The New Job

This post is hard to write, because, where do I even begin? In my mind, the steps leading up to this decision started months, even 2 years ago. I wont go back and give all the details, but I will start the story about 8 months ago. Ryan had been working for Okland Construction for over 8 years and was feeling burnt out, tired, frustrated and ready to find something new. After months of working 80-100 hours a week, we knew enough was enough and it was time to move on. After months of fasting and prayer we knew that the right thing for him to do was to quit.  We had purchased a pool franchise about a year earlier, and with the growth that it was getting, it was hard for Ryan's partner to do it single handedly. So the decision was made to put all our eggs in the ASP (America's Swimming Pool Company) basket and move forward. So in June of 2014 Ryan said goodbye to Okland and commercial construction. It was the hardest thing we have done as a married couple. Ryan loves construction and is very talented in it, but he felt that it was time to put his family first and do something that would enable him to have a little more time at home.
Being small business owners has its own challenges and we experienced all of them. I'm not sure Ryan worked any less hours, he was just at home for half of them! Lots of late nights of accounting and long days in the sun, but the kids got to see Ryan more than they had in years. Ryan loved being his own boss and the flexibility of owing your own business.
In October/November the business was doing a lot of full backyard remodels and Ryan was starting to step away from the pool side of the business and do more with his personal contractors license. He set up his own business, Arcadia Building Co., and he was feeling the desire to do what he's good at- construction. He was starting to get lots of business doing small commercial work and even started the planning stages of 2 custom homes. With all this new work, we were looking for a way to get out of ASP and focus on building Arcadia. In December, right before Christmas Ryan got in touch with a friend, Bret Woods, who was moving his family to Italy to build the Rome temple. Bret works for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and they became friends working together on the Gilbert temple. Ryan jokingly told Bret, "if you need help in Rome, let me know!"
Within a week, Okland contacted Ryan and asked him if he would come back to Okland if they sent him to Rome. I guess the Church asked some of the contractors who had done work for them in the past, if they had any employees who would fit what they were looking for in Rome.
Within days from that phone call, Bret called Ryan and asked him if he would be interested in going to Rome. He of course said YES! and told Bret about Okland contacting about the same thing.
So here's the dilemma- we want to go to Italy badly, but what is the best way to get the job? Through Okland? On our own, independently through Arcadia?
Ryan decided to meet with Okland and see what their offer would be. After that meeting, he felt sick.  It didn't feel right and he was reminded of all the reasons he left Okland. We both had anxiety for days. Lots and lots of prayers for direction. After about a week, Ryan got a call from Bret, asking if he'd come to Salt Lake City for an interview with the LDS church directly. That call was on a Friday and the interview was the next Wednesday. I had so much anxiety. I couldn't sleep. It felt like Christmas Eve for a week. You cant help but get excited and get your hopes up and then talk yourself down, so you're not disappointed if it doesn't pan out. Then the woman in me starts planning the move, anticipating all the changes, and what I'd need to do to make it happen. Again, lots of prayers and fasting.
When Wednesday finally came, I couldnt do anything to calm the anxiety. I waited anxiously by my phone for any word from Ryan. As we communicated through the day, he told me about the meetings he had, and that he felt good about them. To me - that was HUGE. Ryan was calm and peaceful- which was complete opposite of how he felt when he had the meeting with Okland.
At the end of the day, they told him they'd let him know the next day whether or not he got the job.
Thursday was another day full of anxiety. Finally about 2 pm we got the call that he got the job and we were moving to ROME!! Ryan was being hired as an independent contractor to help with the construction of the Rome Italy temple.
WHAT?!! This does not happen people. Especially to us. We thought building the Gilbert temple was a once in a lifetime opportunity (which it was), but to be given this opportunity is beyond description. It just felt right. It made everything else clear. It gave us the opportunity to cut ties with ASP and get Ryan back into what he loves, construction. This is his dream job. You know how you talk about your dream job- well, he finally got it. Now he can be in construction, and use all his knowledge and talents, but he is not the contractor. He is not the one with his feet being held to the fire. He works for the owner as a construction consultant and helps them coordinate with the contractor.
I can only express gratitude for this amazing opportunity, for me and especially for my kids. It leads me to think, 'of all the people in the world who would die for this opportunity, why us?' And realize that The Lord has stuff in store for ALL of us to do while we are there. I firmly believe where much is given, much is required. I have been given much and I too must give. I am ready and willing to do whatever the Lord asks of me. Not to say that it's not hard. The last two months have been HARD. (that'll be the next post) But we can do hard. I'm not scared, I'm ready. I know moving and living in a foreign county is going to be HARD. Exciting? Yes. But excitement only gets you so far. I know it will be hard, and there will be weeks and months ahead where I will say to myself, 'what the heck am I doing?' But I'm ready. The best things in life are not easy.
So here we go. Off to Italy. Lets do this.

