Addy's Print

Addy has been working really hard on her letters and one day she brought this paper to me. It made me giggle to see her 'fancy' them up a bit, but I was so impressed with her writing. She had no help whatsoever.

Croup

Sunday morning December 2nd, Hailey woke up with no voice and an awful cough. Having heard that same cough before when Addy was an infant, I knew we were in for trouble.

I took her into the after hours clinic for her doctors office and the doctor on call informed us that she had croup.  I was not happy about this because I knew what was ahead for my little monkey.

We got the steroid for her and off we went. She had to have the steroids so her throat wouldn't close up.

She was absolutely miserable.

A couple days later, she was sitting on the kitchen counter, still not able to breathe well and she made a funny noise. I turned quickly to see what she was doing and she was reaching for me with the most awful/scared look on her face and she was BLUE. She couldn't get ANY air in. I freaked out and yelled for Nate.. He came running in as I was grabbing my phone to call 911 when she finally was able to slowly get a TINY bit of air in. I held her and tried to calm her down so she could breathe a little better. After a few minutes, she was calm and back to breathing a little better. I kept a close eye on her that week and kept her home from school the entire week. Luckily, Addy didn't catch it.

I hate croup.

Mall Outing

Summer and I decided to take the kids to the mall one morning for some play time. It had started getting really cold the beginning of December so what better spacious place to go than the mall!!

Of course we had to get 1.00 ice cream cones. 

Addy sure loves her cousins.

I love being close to my sister in laws. It's great to have someone to hang out with all the time. I'm grateful to have my sister in law Summer in my life. I don't think she realizes how grateful I am for her.

Movie Party!!

Nate loves to spring movie nights on the girls and they love it!  Even though I can't remember what movie they were watching when I snapped this picture, I do remember it was a fun night.

Thanksgiving 2012

Last year we spent Thanksgiving alone and we loved it, but we were definitely looking forward to spending time with family this year.  I was given the assignment to bring mashed potatos and that's just what I did.  The dinner was amazing as usual and it was so great to see all our family that we don't see too often.

This was Addy being irritated at me for taking too long to get ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Thanks Jess, for the pictures. :-)

This weekend was full of family and activities.

Addy is the best at posing for the camera.

The girls all went to see Breaking Dawn. Carmen and I had already seen it but were not hesitant on seeing it again. Nate took the girls to see Rise of the Guardians at the same time.

This was my new do that I got the day before Thanksgiving. My cousin Rachel is my stylist and I love the look she gave me. She took 10 inches off and I can't believe it still looks pretty long.

A night at the Johnson's doesn't go without games. This is a family favorite. Wits and Wagers.

This was a great Thanksgiving weekend full of fun and family. What more could you ask for!

Nate's Surgery

For a few years now, Nate has been experiencing some intense pain in his right shoulder. He was a pitcher in high school and continues to play the sport that he loves deeply. Baseball. Softball, now that he's out of high school  but still, a lot of throwing involved and it's gotten to an unbearable point. This is a guy who plays at least two nights of softball a week and usually one of those nights is a double header.

Once realizing his fate, we made an appointment for an MRI.  In the MRI, it showed a small tear in the labrum and a really bad bone spur.  So, the next step: Surgery.

We made a surgery appointment for a day in November and awaited its arrival. The day came and the girls went to Aunt Summer's house to play while I took Nate in for his surgery.  They were 2 hours late getting him in because of an emergency surgery that came in. So, we just sat and waited.  The doctor had told us that he wouldn't know how bad the tear is until he got in there and checked things out in surgery. 

After an hour and a half of waiting, I got the news that he was out of surgery and doing well.  The doctor came out about 10 minutes later to let me know what all went down in surgery.  He said the words we were NOT wanting to hear. The tear was MUCH worse than they anticipated and his recover would be extensive.  We were hoping for a 3-6 month recover and instead we got an entire year.

