Latest On the Johansen Family

Just a little update.......the Ga move has been placed on hold. As of right now we are looking for further employment opportunities.

Tony has landed a great job in Grand Prairie, Tx for a company there and Has an interview with Garmin in Olathe, Kansas a week from Friday. With all this new news came an email from Lockheed in Ga about the hiring possibly happening there again. So bring on the fighting people....All I have to say is let the highest bid win.

So with all the uncertainty still left in the air at the moment....the house will remain for sale with a possibility of a move to somewhere we just don't know where is yet.

The Johansen Times Reports!

New Changes for the Johansen Family are unfolding.....Many of our family and friends know already but for you distant readers that I lack to make phone calls to here's the report.

Tony finally after many months of searching and panicking found a job outside of the Marine Corp.. Although we are anxiously awaiting this move we are sad to leave the great state of Texas behind once again. This new job is relocating our family to Georgia.

Georgia, what can I say about Georgia, I know nothing, but others have had nothing but good things to say about this state. Now I was slightly excited about New York too and that was a huge shocker, so I am holding my excitement till I get there.

We are thrilled to be on another adventure together as a family and with a few hesitations we are on our way, the house is staged and on the market.

Georgia here we come.

Snow Days

Texas broke a record for the most snow fall in one day measuring in at 12.5 inches. It was crazy but one of the best snow falls I have ever seen in Texas. It was perfect for making snowmen, I even went back to my childhood and got out there and made a snow fort like we use to with Dad. It was great, Brenden is climbing out of the snow fort that we made but the lighting is horrible, the snow was so bright you can't see it really. It was awesome, and we played hard.

So Brenden broke the zipper on his jacket and the zipper was stuck together at his neck. We tried really hard to pull it off but ended up breaking the zipper to get him out of his coat.

Brenden climbing out of the snow fort that we made.

Riley threw the snow mans nose in the trash can.

We were suppose to be watching a movie.....

Funny right! I came out of my room where I was folding laundry, obviously not watching my two year old very closely, and this is what I found. At first I looked at his hands and thought cheetos untill I saw the sofa. Good news though, washable markers really do come out with a lot of elbow grease and a few choice words. Why do they choose to eat the Markers?

My Mind is Blown

I really didn't think that I could trump the week that I had last week....That was until I woke up this morning....My day included lots of running around with two sick kids Because I had to pick Brenden up from school again. Lots of screaming from a toddler who wanted his way.....No naps, yeah....Set up at the church which was dismantled by Bryce after it was put together.....A messy pants clean up because Brenden is still sick, while out and about, who carries extra underwear for there potty trained 7 year old...yuck....A long trip to the Asthma specialist...A lot of screaming from Bryce because he didn't want to be couped in the doctors room....And just a whole lot of frustration.....

What did I learn from all this.....I can get mad at the situation all I want but the outcome is always the same.....I am left exhausted but I survived it...All the your crazy lady looks and all.....I never ever ever want to be a single mother...and those that are more power to you....I admire you.