Thanksgiving

I know this is a little late, but I still need to get this posted. It seems like I get around to things a week after I think I'll have time to get it done.
This year I had all these high hopes of doing cute things with the kids for Thanksgiving and doing activities that would teach them the importance of being grateful. I wanted to do something for Family Home Evening the Monday before Thanksgiving, but Ryan ended up buying me a new suburban (a post on that next) that day. Then Tuesday was too busy, so late Wednesday night before we put the kids to bed we did our Thankful Turkey. Although it was kinda a last minute hodge-podge thing, I really feel and felt very grateful for many things. Some of these things ended up on our turkey, like a good job, my wonderful husband, temples, the Gospel, family ect- but I felt there was so much more than that. I do feel especially grateful that Ryan has a good job. At times it feels like the money is super tight and how are we gonna make it with 4 kids, but it all seems to work out in the end. We always have enough for what we need. Especially at this time where so many are struggling or don't even have a job, we are so blessed to have what we have. I am grateful that I have a husband who works so hard for our family, and I know that what we have is a result of his hard work.
I am really grateful for my kids. At times they drive me nuts, but they are teaching me so much about what life is about. They bring out the best and the worst in me and help me to see my faults and how to make them better.
I am truly grateful for my life and all that the Lord has given me.

One Month

Can't believe it's been one month already. He is starting to sleep better at night ( one 5 hour stretch!) and I am starting to feel like maybe I can handle life. Maybe.

Sunday November 4th

Kids Are Cute

Recently Kate and Clark have been all into writing things and learning how to spell and sound stuff out, so naturally I get notes for different things ALL the time. They are constantly drawing us pictures and giving us gifts of their art. And while I would love to keep them all, I just can't. With all the papers and crafts that come home from school, I would have a mountain of papers if I kept it all. But a few days ago Clark gave me a note that I just had to keep. 

It says, "Mom and Dad, when I grow up I will still love you."

Clark is such a sweet loving boy. He is always telling us how much he loves us and even prays that we will know how much he loves us. He writes me "love" notes all the time and for some reason this one stuck with me and I felt like I needed to keep it. He is such an example of unconditional love. I can get mad and yell and be a terrible Mom and just minutes later he'll ask for a hug and tell me he loves me. I learn from him how important it is to show and vocalize love for each other. That wasn't very common in my house growing up- so this is something I am learning to do myself. 

How grateful I am for such great kids who teach me more than I teach them. 

Halloween

Halloween Day with everyone in their "Halloween outfits".
Kate and Clark were not allowed to dress up for school. 

Halloween is usually a pretty big deal for me. In years passed I have prided myself on making the kids' costumes match, but this year I just did not have the mental or physical energy to try. I let the kids decide what they wanted to be ( not that I didn't let them have a say in years passed, it was more like, "Hey wouldn't it be cool if you were....... for Halloween this year?") and bought the costumes way back in September. I knew that with a newborn baby and Kate and Clarks birthday the week before, I wouldn't even have the time to go look for costumes.

Bumblebee from Transformers

I found matching 'fairy' costume for Kate and Charly.

Charly devouring a cupcake at my Mom's Halloween party

They got to dress up in their costumes for my Mom's Halloween party the Friday before Halloween and then Halloween night, we Trick-or-Treated in Ryan's Mom's neighborhood. Ryan's good friend, Chris, came into town and wanted to take his kids around the ol neighborhood- so I guess I can take back that huge bag of candy I bought from Costco- seeing as we didn't hand out anything at our house this year.

