summer before we ramp up in the fall. While I welcome the small break, I have enjoyed everything God has done this year, and look forward to the fall. Our youth have grown up so much in the 3 years or so I have been volunteering, and now working, with them. We attended one of the graduations of our youth and it was surreal to remember her just after her freshman year of high school and now heading into her freshman year of college. In many ways I am forced to recall all the growing up that has gone on in my own life when I realize how much has gone on around me. I am getting older, whether I like it or not, or no matter how hard I try not to.

So Friday when I actually recover from this last week (more on that later), we are heading off with Shelli's family to visit more of her family. I am looking forward to the vacation. Shelli and I have both been working hard these days and it will be nice to get away from everything for a while. I look forward to actually seeing and visiting the places I have heard so much about as we tour through Central Oregon and Northern California. And we'll be able to enjoy the plush and spacious traveling accommodations of the Ford Explorer packing 6 adults and one little Tyler, isn't that exciting? If you hadn't picked up on my sarcasm by now, we going to be real cozy for many hours on the road. Despite the cozy conditions there is nothing but excitement in our household as the day we leave approaches.

And one last final thought for the day: The last week of exhaustion for Shelli and I has come in the wake f the emotional roller-coaster of buying our first home. We have been up one side and down the other and through just about every emotion you an think of on this, ranging from excitement to disappointment, back to excitement, with a harsh turn toward overwhelming and apprehensive, finally landing back on excitement. Landing on excitement, because we finally pu tin a offer this week. We are expecting a counter offer, but we are hopeful that we are finally done with the shopping process and on to the purchasing process. We'll try to keep you updated more as the process takes shape, but for now thats the story.

Might I add thats its just one more thing to help me realize how much growing up has been going on around us and in our own lives. The days of classes, playing on the quad and grades have finally given way to 8 hour or more workdays, mortgages and 401K's . I suppose I must embrace the reality. 'Live in the now' as Wayne Campbell a la Wayne's World would put it.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T12:56:00.005-06:00

Historically, a day to commemorate those who have lost their lives for our country. Presently a day to remember loved ones who have passed away. Growing up, memorial day was just an exciting day to miss school. Now that I'm "old" :) I take more consideration into remembering those in my life that have died and truly appreciating the men and women who have given their lives for our country. My mom and I have a tradition of visiting Riverton Cemetery and placing flowers on the non-decorated grave of Ms. Rhoda Campbell. We wonder what her life was like, if she had children and a husband, the way that she impacted the lives of those around her. As long as we have had this tradition, her headstone has been absent of any flowers or decorations, which makes it meaningful to place flowers on her headstone.
If you are remembering a loved one that has passed today, take comfort in their life, in the joy that they brought to you, and the way they changed this world. Remember their amazing LIFE, and hopefully they are dancing with Jesus! Happy Memorial Day my friends!

insurance

2008-04-28T22:21:00.002-06:00

Welcome to personal rant day. Every once in a while something comes along that completely rubs me in the wrong direction. Today's hot topic: insurance, as you may have guessed. I would like to mention how insanely infuriated I am with the insurance company. For two months now we have been in constant phone battles, not sweet little nice conversations, raging Star Wars Death Star battles (I am talking storming the beaches of Normandy full-on war here) with our insurance to get coverage for a medication.

Cost of meds with insurance $5, Cost without $150. Insurance Says 'No way, Jose.' So we appeal. Insurance fails to process appeal. So, we finally get appeal processed (meanwhile paying $5 a pill for this stuff). Final verdict 'Ummmm, nope.' WHY!!! Then what is the stinking point of insurance!! Why do we pay a monthly premium to have them tell us they aren't going to do what we pay them to do? Does this make sense.

The logic behind the denial, and its upholding: It's not its prescribed usage and there is not enough medical evidence to support this kind of usage. News flash: Every medication that is medically proven to work in this fashion has been a failure. Apparently, thats just means try it more. Or try a higher dosage, or... whatever. Medical researchers suck at their jobs. Seriously.

May I further vent by saying that upon calling today and asking for the information regarding the denial, the young gentlemen unfortunate enough to have to take my call, could not find the information. Saying 'I don't know where to find it,' Really? The company who denies our appeal, can't find their own denial. I really need someone to punch in the face at this point (I wouldn't ever really do that, but it sounds threatening, right?).

So, after Mr. Magoo leaves me hanging on hold for twenty minutes while he and his buddies do the hokey-pokey on the other end, he pops back on to let me know that he can't tell me the information on our denial because he can't locate the letter, but he can have it sent to us. WHAT!! You can send it to me, but you can't find it? Then how in the world do you send something you cannot find? This makes no sense to me. I assume, by natural logic, that in order to send something you would have to know its location, but what do I know. (let me back-track a little here with some mortar to fill in between the bricks of my story here: One four separate occasions we have requested or have been told that letters have been sent to us regarding this appeal and denial process. As of the time I write this little number we are currently 1/4, at least these guys are shotting better than the Jazz from three-point range (way to go 0-14 guys). Needless to say another letter was not exactly an exciting proposal to me.)

My head is spinning. Enough for now.

What about you? Whats your rant/pet-peeve/frustration of the day/week/life, feel free to chime in.

I am going to bed. At least in my dreams the insurance doesn't win.

Princess Mom!

2008-04-27T12:37:00.004-06:00

My mom gets to be a princess for the next few weeks! She underwent surgery last Wednesday and is in the process of recovering, easier said than done, I'm afraid! She's been instructed to rest and recuperate, which, as we all know, doesn't exactly fall into my mom's top 10 favorite things to do.....she's always going, going, going....but for now, she gets to be waited on and enjoy being Princess Mom.

It's our turn to take care of her, after decades that she's taken care of us when we're sick! Thanks Mom! :)

If you could send a few prayers up for my princess mom; for a speedy recovery with no complications, it would be greatly appreciated!

Being the wonderful, kind, generous, loving....(and don't forget humble!).....daughter that I am, I refrained from posting pics of my mom in the hospital. Being, her favorite daughter, I wouldn't want to make her upset! Hehe!

A Toothless Grin, well....only 2 less!