Motherhood is wonderful

No More Sick Kids Laying In My Bed

This week has been everything short of a miracle. It has been dramatic around here for sure.
We started out OK on Monday, Tuesday Brenden landed himself in the hospital at Midnight for a breathing treatment, due to a cold gone wild. This is a common problem for him, but we needed the right medicine which we unfortunately didn't have. Only two hours later and he was semi repaired and home sleeping the night away.
Stayed home Wednesday was better Thursday morning or so I thought. Sent him to school and I got a call from the his teacher 20 minutes into school saying that she was worried about him because she read my note and noticed he was having difficulty breathing. She sends him down to the nurse who has the meds he needs and the nurse calls me. She can't give him any more medicine because the box says every 4 hours and he had a treatment at 6:00 this morning. I can come give it to him myself but she cannot give it to him...Understandable no lawsuits, I get it. So at 9:20am I pack Bryce up who has a fever and is coughing out his lungs, to pick Brenden up from school because the nurse can't give him his inhaler.
Friday he is feeling great and makes it all the way through school. Saturday everyone is doing better and Sunday we wake up early and head to church at 10:30am. We get to church and already my children are asking me if we are staying for the entire thing. They like to skip out and leave after sacrament, which I was cornered on Tuesday about from Riley's Sunday school teacher.......I know try to explain that one...uuuummmm!!! So I was determined to stay for all of church today. To make a point to myself and my kids that we can do it.
Well 30 minutes into sacrament and Brenden starts in My stomach hurts. Now it gets good. I am tired, I don't feel good, now he is notorious for wanting to go home. He gets up to go to the bathroom comes back and tells me that he threw up....OK I want to believe you, but really I don't.
My attention turns to Bryce because he has been throwing a fit for about an hour now and we can't figure out what is wrong with him. Well I took a look at him and he is covered from head to toe with spots. They are everywhere. He had a fever two days ago and I am pretty sure he has Rosiola. Great now what do I do, I really don't think that he is contagious anymore he doesn't have a fever, we are staying. After all I am 100% sure it came from the nursery in the first place.
Brenden doesn't go to Primary he stays with me through Sunday school class and Relief Society. He gets up in the middle of the last hour and never comes back. I looked out the window into the hallway and saw Tony standing there waving at me. Brenden was in the Bathroom throwing up someone went to get Tony and that's not all, apparently it was coming out the other end all at the same time. What is going on here, way gross. All because I was determined to prove a point, we almost made it to the end of church this Sunday but for what, to humiliate my son who was really sick.
So I tried to go asleep and ended up thinking about my day, listening to my stomach grumble, and thought I needed to blog about this. Tomorrow I might be trying to hold my head out of the toilet while dealing with three sick kids at home. Lucky me.

Every Picture Has A Story!

This picture was taken forever ago it seems. My mom came to visit us in New York in 2005 for my Birthday. She had decided that we were going to plant a little vegetable garden in the backyard. So we went off to the nursery and come home with Cubanella's, Jalapenos, cilantro, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green bell peppers. Riley was all about the garden and watering it. I think that the patio and patch of dirt that we had to work with wasn't any bigger than 10 ft X 10 ft. It kept us busy and the boys really enjoyed it. Not too much grew there between the deer and the ground hog that had babies. They ate just about everything except the jalapenos go figure. It was great though.

Tag your it:

Here's what you do:

Go to your picture file and open the first folder and pick out the tenth photo. If your folder doesn't have ten pictures in it, because the first one I opened did not, then open the second one.

Write about that photo and tag some friends.

Lets see maybe April and Jess, Dee, and Robyn, maybe LaSha.

Have Fun!

Thanks Tess!

Tony's Bday

HAPPY 30!

Ok so we have to back track a little because the Holidays just ate up all my time and we never seemed to stop moving.

Lets Recap Tony's Birthday. He decided that this year we should take a little trip for his birthday and when I say little we mean little. We drove to Houston for one night and hit the town to try out some hot food spots. Now this was entirely his idea...He had been burried in Man vs. Food wich is a food show that he likes to watch. On this show he travled to Houston and he spent the day eating at what he thought were the best of Houston. So we decided to give it a try.

Our First stop was the Salt Lick....A Delicious BBQ joint that was literally out in the middle of nowhere. It was packed for it being a weeknight.

In the Morning we got up and checked out of the hotel and headed for Juan in a Millions. It was this little hole in the wall in a scary part of town but he loved his chorizo and egg breakfast burrito.
So we splurged a little on the hotel and it was a funky modern place with glowing lights in the elevator and it had a pretty groovy lobby. I felt like we stepped into the 60's or 70's.....but it was fun. We headed down to the lobby and there was a lot of mingling going on down there with some loud music. Fun stuff. There is this modern piece of art over the bed and it took me all day to figure out what it was, It drove me crazy but I figured it out. Can you guess what it might be?

We had a good time and it was nice to have spent some time alone. We had some good conversation in the car and it was quiet which is hard to come by in our home. A little awkward at times but we had a wonderful time together.

Who Busted A Grumpy?

Does anyone know what Who Busted A Grumpy is beside my Riley?

We were out getting my nephew a B-Gift....Happy Birthday Devin.....and we drove past a dead skunk and of course they illuminate this wonderful aroma. Riley Blurts out "Who Busted A Grumpy". I just about died I thought that it was the best thing I heard since the Wienus. It is now a favorite word of Mine. Go Riley!

