The Year of the Monster Christmas Tree!

2010 was the year of the Monster Christmas Tree (12 feet tall) and the whole Johnson Family gathering! The ward party was a Night In Bethlehem. Larry and I ran the synogogue,

Allen and Rachel ran the clothing shop,

Scott, Alisa and Kinsey enjoyed the festivities,

As well as the Palmer family.

Santa came at the end of the night and terrified our children:

Although Sienna, the angel, enjoyed her visit

Miya wouldn't get close

And Kinsey grabbed the goodie bag and got out of dodge!

Alisa's birthday was complete with a treasure hunt, goodies and fun:

We had fun hanging out, walking through the lights at the zoo and just being together:

Brian and Amber checking things out under the tree

And it's the Johnson family Gingerbread decorating activity. Featuring:

Death by Chocolate by Allen adn Rachel

A Pink Palace by the Palmers:

A Winter Wonderland with reindeer on front by Brian and Amber:

sorry, it deleated their family photo and I can't find it!!

And Christmas in Maine by Scott, Alisa and Kinsey:

Christmas Fun!!

The day after Christmas we all sang Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!

Aaaaaahhhhhh..... warmth!

We enjoyed the warmth of family and friends during this Christmas week. It was so wonderful to have everyone here together. May you all have a Happy New Year and may the Gamecocks find victory tonight!!

Thanksgiving in Utah

Larry and I were able to go to Utah for Thanksgiving this year. All of our kids were with the in-laws and so we decided we ought to go out and be with our parents. Of course the first matter of business was to go to the BYU game! Craig came with us and we had a great time. It was a very chilly night, but the mug of hot chocolate and a good win by the Cougars made it all worth it! GO COUGARS!

Lila had her first birthday while in Utah. Matthew's parents live in Payson, so we were able to travel down to be with them for the celebration, along with a bazillion Palmers and a gazillion cousins. It was great!

Lila shares a treat with Pop Pop.

She wasn't so sure about the cupcake but loved the ice cream. Can anyone say, "Ice cream headache!" It's so good but it hurts!!

The Palmers came over to mom and dad's house for a quick visit. The girls loved playing with Gilbert, (I'm not sure how Gilbert felt about it though....)

Then they helped to decorate the small downstairs tree and the funny wooden tree.

Nate came for the thanksgiving feast,

As well as Craig and Char's family. It was so good to be with such awesome people!

We did make a quick visit up north to see Larry's mom, but it was cut way short because of the impending blizzard, so we were sent quickly back on our way south before the high winds and snow shut things down. Even BYU cancelled classes!! On our way back past the point of the mountain, we stopped to visit quickly with Brian who was with Ambers' parents in the Salt Lake area. We took him to lunch (my first In-n-Out burger 'animal' style) and enjoyed our very short visit, so good to see him again!

We enjoyed our visit, thanks mom and dad for having us and letting us spend this wonderful time of year with you. We love you and are grateful for the blessings that family brings!

Playing Catch up

A couple of weeks ago Dad had his company picnic/activity at the zoo. We took the girls and had quite a lovely time as you can see:

Sienna and I went into the lorakeet area so she could feed the birds. This calm scene is after said bird crawled up her arm to her shoulder and started pecking on her. Grandma to the rescue, bird left, then the feeding continued with bird in tree and NOT on arm! And believe it or not (darn I didn't get a picture), Dad did go into the bird cage b/c Miya changed her mind and wanted to go in. Did bird fly across his face? Yes. Did Dad have a coniption? Yes. Were we all totally entertained, Yessiree!

The girls enjoyed their first Icee treat. Strawberry flavor of course!

These are the funniest scary faces I've ever seen. These sweet girls just can't look mean!

Sienna has turned into quite the rock wall climber. She does it at every chance she gets. She's getting quite fast and is now doing the difficult adult wall. Way to go Sienna!

The girls got to make their own giant Pixie stix. Miya is enjoying her rainbow of flavors.

They also got some scratch design cards. Miya started off with a nice design and just couldn't stand not having all the colors showing so she eventually scraped off all the black.

Sienna's turned out to be quite the work of art:

Our Kangaroo Walk-about allows us to walk through the kangaroo area so we are up close and personal with these cute little fellas.

Mr Koala decided to wake up while we were there. Its unusual since they sleep 20 hours a day.

It was a fun day to share with the girls. Glad we were able to go and have them with us!