Camping and Fishing

As August was ending, we realized that we hadn't gone camping over the summer, and if we didn't go soon, it would be too cold. We picked a weekend and drove up near Eden (UT), with Neal's parents and Dallin, for a quick weekend camping/fishing trip. We took Lydia camping last year, but this year she was old enough to really enjoy it! I know the pictures aren't very good quality, but they are all that we had.

We brought her pack-n-play to put in the tent, and she did great sleeping all night. 

 She was fascinated by the fire and was really excited when we pulled out the makings for smores. Daddy tried to help her roast the marshmallows, but she didn't want to wait for it and just ate them from the bag instead.

  

Waiting for the pancakes to finish cooking and enjoying our morning out in nature. 

After breakfast and cleanup, she went for a walk with grandpa to look for some moose (per her request). Luckily they didn't find any. :) When they got back we drove up by Ogden to a fish farm. Neal really wanted to take Lydia fishing and have her catch something.I told Neal I was fine with going fishing as long as I didn't have to clean or cook the fish.  Dallin really enjoyed it and caught a few fish. Lydia loved the water and watching the fish jump for the food, but wasn't a huge fan of holding the pole in the water. With Neal's "help", she did catch one little fish.  

Lydia turns 2!

Another post that is way overdue! Lydia turned 2 this past August. I can't believe that our little girl is already that old! Where did the time go?  She has learned so much this past year, she definitely is growing up quickly. In fact, she tells me almost everyday, "I growing up so big!" She is still a people person and loves to talk to everyone. Her vocabulary really expanded and she mostly talks in complete sentences. She knows her colors really well (actually she has for quite a few months now), can count to 10, and knows some of her letters. Her favorite song is "I am a Child of God" and she requests that I sing it every night. Sometimes she sings along with me, and I've heard her singing it by herself when I'm not right there. It's so cute to hear her little voice "singing" songs.  Helping me with whatever I'm doing in another of her favorite things to do, as she doesn't like to be left out of anything. She's actually is pretty helpful with sweeping, dusting, and throwing things away. She is definitely coming into the "terrible twos" and knows how to throw a little fit, but she is usually very happy and wants others to be happy as well. Each morning (well, almost every morning) when I come into her room, she'll look at me and exclaim, "Mom, I wake up happy!" At such a young age, she is also learning how to get on my good side. I was a bit frustrated and sad with how she was acting one day. Next thing I know, she came up behind me and gave me a big hug. Then she started giving me a back/shoulder massage with her little hands while saying, "Mom, it's ok. Be happy Mom." How could I stay mad and frustrated at her any longer? We sure love our Lydia and all she brings to our family.

The birthday girl!

Every time I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she would reply, "purple." I didn't have a lot of time to make her cake, so it isn't the prettiest, but she loved it! Blueberries are also one of her favorite foods, so those had to go on the cake somewhere too.

So excited for her birthday! She loved opening her presents and eating cake and ice cream.

 Being outside is still one of her favorite things. She could be outside all day! We bought her a swing for her birthday (Neal hung it outside from one of the trees) and she loves it!  On her birthday we (Neal's mom, Dallin, Lydia, and I) went to Liberty park. I've never been there before, but it was really great! There was so much to see and do. We started out by feeding the ducks (which mostly turned out to be geese, although there were a few actual ducks there too) which Lydia absolutely loved! The loaf of bread that we brought did not last very long. :) 

After feeding the ducks, we went over to the water section. Lydia loves water and had a blast wandering around the little stream. splashing in the water, and playing in the fountain.

Next (and lastly) we headed to the playground area. I should have taken more pictures, but Lydia was having too much fun. I was surprised at the amount of equipment there: swings, slides, splash pads, and so much more. Dallin helped her go on the very tallest slide over and over again, and then they had fun on the teeter totter together. She also spent a lot of time on the swings and just running around. Unfortunately it was time to go home for lunch and naps. Next time we'll come and spend more time playing!

