Yummy

I have never tried to make a layered cake before. I had been really anxious to try a cake with layers of lemon and raspberry curds. I tried a new cake recipe, made homemade lemon curd and raspberry curd and a fluffy white frosting. We had the sister missionaries coming over for dinner and I was really nervous that it wouldn't work out, but I was very happy with the results. One of the ladies (Sis. Havea) doesn't usually eat dessert and she had two pieces and then they both took a piece home with them.

We have had the pleasure of having Sister Missionaries here. We have really enjoyed having them over for dinner and I have enjoyed going out with them. We will really miss them.

WHAT A SUMMER

This is going to be a long post. I haven't blogged all summer and I think it was the summer of all summers. I feel very blessed to have been able to do all that we did.

My summer started out with a wonderful trip to Jamaica. Ernie and I went for our 15 year anniversary. We went with a brother of mine and his wife. I had an amazing time. I really didn't do much at all except for relax on the beach. I did have 3 massages while I was there. I had one massage that was called a 4 handed massage and it lasted for an hour. I was in love. Ernie was able to go scuba diving 8 times. The last time we went Ernie and my brother got certified so they go as often as possible. The one thing that I did do while I was there was a power walk and I think it almost KILLED me.I have got to get in shape.

View from our room

The Scuba Boys

While we were in Jamaica Meagan and Nora got to stay with Ernie's Grandparents, that was a special time for the kids. Audrey stayed with one of my sisters because she was going to girls camp for part of the time and it was going to be easier for n to get her back and forth.
After we got back from Jamaica I spent a week in Dixon to help a friend move into her new house. I was glad to be able to help and I really enjoyed our late night conversations. One thing is for sure I will not be moving her food storage again any time soon.
After helping her move I came home for a week and then we were off to Florida for a family reunion. We really had a blast. We spent time on the beach, the girls got burned of course, I can't seem to ever keep that from happening. Next year it is swim shirts for everyone. We were able to go out on Grandpa's boat. We went out to a little island where the girls were able to fins all kinds of neat shells and sea life. We saw a star fish, horseshoe crab,sand dollars and sea urchin, we even found 2whole urchin shells, all though only one survived the trip home. We watched fireworks on the beach, I think it was the most impressive fireworks display I have ever saw. You could look down the coast line in both directions and see fireworks as far as you could see. I was beautiful. I really wish I would have had my video camera. Or my camera for that matter.
There is always some sort of game involved in a Johnson family reunion, usually it is horseshoes but this year it was Corn Hole(you have 2 teams with 2 players, you have 4 bean bags per team and 2 wood boxes with a hole in them and are layed at a slant, Object of the game is to get your bean bag in the hole or on the top of the box). After 2 days of playing Bob lost his partner and asked if I would be his new partner. At first I wasn't sure I going to ever be able to make the bean bag on the box let alone in the hole. It turned out to be a fun game and I didn't do so bad if I say so myself. We won the first 3 games we played. It is always a fun time when the Johnson's get together. .
Bob and Ernie playing corn hole

After we got back from Florida we spent 2 weeks at home and then the girls and I were off on another adventure. We went to Utah for 9 days. The girls were able to spend time with friends in our old neighborhood and some of their friends from school. I was able to see some friends too. We stayed the first half of our trip at the Clark's and I think Lily loved it. She has always loved Meagan and I think she still does. She wanted to go everywhere with Meagan, she even slept with her every night. One night she fell asleep in the car and so Liz put her in her bed and she woke up in the night and said I want to sleep with Meagan, so off she went down stairs to snuggle up with Meagan, it was really sweet. While we were there we made some yummy chocolate desserts. We made a chocolate mousse and frozen hot chocolates. We also were able to go to the pancake breakfast and the Altomont parade where we ran in to more friends. We spent the second half of our trip with the Spencer's. The kids had a camp out the first night we were there. They slept in a tent in the back yard. I got to sleep in the Jungle themed room, when I turned out the lights the ceiling lit up with stars. It was like I was sleeping under the stars. The kids tried to sleep in the tent one other night but while the were out there one of the kids got bit by something and so that ended that, they ended up camping out on the living room floor. I am grateful for all of our friends and really appreciated your hospitality.

After we got home we had some visitors. The Bowling's came for a visit and we were able to go to a Tulsa Drillers vs. Springfield Cardinals ball game. I had a great time and was glad that we could spend time with great friends. It was kinda funny most of the Bowling's wore cardinal t-shirts, it was a good game and there was a really impressive fireworks display after the game. Oh yeah the cardinals won, so most of us were happy.



On Saturday we went to a company picnic. There was food, cotton candy, snow cones, face painting, bingo, moon bounces, a band and lots of gifts. The planning committee did a great job. I am grateful for Ernie's job. Ernie is on the planning committee this year and he is in charge of a kids party. I think it will be fun.







