Johansen Family

Sugarplum Fairy 5K

2013-04-03T19:32:00.002-07:00

This was such a fun race that I did with a bunch of my friends. I ran soooo VERY slow - but I ran the whole thing, which was a big accomplishment for me! I am grateful for such fun friends who motivate and inspire me to reach new goals. And plus we got to keep the fairy wings - score! Jill was in heaven...

California Trip over Thanksgiving Break

2013-04-01T09:01:00.002-07:00

We came home from Utah for just a week and then hopped in the car and headed to LA to meet my new twin nieces! They were born in August and this would be my first time to meet them. They are so adorable! Cute cute baby girls. They are very close in age to Ben - only 3 months apart.

While staying at my Grandma's house - we had a family get together and Kenny decided Charlie's haircut needed some help. Apparently I missed a few spots.... Uncle Kenny to the rescue...

Ben also got lots of special attention from my Uncle Mike and Grandma. He was fed very well and loved sitting up in the high chair.

Jill also rekindled her friendship with Coco - my Grandma's dog. Jill is so fond of Coco. And Coco continues to put up with Jill and all her love. These pictures are kind of shadowy, but so cute to see the two cuddling watching TV together.

We also spent a day at Knott's - the kids loved all of the rides in Camp Snoopy. Another fun day!

And of course, we had to see the Endeavour! Very impressive and amazing to see in person.

Randoms from November 2012

2013-04-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

In between our trip to Utah and our trip to California for Thanksgiving, we captured a few other fun moments. Ben started on solid foods in the high chair. He is a champion eater (I mean obviously...). He took to the spoon really well and sure loves his baby food.

November was VERY cold here (for Arizona). We went outside to play and bundled Ben all up! It was probably like 50 degrees. Yes. 50 degrees. I know....

We walked by Brian and Mindy's house, which happens all the time since it's right down the street. This particular day though Jill ran up to the door and knocked and looked in the windows - waiting for Aunt Mindy or Uncle Brian to open up. Such a bummer. ;( It was so cute though that she knew this house was where they used to be.

An Historic Day...

2013-03-03T20:34:00.003-07:00

On November 10th, 2012 let it be known that we were finally were able to gather up enough hair to do THIS:

big deal around here. Jill's hair has been coming in slow but it's definitely growin! She most surely will have brown hair - and I think it might even be thick! I am excited!! I am reeeeeeally hoping we can do some cute pigtails for her 3rd birthday at the end of June. Please pray with me. Either way, she is just so beautiful - and I love this little girl so much. She has such a bright personality and always makes us laugh. Lately she has been talking up a storm and I am getting better at understanding her. She says things like: "This is fine, right Mom" (while holding a chocolate she wants to eat). And she also says "oh darn it" when something falls. Another favorite of ours is when she tries to get Ben's attention and yells: "Ben, Ben look at me look at me Ben look at me look at me!" over and over and over - until Ben finally looks over to see her standing on her head or something silly. She WHINES constantly and does things Charlie never did (like color with markers on her face). She also loves make up and will usually sit next to me in the bathroom while I get ready and beg for me to put make up on her. I usually give in to a little eye shadow and some lip gloss. She LOVES lip gloss. We love her just the way she is and think she adds some much needed spice to our family.

Final Utah Post! Discovery Gateway & Provo

2013-03-03T20:15:00.002-07:00

So this is my LAST post of our Utah trip - it's only taken me an entire month to blog our 1 week vacation - not bad, right? Our last few days in Utah were fun - we spent a day at the Gateway in Salt Lake and took the kids to the Discovery Children's Museum. It was SO SO cute. My kids probably could have played there for many more hours. We have a annual pass to our Children's Museum here in Tucson - but this one is definitely much nicer. The water play area was a huge hit as well as the construction stuff. It was fun for us and the kids to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa too. We also got the chance to meet up with some friends of ours in Provo for dinner one night - Blake and Kara, and the Eldredges met us for some Wingers (YUM!!). Being with friends brought back lots of fun BYU memories for us.

