Scott and Sara Johnson Family

Big Changes

2011-07-03T17:03:00.001-07:00

After a very very long time on the waiting list I finally got into Nursing School. I"m attending the Glendale campus for the weekend program. I only attend class on Friday and Saturday. I started in January, and finished my first Block in June. I'm currently on my Summer break... and will start again in a couple of weeks. School makes life a little more complicated, and a lot more interesting. I'm really enjoying this opportunity to go back to school. I loved college the first time, and I am loving it the second time. I'm also very lucky to be blessed by a super supportive and helpful husband who has been spending a lot more time with the kids lately. And some great kids who have been handling the new schedule like champs.

Just a Few more Christmas Pics

2011-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

Uncle Kevin thought toy guns would be really great gifts this year

Macey didn't get one.... so she stole Matthews

Macey's cute smile

Grammy's enjoy Christmas presents too!

Johnson cousins

Christmas Festivities

2011-06-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

We always love Christmas time. We always seem to have lots of family around. On Scott's side of the family we always get to spend time with Grammy, and Kevin and Katie's family. Derek and Angie drove down to spend Christmas with us as well. On my side of the family, Jake and his family came to visit this Christmas too. We were just overflowing in family. The kids love to spend time with their cousins!

Michael and his new Hotwheels

Just one of the many princess dolls she got.

Lego creator sets are the best

Matthew got legos too!

A new leaper game!!!

A new Scooter!!! I think she's excited

Guess who gets to ride along with Macey

Opening presents at Grammy's house

Cousin Cassidy got to visit too!

Grammy's Christmas Tree

All the Montross cousins at Papa and Grandma's house

Jake and his new giant dog

Montross girl cousins: Hannah, Macey and Nimol

Montross boy cousins: Andrew, Sovann, Michael, Phearun and Matthew

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2011-06-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

Michael joined the drama club at school this year. The first play was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Michael landed the big role of "present wrapping who". I think he did an excellent job!

Ready to head off to the play.

Who Hair

Making a big entrance

His big scene

Go Daddy Christmas Party

2011-06-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Scott switched jobs a while back, and now works for Go Daddy. Turns out they really know how to party over there. The Christmas party was crazy. I couldn't believe how much money was spent on the event.... and then they started giving away money at the part. We didn't get any though :( We had a great night though. I tried my hardest to eat at least one of everything offered.... and Scott tried not to laugh at me. The carnival theme was fun, and we got to win stuffed animals for all the kids. We had a great time!

Ward Christmas Party

2011-06-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen cuter Wise Men???

hmmmm...... Hot wheels.

Can I have a Wii???

You think she really talked to Santa?

Michael's Buddy

2011-06-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Michael has been having a great time this year as a first grader. For a class project each kid took turns taking home Buddy, and chronicling the things they did together.

On the way home from school... excited to spend the week together

Playing outside....

Swim team

Saturday shopping trip to Fry's

Piano Lessons

Young Women's

2011-06-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Last Fall I was called to be the Young Women's President of our ward in Casa Grande. I had worked with the Young women for a couple of years doing camp, then personal progress, and then as Mia Maid advisor. I guess they thought I really needed to wade into this calling. I really love the girls in our ward.... and have had a great time working with them.

State Fair

2011-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I might go back and update all the stuff I've missed the last six months or so.... After reading through my old posts I realized how much I enjoy my own blog as a kind of journal of sorts.

Dawn and her kid came to visit for Halloween, and we spend one of the days together at the State Fair.... I think all the kids had a great time. Scott however thought it would be a good idea to eat Chicken Fried Steak on a stick, and then follow it by a deep fried Reeces Bar. I dont' think he was feeling to great after that. We also drank about five cups of Lemonade.

Michael and Ben in the Fun House

All the cousins on the Bumper Cars

Matthew and Brynna flying.... Matthew is little :)

Daniel and Macey

Brave Michael on the HUGE slide

Halloween

2010-11-15T15:05:00.001-07:00

Scott as usual did a great Halloween write up on our web page. You can see it here at http://www.scottnsara.com/halloween2010.html

And just for a sneak preview....

Now go to the web page for the rest of the photos, and Scott's insightful commentary.

Fall Update

2010-11-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

As you all know, if there's something I do consistently, its neglecting my blog. So here's a update to let you all know what we've been up to.

We sent the boys back to school. Michael is attending a uniformed charter school. The work is challenging... but he is excelling. Mathew is back at his preschool, and he is doing great. His speech is improving all the time.

Macey and I have had plenty of Mommy/Daughter time. And she has turned into an excellent shopping buddy.

We also got to take a trip to San Diego to meet up with our good friends Al and Alyssa. We got to spend some time at Balboa Park, the Beach, visiting some very interesting places to eat, and even got to watch some football just like the old days.

Yeah... That's right... Scott and I showed our AZ pride while we were in Cali!

Oh what do we do in the Summertime?

2010-07-22T10:12:00.001-07:00

We have cousins over for swimming

We Slip n Slide

We try to watch fireworks

We do some synchronized diving

We swim in swim meets

We watch swim meets

We go to more swim meets

We lose teeth

We fall asleep

Painting Projects

2010-05-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I took on some painting projects around the house.

I painted this sign for Scott to take the the Suns/Spurs game.

Then I decided I was tired of looking at where my wonderful children had colored on my uncleanable flat paint, and decided to do something about it.

I thought I should finally hang up the family pictures we took forever ago too.

Things are finally starting to look nice around here.

Bad Blogger

2010-05-03T10:46:00.090-07:00

Once again I've neglected my poor sad blog. This time it's been about seven month's since I've posted anything. So let's get caught up.

In December we...

Had the Johnson Family Reunion in Sedona.

Had a nice Christmas

In January we...

Visited the Mesa Southwest Museum

Celebrated Matthew's Birthday

In March we....

