Surprise!! She's 10! =0)

Miss Adree sitting in her new chair...

*Gasp!*

So excited for her new bed!

Yes, it's true...I have officially gotten older, wait?! It's wasn't my birthday? Haha, as I'm sure most parents know, when your child gets older you instantly become old. Seeing as though my baby girl turned 10 yesterday, then I aged an entire decade! I mean, I can still see in my minds eye with vivid detail, my baby girl in my arms and her brother in tow...and since I have opened my eyes and realized that we have added 10 years, then I for certain have gotten old!
Little Miss Adree announced yesterday before bed that this had in fact been the best birthday ever, largely impart for the big new surprise waiting for her when we got home! She got up and opened a few things that were wrapped for her at her place in the morning, had breakfast, got dressed and let me fix her hair with curls and a pretty new barrette before I dropped her and her brother off at school for the day. When I arrived home, I got to work disassembling her bunk bed and removing it from her room. When I was finished, I moved some of her furniture around and Lee went out side to fetch her birthday present surprise. He and I put it together and he went to go get ready for the work day and I put the rest of her room together. After school I picked up Adree and Seth and we traveled to Wal-Mart to pick up the things she wanted for dinner. We wandered around the store and she picked out a couple of things from the clearance racks she wanted and went up front to pay. I discovered that I didn't have my wallet and informed the cashier of this and went outside to see if it was in the car, it wasn't. I called Lee and he found it at home and drove to Wal-Mart with it for me. That really sucks by the way, when you forget your wallet at home and you live in Santa Clara and Wal-Mart is in Bloomington! After getting my wallet, I payed and we made our way home finally. We got there and Lee wasn't home yet. Funny, he was just at Wal-Mart...hmmm...I called him and asked where he was as he pulled into the driveway behind me. I told Adree she had to wait for Lee before going in and she pointed out her bunk-bed, that was disassembled in the living room, and made her way to her room with Lee by the hand. She gasped as she came in to the room, "You got me a new bed!?, The one I wanted!" As you can see from the picture, she was super excited and that's the biggest smile I've seen from her in ages!
The bed. The bed was a bed she spied at Furniture Row when Lee and I were actually looking at mattresses for our bed. We walked by the beds and she was pointing out all the pretty beds they had there. Lee had wandered off and I could see her climb up on a bed in front of me and when I got closer I could see what a pretty bed it was. Black wood with slats and sleigh style curves, a very girlie, but not immature bed. She was in love! "I LOVE this bed, Mommy", she told me. I assured her that it was very pretty and practical too, being a day bed with a trundle she would still have room for people to come stay over. She wouldn't outgrow this bed, unlike the bunk-bed and it would serve her well through the rest of her school years. She went to find Lee and hauled him to the bed by the hand and announced that this was only thing she wanted for her birthday. Lee checked the price and sighed saying this is all she would get for Christmas too. Adree wandered off and I told lee that this would be perfect and practical as well. He said he would consider it and shooed Adree and I home and promptly ordered it for her when we left. Adree was never the wiser!
Yes, how on earth Adree got a new bed out of Lee and I needing a new mattress is beyond me, but as far as birthday surprises, this one takes the cake! 10 years and countless hugs, brush-snagging snarls, polished toenails, all things pink, and incessant bossing of her brothers later my little girl is growing up. Of course that means I'm growing old as well, but oh well! =0)

Musically inclined...=0)

Adree playing the keyboard by ear

Drake practicing...

and insisting I take a picture of him bowing!

