Ray's big surprise and AWESOME party!

I can't remember the order to post pictures - last first, first last ??? You may have to read this post backwards. :) Months ago, I had decided to throw Ray a surprise birthday party for his 40th birthday. Soon after, he decided that HE wanted to have a birthday party - which I went along with, because it is so much easier to have his help that to do everything in secret. So thus the planning began. As we looked at our calendar and the stake calendar, we realized that stake temple day was scheduled the friday before his birthday and our stake chapel session was at 5:30pm. The next day, Saturday, Ray had meetings starting at 4:00 and we had the adult session at 7:00pm. We couldn't compete with that. We could possibly have the party on Sunday but that restricted us to exactly what we would be able to do. The week before was not available nor was the week after. We have given up on the notion of having the party when two things happened. First, we were informed that there was a mix up at the temple and they had to move our chapel session to 2:30 which left the evening free and second, Jason called me right before our trip to California asking what I thought about having Jenna fly out for Ray's birthday. Absolutely, I told him. So, after a few hurdles we, Jenna and I, pulled it off! Ray had no idea that Jenna was coming. I didn't even tell my kids until the day she was flying in and after Ray left for work so they would slip on the secret.

Here are the fabulous signs that Jenna whipped out the day she got here and the Katie and Lizzie adding some final touches.

Attempt #3 - almost a year later!

We surprised our kids and took them to Disneyland and Knott's berry farm at the end of January. The other big surprise was that their cousins were coming too. We had a blast. This the last moment before we walked out of Knottsberry Farm to head home. We are a little tired from all the walking and a little sick from all the rides - at least the adults are. I think the kids could have spent days going on the all the loop-de-loop. Just thinking about it makes me dizzy! :)

Katie

We are just finishing up with baseball season. Katie did coach-pitch this year. She loves her coach. It has been a great experience for her. She has even earned a couple of bucks for catching pop flies. Here she is getting ready to play catcher - her coach is helping her put the gear on. Katie is a pretty good hitter. I think there was only a few times that she did not actually hit the ball. She had three of her friends on her team. They were the only girls!
Yes, she is posing. This is her "catching pop flies" pose.

Isn't she gorgeous?

Yo, yo, yo. Whazup?

You talkin' to me?

It's time - attempt #2 with pics

(You need to read my first "It's time" to understand these pictures)

Lizzie receiving her ribbon for Honarable Mention.

Lizzie with Myah and her teacher, Mrs. Jones.


Lizzie and Myah walking home from school the next day. They both took their ribbons to school to show their class - they were so excited!

We are so proud of Lizzie.

(Whew! I did it! I published a post to my blog!)

It's time!

I've had this blog for at least a couple of years and as you can see have not kept it updated. Last summer we attempted to write posts on our church history trip, but if you were following along we fell off the face of the earth somewhere around Washington, D.C. I'm not very computer illiterate and I don't write very well. Basically, I don't know what I'm doing and don't know what to say. There have been attempts to get me started by a wonderful sister-in-law but my excuse is - well - I will refer you to the previous sentence. This is attempt #3 to start updating my blog - hopefully 3rd times the charm!

Lizzie's teacher, Mrs. Jones, wanted to enter Lizzie into a district writing contest. Lizzie had to write a personal narrative. The narrative had to be in her own words and spelling. I could only ask her questions to help think about the experience she was writing about. (Her teacher also entered her best friend, Myah, into the same contest.) We brainstormed ideas that she could write about and she decided to write about her first rollercoaster ride at Legoland. She wrote it back in January. Here it is:

My Frst Rolrcostr

by Lizzie Johnson

I went to Legoland. I went on my frst rolrcostr. Wen I frst went I was scared. It did down and up and spind and spind. It made my tumy fel tickly inside. I held my dads arm tite. When I got off I was not scared. I felt osum inside. I wonted to get on agen. Wen I went on the rolrcostr agen I scremde and I put my hans up!

(I went to Legoland. I went on my first rollercoaster. When I first went, I was scared. I did down and up and spinned and spinned. It made my timmy feel tickly inside. I held my dad's arm tight. When I got off I was not scared. I felt awesome inside. I wanted to get on again. When I went on the rollercoaster again, I screamed and put my hands up!)

Although she was not a first place winner she did get Honarable Mention and was recognized at the awards ceremony. There were two winners and two that received honarable mention from each grade level. Her best friend, Myah, received the other Honarable Mention! She was so excited - as was her teacher!

(By the way - I just realized that if you write and then try to add pictures in certain places it doesn't work! I've spent the last hour trying to rearrange my pictures because they are out of order. AAAAAHHHHHHH!!! I will not give up! I will not give up! I will not give up! Help!)

Up early again and into Virginia. Only 400 more miles to go to Auntie Jenna's house... A beautiful, cool, overcast day thru the Appalacian Mountains. What a gorgeous drive!

COUSINS!!! Finally at Auntie Jenna's house. The kids jumped-out of the motorhome and played as hard as they could until the fireflies went to bed (they tried to catch them too!).

Lizzie and Eleanor attached to each other and just became the best of cousin friends! Curlers will provide "rock star hair" courtesy of Auntie Jenna for tomorrow on the 4th of July in the nation's capital!

As you cross over into Tennessee...you are crossing the Mighty Mississippi River! There was a riverboat on the water down below and the amount of water is incredible. It seems like there is more water than I have ever seen in all of Arizona!

Everywhere in Memphis there are signs about Elvis and Graceland.

We drove all the rest of the day thru Tennessee, to finally pass thru Knoxville (there are University of Tennessee stickers on EVERY car) and north up near the Virginia border (just outside Kentucky too)--950 miles in one day. The kids were asleep when we left the next morning from the rest stop where we slept and cuz they had been up late watching movies, they slept until 10:30 AM.