Drum Roll Please...

I feel like a whirlwind of events have just happened and I can't keep up! So, I'm trying to throw them all on my blog right after another.


Last week I was impatiently awaiting the arrival of something I have been SO SO excited about...

THIS

My Blog Book!

I've been working on this little gem for a while now. And I am THRILLED to say that it turned out AMAZING!  

At first, I was going to do the first two or three years of my blog in one book. Then after doing some editing on it decided that I wanted to keep it to a year per book. I'm so glad I did. It's the PERFECT size and I cannot tell you how fun it was to read through it. 

It made it more clear to me how important my blog is to ME. Not to my readers, even though I love you all, but it made me really realize that I'm building a very important journal that I can keep forever. Plus, most my entries have pictures to bring them to life.  I had written stories about things the girls did or Nate and I did that I had completely forgotten about and WOULD have forgotten if I hadn't written it down in my blog.

I'm currently working on my next book and can't wait to finish it.

(the lighting in my kitchen is less than ideal, so sorry for the not so great pictures)

My sis-in-law recently made her book and had a few tips that I was grateful for. The main one that helped me was to just take a couple pages a night to work on. Get them edited the way you want and don't try to rush through it. The finished product is amazing and I am so glad I spent the money to do it.  For anyone thinking of making their book, I used the company www.blurb.com and all you have to do is download their free software and follow instructions to feed your blog into the program, then edit away. And Laura, if you are reading this, it's TOTALLY worth it. I'll bring it down next time I come. :-) 

The pictures in the book turned out great! I had to upload some of them again just because the quality from blogger wasn't all that great. Keep that in mind when editing.

I'm so glad I did it and I'm loving looking through it with the girls and reminiscing about funny stories and things that happened when they were babies. 

Here's to continuing on my blog journey and creating more books to keep memories alive forever.

Officially a Soccer Mom

This morning was Hailey's first little soccer practice. Good thing we are all early risers because it was at 8am!  I have to say, it's the cutest thing to see her all dressed up with her shin guards and cleats. Last week we went to buy her shoes and she said she had to have some like daddy's softball shoes so she picked out black Nike with a hot pink swoosh. They are adorable. She'll get her uniform at her first game.

There was a drill they did where they had to run down the field and dodge the balls the coaches would kick at them. At first, I was thinking.. "what kind of practice is this?" I could just picture kids crying and getting knocked down and stepped on with cleats, etc. However, I was SO surprised when they all did so well. Hardly anyone fell down. Hailey LOVED it and she did so well. She jumped over those balls like nobody's business. Then, they had a turn at the coaches. The coaches ran down the field while the kids kicked the balls in the line of fire and Hailey kicked one and hit the head coach right in the leg. The coach was very impressed that she hit him. :-) Of course, they emphasised how this is only a drill done at soccer practice. :-)

She also had a chance to run her little heart out. Another drill was to run down the field and back. Out of a zillion kids, Hailey finished 3rd just behind two little boys.  At one point during practice, she came over to where Addy and I were sitting and said "my legs are tired, I need a rest!"  That was the first time I have EVER heard those words from her mouth.

She learned how to dribble the ball down the field and was able to keep it right in front of her the whole way. It was good times and she's so excited for games to come in August.

Just for future purposes, I wanted to list the great deal we got for getting her involved. 
 $80.00 includes: Uniform, Ball, Summer Camp & Two Seasons of Soccer. (summer/fall & spring/summer)


for signing her up, we got a coupon for a special soccer package at a local sports store.
$35.00 includes: Cleats, Ball, Shin Guards, Socks and Sackpack to put it all in. 

Addy's 3!

I have so many blog posts to catch up on from recent events, but first, a note to my baby girl.

Miss Addy,
I can't believe you're 3. Didn't we just have you yesterday?  Last night I looked through your birth and baby pictures and I can't believe you are so big now. You are precious to me, baby girl. Your dad and I absolutely adore you. You have this little accent when you talk and it is probably the cutest thing ever. It makes me smile every time I hear you talk. Aside from what you sound like, you talk so well these days. It's amazing to me that after just 3 years of life, I can have a complete conversation with you.  Every morning when you wake up, you come stumbling into our room, holding your pink silk blanket and you crawl right in to snuggle in the warmth with us. You've always been a snuggler. You love to be held. This morning I said 'Happy Birthday Addy' to you and you looked at me a little confused and replied 'Are we going to my birthday party today again?' You didn't understand why we had a party a couple days ago but I was saying it to you today. One day you'll understand how all this birthday stuff works. :-) You are such a happy little girl and you are such a great little listener as well.  You absolutely adore your big sister and you want to do everything she does. Stay close to your sister Addy. Stay close to your mommy and daddy. Most of all, remember who you are and stay close to your Heavenly Father.  We love you baby girl. Happy Birthday!

Love, Mommy

We went to Seven Peaks Water Park this morning as per Addy's request on her birthday but we had her party 2 days ago on a Saturday. Addy asked for a 'flower party' this year, so we turned it into somewhat of a little swim party luau.  This year we kept things considerably small. In the past, we've held giant birthday parties for our kids and we decided to downsize a bit so there isn't always the expectation for a huge party.

The Cake

I was quite excited to make this cake. I made the cake itself from scratch. It's an amazing recipe. At least I think so. I also made the fondant flip flops out of homemade fondant.The little tiki men were her candles. The best part was that she loved it.

Swimming

Nate's parents were sweet enough to let us have Addy's party at their house so she could swim.