As you can see the apple does not fall far from the tree in my house! I have kids who not only love music, but have the desire to play it as well. Of course I play the piano and played the flute in Middle School and marching band. Cara plays the piano and the flute and sings well too. Sterling actually plays several instruments, but excels at the guitar. Their Dad was a drummer and of course Lee is a drummer and Audio Engineer and toured with big name bands throughout the 80's. So, I wasn't surprised at all at their interest in it.
Adree would love to take lessons, I just need to rescue my piano from Mom and Dad's living room and find someone nearby willing to teach her the basics. Drake was adamant that he wanted to play the violin in the orchestra this year, after learning to play a little through Elementary school. Lee was happy to oblige and purchased him a violin this summer and Drake says, that "practicing 20 minutes a day is the best part of his homework!" Which makes me glad and likely that he'll have no problem sticking with it!
Adree of course was excited to continue at their Elementary school with the comprehensive music program where she gets to play violin, sing in the choir, play in the "orfesstra" and this year she wants to play drums with "conga town". Conga town plays bongo drums and she's very excited to play them in the upcoming rodeo parade and I'll be sure to get pictures!
Little Sethee I imagine will find something musical he wants to do too, Lee's secret wish is to teach him to drum (he has great rhythm), but we'll have to wait and see!
Watching them take an interest in music make think of how grown up their getting, especially as I see Drake walk to school, violin case in tow. It truly does my heart good. =0)

Rush!!

Thank you to Lee for giving me the opportunity to enjoy my very first rock concert! Last Thursday Lee and I gathered ourselves and the kids up and traveled northward to see Rush in concert. Thank you to my sissy for watching the kids! Lee got the tickets on a whim a few weeks ago and since the day of the concert was the day before Cara and Nathan's anniversary, we exchanged kid watching with them and watched their kids the next evening. It worked out well if you ask me! =0)


About the experience: This is the view I pretty much had for the whole evening, a good shot down to the stage framed by these two winners. Yeah, let's say we weren't impressed! Lee and I made our way to Usana amphitheater and got to our seats about 20 minutes before the show started. We had great sound from where we were sitting and we amused ourselves by counting mullets and being impressed by the range of people in attendance. There were (of course) a significant amount of 50 somethings but the range went from teenagers up to geriatrics. Lee looked to see how many other people he could see with his vintage 2112 shirt on and even told some kid with a Pink Floyd shirt on that he was at the wrong concert, the funny thing is...the kid said, "Sorry man!"
Anyway, we were getting ready to start and a 70's leftover guy with shoulder length gray hair and two young men (obviously his sons) and a young woman came to sit down in front of us. Since I was sitting and the young woman was in front of me, I was greeted with a lovely view of her backside, thong and all. Now I might have been more understanding if she was really cute, with a cute little body...eh, she really wasn't! Okay, strike one. This people seemed totally disinterested in sitting at all and in fact stood...all the way through the concert, 3 and a half hours! Strike 2. I mean it's a rock concert, you stand during rock concerts, you sing the songs, you pump your fists in the air...no, I really get it. Honestly though, I think the people in front of us were probably were the only people that didn't actually sit at some point! 3 and a half hours standing in one place on the concrete, I sat down a couple of times and just listened!;0) Standing was one thing, but the 70's leftover Dad insisted upon leaning over and yelling into his son's ear (um, yeah...rock concert!) constantly and Lee, tired of them blocking his view resorted to singing loudly (and off key) every time he did it, until he got the hint! Strike 3, yep now I'm making fun of your antics on my blog! Ha!


Okay, so we've made fun of the people in front of us enough...now we can make fun of the guy next to me! I didn't ever look over at him, but was very aware that he had at least two beers while he was there and he was a very large man. During the first half of the concert he was just fine, stood next to me and sang, pumped his fists, semi-absorbed the shrill of the cat-call whistler behind me threatening to deafen my right ear, but the second half of the concert was another story! The light show was getting good and Rush was playing some of their more popular hits and the guy next to me decided to start dancing. Dancing would have been fine if he was doing it front to back, but nooooo....he had to dance side to side. I was getting really tired of getting bumped into constantly and was already standing on top of Lee. I yelled in Lee's ear what was going on and Lee glared his direction and put his arm around my shoulders so that his hand would get bumped into instead of my shoulder. The large, drunk man began swaying more and more into me and I felt Lee hold out his hand into a fist. The large, drunk man swayed into Lee's fist and bounced off undeterred. He continued to sway and Lee continued to keep his hand in a fist and before the man finally stopped swaying so bad, Lee was actually punching the guy as he crashed into us! He must have gotten the hint because he backed off a bit!
We took off early before the band came out for an encore in hopes of getting out of the parking lot in a timely manner. We got totally lost trying to find our car and I ended up with two pink hi-tops full of fox tails before we figure out where we were supposed to be going! The concert was great though, despite the obnoxious people in front of us and next to me and hi-tops full of fox tails! As far as experiences this was really fun and now I can say...yep, I've been to a rock concert...ROCK ON!!! =0) Thanks baby it was fun!! ;0)