And now I can officially say that I am done posting about this vacation!! Up next: our vacation to California to meet my twin nieces Paige and Brynn!! yay!! ;-)

Cascade Springs

2013-02-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

On Monday we did some good ol' family fun. We went to Dairy Keen (the home of the train) in Heber for lunch. I actually ran into some old friends from California that now live there. It was fun chatting with the McEuen's for a few minutes. Such a wonderful family. After that we were off to Cascade Springs for a little Johansen family nature walk.

OK, before you start questioning my mothering skills - let me just say that Jill was BEGGING to do this. She was all into it. Dave and her were having a grand ol' time pretending to dunk her in all of the streams.

And apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Fun times.

Uncle Tom & Aunt Sandy's for Dinner

2013-02-15T15:53:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed a yummy family dinner at Uncle Toms and Aunt Sandy's house. Ben was finally able to spend some time with his paternal-paternal great grandmother - Grandma Johansen. We also snapped a quick 4 generation picture. It's amazing to think where we all came from, and how quickly families grow! Also fun to note, Jill is wearing an outfit that I wore as a child.

Visiting Temple Square

2013-02-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

After going to church with Lindsay, we thought we'd take the kids to visit Temple Square for a while before heading to dinner at Dave's Aunt and Uncle's home. It turned out to be a wonderful Sunday activity. We enjoyed taking the kids through the visitors center, chatting with some missionaries, looking at gospel art, and visiting the Christis. I always have an awe-inspiring feeling when I walk into that room. The kids also loved "reverently" running through the temple grounds and drinking water out of the fountains. Charlie and Jill especially enjoyed visiting the humanitarian exhibit in the Visitors Center. They were asking lots of questions about all of the blankets and food and things that were on display to look like the humanitarian aid shipments that our church sends out. It opened up a nice conversation about helping people in other places who are in need. At one moment I caught Charlie listening to a video recording of President Monson. He actually looked like he was listening, it was really cute. He is growing up!

Cousins!!

2013-02-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

When I found out we were going to Utah, I was thrilled to finally see my cousins Lindsay and Cierra! It had been a LONG time. Last time we were together I only had Charlie. Jill and Lindsay's little boy, Tate, are only a few months apart and we were excited to finally have them meet eachother. They were so fun to watch and I just wish we had more time to let them play. I can only imagine what good friends they would be if we lived closer. Tate is so cute and looks so much like Lindsay. Cute cute kiddo. We ate lunch together on Saturday before Cody's wedding. Lindsay and Cierra both live in American Fork and were so kind to watch our kids while we attended Cody and Sarah's sealing in the Temple. So we met for lunch together and then ditched them with the kids for a while we hurried up to the Temple. Their wonderful husbands -Ryan and Nate were gems to help out too. Everyone survived and seemed super happy! We met up again on Sunday to have lunch and then head to church with Lindsay. I am grateful to have such a supportive family. It was during lunch on Saturday that Lindsay and Cierra both told me that they were BOTH PREGNANT and had the SAME due date!! Even more recently we've learned that they are both having boys! I can't think of a better way to have twins! ;0) Those little guys are going to best buds. SOOO happy for them! I got a few pictures of Tate and Jill and one with me and Lindsay and the kids - I can't believe I didn't get one with Cierra. Next time I will have to be better about getting more pictures. Yes, there will have to be a next time. Can't wait to see them again!

Our Family Vacation to Utah: Part TWO "The Big Day"

2013-01-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

November 3rd 2012, Salt Lake Temple! Here we go! :) Lots of beautiful pictures to share of the beautiful day!

Our Family Vacation to Utah: Part ONE

2013-01-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

When we got news of Cody's engagement to Sarah, we were so excited for them. We were lucky enough to get to know Sarah a little bit during their courtship. She worked in Phoenix and Cody would fly out as often as he could to come see her. They made the trek down to Tucson a few times to visit and it was a really special time for us to be with Cody and get to know this lovely lady. The first time I met Sarah, Ben was less than 2 weeks old and it was immediately obvious to me that she LOVES babies! Her and Ben, I mean Cody, definitely hit it off. Dave and I had a good feeling about this one - and I guess they did too. ;0) Thus, we were thrilled to have an awesome excuse to go visit Utah as a family and be a part of their big day. This was our first vacation on an airplane with all 3 kids. I was excited for the family adventure.

