These are the People in my Family...

 A couple of weeks ago my brother and his new wifey, Kirstan were visiting here from Provo, Utah. Because he was here, we actually had my whole family together in one place for an evening. We decided to take a smattering of photos with all different photographers, and here are the results....

 Lots of girls: Me, Kayla, Alisha, Sarah, and Becky

 Here we go: Me and my sexy leg, Kade, Kayla, Ryan, Kirstan, and Sarah

 And off again: Jeff, Kayla, Ryan, Kirstan, Sarah, Candin and Brody in front.

                                      Happy newlyweds!

 Cousins Kayla and Brody

 So, then we tried to throw little Raelynn into the mix. Boy was she ever mad!

 Grandpa Wiemer and Cassidy.

 Yeah, I am just going to let you guess at this one. Sufficeth to say, most everybody is in there somewhere.

 And again.

 My older sister, younger brother, and the newbie

                And the matriarch of the family, my mother.
We had a lot of fun together and hope to be able to get together again soon.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

 Last week, Morgan called sounding pretty excited....."I got tickets to the Diamondbacks game on Wednesday from work. The problem is, the game is in the middle of the day. But luckily, work told me to go to the game and enjoy the rest of the day with my wife" He then told me that he got four tickets and wondered who we should take. We both thought it would be so fun to take my older sister and her boyfriend on a double date, but we knew that was close to impossible, since my older and her boyfriend each own their own businesses. But we tried asking anyways, and wouldn't you know, those two just made it happen. Wahoo! were we excited!
 

 Can't seem to resist cotton candy at a ballgame!

 And talk about good seats! I took this picture right from our seat!

This guy thinks that I am a bit crazy when I have my camera in hand, but since he is sooooo gorgeous, we will let that go!

 Here is a picture to show perspective. I am sitting in my seat and those are my beautiful shoes, and the game is RIGHT THERE! p.s. Morgan made fun of me for wearing those shoes to the game since there was a lot of walking to do, but honestly who can pass up red and white polka dots when they match your jersey...not this girl!

 The roof was open and the sun was BLAZING! We ended up moving out of our second row seats for some shade a bit higher up. It was worth the trade! Oh yea, this is Steve, Alisha, and Mr. Johnson.

And now you get to see me too! We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with Steve and Alisha.   Maybe we will get to sneak away for another game someday!!! p.s.s. All our our children were upset when they found out where we had been while they were slaving away at school!!! he he! That made it extra fun!

Finally, I get around to blogging....

Easter has come and gone, but the pictures are yet to be seen. And we can't have that, now can we? Of course not! So sit back and view our pictures from our Easter dinner.

 cousin Brody enjoyed enjoyed the beautiful weather on the swings in our backyard.

My older sister and her kiddos were loving the family time. Kayla's shirt "I love bacon" is hilarious! So in this photo you may see Kayla (the tallest), next to her mom, Alisha, and then Candin and Cooper with Kade in front!

 And my younger sister and her family. Becky and Jeff as parents and Raelynn and Brody as children.

 And here is a gaggle of girls.... Sarah, Cassidy, me, and Gramma Karen. Papa Lund isn't pictured because he was at home resting after a long day of church, hosting an early meal for visitors Juliet and Brian and then making sure they made it to the airport for their flight. So you can understand why he was wiped out by this time.

The Jeff and the Becky

 And these are the lovely people who raised me. My mom and dad.

And this crazy lot seems to be my posterity.

 My niece, Raelynn, has the cutest expressions ever!

......yes, I am the cutest baby ever!

And although she won't come to me for anything, she does have her favorite..............Candin!

 ......and this just shows that sometimes taking a quick family picture can be painful!

  ............oh boy, it's getting a little tight.....

Seriously mom, these pictures are going to kill me!

 Kade really enjoyed riding around in Wills car "cruising for ladies"

...and the trampoline is always a hit!

     Will hollars to me, "Mom, I better put my safety stuff on!" In my mind I think, "how on earth are those goggle going to help you?"

Oh, that's how!

All the Grandpa's have a birthday....

 Grandpa Wiemer had his birthday last week along with Grandpa Johnson, so we had a very busy birthday week. We already wrote about Papa Lund's gift and  we came up with a great idea for Grandpa Wiemer's 29th birthday. Lund has been fascinated with magic tricks lately, so we hid gift cards for Grandpa in the deck of cards and really had a fun time "magically" having him pick his gift cards out. He was pretty excited, and by he, I mean both Lund and Grandpa.