I have really enjoyed summer and i am not ready for school to start. I have enjoyed all of the time I have spent with my girls this summer, I will miss them during the day when they go back to school. I hope they know how much I love them. I hope this summer made memories for all of us.
I forgot a couple of things we did this summer. The girls and I spent a couple of days at my moms to visit with some of the girls cousins. It had been quite some time since they had the opportunity to spend time with one another.
We went to Silver Dollar City with Ernie's Mom, Lee, and Angel. We found a whole section that we never knew existed.
Also while we were in Utah Audrey decided to cut her hair and donate it to lock of love. I can't believe how much older it made her look. I really like it short, I'm not sure what she thinks of it.

Before


After

Yummy

Ernie decided he wanted to use the smoker we bought about 2 years ago(this was the second time he used it). He bought a pork shoulder and made a dry rub for it. He smoked it all day and it turned out super yummy. It was really tender and had really good flavor. My favorite part was the crust on the outside. I am very proud of him, I'm glad that he isn't afraid to try a cook new things. We made a homemade coleslaw and I made Brazillian lemonades. It was a really nice dinner. For lunch the next day we set the pork shoulder on the table and we went at it like a pack of wolves.

It's Almost Summer

You can always tell that summer break is coming when the kids all start having their field trips. I was able to go somewhere with all 3 girls. It first started in April when I went with Audrey to California for a band competition. It was really fun for Audrey because she got to see some of her really good friends from Utah again. Audrey and I flew in and spent the day walking around. We were waiting for the rest of the group to show up when Snoopy arrived in the lobby. We got to kid around with him for a little while. The band played really well and earned a silver rating. After they did their competition we spent the day at Disney Land. It was so much fun. I am so glad that I was able to spend that time with her.




Next came my trip with Nora. Of course it wasn't as big as California but we had a lot of fun. We went to the Aquarium and spent the day looking at different water animals. I think the group of girls that I had really enjoyed the shark tank because we went there 3 different times. Nora got to feed the big turtles and touch the sting rays.






Finally my trip with Meagan was to the zoo. We were able to see everything in the zoo. We got to go to a demonstration with a Macaw. It was a beautiful bird. I really enjoyed the river otters. They would come up out of the water and stand on their hind legs and look at us. It was almost like they were begging for food. Meagan got to pet a 2 1/2 week old goat. It was so small. At the end of the day while we were looking in the gift shop it started to rain. I was glad that the rain held off until the end of the day. Later on in the evening Meagan said "I'm glad that you went with me on my filed trip, I had a good time with you." Times like that make it all worth it.






I am so lucky to be able to do these things with my girls and I am very grateful for a husband that works so hard that I am able to stay home and do these things with my kids. I'm not sure I tell him enough how grateful I am for all that he does for us. I really do appreciate him so much.

I truly am a very lucky lady. Tomorrow I will celebrate 15 years with my wonderful husband. He is my best friend and soul mate. I couldn't imagine spending the eternities with anyone else.


To my girls and Ernie. Loved you yesterday, love you still, always have, always will.

Adjusting

The girls are still having a hard time adjusting, but I think we are making progress. They had their first soccer games and they all did really well. They were all a little nervous to play so we used the old bribery trick. We told Nora if she scored a goal we would take her for ice cream, well guess what we had ice cream. We told Meagan that if she scored a goal we would take them to see the new Alice in Wonderland, well the girls and Ernie all went to see Alice in Wonderland. We told Audrey that if she scored a goal her cell phone bill would be forgiven, well she is still working on it. She has had a couple of assists, while exciting, don't count. Audrey is playing mid-field and forward. She used to play defense and so this is all new to her. Nora has adjusted well to school, but the other two are still struggling, I think if they would just let their guard down a little it would be better. I am not in love with it here but at least my family is back together.
I did get to spend Easter with my family and I really enjoyed seeing my brothers and sisters. We also made a quick trip to Silver Dollar City Easter week-end but it rained most of the day so we hope to make it back again soon. Have any of you seen the show Undercover Boss? They did one on Silver Dollar City and we got to meet one of the guys featured on the show. It was exciting for the girls.
Audrey and I head off to California next week for her band trip. We are very excited and I have started counting down the days until I go to Jamaica. Oh how I could use a vacation after the year I had. Ernie and I will also be celebrating our 15 year anniversary.

First day of School

Today was the girls first day of school. I think it went pretty good. Nora came home with a big smile on her face. She had a good day and enjoyed meeting new people. Meagan gets to change teachers for one subject and I think she really enjoyed that. Audrey got signed up for her classes and went to 4th hour on. It took longer to get her registered that I thought. She said that a lot of kids were asking her questions at lunch trying to get to know her. They asked her where she came from and if her hair was naturally curly, they thought it was cool that it was. We took pictures of all of the girls in front of thier new school and Audrey was messing around and Ernie got it on the camera. She will hate me for posting it but I thought it was to funny not to share.