2008-04-18T14:12:00.004-06:00

Today was the day Kelly lost his wisdom teeth. We went in at 10 this morning, and after 8 hours of pre-op fasting, 40 minutes of surgery, and 20 minutes of post-operative recovery (in which Kelly was rambling on about who knows what!) he survived! He is on a strict mush diet for the next few days. Guess I better whip out the blender! I've already been catching up on my jell-o and pudding-making skills! He has been a trooper through it all, and has been in good spirits, or maybe that's just the drugs. Nevertheless, he's on the road to recovery, and hopefully the tooth fairy is on the road to our house!

Here are some pics of the blessed day, as Kelly recovers from the procedure...white knuckled grip on his pain meds.

spring fever

2008-04-14T18:39:00.006-06:00

Fevers have been running wild in our house. Wild, I tell you. It all started about mid-February. Shelli took a short Spring Break trip to Las Vegas with Rachel where she got well acquainted with a small stomach bug. This week also gave way to the infamous spring fever which, being the solar powered couple we are, hits hard in our household. but little did we know spring fever would come with the real thing this year. The following couple of weeks Shelli was feeling, lets just say 'not-so-good'. Shortly there after we took a trip to Moab to see my family for a couple of days, and Shelli began recovering, praise God! We happened to hit Moab during the busiest time of the year: Jeep Safari. So we decided to take my Dad's new Jeep out on some trails with my family. We had a good time and it was fun to get out and do something I really hadn't done since I was in high school. The weather was beautiful, although it was a little chilly.

Spring fever took its roots a little deeper with this fun little outing; it was only fitting that as spring fever spread it would bring with it more illness. This time it attacked me. I contracted the vicious virus, which I was told is currently a national epidemic, which was scheduled to last 14-21 days, and it milked up all of them. I am just now starting to recover and sleep through the night. Returning from Moab we enjoyed a wonderful Easter with the Haskins and Lansings where Shelli and Adrienne continued their annual Easter Egg Brawl, complete with pushing, shoving and a new addition, spousal participation, as poor Tyler watched in awe. Don't worry though, Tyler eventually jumped in and stole the show when he decided he was going to start walking around the house like a wild man!

Unfortunately, as I recovered the virus found a new host in Shelli, however the virus would prove to be the least if our worries. Shelli decided to shoot for the fence and bite off an ear infection to go with the virus. As I type the ear infection is still taking its toll, and nothing has kicked it, the viruses seem to have passed, and spring fever continues to plague us both as the temperature runs a full gamut of temperatures this spring with beautiful 60-70 degree weather sandwiched miserably between frigid snow and rain. God cannot seem to decide what season he wants it to be right now.

As Shelli hopefully continues battle and recover from her ear infection, I will enter into the Dr's office this weekend to have my chompers ripped from my skull. Okay, so that's maybe a little over-dramatic, I am having my wisdom teeth removed.

We eagerly look forward to the end of this season, whatever it is: the spring/winter, disease infested, virus infected, miserable rollercoaster of a season it is.

i like that boulder, thats a nice boulder.

2008-01-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we went out snowshoeing with Michelle's parents. It was a blast, completely untouched beauty. We explored all up and out an din and down in these boulders, we (by we I mean Michelle and Pam) jumped off the boulders for a little fun. We had a great time. It was so beautiful and sunny on Saturday, God could not have blessed us with a better day! Thank you Lord! Thanks again to Pam and Gary for the great time. We look forward to going again soon. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

changes.

2008-01-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

It is official. This February I will start a new job with Capital Church as a part time youth leader and part time designer. For those of you who don't know, Shelli and I have been volunteering tons of time into the youth as well as the hours I have helped put in to the design and image of Capital. Well, what has happened is something I did not think would be possible for several years to come. But, All things are God's and all control is in His hands, which means He had a different idea. This is an incredible opportunity; in short it might just actually be my dream job. To spend all my time dedicated to the things I care most about and want to be able to impact in this world. This will hopefully mean more time together for Michelle and I, as well as the benefits of working with youth and still having the opportunity to create design work for the Kingdom. A beautiful combination. I am excited for all God is going to do, and look forward with expectancy for what the future holds. God is so amazingly gracious. Might I also add a huge thanks to Michelle, my wonderful, ever-loving and supportive wife. Whom I love more then anything and would be nothing without.

transition and all things new

2008-01-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

So suffice it to say, it has been a few days since the last post. My apologies. But in our defense, it has been quite busy, Dec 21: niece Hailey's birthday, Dec 24: Christmas Eve, Dec 25: Christmas, Dec 26: Pam's Birthday, Dec 30: nephew Tyler's Birthday, Dec 31: New Years Eve & youth lock-in, Jan 1st: New Years Day and recovery from youth lock-in, Jan 7th: Classes began, Jan 10th: Michelle's Birthday (round 1), Jan 12th: Michelle's Birthday (round 2) and now January 4th: Blog update day! See we aren't that far behind, all things considered.

So lets start with the early stuff: December Birthdays and Christmas. First of all Happy Birthday, though late, to our niece Hailey, who is growing up faster than Jack's beanstalk. So this was [Kelly's] first Christmas with Michelle's side of the family. And it was a lot of fun, though I did miss my family over the holidays as well, but they made it tons easier by braving the weather and coming up the weekend after Christmas and spending it with Michelle and I (Thank you again!). So Christmas with the Haskins starts with the Christmas Eve pajama party and carries over to the next morning with a visit from Santa and some morning present opening. fill in all the down time with tons of delicious homemade meals and it doesn't get any better than that. However somebody thought it would be even more fun to spread the stomach flu of death to the family for Christmas ([ahem] Lansings), that meant all that delicious food had to wait for New years as Michelle and I found the perfect from-fitting grooves of the Haskins couches, with regular trips to the restroom as we recovered. As horrible as the experience was, it was short-lived (lasting only about 48 hours) and we were back to about 80% by the 26th. The 26th being Pam's birthday, but I'll come back to that.