We flew out of Phoenix to avoid having a layover if we left from Tucson. We prefer the idea of our kids being buckled in the carseat vs. wrestling with them on an airplane - so it was worth the 2 hour drive to Phx to keep the trip to just 1 direct flight. We don't pack lightly (atleast I haven't figured that out yet). It took me a long time to pack us all - thinking through the clothes for each day, planning ahead for accidents, and unpredictable diaper blowouts. We also had to bring all 3 carseats with us. We had 4 flyers (Ben was free) and utilized all 8 of our checked luggage options. Plus, we all had a carry-on. Yes - that's a lot of crap. Oh and a double stroller. and the kids.

We only almost lost the kids a couple times. Not bad. An attendant gave the kids little airplane erasers when I had to rush back and check one more bag that we didn't notice was on the end of the stroller. In all, it was just a bit hectic getting us all on and off the shuttles, walking through the terminal, getting to our flight, etc.. But we managed and lived to tell about it. I feel like everyone we encountered at the airport was super kind and willing to help us out. As we got off the airplane, the pilot offered to let the kids take a peek around the cockpit which was really fun - especially for Charlie - he loves airplanes.

We arrived at SLC, rented a big mini van and then headed straight to Provo for a J Dawg (or 2). That's right, we have our priorities in order. We also stopped by Jon and Danielle's apt at Wymount and enjoyed visiting there for a bit. We headed up to Park City after that to unload and settle in to our little condo that Dave's parents graciously provided for us for the week. It was the perfect condo for our family. We all slept well, which was wonderful. The next day, we took the kids to ride the alpine slide - but it was closed. So we enjoyed just walking around Park City, playing in a bit of snow, and snapping pictures. After that it was on to Salt Lake to meet up with the rest of the crew for lunch and shopping at the new City Creek Mall. (which was beautiful!) Aunt Danielle and Grandpa hung with us most of the day. Grandpa always opts to sit with the kids in the back of the van (no matter how much I try to sit back there!) The kids LOVE that. Aunt Danielle and Ben enjoyed a little bonding time too.

I noticed when we got the pictures off of the camera that I had a ton of these super cute shots of Jill with Dave. He is such a fun Dad - and the kids cling to him when we go places together. He's just way more fun - and I love that. Dave and Jill have a special father/daughter bond that warms my heart.

The day ended with a lovely rehearsal dinner that was prepared by a Chef-friend of Sarah's family. It was delicious! Cody always wanted an ice cream cake for his wedding cake so they surprised him with one that night. They also got our kids these cute kid ice cream cake cones which was very thoughtful. Their eyes just LIT UP as they brought them over. Jill, as you can see below, licked her plate clean! I just don't know where she gets her sweet tooth from. The whole evening was wonderful, but the highlight was listening to all of the meaningful toasts from each family member. Fun stories and memories were shared of Cody and Sarah. It just was really neat to be a part of that and watch these 2 neat people start a new life together.

Final Halloween Post!!

2013-01-22T21:49:00.003-07:00

My plan was to be a Batman family - Ben would be the baby bat, Jill bat girl, Charlie batman, and me and Dave would wear batman shirts too. BUT Dave wanted to be Robin. So why not. His shirt even had a cape, which certainly helped him to fly much better than he did without one.

Elmo made an appearance at our Trunk or Treat with his sidekick Abby Cadabby.
Jill was SOOOOO excited she was shaking. It was hilarious.
Thank you Brother and Sister Harris!

On the actual day of Halloween, Jill made a last minute costume change to be a chicken. I got this costume for $1 at Old Navy 3 years ago and every year since I've tried to get one of the kids to wear it. Jill was a good sport, and was one cute chick!!

