Cassidy's First Public Singing Debut...

O.K. Ladies and gentlemen, I am REALLY hoping this works since I don't quite know how to post a video on my blog, but here goes nuthin'!

Background story: Cassidy LOVES to sing. She sings in our ward choir, she sings in the shower (while I desperatly pound on the door telling her to hurry up), she sits at the piano for hours and will make up songs and play them and make up a song to go with them. In other words, she CANNOT be my child. I don't carry a tune at all, and my worst nightmares consist of me singing in public.

But I digress, Cassidy has been wanting me to put her into some sort of singing group forever and we just have been so crazy with the cancer and everything else that we have had to put it off. We even signed her up for Super Singers class from the Gilbert Parks and Recreation at the beginning of the year, but they cancelled the class. I tried to register her again, and this time the class wasn't cancelled and it has been a wonderful thing for her. Before the class, she wouldn't have sung in public at all, and now she will and I think it is a wonderful boost to her self esteem.

Here's what they do: The kids in the class are allowed to bring in one song each week with a cd and the lyrics and sing in front of the class. Then the class critiques them. Very scary experience if you ask me.Well, after a few weeks in the class Cassidy asked the instructor, "Do I have to bring in a CD or can I just play my song on the piano?" He agreed to bring in a keyboard for her to try it on that.

I went on Tuesday night to watch her perform and I feel VERY blessed that I was there and that I was able to record her experience. She was amazing!!!!

She played a piece that is usually a duet with her piano teacher, which is why she is only playing one hand of the full song. But the girl did it! Even though it was on an unfamiliar keyboard, even though the teacher had to hold the music up for her, and even though there were people watching her! I love her for courage!!!!!

Sit back and enjoy the show....

When she was finished, all the kids in the class were ASTOUNDED! they couldn't believe that she could play the piano and sing at the same time. Their critiques included, "Wow, I could never play the piano, is it hard? And you sang too."  Another girl said, "You have a really great voice and your very talented." Needless to say, this was just the boost Cassidy needed for both her singing and piano skills.

Sarah's 8th Birthday in pictures...

The big day for Sarah finally arrived.... She turned 8! She has been counting down for quite sometime now. Luckily for me, my energy has returned, because I sure needed it today....

Take a tour with me of Sarah's birthday in pictures....

 6:30am I wake up to find Sarah and Lund already fishing. Lund with his pole and Sarah with a stick that she tied some of my scrapbooking ribbon to.

                                       Good morning birthday girl!!!

 Daddy had a little bit of time before he got ready to go to work to show Sarah how to cast on his pole.

 I am going to show you how the ribbon-stick theory works. Sarah stands on the edge of the lake and throws it as far as she can.....

 And then she fishes.... how cute is that?!!!

  She was sooo excited to fish before school, so it helps to have a lake in our backyard...

 Then Sarah and Lund went in together and bought her a new fishing pole, tackle box and fresh worms.  (so, that would mean me running to Walmart at 8am so they can pick out the present). She was sooo excited for her first fishing pole!!

 This picture is not for the faint of heart: That is Sarah with a pair of scissors about to cut the worm in half to put on her hook. That was the only part she had a hard time with, cutting up worms. Can't say I blame her.

 So now she is ready to go with her new pole. (Time frame here is 9am-10am)

 Then, while grandma and grandpa Johnson got the other kids off on their school schedules, I took Sarah to her birthday breakfast at Denny's. You get a free grand slam on your birthday and she LOVED choosing which four things out of the whole list of choices.

 Lund picked this out for his sister to wear. He said, "Mom, I have to get this for her. She loves animals and it is her birthday!" Needless to say, she LOVED it!!!

 My OLD girl!!! (time frame here is 10:30-11:30am) She was all smiles and we talked about the day she was born and we colored as we waited for our food. It was pure heaven!

 Sarah just loved our waiter because he kept saying "Ladies, can I get you anything and Ladies, how are you doing?" She would just giggle and as he walked away and then proclaim, "He called me a lady!" So, right before we left she asked me if she could leave the waiter a note.  Above is her note..

