30 candles on my cake!!!!

That is right everyone, I am officially old and proud of it!!! This morning I took a shower and "washed away my twenties!!"

Here are 20 things I did in my 20's that I am proud of...

1. Had Cassidy at age 20


2. Had Lund at age 21


3. Had Sarah at age 25


4. Had Will at age 27


5. put my husband through college (some of the time..)


6. was a Primary President for 3 years


7. was married to a Bishop


8. Lived in Flagstaff, Arizona


9. Lived in Gilbert, Arizona


10. Lived in Queen Creek, Arizona


11. Lived in Pocatello, Idaho


12. Lived in Boise, Idaho


13. Lived in Bagdad, Arizona


14. Purchased our first 4x4 truck (love it)


15. Purchased our first SUV --Honda, Pilot (love it even more than the truck)


16. Read lots of books


17. Wiped away a lot of tears


18. Smiled and laughed with many people


19. Decided that short hair is easier to take care of


20. Lived and Loved the first ten years of marriage!!!!

Now that I am 30, I hope my life is just as fun, exciting and wonderful... with a little less moving!!!!

Todays events:

I had a wonderful b-day with Morgan waking me up to pancakes in bed after he got the kids off to school all by himself and let me sleep in.... (best present ever).

My best buddy here in town treated me to wings and a movie for lunch. It was wonderful and we laughed a lot. (Will thought it was funny to mimik my laugh when we thought the movie was really funny, it was more like a gaffaw or cackle).

We had my favorite kind of pizza for dinner (pinneapple) and then we had WONDERFUL chocolate cake curtousy of Marie Calendars frozen pies.

The kids made me a treehouse for my birthday. It was so cute and here is what the note said on the treehouse...."We built this treehouse for you. Happy birthday, it was really hard. The main builder was Lund. The other builders were Sarah and Cassidy." He later told me that he hit his thumb five times while making this treehouse for me and that it hurt a lot!!! That is true love!!!!

Morgan gave me a card and some money and he drew a picture of what he thinks he will look like in 30 more years..... Interesting!

I recieved a "Happy birthday phone call from a friend that I haven't heard from in many years" Thanks Crystal, it was good to hear your voice.

My friends here in town threw a party for me at last Scrap Wednesday and they all gave me some scrapbooking stuff. It is a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by good friends!

Morgan's parents send me a wonderful card and even sang to me this morning while I was eating pancakes in my recliner and yes, they even bonked their heads together. Some people reading this might think that is a very weird comment, unless you have ever heard Lund and Karen sing the "Happy Birthday song".

My parents sent me a wonderful card via my dad last Saturday, which commented "How can you be 30 when we are still 39???" He!He! And having my dad help me this past Saturday was a gift in itself!

My sister Becky called to wish me a happy b-day as her husband was adjusting her back. He just happens to be a chiropractor so I guess that is o.k.

My sister Becky and my sister Alisha sent me a wonderful package that contained a necklace, a new wallet debt reduction plan, some candy (the kids stole) and some girly stuff like nail polish, etc... thanks sisters! Your the best!

And last but not least, the blood bank sent me an e-mail wishing me a happy birthday!!! How wonderful!!!! He!He!!

Well, here's to a wonderful day full of memories and fun!!! I love you all!!!!!

Day Trip with my Cubbies!!!!

On Saturday I took my wonderful troop of Cub Scouts on a 13-hour trip to Verde River Days at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona. It was really, really, really fun and also really, really, really exhausting! I have 8 Cub Scouts ranging from the ages of 8-10. My boys are so amazing and nice to each other and I learn a lot from them. We had a real bonding experience on the trip, well, lots of bonding experiences to be exact. Here are some quotes from the trip,

• "Are you going to throw up?????!!!!!! I will try to pull over really quick.... oh, I see that I am too late.. Everyone out of the car, go take a hike in the woods for a minute while Sister Johnson takes care of this." (Sister Johnson)


• "I am really, really hot and tired but I am having soooooo much fun!!!!" (One of the boys)


• "What would you do if I tip over my canoe and swim in the lake for a little while" (one of the boys)


• "Leave that snake on the ground and come eat your lunches boys! We could have stayed back in Bagdad if we wanted to see snakes" (Sister Johnson)


• "I just ordered 20 hard tacos and you guys are still hungry?????!!!!" O.k. I will order more." (Sister Johnson)


• "When you bury William in the sand, please don't fill his mouth up with sand too" (Sister Johnson)


• "Can I shoot the gun or maybe the canon" (one of the boys after watching the Civil War re-enactment)


• "That guy in the iniform said that they are signing up more people to be in their War thing (the traveling Civil War re-enactment group). Can I sign up my dad??? Can I sign up too??????" (one of the boys)


• "Can we pet that rattlesnake in the cage" (one of the boys)


• "Hey, can I ride your horse?!" (my daughter, Sarah said this to a Search and Rescue guy up on a horse. And you know what? He did get off and let her ride.)


