Gracie's New Look

It was time for an eye check up. Gracie's eyes have changed just a tiny bit, which is great. And TJ, well he has 20/15, lucky kid. Gracie was so excited to get new glasses. She wanted to get ones just like her Aunt Kasi. And so I let her. Imagine that! Isn't she cute with her chunky black frames? It took some getting used to. They are a lot larger than her wire frames. But they have grown on me.

Apparently that wasn't enough change for her though. A few days ago, as I am trying to do her hair, there is something missing. A tons of bangs are now 1 inch long! Hello! Gracie you are 10! You know better than to cut your own hair! Alas, they were in her eyes, and she took it upon herself to take care of the problem. It's great to be a problem solver, but not such a good idea to cut your own hair. Sadly, she has a hair appointment next Friday! If only she would have ASKED!!! lol I could have told her she wouldn't have to deal with it much longer, and styled her hair to keep them out of her eyes. Now, we just hope Maigen, her stylist, can work magic and make hair grow instantaneous, or she is really good at blending 1 inch bangs. Hopefully, a lesson was learned...again...for the 3rd time!

Pretty Girl

During Gracie and TJ's last hair appointment, Gracie and I ventured into the supplies area to look at the merchandise. They had a few wigs, so Gracie has some fun.
Strike a pose!

Marilyn Monroe?

A black wig that didn't really work.

Spunky little girl!

Deer Hunt 2010

This year, Tony and I had taken days off together so we could all go camping/hunting. Well, that didn't happen. I ended up getting Vertigo again, and fought the battle in May/June and again for the last 2 weeks. I've had every possible scenario with this. The specialists can't believe it. Leave it to me to be in the 2% of cases. So, I felt crappy and had missed many days of work already, and had another doctor appointment in the middle of our days. So......Tony and the kids went without me. I am still amazed that Tony took them, all by himself. He didn't even bat an eye. I don't think this has ever happened before. Tony and the kids leaving me home alone for days. lol Not like it was fun for me, however. I just sat on the couch and tried to keep my eyes in focus. Woo Hoo! Not! Anyway, they went up Dry Gulch Canyon. They rode the Rhino all over the place. Tony loved it. He says he likes it way better than the 4-wheelers. TJ apparently wouldn't let them sleep in at all. He wanted to get out early and hunt. TJ also didn't want to ride in the Rhino the whole time. He wanted to get out and walk in the trees. Which they did some of the time. They only saw 2 bucks. A spike and a two point. Nothing worth shooting really. TJ was disappointed, but hopefully the Elk Hunt will be different. One morning, they heard to bull Elk bugling back and forth. The trees were so thick, however, that they never got to actually see them. All in all, it sounded like they had a great time. Tony said the kids were really good. I'm glad they were able to go and enjoy themselves. Here are some pictures.

North Dakota

Tony headed up to North Dakota there to check out the oil boom. We are contemplating putting a water truck up there, but aren't sure yet. He says it's going nuts up there. Hotels are rented out for a year or more, by big companies. The RV parks are full. And drilling rigs galore! Here are some pictures he took.

2010 Reunion/Grandpa's 80th Birthday

This years Johnson family reunion was also Tony's Grandpa's 80th birthday. We had an open house for him Saturday night. During the day we played some games. We all had beads designating the teem we were on. We had a fun time. Here is a slide show and some great videos of the games.

Here is a video of Asher in the Rhino....he was in charge of going fast or slow, and just loved going fast.

And here is TJ riding behind us on his motorcycle.


Here is Brian catching pencils.

and Jenny catching pencils.

Ray catching pencils

Summer sorting plain and peanut M&Ms.

Eric & Julene trying to catch marshmallows. Tackle included!

TJ & Jono trying to catch marshmallows.

Jodie & Marie trying to catch marshmallows.

Gracie shakes the balls out of a box.

Laverne Shakes.

Steven shakes. And gets a headache!

David tries to drop clothes pins from his nose, into a jar.

Sherie drops pins.

Tyson has a chipmunk voice! Kids, don't try this at home!

School Carnival

Every year, during the first week or two of elementary, the school has a carnival to raise money. This is the last year I have a child at the elementary school! The kids have fun, but it's always so hot, and the lines are so long. But they enjoyed themselves anyway. There were many things to climb on and some carnival games.

And these are of the kids on a blow up thing where you are supposed to try to pull the band as far as you can before it pulls you back. lol
TJ

Gracie

Football

Entering 3rd grade means that TJ can play Football this year. I'm not sure how I feel about my son being tackled, but ok. TJ doesn't seem to hate it, yet he doesn't love it either. I think he is still trying to figure out what everything means, and what the heck to do. We aren't a sports watching family, so he's not familiar with all the positions, and rules and everything like some may be. (And I'm NOT complaining about that! lol) So, we signed him up and he had to have cleats and a mouth gaurd. Everything else is provided. Here he is just after setting his mouth guard. We bought one that molds to your teeth.

And here he is, after we got his pads, helmet, and pants. Isn't he cute?...errr I mean scary.

Number 7 there is my little boy. Littlest one there, but he pushes as much as the others. His Uncle will be proud, his practice jersey is U of U....Go UTES! lol

Here his is locked in combat with another player at practice. Neither one was giving up.

Practicing tackling yellow pads taller than him. There is a video of this later on.

They do all sorts of warm up exercises. He's the dark clothed one with white socks, third from the right of the pic.

In between the yellow and orange guys. Another exercise.

And stretching. Some of the stretches and exercises seem silly, but I guess these guys know what they're doing. Like yesterday...they were bumping shoulder pads with each other, to loosen up their shoulders. LOL Looked hilarious!

