Surprise Date

A few weeks ago, Aaron called me from work to tell me that he and Dustin had planned a surprise date for Carolyn and me. He kept it a secret the whole time and I honestly had NO IDEA what we were going to be doing.

Well, we got to Abravanel Hall, downtown SLC, and the symphony played an absolutely heavenly Christmas medley. The symphony was AMAZING, but it got even better after that, because we were there for the

Cirque de la Syphonie!!!
It was amazing! I've never seen anything like it before. The music was awesome and the performers were unbelievable! The pictures don't do it justice because you can't see them in motion and see how real it is, and also you can't hear the beautiful symphony with it. But here are some pictures anyway.

(When these two men came out from behind the stage, Carolyn did reach over to cover my eyes. Their nude speedos are well matched to their skin. :)

All about Aubree

Aubree has a hard time pronouncing some "s" words, so Aaron tries to help her with it. So, for "scared" Aubree would say "gared". Aaron would have her make the "s" sound and then "cared", sometimes she would get it, sometimes not. But now when ever she's trying to tell us something, but we don't understand, she puts an "s" at the beginning and then says the word again. It goes something like this,
"I want some cany."
Dad: "some what?"
Aubree: "ssss - candy".

Unfortunatley she has some rare illness. The symptoms only come on when she's asked to do something she doesn't want to but the sypmtoms go away immediately if we suggest that a nap would help. For example:
Mommy: "Aubree, please bring your plate to the sink."
Aubree: "My belly hurts."
Mommy: "Okay, you better go lay down so it will feel better"
Aubree then picks up her plate and takes it to the sink - her belly is better.
Other common symptoms sometimes include an ouchie bum or ouchie lips.

Could she possibly be any cuter?! Another Aubree moment: Her friend, Malia came over to play the other day. They were playing nicely in the front room while I was busy in the family room. I could hear them, but wasn't really paying attention to what they were doing until I hear Aubree exclaim, "It's a book!" I hear ripping noices and run into the front room where I see Aubree and Malia having their own Christmas party - they were about half way through the presents under the tree!


Aubree's very own friend, Malia - partners in crime (don't you love how Aubree is choking her in this picture?). They are only a couple weeks apart and they are both the youngest with two older siblings. It is so fun to see these two interact with eachother because these playdates are their first experiences with being on equal footing with another human being. They enjoy reading books to each other, playing hide-and-seek, playing house (too cute), and unwrapping presents together. :)

She was not in movement when I took this picture - she was posing for me. ha ha! I guess she thought this would be pretty for a picture.

bye-bye!

*wink*

The Big Wind

On Thursday we had a huge wind storm with gusts over 100 mph! We were without power from Thursday around 7:30 am until Saturday about 1:00 pm. The first night was pretty fun - Arby's drive thru, dinner by flashlight, and camping in our own beds (it was very cold). But after that first day, it wasn't fun any more. School was cancelled Thursday and Friday and a lot of neighbors went to stay with family until they got power. The girls were bored. We were wishing we had TV and didn't feel like going to bed at 7:00. We were lucky enough to have a gas fireplace that kept the family room and kitchen nice and warm and a gas stove and oven to cook with. But, next time I hear of another storm coming these are the things I will make sure to do: vacuum, do dishes and run the disposal, and do a load of laundry. Here are some pictures of the damage.

"...proof through the night that our flag was still there."

These pictures look like something you would see on the news for some tornado in Kansas, not here in Davis County.

Here at our house we had a very large pine tree fall over down by the pool - luckily it didn't hit anything. Our roof also had shingles fly off in two different parts. Church was cancelled on Sunday (in almost all of Davis County) so people could help each other clean up yards in preparation for another storm that was headed this way (but never came). Aaron and Carly and Ellise were part of the clean-up crew.

For Carly, Ellise, and Aubree

This picture was taken way back in March

So, we have internet again. I was checking out Curt and Shawna's blog and read about how Shawna made a blog book and how her kids love it. I know our kids would also really enjoy it, so I'm back in the saddle again. :) I am renaming it The Parson Family Journal and will be recording the fun things we do, the cute things we do, the not-so-fun things we do and the not-so-cute things we do. But hopefully my kids will enjoy it for many years to come (and hopefully it will motivate me to take more pictures).

So, this blog is now lovingly dedicated to Carly, Ellise, and Aubree.
Love,
Mommy

Don't we all feel this way sometimes?

(I guess Carly was feeling kind of picked on.)

"I want to get mawied"

A slip for a veil, a slip for a dress, and her blessing dress jacket over.

Johnson Family Reunions in Park City

Nanny Nette and Grandpa are so awesome! They rented a HUGE (10,000 sq/ft) mansion, I mean, cabin for all of us to come enjoy a Johnson Family Reunion in Park City. We went in July and November.

