Lets start with Thanksgiving ...

So I finally remembered to bring my camera in with me while the babies sleep so I can load some pictures. This is Matt's Grandparents and drove into town for the occation. Rachel made the treck also, it was so good to see them.

And and special thanks to John (Dad) for doing the dishes after, Rachel was also a great help. This year was unique because Megan, Brianna and I all brought some of our families dishes to the Johnson thanksgiving. It added a fun touch to tast some new reciepies! Thanks ladies!

Thanksgiving was fun, seeing family and being together. We all took turns going down stairs and playing with the kids, I just caught Matt with camera.

And Last but not least of some exciting news. Emily was born on Thurs. night! Anna is a big sister! She was 8lbs. and 20 inches long. They came home from the hospital this morning (Tues) and are doing great! Anna now has something other then Elmo to obses about, now its baby...baby...baby...baby...
While Emily and Parents were at the hospital, Anna came and slept over at our house. Kaleb had his first sleep over! He thought it was so fun (and frustrating to share) to show Anna all of his toys. He was so amazed when she was still at our house in the morning. This pic was taken minutes after they woke up.

So yes, It has been crazy, and busy, but lots of fun too!

I also took some pics of Kaleb and the christmas tree, but when I went to download them I realized it had gifts under it that were not wraped, so I will have to post them after they have opened their gifts ;)

This is Kalebs new favorite pass time with papous (Grandpa), it is flying like an airplane all around the house. Kaleb will run to my dad, over and over and over again, asking (in his own way) to do it again.

It is so fun to see them together!

Hope you have enjoyed the pics. :)

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times

This is the part about being grown up, you have to be responsible for everything you do.

Heavenly Father really does know what he is doing.

I just read a story on one of my friends blogs that reminded me of how much Heavenly Father really does love us. The shortened version of the story is that we are like silver being refined in the fire and heavenly father is the refiner. To make silver perfect, you have to hold it in the hottest part of the fire and watch it carefully. The only way to know when all the imperfections are out is by seeing your reflection in it. So it is with heavenly Father, he will be by our side, until it is time to pull us out of the fire, then will we see heavenly father in our countenance.
My mind is also turned to Joseph Smith and a lesson that I had in institute, I remember learning that with every great blessing that was given to Joseph Smith, there was also a trial that came with it. For example, when Joseph Smith received the blessing of eternal families, he also received the commandment of taking more than one wife, witch brought lots more persecution from those who did not understand. I can testify, that is how Heavenly Father works, he gives us the greatest blessings along with the greatest trials.
I feel so blessed, with a great husband and father of my son. My son is also a great blessing in my life. I have a great supportive family that will do anything for me, if need be. I am blessed with a home and jobs to provide for out needs. And to whom much is given, much is expected.
I know alot of this does not make sense to most, but to those who understand, thank you for your love and support. There are just so many things up in the air, and things out of my control, that I feel all I can do is be patient and pray to my father in heaven that we will know what to do when the time comes.

Now onto lighter and brighter things. Erica, my boss, is having her daughter tonight! So it will be an exciting next couple of weeks. I am so excited to meet Emily, their new addition to their family, and hope that she has a safe arrival.

Thanks for listening.

Filled with the Christmas Spirit!

I am converted! (I know this post is better late then never) I went shopping in the wee hours of the morning on black Friday. I thought it was a blast. My mom and I make a pretty good tag team. The part that I am the most excited for is the fact that I got most of my Christmas shopping DONE in one morning. Because I actually had presents to put under the tree, that motivated me to put up the Christmas decorations the next day, and before the weekend was over, Most of the presents were wrapped under the tree, AMAZING! (Thanks Carolyn for your help!)I am usually one to drag my feet and get the tree up a few weeks before Christmas just to turn around and take it down again.
But more importantly, with the stress of "WHAT TO GET?" everyone for Christmas GONE, I have been able to sit back and really enjoy this joyful time of year. My Relief Society had a fantastic Christmas enrichment activity on Dec 2 that really touched me. Ever since then I have been joyfully listening the local Christmas song station on the radio. I have been getting excited right along with Kaleb over how beautiful all the Christmas lights are, we even went to the Cactus garden and saw their beautiful lights for family home evening last night! Tiffany and Jackson joined us, it was a blast! with everything ready to go, I really can feel the spirit of giving in the air, and I love it!
Although my life is still just as crazy, I am so grateful for all of the blessings in my life! In nine more days (or less) the family I work for is going to invite a little baby girl into this world! I think that is just going to add to the specialness of the season, I am so excited!
Christmas is coming so fast! I am excited because we get to spend Christmas with my family this year. There is something truly special about being together with family, when everyone is there! And this year we will ALL have spouses there to share the event with also. So we have officially doubled from four girls to eight, plus mom and dad :) Wow, what a great time of year!
Marry Christmas to All! And remember to think about Christ, he is the one that gave the ultimate gift! Thanks for reading.

