The Cowboy Temple

Here is the Temple of the Cowboys!!!!! I definitely got the impression of total worship when I walked into the Cowboy's store at the stadium. I have to admit it kind of turned me off a little. Our purses had to be searched before shopping. There was a girl line and a boy line. About a million people worked there and they let you know that you were priviledged to even be there. I think they had 18 cash registers waiting to take your money and yes there was people lining all thru the store just to buy. You get into the store and it has everything and you do get caught up in the Cowboy image. You want one of everything. They had cool stuff for a price. I needed to take a mortgage out on my house...
These are the hosts. The Lethbridge Cowboy Fan Club. Eric and Stacy Wilde. They bought season tickets. And guess where the seats are. Row 7 behind the players bench. The jumbo screen is unbelievable big. It was awesome. What a experience. It was a blast. I felt blessed to be able to go.
Our view of the players..... Pretty close eh?
Joel and Eric in front of the temple oh I mean stadium.
Enjoying the game.
Joel and I going in. I only bought the Cowboy shirt because I knew I would need to dress the part...... I bought it at Walmart. They had like 4 aisles of Cowboy stuff. And the store was at the end of the Stadium parking lot. I got the grandbabies Cowboy footballs and onesies. They are really cute.
Me and Stace at our seats...
My new career photography, just kidding. But I did take this picture and I thought it turned out awesome. I keep thinking he looks like Brad Pitt's kids. He is so freaking cute. I love him to pieces. I am so thankful that I get to live near my grandchildren. The twins are so much fun. But they are busy. They all have been sick. I Haven't been and I am thankful for that.

That is the excitement in the Johnson household. HOW ABOUT THEM COWBOYS???????

Catch up from forever

I made a flirty apron. Which is really cute. But an awful picture of me.

Barrett, my baby, turned 22 on Monday..... I can't believe it.

Harrison at Grandma 2's house. Isn't he cute and getting bigger?

Little Jett looking relaxed in the love sac.... Oh to be a baby...

Blessing day. Man he looks tiny there. He has gotten so big. He is teething and is so cute...

Remember back to a previous post. Here is my treasure. My machine....TZone Vibration. I lost 3 inches off the waist and lots off the legs. Keeps me all tuned up and ready to play.... I really kind of like it. I need to lose lots more.

Summer has come and I can't think of anything spectactular that has happened. I ripped up some grass because I didn't like the way it looked. It was a different color of green. That was a project that Joel finished because we couldn't work together. I hope it improves the look. I just want my grass to be all the same color. I am pretty boring.

I had a great time at the Stampede. It was really fun.

Summer

Canadians celebrate summer. They appreciate summer. They enjoy every minute of it. I love that about Canadians. It is one of the traits that I truly admire. If the sun is out Canadians go outside and enjoy. They love going outside and doing outside things and doing things outside. They do not say I will go outside tomorrow. They love summer. You go to the park and there is a lot of people there. There are people on bikes everywhere. There are dog walkers, tennis players, golfers, baseball players. Everywhere you go people are outside celebrating summer. What a happy season.

I am outside doing flower beds. And I love that. I do not mind the weeding and resetting the bricks around the flower beds. I love planting flowers. I love thinking about flowers. I love the plant stores. I hate the ants and I have declared war on them. I may be winning the war. I have tried for years to get rid of them. Chemicals and the natural stuff. Now I am on borax and sugar and it is working. I still have a few ants but not the thousands that I had before.

I got new lounging chairs for outside..... I do not love them. I like them lots but do not love them. I found the most unique most comfortable and very excellent quality patio chairs and I loved them. I really loved them. I really wanted them. I saved my paychecks for 3 months and I still don't know why I don't have them but I don't want to dwell on that because it makes me a little sad but I have some other ones that are okay. They look great and are comfortable and make the backyard look like a million dollars. They recline and have a foot rest. I got a side table to put my books on and the diet coke. Almost heaven. You need to come over and see them.

I have to say it is very handy to have a daughter that loves to read as much as I do.... She will go to the library or to the website and order books all the time and then she lets me read them. It is awesome. We like a lot of the same books so that is cool too.

