Ella thinks

After discussing who we should include in our family prayers one morning, we prayed for my brother Dru who is taking the bar this month. We got in the car and as we pulled out, Ella said, "I'm worried that Uncle Dru won't win the handle bar contest." Ever since that day, she has asked how Dru is doing with his 'handles'. I think she may have unconsciously hit on the heart of the matter... that is, how Dru was 'handling' his looming Bar Exam. He was pretty stressed, but thankfully, it's over now, and he is sitting on a beach in Hawaii with his lovely(and skinny) bride, basking in the satisfaction of a test passed I hope. Either way, he couldn't have studied any harder, and I'm sure he's relieved it's over. And Dru, Ella was worried about your 'handles'. I hope you won.

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella waited patiently (or not) for her 'party' to happen two days after her actual birthday, so that her cuzzies could join in on the fun, and since cousin Takeshi was born the day after her, we made it a double party again.

Tangled book and cash from the Cali cousins

See all those toys? Guess what he liked the best? The little can of teddy grahams!

She picked out Rapunzel herself when we were at Walmart. She gave it to grandma when we got home and said, "Here. Wrap this up and give it to me." Cheeky eh?

Her new school outfit from Aunt Leslie, she loved it!

Enjoying the ice cream ala my face

Takeshi tried to blow out the candles, but in the end, he was afraid of them and the other kids had to help.

No time for candles and cake, I've got presents to open! 

Violated?

*warning* post may contain offensive language/visuals/thoughts. Proceed at your own discretion.

Chris and Luke are going on the high adventure camp w/ the scouts next week. For this, they both had to have a physical. Chris has not had a physical in, oh... 10 years? Apparently, when you turn 40, you start being examined for colon problems, something he has never experienced before. When he got home, he was mad/embarrassed/traumatized, and I got an earful---

I'm a pitcher, not a catcher!
I've been violated.
Is this how you feel?
I feel a little sticky... I need a shower... and a good cry.
I feel gay.

The doctor said something like this:
"You're going to feel some pressure," but all Chris heard was pressure pressure pressure!"
(visualize Chris saying this while jabbing his pointer finger in sword like fashion into the air)

When the exam was over, Chris couldn't stop talking/babbling/rambling. Finally he just said, "I think I'm just embarrassed, and so I can't stop talking. I'll just shut up now." The doctor said, "That's ok. You're just lucky I'm not an NBA player." He also said it felt 'clean' up there, and gave him a clean bill of colon/prostrate health, for which Chris was not even the slightest bit grateful.

Chris walked around the kitchen in circles for a few minutes, venting and stewing, and finally spat, "He corn-holed me honey!" before stalking out.

A bit later I asked him if he could change Kate's bike tire, to which he replied,  "Yes. Can I do it when I've recovered from my trauma?"and then he grabbed my boob. Just to make himself feel heterosexual I think.

My reaction to his obvious discomfort? Through my tears of laughter, I asked, "Can I blog this?" This is best material my blog has seen in months!

**For you very few men who read my blog, let me just tell you, we woman have ZERO sympathy. You have no idea what we endure at the gynecologists office...

More Zoo fun (without Mom!)

My sister was in town last week, and they decided to go to the zoo. Having already been the 'good mom' once this year, and having a meeting that day, I opted out. Thanks Mom and Brooke for taking the girls! 

Photo Overload

the girlies LOVE make-up. Ella's lashes + mascara = oo la la

Can we say 'sparkly'? 

Mama's little helper

This photo makes me miss Cedar City, where the gutter was the number one place to be all summer long...

Self inflicted gutter 'swirly'

Just wanted to see if Zeke could stow away in our luggage when we fly to NYC. 

Family Pictures

We FINALLY had a family picture taken last week. I say FINALLY, because we haven't had one since Kate was a baby (I'm not counting the fat picture that we were forced into when Zeke was 4 weeks old... that picture will NEVER see the light of day around here). So basically, it's been 7 years since  I got a photo I liked. I wanted this photo to be at the SLC Temple. I wanted the tulips to be in the photo. Well, remember how rainy it was ALL of June? We had to reschedule 4 times, and by the time we finally got a day with good weather, the tulips were loooong gone. Oh well.

I don't know how you once-a-year-family-photo people do it. This was a nightmare from beginning to end. First off, the matching outfits. I know, this is a Utah Mormon thing apparently, but I just had to conform. It took me 2 months of DI scavenging to find all our coordinating outfits. Do we look like the model DI family? LOL.  The one thing I splurged on was matching bows for the girls' hair. I paid a friend to make them.

The next thing that was in a constant state of flux was hair. For two months I was trying to keep everyone's hair in the right state before the picture. You know, cut, but not just, dyed, but not too recently. It was a lot harder than one would think. My hair was good for the 1st appt. but Luke couldn't get in to get his cut in time. For the second appt. Luke was good, but Chris was going to need a trim. By the third appt. I needed a dye job and Kate needed a cut. I tell you, I do not think a nice family picture is worth this kind of stress, albeit self-inflicted.

So the day finally arrives, the sky is overcast (perfect), there is NO wind, and all seems like a go, except that it was 90* and we were sweltering. The temple was being washed or something, so we couldn't go into the gardens and had to suffice w/ photos taken from the park side. Ok, that's alright. Everyone was pretty cooperative, except, as you'll see, Ella hardly ever smiled, and Zeke almost NEVER did. He had a really bad diaper rash and was super grumpy. We couldn't get him to stop sucking his thumb for the whole shoot. But our 45 minutes came and went, and we were done. Now we just wait to see what we got...

A week later, I go in to look at the images, really only intent on finding one good one for the free photo, because I was going to go home with a disk of the images that I could peruse and print up at my leisure, only come to find out that when the package said "Disk of Images" what they really meant was "Only the images you pay for and then only blog images, not printable images". Beware the deal that looks to good to be true. *sigh* My package comes with one 16x20 or 4 8x10 sheets, anything else I want, I'm gonna get soaked to the tune of $35 a sheet or $150 for 16x20. I'm torn between wanting the extra images, and paying through the nose for them.

So, I'm probably not going to get more than a few, and in lieu of posting those, I'm putting up the proofing link, so you can just see them all. It's maddening to know that these HARD EARNED photos are out there, and yet, I won't own them. *Phhhhtttt*

http://facesphoto.smugmug.com/Family/Kristen-Johnson/18065222_Rm3tMF#1385407908_8PWQfZ4

Johnson OCD's

The two that look the most decidedly Johnson, also the only two that suck their fingers... coincidence? I think not...

"Mummy!"

Zeke has started pulling on his ear WHILE he sucks his thumb... I can almost hear him whining, 'mummy!'