Visited the Phx Children's Museum

Celebrated Michael's Birthday

In April...

Matthew finished up his Gymnastics, and Michael finished up with Swimming

And now all we're doing is resting up for all our Summer activities.

This blog has moved

2010-04-30T13:39:00.001-07:00

This blog is now located at http://scottnsara.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://scottnsara.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

Michael joins the AZ Seals

2009-11-09T10:34:00.002-07:00

Michael wasn't all that interested in doing any sports other than swimming, so he joined the AZ Seals, a local year round swim club. He's seemed to enjoy it so far. There's been a couple of cold practices now that it's cooling off, and it tends to be really windy down here. We'll see how long he lasts. :)

Getting some last minute pointers from Coach Lisa

Almost there.... don't forget you have to back to the other end too! One of the adjustments to the new swim team... swimming a 50 instead of a 25 for a race.

He actually did have a neat opportunity to meet Misty Hyman, an Olympic Gold Medal winner.

School Time

2009-11-09T10:19:00.002-07:00

The boys have headed back to school for the year. They both really love to go to school. And I love them to go to school too! Macey hasn't seemed to bothered that they leave... she's been busy too.

Michael Started Kindergarten this year

Matthew is attending Pre-School again.

Macey has been playing dress up

Sleeping in her new big girl bed

and reading with daddy... she's cute.... don't look too close... her book is actually upside down.

Hmmm.... Some how I mananged to not post for about two months

2009-11-09T09:39:00.003-07:00

Guess I should recap our end of summer activities....

Michael finished his swimming season with the Casa Grande Geckos.

My nephew Andrew got baptized

Macey celebrated her birthday with Papa

Macey celebrated her birthday with her cousin Ben

And I tried my hand at sewing a doll for Macey.... She might be still trying to figure out what it is.

Is Summer Over Yet???

2009-07-27T11:19:00.003-07:00

We're pretty much all tuckered out over here.

Hair

2009-07-27T10:51:00.004-07:00

Macey has the coolest hair of any of my kids. Michael had some pretty sweet baby hair.... but Macey's is something special. I think she'll be limited in her career choices though.... Maybe Rockstar.... or Superman?

Think Flock of Seagulls here

Clark Kent?

Swim Team

2009-07-27T10:22:00.004-07:00

I"m sure you're all really surprised that Michael joined the swim team this summer. It seems the Johnson's are a little crazy about swimming. When Michael started he was only swimming freestyle, but with in a couple of weeks he was swimming all four strokes.... now he's no Michael Phelps... yet.... but he did a really good job for it being his first summer.

School's out for Summer

2009-06-04T21:23:00.005-07:00

Michael and Matthew both finished up pre-school for the year. Matthew's class had a fun picnic to finish their year up. I guess at Matthew's school they'd be getting the kids excited about going on to kindergarten, and said something about it at the picnic. I then made the mistake of telling Matthew that he wouldn't be going to kindergarten the next year. The first photo there is what happened next. He was fairly grumpy about it. Eventually he got out of his funk, and let me take a picture of him with his teacher.

Sadly we missed Michael's end of the year party, but I got to hear him sing all the songs that they were going to sing at the program. For any of you who don't know Michael... he is quite the singer. He often makes up his own songs. He has been having a harder time adjusting to the idea of going to a new bigger school. I think he'll be ready though... it's fun to see him getting bigger all the time.

Well now that school's out we've been pretty busy. We've been doing some of this...

and some of this...

and just a tiny bit of this...

For some reason Michael likes me to take pictures of his toys after he's lined them all up.

Happy Easter

2009-04-22T12:59:00.002-07:00

It's always a tradition to go and spend Easter with Grammy. She has an early church time so we get all dressed and head of to church before doing any Easter egg hunting. Then when they get back I don't let them change, because they look so cute all dressed up... except for Michael, who seems to get more handsome all the time. We had a great weekend with Grammy... and a great Easter dinner too.

The kids had a good time collecting their eggs... Grammy has a good house for egg hunting. And Macey looked super cute in her new dress!

Here's our best attempt at a family photo... at least we're all looking at the camera.

Matthew goes to School!

2009-04-17T15:43:00.002-07:00

Matthew started school this past month. I think he's really enjoying going. He's attending one of the public schools here in town that has a preschool. He has a bit of a speech delay, and they have a program there to help get him on track. His teacher there is very nice, he has a big playground, and he gets to ride the school bus. He often gets upset with me if I try and take him to school, or pick him up. He insists that he needs to ride the bus two times.

Michael is a bit jealous that Matthew gets to go to a "big school" and ride a bus. But he understands that Matthew's school will help Matthew to talk better.

So that leaves me at home two days a week with just Macey, who happens to be taking a nap at that time... what luck! I always enjoy a little extra time to myself.

ChuckECheese with Grammy

2009-04-15T12:07:00.003-07:00

I bet everyone was wondering if we'd ever make it to ChuckECheese for Michael's birthday... well how could we skip it. It's our favorite Birthday hang out spot.... well, at least it looks like Michael was having fun.
And, as always, Grammy got Michael some really nice gifts.

Camping with Grandma

2009-04-02T11:20:00.002-07:00

Camping with Grandma and the cousins from the Montross side is always a big hit with my kids. Scott always jokes that they got the "outside" Montross gene... where they always want to be outdoors.

Michael celebrated his Birthday again... the dinosaurs which have interchanging parts were the biggest hit. The boys played with them non stop. I even caught Macey with them. Rebecca wasn't as impressed.

Other camping highlights included:

Riding (and crashing) scooters and bikes down the hill.

Hiking Picacho Peak... well... some of it

And some more hiking.