The week workings

Barrett was home for the weekend with friends. I don't think he really came home to see us but to go to the hockey game. Joel had to sell his soul for tickets. The Flames won Yes Yes Yes and we watched it on TV. So it was a good game to see. They were in the hot tub and even went to West Edmonton Mall. I think they have a more exciting life than me......

Look at Harrison's new "DO". Spiked!!!!! This was at Olive Garden for Bree's Birthday. Isn't he just the cutest thing???? The twins are so big now that we have Jett. They seem to have doubled in size. Look what having a newborn will do.

Bree and her cake. The famous birthday cake picture. The tradition goes on. The twins have their first birthday this week.

I got a new prize at my house. I am blogging about it later. It is really cool. I had an awful experience at LA Weight Loss. My weight weeks are over and I don't want to spend any more money and I got a witch for a counselor that time. Does she really think she will motivate anyone to lose weight? I just wanted to quit. I think I hate that place. Jenny Craig was way nicer.

My Wii fit is finally set up. AND I am sore. The hula made the abs sore and now the boxing is making my torso sore. It is fun but frustrating because I am not very coordinated. AFter I practise for a while I will be good. It really makes me sweat.

Okay enough with the snow. I want green. I want to plant. I want to play in the dirt.

Our primary was asked to sing at stake conference. My dilemma.........Should I have them get someone else to play the piano because I will be way to nervous and will probably make a fool of myself or give it a try and make a fool of myself...

Till next time.

Jett Week One

Dressed and ready to go... As you can see not a lot of hair but it does look blonde. He is a very content baby....

Shoes and everything.....We tried the sling thing and he LIKED it.....But the car seat thing is a pain in the butt. We got to babysit today.

Announcing Jett Joshua Berry

Here is the new baby. Only 11 hours old. Jett Joshua Berry. March 4, 2009, 4:25 a.m. 6 pounds 12 ounces and 20.5 inches long.

Doesn't Brooke look great after 12 hours of labor?

Proud Grandma. I was there for all the action. No sleep last night. I even had to miss racquetball.

After his first bath which he didn't really like. Eyes open lots of the time. A very content baby.

I'm glad I'm not pregnant

This are Brooke's feet.....Look how swollen they are. And how tiny they look. How to do they actually hold her up. Can I just say how thank I am that my feet didn't do this when I was pregnant. I think she is about done....But won't it be so exciting to have a new baby????? I am so excited.

I read the new John Grisham book this week and am now reading The Last Lecture. Which I can only read about 2 chapters at a time because I cry all thru it. But it is a very interesting book. I have also read this month the in between novel of Janet Evanowich. I tried not to buy it because they are not my favorite of hers but this one wasn't bad. Still waiting the Number 15 book. I get desperate for new books so I cave and buy new ones.

I went to a tax course on Friday. It was all day and it was just all about all the new tax laws that have come into effect since last year. It sure does get all complicated and I am glad that most of it I won't really see. I love doing income taxes. It is fast and you accomplish your job quickly. Good thing my boss hates doing them.

I want to go somewhere.

I got my new crib. Now to paint the room.....and buy bedding. Joel isn't thrilled but he thought the crib was cute.

I wish I could sing. I heard our ward choir today and thought they sounded wonderful. I just wish I could sing. I would join in a heart beat. Now if Bree and Brooke were in my ward I would drag them with me. Bree on one side and Brooke on the other. If I stand by really strong singers sometimes I can sing along. Sometimes I feel very sad I wasn't blessed with this talent.

I am glad that I can play racquetball. It is so fun. I love going. I love laughing with the ladies and getting a great workout.

That has been my week. I am glad I'm not pregnant.

Musings for the new year

Barrett is home.... Man was that a little stressful before Christmas. But all is well. It is good to have him home. He really hasn't changed a bit personality wise. It was very interesting to go with him to get released from the Stake President. I couldn't believe how he has the gift of gab....I couldn't believe the experiences that he had that we didn't know. Of course, he didn't really write a lot about his experiences so that was all news to us too. It was really exciting to see the growth and testimony of my baby boy. He was home 1 day before we left for the Domincan. But the Dominican was a great experience. We got to listen to stories for days and to observe Barrett as he leaves his mission life and the habits that he acquired. The first morning he told me that he made his bed, hung up his towel, and put his dirty clothes down the laundry shoot. I pretended to faint but I was really shocked. We tried for 19 years to get him to do this.