Lets finish Christmas first. I made quick mention of the pajama party, well I better be sure to point out I received the incredible Penguin pajamas courtesy of the Haskins. For those of you who don't know I am a bug fan of penguins, so these particular items were pretty much awesome. Every one else's pj's were okay too, i guess. Gary also made some incredible frames with some etched glass for us and added some items to Adrienne's nativity scene. Gary is a regular renaissance man, incredible at just about everything. In addition to all of that we had incredibly generous families who spoiled us with all kinds of clothes and cool gifts. Thank you to everybody. We have been blown away at the kindness and generosity of everyone in the family.

On Pam's birthday we went out to Tuscany, where I had never been. But we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed the incredible food (Notice the holiday eating theme, I think I weigh about 300lbs now, but I can't complain about having enough to eat, I'll say that much. Delicious food over the holidays.). Then we headed back to our apartment to open presents. It was alot of fun to be around for Michelle's families traditions and to be welcomed into the family with open arms. It has really made me feel a lot more comfortable, especially being away from my own side of the family. I am really thankful for such great and loving in-laws.

The following weekend we had Christmas with the Johnson half and though it was a short visit, it was extremely important for me. My parents brought up all the gifts from our family and we all opened presents together (speaking of which, for ya'll that are still waiting on gifts, we're getting them in the mail, I promise! Sorry we are slackers!). Thank you everybody for the amazing gifts! We again were just blown away! We spent the rest of the time shopping, enjoying some games, and watching football.

Next was Tyler's first birthday. Wow is that kid growing up fast! After Tyler's birthday we had teh Youth New Years Lockin (we showed up late, at approx. 1am, after enjoying some more amazing food at the Haskins, fondue, steak, yumm........... mmmm....mmmm.... wow.) where we spent all night playing games and not sleeping. We then spent all day a on New Years'... asleep. Then back to work on Wednesday!

Since New Years' Michelle turned a year older (Her birthday was a blast including three day celebration from the 10th of Jan until the 12th of Jan, special thanks to the Haskins for great dinners at Olive Garden and Cheesecake factory. Speaking of which , if you do plan on eating at the Cheescake Factory, make sure you plan 3 days in advance, because I am pretty sure that is the current wait for a table), started classes again and its back to the ol' daily grind. Michelle and I have been enjoying the New Year though it promises to be a packed one. Michelle has three classes this semester, two online, plus work and all the usual. So, needless to say, it will be busy. But hopefully, we'll find out in April, if she will get into nursing school and, once completed, be done with school for a while. We are waiting to hear back from Westminster and Weber State.

So now that it is the new year, that means the new years resolutions. This year: discipline. To be more disciplined in all endeavors. Health, work, play, everything. Well, at any rate, we're not off to the best start, but thats the wonderful thing about discipline: being disciplined means you don't stop or give up, no matter how discouraging you may start. Look like it might be a long year.

So, just for fun, how about the rest of you? What were your resolutions?

So that pretty much fills in the gaps from then 'til now. Until next post!

perseverence and congrats

2007-12-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while life test us all in such a way that we are forced to discover who we really are, what we are capable of and, in the rare occasion, what will break us. Sometimes we find we are capable of far more than we had ever imagined. Over he past semester's classes Shelli has battled through work, school, migraines and whatever else could be thrown at her to endure a tough semester of classes. It has been an arduous road, but the classes are over, the semster is done and Physiology is over! Passed and complete! So congrats to my wonderful and resilient wife, I am very proud of you honey! Now its time for some study vacation and some fun holidays. Its good to see Shelli around a little less stressed, and far more relaxed.

escapes

2007-12-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a small side of me does wish I was stranded on a desert island. The escape just seems so desirable at times. This past weekend Shelli and I enjoyed a beautiful weekend away from it all in Park City. My work Christmas Party was at the Canyons resort this year and they had extremely discounted room rates, so we stayed the night. We spent he day finishing up (or as close to it as we could get) our Christmas shopping (I hate being part of the commercialism this time of year brings, but alas, I am a contributor) then headed to Park City where we enjoyed a fun night of interesting dances, including the YMCA as performed by a good chunk of the board members, the worm, and a few other notable little numbers. We also enjoyed a little guitar hero and wii sports before the night was finished.

Afterwards we enjoyed a great room at the Sundial lodge. It was a cool little studio style apartment with a fireplace and all. We relaxed to wine and candlelight and awoke the next day to the disturbing thought of having to return to the craziness of Salt Lake. After a stop off at the outlet malls we did just that.

Upon our return however we did get a long nap and then it was off to the 1st Annual Capital Youth Ugly Sweater Party! We dished out the awards for the "Most Hideous", "Most Disgustingly Captivating" and "Grandma's Special". It was a great time! The Youth at Capital continues to flourish and it is exciting to see God work through all their lives. It is just amazing!

Now its on to Christmas, just a few more gifts to finish up. Shelli is off from classes for the holidays so its nice to get a little bit larger dosage of her around the house. Oh and on a side-note the 2000 piece puzzle did come to completion (started just before Thanksgiving), I am quite proud and relieved to state that. For now, have a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy all God has given us all!

no snow tahoe

2007-12-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am not really sure why we thought it made sense to flee the blizzards of northern Utah in search of pristine boarding conditions in Lake Tahoe, but we did. So, a week ago me and the guys packed up and drove the however-many-some-odd miles too Lake Tahoe/Reno for our annual trip. What resulted after the drive was 10 inches of snow in Salt Lake and 0 inches of snow in Lake Tahoe. Doesn't add up, does it?

Despite the lack of natural snow we were able to locate limited amounts of the man-made powder at Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe, one of about 4 resorts open at the time, and a grand 2 runs open. Wow. Actually despite conditions we had a blast, we boarded for a day and when all was said and done, I don't know if we would have survived another. We left the gondola bruised, semi-conscious, and very tired. We spent the night learning the nuances of guitar hero, taking in a comedy show, and resting our boo-boos.

Morning brought lunch at McP's (yes, yes I said lunch, darn-skippy!) and one of the top-ranked burgers I have had. Delicious. We toured the remainder of South Lake Tahoe and hit the road. Tahoe is surrounded in the beauty of God's creation. We drove around the lake and enjoyed breathtaking views from start to finish. God's workmanship is absolutely incredible. He certainly knew what he was doing, because there is now way I could have ever dreamt or imagined that kind of scenery.

