December 2007: Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Johnson Family!

Mike and I have enjoyed our three boys this year. Tate has been a blessed addition to our family. We love watching them all together. We are grateful that they enjoy being together so much. This year has brought so much joy as well as refining. What it has brought the most is a remembrance of the source of all our happiness: a dependence on, emulation of, and relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are grateful for all of our family and friends and love to hear from you. We wish each of you a Merry Christmas and hope that this next year holds hope and promise for you.

Much love,

Mike, Briana, Owen, Eyan, and Tate Johnson

December 2007: Mike's Last Day Off 'til Christmas

We thought we'd enjoy Mike's last day off until Christmas at Disneyland. We had a great time with the boys. Owen was able to ride Star Tours for the first time. His face was classic as he came off. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but the damage may have come from the ride breaking down in the middle creating a pitch black room. Disneyland has been so much fun to enjoy together as a family.

December 2007: We're in Trouble

Slow down Tate!!! I can't believe him. He just wants to be as grown up as his brothers. He is pulling himself up on everything. He has even tried to turn away from the sofa and walk. I'm not sure what I will do if he starts to walk this early. He's still so little, it will seem so unreal to see a little guy like him walking around. Sometimes when we try to sit him down, he won't bend his legs, but tries to walk. Its hysterical. Owen was 13 months and Eyan was 17 months when they began to walk. Tate isn't even 9 months yet!! We're in trouble.

December 2007: Cougar Stadium in San Diego

We were so excited to go to another BYU Football game this season. Mike, Owen, and I bought tickets to the SDSU game with my Mom and Dad, my brother Luke and his son Davis, my sister Vanessa and her husband Josh. It had been raining the past few days so I had to go out and buy a hat, jacket, and gloves for Owen and Mike and ponchos for us all. It was really chilly:-). We headed down to the tailgate party early. We enjoyed some yummy BBQ and Owen got his face painted amidst the sprinkles. The game was fun to be at despite the fact that it was a rather uneventful being a blow-out. The San Diego newspaper commented that it was Cougar Stadium in San Diego as there were 2/3 BYU fans. We love our Cougars!!!

December 2007: Fave Flashbacks in December

Sorry, sickness and fun Christmas projects have really put me behind on the blog. Here are the songs for the month of December so far. ENJOY!!!!

Total Eclipse of the Heart--- Bonnie Tyler
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=4072
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money--- Primitive Radio Gods http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=5198450
More Than Words--- Extreme
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=2659

Sweetest Thing--- U2
http://www.last.fm/music/U2/_/Sweetest+Thing
Estoy Aqui--- Shakira
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=2001507

November 2007: Ho Ho Ho Makes Boo Hoo Hoo

The day after Thanksgiving, Eyan, Owen, Mom, Vanessa, Kelli, and their kids all went to Temecula for a Christmas Season Kick-off. We missed the parade - is anyone surprised? We cruised around Old Town and the kids got these cute reindeer balloon hats made by a funny turned creepy balloon guy. As we were waiting in line to see Santa, Owen's reindeer hat popped. Jackson gave him his - the 2nd one popped. Somehow by the end of the night I was holding 2 one antlered-is that a word?- reindeer balloon hats amongst everything else. And yes, I did try to combine the 2 to make 1 whole reindeer - but who can figure out how those guys make those things anyway.

The best part of the whole evening was the Santa Photo seen above! There was a little shack in which Santa and his elves sat. As soon as we got inside both Davis and Jackson started wailing - it wasn't a little cry, it was a wail. The sweet Santa kept trying to direct Vanessa and Kelli on how to still get a good picture and tried to help the boys stop crying, but it only made it worse. This is a horrible photo on many levels: the lighting, the positioning, Mom's hands in the corner fumbling to figure out Kelli's video camera, the look of fear on Jackson's face and of torture on Davis'. However, if you look at the photo I cropped out from it, you can see two darling little boys surronding a cute Santa. Kelli and Vanessa were so patient - Kelli trying to hold both children while one tried to wiggle free and Vanessa trying to calm Jackson over her pregnant belly. We gave a new meaning to the "Shrieking Shack". After that fiasco we decided to forgo the horse-drawn trolley ride and head home.

November 2007: Lets give thanks

We decided that my parents need to buy property in the small town of Fillmore, UT; a drive-through town on the trek down the I-15 from BYU to home. Jesse and Liz drove down and had a tire blow outside of Fillmore. They were on the side of the road in the middle of the frozen night for 6 hours - did I mention the car battery died? - lets just say Liz got a little closer to our family friend Garrett than she ever wanted. Unfortunately Jesse had a similar dilemna his Freshman year (which I'm sure he would note was the reason he did not want to drive home this time!!)