• "Miss Christa, are you and Miss Wendy sisters??? (one of the boys asked this about myself and my Assistant Scout Leader)

These are all actual quotes from the boys or myself during the trip. Fun times and wonderful memories!

Their activites included: rock climbing, canoeing, making sandcastles, petting a Gila monster and holding a Bull snake, eating lots of food, learning how to get rescued in the woods, inflatable slides and obstacle courses, and a Civil War re-enactment. The day was a huge success and I think we will do it again (in about a year....)

My dad also came up from Gilbert and helped me with the adventure. It was sooooooo wonderful to have him there and he was such a ginormous help and he sure loved those kids. Thanks dad!!!

"Do you like my hat??"

"Do you like my hat?" "No, I do not like your hat!" "Good-bye!" "Good-bye" (this is a quote from the book "Go Dogs, Go" that sticks in my mind so vividly as I look at these pictures). Sarah just wanted to try on the new dinosaur underwear that we bought for Will for his upcoming potty training days. You can see Will in the background trying to be just like his big sister.... such aspirations!!!

The Long Awaited doctor update...

o.k. i know you all have been waiting everyday to know what happened in the end of our wonderful story about illnesses and such. Alright, I realize you are not waiting by your computer all day long, but i will give you the update anyways......
Will and I made a trip to Kingman today (1. 5 hours away) to see the Ear, nose, and throat specialist. It was wonderful because one of my best buddies came along to help me out with Will, who also needed to be seen. That made all the difference in the world! She would watch him for me when I went in to see the doctor and then she brought him in on his turn. Amazing concept and I think it would be nice to hire someone to just follow me around and always do that.
O.K. onto the diagnosis portion..... I have a lymphnode swollen so big in my neck and throat that the doctor decided he needed to put gloves on and shove his hand down my throat... result: tada,.. I gagged. His reply "did that gag you and hurt or just gag you?????" Let me think!!! That hurt!!!!! Oh, and it gagged me as well..... He! He!
He was actually a nice doctor, all except the gagging part. His conclusion: reduce size of lymphnode (duh...), by administering horse pills (they look more like suppositories) for two weeks and get rid of acute tonsilitis in the process. Come back into office in three weeks to see if I...1. have returned to normal human status, 2. schedule getting tonsils out so this will stop recurring (little nervous about this step).
Wills appointment results:
Just picture a two-year-old sitting in the examination room on his mom's lap looking wide eyed up at the doctor with the flashlight and stick in his hand. He tells Will to open his mouth really wide and to my surprize, he does. Doc uses said stick to see way down his throat and once again gags an unsuspecting patient. But Will is smarter than his mother. After he finishes gagging the doctor tells him to open his mouth again. Will firmly clenches his teeth and shakes his head "no" (why didn't I think of this...). Will waits until the doctor goes and throws the stick away and come back with just the flashlight in hand. He waits through some coercing and then decides to trust the flashlight, not the stick, and we are back in business. Will is diagnosed with acute tonsilits as well and then we discuss his ears. The doctor gets the light and looks in his ears and I tell Will that the doctor is looking for a frog in his ear, he looks at me and says "no, a snake"... so on it goes. The doctor says that he has a lot of fluid in his ears and asks if he hears me really well. I replied that he is two and I just figured he was ignoring me and had better things to do when I talk to him. So the doctor now wants to see him back in three weeks as well to see if they can reduce the fluid in the ears and give a hearing test. He may need tubes. But tubes don't frighten me. Lund had his put in as a toddler and then the hospital brought me a different boy that looked just like my son but was healthy and could hear me and just run and have fun.
Are your eyes tired yet..... o.k. I will stop..... my conclusion is this: when the Z-pack and the pink bubblegum medicine in your refrigerator fails, seek out a new superhero...... The Otolaryg..... somthing or other, better known as Eyes, Ears, and Throat Man!!!! This would be a good suggestion for all those out there still seeking a halloween costume...... just eat a popsicle and save the stick and then get a little tiny pen light type flashlight to carry around with you as well. Anyone who has ever visited said superhero will know exactly who you are....
p.s. can you tell that this blog entry was written at 4:30am???? I sure can!