We all did survive the camping trip, with minimal injuries. Macey did fall on her face... so that pushed our family picture plans back a few weeks. After camping we left and drove to Grammy's house so we could celebrate Michael's birthday just one last time. Bet you can't guess what we did. More posting to follow.

Michael turns 5

2009-04-02T10:45:00.002-07:00

Michael turned five on March 16th. I'm really on top of all my blogging lately, as you can tell. He was pretty specific about what kind of cake he wanted.... although he didn't get everything he wanted.... I'm not sure there's a cake big enough to include everything on his list. He's been really into Scooby Doo for about the past year. He wanted a cake with the whole Mystery Gang, and Scooby Doo, and the Mystery Van, and all the monsters coming to get them, and Scooby-Doo written in big purple letters. Instead we settled for Scooby-Doo, the Mystery Van, and his favorite of the monsters... the Tar Monster. He was pretty excited about the results... so that made me feel a lot better about not having met all his requests. He should have been happy... he got to celebrate his birthday three times. More posts to follow.
As for Michael... he's pretty excited about being five. Anytime anyone mentions that he is getting so big, he replies... "I'm five now". I definitely think he's gotten bigger... much taller lately anyway. He really enjoys going to school, playing with his friends, and with his brother and sister. He's getting really good at ridding his scooter too. He's very sweet, and very smart. He has a tendency to want to learn about everything... so he asks lots of questions. We really love Michael.

A Semi-Fun Day

2009-03-07T16:39:00.002-07:00

I guess a little blog competition is good. It's motivated Scott to update our family web page a little more often than his usual once or twice a year. He's done it again. Check out our trip to Glendale's Touch a Truck event.

http://www.scottnsara.com/semi-fun2009.html

Stop Global Laming

2009-02-28T15:14:00.007-07:00

With everyone driving hybrids now, what could that giant black cloud be? .... "no... that's not smog... it's smug. It's one of the leading causes of Global Laming..."

Super Comic

2009-02-26T20:20:00.005-07:00

This may seem a little silly... but it's a comic strip I drew for a Home Family and Personal Enrichment meeting back when I was the Enrichment leader. I thought it would be fun to post it. It took a long time to do... so I might as well get some more miles out of it, and I had a lot of fun doing it. Some of it was traced and some of it I free handed, but of course the women super heroes needed some wardrobe updates. Their original costumes were a little less than modest, as you could imagine. The meeting was based on a talk by Pres Faust on "The Forces that will Save You" (you should read it if you get a chance). So we took a super hero spin on it. It was a good evening... I thought so anyway. Don't think I'm being sacrilegious in the strip... It's meant to make a point, while still keeping it a little light.

Matthew turns Three!!!

2009-02-19T15:23:00.004-07:00

Matthew turned three on January 16th. I'm sure you all can tell how on top of this whole blogging thing I am. I generally am about a month or so late on posting anything that happens in our lives. Anyone who knows Matthew shouldn't have too hard of a guess on what kind of Birthday cake he wanted, and where we should go to celebrate his Birthday. So I made him a Hulk Smash Birthday cake.... I even dyed the cake mix green so the cake and the frosting was green. I think he liked it.... and I thought it turned out pretty good. We went up to Grammy's house for Matthews Birthday because of it's proximity to our favorite Birthday hang out Chuck E Cheese... well that, and we like spending time with "Wa Wa" as Matthew calls her. She got him a few gifts, we ate pizza, played games, and took a trip to Toys R us for him to pick something out for himself.

The next week my Mom, Becca, Hannah, and Andrew came down to visit, and bring Matthew some nice gifts. Becca is Matthew's favorite Aunt (sorry Dawn, Katie, and Angie), and sometimes I think he might like her better than me. I think he's secretly plotting to move to Becca's house. So needless to say he was pretty excited for her to come and visit, and Grandma and his cousins.

Matthew is getting to be a big boy. He wants to go to school really bad, and has a great desire for learning. He loves to play outside with Michael on our play set, jumping on the tramp, or ridding his bike. He likes to play the Leapster, and is starting to learn how to spell his name. He gets most of the right letters... just not in the right order. He's a good helper, and will get dressed by himself, and put his things away when he's asked to. I'm looking forward for another year of Matthew. He has the cutest smile, and always has a hug and a kiss for me.

Fun Christmas Activities

2009-02-09T14:52:00.006-07:00

We had lots of fun over Christmas.... here's some of our more enjoyable activities.

Riding scooters with Daddy, and all the cousins

Hulk Smashing Uncle Derek

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippo with cousin Cassidy, by the way, Macey is surprisingly good at this game.

Playing at the zoo with the Montross cousins

And of course, some Macey Cassidy bonding... in matching jammies

Sleepy Kids

2009-01-23T22:44:00.002-07:00

Scott updated our home page with some really cute pictures of our sleepy kids. Be sure to check it out!

http://www.scottnsara.com//sleeping2008.html

Christmas

2009-01-23T13:11:00.003-07:00

Our Christmas gift from us to you... this wonderful Blog! ; )

Merry Christmas to everyone! We had a fun Holiday season this year. The kids and I spent a couple of days with my sister Becca before Christmas, so the kids could hang out with their cousins... and of course so Becca and I could hang out. Christmas this year was with the Montross family. We enjoyed a fondue Christmas Eve dinner (a Montross family tradition), and then spent Christmas day with the my family as well. The kids (and Scott) all enjoyed ridding scooters with all the cousins, and of course opening presents. After Christmas we went to the zoo, and enjoyed a visit from Scott's brother Derek, his wife Angie, and their little girl Cassidy. More pictures to come.

Macey got some new cups for Christmas... maybe now she can get off the bottle... or give it to her new baby.

She also got a stroller... to push her new baby in, and all of her other babies. And probably her favorite present of all... new shoes! Macey loves shoes. In fact, her first word, other than Momma or Da was ... shoe.