My Freshman year at BYU - that must be it!!! it must be a Freshman thing, a rite of passage-on the way back from Thanksgiving our car broke down in a blizzard (Let me be more specific - The guy's car did not have a front grill so all the snow got sucked into the engine causing some major problem). We (the guy and 3 girls) had to push the car to the next offramp where we could see the illuminated "Chevron" sign and wait for them to fix it- in good old Fillmore. Then the freeway was closed down, so 8 of us BYU students had to stay in the last hotel room in town-can someone say Honor Code violation-I think they made an exception in our case. The next morning we discovered that 3 of the 4 doors were frozen shut. We each had to climb in through the front passenger side over all our luggage (jam packed which prevented any of us to be able to straighten our legs on the long 9 hour journey). Then when we actually thought we might make it, the hood flew up on the on ramp, propelled by some sort of engine geyser. I can't remember how we actually made it back!

So lets this Thanksgiving give thanks for cars with properly inflated tires, batteries that work, front grills, body heat, Chevron stations, California weather, and air travel.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner all together with my family for the first time after three years. What a wonderful day of thanks!

November 2007: Yes, Disneyland Again

Mike actually got the day before Thanksgiving off, a rarity. So since we spent our yearly entertainment budget on Disneyland passes, we figured we should go!! again!! We love Disneyland. It is great going with kids, I forgot as a teen and young adult that Disneyland is actually for little kids. Going with kids, I was actually opened up to a new world in Disneyland. The boys favorite rides according to Eyan are Small Woiled, Pirates of Caribeen, and Winnie Pooh. Mike gets creeped out on Small World, so its just me, Owen, and Eyan.

November 2007: All My Boys

Bedtime is craaaazzzzyyyy! Mike is a huge help even though I know he is exhausted from his 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hour commute home. We still try to get our boys in bed between 6 and 7. Tate really does the best when he's in bed by at least 6:30 and now that it is dark outside the older boys are doing much better about going to sleep. Of course they sleep in the same bed - not sure why we bought Owen a "big boy" twin bed. It is so cute to see them asleep side by side or more often with legs and arms across each other. Here all my boys are during our crazy bedtime. Aren't they cute?

November 2007: Eyan's 1st Broken Bone

My poor little Eyan. He fell off my mom's counter stool while I was getting the toaster out of the cupboard. It was one of those slow motion moments followed by a horrible noise. I seriously thought he shattered his cheek bone the way he landed on this face and side. The poor little guy screamed for about an hour and a half and only wanted Grandpa {'Wo-wo' as he used to call him}. He is such a solid kid; if it had been Owen, we think he really might have shattered a bone. We went through a fiasco, including 2 doctors visits and 2 hospital visits - one in which I had all 3 boys by myself for close to 3 hours - to finally find out that Eyan had a fractured clavicle. Heavenly Father really blessed me though, the boys were soooo good. Eyan has been in lots of pain, but he loves his Motrin a little too much:-) We had to buy the yucky tasting kind just so we wouldn't ask for it all day. He is healing well despite the fact that a sling on a 2 year old is pretty useless.

November 2007: Owen's Thanksgiving Feast

I really enjoy volunteering in Owen's class. I love that he loves me being there and that other kids look forward to me being there too. Kindergarteners are so cute and loving. Owen's class had a Thanksgiving Feast and I was able to go in to help them. I took some darling photos of each of the kids. Here's Chief Owen and another of him and his bud Angelo. The other photo is of some of the kids in his class. Give you one guess who his best friend is. Yes the cute little boy in the front, Parker. They are not allowed to be together in class but that's like torture for them. They love playing together after school at the park. They ask me everyday if they can go.

November 2007: Week 3 & 4 Flashback Faves

Here are my Flashback Faves from the past two weeks. Enjoy!

Pour Some Sugar On Me--- Def Leppard
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=2524
A Little Respect--- Erasure
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=12148
November Rain--- Guns N' Roses
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=2565

Only You--- Yaz
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/window/media/page/0,,875214-2105860-WMLO,00.html
Never Tear Us Apart--- INXS
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=5775
It Takes Two--- Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=402628

November 2007: Catching Up With Tate

We really thought Owen was a wiggly baby until Tate came along. He has been aggressively crawling for about 5 weeks. He watches his brothers and wants to be right in the mix. The first few weeks of crawling he was interested in his toys; now he only wants the stereo equipment, the door stopper, his brothers' toys, and the firplace. He is so quick and is now discovering that there is a whole world beyond the carpeted family room to explore. We finally have a baby that really enjoys the Johnny Jump-up. Even when he's not in it, he jumping up and down on my legs. He loves being in the high chair and eating cereal with mainly veggies, not fruits. He has the cutest 2 tooth grin and loves to display it to everyone. His brothers love to be around him and can really make him belly laugh. I love watching it. Tate has really grown this past month.

November 2007: Visit from Grammy and Grandpa

Mike's parents and his sister Kristin's family came down for a family vacation to Disneyland. Plans to meet up with them at the BYU v. SDSU game and at Disneyland were canceled due to unfortunate circumstances: the fires and sickness. We did however, get to meet them for dinner one night but without poor sickie Owen. It was weird to be there without him. Mike's family had not seen Tate since he was 3 weeks old and I think they really enjoyed getting to see his little happy squirmy-self. Tate went right to Grandpa and Grammy and really loved Grammy's necklace. Mikayla, Jared, Livy, and Stockton all enjoyed playing with Tate and Eyan too. Its crazy how kids can change so quickly. Mikayla's a real knock-out and Jared was helping me figure out my new cell phone - man I'm old and out of it. Eyan started off a little shy, but soon warmed up, turning our booth into a jungle gym. I am so glad we made it work to see them. Owen asks to go back to Utah often. It really has been an adjustment for all of us and we miss so much about being in Utah, but Mike keeps reminding me that we have to look forward. Living close to Disneyland means visitors and we look forward to them.