What is up?

I know it has been a while since I have updated, I have gotten sucked into the facebook world, and find myself with less time to do anything else.
My Sisters Wedding
Stacy and AJ's wedding was wonderful. We dodged the rain, Stacy looked fabulous,the decorations were beautiful, and the food was yummy. They have been happily married for two weeks now and are in their new apartment. I am excited to see them at Christmas! For pictures of her wedding check out the mandeles blog.
Kaleb is One
My baby is also officially one year old and walking! If he is standing he will walk, but if he is on the ground he still crawls. He also has 6 teeth as of this weekend! He is really starting to enjoy playing with other children and cannot get enough of being outside. He eats everything we put in front of him (except salsa), and especially loves steamed broccoli and banana's (not together ;). He is on whole milk and has been off the bottle for a month now. His fascination for this week is anything that goes together he does over and over (opening and closing doors, cupboards, Tupperware, pens, books, etc) when outside he likes to explore bushes, flowers, and especially rocks and dirt. But he never fails to listen for planes overhead, especially at Yaya's house (grandma Mandeles). Kaleb has never been a long napper and is now down to one 1 1/2 hour nap a day, which is keeping me on my toes. he had such a special spirit and loves to give hugs to those who love him.
What is Matt up to?
Matt is keeping busy. He is in the ninth inning of his applications for his masters program. We have finally decided to apply to three schools, University of Utah in SLC, Denver CO, and Seattle WA. His portfolio is done and thanks to family is under revision. So all he has left is letters of recommendation, which he is getting today ;) We pray everyday that he will get into at least one of the schools so he can continue his education. Although it has been nice having him home in the evenings, I know it will be better in the long run.
Playing
Among all these exciting things we have still found some time to play. Last weekend, Kaleb and I went quad running outside of boulder city for the day with Yaya and papous (my parents) My parents have a razor that Kaleb and I with Yaya rode in, Kaleb decided it would be a good time to take a nap :0 It was a blast!
Twilight
Matt also reluctantly agreed to see Twilight with me and my parents on Friday. I loved it! They followed the book as close as they could. I loved Bella's character, but was not too happy with Edward, he came off more cocky in the movie then in the book. the sceanery was beautiful! The only thing that would have made the experiance better was if all the teenage girls would keep their excitment to themselves, they laughed at not funny parts and wooped with excitment at the romantic parts, it made the movie feel a little cheezy.
Family
I feel so lucky to have such a great family! With Stacy's wedding we got to see everyone again. And this weekend, matt's brother and family came in town to visit so we got together and celebrated the November birthdays. And the holidays have just begun! It is fun just visiting and catching up. But even better is listening as the children play together. i just hope and pray the Matt and I will always have the means to visit with family often when we move away. That will definatly be something that I will greatly miss, having family close.

Thanks for reading, I hope I have not bore you to death. Hope all is well with you!

PS Sorry for the loud obnoxious music, it appeared with the slide show of kalebs birthday party, and i am not sure how to got there or how to get it off, so i hope it leaves when it is not on the front page anymore ;) if anyone knows how, let me know, Thanks!

Making Progress

Fun Times

Kaleb's Birthday Party

For all the planning and preparation it takes to put something like this together, it went by quick. But kaleb is deffinatly worth it! We ate, then right after had cupcakes and sang happy birthday, then we opened presents. after most people went home and Kaleb played on the park equipment. Then we cleaned up and went home, it was quite the whirl wind, but tons of fun seeing friends and family! Thanks for making his day special!