The Doctors are getting "sick" of us... (sorry for the pun Ruth)

Yes, this is true... I think the Bagdad Clinic is starting to get sick of us. I just wish they would offer a "family discount". We have been there SIX times in the last week and a half and now all of us have been seen... Here are the results of those visits, since we saw three different doctors and we all know that different doctors have different opinions.... ( I am putting this in order of when we were seen.
Christa: Diagnosis: Strep? Given a "Z-pack" and slowly feeling better. Seen by Doctor A
Will: Diagnosis: An ear infection and two pink eyes. Given ammoxicillian and is slowly getting better, but still struggles with his health and boogies... Also seen by Doctor A

Morgan: Diagnosis: Tonsilitis, given Ammoxicillian. He is really struggling at getting better and has his ups and downs... Is the Ammoxicillian really working?? His throat is very sore and he has horrible headaches still and feels crummy.... Seen By Doctor B
Lund: Diagnosis: Tonsilitis, given Ammoxicillin. He is still out of school because he has two pink eyes that just won't go away and every morning he wakes up with his eyes "sealed shut"..Also seen by Doctor B on the same day
Sarah: Diagnosis: Get over it, your ear just must be hurting..... given pain reducing ear drops. She is really struggling to get better and four days later her ears still hurt her and her throat is covered in white dots and her eyes are pretty red.... Also seen by Doctor B, same day

Cassidy: Diagnosis: You just have a cold, gargle salt water..... She was the only one given a strep test; tested negative...Syptoms are the same as above..Seen by doctor C. She is still struggling with headaches and not feeling wonderful, but is back at school.... I also took a look at her sore throat tonight after dinner and sure enough, white pockets or dots as well....

Dillemma: I know that "white pockets" in your throat are not good and I think Sarah and Cassidy really need to get back into the doctors again.
Frustration: They were the only ones not given antibiotics, coinscidensce?????
Another frustration: Will they give me a "Family discount" or let me have the next visit free if they were possibly "wrong" the first time....
Frustration: Driving to Prescott to get a "second opinion" would cost 50.00 in gas, worth it????
Frustration: I have been grounded in my house with sick kids and being sick for two weeks, somebody let me out......... He! He!! I am about ready to jump on the nearest Haul truck and see where it takes me...... (probably just back to the Mine, so I guess that is pointless)....

Thanks for lending me your ear, our your eyes rather, while I complain about my silly situation.

SITUATION TO BE CONTINUED PENDING TOMORROWS DOCTORS APPOINTMENTS...

Garden grown variety

I am sending a few pictures of the watermellon crop that came from our garden this year. We probably had about 8 or so this year and these last couple were HUGE and delicious!!! Our garden didn't produce as well as past years due to a late start in the new house and a weird monsoon season this year. But, we sure did reap what we sowed when we ate these mellons at dinnertime. Yummy and sweet!!!! Well worth it!!!!!

Wondering why I havven't returned your call????!!!

If your wondering why I am not answering my phone lately, it could be because

my two year old ripped my phone in half... Strong little man, huh???? He loves to play with my cell phone and open it and close it. The other day, he decided to open it, and rip the top half off. Do you think I can sell it on Ebay, for half-off????He!!! He!!!

Don't worry, I should get my new one in the mail on Tuesday or Wednesday, so in the meantime, I am here with sick kids in the dark ages.... Actually it is nice and quiet......

Here are the belated pictures from the Carnival

Our fancy cotton candy holder (cute, ain't he!!!)

Sarah tries to win a prize in the putting game, and Will watches behind her

Lund and Cassidy get ready to fight each other....

Lund takes Cassidy down...

Cassidy returns the favor by smearing her brother....

All in all, it was pretty even.... they had a lot of fun... and they got to beat each other up (bonus!!!)