Matthew seemed pretty happy with his new hulk action figures... until he opened...

The Hulk Smash Gloves!!! Did Matthew get anything other than hulk stuff??? Let's see there were some pajamas... but those were Hulk too. Seriously... he did get some really nice clothes, a new leapster game and some other things.

Michael got some presents he really liked... and one... not so much. Overall he got a lot of nice things. He got a bug maker (we've made lots of fun little bugs), a craft that makes monsters, some nice clothes, and the Scooby Doo gang. On a side note, Michael's Iron Man action figure, and Matthew's Hulk action figure have had some really great fights.

Somehow I failed to take any pictures of Scott or Me opening any presents. But in case you were wondering, we both got some nice things. I especially enjoyed my multitude of sweaters, and my peppermint bark (my favorite Christmas time treat).

Disneyland

2008-12-20T20:19:00.007-07:00

This is my last post for our California Vacation. I had a really great time at Disneyland. It's one of my favorite places to visit. There is something about the atmosphere there, that other parks can't match. Legoland has some rides that are similar, but Disneyland makes every part of being there special. Even when you're standing in line, there are things that make you feel part of the ride before you get on it. That's not the case for every ride.... but a lot of them are like that. I really enjoyed walking around and looking at everything, especially since it was close to Christmas, lots of things had a holiday twist to them. The big castle was all decked out, and so was the Small World ride. All covered in tons of Christmas lights. They had a giant Christmas tree, the parade had Santa Clause in it, and the Haunted Mansion had been made over with the Nightmare before Christmas decor.

My favorite rides were Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates, and Space Mountain. Michael says his favorite ride is Space Mountain too. I'm not sure if that's true or not.... it could be that he knows that we think it's cool that he liked that ride. I thought for sure he'd hate it. He complained about the Matterhorn, Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. I thought he'd be scared in the dark... but it turned out that was the advantage. He couldn't see what he was getting into. After the ride he told me... "That's it??? Just one part??? We didn't even go down!". R i g h t .... we didn't go down.... sure Michael. I'm just happy he had a good time. He even went on again with Scott (we love stroller passes!). Matthew loved the Matterhorn. He was pretty excited that there were two monsters on it. Poor Matthew was too short for some of the rides... while we were fighting/convincing/bribing Michael to go on the rides, Matthew was begging us to go, but couldn't. He missed out on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Thunder Mountain... which he threw a giant tantrum over. Poor guy.... maybe next year. Macey was just happy to get to ride anything. That's the one thing that Disneyland is good about. Babies can ride almost anything.... she even slept on a couple. I think that Scott feels that even on a slow day, Disneyland is far too crowded... but I think he had a good time too.

We had a great time on vacation. I feel like we wait, and wait, and plan so long for our trips, and then when we're on it they go so fast. I really tried to enjoy the time we were all getting to spend together. Time sure does fly by. Now it's time to start planning again.

Me and Michael on the Matterhorn, Matthew being eaten by a Jaguar

Jungle Boat Ride, It's a Small World Christmas Lights, Finding Nemo

Scott and Macey enjoying Small World, Autotopia (my kids are bad drivers!)

Where's the Meat?

2008-12-20T19:44:00.004-07:00

The other night I was making dinner... nothing too fancy. I had planned to make some omelets for everyone, and then decided that I would just make some grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids, and the omelets for Scott and me. Michael is convinced that he doesn't like eggs, even though he regularly eats them. Matthew, however, will eat almost nothing with out us forcing him to. I decided I wasn't up for a fight that evening, and broke my rule of "I'm not a short order cook, everyone eats the same meal". I gave Michael his cheese sandwich, and after eating about half of it he says to me... "Mom, this sandwich is weak". I was surprised by his choice of words, and asked him what he meant. So then he says... "It needs some meat". I just thought it was so funny. Michael has turned into some kind of man who always need some meat with his dinner... cheese sandwich just won't cut it. So I gave him some deli slices... just waiting for the day he eats us out of house and home.

Sea World

2008-12-17T20:10:00.006-07:00

We had a great time at Sea World too. This is Scott's favorite stop. I always enjoy Sea World too. There's something really amazing and still terrifying about those trainers swimming with a killer whale. The Shamu show was great. They like to include all this "feel good" stuff in the shows. But we would be happy with an entire show of just jumps and splashes. The dolphin show is also neat. Amazing how high they can jump. They're also really good at being funny. So are the animals in the sea lion show. They have this little otter that's in it.... it was so cute and funny. Who would have thought that sea animals could be comedians. Sea World also has a couple of rides. Matthew was too small to ride the big ones... and we didn't make it to the kiddie ones in time... they didn't have them last time we were there, and didn't realize they were there till the park was nearly closed. By that time the kids had discovered the giant playground, and were very reluctant to leave it. It's really cool, they have all these huge cargo nets to climb, and bridges and slides to maneuver. They also have a really big bouncy enclosure and a little toddler area that Macey could play in. And in addition to all of that you still have lots of animals to look at. My favorites are the manatees, polar bears, and beluga whales. The boys liked the penguins, and Macey liked the fish aquariums. We also fed the dolphins. I always feel a little bit gypped that I'm paying to feed their dolphins.... seems like we're just making things easier for them.... right??? Yeah... I know, I'm paying for the experience, and if they made it free then too many people would do it. But the boys all like it. They only give you three little fish, so I didn't get to do it. Maybe next year Macey and I will use all the fish. I thought the pictures we got at Sea World were some of the best of the trip. Michael has some classic faces.... on the splash ride, and feeding the dolphin.

