New kitchen...finally!

Well we are finally in our new kitchen and have moved out of the dining room. We even had company over for dinner on Sunday and ate in a clutter-free dining room. I am so happy with the outcome of our kitchen. I have a lot more space even though we only added about 6 more inches all the way around the room by taking out the soffit on top. I still have some empty drawers and cupboards which makes me very happy! We still need to add one more coat of paint to the walls because they got a little nicked up while the cabinets were installed and the hardwood floors will be refinished next week while we are on vacation so we will come home to a dusty mess, but nice shiny floors. I am also adding a hardwood border in the dining room and putting a piece of decorative carpet in the middle where the table is. That will really spruce up that room since we still have the original carpet in their and it really has seen better days. It is gross right now since we were living in there through the remodel! So enjoy the pictures of the new kitchen!

HALLOWEEN (A FEW WEEKS LATE!)

OK so Halloween was two and a half weeks ago, but I needed to post my cute girls in their last minute Halloween costumes. You know your kids are getting old when they can dig through the costume box (or through mom's closet as was the case for Becca) and find their costume. Jane was really excited to be just a weird person and Rebecca as you can tell was a nerd (should I feel insulted that she used my jeans?) Oh well I have a good self image so I didn't get too depressed about it. Halloween night was a perfect balmy night so I sat out in our culdesac with our neighbors and handed out candy while Steve walked around with Jane and a couple of her friends. I don't even know why Jane goes trick or treating because she ends up with a bag of candy that she hardly even eats. I had to go into her drawer and throw out a couple of ziplock bags full of candy from last year...she is just like her brother Brad! Please notice our most talented dog Sammie standing and posing in the picture with Jane. Steve has now taught her to walk on her hind legs all the way around the kitchen...she takes a walk with Dad!

Our kitchen...A work in progress!

At the end of September we started our kitchen remodeling project so I just wanted to post some pictures along the way...obviously now it has been a month since all of the work started and we have been using our dining room as our kitchen...but I am proud to say we have lived through it and we only have a few weeks to go! The first three pictures are before pictures and then I just took some random picutres along the way. Our kitchen was red before the remodel and now it is a mustard yellow....actually Swedish mustard yellow! We have had workers in the house every work day for four weeks, but this week has been quiet because now all of the new cabinets are in and we are just waiting for the counter tops to come...that should be sometime next week. We then will have a new sink, stove top and oven to use. So we are all excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It actually hasn't been as bad as I though it would be and when it is all over the children are going to have to get used to doing dishes once again. I just hope no one accidentally throws our silverware or utensils away. I will post some more pictures when I can them of the finished product!

BRAD IS ENGAGED!

Well as you can tell...a lot can happen in a weeks time and this news certainly beats all news. Our newly returned missionary son Brad is now engaged to Michelle Chidester! Yea! We love Michelle so much and all agree that Brad couldn't have chosen anyone better to spend life and eternity with! Brad and Michelle were both missionaries in the Ukraine, Donetsk mission and became very good friends there. When we went to Utah in August for our family reunion they got together as friends usually do...and, well it quickly progressed into more than just a friendship. They have chosen December 20 as the big day so now Michelle is working hard to make sure everything goes smoothly that day and Brad is at BYU trying to concentrate on his schoolwork (hah, hah, hah!) A December 20 wedding means that our family will be in Utah for Christmas after having been away for 15 Christmas's so that will be fun as well. So much change and so much fun!

Next week our kitchen will be torn apart as we are starting on a Kitchen remodeling project so I will definitely post some pictures along the way so that we can chart the progress. Today I need to start boxing everything up and organizing it in such a way that we can access what we need when we need it! Good Luck to me!

Happy Birthday to Jane! Her birthday was on September 2 so I am little bit slow in blogging this, but we did just have her friends party last Friday so now I can put up the pictures from both events. It is so hard for me to believe that our youngest daughter is now 10 and in the double digits! Boy does that ever make me feel old! But I am also so grateful that I have a 10 year old and that I am not going to be an empty nester any time too soon! Jane is a gift to our family and makes us all laugh! I have been feeling a little sad lately realizing that my family is growing up and leaving the nest and that most likely all 7 of us will never live under the same roof again for any length of time. But then I guess that is what we strive to do as parents...teach our children to be able to live on their own and to be independent. It is wonderful to see how all of our children are making great choices and doing so well...I couldn't be any happier about what they are doing...I am grateful for that.

Anyway, Jane was able to celebrate her birthday on three different days...how does she rate? We had birthday cake and icecream and opened a few presents the night before her birthday because we knew her birthday night would be crazy with meetings at the church! But on her birthday she had her traditional Swedish pancakes in bed, lunch out with mom and then we all went out to dinner and opened up her final gifts. I think she felt sufficiently honored! Finally last Friday night we had 9 giggly girls over for a swim/ game night with pizza, fruit, cookie cake, icecream and candy...lots and lots of candy. It made me so happy to see these girls having some good, 0ld-fashioned fun together without any media of any kind. I think we need more of that in our society. We definitely rely too much on media to make us happy, but it's the games together that can bring closeness and create real memories! All in all we had a great party without too much mess! Happy birthday to our little sweetie!