 This is a funny story: Sarah was allowed to have one friend over for dinner and cake and ice cream and her friend Jenna came over. They went fishing again while we finished up dinner and look what they came running inside with. Jenna, who didn't have a pole, tied that same scrapbooking ribbon to a skinny long stick and caught that fish!!! Seriously!!! I don't know how the skinny stick didn't break or how that even works in physics!!!!! Amazing!!! And she caught three more fish later tonight with the same stick and ribbon and a piece of frozen corn tied to the end on a hook.  Jenna told me to print out the picture for her so she could write it in her journal tonight. She was soooooooooo excited and frankly, I haven't ever seen anything like it in my life!!

 Then, after dinner, the big moment arrived. We took her upstairs to show her the birthday present. A shelf with about a 100 beanie baby animals (seriously every animal you can imagine) and a few big stuffed animals thrown into the mix. This is what she asked for this year... a shelf above her bed with stuffed animals on it. She LOVED it..... I can just picture her lining up all the animals according to their species, breed, etc..... oh, she will be busy for hours everyday!!

 So, then her siblings hid her on her bed with all the animals.........Just look for the huge brown eyes!!!

 Time to open the presents...........

 Jenna gave her Squinkies (one of her favorite things because they are just tiny animals), and some huge bubbles.

 And Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave her the cutest lamp ever! It is a ladybug lamp or nightlight and when you plug it in it is just gorgeous with all the different colors shining through!!! It is sooooooo Sarah!!!

,,,,,, and then we eat the birthday cake!!! Joy, do you remember when you used to sing that song. I know you are a cool teenager now, but think way back to when you used to make songs up about everything and then you will remember how to sing that line. I sang it in my head today all day long!!!

And this finishes up the day. Here is a picture of the cake after one elbow had already fallen ino it (Lund Ryan), and lots of the m -n- m's had been secretly picked off  (um..... WILL!!!)

Favorite quotes from Sarah today:
      "Mom, I can't believe everyone loves me sooo much!!!" (right after getting the fishing pole from her brother and sister)
      "This is the BEST food ever!!!" (while eating her homemade macoroni and cheese for dinner thanks to Aunt Bonnie's recipe. This is what she requested, and she hasn't eaten it in over a year when Bonnie made it for us during her stay at our house for a chemo session. It sure must have made a big impression on her and it is sooooo yummy!!!)
       "Mom, there is every animal imaginable, even a bat!!" (After thuroughly looking at all her new beanie baby animals)
       "Mom, when I get baptized it is going to be embarrassing because everyone will see me get my hair wet!" (while washing her hair in the tub and talking to her about her upcoming baptism.)
   and my very favorite quote of the day......
      "Mom, I am a miracle!!!!" (quoted out loud at Denny's after I told her again about the day she was born and how she stopped breathing a couple of hours later and the doctors had to bring her back to life and she had to live in the NICU for a couple of days undergoing a gillion tests.")  Yes Sarah, you are a miracle!! Happy Birthday with love from mom!!

Our Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy!

Will had his cowboy sing-a-long performance last night for preschool. I have known about it for a while, so I always ask him to sing me a cowboy song or tell me what he is learning. He just shrugs his shoulders and says, "Nuthin".  So, we were a bit anxious about what was going to happen at the performance.

But alas, there is a little performer buried deep inside him! He sang every song, was very serious and also felt that he was the official waver after every song. I LOVED the performance!!!!! Thank you Mrs. U. and all your helpers for making this happen. It makes me realize that Will is learning, "somepin"!

 Oh yeah, my job is to wave after every single song..... Isn't he one adorable cowboy?!

                          he even knew all the actions.... I was an impressed mom!

                               A serious, concentrating Will

                              Waving.....

                           Waving, yet again, after the song...

  He's the tall one in the denim shirt in the back row...

 Here is our row of supporters.... Gramma Karen and the kids and I and Morgan with the camera. I was too tired to run around snapping photos. Thanks Morgan for being the photo dad!

 Here is Will with all of his "cowboy stuff" from his class!! Definitely a wonderful evening!!

