Tween in the House

Liam turned 10 on February 25th and declared he was a tween.  He has turned into a sweet kid with lots of interest in learning magic tricks and playing with friends.  Although he isn't particularly fond of piano and doing homework he is turning into a good student and musician.  His teacher said he is always kind to others at school and likes to write stories in his journal.  He still loves Star Wars, legos and his cat, Lucky. 

Liam is also a pretty good big brother to Lila, making sure that when I'm not around she is taken care of and watched out for.  He just lost 4 teeth in just 1 week and growing out of all of his shoes.  Life just wouldn't be the same without Liam and we love having this tween in our house.      

Instead of having a big friend party this year Liam decided to take 1 friend to the Grand America hotel and swim, watch movies, order room service and have a sleepover.  I had no qualms about doing that this year.  He ended up getting plenty of gifts from family that I don't think he felt like he came up empty handed in the present department either.

Holiday Happenings 2012

Christmas is a great time of year for the kids.  Although Liam wasn't fond of me making him wear a bowtie for the christmas card pictures he still managed to put on a smile, even if it was begrungingly.

Liam got to wear his bow tie a second time for a Christmas concert that same week.  After preparing with his teacher and learning how to bow for the audience he played the Indiana Jones theme song for the concert.

To my amazement he wore the bow tie a third time for the Nutcracker.  Lila was old enough we actually went with the whole family this year.

To make the holiday season even more chaotic we took a quick trip to California to see my brother and sister a few days before Christmas.  We made gingerbread houses and explored Santa Barbara, returning home just in time for Christmas eve.

Fortunately Santa made it to our house and Liam got a telescope, Lila got more dolls than she needs and Ben got a high end vacuum cleaner that he was lusting after for months.  A busy but decidedly good December for 2012.

Christmas 2012

Fall 2012

Here's a quick recap of the last few months activities.  Going backwards in time here is the latest in family gatherings.  Today I spent time with the Johnson girls at the Grand America.  Since Lila likes Fancy Nancy books she had no problem agreeing to go to tea with her Grandma and learn some basics in good manners.  

As we do every fall we spend many weekends raking up leaves.  Liam is getting better every year at helping clean up the leaves that fall from the big trees around our house.  Even Lila is learning to help out.

Almost forgot to post Halloween pictures this year.  Here is a shot from the annual Johnson Halloween party.

 Lila couldn't decide which costume to go with so she started out as a bee and then decided to be a unicorn.  All Liam cared about was that he was something scary.  He was supposed to be some grotesque thing but could barely stand to keep the mask on his face.

Lila has also continued to take ballet classes from Ms. Kim.  She loves ballet so much she wants to have a ballerina party for her next birthday.

Before the weather turned cold we also went and hiked around Red Butte.  They've got a great kids garden and we finally took advantage of it since it is only about 5 minutes from our house.  

Family Photos 2012

Just got a few photos back from our recent family photo shoot.  I'll post more after I get them back from the photographer but already loving Lila's shot with our cat.  

Summer 2012

Our usual Johnson vacation time in Bear Lake came around again this past July.  As you can see I take protecting Lila from the sun very seriously.  Liam and Lila had a great time seeing all of their cousins and getting turns riding in the boat.

Liam started 4th grade at Uintah Elementary.  I took several shots before he headed out to school but couldn't get a single one with him keeping his eyes open.  Luckily he has a couple of good friends in his class and is content so far.

Lila started preschool at the place she went last year so there was no drama.  She was very excited to go and have some play time with other girls.  She came home the first week and was ecstatic that she could write her name all by herself.  This is definitely the age of independence.

I had another birthday this August too.  Ben was very thoughtful and bought me a lemon cake, perfume and sweater.  He also got take out from a nice restaurant and we enjoyed having a quiet evening with the kids.  Lila was probably more excited about my birthday than anybody and kept jumping up and down asking me where my presents were.  It's nice to have kids around to keep birthdays exciting.

Also got to go out to one of my favorite restaurants with some friends to celebrate.

Tea Time

It is a rare event that I am able to get together with my cousins but we finally managed it.  After some texting back and forth and working out the babysitting situation we finally got together for tea at the Grand America.  We caught up and had a lovely time....minus the sugar overload!