A few years ago we started the "Pumpkin Fairy" to help us get rid of all the candy after Halloween- as my kids don't need that much sugar and I get sick of having their Trick or Treat buckets hanging around till New Years. The way it works is the kids get to have a few days to gorge themselves on candy and then the night that the Pumpkin Fairy comes, they put their buckets outside their door and during the night the Pumpkin Fairy trades all their candy for some kind of prize. This year Kate got the new Tinkerbell movie and Clark got a remote control car. I usually don't do such big prizes- it's usually a movie from the $5 bucket at Walmart- but again - with no energy I just sent Ryan to the store and told him to get what they wanted.
I did head to Walmart the day after Halloween and scored on 50% off costumes, and am happy to report that the kids will be matching next year!

Kate and Clark turn 6!

It hardly seems possible that it's been 6 years since Kate and Clark were born. I must admit I don't remember much from that day, or even the first 6 months of their lives. (it was all I could do to survive) But I am so grateful to be their Mom. They really are such sweet, loving kids, and I'm lucky to have them.

Ryan and I joke that kids are like pancakes, and you always burn the first one - or in our case, the first two! I'm glad they have each other to get through our "learning curve" of parenting. 

Clark is becoming quite the little helper to Ryan. He is always there to help Ryan with his Saturday projects- complete with lots of trips to Home Depot and of course Circle K to get sodas. He loves kindergarten and making new friends. He likes having a little brother and already loves to tease little sister Charly. He loves to play- especially with friends. It's all about having boys to play with.( He says he gets tired of playing with girls- aka- Kate) He got to play on a T-ball team this spring and is currently on a soccer team.

Kate is every definition of girl. Loves to wear makeup, paint her fingernails, wear skirts and just look cute. She is a big help to me, and plays very well with little sister Charly. She too loves kindergarten and her teacher Mrs. Miller. She even got a little teary eyed telling me that Mrs. Miller was going to be gone for two days and she was going to have a substitute. She is a peacemaker. She will always do what it takes to make everyone happy. She is in her 3rd year of dance and started tap this year too. 

We celebrated their birthday by letting them choose the restaurant for dinner- and they chose Olive Garden. They both love the little personal pizzas. We were so full after dinner, we didn't even stop for dessert! Grandma and Grandpa came over to give them presents and watch them open presents from Ryan and I. Kate got Squinkies (She's been begging for them for awhile) a bike and helmet, a new coloring book, new shoes and a crayon caddy I made for her. Clark got a spiderman helicopter, IronMan action figure, new bike and helmet, coloring book and crayon caddy. 

Since I just had a baby, we didn't throw them a birthday party, but celebrated their birthday with my family at my Mom's Halloween party last Saturday. 

We are lucky to have these two great kids in our family. They have brought much joy into our life over the last six years. It's fun to see them grow up, and see their little personalities come out.  I hope they don't grow up too fast and quit wanting us around. We love you Kate and Clark!

Pumpkin Splash

I can't remember how long ago, Ryan and I started a 'star chart' with Kate and Clark as a way of tracking bad behavior and rewarding good behavior. They have a certain amount of stars, and they loose them for being mean, talking back, hitting ect., and they earn them back with either good behavior or extra chores. The incentive is that every Saturday they get to do something special with Ryan. Sometimes its big things like going to a movie, on a lunch date or a special event, or it can be small like just going to Sonic for an ice cream cone.
Yesterday, the 'special thing' was the Pumpkin Splash at Brimhall Pool, and because Ryan has been Mr. Mom for the last 2 weeks, I gave him a break and took the kids myself.
I need to take a minute and say something about how incredible Ryan has been since I had baby Jay. He has taken all three kids to Clarks soccer games for 3 Saturdays in a row, taken them all to church by himself and the first week I was home, he stayed home from work and did EVERYTHING. Laundry, dishes, chores, diapers, baths, made breakfast and lunch, took the kids to do fun things and took care of me on top of it all! This last week he had to go back to work and has still been a big help to me when he gets home, even after a 12 hour or more day. He really is amazing and I'm lucky to have him.

So here are some of the fun things the kids got to do at the pool yesterday: pick out a pumpkin out of the pool, play carnival games, decorate their pumpkin, get their face painted and best of all- swim in October!

Sweet Baby Jay

After a year sabbatical from Blogger, I decided it is time to start documenting life again. I guess I got overwhelmed with trying to post every thing in our life, and just let it go. Now I am sad that there have been so many good things happen in our life that I have pictures for, but no journal to go along with it. I have felt for sometime that I need to jump back on the bandwagon and keep up on my blog, for no other reason than just to have a family history. Since there is no way that I can go back and blog about all the things that have happened in the past year, I'm just gonna start fresh with our latest and greatest news- which is the birth of my 'sweet baby Jay'.

