Johnson Family Reunion: Idaho 2013

A while back Neal’s family decided to have a celebration for what would have been his Grandpa Johnson’s 100^th birthday.  It was decided that it would be over the 4^th of July because that was the weekend that would work best for most people.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get the 4^th of July off (they had sent out an email a while before that saying they couldn’t allow anyone else to take that day off), but Neal was still going to be able to go

Wednesday morning, Neal and Shauna left for the 9 hour drive to Idaho.  I wanted SO badly to go, but knew I needed to be at work.  Wednesday night I was talking to Neal about all of the fun he was having, and all the different things they were doing.  Pretty much his entire dad’s side of the family was there, including a lot of people I hadn’t met.  I wanted SO badly to be up there.  I LOVE Idaho.  I would classify 2J Ranch as one of my two paradises (the other is our hunting spot).  After I got off the phone with Neal, I prayed and explained to Heavenly Father how much I wanted to be up there.  I told Him I understood if for some reason I wasn’t supposed to go, or it just wasn’t going to work out, and truly I did, but that didn’t stop me from really wanting to be up there.

Well, I won’t go into details (I don’t like posting much about work), but Heavenly Father opened the way, and by the end of my shift Wednesday night I had Friday and Saturday off

I got up early Thursday morning (the 4^th) to go participate in the parade to celebrate Fort Collins Police Department’s 100 years of service to the community.  It was really fun!  Neal participated in the parade in Rupert, on a float that celebrated his grandpa and grandma’s legacy.  They also had a couple buggies that his grandpa built.

I worked Thursday night, and then Friday morning got up and headed for Idaho.  Me coming up was a surprise; only a few people knew (including a certain husband that pretty much blew the surprise for his wife….thanks Scott..haha just kidding).  I pulled in about 8 pm after a 9 hour drive, and was greeted by Jennie and Misty running to my car, followed by Jennie's three girls.  After I got out of my car, I walked towards the area where dinner was sitting, and Neal's Uncle Alton came walking up with a plate of food and said, "An offering for the sweet one."  Every one busted up laughing in disbelief!  That is not exactly in Alton's character, but I loved it :)

While I was eating, I got to see the big brother/little sister relationship that Neal and Jayde have developed.  It was pretty cool to see.  They played a lot of pranks on each other.  That night, Jayde had a mouth full of whipped cream, and Neal was holding the bottle like he was going to attack her with it.  To defend herself, she spit an ENTIRE mouth full of whipped cream on him!  He chased her down and sprayed whipped cream all over her face.

  That night we had the "Johnson Family Talent Show."  It was so fun to see the different talents that we have in that side of the family!  Jennie and her girls sang "The Cup Song."  The kids sang "Firework" by Katy Perry (stinking cutest thing).  The "Colorado Johnsons" sang "Beautiful Savior."  The Harrisons sang "Gethsemane."  Misty did a really cute remake of Tim McGraw's "Down on the Farm."  Jennie and Misty sang a very beautiful duet.  The kids did some other fun things - more songs, gymnastics, jokes, danced, and other things.  It was so fun!

Saturday we did a lot of things.  We rode two of Alton's horses, Denny and Angel for a lot of the day.  We went and swam in the canal, where we threw a football and a frisbee and jumped into the canal trying to catch it.  We shot guns and archery.  And we said goodbye to cousins that we really wanted to spend more time with.

Sunday we went to church at Alton and Terri's ward.  We helped pick things up in the area we stayed in, and Neal helped Alton move the water for the fields.  We then headed to Utah to stay the night with Neal's Aunt Peg.  We had a really good conversation with Peg and Henry that night and the morning after.

On Monday morning we made the 7 hour drive from Salt Lake to home.  We stopped at Little America and got ice cream, and had an enjoyable time driving home together.

We loved being up there.  It was so nice to get to know our family better, and to strengthen those relationships.  I love knowing that these family relationships are eternal.  I love getting to know and love Neal's family better, and am so grateful for their love for us!  We look forward to the next time we get to see each of them!!

Here are a couple other fun pictures from the trip:

This photo of Alton is thanks to Jenn Johnson :)

Super fun week!!

So I don't normally post specifically about what we did during the week, but the week of May 5th was a super fun, awesome week for us!  It seems like we did a whole lot more than we usually do in a week! (Sorry there aren't a whole lot of pictures...I didn't do very well at that this week.  I figure with me posting our wedding pictures lately though, you've probably had enough pictures for a bit!  Haha)

Sunday night we went to my grandparent's house because my cousin Stephanie was in town visiting.  We had a delicious dinner, and then roasted marshmallows and made smores!  It was super fun to see her and spend time with her.

On Monday night we had our friends from church come over for family night (we call it Family Home Evening, or FHE for short).  Our friends Kevin and Ashley with their son Ryder, and Mike and Bekah with their daughter Carmen all came over.  They each brought a yummy treat to share, and I made some things, so we ate and played "Pirate's Cove."  After they all went home, our friends Frank and Sarah came over (they couldn't come earlier because the sister missionaries were at their house) and we played "Apples to Apples" with them.  It was a really enjoyable evening, and great to get to know our new friends better!

Tuesday the sister missionaries came over to our house, and explained that their mission president has requested they teach members the missionary lessons so that we can each be better prepared to share the gospel with those around us.  We accepted their offer, and they taught us the first lesson about the Restoration.  It was so wonderful to have them in our home, and we really look forward to continuing to have them there!

Tuesday night I tried a new adventure with cooking.  I made The Pioneer Woman's homemade pizza dough and homemade cal-zones.  They turned out delicious!!  You can see the delightful meat and cheese mixture in the pictures here...

The problem was, I had to double the pizza dough recipe because I accidentally doubled the yeast (I used a full packet when you're only supposed to use half).  We ended up with about 12 cal-zones.  Too much for Neal and I to eat by ourselves!  We took a few of them and delivered them to the dispatch center I work for so my coworkers could enjoy the fabulous-ness (and because they made us feel guilty on Facebook when I posted the pictures!)  Then Neal and I went to TCBY on a date and had delicious frozen yogurt.

Wednesday before work, Neal and I went shooting with Bekah and Mike.  I got to shoot my gorgeous new pistol (a Springfield) and automatically fell in love!  Neal also became very happy that I chose this gun when he shot it, and loved it as well.

On Thursday Neal's parents took us to lunch at Olive Garden to celebrate our birthdays (which are two weeks apart).  We also celebrated the fact that Neal took his last two finals for the last two classes he needed for this Associate of Arts degree!  We knew he was going to do really well in his English class, but he was worried about his math final.  He discovered later that night that he did really well on his cumulative final, and would be able to graduate!  (He didn't walk because we were in Las Vegas when FRCC had their commencement ceremony...more on that next blog post!)

The rest of the week we spent working and getting ready for our anniversary/birthday trip to Las Vegas!