Company Fair

This past Saturday we had a Company Fair for all Freeport McMorgan, ooops! I mean Freeport McMoran employees. It was so great! It was like a regular fair except everything was FREE!!! If you wanted cotton candy: sure, go get it, a snowcone, popcorn, soda, dinner, yup, all included. What about games with prizes and an inflatable jousting ring? Just hop in line and wait your turn!!! Do you get the point yet???? Lots of fun, no cost!!!! Sweet!!!! The only thing the kids couldn't figure out was how to do it ALL AT ONCE!!!! So often, daddy would hold four things of cotton candy while the kids went down the inflatable slide. And daddy would take pictures of the kids beating each other up in the jousting ring while mommy waited in line to joust with a sister in the ward. Did I mention how blessed I am to have Morgan in my life to hold cotton candy and take pictures?????? Gotta love that guy!!!!
P.S. Morgan didn't take pictures of Sister Hulse and I jousting because both Morgan and her husband Mike Hulse were standing a safe distance away in case they had to make a run for it if it got out of hand. Silly boys, us girls don't hold grudges...... He!!!! HE!! It was a great time and pretty exhausting and I have a new appreciation for American Gladiators!!!
o.k. the computer is freaking out, so I will post this now and post the pictures in a little bit once I restart the computer......
Stay Tuned, after these commercials......

Five little scorpions sitting in a jar, Spencer ate one and then there were four (pronounced "far")

Are you worried yet???? Don't be, Spencer is a turtle!!!!! But he sure loves to eat scorpions. The other night Morgan took out the black light and caught five scorpions on our back fence. The scary thought is that these scorpions were on our back fence!!!! So after I got over that fact, he took off the stingers on their tails and then fed them to our little turtle "Spencer", not to be confused with our awesomely huge turtle, "Dot".

The definition of Irony!!!

Last Wednesday I went to scrapbook at the Community Center here in Bagdad. I had a lot of fun, though I only worked on one project during the whole three hours I was there and here is the irony.... I spent three hours on a sign, beautifying it and making it perfect, and the sign that I was making said...... Simplicity!!! Ha!!Ha!!! Sometimes it is good to laugh at ourselves!!!!

what do you do when your kids are sick??? Paint, of course!!

This week I have been spending A LOT of time at home, especially with Will and after a while it got pretty boring. So, I decided to paint and Will decided to watch his favorite movie "Cars" over and over again until I can quote it in my sleep. That is all he wanted to do when he wasn't feeling good.... "Wach Tars" translation: watch Cars!

So, I decided to catch up on some projects I have been meaning to do since we moved into our house. I am sending some pictures of my painting job so far. I say "So far" because I have the right set of shelves left to do, but now I have Strep throat and don't really feel like finishing for a little while.

Will found out while I was painting that he fits nicely into the bookshelves and he and Sarah had a lot of fun with that.

How do you cure pink eye... just turn into a Vampire

here Will is showing off his sticky hand

...so this week has been a bit of a "quaranteened" one here at the Johnson household. Will went into the doctor yesterday and has two pink eyes or viarl conjunctivitis if you like fancy words. He also has an ear infection. Today I went into the doctor and he took one look at my throat and said, "so what antibiotic would you prefer". I responded, "The most powerful one please, I feel like I have a rock in my troat or something..." so I am now on the Z-pack and Will is on the bubblegum pink refrigerated variety.

I am sending these pictures that I took right after Will and I got back from his appointment. The doctor said he needed more vitamin C and so we went to the store and bought some real fruit juice popsicles with a lot of vitamin C and a lot of mess packed into one popsicle. I think this one was the grape juice variety. The silly thing is, I had just given him a bath to get all the green goo out of his eyes and nose, lovely huh???

Remembering September 11, 2001

Being that today is September 11th, I was really reminescing today about the events of September 11, 2001 and the days that followed. To give you a little bit of background, we lived in Pocatello, Idaho at the time and I was working full-time at at Plastic Surgery Assosiates as a Medical Transcriptionist to help put Morgan through school. He was attending Idaho State University at the time working on his Bachelors degree in Business. Cassidy and Lund were about 3-years-old and 1 1/2-years respectively. The picture I am including is of Lund standing by a flag in my in-laws yard the day after September 11th. The Boy Scouts had put the flag up the day after the Twin Towers bombing. This was a scrapbook page I had made back then and it was good to get it out again and review the past. It was a scary time for America and the thing I think I remeber the most is when we all filed into the Institute on campus. It was packed and people were standing everywhere because there was not room for all the crowds and we listened to the Prophet speak to the members of the church. That was a beautiful broadcast and really helped in a time of turmoil.