For those of you who don't know what a wienus is.....It was my attempt to spit out "Don't play with your.......( penis- wiener)..I have this wonderful ability to mix all my words together and make no sense at all to anyone.

Who knew it would stick...There are a few of my friends and family that use that word despite it's inappropriateness.

Trunk Or Treat

Love Love Love Halloween....I feel sorry for those that don't....It is the one day that you can dress up like whom ever or what ever you please and not one person can judge you. We had a blast last night at the Trunk or Treat. Nana J came out with us and we were glad to have her help.

I had this fun idea for Riley's costume, he was a boy caught in a spider web half eaten by the spider and he looked cool. After a huge fight to get him to wear the spider we ended up taking it off midway through treating.

Brenden was the Grim Reaper and his face paint took about 20 minutes and he won the scariest costume at the party. He was really proud.

Bryce was a snake costume that has been around for a couple of years, I love this costume.

The Boys looked great and they collected lots of Candy for me...HHHHMMMMMM!!! YUM...YUM....Did I mention that I love Halloween.

Nothing But Trouble

So for some time now we have been chasing Bryce around the house because you never know what he is sneaking into. Recently I got so fed up that I tied the chairs for the Table to the table legs in an attempt to prevent this from happening three even four times a day. He is a monster!

These were the easy days, the bad days are when you catch your one year old sprawled across the stove trying to turn it on. Yikes! The chair was his personal accomplice. We had to get rid of him....(the chair)

Backyard fun!

Riley got this baseball game from Nana and Papa Needs and the boys had a great time playing with it the other day. I had to post Brenden because he cracked me up. Watch where he throws the balls and how he throws them....

I Love this Kid!

Mean Mom

Brenden our soon to be seven years old was my first child to say something to me directly to hurt my feelings. I can't believe this is happening all ready, but let me tell you what lead us up to this.
I told the boys that I am tired of being a short order cook when it comes to dinner time and in an effort to get them to eat more healthily they would be eating or not eating what we ate for dinner.
The other night I made spaghetti, what kid doesn't love spaghetti.....Brenden likes to say he hates it ever time we make it, yet devourers it after putting in a good 30 min debate about why he thinks he doesn't like it. So he took a few bites and started with the I lost my appetite bit...I said fine don't eat it but you lost your appetite so no snacks no dessert. We pouted while everyone else finished dinner and went about there business. I decided to sit on the couch and keep an eye on him. Then he comes and sits next to me, looks right at me and tells me that I am mean and yell at them all the time but am nice to Bryce.....This was an effort to make me feel bad so he could get what he wanted, but he starts crying because he now feels bad. What a goober, if your gonna do it, do it right at least. So I gave him a hug and told him I loved him but he had to eat his spaghetti anyways. Everything is better with cheese so we melted some cheese in his spaghetti and we were good to go.
I explained that in all fairness this eating problem is directly my fault for letting it get so out of hand. He looked at me like I was crazy. After all he likes what he eats.

SHOUT OUT TO RILEY

We just want Riley to know that we are very proud of him and his accomplishments with baseball. Of course everyone thinks that there child is amazing, so why should we think any differently. He had a wonderful season this year and is an awesome hitter. He got two game balls for VIP, and if they had a trophy for looking good in a uniform he would definitely get it. We had fun watching him so I just wanted to post some pics.

GOOD JOB RILEY!

Tribute To My Wife

I just wanted everyone to know that I think that I am lucky to have Krisit as my wife. She is the only person that still thinks my goofiness is funny, laughs at my ignorance, forgives my mistakes, supports my decisions, and loves me completely. We are all truely blessed to have you in our lives. I lovey you, Honey, and just wanted everyone to know that.

