Halloween- Boooo!

We decided- upon insistence by our pro-party-throwing Mother, that we would put together a little Halloween party in our garage- a throw-back to the GREAT ones that used to take place annually at my grandma's house when we were young. Unfortunately, the pro-party-thrower was in Houston at a quilt show- leaving behind 3 fairly lame daughters who were less than motivated (who knew?) and- to be fair, several of us had the flu that week- up until Thursday night...that's a good excuse-right? Not really, but ANYWAY, we DID at least have a party with our 3 families and it was SUCH a perfect Halloween night- totally unheard of around here. It couldn't have been cooler than 65 degrees- so our garage "party" was comfortable in addition to fun since no one was freezing. Emily made some delicious Chili- a Halloween tradition, and I made some cornbread and we had a Fishing booth and everything- so it was LIKE a real party. The kids LOVED dressing up( ...with exception of Jack, Beth's little boy, who we finally slapped a spare fireman hat on and called a fireman) and trick-or-treating was a huge success. Overall, a good night.

For Keeps...

I'll Keep Your Kiss Forever.
~Porter At Naptime Today

So- As for an Update...

Johnson Family Reunion- Eagar, Arizona

Heber House Playing- Summer 2008

Goofing- Off at Home- August 2008

Swimming- Veterans Park- August

Seth's 2nd Birthday- August 10th

Oh, Aren't we so Cute??? September- can you guess it's a BYU Football Game?

Notice, if you will, that John and Lily jumped into the background as well- what are we going to do with them????

Jack & Seth playing at the park in St. George. We went down to see Big River-

one word- AMAZING! Tuacahn outdoor theatre- if you haven't been-go!

Actually, the time between now and June really HAS been too fast. Currently, I am sitting at home during what ought to be my quiet time- oh, wait, it's called 'nap-time', and it's for the kids (yeah, right)- while waiting for Seth to decide to stop screaming at me from his crib to come back and put his blanket on him- which I did, about 5 minutes ago when I put him there for his nap. He has learned (from Porters good example) how to put off nap-time and bedtime. Since he sleeps in a crib and (thankfully) hasn't ever put his mind to figuring out how to get out of it- his distraction of choice is to keep me by his bed asking me to sing "I Love You" over, and over, and over and OVER again, or he tells me- everytime I turn to leave the room " I need something"- which of course, he doesn't. It is usually followed up by a request for cold water or to have me put every blanket in his bed on- then tells me that he doesn't want one, the other- or any of them at all... so usually, on these hard to distract him days it ends like this- I walk out- he screams at me about not meeting one or the other of his needs and in ten minutes finally gives up and goes to sleep. He is still my joy.

Porter is at preschool- his new favorite place on earth. He is addicted to people. He finds a new best friend- young, old or in between, everywhere we go and will do his best to talk their ears off. As my first to cross the line out of babyhood and into the big kid world, I often find myself at a loss at to what to do with him. I can no longer just state things as fact, and bark out orders and have them obeyed. He already thinks he knows better than me- and is sure that I just don't understand him. You should've heard our conversation a few months ago about why he couldn't give his friend, Jack Bluth, a kiss goodbye. He thinks- well, I give all my family kisses goodbye- and I really like my friend- too bad Jack about died when Porter came running after him trying to grab him so that he could bestow his farewell wishes on him. I tried to explain over the next few days that we don't kiss out friends- we give them a high five- and thank them for playing with us- he would have NONE of it. "No, Mom! I can kiss anyone I want!" he informed me- end of conversation. Slowly, I am becoming more patient and understanding. He gets really embarrassed and hurt when his behavior is called to question- so I'm relearning tact, and thoughtfulness- we'll see how I do. As for the past week- I've actually seen and HEARD him use his own good judgement which gives me hope that I am not going to ruin him. He is still my miracle baby.

Morgan and I are expecting our 3rd boy (BOY!!!) oh, boy oh, boy.... at the end of December. I tell everyone that the baby is due Christmas. First of all because I always said that having ALL boys was my worst fear- and second, that I would die if I had a Christmas baby- so this year is bringing to pass all my worst fears- and I guess I'll be living through them all. I just joined the world of mini-van mommy's (gasp- I know, I thought I would die before I saw that one happen as well...there's another one for you) but we love it. The boys LOVE it- are actually in LOVE with our movie-playing- magic door opening, more-room-than-either-them-know-what-to-do-with, mini-van. We got a 2007 Honday Odyssey with only 8,700 miles on it for 24,900- we were pretty stoked. It's practically brand new- and it will fit everything we need in it- including our new little guy. We just had a clear bra put on it yesterday and plan on lots of fun being had in it.

Shut- up

June 19th wasn't THAT long ago.

Toy Story Strikes...Again.

As many children before him have- and many more to come will- Porter went through your average addiction to the Disney movie Toy Story. You know, Buzz, Woody and Andy... Well, for those of you who are unaware- Porter also has an incredible knack for remembering EVERYTHING he ever hears: good, bad and ugly. It's all recorded up in his little brain in a seemingly bottomless pit of knowledge. He also possesses an uncanny ability to reuse his vast supply of tidbits at horrifically appropriate times in ways that have astounded me time after time- you'd think I'd be used to it, but he still catches me off-guard.

We actually get a LOT of quotes from Toy Story due to the fact that they loved using the words: shut-up, idiot, stupid and any number of other words that for whatever reason NO ONE wants to hear coming out of their children's mouths. He even uses the knowledge that those words are undesirable as an excuse to tell me all about how many of the characters use them and how naughty it is. Several times a day I will hear "Mom, Woody told Buzz to shut-up and that's not nice" "That girl (Sids sister) says Stupid dog to her dog- she needs to bite soap" "they just said Idiot- the police are going to get them"- and on and on and on. Just the other day I heard a new one though. We were heading down to Orem to go to the pool with Emily, Beth, my Mom and all the children that that entails. As we approached the highway there was a long line of cars stopped- all waiting to be let through some of the never-ending road construction that they love to do in our glorious state. At the sight of the road congestion Porter said "Oh, no Mom- look at all this traffic!" and I murmured something in return. Right on cue- without hestitation came the next line- straight out of Buzz's mouth "This is no time to panic!!"

I almost died...

Heber Creeper

Our friend, Linda came to visit from Australia and we spent the week hanging out at all the Johnson households to visit with her. On Friday, everyone came up to Heber for dinner at our house and you can't come to Heber without riding our famous train- the Heber Creeper. It was such a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.

Linda Rowan and Porter- Sydney in the background.
Me & Seth with Linda enjoying the incredible view.

For those of you who haven't met Morgan's evil twin... haha, just kidding- about the evil part anyway... This is Stuart & Becky with their children: Sydney (left) Mitchell (center) and Dallin (right)- we have the best family- that is all we can say.

River 2008

COKE!!! Yes, he needs his morning pick-me-up already... sad, I know...
Mommy & Seth chilling in the shade- Seth is sporting his manly fairy wand- courtesy of cousin Elena.
This quickly became a favorite outing for the boys. "Motorcycle" rides were a great treat.
Jr. Captain Seth in his favorite seat on the boat. Our trusty Sr. Captain Grandpa will attest to this fact. We wouldn't be 20 seconds into a boat ride before being bombarded to let Seth drive. Or Ollie. Or Porter...you know how it goes.
Expert fisherman Porter fishing from his favorite spot on the new ladder.

Oh, Swim Lessons- what a joy!!! Can't you see the excitement in Seth's hysterical face?
The best time of the day (and the quietest) was snack time featuring Cheetos...can't beat them.