Eric's Homecoming Sept 2012

Eric asked Jayme Loveland to Homecoming this year.  The night before he asked her, he asked me if I had any post-it notes he could have.  I thought they were for one of his classes.  So I got him out a pack with different colors.  That day, after school, he said to me, "Well, I asked Jamie to the dance today."  HUH?  I'm telling you.....teenaged boys don't give many details to their mothers!  Apparently he had used the post-it notes to ask her to the dance.  He placed them all over her madrigal chair during class.....I must say that it was pretty creative.....and cheap!  :)  Maybe frugal is a better way to put it.  Whatever happened to the candy bar posters we used to make?

This picture was taken at Jamie's house.  I don't know why her dress looks blue.  It was purple....

And these were taken at our house.  Of course I make Eric bring the girl back so I can take pictures.  It's a mother's right, after all! :)

If you look real close, you can see a picture on the left side in a sunflower frame.  That is mine and Todd's engagement picture.  If you blow it up, you will find that Eric and Todd look almost exactly the same.....crazy!

So cute!  And I love my smiley cups in the background.  I love smileys!

This is a picture of her corsage.  See how it's purple?

During the day, a big group of Eric's friends (and their dates) went to Boondocks.  This ritual of "all day dance activities" is common place now.  It's not enough just to go out to dinner and to the dance, you have to be together for roughly 5.7 hours beforehand.   I don't know why Eric is the only one in this picture.  Jayme was there, I'm sure of it.

At dinner....Buca di Beppo's (what kind of a name is that, anyway?)

This picture was taken at Cottonwood high school.  It was during spirit week and this was 70's day.  This is what Eric does at school, when I'm not watching.....actually I would probably join in for this fun!  (It would be so embarrassing for Eric.....ooohhh, I would love that)!

The dance was a success and everyone had tons of fun!  Sometimes I just wish I could be a fly on the wall to these activities.....I wonder if there is a way to rig that.  If there is, I'll find it!  :)  Oh happy day!

Dallin turns 12!

Dallin turned 12 on the 2nd of this month.  I am a little behind in blogging about it (sorry Dallin).  But the day was a great one.  He decided not to have a friend party this year, but a family party instead.  So that night we watched Hoodwinked Too and had snacks and goodies.  Dallin is such a sweet kid and always so thankful for what he gets.  He didn't ask for anything specific this year, so he got a few "surprise" presents.

With his birthday money from his grandparents (both sets), he got a ball called a Fushigi.  It's a special ball that looks magical, like it's floating in the air.  It's pretty cool.  It'll takes some practice, but he'll get it.....I have no doubt!

In this picture, he's holding a bouncy ball.  It's cool because it bounces really high.  Fun stuff!

Dallin loves "moon pies."  He savored these for many days, taking only a few bites at a time.  And he also got a lego/creature/thing to put together.  He loves those too.

I found this cool glow-in-the-dark sand art kit.  He was very excited about that.  He loves to create!

The fancy birthday cake.....that only I could make.  :)

Grandpa Johnson and Brandon.  Grandma came too, but I didn't get any pictures of her.  What's up with that?  Sorry Grandma.....  (Grandma and Grandpa Jones are on a mission right now, so they couldn't come for the birthday festivities).

Jacob wouldn't hold still for this picture, so we just had to snap it "as is."  Silly boy!

This picture is very blurry, but I wanted to include it because there aren't many pictures of Todd.  I should change that in the future, shouldn't I?

Eric, eating some cake and ice cream, posing for the camera.....sort-of.

Kyle and Ziggy.  Ziggy won't ever sit still long enough for us to get a good picture of him, but we always try anyway.  You can see how Kyle is trying to force him to look forward.....kids and dogs....what do you do?  :)  But I love Kyle in this picture!

On Sunday, Dallin was ordained a deacon in our ward.  We now have 3 children old enough to bless the sacrament.  I can't believe it.  How is that possible?

Last Sunday was his first time passing and he did such a good job.  And I've just got to say that I've come a long way too.  When Eric started passing the sacrament, I was a nervous wreck.  I was a little better with Brandon,  but I was quite calm with Dallin.  3rd time is the charm, right?  But there is nothing like seeing my boys pass the sacrament.  It is such a sweet thing to watch.  And so far, nobody has dropped a tray...my biggest fear.  I know I'm only jinxing myself now, so I'd better stop talking about it.... :)

Dallin also got his temple recommend the Sunday he was ordained.  Then Todd and I took him to the temple to do baptisms for the dead 4 days later.  It was a very neat experience.  Dallin was so excited to go.  I know he felt the power of the Holy Ghost that night.  After baptisms, we took him to dinner at the temple.  That's a tradition for each child's first time.   Eric and Brandon couldn't come with us that night, so we need to plan a time to all go together.  It was cool to hear Eric and Brandon ask Dallin how it was for him and they were truly interested in how he felt.  Brotherly love!  We'll take it when we can get it, right?