BREAKFAST IN BED...AHHH THAT'S THE LIFE!

BECS AND JANE...WE MISS ANNE!

FAMILY DINNER...WITHOUT OUR COLLEGE STUDENTS...WAAAA!


JANE GOT A NICE SURPRISE IN THE MAIL FROM BRAD AND MICHELLE...YOU CAN TELL BY HER FACE THAT IT MADE HER VERY HAPPY! HER FIRST FLOWER DELIVERY!


THE BIG JUMP!

PARTY FOOD AROUND THE TABLE!


COOL SHADES WITH CLAIRE!


CAN YOU TELL JANE'S HAVING FUN?


THE HAPPY COOKIE CAKE...by the time we got to this point in the party everyone had had too much sugar and were not very excited about adding more...but at least it looked cute!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

August 26 was an exciting and sad day all at once! Sad that summer came to an abrupt halt with school starting and exciting because school started! I love summer time so I am always sad when those somewhat lazy days are over and we have to get back on a schedule again. But then getting back on a schedule feels good as well and I seem to get a lot more accomplished so it definitely is a catch 22! We only have three children left at home as we left our oldest two, Brad and Anne, in Utah to go to BYU.

Ben is a senior this year which is so hard to believe...but of course he is so excited to think that in a few short months he will be finished and be able to go to BYU to join his brother and sister (that is his goal anyway!)

Becca is excited to be starting her freshman year in high school, but with that comes a little nervousness and anxious anticipation of the unknown. She and Ben started seminary this week which means we are all getting up at 5:15 each morning so that they can be out the door at 5:55....OH THAT IS SOOOOO EARLY! Needless to say there is not a lot of talking going on when we pass each other in the wee hours of the morning!

Last to leave in the morning is Jane, our fourth grader, and she is as happy as a clam (who even knows if clams are really all that happy anyway?) to get on the bus and join her friends in Mrs. Croskey's class. She loves to do her schoolwork and she is very conscientious about it.

I am so sad that our family is growing older and I want to put a stop to it right now, but I don't think that is possible! When Brad graduated from high school three years ago, I knew that the other children were right behind him and that I wouldn't be able to stop what was already in motion. I am so happy that all of the children are making such great choices ...choices that will bring them happiness now and in the future. Even though they are leaving me too fast I can at least feel peaceful that they are prepared for life and that they will do well with whatever life brings them!

Trip to Utah!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Utah and I loved every minute of it. Whenever I go there and look up at beautiful Mount Olympus and breath the non-humid air I remember why I miss Utah! I love my life in Cincinnati, but I do miss our families, hiking in the mountains, Temple Square, beautiful blue lakes, Brad and Anne who are sophomores at BYU, and lots of really great friends! I am grateful that we have been able to visit every summer for at least two weeks while we have lived here for the past 15 years. Because of our yearly visits our children have wonderful memories with their Grandparents and cousins and have not missed out on relationships with them. Most of the summers we have visited my parents have had a Johnson family reunion and this year we had a great one at Bear Lake. There were 34-35 members of our family spread out between two different cabins on a hill overlooking the most gorgeous lake ever....it was truly picturesque! My dad loves pictures so we of course had two different slideshows where we all laughed ourselves silly over the old hairstyles and old clothes. Steve got in trouble however as both of his sons questioned why he threw away some of the "sweet" clothes that he used to wear. Oh if only we could have known that our boy's favorite place to shop was Goodwill! Anyway...we had a perfect hike day ( which is mandatory for a Johnson family reunion)! One of the reasons that is was a "perfect hike" was: it was short so that everyone, young and old, could complete it and it ended up at a little lake nestled in the mountains where there was a fantastic rope swing as well as some awesome cliffs for the teenagers ( and other brave souls) to jump off of. We loved that spot so much that we had to go there a second time later on in the week. We also spent a whole day boating which is also a must of our reunions. Grandma and Grandpa are so generous and rent a boat and two wave runners for everyone to use for the day! We made good use of everything and it was a perfect day. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too terribly hot and the water was cool, but not too cold...so can it get any better? My brother Mark and my brother-in-law Ray rode 50 miles around the lake that day as well so they were pooped by the time night rolled around! Another must, that I don't have any pictures of is Ultimate frisbee. Usually it is the Cutler clan versus everyone else, but this year they were down in numbers so it was the Cutlers and Lloyds versus the Johnsons and the Pearsons. Well the Cutlers put up a great fight and their newest member John Peterson helped a lot, but let's just say they want a rematch next year when Dave and Paul can join the team again!