Another night in Reno, which consisted of hours of blackjack, less hours of winning, and a ton of fun. Next day was home and here we are, back to work. Wow, this story got depressing quick, didn't it?

On the other hand Shelli had a great weekend with her parents, though the snow did put some damper on a few plans. It was a refreshing and rejuvenating weekend and she got to spend some much needed time with her mom and dad. And by the way, thank you to Pam and Gary for taking care of my wife in my absence, you both treat us too well. We love you, thank you so much!

Well, work is back to the routine and next week is finals for my beautiful wifey. Pray things all go well, she has been busting her butt all semester and she deserves some reward. This weekend we have some youth get-to-gethers and next weekend is officially the end of the semester and my work Christmas Party in Park City.

gus.

2007-12-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving was all it cracked up to be, although we may have left my family with a bit of a bad addiction. We toted the Nintendo Wii with us to Moab for the holiday and the whole fam had a hay-day on it. The kids absolutely loved it, and lets say the adults weren't exactly disappointed either. All in all several rounds of bowling and baseball later and everybody was trying to discover how to get a hold of one. I am starting to believe my true calling is as a door-to-door Wii salesman. I could make a killing!

All-in-all Thanksgiving was over 6 pumpkin pies, 1 deep-fired turkey, 1 honey-glazed ham, 3 poker tournaments, 1 completed hideous brown puzzle, endless wii hours logged, and one near miss of a flying deer until completion. Now thats good times.

Between the return from Thanksgiving and the departure for a weekend in Tahoe, we managed to fit in Gus. Gus, if you haven't already discovered or heard, is our first Christmas Tree together. We found him hiding and lonely in the back corner of the lot and fell in love. He has been a beautiful and pleasant smelling addition to our humble little abode. He's not teaming with ornaments by any means, but we're working on it.

I love the air around Christmas time. Its a fun-loving, giving and warm time of year, especially considering how cold it can be outside. The hot chocolate overflows and the smells delight. Mmmm.... mmmmmm.... I do enjoy it. Christmas music, along with pine tree and cinnamon aromas have begun to fill our apartment, and the seasonal traditions of the hilarious National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and Home Alone are starting to settle in, Christmas Story is soon to follow, I am sure. Its nice just to curl up at home with Shelli and enjoy a warm blanket and a movie at the end of a long winter workday.

turkeys, poker and pumpkins

2007-11-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well its Turkey Day time of year again and that means alot of things. It means of course alot to be thankful for; great friends, incredible family, wonderful God, you name it. It means miles and miles of asphalt as we travel the distances to the people we love. It means turkey comas, pumpkin pie bellies, and weeks and weeks of turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, turkey soup, turkey whatever. It means family Texas Hold' em round the Johnsons' humble abode, where we all get rowdy and competitive. It means Grandma's homemade pumpkin pie, and lots of it. Mmmmmmm... Pie... It means good times and great memories.

We leave tonight for good ol' Moab, Utah for Thanksgiving with the Johnson half. It'll be the first holiday adaptation for Shelli and I and I am sure it will come with its own share of... fun and learning. I am excited. It will be a very fun and new experience for the both of us.

Have a great Thanksgiving, I pray you have plenty to be thankful for and may you get the chance to enjoy it all.

soundtracks

2007-11-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Not much to update here. Its been all work and a little play in the Johnson household lately. Shelli has been studying like crazy for her tests and applying to colleges across the nation. Worker bees relax more than her. We do have a fun (not really) little project to look forward to: They are coming in to repipe our apartment over the next couple of weeks, so our tiny apartment just got even smaller, can't even begin to express just how excited I am about that. I am a bit of a organizational freak. I like things to look clean. Organized. Well, I get the slight hunch that I am going to have to let that OCD quality fly out the window over the next couple of weeks. If the next time you see me you notice some weird nervous twitch, thats probably why.

Sometimes I stumble across interesting little things to share. This time its the Life Soundtrack. Basically, you make a list of movie scenes for your life and you create a soundtrack to those scenes. Simply put, you are creating a somewhat of a story of your life, something that reveals a little bit about you and gives us a taste of what music is playing in your life. Keep them simple and general. Then go back and fill in each scene with a song that would correspond with that event/scene. So for example, what would be your fight scene song? Or your love song? What about your break-up song? (They aren't necessarily songs that correspond with specific events as they are songs that would fit into scenes of you life, that would tell a story about who you are, what you have done, and where you been.)

Well, needless to say I thought I would give it a shot, you should to, post a reply and let us know how your soundtrack would play out. Pay attention to the mood of the song, the lyrics, and the title. And remember, there is a 20 song max, you usually cant fit more than that on a CD anyways, so pick wisely.

Kelly's Life Soundtrack:

Opening titles (intro to my life…): ‘The Young and The Hopeless’ – Good Charlotte
Introduction/Waking Up (the song that introduces me…): ‘Boondocks’ – Little Big Town
This is Me Scene (this one is hard, this is most closely linked as my theme song…): ‘Nobody Loves Me’ – Derek Webb
Break-up Scene (for those break-up moments…): ‘Scars’ – Papa Roach
Lonely Nights (for those post break-up moments…): ‘Where Have You Been?’ – Reel Big Fish
Turning Point/Discovery (the song for those crazy-turning-point-life-realization moments…): ‘Surely, We Can Change’ – David Crowder Band, ‘Meant to Live’ - Switchfoot
Friends (the theme song for friends…): ‘Waldorf/Worldwide’ – Good Charlotte
Falling in Love (different from the love song…): ‘Before Its Too Late’ – The Goo Goo Dolls
Love Scene (now this is the love song…): ‘You and Me’ - Lifehouse
Happily Ever After (this is the song for the wedding…): ‘Beyond Measure’ – Jeremy Camp
There for Each Other Scene (this is the song for my wife…): ‘Bring it on Home’ – Little Big Town
Mental Breakdown (for those mental breakdown moments…): ‘What I’ve Done’ – Linkin Park
Fight Scene (the everyday life battle song…): ‘Ole!’ – Bouncing Souls
Final Battle (the song I would play in the ‘end-all’ battles of my life…): ‘Its My Life’ – Bon Jovi
Death Scene (the end song…): ‘Where the Streets Have No Name’ – U2
End Credits (the song that could best sum it all up, or that just has personal meaning…): ‘Country Roads’ – John Denver, ‘Deliverance’ – Bubba Sparxxx

