{Our Valentines}

This year we got a little creative with our Valentines,
and had a lot of fun crafting them.
I'm not usually the craftiest of people,
so when I do actually make something,
I'm kinda proud of myself.
Anyhow, here are our Valentines this year.

We wrapped these mini cereal boxes
up with a cute bow and a red spoon
with a little tag that said,
"We Cerealsly like you."
We gave these to cousins a some of
their friends not in their class at school.
They turned out pretty cute.
(Idea found on pinterest).
For their teachers we made these darling
pop top cans filled with this delicious popcorn.
I wanted to make these for about a million
people but just didn't start saving cans in time.
I thought they turned out darling.

Since I didn't have enough cans I just
filled some bags with the rest of the popcorn.
Still pretty cute, I think.

But these Valentines the girls gave their classmates
turned out so adorable....but sadly, I can take
absolutely no credit for them.
One of my friends had all of these darling
plastic cases and came up with the Valentines
idea, as well as took the pictures...and gave me
the paper.
My friends are pretty much fabulous.

Aren't they darling?

Valentines morning the ladies awoke
to find their Valentine surprises
(Jewelry boxes and a few little things),
and a fun little table setting for breakfast.
Sadly, I had to nix the heart shaped pancakes because
Sienna was too sick...so we opted for heart shaped
toast. It was not very original, but they at least ate it...And then I put the camera away and snuggled
with my sick baby for the rest of the day.
I can't complain,
she's pretty adorable.

I hope you all had a fabulous V-day!

{Donuts with a BFF}

The ladies each brought home a letter
last week saying that Thursday was
donuts with a BFF and they were to
choose ANY person they'd like.

I waited for my invitation.

Then Dad walked in the door.
And they both begged him to come.

Both of them.

I'd be more hurt if I didn't get it completely.

Their Dad is kinda fabulous.
They had a grand time.

P.S.---if you don't read the cancer blog,
head on over there and read the latest post.
We are soliciting prayers, good wishes,
and happy thoughts.

Click here.

{Smitten}

Right now I am completely smitten
with my two little ladies.

Truth.


Lately they have become
the very best of friends.
I'm not gonna lie,
they have their moments where
they argue, but mostly they
want to spend every second together.


At bed time Adyson snuggles into Sienna's bed
and they read in the dark with their reading lights aglow.
It's the sweetest thing.

And each day after school,

they get their treat homework done
as fast as they can so they can play
dance class, teacher, and listen to Justin Beiber.
(I tried to prolong the Beiberfever...I really did,
but it hit them just like every other kid from 5 up. Boo.)

They even share friends
without any fighting.
Most of the time.
It's glorious!

I keep praying and hoping and crossing all my fingers and toes
that they continue their friendship.
A sister is something special.

I adore these ladies of mine.
Adore them.

Princess Party

About a month ago when Trav
went in for his treatment at the
Cancer Center, he was informed
that One Wish Inc. had paid for our
little ladies to go to the Princess Party
hosted by the Child and family support center
in the USU ballroom.

What a fun surprise for our girls!
And for us!

Not only did they let us have
such a great time at the party,
but they sent Snow White and Cinderella
over to invite the girls to the party!
(Sure wish my video upload would work!)

This couldn't have come at a better time.
Travis was feeling pretty terrible, and Sienna was
home with the flu.
We were all feeling pretty blue.
But nothing cheers you up like princesses
on your front porch.
Trust me.

They brought a huge bag full of surprises
for the girls. Princess dresses,
movies, tiaras, wands, a barbie..
I mean, the list is long and the ladies LOVED it.

We waited a very long week till the day of the party
and then it was time to go.
They got in their darling new dresses
and we headed up to the ballroom where they....Got their makeup done.
(Sienna chose black. Lovely.)Got their hair done...Made beautiful jewelry...Were given a rose from Prince Charming.Got their nails done...Met Snow White,
(And Cinderella, Rupunzel, Tinkerbell, Ariel, & Belle)

And on their way out they even ran into
the Fairy God Mother!It was such a fun day!
We are so grateful to
One wish
for donating this to our family.
If you read our Cancer Blog
you know that the past week
has been extremely tough on our family.
It was lovely to have a day to forget
everything that was going on
and just spoil our girls.
Thank you for thinking of us.
We really are so. very. thankful.

Click here to link up to One Wish Cache Valley.

{Christmas Day}

Christmas morning we awoke to signs that Santa came!
He always leaves the ladies slippers on the stairs with candy inside...
but this year there was a lump of coal in there!
They weren't sure if that was a bad sign or not...

And before the ladies came downstairs I noticed that
the Twix and DP were gone!

Here they are, sleep in their eyes waiting

to go downstairs. Just a little excited!

The stockings.
Santa stuffs our stocking very, very full.
It is his (and my) favorite part of Christmas.
Each year we seem to stretch the stockings just a bit.
Crazy hair.
Sleep in her eyes.
Still pretty darn beautiful.
Love the wonder in Ady's eyes over an umbrella!
She cracks me up!Santa numbered their gifts, and here they are opening #1.
They asked for video camera's this year...
and were a little confused when they opened this gift.
Adyson yelled "A phone!!:
No, she did not get a phone.
But Santa did give them ipod touches.
(Dad had some serious influence here because mom
wasn't super excited about it.)
But, they were a hit, and have continued to be since then.
They are in love.

