Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas Cards to bloggers.

My sister-in-law posted about this deal through Shutterfly and I thought I'd let you all know. I've used shutterfly several times including to get Christmas Cards. I can't believe that they're giving cards away but I'm not going to complain. Here is the link if anyone else is interested.

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Becka

Updates

Week of September 5-11
I just wanted to give our families a quick update on how we were doing. Lily and I spent a week in Utah for Candie's book release party, which was fantastic. I however totally forgot my camera so I'm going to have to steal pictures when I get a chance. We were also able to help a good friend of mine who's aunt unexpectedly passed away. While we were gone the other kids had a great week alone with Dave. Isaac got really interested in watching "Avatar, The Last Airbender" on netflix and has watched the entire series at least twice now. We've had to make a rule that there is no bending of any elements in the house.Week of 12-19th
On Monday we had Paragon night, which is a night at school where the kids get to show off what they've learned. Lily ended up with the stomach flu and wasn't able to attend but her class did a play on King Arthur. Isaac's class had been learning about Egypt and did a museum where when you touched one of their hands they told you about what Egyptian person they were. Joe's class did Mesopotamia and Clara's class also did Egypt. The Paragon program is a really well thought out history program that repeats itself every 4 years. I really like it.
We also hosted my Cousin John this week while he looked for apartments here in town. It will be so nice to have some family close by. John is vegan and is very earth conscious and I'm really excited to learn as much as I can from him while he lives close by. On Saturday night we had a surprise party for our friend Claudia's 30 birthday (16 in Martian years) which was so much fun. We had a Buzz Lightyear pinata and played ABBA sing star. It was so much fun. On Sunday I took the kids to the zoo so Dave could get some work done at home. It was a nice to get out with all my kids and spend some time.

Megan, one of the other graduate students Dave works with up at school. Claudia talking on the phone while Lily sneaks up behind her with a skeleton.

Claudia and Alberto have a puppy named Otto that Clara adores.

Claudia trying to hit Buzz

Lily was the one who finally broke the pinata. Our kids were the only kids there so they had a really good time getting all the candy.

Claudia and Megan singing ABBA

I'm not sure which ABBA song we're singing but almost all the songs we sang looked like this.

Week of Septemeber 19-26 My mom made an unexpected visit this week and it was so so so much fun. We spent one day up in Estes Park, including going to the Stanley Hotel. We also went to Westmister to a quilt shop that was going out of business. I got some quilt accessories for my quilting machine and my mom bought a treadle sewing machine (well, at least the machine part). On the last day we went to Denver and saw the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. I was going to drive to Indianapolis last year to see it and was so excited when I found out it was coming here. It was amazing!!!! We weren't allowed to take pictures but I was able to find some on the internet of things we saw. There were tons of stone statues from many different pharaohs, sarcophaguses of Kings Tut's children that were found in the tomb, artifacts that were on the mummy when they removed the wrappings, so many things I can't describe half of them - it is something I'll never forget. Isaac's class is going at the end of October and I can't wait to go back. My mom headed back on Saturday morning.
My Mom in front of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. We didn't get to go on the ghost tour this time but I'm hoping we can next time.
Me in the Stanley CafeMy Mom in the Stanley Cafe
There is a store on your way to Estes Park called "The Dam".
This is the Dam outside the Dam store. Joe dancing while we were at King tutMany of the King Tut Artifacts

Week of Septemeber 24-October 1
Right after my mom left Clara ended up coming down with a sore throat. I spent all of Sunday working on my mom quilts she had left and got the first one done. I immediately started getting sick myself and Clara and I both spent Monday at the doctors office. We both ended up with strep although I didn't find out until later in the week. So this week was spent in bed recovering and wasn't very eventful. I haven't even got the quilt off my quilting frame yet because I've been so sick. The only other thing that happened this week was some neighbor boys got sap in Isaac's hair. It was so bad and I didn't know what to do. We ended up using olive oil to get it out and Isaac had to take two showers a day for the next week to try and get all the oil out of his hair. The oil did get out all the sap though and his hair is very soft and shiny.
Week of October 2-6
On Sunday we had some friends over for a barbecue and had so much fun. It was a couple with their two little girls, one who was in Clara's preschool class last year. The dad is also a graduate student in Physics up at CSU and they are the only two graduate students with families. It was so nice to have someone to talk to who completely understood everything we're going through.

I then ended up getting stressed out because I had strep which brought on a horrible flare for my Behcet's disease. I haven't had one this bad since before my abscess. I'm okay, just a lot of rest. The kids had spirit week this week which meant every day was different. On Monday they got to wear their pajamas to school, Tuesday was crazy hair and hat day and today (Wednesday) was favorite sport team day. All the kids wore U of U shirts to school except Clara who we couldn't find her U of U jacket. Tomorrow is backwards and inside out day. Also, tomorrow is the day John and his wife finally move here. We're going to be helping them move tomorrow evening and I'm so excited to have them here.

Lily was kind of upset because I didn't do her hair crazy. Although I asked her if she wanted crazy hair several times and she said no, right up until she saw Clara's crazy hair. By then it was time to leave for school and it was to late.

Clara's hair had french braids down the sides and then back up to make pony tails. We then stuck in a bunch of cute clips to keep it in. She looked adorable.
The boys found these hats in the costume box (I'm not even sure where we got them) and decided to wear them. It was kind of fun to have them match.