I was scheduled to deliver baby Jay on Monday October 10th via C-section. All of my babies have been born C-section, as they have all been breach. Thursday October 4th, about 3am I started having contractions 10 minutes apart. Now, I had never gone into labor, having scheduled all of my C-sections, so I was quite unsure what to do when I started having contractions. I told Ryan to go to work and that I'd call him if they got closer together. When he got to work he told his boss what was going on and was told to just go home. With Ryan back home for the day, we got the kids to school and went to WalMart to do my last minute grocery shopping. The contractions continued to be about 8-10 minutes apart the whole day until about 3pm, when they moved to about 5 minutes apart. I called Dr. Beck to see what to do and he told me to wait until they were under 5 minutes apart and a minute in length. Ryan wanted me to go to the hospital then, but I had been planning on going to this huge consignment sale and didn't want to miss this great shopping opportunity, and didn't want to go to the hospital just yet. We picked up the kids from school and met up with my Mom, who took me to the consignment sale. There were a few things I needed for baby, but really I just wanted to go and look to see what I could find. I am a bargain/thrift shopper at heart and love finding cheap stuff. So I did end up getting the things I needed and a few things for the other kids, including a bike for Clark for his upcoming birthday. While there my contractions were 3 minutes apart and a minute long, so I knew we needed to get out of there. My mom was a little more concerned than I was- as I really didn't know how fast I would progress- and was worried we'd get to the hospital in time. Ryan was at Clarks soccer practice with all the kids and the plan was to meet him at home and then he and I would go to the hospital. My wise Mother insisted that she take me to the hospital right then, and while I thought she was overreacting, I'm glad now that she did. As soon as we got to the hospital and I was admitted the contractions got increasingly more painful and I was somewhat shocked as to how bad it hurt. The nurses checked me and I was already dilated to a 5 and ready to go. As the nurses and staff frantically tried to get me ready for my C-section, my contractions got closer together and more and more painful. They had to try 3 times to get the IV in, and with a C-section they have to have a few viles of your blood on hand, and tried 2 more times to get my blood. By this time Ryan is at the hospital and absolutely livid that the nurses are poking me so much. I'm pretty sure it was just the pressure of trying to poke me between contractions that made it difficult for the nurses, as my veins are as big as the Mississippi River.

They finally get everything they need, I signed my life away to get the spinal anestiseia, Dr. Beck showed up and they wheeled me back to the OR. I was thrilled to get to the OR so they could do the spinal and the pain would stop. Then at 7:48pm, Baby Jay was born. 7lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. The first thing everyone said when they pulled him out was, "Look at all that hair!" He has the most hair of any of my babies and by far the darkest.

I have to give a special thanks to Dr. Beck for coming in that night to do the C- Section. He was not on call that night and was out to dinner to meet his daughters' fiance's parents for the first time. He originally turned down the page, but after his daughter told him to go- he came in for me. He joked that he'd rather deliver a baby than sit around and talk about wedding plans! I'm just so glad he came in that night for me- what a blessing.
Now it wasn't until Saturday that we decided on a name. We had it narrowed down, but couldn't quite decide. The final decision was Jay Roger Johnson. Jay is actually Ryan's first name (although he never went by Jay)  and Roger is my Dad's first name. Ryan kinda wanted to call him J. R., but we've only ever called him Jay. Maybe as he gets older JR will become his nickname.





The other kids absolutely love him- especially Charly. She loves to be around him, it's just teaching her not to touch his face and to be soft that is the hard part. He really has been a good baby so far, although last night he was up every 2 hours to eat, but that is to be expected, right? I'm just glad he is here and I'm not pregnant anymore!

November

November was a crazy month for us- so instead of doing different posts for everything, I'm just gonna lump them all in together.
The first weekend of November we went to the cabin with two guys that Ryan works with on the Gilbert Temple, and their families to the cabin. We were lucky enough to be there for the first snow of the year! We had fun sledding down the hill, watching movies and playing Kinect. There was 11 kids, so you can imagine not only the noise, but the mess!

Sledding!

Good thing I bought Clark this coat the day we left!

Charly's first snow. She loves her daddy!