Happy Birthday Dallin!  We love you and are so glad you are a part of our family! 

First day of school 2011

Eric, my Senior!  Aaaggghhhh!

Dallin, my 6th grader!

Brandon, my 9th grader.  I was lucky to get one picture of him!  And I had to catch him off-guard for the smile....mom is so tricky! 

Kyle, my 4th grader.  I had to trick Kyle into smiling too.  These two just don't want their picture taken.

Jacob, my 2nd grader.

I don't even know what to say.  I can hardly stand it that my kids are growing up so fast.  Will I be able to remember all the cute things they do?  Probably not......so sad.

Vacation to Las Vegas July 2011 Part 2

;

Okay, I have tried for days to try and upload some pictures, but it wouldn't work.  I finally got these ones to load......sometimes I really hate computers.

You can kind-of tell in this picture what we did a lot at my sister's house.  AJ (her little boy) had a book of planes, with a variety of papers in it and instructions on how to make different model airplanes.  Because my sister's house is a two-story, you can stand at the top of the stairs and throw down the airplanes to unsuspecting people below.  The kids had so much fun doing this.  There were paper airplanes stuck on their high window leldges and in lots of different places all over their living room.  I couldn't get the other pictures to load, so just think of it in your mind..... :)

The kids also played hide-and-go-seek a  lot.  When it's too hot in Vegas to go outside, you play indoor games. 

Cute little AJ.

No, I wasn't playing hide-and-go-seek, but I did pose for a picture....

Jacob and AJ taking turns on Jacob's DS.  Saved by electronics!

Dallin even squeezed in a nap.  Aww, cute!

Brandon and Alexis, playing instruments.

The most amazing host and hostess you will ever meet....Wendy and Anthony.  Thanks guys!

On the way back from Vegas, we stopped in St. George for the night and went to the Tuacahn to see the The Little Mermaid.  It was really good and definitely worth seeing. 

It was a fun trip, very relaxing!  We love going to my sister's house!

Vacation to Las Vegas July 2011 Part 1

We went to my sister's house in Vegas for our vacation this year.  We had tons of fun, of course.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but I'm holding up Todd's ipod (an old one, that he downloaded some songs on for me) and I'm wearing the old fashioned ear phones, the kind that go over your head.  I don't like the new earbuds.  I'm old school, I guess.  Anyway, I was rockin' it pretty good to my high school madrigal songs.

One thing I have always wanted to do in Vegas, but never have, is take a family picture by this sign.  One of these days it's gonna happen.....at least I took a picture as we drove by this time.  That means we're getting closer, right?

One of the highlights of the vacation was supposed to be going to the M&M World.  Sadly, it wasn't much of a highlight at all.  It was packed with wall-to-wall people and while it was cool to see all of the different products you could buy, it wasn't really worth the trip.

And just so you know, M&M's cost $13 a pound!  That is outrageous to me, so we took a picture of the "wall of M&M's" and then stopped off at Alberstons's on the way home to get a few packs.  That was WAY cheaper!  And guess what?  I'm pretty sure they tasted the same.

We did take a family picture by one of the giant M&M's, but it doesn't even look like we were having fun....and this was our second shot!  Brandon, Kyle, and Eric look like they're about to engage in a battle.  Not surprising, really.  (Just take the picture, so we can get out of here)....

One thing we HAVE to do when we go to my sister's is the chocolate fountain.  YUM!  The kids love it, and want us to get one.  But I keep telling them that if we had one, it wouldn't be that fun to do it at Aunt Wendy's house.  Good thinkin', right?

Yes, that is a gummy worm.  I personally didn't have any of those, but Brandon was "all over it."

Notice my healthy strawberry, with no chocolate on it?  Wow!  Pictures can really be deceiving, huh?

We did other things on our vacation as well.  We saw Harry Potter 7, and Todd and the older boys saw Captain America.  We went to Chuck-e-Cheese's for lunch one day and celebrated my sister's birthday too.  It was a much-needed vacation and very relaxing (my kind-of trip).

I will continue this vacation blog in another post, so I can get more pictures on there.....