Scotty LOVED Ellie and would just follow her around and cuddle her.



Aunt Stephanie took Conner, Kali, Sophie and Ellie sledding
Daddy threw kids up in the air



One thing Carly enjoyed was the Disney Channel

The adults enjoyed lounging around, visiting, and playing mafia.

Beautiful Heartbreak

One year ago today, my nephew, Blake Derek Johnson, passed away. It has been a sad year missing Blake and feeling Ken and Gina and their kids' heartbreak and wishing we could see Blake and express our love in person. But today was also a beautiful day because his dad, Ken, was able to go to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple for Blake to receive his endowment. Aaron and I were privileged to be there, as well as Gina, Mom and Dad, Angela and Jimmy, Stephanie, and Ashley (and some of Gina's family). I am sure Blake was there also. What a blessing Temples are - we can be together forever!

Gina was reading a book about a person who had a near death experience and they wrote about how they were met by someone on the other side. Gina was wondering who might have met Blake since he was not very close to any of his relatives who have passed on before him. I'm sure he was met by loved ones that he recognized and loved from the pre-mortal existence. This life isn't the beginning and it's not the end either.

HALLOWEEN!

Carly and Ellie are wearing costumes that were handed down from Nanny Nette's house - I remember wearing these! I even have a picture of me as a clown (about Carly's age), with the same wig, but a different clown costume.

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of Aubree!!! She was a fairy - and so cute too!

We went to dinner at Tanner and Libby's house with some other friends and went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We ended up at our house and enjoyed hot cocoa with our friends.

Visiting the Wakefields

It was so fun to visit the Wakefields at their home in St. George - they are such awesome friends. We go back a long way - Shawna and I since we were 5, and Aaron and Curt since Jr. High. With them, we can always pick up where we left off - it's great! We arrived Thursday night and pretty much just went to bed. Then...


Friday, Aaron was nice enough to watch all 7 of the kids in the afternoon while Shawna and I went shopping. We made sure to stop by Sweet tooth Fairy for a treat too. I discovered the yummiest way to eat a tortilla while there - grill the cheese on both sides of one tortilla, then fill it up with fresh tomatoes, lettuce and ranch dressing - YUM!!! Shawna insisted Aaron bring his guitar (reminiscent of the good ol' college days.) Curt had to drive Aaron to the store to buy a new string so we could hear him play. His hands were sore because he hadn't played in awhile and then he played a lot while he was there.
For dinner we had some yummy BBQ beef...
Here we are having a little picnic in the backyard.

(these pics are out of chronological order) The last night there we watched the replay of the BYU game - they lost.

We went on a double date to the Tuacan theater where we watched Grease. It is an awesome outdoor theater. Curt is a seminary teacher at the high school at Tuacan, so we got free tickets. It was so fun to be there.


We went on a hike on Saturday by Tuacan High School/Theater. St. George is so beautiful!! I love the red hills, and also the background of "regular" mountains - so so pretty!

Adults and kids alike had a great time at the playground we went to on Friday night. Although, Shawna and I both left with injuries - I seriously thought I broke my knee cap.

The kids all got along really well too. Heidi and Carly left with promises to be pen pals.

As a side note, Heidi said something very profound and true after we left their house. Carly and Heidi did something they weren't supposed to do (I don't remember what). After we left, Shawna talked to Heidi about it and told her that she should have let Carly know that they weren't supposed to do whatever it was. Heidi replied: "Carly's not really the type of girl you tell what to do."

Jordan and Anna Forever!

Uncle Jordan is one lucky guy! On September 2nd he married Anna Sorensen in the Los Angelos Temple. They are so perfect for each other. In the ten years I have known Jordan, I have NEVER seen him so happy - the whole Parson clan is thrilled to have Anna in the family!

Aaron and most of his siblings (Justin couldn't make it to CA) went to Los Angelos for the wedding. Here is an awesome sibling photo:Aaron looks so young - like a missionary!

_______________________________________________

THE RECEPTION IN IDAHO

At Grandma and Grandpa's house A candid of Aubree, Ellise and cousin Suzie

Cousins Anna, Sarah, and Carly

Our one family photo of the year!

The beautiful bride pulling girl cousins

Speaking of girl cousins.....

It was fun to have Kay-Lynn here with Justin - they got to ride to and from Idaho with us.

That is one great thing about living in the SL valley - we get to see our family that's flying in and out of the SL airport. And if we're lucky we get to have slumber parties! In fact, when the caravan drove down to California for the wedding we had Leon, Kathy, Holly, Troy, Alie, Franci (and her bro-in-law) spend the night.