Well, there you go, 18 tracks to soundtrack my life. Some songs are all about the title, other its all about personal connection, still others pay close attention to the lyrics. All in all, I think I would bore you with explanation, but you can always ask. 'til next post...

sports and faith

2007-11-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I am a small bit of a sports fan. My Red Sox won the series this year so I am particularly happy about that, and being a Celtics fan as well (don't worry Utah, I dig the Jazz, too) their resurgence is exciting. However, I am not a Detroit Lions fan. Nothing against 'em, just not my team. However, this article from ESPN.com I find particularly interesting. Not because its sports, it really has only a little bit to do with sports. Its actually about standing and being bold in your beliefs, not afraid to be ridiculed, and how living what you believe, and not judging others can change the world around you. My point is our faith should alter the world around us for Christ, the world should not alter us from Christ, no matter where we are in life. And maybe just as importantly, our faith should not have zero impact on the world around us either. In the case of this article, this place could likely be one of the most self-serving, egotistical environments in America, which to me makes the outcome even more impressive that such a thing would garner so much attention.

business and busyness

2007-11-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

More often than not my life can be defined by the business that runs it, often translating to busyness. In short, a lot of business = busyness. If Shelli and I have had anything to tend with lately it has certainly been business and busyness. Shelli, in school (and not easy classes mind you: physiology and chemistry), working at Primary (not exactly and easy load emotionally, either), helping with Youth and balancing headaches and her goofy pain-in-the-rear husband. I, with work (overly demanding in and of itself) and Youth Ministry (I really have been involved in a part-time job), and just the day-to-day tasks of making dinner and managing the little stuff, such as finances, etc. Both of us have been doing a little bit of job searching, looking for better fits for our lives, and both of us have been helping to keep everything else caught up, such as the cleaning, cooking, etc. We even manage to get a little time together in the mix of all of that, though not a lot. Busy, busy, busy.

My discovery: It doesn't translate both ways. Busyness doesn't have to equal business. Don't get me wrong i think almost everybody I know is busy, they all have something going on. Most of you reading this are busier than myself. But many of you aren't just caught up in the business of life. Just the busyness of it, which isn't necessarily bad.

I caught up with a couple good friends this weekend and I discovered something, in each distinct conversation we talked about a lot of things, but what kept coming up were the details about all the things we had going on in our lives and how busy we were, and that quickly lead to 'whats it all worth'. Is our busyness worth while? Is it meaningful? Or is it taking away from the things that matter most? Often times the answer is a little of both. But sometimes, we drift to far and the answer is not good.

These next few months (through January) are the busiest of our year. Shelli and I have Thanksgiving in Moab, Chirstmas in SLC, seven birthdays between our friends and family, New Years', Youth Shoppin' and Shootin' All day Dec 8th, a New years' Youth Lock-in, my work Christmas Party (quite the production) and my annual guys' trip at the end of November. But I like the way our busyness is shifting. All this busyness will bring some business with it, but I like what its about. Lately we have been getting so caught up in the business that it has distracted from the most important in life. We need more busy with friends and family. More busy with each other. The next few months bring us more time with family. More time with friends. Time investing in the youth. That kind of busyness is worth it. I'll take that kind of busyness any day of the week.

All that business, should really be about being busy with what matters most, but often times we forget that, and its just about the business. It takes away from the important that you started doing it for. All that stuff you do, whats it for? All those things your taking care of, they're not keeping you from he things you care about most, are they? Or maybe, even hopefully, all that business your taking care is so you can be busy with those who you should be busy with. Of all the people I talk to, most have these things on their mind. Some wind up disappointed when they ask the question, others content, and still others wondering. If we don't set time for those that matter, like we set time for our business, then we have missed everything.

I miss a lot sometimes. Always want to change it. Sometimes do, many times don't. I take a long time getting to a point, I apologize. Just sharing my thoughts. I look forward to seeing you soon over the next little while, still busy, but maybe, just maybe, with what matters.

Pumpkin Party

2007-10-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

I am now officially onboard! (This is Shelli.) After many months of not joining the blogging community, I am now a part. For those of you who have been wanting to hear from me, you have finally had your moment! Hold on to it, cherish it, because this may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Despite being our respective ages of 25 and 22, Kelly and I never cease to find the childish nature inside of ourselves. We had our own little festive pumpkin party tonight, filled with pumpkin carving and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (Sorry AD & T-Rav, we couldn't "find" the recipe to your famous pumpkin, noodley, corn, cheese, mush stuff.....we were heartbroken.) But nevertheless, we did have a fun and festive time carving away at our own happy little faces. Kelly designed his face perfectly, crafting away at the tiny details, while I chiseled away....pumpkin chunks flying everywhere! As we set them aglow they made us laugh, and reminded us of how important it is to be a kid!

breath of fresh air

2007-10-16T13:16:00.000-06:00

Ever have those days, where its just not right to be inside. I had this feeling last night. I got off work and wanted to be anywhere but home (Shelli isn't home until about 8:30 pm, so thats probably why). Some days its just too beautiful outside to be inside, others, you just need fresh air no matter what the weather is like.

Yesterday, I was off work, home and out the door again before that door shut behind me. No more claustrophobic apartment. Just the grandeur of God's creation, once I left the busy traffic behind anyways. I wound up a couple miles up Big Cottonwood Canyon, just for fun. I hiked around for a while and snapped off some photos. It will never cease to amaze me the things God will use, at random, to refresh my soul. I just needed something alive and fresh, something majestic to breathe life into me. This helped. A lot. I enjoy the outdoors, I grew up in Moab for Pete's sake, but I do not enjoy it nearly as much as many I know. Many thrive in it. But for me, it is the occasional breath of fresh air I need.

I will leave you with some photos and a question: Whats your breath of fresh air?

4 states, 4 days

2007-10-15T12:53:00.000-06:00

...and we're back. Since late night departure Wednesday we have been on the road. 1,600 + miles, over 27 hours, 12 Snapples, and two bags of sunflower seeds later and we are home. Its good in many ways, saddening in others. I enjoy the open road. I do not enjoy the constant sitting and uncomfortableness of prolonged travel. A couple hours in a car, and next time we stop for gas I turn into Rice Crispies. I enjoy the feel of my own bed after a long vacation from it. I sleep sooo much better at home.

