Tithing

 Recently, we have been talking to the girls a lot about money. We feel the importance at our house about learning to manage money wisely. So, even though they are young, we felt we needed to really start teaching them to manage money and understand the importance of a dollar. Along with this, we have been discussing Tithing and the importance of paying tithing, so lately, the girls have been earning a steady income. We started a new money system at home and they have responsibilities to keep their money.  Just like a job, they have responsibilities or they don't get paid on payday.  This money has nothing to do with chores because we don't believe they should be paid for helping keep the house clean that they live in. Chores are just part of being in this family, however, our new money system does come with responsibility and consequences which I will probably blog about in more detail on another post.  They have done a very good job with this new system and its been working SO well.  We are so proud of them and their choices they are making. Yesterday, after  the girls had been playing, they came to me and said "mom!! We want to pay our Tithing tomorrow!"  They both have been saving their earnings and have a spot for tithing that they have been putting money into.  So, this morning, they woke up super excited to pay their OWN tithing. They have often taken the envelope of our family tithing to the bishop for mom and dad, but today was special. It was their very own. They sat down and wanted to help fill out their slips, then when Sacrament Meeting was over, they both walked up and gave their tithing to the bishop. It really was so cute and such a great 'first' in their lives. Hopefully one they will remember.

Sisters

Hailey has been asking for a while now to get her hair cut. She LOVES having her hair short and as much as we wanted her to grow it out, she wanted it cut and she won. So, this morning, I took her in for a little cut and she couldn't be happier. She kept walking around today saying "I LOVE my haircut!" These two are the best of friends and I love that about them. They are my little buddies and i'm so grateful I have them to keep me company.

I don't know what I would do without these two goofballs.

IPhone Randoms

Date Night

Jess and Justin joined us for some yummy mexican food.

My lil' Karate Girl

My new outfit I got for my birthday

The girls and Avery doing performances in Grandma's basement.

Benson

Hailey and Addy babysitting Mouse

Addy and her BFF Sophie

Morning Snuggles

um.. a snake

Lunch with my girls at Sweet Tomatoes

morning tears

The Beast 

Sunday afternoon at the Provo Temple

Hailey and her little best friend

Summertime! Splash pad at the Riverwoods.

Team Johnson on our way to the gym

Addy and her specific instructions on how she wants her hair.

Poor Hailey feeling super sick and wishing she could be outside playing with her neighborhood friends.

More morning snuggles

I love finding this little one in the morning light of my bedroom fast asleep.

Love the outfit Hales!

So, excited to have curly hair that day

Such a monkey... or frog

a chilly day at the zoo

summer homework pages

just had 5 matches in a row because she kept winning.. super sweaty.. yuk!!

she was feeling really sick and said "I wish daddy was home today to snuggle me"

She blasted this kid right in the chest plate and he flew backwards.. crazy. No worries, everyone, he's ok.. they always are.

morning snuggles with my Hailey

Father's Day 2013

Let me tell you a little something about Nate.

This guy deserves the best Father's Day ever.  Only, he had to work on Father's Day so that makes it a little difficult. However, we did meet him at his work for his lunch break and have a picnic at a nearby park. This guy is really amazing. He makes me want to be a better person. He is extremely smart, very thoughtful, loving, kind, gentle, playful, humble, goofy, funny, spontaneous, adventurous, athletic, patient, understanding, hard working, determined, content and all around amazing man I know.

I am so blessed to have him as my husband and the father of my sweet girls. I love that we live this life together, because without him, I'm not complete. He is my everything and I have him to thank for making my dreams come true. He is the best dad, and I do mean, THE BEST.

These girls are so blessed to have him as their dad.

We love you Nater. You're the best husband and father anyone could ask for. We are so happy you are ours... forever.

Birthday Dinner at Brick Oven

Addy's birthday is this month and she got a postcard in the mail from Brick Oven for a free meal, so of course, we took her to dinner.  She was very nervous all throughout dinner that they might come sing to her even though we kept reassuring her that it would be OK, she kept asking about it. When dinner was almost over, a group of 4 waiters came to our table and she was pretty terrified the whole time they were singing to her, until Nate told her to smile. That was when I was able to get a picture of her smiling.

Swimming!!

One of our favorite things about summer is that Grandma and Grandpa have a swimming pool in their backyard.  We are very blessed and lucky to have the opportunity to go swimming all throughout the summer. This is especially great since I hate public pools AND crowds.

We pretty much find any excuse to go swimming, especially when daddy is home from work.

We look forward to many more swimming pictures to come this year.

Freeway Trouble

Have you ever stood on the side of the freeway wondering what, how, why?

Well, I did recently, after I caught my breath and calmed my racing heart.

We were driving on the freeway when all of a sudden one of my back tires blew. It all happened so fast, but my car was shaking, swerving and I pulled to the side of the road immediately. Luckily, I was able to do so.  Where I initially pulled over, there was NO shoulder. I couldn't step out of my car without being IN a lane on the freeway, so I had to pull up a bit, slowly to get to a place where I could safely (sort of) get out of my car. Meanwhile, Addy is a wreck.. she's so scared and Hailey thinks it's cool but is a little nervous about what's going on. I can't call Nate because, well, he's working in Draper, so how could he help! 

So, I called my father in law, hoping he was somewhere nearby and indeed he was. He canceled his lunch meeting (which I felt really bad about) and said he'd be on his way to meet me.

Meanwhile, I was getting everything out of the van needed, spare tire, jack, etc when all of a sudden, I see this guy running up the freeway to help me. He immediately starts getting the tire off when the UDOT guy shows up and uses his nifty tools to help out. It's a good thing HE showed up because apparently my spare was flat and it would have done me NO good had he not been there to blow it up for me with his nifty truck. Soon after they got me all set up, my father in law calls and says he sees the vehicles on the side of the road and he's almost there, I tell him they got it all fixed and he tells me he'll follow me to the next exit.

The real kicker about this situation is my tires were brand new! Within 2 months brand new and the tire blows out the sidewall. Seriously? Nate calls Discount Tire where we got them and tells them the story so they were waiting for me when I pulled up. The guy says I was lucky I didn't wreck. Um... YEAH! Duh!

So, after we got a new tire put on, and after all our nerves calmed down, we went out for ice cream, because that's what you do!