November 2007: Week 2's Fave Flashback Songs

Here are my Fave Flashback Songs for this past week:

Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=4601

To Be With You --- Mr. Big
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=4071

Tangerine Speedo--- Caviar
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=1804

Hands to Heaven--- Breathe
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=1255983

Needs--- Collective Soul
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=57093

Enjoy!!!

October 2007: Halloween Day!

Halloween Day was packed. It started with Owen's first Kindergarten Field Trip, a trip to a farm and pumpkin patch. Grandma, Eyan, Tate, and I came along too.

Later in the afternoon the kids and I made our first attempt at carving pumpkins together. Personally I take great pride in my pumpkin carving, I have my own set of wood carving tools that I normally use each year, but since they are in storage - along with most of our possessions - a regular old knife had to due this year. I cut the tops off of the pumpkins and let the kids scoop out their own seeds. It was quite a funny sight - Owen was complaining about the stringy mess and Eyan was scrunching up his nose and telling me that it was "smellney". Seeds were flying. I think they turned out pretty well for our first family attempt.

I carved out a huge pumpkin for Grandma for her to make her annual "Dinner in a Pumpkin" - Yumm-O!

During dinner things took a nose dive, literally. Owen just about face planted into his dinner as he drooped from not feeling well. He looked horrible, but insisted on Trick Or Treating. Grandpa convinced him that 15 houses sounded like a lot of houses to go to. I thought that sounded fair!

Here thee scurvy pirates be:

Since my Mom's neighborhood is so new, there were hardly any Treaters or houses giving out candy. It worked out just fine. Each house they did go to gave about 4 handfuls to each one. They came home in about 20-30 minutes with bags looking like they had been out all night. As soon as Owen came back HE ASKED TO GO TO BED!!! WOW. He must really have been sick - in fact he was - in the middle of the night he woke up screaming because he couldn't open his eyes - a doctor's office visit later we discovered he had a severe ear infection that spread to his eyes, poor little guy. Lots of days home from school for him. Candy does make things better though!

November 2007: Last Week's Fave Flashback Songs

I've decided to do something new on my blog. I'm going to list my favorite flashback song of the day (well at least try to each day) in the right hand column -currently under my Top 10 movie poll and videos of Three Amigos! I love music! It really gets me going and there are so many great songs in my past. I hope you like these first ones. Would love to hear some of your faves too! http://www.soundflavor.com/ is one of my favorite new websites. You can listen to music for free!

Here are this past week's songs:

I’d Die Without You – P.M. Dawn
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=220557

6 Underground [Nellie Hooper Edit] – The Sneaker Pimps http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=84422

Can't Help Falling in Love - UB40
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=4131

Never There - Cake
http://www.soundflavor.com/track.php?trackId=5061

October 2007: Family's Top 10 Movies Growing Up

It really has been fun to have Jesse home and all be together again. Our family loves movies and playing games, so I decided to combine the 2 while we were all home before Jesse and Liz went back up to BYU. I sent out surveys to each family member requesting their Top 10 Favorite Movies from growing up along with favorite movie lines, scenes, and songs. I had soooo much fun just laughing at their responses. Yes, we are one of those families - annoying some may say - that have movies memorized - lines, songs, choreography, etc. But we love it! They have been incorporated into our own Family Language.

From my family members' responses I compiled a Dix Family Top 10 Movie List and created a 3 round game: #1 Family Feud - to reveal the Top 10, #2 Jeopardy - asking questions regarding characters, locations, scenes, etc., and #3 Lightning Round - had to identify movie title from as many movie lines as possible in 40 seconds. I have to say it was sooo much fun. It probably would have been hilarious to watch as an outsider, since pretty much we are one of the most competitive families alive. (Its a tough call between mine and Mike's family).

Our family has our own sense of humor, finding comedy in movies probably most people haven't heard of or passed over. These are movies we watched over and over in the years of our family growing up.

Here is our Top 10:

1. Willow


2. Princess Bride


3. What About Bob?


4. The 'Burbs


5. Three Amigos


6. Christmas Vacation


7. Newsies


8. Pure Luck


9. The Man Who Knew Too Little


10. a 2-way tie between Oscar and Groundhog Day

Others on our favorites list:
Only You, Clue, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Money Pit, Troop Beverly Hills, Father of the Bride 2, Goonies, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Disney's Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, The Chipmunk Adventure, The Great Muppet Caper, Tommy Boy, Ghostbusters, Home Alone, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Back to the Future, Maverick, The Sound of Music, Hook, Star Wars, Dennis the Menace, Dick Tracy
Tell me what movie from our Top 10 would be in yours by taking my poll in the right column!!