Pioneer Day = celebrating our heritage 2010

Family.

Green fields and pink cliffs...

The house at Swapp Ranch

Everyone introducing themselves and whose family they belong to..

Listening to cousin Ron's stories...


Oh, yes...those are what you think they are! EEEK!

View across the pond...



This year for Pioneer Day we celebrated in the best possible way, by honoring my pioneer heritage and attending the Swapp Meet reunion at Swapp Ranch in Sink valley. This is the very best way to celebrate if you ask me! I love to go and see relatives (my Dad's cousins) we only see every other year and listen to stories of cow herding and horse riding and mishaps and adventures of long ago while working the land in Southern Utah/extreme northern Arizona.
Where is Sink Valley you ask? It's off of Johnson Canyon Rd (about 40 miles) if you are familiar with highway 89 to Kanab or 7 miles from Alton if you go all the way up 89 on your way to the Cedar Mountain turn-off. The valley is a picturesque scene of fields of green and pink cliffed vistas of Bryce Canyon above. My siblings and I spent much of our time growing up running through fields and splashing through ponds in muddy and dusty fashion. We trounced though groves of juniper and pinion pine and swung from the tire swing as our Grandpa Johnson pushed, his two little granddaughters squealing with delight. I can remember spending time with our Johnson grandparents there and also at the old Swapp Ranch where my Grandma Johnson spent her youth. I couldn't have wished for a better way to grow up among nature and it's splendor.
The turn out at the Swapp Meet reunion 2010 was small in comparison to other years, now that the entire generation of Swapps that started the tradition is gone. It was a good crowd though and we enjoyed each others company and listened as Dad's cousin Ron told pioneer stories and enjoyed a great lunch. The excitement for the year was the intrusion of a couple of unwelcome visitors and the first time I've seen any up there, yes I'm referring tho the picture of the rattle snakes! It was actually Seth who first noticed them several feet from our picnic table under a bush. "Mom, is dat a fwog?, he asked me while pointing under the bush. "No son, that would be a snake..." I said and motioned to my Dad. I pointed them out to my Dad and he gestured to his cousin Ron who inspected them and asked if there was a shovel near by. We located a shovel and he returned successfully cutting the bigger of the twos heads off. The smaller snake slithered off, but was soon located by my Dad and cousin Ron and was soon decapitated as well. If you are reading this and wondering of the cruelty to the snakes, let me inform you of the severe poisonous nature of these vile serpents and the fact that they were just feet from the house. They would have returned even if herded off. They were buried and disposed off and various screeches could be heard from the women who had taken refuge on the porch. Seth was proclaimed a hero, yes the little hero who had peed his pants earlier....*sigh*.=0)
Lee and I and the kids followed Mom and Dad to their cabin and inspected their progress and enjoyed eachother's company sitting on the porch and enjoying the cool air. My Dad relayed stories of growing up with his cousins and his chores for his grandmother, who lived next door. It makes me so extremely proud to know that I was born into such a great, strong, loving family.
I was helping a customer in front of me some years ago and noticed she was writing me a check from Moccasin (near Fredonia) and I told her I had family from there. She asked me if I was Swapp or a Johnson and I told her both. She looked me in the eye and said, "You must be a good person then." I know why and you can't ask for better people, period.