Legoland

2008-12-17T15:33:00.003-07:00

Legoland was fun. This is Michael's favorite place to go. He prefers Legoland to Disneyland. His favorite ride is the Horse ride. And this year Matthew got to ride it, and he loved it too. There's something about them getting to ride it all by themselves that makes the ride great. Michael also liked the car racing ride (he drove much better here then at Autotopia). The downside to this ride was that you had to be 3 to ride it. So Matthew wasn't allowed to ride. And if you look carefully in the background you can see Matthew pouting on the bench, but still trying to sneak a peek... wistfully at the ride he wanted to go on. This would become a familiar theme for Matthew throughout the whole vacation. He wanted to ride everything.... while Michael need a lot of convincing for some of the rides. Unfortunately for Macey there was only two rides at Legoland that she was allowed to ride.... and one of them was closed. Poor Macey! She didn't let it get her down though. She enjoyed watching the boys, and walking around while they rode the rides. Scott's favorite ride was the pirate boat ride, where your boat has water guns on it, and you can shoot the bystanders. It also has water guns that the bystander's can shoot back at them. So when Scott and Matthew rode, I was trying to get Scott, but ended up getting Matthew all wet... he was kind of mad when he got off the ride... but I'm not sure he knew it was me who had gotten him all wet. Matthew's favorite rides were the horse, a different pirate boat ride then the one that gets you wet, and the beetle bounce (a ride that is a miniature version of the Tower of Terror, that drops you, pulls you up, and then drops you again). My favorite was probably the Pharaoh ride (similar to the Buzz Lightyear ride) and the Dragon roller coaster, it has some really cool Lego builds inside the castle before you go out and ride the coaster. We also saw some little 4-D short shows they had that were nice.

Johnson Family Vacation

2008-12-17T14:44:00.007-07:00

I know you've all been waiting for a post on our vacation. We got home from a couple of days ago, but I tend to put things off. So, I'm posting now so everyone can see how much fun we had. We all had a really great time. We went to California for about a week for some relaxation.... well I guess I wouldn't really call it relaxation... but it sure was fun. Maybe our next vacation we can do some relaxing.... this one was more about seeing how much we could do in the time we were there.
We left Sunday morning and made our first stop in Yuma. There is a really cool park there, (it's right off the freeway by the river) and figured we'd let the kids out of the car for a bit before we had to drive more. Macey seemed a little confused at all the time spent in the car over the course of the trip. Even now when I put her in the car seat she fusses.... seems she's concerned that she won't be getting out again anytime soon. Surprisingly, Matthew was our best passenger. He barely made a sound the whole way there and back... a nice change from our last trip with him.

After lunch in San Diego we headed over to the beach in Del Mar. Our kids haven't ever really gotten to play at the beach before, so it was really fun for them, and for me to watch them play. Macey was really intrigued by the sand, and the boys spent most of their time throwing rocks into the water, and running away from the waves. Matthew, however got caught by one. He was really mad at the water, and accused it of getting him. It was really funny... I mean sad that he was so cold, wet and angry.

It was pretty overcast at the beach as you can see... but the weather wasn't too cold. And Matthew didn't lose any toes or anything... even after he took a cold shower to get all the sand off of him. We really enjoyed the beach.... just wish it wasn't quite so messy ; ) Well on to the rest of our trip.

Macey Walks!!!

2008-11-04T15:26:00.004-07:00

After many many months of plodding and pleading, Macey has finally decided that she would finally grace the world with her walking abilities. For some time I have suspected that she could really walk. That she was just bidding her time until walking benefited her, and now we know the truth. Macey CAN walk! This is what I've been telling myself. She's been very coy about the whole process. I would stand her up, and try to get her to take some steps, and she would just smile at me, and then politely sit down. But now she's just walking everywhere. She really went from just taking a couple of steps, to all of a sudden walking everywhere around the house. She's very proud of her self now, and has been wearing her self out every night making laps around the house. Go Macey!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-04T10:29:00.006-07:00

Well I'm happy to report that I did finish making the costumes in time. They were a little bit tricky this year, trying to make my boys look super muscular. But I think they turned out really good, if I'm allowed to brag a little bit. I really look forward to Halloween each year, and making the costumes. I know it's supposed to be for the kids, but I enjoy sewing, and use this time to allow my self to have a big project each year. This was the first year that I let the boys decide what they wanted to be, instead of just choosing what I wanted to make, and then convincing them that they would be good costumes. I talked to Michael about it first, and he would change his mind ever day. When I asked Matthew what he wanted to be he said "Op pe" which translates into English from Matthew's secret language to "Hulk Smash". He could not be persuaded into being something else. He loves the Hulk... possibly because he's green, and that's Matthew's favorite color. So I started brainstorming on how on earth I could possibly make a Hulk costume. I figured the only way would be some really stretchy fabric, and a whole lot of batting. Michael finally settled on Superman, so then I thought that Macey would make a super cute Wonder woman, and that rounded out our Super Trio.

Michael's preschool was going to have a "Pumpkin Party", which would allow them to wear their costumes to school. Michael was pretty excited for this because he loves school, and his teacher Ms. Beth. So he helped me make some Halloween Sugar cookies in the shapes of Pumpkins, Ghosts and Bats, and did some good directing how they should be decorated. His teacher told me I could come at the end of class when they were doing "Show and Tell" so I could get some pictures of him and his classmates in their costumes. I got there just in time to hear Michael telling his class about his costume and about the awesome super abilities of Superman, which surprisingly included the power to stack chairs, and to kill mean fish that might try to eat people, like sharks. I was surprised to hear this, because I never knew that Superman was so good at stacking chairs, or that there was a large threat of bad fish trying to eat people. Luckily Michael is on the job as Superman this year!