The day before we left for the cabin we got some bad news about our friend Dave Kastelar in Utah. When we lived in Utah Dave was Ryan's boss while we worked at City Creek. Dave was the first boss that Ryan has had that made him feel appreciated for the work that he did. Dave was more than a boss, he became Ryan's friend and mentor.  A year ago October, Dave was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. It was pancreatic cancer that spread to his spine. He immediately started cancer and the doctors told him he had 2-5 years to live. We kept in contact with him about his treatments and when he was in town for Okland, we had him over for dinner. The news we got that Thursday before we left for the cabin was that his health had taken a turn for the worse and that he did not have much time left. A friend of ours in Utah, Leesha, told Ryan that Dave had told her "goodbye". Ryan and I decided that we needed to get up to Utah quickly to see him. My nephews wedding was the next Friday, and I thought we could wait a week till after the wedding, but Ryan was adamant that we go Monday. I luckily had some buddy passes, and  the first flight we could get on was Tuesday morning at 6am. So we farmed the kids out to my mom and my sister Nancy and went to Utah for 2 days. When we got there Tuesday morning we really didn't have anything to do, so we drove up to Bountiful and Ryan took me to Grandma Johnson's old house.

Grandma Johnson's House

We then met up with our friend Leesha for lunch and got the latest info on Dave. He was admitted into the hospital Monday, still not exactly sure what happened that got him there, but complications with the cancer. It turns out that even on the chemo- he had developed tumors on the inside of his skull and was in a lot of pain. After lunch we drove back up to Salt Lake and waited for the ok to go to the hospital to see Dave. Here's a picture I took of Salt Lake as we drove around. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Sunny and cold, the leaves were all changing- just a perfect fall day.

 We finally went up to Huntsman's Cancer Center at the U to see Dave. It was very hard to see this 6'5" 300 lb man laying in a hospital bed, down 100lbs, pale, talking with just a whisper, only having the strength to use his hands. We told him about the kids, showed him pictures and Ryan told him all about the Gilbert Temple. He told us after talking with one of his doctors that he had decided he was done with chemo- and done trying to fight the cancer. They were going to gather their 3 kids that weekend and tell them that he was done. We could see, from the way he was talking, was that he knew that the end was near and that he was ok with it. He said he was scared to leave his family, but knew that there was nothing else he could do. The doctors said he had 4-8 weeks left. We only got to chat for a few minutes when doctors and nurses started coming in, and we knew that it was time for us to go. I grabbed his hand and gave him a squeeze, but couldn't say anything, but to thank him for all that he had done for us. He looked me in the eye and gave me some very personal advice.
When Ryan and I left, we felt so emotionally and physically drained. We went back to our hotel and fell asleep. There is nothing like being with someone near death that makes your take a look at your life and realize all the wonderful blessings you have, and what really is important. It made me so grateful for Ryan and the time we get to spend together. It was so nice to have 2 whole days together. Wednesday we drove out to Roosevelt to visit Grandma and Grandpa Roberts, and lots of time in the car to just talk and be together. It seems like we are always so busy, and have so many distractions, that rarely do we have hours, just the two of us, to hang out. It really was a blessing.  We flew home late Wednesday night, and back to life as usual.
That Friday Dave caught pneumonia in the hospital and went into a coma Saturday. From what I heard, he did come to a few times to say good-bye to his family, and Friday the 18th he passed away. I am so glad that Ryan was persistent that we go to Utah immediately. If we would have waited, we would not have been able to talk to him. His funeral was Monday the 21st, but we were not able to attend.
I still have days and times where I am overwhelmed with sadness at his passing, but I take comfort in the fact that he was at peace with his death. My heart goes to his wife and 3 kids. Cancer sucks.

Thursday night my nephew Zack had his wedding dinner. At the dinner, all the young cousins sang L-O-V-E. It was very cute, and Clark- of all kids- sang the loudest and stole the show!

Nikki, Haylee, Clark, Jake, Kate and Ella

It wouldn't be a 'Haynes' party without dancing, so of course we had to dance! I think this is the first time Ryan has danced since our wedding! (Not really, but pretty close)
Zack and Cara got married Friday, 11-11-11. Congrats!

Tuesday the 22nd Ryan's youngest brother Rick got sealed to his wife Amanda.

Wednesday the 23rd, I went with Kate and Clark on their preschool field trip. They went to the Park of the Canals to see the canal Native Americans had made when they lived in Mesa. Ms. Arlene had taught them all about the indians and pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, so they went to the Park of Canals to have a Thanksgiving Feast.