Tea Party with Ellie, Carly, Megan, Kaylie, Anna, Kay-Lynn

First Day of Kindergarten

Ellise wasn't even nervous for the first day of school. She got all her Jewelry on - including the earrings and necklace I made for her a few weeks ago - and off we went! I got to go with her on the first day. After that first day, she was a little nervous, maybe because the reality of it finally hit her. Her teacher asked her what she wanted to be called and she said "Ellie". I was a bit surprised because she usually says she wants to be called Ellise. It was kind of a weird thing to see Ellie make that decision on her own - it was like I could feel her growing up.

I didn't get a picture of Carly on her first day (hopefully blogging more will keep me on my toes with things like this). She was opposite from Ellie, very anxious leading up to the first day of school, but after that, she was good to go!

It was a little hard for me with both of them. Especially since I didn't get to go with Carly on her first day and I knew she would be gone all day.

Kids and teachers alike get these two mixed up. One boy that knew Carly saw Carly and Ellie standing next to each other and looked back and forth at them a few times, with a bewildered look on his face, and then pretended to faint. :) From what I've seen and heard, they have been being good friends at school. Whenever they see each other, Ellie will run up to Carly and wrap her arms and legs around her.

Daddy-Daughter Day Camp

Our stake has a Father-Daughter Camp-out every summer. The girls look forward to it so much. Last year just Carly and Ellise went, this year Aubree got to go too!

Beautiful Girls! And Handsome Daddy!!

The last two pictures are ones that the stake took - I love the caption on the last one - "You're always safe with Dad!!" (For whatever reason, Carly didn't want to be in these ones.)

More Fridge Quotes

April 20, 2011
Carly had a friend over (Hariet). Carly asked her, "Do you bite your fingernails?" Hariet answered, "Um, not really". Then Carly admitted, "I do, and I bite my toe nails and I pick my nose."

May 2011
While driving in the car as a family one Sunday Carly said, "I feel so sorry for Mommy. Soon Aubree will be at school and me and Ellie. And Daddy will have to go to work. Mommy will be home all alone." (Aaron and I exchange a knowing look.) Then trying to sound more upbeat Carly says, "She'll have a mommy relationship with Mom. She can go grocery shopping." And then it was as if a light bulb lit up in her head. She continued, "We'll come home and there'll be chocolate smeared all over her face, laundry not done, and she'll be drinking a soda."

June 17, 2011
We were watching Oliver and Co." as a family and we watched the part where the little girl is practicing the piano. After the song was over Carly said matter-of-factly, "I don't think she needs to practice!"

here and there

This is the view we have out our back window in the winter time - so beautiful! And in the summer - even better!


Two miniature Mommies

This little girl is so much fun! Some of her latest phrases: "I don' wannu", "Love oo", and "my do it". She loves to pretend to be a puppy and loves for me to pretend to be a baby. Sometimes she'll pretend to be my baby and just cuddle with me - so sweet. I wish I could share all of her cuteness in this blog, but so much of it is just in her body language and the way she moves and talks.

Ellie and I made this cake from scratch - start to finish. (I'm sure you were thinking we had this ordered from some fancy bakery and paid a lot of money for it :))

So, things here are going really well. Aaron got a job at an Engineering Firm in W. Jordan in November - Yay! They have been SUPER busy and Aaron really likes the people he works with. We feel really blessed that Aaron got this job so quickly.

Carly on class picture day. 6 going on 16 - seriously! This girl keeps me on my toes. She is ALWAYS listening and asking hard questions. She really likes Kindergarten and has picked up on reading so quickly. She struggled at the beginning of the year with making friends which was really hard for her (and me). There are a bunch of girls in her class that have grown up in the same ward and she was the only girl who didn't know anyone. I was really surprised because Carly has always been our social bug and other kids have always been drawn to her. But, she has now found her place in the social scheme of things and is loving it. Here's a cute story about how Carly can be such a sweet sister: Ellise had spent a lot of time coloring Valentine's for some of her neighbor friends while Carly was at school. Then Ellie went to the mailbox to see if she got anything ..... nothing. So, when Carly got home from school with a big bag of Valentines, Ellie felt pretty bad. A few minutes later Carly told us to go check the mail. Inside was a cute picture/Valentine that Carly had secretly made for Ellise.

Ellise is so creative and inventive. She made this toy ALL BY HERSELF. It's a plastic cup with a string coming out of it and a bead at the end of the string. (You try to catch the bead in the cup.) Just today she asked me why we don't see a crack in everything. I kind of gave her a blank look. So, she pointed to the bridge of her nose and asked me why there isn't a gap when we look at things. (You have to be really bright to understand what she's asking - it took me awhile :)) I had never thought of it before, but thought is was a very good question. (Maybe our good friend, Dr. Klingler, has a 5-year-old explanation for us)