Neighbor Friend

Our neighbors have a daughter who lives in UT but comes to visit for the summer. Savannah turned 6 while she was here. The girls were instant friends and had so much fun together. It was a sad day for everyone when it was time for her to leave.

Silly girls!

Playin' dress-up at Savannah's


4th of July BBQ

Beach Day

If you look close-both of my girls are plugging their noses in anticipation of the wave. :)

At the Swap Meet, the girls picked out necklaces for each of them for when Savannah left. We miss you, Savannah!

Funny Girls!

When we get home from the beach, in order to minimize the sand tracked into the house, I hose them off and make them stay outside to dry off a little. They come up with the funniest games to keep them busy while they are drying. I love their imaginations!

Summer Hair

Since it is summer and we've had more time to fix hair, we've been having some fun. We found a few blogs with hair ideas and have enjoyed experimenting with fun new hairdos! I wish I had been better about taking pictures. Here are some of our favorites.

This one was a DEFINITE favorite! It lasted three days (and 2 nights of sleeping!). Each morning I just re-sprayed and we were off to the races. And it was SUPER cute. I am becoming known in my ward as the "one who does cute hair". It is something that I enjoy doing-a hobby-I guess and as a bonus, I get to spend one-on-one time talking with my girls. (That's my favorite part.) There have been many times when something comes up that we wouldn't have other-wise talked about. Sad will be the day when they don't want me to fix it anymore.

I'm not sure why I didn't get a real picture of this one, but luckily she was doing something picture worthy and I caught it on accident. It was a cute one. We also did this same one with little braids instead of twists.

Not my favorite-a little on the crazy side. But you gotta be crazy every once in awhile-right?! It did look pretty cool.

Kenna loves side ponies! To begin with, I wasn't really a fan but we've come up with some cute ways to do them.


I forgot to take this one before it got slept on but those two sections are tied in a knot and pulled back to the ponytail. My favorite is when it lasts for a few days. This one just needed to be re-sprayed and a few bobbypins added and we were set for another day.

Naughty-Naughty-Naughty!

No matter how I try-this little girl eats sand! AAHHH! Yuck! You would think that she'd decide that it doesn't taste very good and stop. But no. She makes a yucky face, then goes for more! Crazy girl! I love the look on her face-"I'm doing something naughty-what are you going to do about it?!"

Visit from Cousins

The Johanson Bed and Breakfast is officially open! We were glad to have Kerry and Jenn spend a couple nights at our house on their Hawaiian vacation. It was so great to see family!

Off the Bandwagon

Sorry - I have a friend here from Washington and we've been having WAY too much fun to be on the computer. But I'm back in the saddle again. Here we go!

Different Kind of Water Fight

Our Idaho Falls three year 4th of July tradition of a water fight at the Desmonds with a BBQ and fireworks on the river was broken this year. Instead we had to have a different kind of water fight-instead of fighting each other-it was us vs the waves. We sure missed the Desmond fun and the awesome IF fireworks! Maybe we can come back next year!

After the beach we rinsed off in the slip n slide. Even Daddy took his turn!

My Bryn

I have really enjoyed Brynlee. Not to say I didn't enjoy Whitney and Kenna as babies, but I have really enjoyed each little stage with Brynlee. With Whitney I was a new mom and everything was somewhat overwhelming. Kenna was right on her heels and with her health challenges, I think I was too tired to really enjoy her as much, all the while chasing a toddler too. I have loved watching Whitney and Makenna be such great sisters to Brynlee. Even as young as she is, they are already so good at figuring out ways to include her in their play. Sometimes she likes it better than others. A recent favorite was when the dressed her up as queen and carried her around in one of their camping chairs. Brynlee loved being included and Whitney and Kenna loved being her servants. It is so great to have their help to entertain her when I need to get something done. It is completely adorable! I sure love my girls!

Brynlee is such a happy, easy going baby and finds amusement with the cutest things. When she gets laughing it makes us all laugh too. She is learning how to let us (especially the girls) when something happens that she doesn't like. She is such a blessing!