We got home from the Dominican to prepare for family to come to hear of Barrett's homecoming. Okay everyone, sit down...but I did cook. I made homemade chicken noodle soup, cream of brocolli soup and taco soup plus "funeral" potatoes, salad, and 7 layer dip and caramel popcorn. Yes I used Colleen's recipe and it is the best caramel popcorn I have ever eaten. My mother was shocked. She started talking to me like a cook and I had to stop her and say that was my cooking for a long time. I am starting to like cooking more just because I am getting pickier and want things cooked the way I want to eat them. But we will see how that goes.

We left on the Monday to take Barrett down to school. He didn't have a car and that was our job to find him one. Boy was that stressful. Glad that is done. You all will be glad to know that he has the one thing that is the most important for success in university. A CELL PHONE WITH UNLIMITED TEXTING. We took care of that too. I sure hope I can afford this child in university. I wish him all the best.

I am back on the diet. I lost 20 pounds before Christmas and as you can see from the pictures another 25 needs to go. I am back at work and feeling better about it. I think I needed a break from work too.

I got a new phone for Christmas and can I say that I love it????? It is the i phone and it is amazing and I can text really fast now. I am still learning all the tricks of the thing but is super cool. I can honestly say that learning to text was a New Years goal last year. check that one off. I am working on new ones for this year. I want to get my quilts all sewn up. The diet and exercise for sure. I am still thinking of what I really want to accomplish. I try to have very specific goals and ones that I can achieve but still are things that I want to accomplish.

Brooke has 7 weeks left..... I am getting excited for this new grandbaby. I love having grandbabies. She looks very cute pregnant.

Blood pressure is doing great. The new pills are working. Life is good so far. Everybody take care of yourselves and Have A great new Year.....

My favorite pictures from the Dominican

This is really my favorite picture not the next one but I don't know how to edit it and my children are not here to help me.

Greyson, Joel doesn't think he needs reading glasses....LOL He borrowed mine.

Greyson and I. What a handsome little boy. He makes my heart melt.

This is Prince Dash aka Harrison. He was our Prince on the trip. He loves to be the baby and we are actually happy to baby him. He was all wrapped up nice for his nap at the pool.

Brooke will hate this shot. But I made her do it. I figured she would regret it later on... Debbie said.....

Here is the family on Christmas. Aren't we a good looking bunch????? It was so much fun. I think I would go away again for Christmas. Very peaceful....

Babysitting the boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I babysat the boys.....I wasn't too nervous about it but I did have a lunch date. I still wasn't too worried about the lunch date either because my friend Evelyn could have one baby and I could have the other one. Well to start off our adventure, we decided it was too cold for these babies and they needed coats. So off to Winners we go. Things went well until check out. Noses were running clear to their lips and both had stinky diapers. No one had a kleenex so Evelyn goes off to the bathroom to get toilet paper. But she leaves her purse. Now I have 2 carts, 2 babies, 2 purses all to watch. I was getting more stressed by the minute. The lady in front of me sees Grayson's nose and starts digging for kleenexs. She finds a package and hands me one. I say to her do you have another one I have 2 babies. She tells me I need the whole package. Then it was my turn to pay. Grayson is standing inside the cart and I move it up maybe 2 whole inches and he falls backwards into the cart smacking his head. Wailing like crazy and I am feeling guilty very guilty. The lady in front of me picks up Grayson and is cuddling him. Harrison is now crying. The checkout lady is holding the receipt for me to sign. I have no idea how much I signed for. Evelyn comes back and says I heard the crying and wondered if it was our babies. Then we have to haul those babies to the car and get them into their car seats....What an ordeal. I hate car seats. I much perferred whatever I did for my kids.

We then go to Moxies for lunch. I change both babies and we get seated and now they are hungry. I empty out the diaper bag for spoons couldn't find them so we ask the waiter for them. Feed them some applesauce and order them fries. They really couldn't eat the fries. They kept choking on them. So we try the crackers and bottles. Needles to say, if I had babies I would be very skinny because out of that meal I may have had 3 or 4 bites and a couple of sips of pop... It wasn't the most pleasant meal. And I feel sorry for Bree and all the work she has to do to do anything.........Next time I will stay home. Much easier and much more enjoyable. But they are the cutest things in the whole wide world.