First Ward Activity

We went to our first ward activity here in Utah and it was a chili/pie cook-off. I had to dig through all of my boxes to find my recipe but I found it. the activity was alot of fun. They let those who brought a guest get in line first. Then they did a quiz about bluegrass stuff and thanks to my husband who loves bluegrass he got one of the questions right so we were able to get in line next. They had alot of good chili's. they did a couple of activities that were fun. They had some of the youth tie cooked spaghetti noodle together to see who could get the most tied together. Then they did a bean spitting contest, it was hilarious. The bishop was in the lead until he was tied by a woman. They did a spit-off and the bishop twisted like he was throwing a shot-put and spit a bean out into the crowd, turns out we have a lady in the ward that can spit a bean like no other. apparently she can cook too because she won top prize for the pie. I won top prize for the chili. I was so excited and I think I impressed some people with the win. I beat a guy who has won for the past 5 years. Some people called it beginners luck, but I think it is just good chili.

Rodizzio Grill

I had hoped to get this posted before we left Utah, but I ran out of time. One place Ernie and I had always wanted to eat was at Rodizzio Grill. Ernie flew home to get us to move to Oklahoma and we decided that it would be the perfect time to eat there. It is a brazillian steakhouse and they bring around all kinds of meat on skewers to your table. They also had grilled pineapple which was my favorite. the girls really enjoyed it and Ernie must have been in a really good mood because he let the girls order fancy drinks. We all really enjoyed the food. The girls want to go back to Utah for Christmas and go skiing and eat at Rodizzio grill. We will just have to see if we can make that happen.

How could I forget.

I don't know how I forgot to post stuff about Nora's birthday. We had a little party for her and she loved it. She had 10 friends come, and I think they had a good time. I saw one of the little boys at school a couple of days later and as he passed me he said "Nora's party was awesome". I thought that was really cute. We played pictionary with them and we played a game where they had to blow up a balloon and let it go and try to get it to hit a target and the also a memory game. Nora wanted a heart cake for her birthday since it is so close to Valentine's Day. i couldn't;t find a heart shaped pan so I made a round cake and a rectangle cake and cut it and pieced it together. I don't think it turned out to bad. It was a really fun day but I was tired when it was all done with.


Nora has wanted a ukulele for awhile now. Ernie's mom was trying to get one from a lady she new in Hawaii but it didn't work out, so Ernie got one in Tulsa before he came home. She was very excited. She also walks around playing it like she knows what she is doing. It is really cute.

Weekend fun

The girls and I went to Draper to have some fun at Boondocks. We played some laser tag and rode on the go-karts. Then the girls used up their tokens on all of the arcade games. We really enjoy going there and spending time as a family. I will miss going there but we will find something in Oklahoma that will be just as fun. Here is a picture of the girls with the glasses they got with their points. they wore them all day and got complements from the people at In-n-Out burger.

So Yummy!

Nora and I went to the Holly Fair last November and had this little treat called a cake ball. They tasted like spice cake and were dipped in white chocolate. They were so yummy. Yesterday I decided to try and make some for Valentines Day. I used chocolate cake with strawberry frosting and dipped them in chocolate and used white chocolate to decorate them. I think they turned out really pretty. Not to mention good.

We did it!

So I have this friend who thinks I can do anything crafty. I don't usually have that much faith in myself. So I get this call from her one day and she was telling me about an idea of something she wanted to make, now mind you she doesn't sew that much. She had come across a car seat cover on the internet that was $100, crazy I know. So she decides we should make one. I get a little nervous because I don't do well without a pattern, I can sew but I am not creative. I decide to do a little research online(thank you Google) to see how I might make this work. So we head to the store to get some material and come home and start figuring out how we are going to do this. We use wax paper to help trace the shape of the car seat. We cut out the pattern and Liz starts to sew it together, at this point I am there for moral support. After we get it sewn and some elastic in it, it is time for me to do some button holes. I don't know why but button holes and I don't get along, but we don't. I practice 4 or 5 times and feel comfortable so I start to sew the first one on the material and what do you know I mess it up. I rip out the stitches and tell Liz I have to take a break. After a couple of days of recovery I head back over to finish the button holes. After many trials I finally am finished. All in all I think it turned out great. I'm glad to have friends that have so much faith in my abilities. Thanks a lot.

A really good Blog

Here is a blog that I visit regularly. I love all of the ideas from this blog. If you are interested in finding a way to make your food budget go farther I recommend http://dealstomeals.blogspot.com/