Two more highlights of the week were going to Pickleville Playhouse where we watched a melodrama and laughed until we could laugh no more because of the lead character Juanito Bonito....we loved it. And finally we celebrated Grandpa Johnson's 80th birthday while we were there and had a superb program with music, laughter, slides and good food provided by the Cutlers. We all love Dad so much and we hope he felt honored...because we do honor him as the Patriarch of our family. Well I have gone on a little too long now, but I just wanted to get it all down before I forgot the details.

Jane and Megan in the tub at Grandmas... a tradition!


The more bubbles, the better!


Natalie, Lizzie, Anne and Emily...best cousin friends!


Jane and Megan...inseparable at the reunions!


On the hike to Bloomington Lake...Julie, Linda and Laurie...my beautiful sisters!


Brad and Ben about to jump into the icy waters of Bloomington Lake...they are mountain men for sure...unafraid of the cold!


Grandpa Johnson happily recieves kisses from two beautiful granddaughters, Anne and Emily...


The macho men of the lake...Ben, Brad, Grandpa and Patrick...watch out ladies...here we come!


The awesome teenagers...oh how we love them!


We had a wonderful weekend with Steve's family as well which included a celebration for Steve's parents 60th wedding anniversary! We went to the temple together, had a family picture and enjoyed a great barbecue at Lynette's house. What a great example Grandma and Grandpa Pearson are of living the gospel, loving each other and loving family...thank you!
This is a picture of Steve and his siblings Ann, Craig, Kent Lynette and their mom and dad. We all miss Marcia who passed away last summer at this time...she was such a wonderful daughter and sister!

This is our family with Grandma and Grandpa Pearson. You would never believe that they are 82 and 83 years old....don't they look great!

Our missionary has returned!

Well after two long years our missionary son, Brad, has finally returned to us and boy are we ever enjoying having him home. He looks the same...(he didn't even gain that 50 lbs. that some missionaries gain), but we have noticed a slight accent. We can't decide if it is because he spoke Russian for two years or if it is just a little missionary accent that all missionaries come home with. We notice that he does have the accent mostly when he speaks in church or when he talks about church related subjects. I say he has a lilt in his voice and it is so cute! I think Brad really likes being home and best of all he appreciates everything and he helps us to appreciate things as well. There have been a couple of times when he has given Ben serious grief about his complaints. One night we were all driving somewhere and Ben said something derogatory about where he was sitting. Brad immediately said..." Ben, you are in a nice car with air conditioning in America....quit your complaining! Thank you Brad! Brad rode on buses every day of his mission with more people than he would have liked to, and most often they had their smelly armpits in his face because they were all trying to hold on for dear life. So yes Ben...we do need to be grateful because we are all spoiled Americans!


Steve and I were able to go to Ukraine to pick Brad up and that we definitely the best decision ever. We had an amazing trip meeting the members that Brad loved so much as well as some of the people he was able to work with in his English classes. It was evident that Brad has lots and lots of friends in Ukraine. We had so many people say thank you to us for sending our son to Ukriaine. It was very touching. The people have so little there and yet they have such big hearts. We were generously fed by several of the members there which was so sweet. Even though we couldn't speak the language we had Brad as our translator so we got to know them. It is amazing what you can communicate with a hug as well. We felt so much love when we were there and it made us feel so good that our son had the opportunity to be a friend to so many people. Because of the oppression the people in Ukraine felt for so many years they are not a very happy people. It is not common at all for people to smile at each other or even pay attention to each other which is very sad. So when the missionaries smile and talk to random on the street they find that very strange. So many of the members we met mentioned how happy Brad was and how much he smiled. I am sure that lifted a lot of spirits!

We met Luda and Sasha in Kharkov and loved having time with them in their home...they are wonderful people!

We had a picnic with the Soproon family by the side of a lake in Gorlovka which was Brad's first area on his mission

While we were in Kharkov we spent the day with two of Brad's English students, Daniel and Kristina. They both speak English so it was fun to actually be able to talk to them and not have a translator. Kristina flew to America that day to work for the summer and Daniel was waiting for his visa so that he could go to Canada to study.

This is a picture of one of our other favorite families, the Lavric family, who live in Donetsk. We were able to spend two afternoons in their home and had a lot of laughs with them and another friend Dima (who was just baptized a few months ago!)

I couldn't pass this picture up...Brad with his last missionary companion...his Dad! This was taken on our long walk out to see another family...they lived in a home in the country.

This is the Nadanyenko family in Kharkov. The two boys in the picture loved playing with Brad and basically did that the whole time we were there. Steve enjoyed holding the little baby most of the evening and it was a nice break for her mom as well.

This was taken in the Gyshin's home who live in Mariupol (Brad's second area.) He is with Sergey Gyshin, and his MTC companion, Elder Vanatta. Sergey has been a member for about 1 1/2 years and his parents were baptized while Brad was in Mariupol. We were able to stay in their home one night and had a wonderful time getting to know them.