Our cute little baby bat! The same costume Charlie wore for his first Halloween too. :)

He helped me pass out candy and got lots of "oh, how cute" comments from trick or treaters.

Ben 5 Months Old

2013-01-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Halloween FHE 2012

2012-12-29T21:35:00.001-07:00

Apple Annies - October 8, 2012

2012-12-20T12:50:00.002-07:00

We had never been to Apple Annie's, so we figured this was the year. It's about 2 hours away from us and proved to be a fun family day! The kids loved running around through the trees, playing in the corn box, and we just enjoyed being together as a family.

Baby Ben - 4 Months Old

2012-12-17T19:05:00.003-07:00

Dave goes to Japan - Aunt Danielle visits!

2012-12-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dave had to travel to Japan for work in September for 2 weeks. I really don't like it when he has to travel - it throws me completely off routine and off schedule. And Ben was only about 3 months old - so my schedule already sucked. I was all geared up when he left though and had a great first afternoon with the kids. We decorated for Halloween, and had some friends over for a play date. I finished the laundry, and cleaned the house. I was determined to not fall behind while he was gone. Ben wasn't feeling well, but we were managing. He seemed to get worse through the evening though and by the next morning he was wheezing so terribly and would hardly eat. His breathing was very labored and had me super concerned. Every time I would try to nurse him, he would only eat for a minute or two and then start into a major coughing attack - that went on an on. So Sunday morning I decided it was bad enough and took him to the Pediatric ER.

They admitted him Sunday morning and kept him over night until Monday. What a perfect way to start off our 2 weeks without Dave!! :) Thankfully I have some wonderful friends here to stepped up and watched Charlie and Jill for me. Charlie was thrilled to spend 2 days at Payson's house and Jill was well taken care of by my neighbor Emma and my 2 Visiting Teachers - Christa Jensen and Kayla Lair. I am so grateful for all of these women in my life. They are some of my best friends. It was difficult enough being alone with Ben in the hospital and worrying about him, so I was glad I didn't have to worry too much about my other two. I did spend lots of time on the phone though while I was in the hospital! Lots of friends and family calling to see how we were doing. Mindy offered to fly out, which was so nice and I would have loved seeing her again! I felt loved that my brothers were watching out for me too. But, we got home the next day (Monday) and Danielle arrived. So, all's well that ends well. Dave may have gotten an earful from me though over the phone about how much I hate his job that first night I was in the hospital!! But, I was just floored that this all went down without him here. I came to grips with myself the next morning and was grateful he had a good job with good insurance so I could actually take my baby to see good doctors when he needed it and not worry about how expensive it would be. I was so pleased with the care they provided him. All the nurses seemed to fall in love with him - they kept commenting on how chubby and smiley he was! Anticipating Ben getting more sick before he left, Dave had given Ben a priesthood blessing before he departed - and that gave me a lot of comfort to know everything would be fine - and he would return to full health soon. So, even though Dave wasn't physically there I still knew he had taken good care of us and I was grateful.

His little sister Danielle flew in a day sooner because of Ben going to the hospital. She kept me company and also helped lots with the little people. She was so fun to have along!! We visited the Children's museum, played games with the kids, and stayed up late chatting every night. I loved it. I don't have a sister - and so I'm always super grateful for memorable times with my Sister in Laws. Danielle doesn't have a sister either - and so I think it's helped us have a special bond! I think she's wonderful.

Sleeping

2012-12-06T10:16:00.002-07:00

My kids are cute, but they are even cuter when they are sleeping! :) They crack us up with some of the random places and positions we find them snoozing in.

Grandma & Grandpa Johansen

2012-12-04T14:33:00.002-07:00

We enjoyed having Grandma & Grandpa Johansen come to visit this summer. The kids were in heaven and always feel so spoiled when they are here. As do Dave and I! Ben was especially grateful to get a bath from Grandma Johansen. Baths are hard to come by for him. :)

More Summer Pool Fun

2012-12-04T13:42:00.001-07:00

SO BEHIND (as usual) on the ol' blog. Here is a post of some fun times from the end of summer with the Julie and Erica - they are my staple pool buddies. We are always up for a day at the pool! I am already looking forward to more fun pool days next summer.

