Our Summer - Part one!

June 10,11, 12 - Capital Reef

This is a picture of most of the gang. We have been friends with this gang for years and years and I hope it will continue! It was a lot of fun to spend time with them and let our kids play and get dirty together. I fell in love with Southern Utah after this trip...can you believe it, I never knew Capital Reef existed!

Just beautiful!

Goblin Valley/San Rafael Swell - June 24, 25

If you have never visited this place, you are missing out! It is so cool! I have never seen anything like it! I could have spent at least all day there, and probably much, much longer! (Stratton would have definitely been right there with me all day, he LOVED this place!)

We had three babies on our trip and they were quite the troopers!

Marley knew how to cool off!!!

June 27th

It was Blake's birthday, but Marley's birthday party! Thanks so much for coming, she loved every minute of it! She is now 4!!!

There are so many things I love about Marley:

*She is spunky

*She is social

*She loves her family

*She tries to make people smile if they are sad

*She shares

*She loves candy

*She loves praise

*She is funny

*She works hard at learning new things

*She is sassy

*She reminds me of me (that is good and bad)

*She makes up her own songsHere is a snap shot of little Torah enjoying the swimming pool!

June 28th

Marley's birthday! She is 4!!!

What did she want for birthday lunch? A watermelon filled tortilla.

REALLY! AND she ate it!

July 4th

This is the only picture I took this day...who knows why? My little brother came home from his mission and I didn't take one picture! I am terrible!!! Happy 4th!!!

Bear Lake - July 8, 9

The kids ask all year long when we are going to go to Bear Lake and play in the sand. That is about all we could do at Bear Lake this year. It was a bit stinky because the water is SO high and is making all the grass die, but it was still a good time.

Marley has been doing tumbling and loves and and we do go swimming every day, along with a session of swimming lessons...There is never a dull moment in the summer!

Happy Birthday Elder Miller!

Elder Miller, we hope you have a really great day!

I had a work meeting today and since I work from home, my kids can be with me (what a blessing!) Anyway, the kids were being very quiet outside in the backyard. I went out to see what was going on and they were going through the recycle bin! They were finding all the things I have thrown away that they brought home from school. I do keep some of their stuff, but I can't keep it all! I felt like scum...worst mom of the year. Anyway, I'm glad they weren't playing in the garbage!!!

Every day Stratton lays out his treasures on the counter. This is what he had in his pocket last week. (I admit, I throw these away too - but after a few days...) A group picture of the kids. Torah is sick right now (double-ear infection) and she doesn't look too happy, but Strat and Mars LOVE her!!! They ALWAYS want to play with her and make her laugh. I'm so glad they like each other (most of the time!)

Torah is 7 months old!

Torah is 7 months old. Time is going too fast and she is growing too fast! She gets around quickly now, even though her crawl is not conventional. It is like she has a peg leg and one good leg to crawl with. I have to watch her very closely so that she doesn't get into any mischief, or crawl right down the stairs. We absolutely love having her around! She is will laugh and giggle...for kids only. If an adult tries to get a smile out of her they will be working on it for a long time. Torah just stares at adults...even mom and dad sometimes. She says "mamamama", which totally melts my heart! Lastly she has started pulling herself up on things and just yesterday she started letting go and standing for just a split second before she falls on her bum. I am so proud of her, but I want her to SLOW down. She is barely 7 months old for heaven sake!

tORAH iS mOVING!!!

She has been rocking back and forth and up on her knees since she was 3 1/2 months old. I thought for sure she'd be an expert crawler by the time she was 5 months old. Glad it didn't happen! Now she is 6 months old and yesterday she started moving. It isn't a crawl and it isn't fast (that is the good news!). She gets up on her hands from a sitting position and then one leg gets into crawling position. The other leg is still in the sitting position...or maybe it is like a cane for support. Either way she scoots with that leg still crossed and gets to where she wants to go. Sure it takes her a while to reach her destination...but she is moving! I didn't want it to happen this fast, my other kids didn't crawl until they were at least 7 or 8 months. I guess she needs to see what is happening around her!

(By they way...isn't that picture cute! My sister-in-law's neighbor took it. Bittersweet Photography - what a great job!)

Growing...

How did she go from this....to this - so fast?3 months have flown by and we are just loving Torah! The kids love to make her smile and will do silly dances for her all day long. Torah sometimes dreads when Marley comes toward her, but I have actually seen a change in how Marley interacts with Torah and it is for the better! She is less 'in her face' and more gentle. That is a huge relief to me!

Torah is such a good baby. She hardly ever cries and puts up with being carted all over the city while I run kids to school, dance, soccer and everything else. She smiles and laughs (although her laugh is more of a cough). She loves her hands and can be heard sucking them from across the room and she is starting to hold things in her hands. I love watching her try to grab something, it is like trying to swat a fly with your hands. A swing and a miss, another swing and a miss and then once in a while she gets lucky and grabs the object.

Here are a few pictures from the last 3 months...Enjoy!

Torah's blessing day - Nov. 7th 2010

Halloween pumpkin carving

Torah was a monkey for Halloween. Funny story...My sister sent this picture to Blake on his phone and when he got home he asked me who the picture was of. I laughed right out loud and said...um YOUR daughter!

Torah's 5 week pictures. Her aunt Ashlee got her this adorable tutu and wanted a picture with her in it. So sweet!

We all got sick in November and Stratton fell asleep with the 'sick' bowl under his chin.

And to start off the Holiday season we went to an ugly sweater party. Too too funny!

Happy Holidays!

Torah Lee Johnson!

On August 30th 2010 at 5:00 in the evening, Torah was born. She was 7 lbs 2 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She only took 3 hours to get here and all went smoothly. She did come out with a crooked nose, but it looks much better now!

Marley fell in love with her sister the day she was born. She is constantly kissing, hugging and smothering her. I have to watch her very carefully or else Torah would be hurt by now. One day I walked into my bedroom and Marley had picked Torah up (a no-no!), as soon as Marley saw me she dropped Torah - YIKES! Luckily she dropped her on the bed - no harm done...

In the hospital, a few minutes after Torah was born!

Grandma was there to support Jeri, since Blake has a hard time with deliveries...he actually almost fainted this time. The doctor asked him if he was okay and told him to go sit down. Honestly...I was the one who gave birth (ha ha ha).

Torah looks nothing like her brother and sister who are carbon copies of each other. She has her own look and she has HAIR!! I got a baby with hair and almost 6 weeks later she still has her hair!

One day Torah was asleep on my bed and Marley kept asking where she was. I finally disclosed her location and instantly Marley said, "Mom, I'm tired and need to go take a nap." Yeah, sure Marley!

What do you do when your mom spends all her time nursing a new baby? You come up with creative games like this:

Marley loves helping (although I can't really trust her, I mean she is only 3!)

Stratton is a HUGE help! He does not like it when Torah cries and will do all he can to get her to stop - plus I can trust him not to stand with her or hurt her in any way.

SISTERS!

I failed miserably with this picture - as you can see Torah is not that happy!

Today! Torah is 5 weeks old and weighs 9 lbs. She still has the hair, although it is lighter and reddish. She really does have her own look, except for the nose - it is a button just like her siblings. She is starting to sleep so much better and is smiling up a storm. I love to talk to her and look into her eyes because it is like seeing a glimpse of heaven.

Torah is just learning to self-soothe...sucking on her hands...