Gilbert Days and David Archelletta

Last Saturday our family headed over to the Gilbert Civic Center to see the new Sept. 11th memorial. They brought in a beam from the twin towers and they had everyone's name who lost their lives on plaques surrounding the memorial.

It was a very solemn, reverent display..

Here is the family minus a hidding Will.

Sarah loved the snowcones because you got to put your own flavor on.

  And Will asked Cassidy for a bite of her snowcone. Then he took a bite out of her cup?!!!  He's a weirdy!!

 Then they started the concert......... David Archeletta. The kids loved it and Lund and Cassidy got as close to the front as they could. But Morgan and I and the Littles just found a nice spot in the back in the grass and let them run around.

 Sarah and Will took turns being the "horse".

                                              Lund and I hanging out and watching the patriotic concert..

 Then they started the fireworks...... and Will was sooooooooooooo nervous about it!!!

WE LOVE OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday morning before the Primary Program... also known as "picture conversations"

Each year in our church, we let the kids put on a "performance" of the things that they have learned throughout the year in church. It is a wonderful church meeting, and probably my favorite of the year.

I am not too proud to tell you that I bribbed my children with a crisp new five dollar bill if they memorized their parts. They accepted the offer and did an amazing job memorizing every last word.

Before we left for church, I thought it would be a great opportunity to snap a picture of my three kids still in Primary. Cassidy is already too old, and Lund will be getting the Priesthood this summer. Crazy!

 Here's the first picture. And here is how the conversation went.
Mom: "Great guys, but let's take another one just in case someone has their eyes closed. And Lund, is that a sucker? Before church..."

 Lund: "Mom, why do I have to smile? Whenever I smile you tell me I look like I just got pinched."
Mom:  "Fine, don't smile.."
Sarah: "I'll pinch you"

 Mom: "Nevermind. Lund... Come on.....Don't smile, don't smile......whatever you do, don't smile.. (this usually tricks them into smiling)........

 Mom: "Dang!"
Sarah: "Lund, just smile so mom will stop taking pictures!"
Will: "cheese...."

Here's the end result: I love you kiddos!!!!

Sweet Relief!!!

I am sitting here writing and feel very relieved to express my gratitute to a loving Heavenly Father that sees fit to keep me around a bit longer.
  Let me begin on Monday.... We met with the Dr. at Mayo and everything seemed to be going well. Then I mentioned to him that I get really bad headache/migraines on the weeks that I don't have chemotherapy. He thought about it for a minute and replied that the most likely scenario was that my body was getting dependent on the steriods that they give me right before chemo because, possibly, my brain tumors were swelling and the steriods would keep the swelling down. Then on my "off" week from chemo, I would feel the migaines.
 I asked him what this meant... He said that if they saw swelling in my brain, then I would have to take steriods all the time and I would also no longer be able to take my experiemental chemo. (You know the one, the one that is keeping me alive!!)
 So, as you can see, this week I have been REALLY stressed and worried and emotional. The doctor set up an MRI for my brain on Friday morning (this morning).
   This morning I went into the MRI pretty down in the dumps. Luckily, I had a beautiful blessing from Morgan and his father last night, so I had that going for me.
    Fast forward to lunchtime today. I met with my mom and sister for a fun lunch. But, then I noticed that the coordinator from Mayo had already called me when my phone was turned off. I started freaking out in my mind. Is it good that they called back so soon????? Is is so bad that I need to rush to the hospital??
So, I called back only to find that she had just left for lunch...for an hour!!!
   Pretty much, I didn't have much of an appitite after that, so thank you mom and Leesh for putting up with me.
  After a torturous hour, I finally got through to the clinic coordinator, and luckily for me, she told me right off the bat "I have good news!" So my heart heaved a sigh of relief...." Not only are there no new signs of swelling in your brain, but also the tumors have DECREASED in size!"
  Wahoooooooooo... I wasn't even thinking about them decreasing, that totally through me for a loop!!!! So, now I am really excited to see the neurologist because I am just a "regular" person with migraines!!!
Thank you for all the prayers that you offer in my behalf, I feel they were truly answered today!!

 This evening, Morgan came home with a present for me! The newest edition of the movie 17 Miracles, this one is called 18 Miracles and I am in it!!!! he he he 

                             And we had fun sharing these tonight.... I LOVE YOU MORGAN!!!

Wake surfing at Saqauro Lake.

Last Saturday Morgan and I had a chance to go on a "real" date. We were invited to go "wake surfing" with some friends. We decided to go ahead and plan on it, and if I was feeling too sick, we could cancel. And let me just tell you that we had a BLAST!!! Thank you grandma and grandpa Wiemer for taking the kids.

 Morgan was a natural and had not time getting up on the surfboard..