What is this picture you ask???? When we got home there was a note on the door from Will's primary teacher to call him back so he could bring over Will's treat for being the most reverent on Sunday. He came by and said, " I looked everywhere, I hope this is what he wanted. When I asked Will on Sunday what treat he wanted he said Potato Skins. I searched everywhere and found these." he he he I can't believe Will asked for Potato Skins, and I feel bad that the poor primary teacher had to search everywhere to find them. (Next time, just keep a piece of candy in your pocket, it works everytime, and saves a lot of work. he he he)

A fishing we will go....

Here at the Johnson house, we "fish" for our Easter baskets each year. A tradition that Morgan's family has been doing for years. It is a whole lot of fun and this was the 1st year in our new house. I am sure we will have many years to come fishing over this bannister!

 Here it is all set up. Now we just have to wait for the Easter Fish to arrive from the lake behind our house...

                                             Will was really excited to go first and his brother helped him move the pole.

 
 Cassidy says you are never too old for Easter Fish!! I agree!

 I love it when they help each other!!!

 And of course, Sarah was all smiles after getting her loot!!!

.Here is what I got in my basket..... Kosher salt?! Morgan claims it is because he is a saltwater fish. What a goof!!!!

Easter Brunch at Aunt Leesha's house....otherwise known as yummy, yummy with a side of yummy!

On Good Friday, we met at my sister's house and she hosted a brunch to die for. The menu included Creme' Brule' french toast with toasted caramelized pecans!!! Oh, this reminiscing is making me hungry!!!! Needless to say we had food, fun, and family memories. Thanks Leesh for being the hostess with the mostest!!!

Kade

I was sooo proud that my little boy still brings me flowers!!!

And this is the first "bald" picture ever taken. Lund had enough hair for both of us as he was desperately in need of getting rid of his Ralph Machio do.

And I could sit and watch this little girl forever. She is such a good baby and loves to sit in her Bumbo and just smile at everyone... Love you Raelynn!

And these two beauties are my younger sister and my niece. Kayla, who is closest to the camera is probably about 5'9 and just keeps going. It helps because she is a diehard volleyball girl!!!

And if you can't find Will, his favorite spot is his nieces, french store room. He loves to go in there and pretend it is his little domain.

Here are all the crashing kids downstairs...

And if you can't find Brody, watch out! He is probably in his cousin's indoor treehouse getting ready to protect the fort!!

Whose taller?? Also known as... has Ryan finally caught up with dad.. you decide.

I just thought we needed this documented, (especially since Ryan just keeps stretching).....

Who is taller? Now Dad is employing the "chicken arms" because he claims they make him taller....

 
 But, without the help of the chicken arms, I think they have pretty much evened out in life!!

But alas, I think my Johnson man and his father might have an inch or two on them still.  Aren't these some handsome men.... Left to right: My dad and grandfather Keith, Ryan, Papa Lund, and Daddy.

Easter Hunting Ryan-style....

Here is my younger brother, Ryan, getting ready to record the Easter festivities. All of these pictures are taken from Ryan's perspective. So here is Easter via Ryan....

He is sitting here pondering how many crazy kids are just about to run amuck and wishing he was back in his quiet apartment in Provo. he he he. Not really, he was up for the challenge!!!

 Lund wasn't thrilled they had to run around in their church clothes since we took pictures right afterwards. But they survived...

  Brody finding one in the garden. I just LOVE Morgan's garden!

 Brody was just the right age for the full extent of joy that comes with Easter egg hunting....

 
 he sure is one adorable kiddo!!

 Will was pretty awesome this year too. 

 And here are some of the real beautiful moments!!! My older sister with neice, Raelynn.

 
   
 
 And if you throw in a bunny, Sarah is entertained FOREVER!!

 
 

 
 
 
 Lund was brave...... he loved the bunny running on him..

 
Brody was pretending to be a bunny himself.
Thank you Ryan for capturing these beautiful moments!!! Now you can relax in peace. Oh wait, your new semester at BYU has already started. No peace for you!!! Love ya Bud!