Sarahisms...

A Sarahism is something Sarah comes up with that is so Sarah and so cute and funny. These two both came from today so we just had to post them.....
Today in primary they had a Sharing Time lesson on prayer and they had someone stand outside the door and knock, and they were let in. Then they had one of the children stand outside the door without knocking and they weren't let it. Then they called a member of the Bishopric on the cell phone and put it one speaker phone so all the kids could hear and he answered and asked what he could do for them, and that he would always try to help them in anyway he could. They then related both experiences to prayer and that we are able to pray at anytime, anywhere and the Lord will answer. Sarah raised her hand and said, "You can even call him on Friday night!"..... He!!! He!!!
Morgan also just went to tuck her into bed and said "so you can call Jesus anytime and talk to him." and Sarah perked up and said, "Yea, you can even call him when you are camping!!!"
You got to love that girl!!!!!!

Cassidy's week....

(Here is a picture of Cassidy drawing, which she loves)

I decided to do something new and let the kids each have a blog entry on Sunday. They will tell a little about their week.. we will start with Cassidy...

Mom: What was your favorite part of the week:

Cassidy: "My favorite part of the week was when my mom said that Lund was getting a parakeet and maybe if I worked hard enough, I would get one too." "I forgot the rest of my week, oh, I got something mom... "this week I gave my friend Josi Taylor a pillow that I made by myself." "O.K. I am done".

Mom: Cassidy, tell us something you learned at church today?

"I learned that, what did I learn, what did I learn....... " "O.K. you have to knock on a door to open it and nobody can open it if you don't knock on it. And that is like heaven, you have to be good and righteous and when you go to heaven, you will knock on the door and they will let you in."

.... And there you have it, from the voice of a nine-year-old....

I will have to pin the others down tomorrow because they are asleep now.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Lund's interview...

Who needs dolls to dress up, when you have children???

I just love dressing the kids for church. It is my doll dressing up experience that I never had as a kid due to the fact that I was a Tomboy and hated dolls. Now I just love getting the kids all dolled up and ready to go to church. The challenge is trying to get them to church before 9am.... Someday maybe I will get the schedule down. Lund is not pictured here because he and daddy stayed home sick from church today due to stomach aches.

Rattlesnakes and the Flu

If you noticed, I haven't written in my blog for a little while due to a number of things. First off, my camera broke while we were camping last week so I have been REALLY bummed about that. I didn't realize how much I use and depend on my camera. But never fear, we have ordered another one and it should be here about Thursday. It is considered a "necessity" here in the Johnson household to have a worked camera, so we quickly ordered another one.

The other reason I have been on sabatical is due to the fact that I had a really bad case of the flu last week. I haven't been really sick like that in a few years, so I was really laid out for a couple of days. I even accepted help with the kids when it was offered. Usually when a mom is sick they just work right through. But not this time.... Luckily no one else has had a bad case of the said flu yet. Cassidy got a miniature version and I am hoping we have skirted around and missed the other kids. Only time will tell.

Here are some pictures I have scanned into the computer from our camping trip last weekend. It was a wonderful trip and we even got a chance to go to Slide Rock State Park for the first time in my life. We also had an insteresting/scary experience.... We camped at a campground that had bathrooms and everything (that is unusual for our family), but I insisted this time due to the fact that I hate using the outdoors as a potty. Anyhow, I am off track...... One night, we walked to the port-a-john in the dark. Morgan had left a few minutes earlier with the flashlight and some other kids. We walked and met them at the bathroom and then started walking back on the same road, but this time with the assistance of a flashlight. We were walking along and suddenly Morgan turned the flashlight a little and started to yell for Sarah to move. Right next to her was a coiled Rattlesnake preparing to strike. Morgan grabbed her shirt and yanked her back and at the same time, Will decided to charge the "pet snake". We were so blessed that no one was injured. Morgan quickly killed the snake with a rock and we now have the rattle in our truck.

Antoher sidenote: the next morning as we left the mountain, we blew a tire on the way down. Just think of the scenario: A child is bit by a rattlesnake, family tries to rush to the ER , only to have a flat tire on the way down the mountain..... Our prayers were sure answered that night...