And here is a picture of me and my dad, although I look a bit elfish and have my oxygen tube in, but hey, welcome to my world!

Easter Fishin' and birthday fun

 If you don't know the Johnson family, then you won't know about the "Easter Fish" tradition that happens every year at our house. It is a tradition handed down from Morgan's family. Morgan's dad claims that a "fish" is more appropriate than a "bunny" to celebrate Easter. So each year we all line up and grab the pole with the basket tied on it and take our turn at the upstairs balcony. And if we are lucky, the "Easter Fish" will visit and fill the basket with goodies.

 Now, this year we had a 1st timer in the clan. (I can still remember years ago when I was a 1st timer as well.)Juliet and her boyfriend were visiting from Seattle, so Brian needed to know how to fish for his loot. Sarah was very excited to teach him how it works.

 .......and then Will reverently handed over the pole.

 But of course in good boyfriend fashion, Bryan announced that he needed help reeling in the rope. Will and Sarah were giddy with excitement, so excited to see his face when he saw the basket full of sugar.

 Then all my kiddos had their turns as well.

 and that is what you can find in a fishing basket... peeps, chips, chocolates, juices........ yummmmmm!

........ sometimes they even let crazy people like me take a turn. Juliet is carrying her loot around in her bag.

 And these two tender-hearted gals each got a stuffed animal that fits their personality. Sarah and her big-eyed bunny and Juliet with her baby chick that chirped in her hand.

And this year we had a surprise. Someone put a basket on our front doorstep with fish galore. Someone must really know our family. Thanks unanimous friend!

 And Saturday, April 7th is also Papa Lund's birthday! Grandma and Morgan surprised him with a new BBQ. Morgan was in his realm when he helped his mom pick out the "best BBQ".  It was lots of fun and lots of carrot cake was ingested. And, this same BBQ made our carne asada meat......yummmmmy!

The happy birthday/Easter couple!
p.s. I just found the candle Karen bought for your cake, so maybe you can turn 67 again next year!

Crazy day torn right out of a fairtale..

 what if this was right outside your front door? Would you think that the aliens had finally arrived?!

Let me set the scenario of this past Wednesday evening. It was about 5 o'clock and everything was "Johnson house normal", meaning, kids were running around playing, Grandma Karen was doing my laundry, Morgan was just about home from work and my body was tired, so I laid down for a quick nap in the guest room.  A few minutes later, Morgan popped his head in to let me know he was home from work. then he said, "Come out front and see something really neat" I groaned and slowly rose to my feet. Following him out the front door, I was greeted with the above site...

 What in the world!? A HOT AIR BALLOON IN OUR COUL DE SAC?!

 Will wasn't so sure of the whole idea, so he was sitting on an electric box in the distance.

 I walked up close and jumped when the flames started....loud and hot!

All the neighbors were ooohing and ahhhing over the huge balloon. Then they turned to me and said, "Christa, do you want to ride in a hot air balloon?"   WHAT? I was still torn between seeing the balloon and going to hang out with Will at a safe range. But I turned and looked at all the neighbors faces and my kids and hubby encouraging me and said, "sure." knowing full well that my two greatest fears in life are balloons and heights. hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

But off we went, leaving everyone behind...........

 Here is my house from the air......

 .......our coul-de-sac

 And this was the only time I looked straight down because it gave me too much virtigo.

 higher...........

                                     .............and higher............

                             ...................and higher!

 It was so surreal, and even calm, though I was holding on sooooo tight to the ropes and very aware that I could fall at any second if I jumped out!

 And, eventually we had to find a place to land. so we had to go wherever the wind took us....

 ......and our "chasers" just had to chase us down. Here are my kiddos running across the street to catch up with the balloon.

 whew! Back on solid ground again!!!!!! Thank you Mike Smith and pals for the experience of a lifetime! My family will never forget it!

 oh my, I love my "chasers". (side note: Lund was sooooooo mad he missed the event, but he was at a friends house)

 time to bring the aircraft down.................

 The kids LOVED to help!

What an amazing experience for all involved! thank you! thank you! thank you! I guess it was worth missing a nap over! (just this once!)