Look close at the Santa claus picture. Do you recognize Santa?????

Barrett is home tomorrow night......

Racquetball ladies

Here are the racquetball ladies. If you ever need anything solved let us know. We solve the world's problems every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On the far left we have Nola. She has sister weekends all the time. It sounds like they have so much fun. It is her grandson that started the term "racquetball ladies". He is incredibly cute and he loved racquetball. She is our motorcycle queen as she took a road trip on the motorcycle to Arizona in July. Next is Michele. She is our resident nurse. So she gets all the medical questions. She also vacations all the time and does fifty billion things a day. We all sit around and wonder where she gets all her energy. She also loves to cook and do crafts. She brings us samples all the time. Bottom left is Lorna. She is our resident party animal. She is always planning parties and hilarious parties at that. She does family reunions too. Her Bunko parties are freaking hilarious. She also shops in places like Stettler and finds great deals. We all want to meet her family and shop in Stettler. Next is Diana. Our beauty queen. She comes to racquetball dressed to the nines and her hair is always done. Perfume and everything. She is younger than the rest of us because she can wear long pants and long sleeved shirts to play. The rest of us die of heat.... Diana's famous words (after we have played like 5 games) are "Should we play another one????"

Notice in the picture the drink of choice..... Some of us have the breakfast of champions in our hands you know diet coke. And some like Nola and Lorna have way better choices you know like water. Also green tea added to water also gets thrown in too.

We have a great time and only get hit every once in a while but that doesn't mean we don't duck sometimes.

Diet Time Again

That is what is new at my house. I am on a diet. But first all the motivating factors.....

Number 1: My blood pressure. I know that for my health that I need to lose weight. When I lose weight my blood pressure goes down.....

Number 2: Barrett is coming home December 22. We are leaving December 24 to the Dominican Republic for a week's vacation. Do we know how to get his undivided attention??????

Number 3. Dominican Republic. I can hardly wear a thing in my closet and what I do wear I look awful in. It is either new jeans or a diet.....

So the diet won. I think I am motivated for this one. I joined LA Weight Loss because I am very unmotivated to do it by myself. I have to pay money and weigh in to stick to the diet. I know I am weak... I have been doing great., Started last Tuesday and have already lost 13 pounds exactly. Don't get too excited. I have been carrying a lot of water lately....which doesn't help the blood pressure either. I haven't really been hungry though so that is absolutely awesome.

Brooke and I signed up to go to the cannery. She has wanted to go forever and could never go in Idaho because her ward only went during the day. Bree couldn't go but we did her dried food for her. We had a great time and it isn't bad at all. We were done and out in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I got my Canadian passport......... I became a Canadian citizen last June. So I finally got my passport. My Canadian citizenship card picture was pitifully ugly and the immigration people at the airport encouraged my to get it. I put it on my list and got it done. I did not give up my American citizenship. I am now dual......just like my kids....

I planted by amaryllis bulb..from last year. Just to see if I can get it to grow again. I kind of like gardening..... It was so cool last Christmas to see it grow. Bree and I had a contest to see whose would bloom first. I really can't remember who won.

We are getting excited to have Barrett home. Did I tell you that my grandbabies are the cutest things ever?????? I just love them a lot...........Now if we could just get Greyson to stop spitting up on our very nice rug....

Barrett

We got a email from Barrett this week that is way to funny not to post.....He got to cut the cord and everything. The dad freaked out and didn't do a thing.... Good thing he got his eagle scout and had first aid training......LOL

hey whats up daddy o? well did mom tell you how i am doctor johnson now instead of elder Johnson?? yah the baby wanted to come out when I’m teaching about Jesus. freak I’m teaching and she says my water broke and I say you should go to the hospital and the husband says oh I’ll call 911 and leaves but he only speaks Spanish and leaves the mother there and she can’t move and the baby starts coming and she popped out a baby while i was there and i was the only one who spoke English to talk to the ambulance and doctor guy too and I got nasty stuff all over the place. it is nasty. soooo yah awkward. and the baby came out and I had to grab it and it was nasty and bloody… and nasty. but yeah life. anyway. I ruin a white shirt and a tie lol and white shirts are like gold. I don’t want to have kids anymore. So ya experience of the week. We are teaching some people alot just need them to come to church. we have alot of people to teach just we need more. we are having a baptism this Saturday of stephanie. lol. oh freak. well yah. anyway I should probably go. talk to yah later. love yah byeElder johnson