So, that was the last month. I'll try to keep up on things and I'm sure it won't be to long before another post. My birthday is next week after all.

The Vivaterra

http://www.amazon.com/Vivatera-Secrets-Everstar-1/dp/1453668489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281677140&sr=8-1

This could be a post about how great this book is or how good the cover looks but it's not. I really just wanted to brag about my awesome sister. She not only finished a book but found a way to get it published. I am so impressed with her writing and how her words flow together so well. I love her style and loved watching her take an idea and morph it into something spectacular. She has always been a good writer and I never doubted for a minute that she would write a book. Even more impressive then the writing of the book is the fact she did it while working full time, fulfilling her church callings and taking care of her own family. I can not say enough about how awesome she is. GO CANDIE!!! YOU ROCK!!!

Family Reunion in Bicknell, UT

Dave's family had a family reunion in Bicknell, UT at the end of July. Bicknell is right by Capital Reef national park and is such an amazing place to go. I can't believe how awesome it was. Dave's brother is a geologist and he got the geological maps of the area from work. I never thought I'd get so into rocks and formations but it's pretty hard not to get excited with so much beauty around you.

I have to say a huge thank you to Dave's sister and her husband for planning it. You two are awesome. Capital Reef is in Central Utah and is such an amazing place. The home that we stayed at was the home my brother-in-law grew up in and it was the coolest home I've ever been in. It had every bit of charm and character you want in an old home. With slanted ceilings and secret rooms, to 5 or 6 outbuildings and an old out-house. It was the coolest place ever. Seriously, I loved it there. I haven't felt that much at home for a long long time.

Goblin Valley
We ended up getting to Central Utah before anyone else so we decided to stop a couple of places on our way to Bicknell. Goblin Valley was right off the side of the road and is a really cool place to stop.

Capital Reef National Park
You have to drive through Capital Reef on your way to Bicknell. We saw a really cool old house that was made out of lava rocks. We tried to cross the river to take pictures of it but couldn't find a good place where the kids wouldn't get wet. We shouldn't have even cared since they got wet at the next location anyways.

The Waterfall
This was such a cool place. We came back a few days later and it was so crowded with people playing in the water and jumping off the waterfall but the day we went no one was there. It was so beautiful and serene and the kids had so much fun playing.

Bicknell, UT
As I said, my brother-in-laws home is the best! You could tell how much his parents cared for him and his siblings. It was made for a family. With a tire swing and trampoline pit to a old treehouse (which the kids couldn't get to get in because of its state), it was just perfect. It's what I would want for my kids if I had a choice.
Big Rocks
A place right by Bicknell with huge rocks spewn (is that the right word) across the area. I don't know how they got there but they were awesome.
We had so much fun. I married into one of the best families in the world.
Thank you so much for everything.

Carbine Kids

A few months ago my Grandma Carbine passed away. I loved my Grandma so much and am so grateful I was in her family. She left behind quite a legacy and I really wanted to do something to honor that.

My Mom is the 4th child in her family. She had 3 older brother although one brother was stillborn and she never got to know him. She always felt that Michael would have stood for her while her other brothers were picking on her. Her two other older brothers were Ed and Jim. Four years later she finally got a sister, followed by two more brothers.

My Carbine cousins are some of my very favorite. They are so witty and funny. They always have a good way of looking at life and never take anything to seriously. I think the Carbine gene is a rogue gene that tends to take normal people and twist them a little. I've heard stories about the Carbines being witty and clever from pioneer times. I love my Johnson heritage too but I often remind myself that I am still half Carbine (and in some ways more), I just didn't end up with the name.

When my Grandma passed away I found this picture in a broken plastic beat up frame, smashed into an old box. It had been bent up, written on, spilled on and torn. It was also the only family picture I could find with all six kids in it. So we scanned it while at my moms. It was so large I had to scan it in two pieces. I then went about putting it back together, removing stains, bangs and bends. It took me a long long time but it turned out so well. I found out it was taken by a guy in their ward that came over to the house and did this in their living room. They took a board and put it between two boxes or buckets and straddled the board. With a white cloth behind it looks completely professional.

I did this for my family. So they could have this in their homes to show their kids. So we wouldn't lose each other even though the heads of the house are now gone. I'm hoping the next time I go visit any of my aunts or uncles they have this photo hanging in their homes.

Thomas Kids Rock

My kids have been bugging me forever to have a blog or post things on mine. I thought it was probably time for me to let them have a blog of their own. It is called Thomas Kids Rock and it is a private blog. If you are interested in joining and I haven't already sent you an invite then let me know and I will invite you.

Summer Vacation

Chambers Lake, Colorado

We went camping in the mountains above Fort Collins, CO with some good friends of ours from Utah. Chambers lake is so beautiful I can't wait to go back. It rained a lot and I ended up pretty sick but I still had a good time. Clara in front of Chambers Lake

Clara Isaac and Chris climbing the crooked tree

Chopping firewood

We found a baby moose and her mother by the creek going into the lake. The baby is in the grass on the right side.

The mamma moose saw us there but sat down and just watched us, so I knew we were okay.

Clara watching the kids playing in the water.

Joe on the playground after playing in the water.

Isaac got so cold he didn't end up going on the boat with the
other kids but he sure had a fun time.

Lily playing on the boat ramp at the lake.

Chris and Katie swinging

Utah with my family

Adam and Jan at a BBQ at Candie's house.

The 4th of July at my Mom and Dad's house.