Wednesday night we stopped in Las Vegas to visit briefly with my Aunt and Uncle who live there. They have a gorgeous home and they are so wonderful to spend time with. They have incredible wisdom to share and are a ton of fun.

Early Thursday it was off to Azusa, California to visit Azusa Pacific University. We arrived toured the campus briefly and stopped in to meet with the Nursing school advising staff. Shelli made friends at the bookstore, we toured some art galleries and called it a day. Azusa has a beautiful campus nestled up near the foothills of the "mountains" just northeast of Los Angeles. We found our hotel and enjoyed a quiet lazy night of pizza and hot tubs before bed. Tomorrow... San Diego.

San Diego was a blast as well. After taking a leisurely drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, enjoying the scenery and Oceanside beach along the way, we had to backtrack our way to our hotel. Quick change clothes and out the door to downtown San Diego for David Crowder live at the House of Blues. Incredible. We enjoyed dinner (Well, at least I did, there was not much on the menu for Shelli unfortunately, but we figured it out) at the House of Blues, which got us early entry into the show. We spent the entire night soaking up the sweat and spit of the musicians. Good times. It was amazing to see a band like the David Crowder Band live. I noticed of the six guys on stage only two didn't play three or more instruments during the show. Throughout the duration of the set we saw guitars, drums, bass, keyboards (3), the keytar, cello, electric violin, various sound effect devices, banjo, and (my personal favorite) a... get this... modified guitar hero guitar. I can't write the words to explain this, you'll have to ask. Following the show it was quickly back to the hotel and into bed. We were asleep in less than seconds.

Saturday was back to Vegas, we left midday and got in around three. We spent the evening with my Aunt and Uncle out at an Italian Grill restaurant called Carrabbas. Pretty tasty. Then we headed back to my Aunt and Uncles before taking off down to the Strip for a comedy show at Harrah's. OK, not great, but still fun. Back to the house, off to bed.

We enjoyed a lazy Sunday morning at my Aunt and Uncle's. Shelli woke up, moved from the bed to the couch, slept, woke up, moved from the couch to the truck, and slept as we drove home. We got out at about 3pm, and would've been home around 8-9ish if not for the 2 hour delay in the Virgin River gorge in Arizona. There is a fifteen minute (30 min. both ways) stretch of road through Arizona on this entire trip and we spent a total of three hours on it. Not funny.

Now we are home, back at work, and thats the story.

long nights

2007-10-10T09:32:00.001-06:00

So this weekend its off to California, fun in the sun and ocean sunsets. Shelli is looking at Azusa Pacific University and the possibilities of a Masters in Nursing, so we're going to check it out. We'll have the chance to stay with my aunt and uncle in Las Vegas on the way there and the way back, and then we'll visit both Los Angeles and San Diego Campuses while we are out there. It will be a great opportunity to just get away as well and have some time together. Life tends to get so busy sometimes its hard to find the time you need for everything.

I find great joy in completing projects I have had on the table for a long time. Things that I work on in my spare time, but just never seem to be able to finish. Usually because they are time consuming projects, and time is a scarce commodity in my world. Well, last night was one of those nights. I revamped my portfolio online and changed up my website so its a little flashier now, and showcases more work. I am excited to have this pretty much complete, and I know Shelli is thrilled since I have been up 'til about 1-2am every night, and working on it straight through after I get home from work. Now she can have her husband back! She is not the only one excited about that, but I appreciate her patience and love enduring me through this project, she has been wonderful!!

So without further adieu check out the new site at http://www.keldesignonline.com and we'll check ya'll when we get back...

water armageddon

2007-09-18T09:03:00.000-06:00

I know a while back a promised this post, but better late than never, right? As promised here is the video we shot for Water Armageddon a while back for the youth promotion at our church. It was a blast, even though I got pummeled.

Hope you enjoyed that!

months

2007-09-13T09:07:00.000-06:00

Almost, but not quite. In fact its been only 23 days. So maybe that's a long time between blogs, but its been busy. Here is a quick rundown of the comings and goings...

August gave way to two significant events

1) Shelli's first century ride with her Dad. Though she was exhausted and only semi-coherent afterwards, proclaiming that she would never do it again and ranting about the grueling nature of the ride, she has promptly reverted to looking forward to the next ride with enthusiasm. I am thoroughly amazed at her resiliency, this is an incredible accomplishment and I am very excited for her. Not many people can lay claim to such a feat. Shelli and Gary finished in approximately 6.5 hours of ride time, I think their actual time was somewhere around 8 hours.

You can tell these are the pre-ride shots... they're smiling

In the mean time I meandered around Logan and checked out a few old hangouts and spent time reminiscing with some old friends. When I first began college at Utah State, Logan still had that old mom 'n' pop feel to it, it has since abandoned that feel almost completely for the more corporate and commercial. It is certainly a different place. It was sad in ways to see and cope with all the change, it made me realize how much time has passed.

At least first dam was relatively unchanged

2) Adrienne's birthday. We had a delicious dinner at an little Italian restaurant in downtown Salt Lake, and Adrienne (and Tyler) opened up presents back at the Lansing residence. This was a lot of fun. And on the note of change, Travis and Adrienne, who were just barely engaged when I left college for SLC, are now married nearly three years and have a wonderfully adorable son. It seems like only yesterday we were all still in college hanging out at Focus BBQ's and good ol' "718", yet it has been nearly four years since those days, it is amazing all that has happened. How the time flies...

This little guy will be grown up before you know it

In came September and has swept by with a Labor Day weekend visit to my parents which saw us out in the Moab Red Rock wilderness geocaching and jeeping. My Dad just bought a new Jeep, well not new i suppose, a new jeep to him, that is actually quite used. Its a toy for him to go out and get dirty and crawl around on the rocks. We had a great time just out hiking and crawling around in the jeep, just me and my dad (the girls stayed home this particular time). We roamed around leisurely and just slowed down; something I don't do enough of in life these days. I love picking my Dads brain for all his old memories. He remembers so much and its intriguing to hear about all his old mining stories and about how he has seen Moab change over the years. I love hearing about my old 'outlaw' family, and about how different things were in his day. I think things have changed in the last 5 years, I cannot imagine my Dad's perspective on the last 50. I love these times with my Dad, I neglected a lot of them when I was younger, but they are some of my favorite moments these days.