Aha! and pictures too! =0)

Huge grins from little Breah

What a precious little imp!

Gavin loves Puppy!

Me on the carousel..

Lee and the turtle prize on the carousel..

Yes, that's Drake thru the carousel...

Adree and Ainsley under the giant mushroom in kiddie-land

Seth, Noah and Justin on the egg-drop thingy...

Adree and Ainsley on the egg-drop thingy...

What an awesome fun day at Lagoon!

As you can see, I did finally get blogger to cooperate enough to let me load more than one picture at a time. We really did have a good time!

Vacation? =0)

Drake, Adree, Seth, and my niece Ainsley enjoying a giant snow cone at the end of the day

I have a bunch more pictures to upload, but blogger won't let me load more than one at a time. So you get just one for the moment, I'll try again later!
Well, as you can sorta see we survived our "vacation". I'm not sure that a two day hiatus can really be called a vacation, but whatever! We took the kids (and my niece) to Lagoon for the day on Monday. It was really fun and the kids had a blast, Lee and I were incredibly worn out though!
We met up with my sisters-in law (Laurel and Shaunah) at the gates along with their families. It was great fun seeing my nephews Jacob and Tannon and Laurel who I haven't seen in several years. Jacob was probably 8 or 9 when I saw him last and is 15 now? and towers over everyone! He's extremely cute too, watch out! Laurel, you look great and happy as you so deserve to be! We all ate lunch together and Laurel and Tannon went to Lagoon-A-beach to go down the water slides, Jacob and a couple of friends took all the rest of the kids (except Drake and Eli, who's Shaunah's youngest) to go on Collosus, Wild Mouse, and a few other roller coasters. Lee and Justin (Shaunah's husband) went to go on the Wicked and a couple of other coasters as well. Shaunah and I took Drake and Eli to Kiddie Land to go on the smaller rides and got wet on the Odysea. Drake also wanted to go on the Bat (a ride that your legs dangle on) and Aunt Shaunah took him on that.
After a while I called Lee and asked that they find the rest of the kids so we could meet up again and they all showed up before Drake Shaunah were down riding the Bat. Noah (Shaunah's oldest) asked if he and all the kids could go and run through the splash pad because it was really hot. It was about 95 degrees and extremely humid, I was not feeling to hot by the end of it!
Lee and I said good-bye to Justin and Shaunah and fam and we took the kids on a few more rides while they went to Lagoon-A-beach. All in all, it was a pretty good day, the kids had a blast and got very worn out. Lee and I are just now recovering today, ha! This "vacation" was definitely for them and not us! Whoever said that vacation was for rest and relaxation, never had kids! I'll upload more pics tomorrow, when I don't have migraine! ;0)

Our short and sweet summer...

short hair to match the short summer!

I didn't get my bedroom done, but I finally got all the bedding!

Since the kid's school participated in an "extended school year" this year, summer is going to be abnormally short at our house. This has it's pros and cons of course. Pros: Since I'm home at the moment I have a few less weeks to entertain the bored kids, no one should be horribly lost once school starts again, and well, I can't think of an and...hmmmm... =0)
Cons: the summer is short, anything we really wanted to do will need to be crammed into 5 weeks, a couple of things will have to be pushed back to weekends in the fall, the kids have taken it upon themselves to be extra lazy, this means Mom constantly begging them to do something, ANYTHING...=0)
A couple things we will be doing for sure: Taking the kids to Lagoon. It has become a tradition to go every year and they love it, Lee and I love it, my niece Ainsley gets to go too, so it's really fun! Lee is taking me to my very first rock concert in August, so you know that will be fun also! The semi-annual "Swap meet" reunion will be on Pioneer Day weekend as well and we will be in attendance for that as well!
If we ever get the pool actually in the yard, we'll enjoy lots of swimming too! You know how it goes, you either have time or money, but never both! ...and thus goes our short and sweet summer, cramming it all in the best we can! =0)