And Adyson gave Sienna her second favorite gift of the year.
Pop the Pig.
She's been asking for it for a good year,
and has played it about 100 times since.

And in return, Adyson got this fun barbie tent from Roo.
They've had a blast with it all!

I didn't take many pictures this year, because we were just enjoying it all
so much, but we all got way too spoiled, and enjoyed the morning so much.

We enjoyed church after opening gifts. I wish Christmas would
fall on a Sunday every year. It was so nice to dedicate that hour to what
was truly meant to be celebrated. I wish it happened every year!
(Not to mention how much I loved seeing all of our ward family on Christmas Day.
We really love them all!)

We spent the rest of the day at my parents eating too much food
and watching the kids play.
It was just so lovely!!

{Christmas Eve}

Christmas Eve was spent with the Kidman clan.

The kids were all so excited to get to the presents and party,
but I was able to get them to pose for a quick picture.

We ate dinner and then Grandma broke out her stack of games.
We played the usual 7-11 game with loads of candy.
Travis may-or may not have, hid all the Reeses Peanut butter cups....

The ladies were thrilled with our bounty!

We were in the middle of another game (Guesstures),
when the doorbell rang.
Tiff went to answer it and was quite surprised when Santa
came barreling in!
The kids eyes about popped right out of their heads.
It was so much fun.Each of the grand kids sat on his lap and he
chatted with them all for a few minutes and
then gave them a gift. And then he pulled out gifts for the adults too!
It's been a while since T and I have sat on Santa's lap.
So funny.
All the grand kids thanking Santa before he left to get his sleigh and
deliver the gifts. He made them promise to go to bed early!After Santa left we played the usual pass the present game,
where a story is read and you pass the gift left or right when it's
said in the story. Well, Sienna started out with a gift she didn't
want to give up...and she very quietly tried to pass the other gifts while
holding onto hers. She really thought we didn't notice,
but we were all laughing so hard we were almost crying.
It was too cute!

Somehow I missed taking pictures of the kids opening gifts,
but rest assured, they got VERY spoiled and loved every second of it.
(As did T and I).
It was a lovely night.

We came home to open the traditional Christmas Eve PJ's.

After a quick bath Sienna tried them on and
was pretty happy about them....Adyson's fit wasn't quite as good.
Somehow the store sold us a size 7 top, with size 10 bottoms.
So funny. We tried to teach her the hammer dance before bed.Dr. Pepper and Twix left out for Santa,
Our version of Cookies and Milk.
A reading of the Nativity from the Bible.
Prayers.
And bed.
Sienna was asleep in seconds.
Adyson-hours. I kid you not. Hours.

Christmas Eve is by far my favorite part of the Holiday.
So sad it's over!!

{Christmas Eve Eve}

This year my side of the family celebrated
Christmas on Christmas Eve-Eve.
It was such a great way to kick off the Holiday!
The ladies were quiet excited to see their cousins!

They played all day long on Friday taking full
advantage of the parents being busy preparing
for the party and tearing Grandmas house apart!

At one point during the day Jody jokingly told
Sienna he was gonna take her on a date to get
some ice-cream.
(He was craving a root beer float and thought
he'd tease her in the process.)
Little does he know,
our kid will do pretty much
ANYTHING
for ice-cream.
30 seconds after he said that she came running
into the kitchen and said
"I've got my shoes on, Let's go!"
It was too cute. She's so lucky to have such
great uncles.He took her to get her ice-cream and brought
some back for all the kids.

And a few hours later we were ready to party!

For the Johnson family,
a party is all about the food!

Crab Wontons
7 Layer dip
Cranberry-jalepeno dip
Southwestern eggrolls
Stuffed mushrooms
Mexican ranch dip

Yes, we ate good and were stuffed the rest of the weekend!

Cody and Amy looking good.
Jody and Heather. Aww.
T and I.
Wish I would have gotten a pic of my parents! Grandma let the kids have a picnic in her front room and they were thrilled.Then came games.
The kids loved the race to pull the napkins out
of the box.
(Thanks Bishop for teaching us that one!)

Lucy LOVED the mess!And rolled each other up with TP.
Brielle enjoyed it!
And then it was present time!!
The kids were so excited for their first gifts of the year.
And they were spoiled, like always.My mom made them these darling skirts.
I adore them!
Aren't they fabulous?

The next day we had a little farewell dinner before they took off
for home. Me and Breezy in our purple jackets.
Love this kid!

We came home to prepare for our Kidman Christmas Eve
and found that Mrs. Claus hadn't forgot our tradition.
Each year she surprises the girls with a cute little outfit to
wear on Christmas Eve, and they were so excited to see her gifts
under the tree! Since they were already dressed they saved
them for Christmas day, but I think they were pretty happy
she remembered them.It was a great time with the Johnson clan.
We are so blessed with a great family!