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!