2012-11-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Charlie's Preschool Class this year is composed of the following darling kids!

But this one is my favorite:

I am doing a co-op with other Moms, so I teach every six weeks. All these kids are 4 and super adorable. I really enjoy when it is my turn to teach. I miss teaching school sometimes, so this gives me an outlet to do that and also spend time with Charlie, so I think it's perfect for both me and him. All of the Moms in our group are such wonderful women too. Lots of thought and preparation are put into every lesson. Charlie consistently brings home fun crafts he has made and tells me new little facts he has learned each day. He is becoming such a smart kid and a good friend too! And he and Elizabeth may or may not have a little thing going. Let's just say they both like each other a lot and love sitting together and being partners for preschool projects. It's pretty cute.

I should also mention that Charlie is going through a 'quack phase' as we call it around here. We still aren't sure why, but whenever he gets silly and playful (which is quite often when you're 4) he quacks at everyone!! We affectionately call him, Charlie the Duck. I've been told that he has got his whole class to quack with him a few times and perhaps has sent his friend Tanner into a "quack phase" too. We love our little quacker, Charlie! :)

Hanging at Grandma's - End of our August CA trip

2012-10-18T23:25:00.001-07:00

My Grandma has a new dog, Coco - that Jill LOVES! So does Charlie actually - which is crazy because Charlie DOES NOT LIKE dogs. She is so sweet though and you can't help but like her. Unfortunately, I don't think Coco's feelings for Jill were mutual. She is a slow-paced dog, and if you know Jill - you know she does not go slow.

As always we enjoyed sometime in the pool with cousins and family. Lazy Sunday afternoons at Grandma's house are always a highlight of our trip.

California Mis-Adventure 2012

2012-10-17T11:17:00.001-07:00

With the opening of Cars Land, we knew we had to hit CA Adventure this year. We chose a hot crowded summer day in August which made for a seriously exhausting day of family fun. Here is our 1st family picture on the tram ride to the park. I knew before we left that this was a bad day to go BUT we were in California already for the reunion and decided we would brave through it.

After buying tickets and entering the park, we realized the stroller tires needed air. While I took care of that at the wheel chair depot where they pump stroller tires for free - (I mean if you pay $84 to get in, they will pump them for "free"), Dave took the kids on the Tow Mater ride. We then headed to Luigi's tire ride which was actually pretty difficult to maneuver in my opinion. We ate lunch at Flo's V8 Cafe which was so adorable. It was really neat to see the cars driving around town while we did some shopping too. I was so impressed with everything!

We got super hot around lunch time and the kids whining was in full swing. Luckily they did pass out for some naps in the stroller. We wandered around a few more rides, got a popsicle, and let the kids play in the water area for a while. They loved that.

The day continued, we headed for some more rides. We bought Ben a Mickey Mouse hat in the morning (see above pictures) and we lost it a few hours later. 20 bucks down the drain. It's ok, what's 20 bucks when you paid over $200 to get in? Perspective people. For lunch we decided to hit this cute little corn dog stand. I ordered everyone 1 corn dog, 1 drink and fries to share. It cost me over $40. HA!! Well I guess when a churro is $2.75 - a corn dog is 10 bucks. Oh and Jill dropped hers. You better believe we dusted that puppy right off and still ate it. I am happy to report she is still alive today.

By late afternoon - everyone was whining and crying again. Jill didn't want to sit in the stroller, Charlie didn't want to ride on ANYTHIN; he was scared of EVERYTHING. Ben was hungry every 5 seconds it seemed and Jill wanted to do EVERYTHING but was too short for it all. Dave and I were like - we paid for this??? At that point I decided we should embrace the current challenges of our young family and ask someone to take our picture -and remind ourselves that we will miss this one day. At least that's what the old ladies at the grocery store tell me. I scooped up crying Charlie and Dave held the whiny Jill and Ben - and here we are acting like we are having so much fun!