July 2013

July was another fun filled summer month. The Meyers (the couple we were house sitting for) came back home the very end of June. Neal's parents have a triplex down the street that we were planning on renting, but it needed some new carpet, painting, and repairs (turns out there was termite damage in the kitchen) so we stayed with his parents for the end of June and most of July. Lydia loved waking up and seeing Grandma, Grandpa, and Dallin everyday! Dallin and Lydia are so funny to watch, they chase each other, Lydia loves to tease him and take whatever he has with him (especially his red rope and Jessie doll), and often they would crawl around pretending to be different animals together.  

Fun at Grandma's house. :)  (top)Lydia with her crazy bed head and enjoying playing in the toy room.

(bottom) playing dance dance with Dallin, and having fun with sidewalk chalk

Helping mom do the dishes. Lydia is a good helper and loves to do whatever I am doing!

Neal and I also took Lydia to the Discovery Gateway center in Salt Lake. I hadn't been there since an elementary school field trip and it has changed so much! There was so much to see and do, even for the little kids. We stayed for a couple of hours and Lydia loved it! I feel like we could have spent all day and not gotten bored with anything. 

She loved the water tables and activities there. She really wanted to get on the horse but as soon as she did, wanted Neal to take her off again. I guess she preferred to just look at the animals and not get on them.

They also had a cute little house set up, complete with kitchen/dining room, and a living room with a vacuum, "babies" and their cradles, ironing board, a piano, and a reading nook with chairs and books, and more. There was also a grocery store, a farm, a post office, a construction site, and so many more things. Upstairs they had more science based activities and things to see/do. Unfortunately our camera battery died, so I didn't take many pictures. We'll definitely have to go back soon.

Baby Jacob Arrives In Style

Our son (Jacob Neal Johnson) arrived on Friday, October 4, 2013 around 3:00pm.  He weighed 8lbs 5oz. and was 20 inches long.  We are excited for the newest addittion to our family!

June 2013

June was a fun month and we loved playing outside every day! Neal had a day off so we decided to check out the splashpad in North Salt Lake (Foxboro). It was a bit windy, but still plenty warm, and Lydia couldn't get enough of it! She loved running around and playing in all the water! There is also a small park there so she kept running back and forth from the park to the splash pad. Too much fun!

June was also a big family month and all of my family was able to have a little reunion. My family is very spread out, so it is very rare that we can all get together (my sister-in-law wasn't feeling well, so she didn't make it, but we had everyone else). In fact, this is the first time that Neal met one of my brothers!  

My parents and all of their children

My family. Just missing one sister-in-law and Lydia is covered up in this picture, but otherwise everyone is there!

The three cousins (all 2 months apart). Sadie, Kaitlin, and Lydia.

My sister, Melissa, and her family got into town before some of the others, so Lydia and I were able to meet up with them at the Children's museum (in the Church history museum) for an afternoon. Lydia loved all the fun activies and things to play with.

Lydia wasn't so sure about dancing, but Kaitlin was more than happy to join in.

May 2013

May was a beautiful month and we enjoyed spending most of our time outside.  My sister and her husband (Jen and Jeff)  went to Havasupai for a few days and we got to watch and play with Sadie while they were gone. It was fun to watch Lydia and Sadie together, now that they are getting old enough to actually play together. For the most part, they were even on the same schedule.

Lydia and Sadie having fun on a wagon ride (they really did like it, their faces just don't show it in these pics)

We also enjoyed the park, although Sadie was a bit unsure about going down the slide. Lydia was running around the whole time, so this was the best picture I could get. One of the days, Caleb (Lydia's friend) came over to play for a few hours as well. They loved pulling everything out of the toybox together. Top right pic: We biked to the library and while crossing the parking lot, I told Lydia and Sadie to stay together. They grabbed each other's hands and walked through the parking lot together. They didn't want to let go in the library either, so they walked up and down the isles together holding hands. It was so cute! 

