Me so happy....

Why am I so happy? 2007 is finally done. Finished. We've seen a lot of Andrew for the holidays. He moved out closer to us. Here he is in Brittany's "pink therapy room". Brittany, up until a couple of years ago, eschewed the color pink. Enter now. Her walls are a very light shade of ballet pink, her comforter is two tone pink. Her sheets are pink, her Christmas tree is pink, she has a lot of pink stuffed animals. Brittany has a lot of pink shirts from her mother planet, Hollister. To borrow a line from Steel Magnolias, "The sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismal!"

Why am I so happy? Only one more semester to go before Brittany graduates high school. She made very good grades this last one. I am so proud of her!

Why am I so happy? I got all of the Christmas decorations put away today. I carefully put away everything I took out and some extra treasures for next year that I bought on clearance. I only need to have the icicle lights taken down off of the house, and that will be tomorrow's project. Only I hurt my neck so I won't be able to go up onto the roof. Andrew and Mark will be my special helpers.

There will be some big milestones for our family in January. Stay tuned!

As promised...

Okay, I lied, there were 16 in the group. Have you ever seen such a georgous group? Sorry for the darned line, I must find out why my scanner does this. Mark passed the sacrament today and I was such a proud mom. Not in the bad pride way, but, I realized with much more clarity that my baby is not a baby anymore.

Random Week with more to come

Some have questioned whether I have fallen off of the earth this week. No, just been busy, but it is nice to know that your blogs are looked forward to.

Brittany went to Winter Formal last Saturday. I found this dress at Dillard's for......drumroll please........$29.00!! The best part of the deal was that I bought it without her with me and she loved it!

Any mom with a daughter knows that they have such attitude about clothes. Usually when I try to buy something for her, I say to the checkout clerk, "I may be back."

This is the fella she went with. His name is Layton Hatch and he is in our ward. They were actually part of a large group of about 14. Most of them were from our ward, so it was a cute sight on Sunday to see them all sitting on the same row, all dressed in their festive attire. Truly a beautiful group of youth! I'll post that picture as soon as it comes.

Mark was ordained a deacon in the Aaronic priesthood last Sunday. It was a very proud day for Lee and I. Our baby is growing up! He is now one of the youth! He will pass the sacrament for the first time tomorrow.

We had our ward Christmas party which was a Hawaiian luai theme last night. Kapono and April Mafi and their group provided the entertainment. It was great! Such beautiful and talented people. I wanted to get up and shake my groove thang right along with them!

I have been busy with getting things ready for Primary for 2008. It's coming along, I think. My mother-in-law is in the hospital with pneumonia and MRSA. She says she is getting better, but nonetheless has been very ill.

I have written my Christmas newsletter and filled out the envelopes, so the cards should be along shortly! It's a big chore, but I love getting them myself and I have written one each year since the Christmas before Lee and I were married. Way back in the day. I still have wrapping to do, a gift to buy for the office party, a white elephant to find for Lee, Bunco, Mark's orchestra concert, a dish to make for the office party, oh yeah, and clean my house!

Holy Flooded Freeway Batman!

As some of you may know, I am from Washington state. My cousin Shannon just sent me this photo of Interstate 5. All that you can see is an overpass and a couple of exits. Is this just unbelievable? To all of our family dealing with this storm, we are thinking of you, and praying for your safety. Love you all.

Twelve years ago.....

Twelve years ago, a tiny little 9 lb 2.5 oz baby boy was born. Mark William Johnson made his way into the world through something of an eventful pregnancy for his mother.

Mark was born at 12:35pm by C-section due to the fact that he was a footling breech. What this means is that one of his feet was "stuck" in my pelvis. They tried and tried to turn him around (which hurt like crazy, must tell you) but, he remained steadfast in the position he was in.

Mark meets his big brother and sister for the first time.

Can you guess which foot was stuck?

Mark, being the baby of our family, gets extra special attention from his big brother and big sister. He has finagled his fair share of "gifts" from them. He is more than willing to help them part with their hard earned dollars.

Brittany gave Mark a Nintendo DS for this birthday. He loves his big sister a little extra now.