 .........but, eventually we all end up like this..... with a nose full of lake water!

 Here I am getting ready for the boat to go.......

 ..........but I wasn't as good at it as Morgan. It sure took a lot of shoulder and upper arm strength to get up on the board.

 The weather outside looked like this... so we were a bit worried.

 And look at these beautiful bald eagles we saw on a cliff surrounding the lake.

Bald Eagles have a way of looking so regal and proud. How do they do that?!

Completely Random Bagdadness!! Otherwise known as... I didn't take many pictures and I am regretting it now!

For the Labor Day Holiday, we wanted to go on a vacation as a family. So we put the question up to the kids. Guess where they all wanted to go??? BAGDAD of course! And I can't figure out why I didn't pull my camera out more, but I was just so busy chatting with friends, watching a Boise State football game, eating, and eating some more that I just didn't think about it. So, the pictures today are very random, but they represent a wonderful trip to Bagdad. It was hard to leave to come back "home" at the end of the trip. Being there for 6 years really made an impact on our kids and I know they will never forget a little town in the middle of the desert with some of the best people in the whole world....

In Bagdad, you can always expect......

                                                  The boys to be skateboarding before church. 

 I have dubbed these guys, "skateboarding missionaries!" Maybe they will ride a skateboard instead of a bike....ha!

                                       In Bagdad, you can always expect............

some form of wildlife to be lurking about.

In this case, it was a bat starring at us above the door.  Don't worry, Will let us know that it is defnitely not a vampire! Dang! he he

 you can always expect good friends close by. Here is a picture of Dax and Lund at his house in Hillside.

 You can always expect your son to steal your camera and take a candid shot of you... Well, you can't always expect  that, but it did happen this time.

 You can expect to find good people EVERYWHERE! In this picture Lund is with is old school teacher and her baby. She taught him for about three years in Hillside. We LOVED all of their teachers there.

And, you can always expect memories to come flooding back. Like this picture of our kids' Elementary School. There are just two rooms. 1st-4th and 5th -8th.

 Oh, and you can always expect Sarah to be hiding somewhere, playing Pokemon. Canyon is seen with her here.

And that last thing you can always expect is to see Thor's "Angel drawers" as he roughhouses with the kids!! he he he! Not really, I just thought it was funny!  Will LOVES wrestling with his Grandpa Four!

What isn't pictured:

• Talking with my best friend about life, if only for a little bit.
• Watching one of the best kids I have ever known get ready to leave for his mission.
• Bearing testimony in a chapel with only 40 some odd people and knowing that I love and know each and every one of them and their lifestory.
• Having a traditional BrimAnderHulseSon meal. (Families inlcude: Brimhall, Anderson, Hulse, and Johnson)
• Going to the Bashas at 8pm on a Saturday night and seeing the whole ward there stalking up for Sunday before they close at 9pm.
• Going up to "our house on the hill" and realizing that it isn't our home anymore....bittersweet, truly!
• Falling asleep in bunkbeds reserved for the missionaries when they make the "big trek" from Prescott to Bagdad.
• Remembering how beautiful the "high desert" is....(so different from the "desert" in the Valley)
• Feeling the love and support of a whole town as they all asked me how the cancer was going. They were there when it started bringing meals up to our house and checking in on us.

But we also have so much good ahead of us.......but just for a minute it is great to just sit and reminisce.......

You've heard of "What's in your wallet?", but I am wondering, "What's on your counter?"

I am very embarrassed to post this picture of my dirty counter, but this is just life at the Johnson home at 7pm. So, now you are wondering, "what's on my counter?"..... Well, I will show you...

                                        hummmmm..................

                               gecko #1

                                 gecko #2

                     gecko #3, and this one is trying to escape. These were all brought inside from Sarah's nightly gecko raid.

Oh, and what the heck is in the last contanier?!!!!!! Oh yea, that's right, a tarantula!!! Morgan brought it back from his work trip to Bagdad today. Now, you can see why I am avoiding cleaning this counter!

So, now I ask you....."What's on your counter?"

What I have been up to this week...otherwise known as...yes, that is me hiding behind the sewing machine!

If you have been wondering where I have been this past week....well, here ya go..

 I have been making these bags for my Activity Day girls. I used old curtains I had in my material bin, so they would be strong and cheap and I *3enjoyed using a part of my brain that likes to lie dormant. It's actually not even my sewing machine. It is Cassidy's that she got for her tenth birthday. It is the cheap one you get from Walmart, but you know what... it get's the job done! The girls were really excited when I presented them their bags and that made all the work worth it!

I am enjoying working with girls instead of boys now in my church calling. I have been with boys in Cub Scouts for so long. It is so fun to help with the