We decided to head up to Glendale like we do every year to spend Halloween with Grammy. Her ward always has a great Halloween party and Trunk or Treat that includes a yummy chili dinner. The kids had a really good time. They always enjoy the little carnival that they do inside the building. Grammy and I had decorated the trunk of my car earlier so that she and Scott would look really festive handing out candy to all the kids (I'm not sure that Scott actually handed out candy, mostly just tried to make sure that Grammy gave out all the candy that he doesn't like first). I took the boys around to all the cars to make sure they got their candy. Matthew picked up on what he was supposed to do pretty quick, and could actually say something that sounded like "trick or treat" which was great. Michael was an old pro, and didn't need Mom and Matthew slowing him down... so I kept having to remind him to stay with us. Macey hung out with Grammy and Scott, and I'm not sure how many packages she ate of M&M's but I'm fairly sure that it's more than I would have allowed her to eat. Which is why it's so fun to hang out with Daddy and Grammy.

We all had a great Halloween, and hope you all did too! be sure to check out our home page
http://www.scottnsara.com/ for more Halloween pics, and Scott's take on the evening. You can also view all our previous Halloween outings.

Michael's First Day of School

2008-09-17T13:55:00.008-07:00

Michael just started preschool this past week. He's been very excited about school, and getting to go. Although... he does keep asking me when he can ride the bus. I keep trying to explain that you don't get to ride the bus yet. He really likes his teacher, and has made some friends in his class. I'm really excited about his making friends... I know it's silly, but I'm just as excited about him going to school as he is. I do feel sad about Matthew though... he asks me every time Michael goes to school if he can go too. So I feel bad about having to tell him no... someday though... he'll be off too! It's so fun that they're getting big. But I am very happy about Michael. I think he's going to do great at school.

Anthem Sprint Triathlon

2008-09-17T13:55:00.004-07:00

After much training and stress, I completed my first sprint triathlon! I trained most of the summer to get ready... and was feeling pretty good that I might meet my time goal for finishing. But things don't always go as you plan. The race started at around 5, and it was pretty hot... so I ran slower than I wanted to, but that was ok, I still had the biking and the swimming left to catch up. The biking was going really well... until I hit the 11th mile... and my tire went flat. So the last two miles I walked/jogged with my bike. I was pretty tired after that, but I finished the swim. My time was much slower than I wanted, but I finished... and that's what's important. So I plan on redeeming my self in another couple of months when I try again. Hopefully the second go round will end better... then maybe I can quit this crazy sport. I'll keep you all posted.

Macey turns ONE!!!

2008-07-30T11:38:00.003-07:00

Macey had her first birthday last week. I can't believe that she's really a year old. She still seems so tiny compared to how the boys were at this age. She sure is fun though... Macey loves to smile, and play with her brothers. She'll always crawl to find them when they leave the room. She also loves to swim. Macey is a really good eater. She will eat what ever I put on her plate... fruits, veggies, and even casseroles or omelets. Macey is really good at crawling... Scott says she's much better than either of the boys were. And now she really enjoys standing up and walking along any furniture she can find. She says "Ma", and "uhuh" (the same way that Matthew says it). We're really happy that we have our Macey.

Here's the birthday girl patiently waiting to eat her cake... you can't see... but she's smiling at her Daddy.

Everyone really enjoyed the cake

especially Macey!

I guess all the partying really wore her out... good night Macey... Happy Birthday!

Latest Projects

2008-07-25T11:38:00.004-07:00

I really enjoy making little things for my kids, and doing small projects, mostly sewing projects, but I've tackled some other things before. So, my latest projects were towel hoodies for Matthew, and Macey. Scott thought they were being left out, since I had made one for Michael, and never made any for them. To be fair, I think I made Michael's before the other two were even born... but I guess I was still a little behind. I also made "I Spy" bags for the kids to play with at church. These were really fun to do, because I got to fill them with all kinds of fun little toys. If any of you know Michael, then you know that he loves to play with these little tiny toys, and that he's constantly losing them. Well I got to take all of them and put them in one place... now they'll never be lost again. Which makes us both pretty happy. And the boys enjoyed "helping" to pick what would go in there bags. I had to take over after a while though, because Michael thought that most everything should be in his bag. Now... I need some help from all you crafty people out there. I was recently called to be the Enrichment Leader in our ward. At our next meeting we're doing some supplemental crafts to kind of go along with our theme. We need one that will only cost around a dollar to make. We're looking for something that will either bring reverence into your home, or provide something for your kids to do at church that will keep them reverent. Any ideas???? I really need help!

Swimming at Grammy's

2008-07-16T15:07:00.011-07:00

We got to stay with Grammy for a whole week while Scott was doing a training in Phoenix. We had a really good time playing with Grammy, going to the Library, shopping, and of course doing lots and lots of swimming.

Both the boys have really come a long way this Summer with their swimming. Michael is swimming all over the pool, and Matthew is enjoying him self now, and he thinks he can swim as good a Michael..... But this Summer they both have enjoyed jumping off the diving board with out any coaxing from Mom or Dad. Macey also really loves swimming. When she first started swimming this Summer she would laugh the whole time she was in the pool... because swimming is really funny. Now she just has a good time watching the boys, and floating around in her lounger.

If you own a pool, then you must get some torpedoes. They are hands down the best pool toys you can own. Scott and I really like to play this game where we try and hit each other with the torpedoes. It can be especially difficult to get Scott. He's an excellent swimmer, and really fast... so trying to get him is quite a challenge. But well worth the effort if I can hit him right in his goggles.

Fourth of July

2008-07-16T11:17:00.003-07:00

We had a great July Fourth this year. We always spend this Holiday with Scott's Mom. Her ward was having a patriotic breakfast, with some really good breakfast casseroles, and biscuits and gravy.... and of course lots of juice for Matthew. In the afternoon we went swimming, and then later that evening we went over to the Glendale Community College to watch the fireworks. We weren't sure they were going to have them, since the weather was a little iffy, but the set them off.... even if they were a little close to the ground. We hope everyone else had a great Holiday too!