We also enjoyed celebrating my sister Sommar's birthday, and it was wonderful because my sister Karissa was in town with Angelo and my niece Lexi. I don't get to see them much so it was wonderful too spend time with them as well.

Shelli spent some time sharing 'horse stories' and visiting my niece Hailey's horses. Those two are so alike it scary, but at the same time ts wonderful. I am so glad they have so much in common. We went by and visited my sister's house, and while we were there Shelli popped her head in Hailey's room with a quick "yup, thats just what my room was like, almost exactly." Monday rolled around and we came home.

Last weekend was all crazyness. We said farewell to Kali, one of Shelli's best friends, on Saturday, who departed Tuesday for Croatia for around seven months with Campus Crusade. It was a sad and exciting event. It is hard for Shelli to say goodbye to such a close and beloved friend for such a long duration, it will be hard to miss all the coffee shop hangouts, and wonderful conversations, and lets not forget the goofy moments. It is exciting however to see her strike out as the hands and feet of Jesus, sharing his love and grace. It is exciting to be a part of the adventure with her, to pray for her, and to enjoy all the stories of what God is doing there. We are developing a special relationship with Croatia as this is the third year we have been involved in the ministry there in some way or another. it s exciting to hear all the stories develop and inspiring to see how God works, sometimes I loose wight here in Salt Lake, and it is good to be reminded that God is alive and working not only in all parts of the world, but here too.

Sunday was all church and youth. We had our regular morning visit to Capital, and in the evening we returned for youth. Youth at Capital, recently named 'the Edge', is also one of my favorite things. I love these kids. I love hanging out with them, joking with them and talking with them. I love seeing them grow and grab hold of who Christ is and how much he loves them. I love seeing things click in their minds. I love seeing them come alive. And I love sharing this with Shelli. I love that we do this ministry together. It is a simple joy, but it always makes me happy to talk about it with her afterwards and share everything.

The last couple weeks have also been riddled with the downsides of frustrating work and even more frustrating illness. I have been sick with a cold for far too long now and Shelli has been plagued be the ever nagging headaches, which have been challenging as of late. But again on the brightside, we got to watch Tyler for Adrienne and Travis, and although Travis showed up to pick him up way ahead of schedule, Shelli and I had a great time hanging out with our nephew. We felt like a little family rolling along with a stroller, and we had to clarify to everyone our status as Aunt and Uncle, not Mom and Dad.

So, I am sure there are things I missed, but that should be a sufficient update for now. Sorry for the long delay between posts, it has been crazy on all fronts.

Menzi...

2007-08-21T14:24:00.000-06:00

I meant to post sooner, I even logged on and began writing an entry, but, as so happens so often in my life, I was blank. I knew what needed to be done, had intentions of doing it, I even started doing it... but, just couldn't get it going. I did this again last night. I had full intentions of going to the gym, even got all dressed and ready... long story short, I had dinner and watched TV. So much for that discipline thing I wrote about before. I'm working on it, I am a work in progress.

So about the updates I promised... first, youth ministry... I don't have photos yet, but I will post the video at the earliest possible convenience. I have to render it out for the web first. I hope you will all enjoy it. So, needless to say, that update is still in progress. More to come later...

Second... This weekend we, as Capital Church, embarked on a long term investment into a community located in Swaziland, Africa called Mkhombokati. We heard from the president of Children's Hopechest, Tom Davis, as he discussed with us the need in this particular village in Africa.

Swaziland holds the number one spot for HIV infection (approx. 45%) leaving most children not only orphaned, but without suitable structures to live and to raise their younger siblings. Every child that reaches the age of 15 has a one in ten chance of making in until 30. Due to the AIDS epidemic there is no opporunity for industry, only poverty. One missionary recorded how when he first arrived in the country he had to bury one person a week. That total is now ten a day. On top of all that Swaziland, a monarchist government, is a polygamyst culture. This means that many children who do have parents, their fathers are their primary caregivers, who are never there and care nothing for them.

Mkhombokati is primarily made up of some small shacks linked together with a central building where Children's Hopechest provides food for the orphans. Capital Church's role in all of this is to 1) Sponsor out each child to one family from the church. This sponsorship includes monthly donation along with written contatc with that child. 2) to send periodic teams to Mkhombokati to help provide for their needs. Whether physical, emotional or spiritual. This means these teams will do anything from build a school to lead Vacation Bible Schools. This will be a long term effort where Capital has plans to take onwership of this community; investing in it and making it their own.

Before I introduce our newest little family member, I want to share with you all the words of Pastor Walter. Pastor Walter is the Pastor for this area of Swaziland, and it is his vision that has inspired this movement. Pastor Walter, talking about the Swazi people described the despair and poverty of his nation and asked [imagine the broken english with thick African accent.] "How do you be the hands and feet of Jesus..." he responded "God is there, by using us... We are coming with hope to them... I see them arising up... why? Because God is using us as the hands and feet."

So... we have decided that we want to be part of the hands and feet. We want to see change in this world. We want to see a world where God's Kingdom is a reality not a myth. Hopefully, in the future, Shelli and I will be able to be those hands and feet there in Africa, providing medical services, putting on VBS, building, and investing in these children face-to-face... In the mean time, meet our little boy Menzi. [Might I add, we also have another little boy, Jose in the Dominican Republic, and I don't want to diminish his value to us as well. We love them both.]

Menzi Manyika, Age 9

Menzi like sports, dancing, music, singing, and reading. His personality is described as active, good-natured, friendly, and curious. Menzi is in the second grade. We are both extremely excited to be part of this, and look forward to continuing to pray for Menzi and be a part of his life.