Of course, there was plenty of time for eating and drinking! Lydia has always loved her food, but it was even more noticable when Sadie was there as well. I think Lydia ate 3 times as much as Sadie. Definately my girl. The days went by quickly and before we knew it, it was time for Sadie to go back home. We need to get together more often to play!

Lydia got some new bath toys (rubber ducks) and had fun playing with them in her little pool outside.

Such a big girl! Helping sand grandma and grandpa's playset. Lydia loves to help me with whatever I am working on. I was surprised at how long she stayed and helped before wanting to go play.

April 2013

April was another fun and busy month. Lydia is learning lots and always on the go! She is really starting to talk and jabber a lot, and many of the words we can actually understand now. :) She only has one speed... fast. She rarely walks anywhere, but prefers to run. I'm not sure how she doesn't fall and get hurt more often, she must be more coordinated than me. :)

She still loves to eat. Whenever I ask her what she likes to do, she replies, "eat." In this picture we were having homemade pizza for dinner and she learned to say "pizza" It's pretty cute. I'll try to remember to come back and post a video.

Mommy daughter date. :) I decided it would be fun to take Lydia out to lunch before Neal and I left for a weekend. We had Subway sandwiches and then went out for frozen yogurt. She loved it and we had so much fun!

Neal and I were able to take a weekend and go to L.A.  We had enough miles saved up to use them for the airline tickets as well as the hotel (for one night, the other night we spent with Neal's aunt and uncle). It was great to get some sun and some time away from the daily routine. Our first day we spent some time at the L.A. temple and visitor center. The grounds there are so beautiful and immaculate, full of all kinds of flowers and greenery. I think it is one of the most beautiful and breathtaking temple grounds I've been to.

More pictures of the temple grounds. For some reason, we didn't pull out the camera again for the rest of the trip, so these are the only pictures we have. After the temple and visitors center, we went downtown and met up with friends for lunch. It was so fun to see Jake and Tricia again (Jake was Neal's roommate and Tricia was mine while we were all dating and got engaged) and their cute little boy. We drove to the beach, but it was cold and windy so we didn't stay long. After checking into our hotel, we tried to play tennis, but the only racqets they had were for raquetball (although they don't have a raquetball court). Oh well. It was nice to just have some time to relax and not have to worry about being on a schedule.
After breakfast the next morning, we drove to the beach again. Neal wanted to rent a boogie board and play in the water for a while, so I hung out on the beach and read a book. The water was still freezing so it wasn't long before he was done and we played frisbee for the rest of the morning. Neal loves Olive Garden so we decided to go there for lunch on our way out to his Aunt and Uncle's home. We had the evening and the morning to spend with family before heading back to the airport. Neal has a cousin (his age) who just moved back East with his wife, and they happened to be there the same weekend as us, so we also really enjoyed hanging out with them (Ryan and Camille). We went swimming in their pool, played games, went to a soccer game (for his cousin, Kaitlin), played some more frisbee as well as tennis, and just enjoyed being together. Before we knew it, our time was up and we drove back to the airport, and were home again a few hours later.

Lydia wearing her flower lei from Hawaii 

The Tuesday after we got back from California, we watched 5 kids (friends of some friends) for a week (until the following Monday) while their parents went to Hawaii. It was definately an adventure. :) They were good kids and we had some fun times together, although it was a bit stressful always trying to keep things caught up, homework done, lunches packed, kids to school and activities on time, dinner made, etc. Lydia was also not used to sharing so much of my attention with other kids, so she was a bit put off for a while, but did just fine. They live just up the hill from us, so it was easy for us to run back home and grab something if we forgot it. Neal was home in the evenings and on the weekend and was great with the older kids! I was especially grateful for that as I was feeling rather nauseous and sick most of the week. Before we knew it, Monday had come, and their parents were back. They were so thoughtful and brought us some chocolates and some fresh flower leis as well. 

Just a random picture from the month. Neal's parents turned his(and Brent's) old room into a playroom, so we went IKEA shopping with Stephanie to get some shelves for it. Lydia enjoyed running around and riding on the big cart.

Just enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon after church.