Ms. Arlene telling the kids all about the canal.

The kids spend most of the time playing on the playground- so it was a great field trip!

Clark and his friends Hayden and Cohen.

The kids getting ready for their feast

Aggie, Clark, Cohen and Baylee

Felicity, Jewels, and Kate

This is their feast- turkey, grapes, rasins, cheese and carrots

Last but not least was Thanksgiving! Ryan's sister was in town from Texas, so we went to the Johnson's for dinner. We also went to my parents house for dessert. It was a great day of nothing but food! I sure paid for it on Friday! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween

I think Halloween gets longer and longer every year! This year they dressed up 3 times- I wouldn't mind, except for the fact that I had to wash their costumes after every they wore them! This year we wanted the kids to dress up in a 'Star Wars' theme, so when the Star Wars movies came out on blue-ray, we started watching them to get them to want to dress up like Luke and Leiah. For a while Clark wanted to be Darth Vader, but we kept telling him that that was Ryan's costume, so he was content with being Luke.
Our festivities started on Friday afternoon, they had a halloween birthday party, then Saturday my mom had her annual Halloween party and our ward Trunk or Treat. Today they wore their costumes all day. We went down to Ryan's jobsite to deliver Halloween cookies, they celebrated Halloween at preschool and then trick or treating around the neighborhood. Here's pics of them all dressed up!

My friend Ellen and I made up this "Jabba the Hut" costume.  We really wanted to do the Star Wars theme because of Charly. She is so chubby we wanted to do Jabba for her. 

Here's some of the cousins at my Mom's house. Clark, Kate, Charly, Daphne, Jovi, Jack and Nolan

Ryan and I wanted to something cute for Charly- not just Jabba the Hut, and since we both love squeezing her fat and teasing that we are gonna eat her up, we thought a candy corn was fitting!

Happy Halloween!

8 Months

What a cute baby! Don't let her smile fool you, while she can be happy and super sweet, she has recently learned how to throw a fit! She's figured out that when she fusses I'll pick her up- so I guess that one is my fault. She is also a very moody eater. One day she'll love something and then next she won't have anything to do with it! I've know that from the time she was first born, she likes what she likes and wants what she wants when she wants it! But other than that- she is such a good baby. I really do love her so much. She loves the bathtub, but is still learning that it's not so fun when she dunks her face in the water. She loves to play with Kate and Clark, and loves her Daddy. If he is home, she watches him, and he loves to make her squeal. Happy 8 months Charly!

Kate and Clark are 5!

Happy Birthday Kate and Clark! Saturday we celebrated Kate and Clark's 5th birthday. Last year I did a really big birthday party for them, so this year I wanted to do something more simple, but realize now that there really is no simple way to throw 2 parties at once. I wanted them to feel like they had their own party, so I let them pick the theme of their party and invite who they wanted to. Kate chose Rapunzel and Clark chose Cars. I didn't want to have to plan activities for the party- so we decided to get a bounce house and have that be the party!

 My friend Cyndi is a cake decorator and helped me with the cakes. I borrowed her Lightening McQueen pan, and last week we got together as a practice run and she showed me how to pipe on all the frosting. It is quite the ordeal. So to get ready for the party Saturday, I was up until 1:30am putting the frosting on both cakes.

Here's the cake with Rapunzel in it.

Blowing out candles

Ryan dishing out the boys cake

Me giving out the girls cake

Paige, Kate , Ella and Felicity

Peyton, Kennedy, Cosette, Haylee and Sara

The girls' table

Cousin Sara

Levi, Cohen, Wrigley, Jake and Hayden

Clark and cousin Jake

Here's the bounce house. We got a great deal on the rental. My sister's neighbor rents them out and when I called to confirm our reservation, he had sold the small one we wanted, so he gave us this big one for the same price! Not too shabby! Thanks Nana for having a big backyard and letting me use it for the birthday party.

Paige

Their birthday was actually Sunday the 23rd, so we waited till Sunday to give them our presents.  Grandpa Johnson came over to give them presents also. Clark got a remote control Jeep and Kate got a doll from Grandma and Grandpa.

Ryan and I went to Home Depot for Clarks present. We got him a real tool pouch and put all kinds of goodies in it.  Flash light, head lamp, wrenches, tape measure, mini clamps and bungee cords! He loved it!

We got Kate a dog in a purse- her kinda toy!