So here is are a couple videos of him tackling the yellow pads. He is on the first one.

First Day of School 2010-2011 School Year

Yep, it's that time again. Summer went by so fast this year. It didn't really seem like we had one. Don't know why. We did plenty. We got school clothes bought. School supplies are bought. Kids are registered. First days outfit is picked out. And now it's time. Gracie was nervous this morning. She got a male teacher this year. He is new. Mr. Pinkleman. TJ got Mrs. Heiner. He wasn't really nervous. He was excited to make new friends. Good thing, cause he only knew 2 kids in his class. So here they are, in the car ready to go. TJ will not smile lately for pictures. I'm gonna have to tape his mouth into a smile. lol

My pretty girl. She had to have a plaid shirt. And they both have cowboy boots on, though you can't see them. TJ's are black with blue uppers. Gracie's are pink with white uppers. Notice the cheetah print backpack. Remember the aforementioned cheetah print love? Still don't know, but she loves it.

TJ looks so happy to be here. lol Stinker!

Here she is at the door to her class. Her name is the red puzzle piece on the left. I caught her mid sentence, thus the open mouth.

And here is her new desk.

Outside TJ's class room. Some lady offered to take a picture of us together. That's a first.

And TJ's new desk. His teachers alarm didn't go off. So she was late. The principal was in there taking care of the class, until she got there. What a way to start the year! lol

Good luck kids! I hope this year is great. I hope we like their teachers. It's amazing how much I worry about them being liked, and treated well by their peers and teachers. Fitting in, etc. I'm starting to think that it's more stressful to go through it as a mom, than it was to go through it as a kid. *sigh*

Once I dropped Gracie off, she seemed fine. There were lots of kids in her class that she knew. TJ on the other hand, seemed apprehensive. And then I left, and wanted to cry! Almost did too! What is with these emotions? Must be a girl/mom thing eh?

Love you kids!

Camping 2010

We got a new camper this year, after selling our old one to Tony's cousin. It's bigger, and has a better bed for Tony and I and a set of bunk beds for the kids. So, we've gone camping a bit this summer. We've had cousins, and Grandpa, and Tony's parents come up with us. We've gone to one spot every time, and still not seen everything around the area. We hiked into a lake, that was surrounded by a swamp and hidden sink holes. Tony fell in one of said sink holes, up to his chest. Good thing Justin was there to help pull him out. Nasty spot, in my opinion. TJ caught 1 fish at this lake. Which Uncle Bill proclaimed to be tasty, that night.

Another time, we hiked into Hidden Lake. Just a little hike. Beautiful lake. Tons of rocks surrounded it. Some moved as you walked on them, so you had to pick your path carefully. Tons of fish were caught, but they were so small we threw most of them back. The kids had fun though.

It's been fun and adventurous. The slide show is kind of long, but there are some fun pictures in it.

The Harley

Tony and I were going to Sturgis this year....but things didn't work out. So we just took a little ride through some beautiful areas. The experience on a bike is so different from being in a vehicle. You experience all of the temperature changes, and all the smells. Some are great, and some aren't. lol I just love the smell of mountain air. So here were are. Aren't we cute? It was nice for us to spend some time...just the two of us. Sure do love him. Afterward, are some scenery photos. I'm not a big scenery picture person, I want people in them. But, this river was so beautiful. Of course the picture doesn't capture it. But...enjoy them anyway.

More Summer Fun and stuff

We only got our boat out a few times this year. Such a strange summer. It rained a lot, and was so windy the rest of the time. Even this day, it was so windy, but we just went anyway.



I got the kids roller blades this summer. Gracie doesn't quite dare go outside with them yet. So she rides around inside on my hardwood floor. It was only a matter of time, before this happened....

Luckily, it's just a door and not my cabinets or the wall or something hard to replace. TJ now has a hole in his dirty door. Obviously I need to make my kids clean their doors. I am thinking about just cutting out a vinyl soccer ball to go down there. LOL
Of course it's not summer without a lemonade stand. Gracie, TJ and their friends had one and I think they drank and spilled more than they sold, but they had fun.

One morning, while getting ready for church, I told TJ to go get dressed. This is how he came back.

Hee Hee! I just had to take a picture. He says, "I have a tie on". lol

Summer Fun

This summer seems to have gone by so fast. I can't believe it. Here are some of the things we did this summer. Tony and I went on a Poker Run, to raise money for the Children's Justice Center. I was doing so great...I had the best hand...I had 8, 9, 10, J, Q and the last card I drew a dang 6! I was so mad. Dang cards! LOL! Here is Tony standing by the bike at one of the stops over Wolf Creek.

My Company does a summer party for employees and their families, every year. This year it was at the yellow water slide again. The kids loved it. My niece was out staying with us and grandma & grandpa at the time, so she went with us. Her and TJ were up and down that slide constantly. Gracie did the slide and swam some. Here is TJ:

Summer:

Gracie:

One evening, when all the family was out, and we were up at Grandpa's house, the guys brought out the jump ropes. They were doing double dutch. TJ loved it. Notice the ear plugs in his ears. They had just gotten back from shooting, and he didn't want to take them out. They are so super cool....and orange too! lol


Here is a little video of them jumping just one. Notice Uncle David jumping.....

And the end result....Uncle David headed to the ER with a torn ACL. Oops! Hope he is feeling better now.

After one of Gracie's haircuts, she decided she needed a little color in her hair.

What do you think? I don't know what her obsession is with the cheetah print, but she loves it. Relax, it's just a clip in. lol I'm not that crazy...YET!
And here is my cute little scout.