Visits from Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Ginger

 We are always excited when Grandpa and Grandma stop by for a visit.  We're only an hour or so away from their house, and they often stop to see us when they come to the city for doctor visits or errands. They almost always bring the kids little bags of gummy bears.  Chandra always tries to steal Grandpa's hat...just like me and the rest of the grandkids did when we were little. She gives him one hug, then teases him the rest of the time they are here by refusing to hug him and giving Grandma lots of hugs and kisses. We love you Grandpa and Grandma!

Shay and Glade's sealing

This was such a special day!  Shaylee and Glade were sealed in the Bountiful temple.  We were so glad to be there and be a part of it.

3 Month old Cutie

Little Scientists

I found these cute little scientists when I woke up from a short nap.  They made quite a mess, figured out several different concoctions which blew up balloons on top of their test tubes, and used all of my vinegar. They love any science experiment that causes an explosion-- Alka-seltzer rockets, baking soda/vinegar volcanos, mentos in coke, etc. They don't think cleaning the mess up is quite as fun though.

We have 3 Kids!!

Sometimes it's still a little hard to believe that we have three kids, and are a family of five. They sure are cuties. 

Kinsey's Blessing Day

Notes from Kinsey’s Baby Blessing on November 2, 2014

Our Father in Heaven, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood we bring this infant before you to give her a name and blessing. The name which we have chosen is Kinsey Kay Johnson. 

We ask a blessing on her that she will grow in health and strength.  That she will have health throughout her life.  Please help her to make choices that will help her avoid illnesses in our world.  Bless her with a keen mind and an open heart. Please bless her to grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding and to use that wisdom to bless her own life and those around her.  Bless her with a love of learning, to seek out the best books for her knowledge.

Please bless her that she will be able to fulfill her purpose in life, that she will bless those around her.  Heavenly Father please bless her with the gift of faith, that she will be a pillar of strength to those around her.  That she will have the faith to bring about miracles.

Please bless her with a cheerful personality, that she will be cheerful and happy and able to bring joy and be a source of comfort and inspiration to those around her. Please bless her to grow close to Thee through Jesus Christ, and access Thee through the Atonement. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen 

2 Months Old and Happy

Our little Kinsey Kay has gotten so smiley and grown so much already! Chandra and I had fun playing dress up with Kinsey and several special little dresses from my Mom's cedar chest.  This dress is one my mom made when she was a young girl, she was always so excited to be a mom.

Happy Halloween!

 Carving Pumpkins:  Kristi, Tyson, Kira and Kinsey, Chandra, Bracken, Brian, Melissa, Steve, Zedek, and Spencer took the picture.  Tyson: Owl Pumpkin, Chandra (and Daddy): KittyPumpkin, Bracken (proudly designed and cut out on his own): Bat, Kristi: Toothless the Dragon, Melissa: Larry Boy

 The kids had fun at the YM/YW Halloween Carnival.  Bracken thought the vampire teeth he won were awesome.

We had a week full of fun and dress up!  Bracken was a cowboy for the YM/YW Halloween Carinval, a Ninga super hero for Shay's work party, and a race car driver for trunk or treating.  Chandra was a princess, except for Shay's work party when she decided that morning she wanted to be a fairy pirate. (I'd never even heard of a pirate fairy before). So that morning we made Chandra a fairy pirate wand out of paper and ribbon, used a pirate hat Melissa made out of newspaper ages ago, and pulled on black boots and butterfly wings from the dress up.  With Bracken dressing himself as a Superhero ninja (blanket turned into cape, super hero goggles, and mismatched swords) they kind of looked like homeless trick-or-treaters next to all the other kids' store bought or parent made costumes.  But they were so proud of themselves. :) 

On Halloween we went to Shay's work party lunch/trick or treat, and that night went to our ward trunk or treat.  They had a blast and got way too much candy.  On the way home, Chandra kept saying, "This was such a fun day.  Such a fun day!!

Ready for the trunk-or-treat!

 Kira (dressed up as myself), Brian and Kinsey went as doctors, Chandra as a princess and Bracken as a race car driver. 

Church Parking Lot

We love living close to a church!  We play at the church parking lot multiple times a week...raking the leaves into piles, jumping into them, riding bikes, exploring behind bushes.