Symbols of Love

It starts out with a routine visit to see my sister in Flower Mound. As I was driving down a road near home on my way out to Flower Mound a small flag caught my eye. This flag was laying in the middle of the road getting ran over by cars and school buses. I watched in my mirror as I passed it by to see if anyone was stopping to pick it up. My first instinct was to stop and get it out of the road. This was the least that I could do considering I am a wife to a United States Marine, one who I know loves his flag enough to walk to the model home next store and take down there tattered flag and give it to them. I thought to myself that if the flag was still there on my way home then I will go and get it out of the road. What was I thinking. I dismissed it because I was upset with Tony and I thought that at the time it was more important to be mad at him. Well time went on and about a week later I felt the urge to tell him about the flag. That it was just in the road and no one was stopping to pick it up. Then he said "What did you do?" I wanted so badly to be able to tell him that I slammed on my brakes and stopped traffic to pick up this symbol of our freedom that was getting trampled on. I know that this would have made him extremely proud. Instead I looked out the window and said "If it was still there I was going to get it on my way back, but it was gone." I thought about it for a moment and thought about the things that I am doing in my life. I want to be able to return to my heavenly father and be able to tell him that I gave that neighbor that book of Mormon, and not I meant to, but I was afraid that they would never talk to me again. Or When he asks what happened to the Sister that needed a friend, why didn't you see her, Oh I meant to there just was never a good time. I want to be able to say Yes I did those things, and even though they may not have made this big impression at the time, he will show me how that seed was planted and the testimony that grew. I have decided that I will do instead of think about it. I thought about rescuing that flag and how cool it would have been to stop traffic, but all I can say is that I thought about it. As I thought more about what had happened the prompting to get up and bare my testimony was extremely strong. Who knows it is possible that I might act upon that and DO IT.

Aloha

!Wow!

All that I can really say is WOW, Hawaii is amazing, breathtaking, and beautiful. I had an opportunity to run away to Oahu at the last minute this weekend to spend a week with my husband. One of the wonderful perks of the military is the travel, and all the amazing places you get to go for FREE.. It couldn't get any better than this. My only complaint is that we left the kids at home. Although it was blissful without them, I caught myself finding things that they would have really enjoyed. There is so much to do on the island as a family, it made me think of them often. We wondered out to the Dole Pineapple farms and ran around the World's largest maze. It was a blast. It just didn't get any better than this. Paradise Cove is said to have the best Luau in Hawaii, and it was amazing. I will remember this vacation for a long time, who knows maybe we will come back with the kids one day.

Fire dancer from the Luau

Picture of us at the Luau right at Sunset. You can't see the Sunset, because we are taking pictures with a disposable camera because someone forgot to grab our camera before we left.

We had time to stop by the Laie Temple next to BYU Hawaii. It was beautiful, they are remodeling the inside and outside, the grounds were amazing.

I had no idea that pineapples grew this way. The pineapple maze was so much fun. It took us 30 minutes to get through it.

This is a beach on the BYU side of the island. Probably the favorite of us both, it was calm and relaxing out there...Not so much touristy. And the beaches were pretty, we stopped here to have lunch and swim.

On my first day I Arrived in Hawaii by myself I had some time to kill so I made my way down to the beach. There was a little cove for boats and in the shallow water I found this. It made me laugh for a while. So of course I had to take a picture.

Spring Chores

The weather has been descent between the thunder storms over the last month. So we decided to do some work in the yard. For those of you that have small children you know what a challenge this can be. You don't want them to get muddy and you definitely don't want them to get bit by bugs, and really don't want them to run away. Well we decide to just let loose and instead of chasing Bryce we stripped him down and let him dig right into the wonder and curiosity of the one year old he is. And this was the result.

Give a boy some rocks a hole and some water and ohhh what fun he can have.....

Babies

Over the last month we have watched two sparrows set up a nest right outside our kitchen window. It took these poor birds about two weeks to make there nest. And then they sat in it for about a week and out of this came five little baby birds.

These birds are so much fun to watch. I most definitely wouldn't want to be a bird, after watching them all day I have decided that my children are easy and not too demanding. The baby birds will leave the nest in a couple of weeks,it makes me sad to think that these birds will never meet again. That there families are only together for such a short time. We are all excited to see our baby birds grow up and fly away. But hey we have to nurture our children for 18 years and for some longer......So maybe....No just kidding...I could keep my kids FOREVER.....

Thanks

I wanted to thank all those who came out for Riley's Baptism.... Even those that almost missed the begining due to poor navigation by the GPS sytem. Go figure. We love you all and are greatly appreciative for your support. And of course who doesn't love a big hoe down...stuff your face... Red Robin outing.

Thanks to Jonsey, Grandma and Granpa Needs for coming out, You missed a great lunch.