"I see Heavenly Father!"

Bracken was laying on the grass beside me when he said excitedly, "Mom, I see Heavenly Father!" I was confused for a second, and then he said again, pointing above him, "I see Heavenly Father like when He came down to see Joseph Smith!" Following the direction of his pointing finger I saw the sun and its rays shining through the tree branches above us. I said something like, "that does look like when Heavenly Father came down to Joseph Smith" and then Bracken said, "I'm going to talk to Heavenly Father." And he sat looking up at the sun and started telling Heavenly Father about how he raked the grass in Parawan by himself and liked milking the goat with his Uncle Dallin. Just a normal little conversation. What a sweet little man!

Pioneer Day

Bracken and I have been reading pioneer stories out of the "Friend" magazine and singing pioneer songs the last few days. We wanted to be ready for Pioneer Day! Here's what we did:

We went to the Pioneer Parade in the morning. Bracken got to see the handcarts and wagons, and people dressed up as pioneers, but mostly he ran after salt water taffy and tootsie rolls and shared them with us and our neighbors. Our friend Andrea took him to pet a miniature horse and he hasn't stopped telling me about it since.

We had a Pioneer FHE. Bracken and I made gingerbread cookie "pioneers" and a wagon with an ox. Brian helped Bracken make a little handcart out of a box and a rope. We had a little lesson, and then Bracken loaded his handcart up with the things he thought he'd need most for a trek. He took his blankets, his tools, his piano, and a box of cookies. Then we walked around our apartment complex and he stopped at some of our neighbors doors to share his (now broken and mostly headless) cookies. Then he played with his left over snaps and sparklers from July 4th. We had a fun day together.
Bracken is wearing his favorite pajamas (he wouldn't change after his nap) and blue rain boots. He loves the boots because he can put them on himself, I don't care if he stomps in mud or puddles with them, and hey, they're bright blue!

Pretty or Handsome?

Brian to Bracken-- "Do you think I'm a pretty good dad?"

Bracken--- "No Dad, you're not pretty, you're handsome!"

Milk too?

Bracken was looking carefully at the picture of Abinadi teaching Wicked King Noah.

Usually he points to the different people and says things like, "This is Gideon. He was bad but then he repented and now he is good and happy!" or "This is Alma, he repented too!" or pointing to the spilled wine, "King Noah drank wine, we don't drink wine because it's bad." or "Mom, Abinadi is a good man."

Today he pointed at Abinadi's chest and said, "Look Mom, Abinadi has milk too!"

What do I say to that?

4th of July Weekend

We had the best July 4th weekend! Chandra was blessed, we were surrounded by family, and we just had lots of fun together. Aren't these kids cute? Bracken loved playing with his cousins. They played at the park, built "birds nests" out of grass, watched the parade and shared their candy spoils, built sandcastles and splashed at the lake, and had a blast with the fireworks.

Bracken loves his Grandpa Rob and always seem to laugh like crazy when he's playing with Grandpa.
Happy Independence Day!
Bracken loved the sparklers and snaps. He kept saying, "When I was a baby, the fireworks scared me. But now I'm a big boy and I like the fireworks!" We also bought a bunch of fountains to light off. Bracken clapped after every one. A highlight of his night was getting to light a fountain with Brian and another one with his cousin Ethan. He still tells me "Mom, I did the dinosaur firework with Ethan, then we ran away fast!"

Chandra and Grandma Sue. Gotta love Chandra's pouty lip here.

I thought Chandra had a ton of hair, but look at her cousin Benjamin who is only 1 week older than her and already had a haircut! Chandra is 2 months + a week old here.

Thanks family for coming to visit us and making such a fun weekend! Bracken had so much fun with his cousins. When they left he kind of wandered around and really missed having constant exciting entertainment and interaction. I guess I'm just not quite as energetic or creative as Ethan, Adelle and Ella!

Chandra's Baby Blessing

Chandra Lia Johnson

Our family

We felt lucky and blessed to have so many family members come for Chandra's blessing. We had family here from Richfield, Vegas and Phoenix! Thanks everyone for making the effort to be with us!