A Post a Day

For awhile I was doing ok with posting. I wasn't really getting caught up, but at least I wasn't getting further behind. For each 2 or 3 I posted, we did 2 or 3 more blog worthy things. So I consistently stayed a month-ish behind. But I started slipping (if you didn't notice) and have some serious catching up to do! A month or so ago I started being more irritated with my family and found a direct connection between my computer time and my irritation. So I have been grounding myself from the computer so I can be a nicer/happier wife and mother. It is amazing what a difference it has made! But I am committing to a post a day (beginning Monday) for as long as I can-hopefully until I am caught up. So, happy reading! Wish me luck! (Keep checking below this post!)

9th Anniversary!

For our real anniversary (June 30th) we were at ward camp. This was our 2nd anniversary in 9 years that we've spent camping (not alone). On our 1st anniversary we were at a family reunion and I was 7 months prego with Whitney. The picture of romance, don't you think?

We celebrated our anniversary on July 3rd. We got a babysitter, Brynlee's first that wasn't family, and went snorkeling. I just loving being with my sweetheart-no matter what we are doing! I can't believe it has been 9 years! And what an amazing adventure it has been!

I have learned that I still have some technique issues to work through with snorkeling though. When my fingers start to go numb it is time for me to be done. I have now connected this to hyperventilating. Something in my brain tells me I can't breathe under water so I have to force myself to breathe. The same thing happened to me in each of my labors with my girls. (Except that I wasn't underwater). When we went with Melinda and Lynette, I didn't realize what was happening and when we finally got out my entire hands were numb and my lips were blue. Oops! But now I know.

In years past we have had rolly pancakes (swedish pancakes) for our birthdays and have treated our anniversary as our family birthday. But since there are so many birthdays/special occasions to have rolly pancakes in May and June, we decided to start a new tradition this year. For our first dinner as a new "family" on our wedding day we ordered pizza into our hotel. So I made homemade pizza and we had a movie night. It was fun to get some time with just Mike snorkeling, but then still get to celebrate our family's birthday together too. I think this will be the new tradition. I love my family!

Surprise!

So, for my birthday, Mike conspired with Lynette and Melinda to come visit! YAY! It was supposed to be a complete surprise - which it was, just a little early. His plan was to take the day off and let me have a kid-less shopping trip in town. Then our friend was going to call and tell me she was supposed to pick up a friend at the airport, but she wasn't feeling well and since we were in town would we mind picking them up and then SURPRISE - it was Melinda and Lynette and Jake.

Well, I accidentally found out because he has a skype account that I have chatted with both of them on. He had chatted with them at work on the same account about coming here. Then fearing I would find something I shouldn't, he created an account for me so that he could use his for "work stuff". So,with him sitting next to me, I went into his account to journal some of the discussions I had had with Lynette and Melinda. He had erased everything he had written, but they kept chatting and so there was stuff in there about coming to Hawaii. At first I was confused about what it said and then quickly closed my eyes thinking I found something I shouldn't have. Then I started crying partly from being excited and also feeling bad because I had spoiled the surprise.

But in the end, it was good because the present lasted longer. I got to have them for a week AND be excited for the 2 weeks before they came. It was a great visit! I just love my sisters! And I sure have a fantastic husband to do this for me. He amazes me everyday!

We decided to keep it a secret from Whitney and Kenna and boy were they surprised! I had the video camera and Mike had this camera. The shot from my side was so great - if you look close you can see Whitney's mouth wide open. It was great!

Bryn doesn't look great in this picture, but Melinda looks so lovely in her beautiful lei.


Our day exploring the PCC

We watched the fire knife demonstration and then got to pose with the performers - it shouldn't come as a surprise, but that fire is seriously HOT!

It was so very hot the day we went, even in the shade, and most of the water bottles were empty. Here I am trying to "help" Lynette get a drink without sharing germs. I love being funny with my sisters!

WHEE! Playing in the water was great! I love how we just trade kids around like they are our own. Sisters are the best!

We hadn't been to Waimea Bay so figured it was a good time to go. It was beautiful and the water was crystal clear.


Next we went to Sharks' Cove (I've never seen a shark there...) and Mike kept all the kids on the beach in the shade while the sisters went snorkeling. It was amazing! There were tons of huge colorful fish-and the company was great! I almost drowned a couple of times because one of the girls would make me laugh, and laughing with a snorkel gets tricky-a little too tricky for me. It was so fun-definitely one of my favorite memories from their visit. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of us in our snorkel gear-I'm sure we looked HOT! And so very attractive.