During the afternoon parade, we sat on the curb of the street with our crying exhausted kids. It was crowded and hot and we were all tired. A really cute couple walked up and gave our kids some brand new stuffed animals. She said that they always buy toys at Disneyland and look for crying kids to brighten their day. It was a very sweet random act of kindness. My kids were grouchy and wouldn't say thank-you but I was grateful. One day I am going to do that for someone else. It was really sweet and a definite highlight of our day!

I should mention that at the beginning of the day we waited in line to get a pass to wait in line again. It's called "fast pass" -uh huh - yeah right. This fast pass line was over an hour. We wanted to get on the new feature ride at Cars Land but our fast passes came out for 8-9pm (we got them at 9 in the morning!!). I was giving it my best effort to keep everyone happy to hold on until night time but by around 5 or 6pm, Dave convinced me we were done for the day. I REALLY DO NOT LIKE leaving Disneyland early. It took him a long time to convince me to leave. But, 3 kids 4yrs and under just couldn't hang anymore. I gave our 4 fast passes to a cute family with kids who are old enough to stay late - and they were thrilled. Now we have a reason to go back I guess!! We can hardly wait!!! (insert sarcasm here).

10 Year High School Reunion

2012-10-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

After the wonderful family events on August 3rd, we followed that up with my 10 year High School reunion on August 4th!

I got myself involved with the reunion committe and actually helped plan it all out. I wasn't in charge of very much - just balloons and centerpieces and the family picnic which was a bring your own lunch deal. Pretty easy. My class had about 450 graduates and we estimate that about 100 people attended the event. Some had significant others with them, so that skews that number a bit. However - lots of my good friends were there! A few missing for sure, but I was so happy so see some of my favorite people from High School. My first 2 years in High School I was on Small Flags with Brianna and we couldn't help but bust a move or two to remember the good times. We also took a pep squad picture with those of us who were there.

It was crazy to just mingle among the crowd and bump into old classmates and catch up for a few minutes. A lot of people had such impressive educations, and careers going. Nurses, lawyers, business folk, therapists, teachers etc.. I was proud to come from such a successful group! A fun surprise was seeing an old substitute teacher come by to visit with everyone. I should also say that I was so glad we had name tags! There were definitely a handful of people that I did NOT know! (and no they were not guests - the name tags for guests were different). Always awkward when you look at their name tag before saying Hello! :) But one things for sure - I got a lot raised eyebrows for having 3 kids already! I think there are only a few other gals in my class who are married with 3 kids too.

I was kinda nervous to go and wondered if I would have a good time. I've heard lots of people say they didn't enjoy their reunions. BUT, I really had such a great night! It was so so fun. Between the family events on Friday and this HS Reunion Saturday I was in this nostalgic bubble for several weeks after coming home! We had such a fun time!

25 Years Later

2012-09-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

This year on August 3rd marked 25 years since my Dad passed. We decided to make it special and visit his grave as a family. We used to visit every year growing up but it had been a long time since I had been back. Leading up to this special day, I enlisted family and friends to contribute thoughts and letters regarding his life and death with the perspective of 25 years having passed. I really had the BEST summer receiving these responses every few days or so. Being just 3 years old, there is so much I really don't know about my Dad and I actually learned a lot about him through these responses. Each letter was personal and heartfelt and often brought a tear to my eye. I think it gave me some closure that I didn't even realize I needed.

My Grandpa Mathison passed just 5 days after Ben was born in May and he was buried right next to him. Since I had just had Ben, I wasn't able to attend the funeral. I was happy we could visit him too while we were there. Such a beautiful grave side. I've always loved this big shade tree over their plots. I used to think people needed shade when they died because of this tree. Once when my fish died, I surrounded his little bowl with books so he'd have shade. Death through the eyes of a child is confusing. But it's amazing to look back and see how much we all have grown and changed (and multiplied!). I know my Dad is preparing a heavenly place for us to be reunited as a family and I look forward to that special day.