The Presents

(this is the funniest picture of the day, thanks to Lincoln)

My brother and his 3 kids along with my parents were awesome to come up from Las Vegas to enjoy this great weekend with us. We had amazing support from our amazing friends and family and it was a good time.

Addy, you sure are one VERY loved little girl.

These are lei's I made with popcorn, fruit loops and m&m's to give out as kids left the party.

Yum!!

It was a great party with yummy food and amazing friends and family.

We truly feel blessed to have such an amazing family and group of friends.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Nate = Amazing Dad

I absolutely LOVE Father's Day. Especially now. I love watching the girls get so excited to spoil dad. They love to help me plan his breakfast in bed, his presents and favorite treats. The cutest part is that Hailey always says every year that one of her presents to daddy is a HUGE hug. And she does just that.

This year was particularly emotional for me for a lot of personal reasons. I found myself getting lost in the moment at Sacrament Meeting today when Hailey was on the stand singing "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home". There's just something so sweet about watching your little one be so proud to sing to her dad.

Speaking of singing on Father's Day... I am always trying to find something new and unique to give to Nate for gifts. He is VERY difficult to gift.  He doesn't like STUFF. When I say stuff, I mean the kind that you buy cuz it looks cool, but ends up just sitting around collecting dust. I usually stick with a safe option like clothes, movies, dinner gift cards, etc. You know, something he can USE. Well, the boy has access to anything he could ever want so I don't dare buy him something retail, he'd shoot me. :-)  So instead, the girls and I came up with this:

Father's Day Album (featuring Hailey and Addysen Johnson)

Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4

It definitely was a hit. Hailey and Addy had such a hard time keeping this a secret. Nate loved it and I'm so excited to have this little gem to keep forever and embarrass them when their boyfriends come around. :-)

We of course got him a tub of his favorite chocolates: Chocolate Mint Truffles by Kara Chocolates. And a new shirt from American Eagle. Spoiled Spoiled Spoiled.

He definitely deserves it though.

A little note to Nate...

Thank you. Thank you for being the most amazing dad. Thank you for taking the time to play with our children. Thank you for being such an excitement to them every day. Thank you for taking their phone calls at work even when you are super busy. Thank you for teaching them the ways of life. Thank you for teaching them to be great people and for teaching them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for wrestling with them and for playing hide and seek with them. Thank you for aknowledging them when they yell things to you at your softball games. Thank you for singing to them at night when they request you over me. :-) Thank you for holding them when they are sick or sad. Thank you for loving them unconditionally. Thank you for knowing their language. Thank you for helping Addy learn to quit sucking her thumb. Thank you for teaching Hailey to sing the song "Bohemian Rhapsody".

I could go on and on, but most of all, thanks for just being such a great dad.

Happy Father's Day.

2 Weeks in Review

Last week we spent in HOT HOT Las Vegas. It was a great time. We went to a place called Plant World. It's a plant nursery but it's not just your normal nursery. This place has exotic birds flying all over the place. Hailey and Addy loved it because every time we'd walk past a Macaw, it would say "hello" and then "goodbye" as we left it's presence. They are all just out in the open and they just hang out on perches. Some of the more exotic ones like tucans and such are in cages so they don't get disturbed by us crazy humans.  They also have a coy and turtle pond which is always a favorite when we go there. This time we went, they had these HUGE desert turtles. They were giant. They were bigger than the fake one Addy is sitting on. And they are just in this little area with about a 2.5 foot cement wall so they are available to touch. It's crazy. The best part... it's FREE! And it's super entertaining for the kids. These pictures were taken with my phone so they aren't great.

One night we went to another favorite called "Flip-N-Out".

Some friends of my parents own it so we always get a sweet deal.

It's a huge trampoline place where they also hold tumbling and gymnastics classes. The girls have so much fun at that place, but this time was different. About half the time, Hailey did the usual.. run around from trampoline to trampoline and bounce house to bounce house. The second half, she was so enthrawled with watching the gymnastics class.  She couldn't get enough. I think we might have to look into that. This summer we've got her geared up for soccer, but I think we might have to add a little gymnastics class as well.

One morning we went to the dinosaur park which is this huge park with a splash pad. We did LOTS of fun stuff and ate till we couldn't eat anymore.

Then, the day came when I had to make the drive home by myself. I always hate that day. I love to come home and be with my Nater, but I hate making that drive alone.

We got home that night, I realized I had to teach the next day at Young Womens so I spent the late hours of the night preparing, then as I was going to bed that night remembered that I had to be at a meeting the next morning at 7am. UGH!!!

Sunday night, I ended up so so so sick. I think I may have caught a bug that I might not have caught had I not been so tired and stressed and exhausted from the previous weeks.

Nate stayed home and helped with the girls Monday, then it's just been catch up time since. Cleaning, laundry, errands, etc.  

Today we ventured out to Seven Peaks and had SO MUCH FUN! I'm loving that I have the option to go any day we want.  And, it's much less scary now that Addy is older. Bring on the sun. And warmer days.

So, that's my 2 weeks in review. 

Some Of My Favorite People...

Check out how stinkin cute my niece Savanah is...

if you want to see more from this shoot, check out my photography blog at

www.reflectionsbytiffany.blogspot.com

Macy's Blessing

I was fortunate enough to come down to Vegas and witness my newest little niece get blessed. It was a beautiful blessing of course and it was so fun to have the opportunity to snap some photographs of her sweet little person.
She looks just like her siblings and is as sweet as could be.

Such a cute addition to such a cute family. 

Love you guys.