Saturday night, the mainlanders were fried so they hung out in their swimsuits for our night of pampering. We rented a movie and did each other's toenails. I bought cute little stickers to complete them-they were adorable!

I made this black and white to see if our husbands could tell whose feet are whose so you can't really see the flowers. (I just barely took mine off 2+ months later, even though they didn't look great, because every time I looked at them it made me smile and I didn't want that to go away.)

Sunday we had a kid-less trip to church. A few of the kids were sick so Mike just kept them all home. It was a strange feeling not having kids. We probably could have used one or two to help us stay awake!


We got to watch two large palm trees be removed and replaced on the road up to the temple (next to our house). It was a pretty neat process and really kept the kids entertained. Even the adults thought it was pretty cool.

At one point or another, all four kids fevered. Jake had the worst of it. They arrived on Tuesday-by Wednesday afternoon he was fevering and miserable and didn't sleep at all. Thursday was, wouldn't you know it, King Kamehameha Day so there were no doctors' offices open. After another long day and night, we got him in on Friday and determined it was strep. He started antibiotics and by Monday was feeling much better-in time for them to leave on Tuesday. Poor guy-but we made the best of it.

Kid-less again, Mike sent us off to spend some dough! He took the afternoon off and let us go into town for lunch and shopping. They are so much fun to shop with! Boy were we silly! We all shared a dressing room trying things on and laughed and laughed. It was a great time!

Many who know me understand my inability to see things without "cars". One assignment we had while they were here was to find curtains for our front room window (because we've been using a high-class blanket). I couldn't really tell if I liked the combo without seeing it. So they were kind enough to help me see it "with cars".

Monday night took us to the night show at the PCC. (Without kids again-Mike is so great!)

Then it was, unfortunately, time to say goodbye. :( I'm so grateful for all the sacrifices made for this fabulous birthday present. Especially to our husbands! Thanks for a memorable golden birthday! (28 on May 28th) Where should we plan our NEXT sisters' trip?!

So big!

Guess who thinks she is so big?! Last weekend she started standing up independently, of all places, on our bed. She would use Mike to push herself up and then pull her hands away - she has amazing balance. Then shortly after she started pulling herself up on everything. I guess the novelty of crawling has worn off already - on to bigger and better things.

Isn't she just the cutest thing?

Happy Fathers' Day!

We sure think we have the GREATEST Daddy ever! He is wonderful! Lately I have been appreciating what a great dad he is. I love watching him with each of our girls-from tickling and playing to reading stories at bedtime. They truly adore him! I love to watch their faces light up everytime he comes home. The girls really wanted to make breakfast in bed for him so we did. Although it is hard for them to watch him eat when they are hungry so I am pretty sure he shared a lot of HIS breakfast. That's real love - especially when it's bacon and eggs!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Mike's birthday fell on a Saturday so we let him sleep in before a yummy breakfast of sausage and eggs. (He doesn't choose rolly pancakes-but he's the birthday boy and should get what he wants, right?) We tried to make a head lei (not sure what they are really called) but it was too small - the perfect size for Bryn though. And you may think it strange that we gave him a lei with pink, but each pink part is for one of his 4 girls! We love him so much!

For his birthday I surprised him with an open ocean jetski outing. It was a lot of fun! Definately different than on a lake. The waves are totally better than boat wakes! You would think that after having lived here for 4 months that we wouldn't be quite so white - I guess we need to work on that!!!

Watch Out! She Eats EVERYTHING!

Brynlee will eat almost anything we give her - including bananas still in the peel. She didn't love it - but still went back for another bite. We even gave her a lemon to see what she would do and she bit right into it. She didn't love that. There was no second bite for the lemon. And she officially started crawling. She's off to the races!

Kindergarten Graduation

The kindergarteners did their May Day lip-sinc during their program and it was just about as funny as it was for May Day. Cute kids!

Kenna and Mrs. Saizon

Kenna and Cavin (her May Day buddy).

I didn't realize that the kids exchange leis so we brought two leis for Kenna and one for her to give her teacher, but none for her friends. I guess we will know for next time.

Kenna and Alissa - I didn't do very good taking pictures of Kenna with many of her friends, but we did get a few.

Top Scholar

Whitney was chosen Top Scholar in her 1st grade class. She LOVES school-especially reading. We are so proud of her!