I knew this news would kill him and I had made the conscious decision that I wasn't going to tell him till the following day when the meds had worn off.  They gave me permission to go in and see him and as he looked at me all drugged and half alert, the first words out of his mouth were: "How bad was the tear?"  then he followed with the next question: "short recovery, right?"  I shook my head to inform him of the truth and I've never seen such a look of sadness and disappointment on his face as I did then. He got emotional with the realization that sport would not be in his future for the next year and it hit him pretty hard. Aside from sports, Nate has become an avid Gym rat.  He lifts at least 3 times per week and this would not be an option for quite some time. He was worried about losing the muscle in one arm and being lopsided. :-) That's kind of what happened, but he'll gain it back quickly.

2 weeks later, we went in for his post op appointment where they took his stitches out and gave him an order for Physical Therapy twice a week.  

He has been sticking with his stretches and his exercises and the doctor said he could hopefully swing a bat by the fall, but absolutely NO throwing.

I guess we'll see what the future of this year brings.

 We've had the privilege of seeing Luke a lot lately. Well, not a lot, but more than we usually do. Luke is my cousin and my uncle has had the opportunity to work up in Draper once a month for a week and he brought Luke with him this time. The girls absolutely love him. He is the best kid ever. Hailey and Luke spent a lot of time outside riding bikes and rollerblading.  It was a great week for me because the girls were so entertained by Luke that I was able to get so much done. Thanks Luke! :-)

Yes, those are my HUGE rollerblades Hailey is wearing.

We know that when uncle Marty comes to town, there won't be a low supply of ice cream in our home. It's always something to look forward to. I love my family.

And we miss Luke.

Happy 6th Hailey!

 This year for Hailey's birthday, she wanted to go rollerblading.  So, we took her and all our family and went skating at Classic Skating.  This was the girls first time going and they absolutely loved it. Hailey wanted her own rollerblades for her birthday. She had been wearing mine outside and wanted some that fit her better. She also asked for a Macaw cake. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull that one off, but in the end, it turned out alright.

This was Hailey putting on MY rollerblades.

Addy and the scooter. She holds the handlebars funny because this is how she is use to holding things with a cast on. With her having to wear a cast for two months, she got very use to this position.

The new blades.

This is a blurry picture of my brother and I. We were rollerbladers back in the day and got quite good at it. So, here we are wishing we were young again. :-)  

Hailey had so much fun at her party this night that she couldn't stop skating and we had to force her to leave the floor. She has become quite the little blader with her new rollerblades.

I can't believe she's 6.  She is just a ball of energy and fearless and I love that about her. She has the best spunky personality and it's just so fun being around her.

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Halloween 2012

Tradition has been to take the girls Trick-Or-Treating in Grandpa and Grandma's neighborhood in Orem. This year was no different.  The girls love it and we love it, so why change a good thing, right?  Nate's mom and dad are kind enough to provide some food for us and we take the girls out for a night of fun and safe trick or treating.

This year, Hailey wanted to be a Macaw and Addy wanted to be a Colorful Fairy. I think they both turned out pretty darn cute. This year was super fun since they got to trick-or-treat with their little cousin Benson. He was an adorable dragon.

The girls always get quite the workout trick-or-treating in this neighborhood. There are lots of hills and long steep driveways to walk up. In the end, we ended up with WAY too much candy and some very happy little girls.  They got tired pretty fast and we didn't even make it through the whole neighborhood like we usually do, but Nate and I didn't mind.  We went back to grandma and grandpa's for some pizza and hang out time. The girls love to help grandpa hand out candy at their house. It's always so fun for them to see others dressed up too.  It was a successful Halloween and more dress-ups to add to their overflowing bin of such.  Nate and I are NOT fans of the girls eating candy. Especially a lot of it.  The good news is, they aren't use to much sweets around our house, so they usually forget about their stash after a couple days. That's just what happened this year as well and i'm so glad.  It was a successful Halloween full of fun and family.. just the way I like it.

Halloween Dress-Up No.1

We were invited to a Halloween party at our neighbor's house. It was a pretty rockin' party if I must say so. They rented this awesome ship that was placed in their front yard and the kids absolutely loved it.  The party was a 'Costumes a Must' party, even though there were plenty of party poopers. Nate and I decided to take the plunge and dress up.

I have to admit, Nate's costume was the best.  I can't believe I got him to a. dress up and b. attend a social event all in the same night.  

Damon and Summer joined us at the party with their kiddos as well. We had a really good time. It's been YEARS since I've been to a Halloween party let alone dress up for one.