Horseback Riding

The day before Thanksgiving, we went up to Brigham City for the afternoon to go horseback riding with my sister and her family.  Thanks so much to the Rasmussens for accepting my invitation of inviting my family to go horseback riding with them.  We were actually invited to go up there a few years ago, and my kids have not forgotten it, so I kind of invited our family to tag along with them this year.  After all, she is my sister, and you can say things to sisters you wouldn't even think about saying to anyone else, right?

They were so kind enough to oblige and saddle up the ponies and the horses so we could take a ride.  

The kids were a little apprehensive at first when they were feeding the ponies, but most of them did just fine.

Here are most of the kids -- Ryan, Sarah, Bella, Ali, Caleb, Bryn, Sam, and Megan.

Josh and Katelyn were off doing all the work for us.

Riding in the pony cart

Sam and Ali were busy playing with stuff they found.  Honestly, I couldn't tell you what they were doing, but they stayed occupied for most of the time.

Sher let Ali hold onto the reigns on the pony cart.

Bella and Bryn riding the horse.

Jeff, Ryan, & Sarah, freezing their little patooties off.

Bella and Caleb

Ali and Sarah

Ryan was the last one to ride before it got too dark.

We had such a fun time.  It is nice to know people who have stuff.  

Thank you Shon and Sher for your kindness and willingness to allow us to come and ride the horses with you.  We all had a blast!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  It was our year to stay here and have dinner with Jeff's family.  It has been 4 years since we were here when everyone else was, so this was especially nice.  I just love this holiday, I love the meaning of it.  I think we spend way too much time worrying about so much stuff that really does not matter and forget to do some of the small things that may seem a little bit insignificant, like being thankful for the many blessings we have.

This year we had a kid table and I think it was an absolute brilliant idea.  Everyone got to sit where they really wanted to.

These 3 boys just had to show off their turkey cups that they slaved over all morning long.

Ali and Abby were just happy to sit by each other with no parents around them telling them what to eat and how much of it they had to eat.  Who knows if they even ate anything except the olives????  And who really cares????

Sydney, Sarah, Lauren, and Bella -- What cute cousins/sisters!!!

After the meal, we took time to share with each other some of the things we were most thankful for.  This was such a great time for all of us.  The kids went first and then they were able to go play downstairs, leaving the "adults" (the term is being used a little bit loosely) to share some of our most treasured feelings.  Many tears were shed and I think, without question, the overwhelming consensus was that we have a pretty darn special family.

Then, one of the best traditions, the men did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.  

We have such a wonderful family!

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well.

Family Pictures

A good friend of ours took our family pictures a couple weeks ago.  We were so happy with how they turned out.  We were very surprised to see who had taken the best pictures of the bunch.  Ali had so many good ones, it was hard to decide which one we liked the best.

Picture Day is one of my most hated days of the whole year.  I am glad to have it behind us, and even more thrilled that there were some really nice pictures to choose from.

Fun in the snow

Here's a look at what we've been doing in the snow---

It's really hard to see, but we got over a foot of snow overnight.  The kids were so excited to go play in it.  They cleaned off the snow from my parents car that was parked in our yard.  Just don't tell Mom and Dad that the kids used their car for a slide.

Yup, there is our girl who is usually doing her own thing.  That's what we love about her!!!

Johnson Family Reunion

Leslie had the pleasure of planning our wonderful family reunion this year and she did awesome!!!!  We stayed in these way cute cabins in Marysvale (a very small town just south of Richfield) that had showers, refrigerators, microwaves, and toaster!!!  Yup, all the amenities that are essential when camping.

The main reason she chose this place is because of all the ATV trails that are right there.  There's my cute sister, Sherilyn, who took Bella and Bryn on a ride with her.

And my adorable niece, Katelyn, who had Ali on the back of her 4-wheeler.

Don't they look so cute???

Now this picture is the Johnson family to a tee!!!  Are we red necks or what???  There is my totally awesome Dad who is Mr. Safety himself, NOT!!!

Hayley and Sarah

Here were the winners of finding the Golden Nuggets.  Now they were some HUGE pieces of gold.  Too bad they weren't real.

We hiked to this waterfall, don't remember the name of it though.

The morning we left, we had our annual "Johnson Olympics"

Push-ups

A foot race that my kids were pretty much last in most of the races that took any effort, but they were smiling this year at least.

Unfortunately, this is where my camera decided it was full and had no more room for pictures, but some of the other events were frisbee toss, hop-skip-&-roll, hula-hoop, and I can't really remember what else we did.  The kids usually have a really good time and everyone ends up with some kind of a reward.

Twirly Skirts

I saw these really cute twirly skirts online at www.houseonhillroad.com a few weeks ago and I wanted to try them out.  Since I have 3 girls, I have to make 3 skirts, so I finally got enough courage to try it out.  This is the first time I have ever got a pattern off of the internet and attempted anything like this.

I know the picture is crooked, but there is my cutting mat.

My sewing machine.

And my happy girls wearing the final product.

What I learned from this:

* you don't save any money by sewing things on your own

* the kids have NEVER seen me sew anything and they were fascinated by the machine

* it's really not that hard

* you can find some dang cute fabric

* my tastes are not the fabric that is on sale

* the outcome was worth the work I put into it

* I made my girls' day (in the end, I think that is what matters)

New Bikes

What comes with summer?

BIKE RIDING

And, with that, comes the chore of finding bikes to fit everyone.

Bella got a new bike

Sarah's new bike

Ali's new, hand-me-down, bike

Ryan's bike is new to him last September

Bella is finally very excited to ride her bike.  She has been so afraid of riding, but with the new bike came a new found excitement.  Now we just need to get Ali excited about learning without training wheels.  I have a feeling she will be content to ride in the bike trailer on our long rides until she is about 16.

Happy End of School Dinner

To celebrate this school year being finished, we decided to use up a couple of the coupons they earned for a free kids meal at Applebee's.  We figured out in the end that all the coupons did was pay for the tip, big whoop-dee-doo!!!  But, we were so proud of all their accomplishments and so we wanted to reward them.

Parker, Ryan's friend

We hardly ever take the kids to a restaurant and every time we go, in the end I am reminded exactly WHY we refrain from doing that.  Two reasons come to mind very quickly, 1- cost; 2- the way the kids act while at the restaurant.  Enough said!!!!!

Great job on an other successful school year!