Grammy, Michael and Macey in their flag shirts

Watching the fireworks

Macey's Crawling!!!

2008-06-30T15:44:00.002-07:00

Macey started crawling about a month or two ago. She's really quite good at it. Better than both the boys were, according to Scott. She's not walking yet, though she's doing quite a bit of cruising. I keep thinking she should be walking.... but she's much smaller than the boys were. Every time I think that she's too small, I look back at the pictures of when she was born, and think how far she's come.

Pool Problems

2008-05-28T16:22:00.003-07:00

We had been having quite a bit of trouble trying to keep the water balanced in the pool this year, and after much thought, and much money spent on chemicals that weren't working, we decided to drain our pool (I would not recomend doing this at this point in the year, we did this about a month ag0). While the pool was being refilled we thought it would be fun to swim in it. The boys had a great time being able to go every where in the pool while the water was only a couple of feet deep. Scott and I had fun too.

Here's the boys swimming

Here's cute baby Macey helping us fill the pool.

Tag???

2008-05-22T11:05:00.003-07:00

I guess I'll play too. I'm guessing that this is the blog version of those silly forward emails with a hundred questions in them. Luckily this game only has 4 questions.

3 Joys in my life: Chocolate, Scott, my kids

3 Fears: Drowning, Falling off a giant cliff (with out a rope), bugs

3 Goals: Finish my triathlon (with out looking like a total goof), plan some Enrichment activities that people will actually come to, don't eat my entire box of mother's day chocolates in one sitting

3 Obsessions:Training for my triathlon, doing these silly puzzles on my DS, trying to watch all the episodes of Top Chef that I've missed this season

Michael

2008-05-14T17:13:00.004-07:00

This is Michael's first time writing his own name. I was really excited when he called me to show off his work. I knew he could spell his name, but he had never written it before. We bought him a Leapster for Christmas, and then for his birthday we got him the Letter Factory (a good investment for your pre-schooler). He would always type his name in at the beginning of every game. Then when we started practicing writing, I guess he pulled it all together. I think he did a good job... even if his penmanship isn't great yet. An d I think it's cute that his "L" is backwards.

Puzzled

2008-05-14T17:07:00.002-07:00

I always think it's funny the way that kids fall asleep doing random stuff. Michael was working on this puzzle while I was doing some work on the computer. After a while I noticed that he wasn't talking anymore (Michael pretty much talks all day long), so I looked over, and he had passed out. I never knew puzzles could be so exhausting.

Charge!

2008-04-16T17:23:00.003-07:00

Scott really enjoys playing basketball. So much so that he gets up pretty much every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5am to go and play at church before he goes to work. Well this morning, after playing a great first game, he took a charge from someone quite a bit bigger than him (think Steve Nash vs Charles Barkley), and this is the result. So Scott and I got to spend some quality time together in the ER while we waited for the doctor to come and staple his head closed. Scott handled the whole thing pretty well... except he was a little peeved with the doctor who said he would only be getting two staples,(so he wouldn't need any thing to numb the pain), and he ended up with three. He even went off to work later.

Easter

2008-04-16T16:59:00.002-07:00

We spent Easter this year with Grammy (Scott's Mom). The kids and I headed over there after our fun camping trip, and Scott met us there. We had a really nice Easter weekend with Grammy. On Saturday her ward had a little Easter picnic, and the boys really enjoyed that. I think Scott enjoyed the first part, and then had to rush home for some March Madness. Sunday was nice too. I always make the kids get dressed in their Sunday clothes before they check out what the Easter Bunny left for them. Usually it makes for nice pictures too. They could have turned out better this year, but all the pictures of the kids during the egg hunt were of their backs. (I just couldn't seem to get in front of little boys trying to find candy, imagine that.) And then I tried really hard to get a picture of all three of them. I took about ten, and not one of them has all three kids looking at me.

Matthew checking out his basket

Michael with his collection of eggs

Could it be... they're both smiling... well kind of
They sure look handsome though in their new ties

I love Macey in this dress. It goes perfect with her pink skin, and dark hair.

Camping

2008-03-31T17:05:00.009-07:00

Macey chillin in Grandma's trailer

Matthew and his beloved Diego bike

This was Macey and Matthew's first camping trip. We joined Grandma, Becca, Hannah and Andrew over at Roker Lake State Park (near Safford AZ). Scott didn't come with us because he had to work (and because he hates camping). Even with out Scotty we had a good time. I think that Matthew was made for camping. He got to stay outside as much as he wanted, ride his bike all day, drink all the soda he could drink (thanks to Becca!), and eat tons of snacks. Michael and Macey had fun too.

I took Hannah and Michael fishing a couple of times. I didn't fish because I'm too cheap to buy a licence. But it was fun teaching Michael how, and helping Hannah out. After a couple of lousy outings I started asking around for where we could fish. The second day we went out to another lake, and the ranger there showed us a good spot. About 10 minutes later Hannah had caught her first fish. Then Michael got a bite, and he reeled in his fish all by him self. I was pretty proud of him. While I was trying to get Michael's fish off the hook, Hannah caught her second fish. That was a pretty tricky time for me, because while Hannah enjoys the act of fishing, she doesn't want to have anything to do with the actual fish. So she reeled her fish in, but then wouldn't touch it, and I had to come over and get her fish too. When we got back to camp I started cleaning, and cutting up the fish, and Matthew thought that was pretty neat, and sat and watched me the whole time I did it.

Michael caught the biggest fish that day. I told him to hold up his fish so I could take a picture... I guess he didn't know I meant by the line. It was funny... he just grabbed the fish.

This is our cousin Hannah, she sure is a good fisher, and she did a good job of helping out with all the kids on the camp out, especially keeping Macey company. Thanks Hannah!

Matthew watching Mommy work.

The top two fish are Hannah's, Michael's is the bottom one.