Our wonderful backdoor neighbors gave Chandra this trike.  Their grandkids were all too old to use it. She adores it, and rides it everywhere.  She especially loves the "trunk" that she uses to store all the treasures she finds on our walks or while exploring. 

 The boys helped me try out "panning,"  a camera technique where I followed them with my camera with a slow shutter speed to make the background blurry and them sharp to show motion.  It was fun for all of us.

We love having Tyson come visit us!

Kinsey likes being outside.  And we LOVE that she's started smiling.  Her baby smiles and the way she tries so hard to "talk" to us is adorable. She doesn't actually coo much yet, she just waves her arms and legs, smiles, and opens and closes her mouth and takes little gasping breaths over and over.  We love her!

Goodbye Binkies

I know, I know...she's three years old.  I was one of those parents who said I would never let my child have a binky.  But Chandra was addicted.  Only at bedtime, but she absolutely loved her binky.  She'd ask to go to sleep just so she could have it.  We've been meaning to take it away from her...for the last two and a half years!! We had several attempts where we gave up.  But now the binkies are no more, and here's how it happened:

My awesome sister-in-law Sally called me one day and said, "I think you should get rid of Chandra's binkies." I told her I agreed but wondered why she'd called to tell me.  She'd just been to the orthodontist with her daughter who sucked her thumb, and was looking at spending $7200 for braces. And they're going to be the painful kind.

I told Chandra about this, and that we needed to get rid of her binkies soon.  That night she asked me for her binkies and I truthfully told her I didn't know where they were.  She got a sad look on her face and then said, "Oh, yeah, I know where they are.  They're in the garbage." She took me to the bathroom garbage and showed me her cut up binkies.  Apparently Bracken had overheard me tell Chandra about their cousin, and the two of them decided to cut them up and throw them away.

She was pretty sad that night, but Kinsey shared her soft pink blanket with the owl and that made Chandra cheer up.  She's named the owl Tweet-Tweet and sleeps with it each night.  So thanks to my kids making it happen....No more binkies.

My Baby and Me

 I took a newborn photography class in June, and loved it.  A few months later I found out the mentor from my class, Alicia Gould, needed a newborn model in SLC, two weeks after I was due with Kinsey. So exciting!  I learned a lot watching Alicia work. I love the pictures and am especially grateful to have photos of me with Kinsey.

Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Ginger

 We went to Evanston for the day to visit my Grandparents.  We love them so much!! Grandpa got Kinsey to sleep and then snuggled her for a long time.  She loved it.  He took the kids on golf cart rides to the train and park, Grandma had made a delicious dinner for us, Glad and Shaylee came too, and we all played Hand and Foot that night while Chandra fell asleep watching Winnie the Pooh and we let Bracken play the Wii. Oh yeah...and the candy drawer...we made good use of that.  :)  We love Grandpa and Grandma.  It's been so nice living closer to them.  We especially enjoy when they stop in for a surprise visit when they come to Salt Lake for shopping or doctors appointments.  It's been fun getting to see them more often!

A Typical Evening

I'm really enjoying life right now.  The transistion to three kids has been smooth so far.  Here's a picture of a typical night at our house...The kids are coloring, playing, and periodically talking to Kinsey.  I'm making dinner, and Brian uses ear phones or ear plugs and studies away until dinner or bed time.  It works out.  We always look forward to the weekend when we get a little more time with Brian.

Being a Doggy

"I've been pretending I been a doggy.  When I'm a dog my name is Clinkly.  Clinkly likes five things to eat. Grapes cut in half, whole bananas, yellow cheese, apples, and Grandma Lisa eggs. Clinkly likes to play fetch and eat out of bowls on the tile." - excerpt from Chandra's Journal

It cracks me up how Chandra talks about herself in the third person whenever she's pretending to be a dog (which is fairly often this past few weeks). When she's a dog she asks us to throw her "gold fetch" (gold necklace) for her to fetch.  She crawls around on all fours panting and bringing us her leash to take her on a walk.  She gets so bent out of shape if we accidently call her Chandra.  "Not Chandra!! Clinkly!" Silly girl.

Proud Brother and Sister

Kinsey Kay Johnson

We love our precious baby girl! She has such long fingers, sweet baby lips, and soft skin and hair. We all love to snuggle her and are so grateful that she's joined our family.