Pumpkins, turtles and Sams, oh my!

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

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!

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"

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!

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.

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!

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!

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

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

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.