Here's Michael and cousin Andrew with the dogs Roxy and Socks (I think those are their names, but don't ask me which one is which).

Grandma sure cooked some wonderful breakfasts.... we just won't talk about the dinners. :)

This might have been how Becca spend the whole camping trip.

Oh wait... Becca did make it outside with out her cell phone... or did she just put it down while she took this picture?

Thanks for inviting us Grandma... we had a great time!

Michael turns 4

2008-03-30T16:11:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Michael's fourth birthday at Chuck E Cheese this year... again. But everyone seems to love Chuck E Cheese.... even Scott. Michael was really excited for his birthday. In the weeks preceding it he'd ask me when his birthday was, and I'd tell him in two more weeks, or 3 more days, and he'd always say "I can't wait that long". But his birthday finally came, and now he's a big four year old. That also meant that he could get out of his car seat, and into a booster chair. He was super excited about that, especially since he got one handed down from his very cool cousin Andrew. Now he feels like a really big boy. So we had a great time eating pizza and playing games... it seemed like we had 200 tokens, they seemed to last for ever. I think Grammy even enjoyed herself. Hannah brought along one of her Nancy Drew books, and Grammy read it while we all played games. Scott had fun playing the basketball game, and even hit the 100 ticket jackpot for scoring 60 points in the time allotted. That was pretty exciting. I really like the picture down below of Michael playing Skee-Ball. He looks really intense. Michael got some cool presents too. His favorite was his "Letter Factory" game for his Leapster. He told me today "Thanks mom for getting me my Letter Factory Game. I really liked learning all my letters, now I don't have to go to school" he he he.... he's funny.

Michael riding in the big Monster Truck

Scotty winning the basketball jackpot... he's got nice form, doesn't he

Michael the Skee-Ball pro

Matthew liked playing this game... even without putting in a token

Swinging

2008-03-30T15:58:00.005-07:00

I thought these pictures of the kids swinging in the backyard were cute. This was Macey's first time swinging for real (not just sitting in there while the boys swing), and she had a lot of fun. She has a really cute laugh. We like to play in the yard a lot. The boys jump on the trampoline, swing, and Matthew likes to throw rocks in the pool. But it will be swimming season soon enough, and then they will get swim, instead of wishing that they were swimming. Actually, both of them fell into the pool this winter. But I was right there both times to pull them out. Matthew's experience was worse, because it was really cold the day he fell in. He was trying to help me rake up some leaves, and wasn't watching where he was stepping. Michael was riding Matthew's Diego bike around the pool when he fell in. Michael did a good job of not freaking out... but he's my good little swimmer. But summer is just around the corner. :)

Matthew's Second Birthday!

2008-03-30T15:18:00.013-07:00

So, Matthew turned two this year. He's getting to be a pretty big boy. I made him the Diego cake, because Diego is his favorite show. I let each boy pick a movie

or show that they want to watch each day, and Michael's changes from day to day (usually), but Matthew picks Diego every time. Both Matthew and Michael were pretty excited about the cake. Michael loves animals, so he liked all the animals on the cake.

Our family is lucky enough to have two Grandmothers who love all our kids very much. Here, Grandma is pretty excited about Matthew's birthday... maybe even more than Matthew is. But she gave him his favorite present of the year, a Diego dinner set. It came with a plate, bowl, a cup, and a fork and spoon set. He always wants to eat/drink from his Diego stuff.... even if it's dirty. I get lots of "why mom" when I tell him he can't use it. Matthew is a special boy. He loves riding his (you guessed right!) Diego big wheel bike, jumping on the trampoline (and his bed), playing with Michael, making Macey laugh, and reading books.

Christmas Fun

2008-01-18T20:43:00.001-07:00

We really had a good Christmas this year. It was especially crazy not being at home (due to our water damage) . But I always find it tricky to juggle time between families. For some reason it always ends up that Jake and his family visit on the year it's supposed to be the Johnson Christmas. But we always make it work. We got to spend Christmas day with Grammy, and the evening with the Montross family. We also spend lots of time with the Montross family playing, going to the zoo, riding the train at McCormick Park, and just hanging out. I think all the Montross (and Bueler too!) cousins all had a really good time together.

Sara's Family - Macey

2008-01-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

Macey sure has been a blessing to our family. She is happy and smiley all the time. She loves her brothers a lot.... even when they try to give her giant hugs, and steal her toys. She just smiles, and laughs at them. She is growing.... just not very fast :) We were able to bless her this past month... she looked beautiful in her pretty dress that her Grammy got for her. She's also starting to eat baby food... even though I'm not sure that she's too excited about it.

Macey and her Christmas Loot

Baby Macey

Getting Ready to Eat

Sara's Family - Matthew

2008-01-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

Matthew seems to be growing up awfully fast too. It seems like he was just a baby, and now he's all grown up. I guess that's what happens when you have another baby. Matthew is big and strong and healthy. He is very brave, and is willing to try most anything.... unless it is something to eat. Then it's a whole other story. Matthew likes to jump on the trampoline, ride his Diego bike, and follow Michael around, and steal all his animals. We also just recently cut off all of his pretty golden curls. I know they are missed, but it was time for him to have a big boys hair cut. It really makes him look different. These are his "before" and "after" shots.

Sara's Family - Michael

2008-01-16T21:41:00.001-07:00

Michael sure has grown a lot, He'll turn 4 this year. He's very cute and smart, and silly. He is a good big brother, and is always singing to Macey and Matthew. He loves to swim, and read. He also loves animals. His favorite movie right now is Evan Almighty. Matthew got a big pirate ship for Christmas, but I always find Michael playing with it, and it's filled with all his animals, and he's usually saying "Everyone..... Get on the Ark!!!"

Baby Michael

Michael at the Zoo

Michael and his Blankie