October 2008: Disneyland with Johnson Cousins

Mike was able to take off work so that we could spend 2 days with all his family who came down from Utah to go to Disneyland-his Mom & Dad and all of his brothers and their families. We had a great time and it was so much fun to see friendships renewed and made between the cousins. I don't think you could get a word in with Owen and Halle or could have separated Eyan from Jessie. Having a large family definitely has its advantages! Grammy & Grandpa had fun with the boys and even watched them so Mike & I could hit some rides too. Gail & I both love the swings and had a great idea to ride back to back, wow talk about headspin, I thought we both might black out. I think one of my favorite images was all the cousins on the carasol together- Johnson cousins as far as the eye could see:-)

October 2008 - Cousin Davis' 3rd B-day Party

People are always amazed at how light Tate's hair has been getting. Mike's hair was almost white blond when he was a little boy. Owen's hair started out super light too. Here are the boys with my Mom- love Owen's attempt at Yee-hah. Eyan is actually "riding" on a horse that Mike's Mom made for him when he was a little boy. Gail was so great at saving Mike's childhood treasures to give to his own children. The boys had a great time at Davis' cowboy party.

December 2008: Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

You know its been a long time since you've updated your blog when you can't remember your password. Just a quick note out to anyone who still reads my blog, which I have to be honest and say that it may just be one person-my sister-in-law Kelli:-): Sorry that I have fallen on the face of the earth. My computer completely crashed over a month ago and we do not have the means to have it repaired. Luckily we had just purchased an external harddrive and so my photos and files are safe. I would love to still hear from you all. Please contact me in any way you can snail mail, e-mail (which I read 1-2 times a week at good ole' Mom's), phone, etc. Happy Holidays! until we meet again.

August 2008: Family Photos at Balboa Park

Once again we have been blessed to have our photos taken all together by our good family friend Cheryl of Cheryl's Classic Photos . This time we went down to Balboa Park in San Diego. Here are just a few of my favorites:

September 2008: Win fabulous prizes:-)

GIVEAWAY #1
YOU CAN STILL ENTER UNTIL OCT. 20th!!!

I wanted to let you all know of an amazing BIG CONTEST GIVEAWAY over at Momma Sassy . Each of you have a chance to WIN 5 great prizes:

one of our medium SAVVY SNACK bags- your choice!

one set of burp cloths and one hair clip your choice from CC Baby Inc.

one set of 4 organic rattles from Baby U've Arrived

one pair of ROBEEZ shoes - your choice - from Baby Cottage Gifts

Just follow the instructions written at Momma Sassy and voila, you are entered to win! The contest lasts for 2 weeks, until October 20th so spread the word! I also would love to hear which Savvy Snack bag is your favorite. Buena Suerte!

GIVEAWAY #2

You also have another chance to win one of our organic Savvy Snack bags during The Lil Peanut Patch's Organic Snack Week. Visit their site and follow their instructions.

They are also doing giveaways of an assortment of various Organic and Healthy Snacks:

As well as for Heelarious, the little high heels for babies - which I haven't decided if I'm a fan yet, but they sure are cute:

Good luck! These sites are both so fun to browse, enjoy!

Come back from entering at Momma Sassy and The Lil Peanut Patch and tell me your favorite SAVVY SNACK bag too, right here---->

August 2008: Family Vacation - The Trail

Part 3 of 3 - The Trail

On Sunday we ventured up an amazingly winding road into the Sequoia National Forest to hike The Trail of 100 Giants. I was surprised Mike had held onto his cookies on the drive, unfortunately once we had arrived, Owen lost his- twice, poor little guy. He was fine soon after.

It was such a fun little walk with the kids. I had forgotten how beautiful the forest is. The sequoias were incredible. The crisp and clean air was so refreshing. We don't realize what kind of air we breath everyday until we go somewhere like that.

Owen was hilarious. He had to read each of the signs on the self-guided tour. He managed to pronounce amazingly difficult words. He never fails to impress me with his reading ability.

Eyan with his poor little chin loved the terrain and would have avoided the trail all together if I would have let him.

These tree roots were incredible, an incredibly dangerous jungle gym.

Don't let the serene environment deceive you. Our lives were in serious peril on two occasions, the culprit- a heat seeking missile in the form of an enormous pine cone. We almost lost Vanessa, Savy, and Liz to impalement. Seriously the sound of those things dropping pierced the air. At least there was some sort of warning system.

It was the perfect Sunday family activity. Here is our attempt at a family picture. Not quite perfect but we sure had a great time.

August 2008: Family Vacation - The Lake

Part 2 of 3 - The Lake

Lake Isabella was so much fun. I took a ton of photos of our day. The highlight for me was driving the jet ski. I love riding them. The best is getting air off the boat wakes and doing turns. It was fun to watch everyone enjoy them. Kelli even let Luke drive while she was on the back. Now that may seem like no big deal unless you talk to anyone in our family. Any of us will be quick to say that they will not ride with Luke. Lets just say he enjoys seeing you in the water more than on the back. Luke promised to be good with Kelli and I think he did an okay job. Dad just likes to watch us have fun, thats what he enjoys the most.

One of Mike's favorite things to do is jet skiing, but he decided to be the one to stay home with Eyan. I wish we could have worked it out to switch, but it just didn't happen. Tate's favorite part of the lake was hiking up the hill in the sand. That is what he wanted to do over and over. He is such a climber. Yes, I made him wear the life jacket when he was by the water, poor thing.

I took Owen out on the jetski and he loved it until I was going too fast. He let me know. He went out with his Auntie Liz and also with Uncle Bub.

One of my favorite Owen moments happened on this trip. My mom bought pool type rafts to float on the lake; lounging around the water is what mom does best at the beach, pool, lake, etc. Owen went out on his raft first and was quickly blown across the water along the shore because of the wind. As he was walking back to where we were holding the raft, I could "see" his mind at work. He found a piece of rope left on the beach, got a bucket and some large rocks. He put the rocks in the bucket and tied one end of the rope to the bucket handle and the other end to a corner of his raft. He walked back out into water to where he wanted to be. He dropped anchor and climbed on his raft. It was hilarious to watch and so typical of Owen, my little engineer.

We had a fun day together!

Oh and that photo of a shadow, yeah, that's me documenting myself:-) I was really there.