Merry Christmas

Keeping it real with our Christmas card this year.

The runner-up was probably an even more accurate portrayal of Johnson life.

I love how Charlotte is ready to smack Todd, and the girls, well, that is just how it is.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We are doing Christmas on Saturday the 24th, so hopefully we can focus more on the true meaning of Christmas on Sunday.

We saw Santa last week.  I don't think he's on to us.  For sure we will still get presents, right?

I made the most perfect batch of caramel apples for all the girls' teachers.

We made sugar cookies for Santa, but like always, we forgot to put them out.

And we opened our jammies before we went to bed. 

Maybe I am a total scrooge, but I just can't wait for Christmas to be over.  My kids seem to be horrible and whiny and mean to each other and I find myself threatening them many times throughout the day that Santa isn't going to bring them presents or that I am going to take presents back.  I've tried my hardest to have the spirit of Christmas in our home, but I think I've failed miserably this year.  

Hopefully we can put it all behind us when we open presents tomorrow.   

Vegas!!

Todd's Aunt Maggie got married on December 17th in the Las Vegas Temple. She is 64 and this is her first marriage! (Not that there will be more than one...but you know what I mean!) Since Allegiant flies direct from Owensboro to Vegas, we all flew out for the big event. (Well, that and the fact that we have no one here to leave our kids with :)  We left Friday at noon and returned on the 6 a.m. flight Monday morning.  I wish we could have stayed longer, but with Allegiant you really don't have many options.

(Notice Macie's adorable new haircut.)

The flight went pretty smoothly.  Todd's dad picked us up from the airport and we headed straight to Amy's work to check things out and meet some of her co-workers.  She is the head of the Curriculum Materials Library at UNLV.  They have tons of fun stuff available for teachers to use, so the girls had a blast making die-cuts and using glitter.

Saturday was the wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful, and Maggie was the prettiest, most sophisticated bride I have ever seen.

 I wish I had some better pictures of Maggie and Charles.  They were always surrounded by people and everyone was taking pictures; I just wasn't aggressive enough to get to the front of the crowd.
And I was dealing with this...

The girls were so cute.  They were excited that Charles is going to be their new uncle.  Maggie's new last name is Fox, and they thought that was awesome!

 Maybe Keith and Scott got better pictures of the couple. 
(Feel free to email me some if you did!)

 Three out of four is as good as it gets these days.

Saturday morning Carv fell in the hotel room and split his forehead open on the hinge of the door.

 The back of the skirt is as cute as the front!
(A big thanks to my mom for making the skirts, Carver's matching tie, and adorable matching hair clips.)

After pictures we headed to the church for a lunch that was fabulous, then to Maggie's house for relaxation and naps, then to the reception.  The reception was wonderful.  She served cheesecake, love doves, eclairs, toffee, brownie bites and a whole smorgasbord of delightful sweets. It was decorated with lights and Christmas trees and was just really classy.  I think every person in Las Vegas came to wish Maggie and Charles well.  They had a line out the door for hours.

The kids were excellent the entire time.  I don't know if it was the unlimited access to the treats, the grandparents, or Uncle Keith and Aunt Amy, but I rarely heard or saw them!

Sunday we ventured out to the Bellagio to see the carnation polar bears and the water show.  



After the water show we convinced Amy to take us to the Mirage.  We power walked down the strip to make it just in time for the volcano eruption.  Riley thought it was awesome, but it just enhanced Macie and Charlotte's fear of fire.

We went to bed late and woke up at 3 a.m. to make our 6 a.m. flight.  Carver was not happy before take-off.  At one point I kind of put him in an infant hold and he turned his head, bit down on my arm, and to really make his point, clamped down and twisted.  My instinct was to swear and throw him into the aisle, but I was able to refrain.  Just barely. I have teeth marks and a big bruise on my arm to show for it. 

It was thirty minutes of screaming that felt like two hours. 

As soon as we were in the air and the seat belt light went off, I stood up and he was asleep in ten seconds.  He slept the rest of the way home.

It was a quick but fun weekend.  I am so glad we were able to be there for the wedding and to spend time with the entire Johnson family!

A few from the Grandparents' visit

Carv could spend hours at the drinking fountain...

Chuck-E-Cheese

The I-Pad entertained for hours.

Somehow Grandpa Johnson got his arm stuck behind the couch.  We had to move the couch to get him out. (After our laughter brought us to tears, of course.)

You can't NOT have a game of Connect Four with Lizzy.

Carver playing with the nativity.

Grandpa Madsen had kidney stones...or indigestion.  We're not quite sure which it really was.

Grandpa Madsen told us about growing up on the farm, his horse, and moving bailed hay with some sort of long-pole-pulley device.  Illustrations included.  

Grandma Madsen let the girls sew a little bit while she adjusted the elastic on Riley's skirt.

We love our Grandmas and Grandpas!



Great to be Eight

 We were so glad to have all the Grandmas and Grandpas here for the baptism. 

It made Riley's special day even more special.

Riley's sweet friend, Shelby, came to the baptism. It meant a lot to have her there. 

Many of our friends from the branch also came to support Riley. 

 It was an excellent day. 

 I feel like Riley has such a strong testimony and she really understands the decision she made to get baptized. 

We are so proud of her!