In other news, this weekend is a big event, as Shelli is riding the tandem bike in the Logan Century with her Dad. This is Shelli's first century ride, although its Garys millionth or something, he is incredible. She is way excited but a little nervous, too. I am really stoked for her, I know she will do incredible. She is relentless and driven and it shows in everything she does. I am looking forward to cheering them on from the sidelines, as I am in as about of good of shape as a hippopotumus with three legs. Like I said, I am a work in progress, and I am working on it. Please pray for Shelli and her Dad, for health and safety, and that they would enjoy this experience together. I will be cheering them on at the start and then hopefully catching up with a couple good friends while they ride.

and so it starts

2007-08-16T13:16:00.001-06:00

It really did. It started. We have officially received emails notifying us to update our blog. 2 posts in and we are already slackers. I knew it would happen, I just didn't know it would so fast.

So, married life transitions have begun. For the most part we are all settled in. Our apartment looks far more domesticated than it did as a "bachelor pad". We have dishes that match and everything! Oooo, and towels, matching towels, shower curtain, too. Its become much more a home and I feel far more settled in than before. Unfortunately, in the mix of everything Shelli and I haven't been able to see a ton of each other. She starts classes again next week, I believe. She is taking Physiology and Chemistry as prereqs on the path to her nursing requirments. In the meantime she has been working like crazy at Primary, mostly evenings, which means I typically see her a half hour before I leave in the morning and about an hour before bed at midnight. Its been a little rough, but we do get the weekends. I have been full speed ahead back at work. My job never slows, I run about 10-15 different deadlines every two weeks, in addition to daily workload, this only seems to increase as of late. I have this curse/gift where I thrive and and excel under pressure, so deadlines can be good, but I also get consumed by them and they overtake me. This, is very, very bad.

I am learning, against my will as always, the value of peace in chaos. I tend to get wrapped up in fiascoes, I get... intense, for lack of a better term. I think I age a year for every day I am at work. God, never really gives me alot of time to be at peace, but he does lead me to find peace in the midst of chaos. My prayer of "God, give me time to find peace and slow down" is seemingly responded with, "I will give you my peace, I will slow you down." I need to find peace, be in God's presence, without needing a separate circumstance to get me there. I am learning this so readily now, because I am something I have never been before: a husband. There is alot more to life now. If I can find peace, keep a cool head, then things tend to work themselves out. If I become... intense, lets just say, they don't; if anything, I create more 'things.' Funny how that works. My theme as of late centers around one word. Something I need to emphasize in every aspect of my life: my work, marriage, relationships, endeavors. Discipline. Capability is rarely my problem. Discipline, is always my problem. For so many I know 'discipline = success,' for me 'discipline = failure.' I would like to see that changed in my life. I'd wager that the result would be immeasurably positive.

I will post again in the next couple of days. See, one of the other things permeating our life, is our volunteering with Capital Church as youth leaders. A very time-consuming, invasive adventure, but ultimately beautiful. Tonight, we film video to promote this weeks activity of 'Water Armageddon' on Sunday. Lets just say, I hope I am alive to repost in a couple days. I'll have photos too, I hope. Also I will be bringing news of another adventure, our church will be partnering long term with a small community in Swaziland, Africa. Shelli and I will have the opportunity to be a huge part of this, and we get to hear all about it this weekend, I am immensly looking forward to this!

More later...

welcome to the family

2007-08-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

The past few days since our return it has been interesting reflecting on the brevity of everything swirling around our lives. It has been a time of tremendous transition and incredible adjustment. Our apartment has been turned completely upside down and nothing seems to roll to the same old tune in which it used to. Everything has a new song to it, a different rhythm, a different beat. Its fun, exciting and overwhelming in the same breath. I have been glancing through photos of our wedding day and realizing that I was at a completely different event. Not really, but I think you can catch my drift. Its amazing how looking back on the photos can help you piece it all together through the chaos.

I have also been thinking a lot about how Shelli and I form our family. In one hand we are clinging to that which has most made us... us: our families. It is amazing how God molds us through our families. Their love, support and encouragement has brought us here. We carry with us traditions, methods and habits that we received from our families that we want to pass to our own family. One the other hand we are doing just that; creating our own family. One that is uniquely us (despite sharing a last name with several thousand people). In the midst of all this we are also both being welcomed into new families, Shelli into mine, and I into hers. Each side becomes part of our family as much as we are part of each. This really is a beautiful experience to go through, it carries plenty of adaptation requirements, but it has been fun to become part of Shelli's family, to see her become part of mine, and to meld our own family from each.

One the topic of where we come from here is Shelli and her Mom, Pam...

me and my Dad, John...

...welcome to the family!

I will leave you, as I promised with some fun photos and commentary from our spectacular honeymoon!

Starting with Royal Carribean's own private Island in the Bahamas: 'Cococay'. Where we went sea kayaking, snorkeling and dined on sand dollars...

Followed by the unforgettable Nassau, Bahamas

Where we built our very first home... which is no longer standing...

And this is how we funded our honeymoon...

We return to the cruise ship for Dancing...

And towel animals. This is Ellie...

Back to land, and the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral where I discovered I can never be an astronaut (I know what your all thinking, but no, its because I'm too tall smarty pants!)

We did however meet an astronaut...

And of course, just like everywhere else we went, played in the water...

The next day we got rolling and.. you guessed it, went and played in the water! Body boarding in Cocoa Beach:

And the Ron Jon Surf Shop...

Oh, and did I forget to mention the Manatee Park?

"I'm a Sea Cow... I live in the Oshun"

new life

2007-08-02T18:49:00.001-06:00

The wedding has come and past and the honeymoon has lapsed, now its back to the 'real world'. No more manatees, stingrays, or body surfing. It really is sad, isn't it? Since our wedding website is now obsolete for keeping everyone abreast of our new family stories, we are switching to this blog. Hopefully Shelli and I will be a little more effective at keeping a regular stream of updates than we were that last month before the wedding (sorry, it got a little hectic there for a while). you can also now email us at johnsons@keldesignonline.com.

Thank you to everyone who helped us out with the wedding, especially in those last waining moments. We have received so many compliments on how beautiful the entire event was and we just couldn't have done it without everyone there helping us. We could not have dreamed of a better group of family and friends to have in our lives. You are all wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I will be back shortly with some pictures of the wedding and honeymoon, but for now here's to all things new!