Mark is very well rounded guy. He is smart in school, he is a gifted musician, and he loves sports, especially soccer. From a very early age he has had such a gift for the funny. He keeps us laughing and we just can't believe some of the things that come out of that brain of his!

Now that he is twelve, here are 12 things that I love about Mark:

1. He has always had an easy time making friends. I guess that other kids like to be friends with the tall guy.

2. Mark is very fair. He seeks to correct the injustices of this world.

3. He has the cutest freckles across his nose. I don't like my freckles, but his are very cute.

4. Mark likes to be "hands on". He has never been satisfied just to be shown how to do something, he wanted to do it.

5. He still cuddles with his Mom. Shh don't tell anyone. I love his huggles!

6. Mark is very helpful. He can carry groceries in the house in a single bound and tries to carry every bag out of the store without the cart!

7. I love just spending time with him talking, I like to hear his thoughts on any subject.

8. Mark is responsible. His brother Andrew was a good example in this department, and he learned it well.

9. He loves to play games! You MUST play with him. He has a way of engaging you so that you can't say no.

10. Mark is going to be a great missionary. He wants to stay in the United States for his mission.

11. He likes to tease. He is not a brutal teaser but, a teaser nonetheless.

12. Mark is so excited to receive the priesthood, and to be a deacon. I can't wait to see him pass the sacrament.

Mark I love you so much son. You are the best youngest son I could ever have! Happy Birthday!

I'm IT!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. I was Primary secretary in Evergreen ward. (I'm now Primary secretary in Baywood ward)
2. I was teaching salsa and merengue dance.
3. I was working for Kinney Management. (I still am.)
4. I was co-PTA president with my husband at Flora Thew Elementary School.
5. I was mired in what I thought were the hardest times in raising my children.(Wrong!)

5 things on my today list:
1. Dishes (done, thanks Hon!)
2. Laundry (never done)
3. read December Ensign
4. Blog
5. Prepare for primary presidency meeting Tuesday.

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. A bowl of Raisin Bran
2. A caffeine free diet Dr. Pepper or Pepsi
3. New York style bagel
4. A bowl of Oatmeal Squares
5. Reduced fat Ruffles

5 songs I know lyrics to:
1. Man, I feel like a Woman
2. We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet
3. Low
4. Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer
5. Songbird

5 things I will never wear again:
1. tapered leg pants (no one should wear these EVER!)
2. anything with a "drop-waist"
3. shoulder pads circa 1980's
4. turtle neck sweaters, I just can't do it.
5. large floral prints (too busy)

5 of my favorite toys:
1. Gee this is hard, I don't play much, oh, I-pod, gotta have my tunes!
2. Digital camera to take pictures to blog with.
3. foot spa
4. my Bosch, I cannot live without it now, thanks Mom Johnson!
5. my earpiece for the phone, allows me to multitask hands free.

So there you go. Getting to know me bit by bit. If any of my audience feels so inclined, you may do this list on your blog. I'll read it, I promise. Have a great evening!

Berkeley the Reindog

"Oh Mom please don't humiliate me this way!"

"But Berkeley, you look so cute in your antlers."

Berkeley came to us Christmas Eve 2004. I think that he remembers that he was a Christmas puppy and he likes to lay under the Christmas tree. He "wags" the ribbon off the bottom of the tree and knocks the ornaments off, but at least he doesn't try to eat them anymore.

My "baby" is growing up!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree........

It's taken me awhile, but, I'm back on the wagon. After Thanksgiving I was left with most of a pecan pie and it took me nearly a week to eat it up. YUM! With pecan pie you must pace yourself, no more than one piece a day.



The day after Thanksgiving Mark and I put up the icicle lights on the house, and decorated the tree. We were trying to decide where to put the tree this year, when Grandma said, "I saw someone that had their tree in the center of the room." Mark thought that this was a grand idea:

What can I say, I'm terrible, I forgot to rotate the picture so send me your chiropractic bill. Having a Christmas tree in the middle of the room works wonders in the TV watching department. We don't watch as much, but, with the writer's strike still ongoing there isn't anything on anyway.

We are very much ready for Christmas, we have a tree in the living room, one on the dining room table, two on the entertainment center, one in Brittany's room, and one in Mark's room. I enjoy the decorating. I'll have to take more photos of my "trees".