Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways

Couldn’t be happier when I leave with a full grocery cart

Often amazed at the amount of money with which I part

Samples galore to feed my hungry child while I shop straight through his lunch

The fact that you were one of Nigel’s first words makes me smile a bunch

Can’t say that I’m impressed with your ranch bottle twice broken on my kitchen floor

On my knees, wiping up splattered goodness, I cursed you forever more

See you tomorrow when I come to pick up my family prints…

Wedding bells are ringing

We went to Genna Gardner's wedding reception at Highland Gardens (the same place where Collette and Kyle held their reception) and had a fun time. Katie was a part of the wedding party. She and Johnny busted a few moves out on the dance floor.

BEFORE

AFTER - Notice the smile is definitely bigger because he learned how to chew THROUGH the chocolate wrapper. I used to give him candy to play with, but that has gone out the window now that he realizes what is beneath the shiny wrapper. Really, Johnny rarely gets extra sugar. It's a big deal at our house when I feed him the instant oatmeal that has apple cinnamon flavor and sugar instead of the old-fashioned plain oats. And I felt bad about it. Don't worry - I eat enough sugar for the both of us.

I even jumped out on the dance floor. I don't know why I am grabbing Johnny's stomach here. Is it an offensive move to prevent him from grabbing mine first? He did twirl me around by the stomach at the New Year's dance...




Collyle's wedding was fun too. Here is our song we wrote in honor of them.
(To the tune of Lion King: Can you feel the love tonight?)
KATIE: Can’t you see what’s happening?
JAKE: What?
KATIE: They don’t have a clue?
JAKE: Who?
KATIE: They’ll fall in love and here’s the bottom line. Our trio’s down to two.
JAKE: Oh.
JOHNNY:
The adventure of summer selling
There’s bug fumes everywhere
And with all this romantic atmosphere
Love’s destined to appear (Bird call)

ALL:
They met one summer morning
A training meeting for the crew
They went out to see Indian Jones
He said, “Can I pay for you?”

Collette called to say “I’m dating!”
We thought, “Yeah, right. This is just a phase”
MOM & DAD:
Collette was the perfect daughter to us
She had a new crush every 10 days

ALL:
Who is this boy from Georgia?
He’s a gentleman to the core
He’s athletic, fun, smart and a pilot
But he doesn’t lock his car door

Off to a group date up the canyon
Kyle said, “Are you sure you want to wear that?”
“Why not? Don’t you like this ugly sweater?”
CHRISTINE: Do you think it makes me look fat?

CHORUS: (ALL)
Can you feel the mushy-gushy love tonight?
For some of you it’s been a while
This new Johnston family start their lives together
Touch down sign…Collyle!

It was a beautiful day.

#8 Seed

Congratulations, BYU Mens Basketball for advancing to the NCAA tournament for the 24th time. We took Johnny to a few of the home games this season. Here, we are geared up to watch Kyle participate in the half-time festivities for cash. He practiced all day only to find out they were postponing his appearance. So we went back for the real deal and Kyle walked away $50 richer thanks to his free throw shooting abilities. Free throws win championships, Kyle. You are a champion. Forget about the missed three pointer and half court shot. They were close. Free throw makers are reliable, dependable and we know we can count on you to seal the deal.

Papa and Nana holding their 2 boys.

Johnny is obviously enthralled by his front row seat. Check out those chunky cheeks! His cheeks are seriously so thick - we think at least 3 times as thick as ours. We love to kiss them and feel very comfortable that he has some food storage packed away in case of times of famine.

We sat in the upper bleachers and still got a good view of the game. Don't worry - we hung out long after the game was over, hence the empty bleachers. The cougars know how to pack the house.

Snowboarding Sorrow

The moral of the story is that you should board carefully in between trees. They leave a mark.

Sundance trees were not kind to Johnny this year. To Johnny's delight, it looks much more gruesome than it truly was. He's alright.

Sundance Celebration

Every February, Stephen Covey lets Papa (his brother) use his Sundance cabin. So everyone that can come crams into the cabin for what is always a week full of fun, food, movies, card games, skiing, snowboarding, playing with cousins and everything else fun you can imagine. You get assigned a meal or two to provide for all 50 extended family members so it's good training on cooking for large groups. I have a hard enough time making sure all the parts of our meals for 3 of us are orchestrated and on the table warm at the same time. This year was a hit - we did soup - a treat after a morning on the mountain.

This year, Lance pretended to be a Martian invader with ski goggles. Or at least that is what the look on Johnny's face says.

Take me to your leader!

One morning, Johnny led a group in Yoga.

Inner peace. We do not wash our pits in the pool of sacred tears.


It's so fun to be together, turn off the internet and cell phones, and relax. Thanks to Stephen, Papa, and Grandma for making it all happen.

Criss Cross will make you want to JUMP

In February, Johnny and I went on a cross-country overnighter with some of the students from my graduate program. We assumed we would ski in Utah, you know, the greatest snow on earth, but it ended up that the trip was scheduled for Evanston, Wyoming. So, we traded babysitting with a dear friend and went out on our own. It was a pleasant drive to Evanston and then we hit the groomed trail for a couple of miles in to our yurt.

We had reserved 2 yurts, about a mile apart. But after dinner when we were warm and cozy, we all decided to squish into one. It was a ton of fun. Incredibly warm for snow camping. My expectations were discomfort and pain and suffering, but worth it for the experience of it all. It was warm and cozy and there were bunks in the yurt for sleeping on. Everyone insisted that the 7 month pregnant woman get a bunk bed instead of the floor, but quite honestly, I think the wooden bunk planks were just as uncomfortable as the floor.

It was a ton of fun. We were the heroes for breakfast because we brought blueberry pancakes and eggs and sausage. Tasty - my favorite meal of the day, whether camping or not although camping breakfasts have a special place in my heart (stomach).