What is new at the Johnson's

Harrison has been very busy and fussy growing two new teeth.
Greyson is up on all fours but doesn't know how to move... Notice the new Halloween pj's that Grandma bought.
Harrison's Halloween pj's. Isn't he just the cutest in orange. Harrison wants to eat "real food" too. He wants more than just bottles.


Brandon and Bree's family picture taken in the fall colors. This was one of Bree's goals to get a picture in the fall. Brooke and I were happy to help her accomplish this.
Brooke has been busy too. Yes, she is 18 weeks pregnant. She has lost 18 pounds but is feeling better now. She is having a pregnancy just like her mother's. Poor child. She is having a boy. Brooke and I have had to adjust to that. She was sure she was having a girl and I wanted a granddaughter because I have so many cute clothes for one. But I am very excited because all the grandbabies will be friends and have lots in common.

As for me, I am working two days a week, playing racquetball three times a week, try to play volleyball once a week and tennis on Saturday. I am starting to have blood pressure problems again. I was in the emergency all day on Tuesday but started taking my old blood pressure reducing pills and they are working better. I am feeling much better. The big news is I am trying to cut down on diet coke. Just one a day. So far so good except for today and I have had 3.

Life is good. I am very thankful this Thanksgiving weekend for health and for families and friends. Have a great Thanksgiving. Love ya all.

Hawaii

This is a picture of our lovely hotel room for the first few days. This is one of the time share rooms that we bought in Mexico but in Mexico it was a beautiful hotel this one not so much. We were not that impressed.

Yes, I went to Macdonalds for breakfast. It was dang good.

The tattoo place that also had massages next door.

Joel and I went to Hawaii. It was great. I finally got to go back. I have wanted to go for a while. I had to make lots of hints. It was our 28th wedding anniversary. I just have always had a great time in Hawaii. So I hoped it would be as wonderful as I wanted it to be.



Difference between me and Joel. Joel packs 4 pair of socks and no swimming suits. I pack 5 swimming suits and no socks. We thought we might have to find the nudist beaches but Joel had actually packed one suit so the beaches were safe.



Joel and I are always trying to get massages everywhere we go. Of course, Joel is cheap. He sees a massage place. It made me a little nervous. It was a tattoo palour on one side and escort service on the other. I refused to go there. I was nervous about getting raided and I thought I would spend more to go to a nicer place. We got two massages and didn't get raided.



Joel wore the same shirt about everyday. He only quit when we ran into a hocker selling excursions two days in a row and the guy talked to us both days. He was wearing his Denver Cowboy shirt. Thank goodness for that man.......



You would think that we never had never been to Hawaii. It took us forever to get anywhere. We were lost everywhere, missed exits, and went way out of way. We got to all these places when we took our kids the last 3 times. Good thing we had the garmin when it wasn't in the truck.



My views on Hawaii. It was getting old and looking old. They had lots of constuction everywhere. It looks like they put off updating for a while. The hotels were looking old. Lots of graffitti. The new look of Lewers Street was awesome. They did a great job. California Pizza Kitchen and PF Changs are there. TARGET is coming.......It really will be paradise then. Traffic was awful. No driving around 4 because it is like 5 miles a hour on the freeway forever. Not fun. Weird streets and weird ways getting on the freeways. Weird.



Laying out on the ocean on a floatie Absolute heaven. We kind of missed not having the kids there. To build sand castles with and swim with. I just wanted the grandbabies there. I do consider them my own special play toys. I can't wait to go with the whole family..... As Brooke says the girls can read and sun on the beach and the boys can snorkel or pass the football or whatever boys do. I did read two books. I have had the book "The Uglies" for a year and haven't read it so I took that. Also read "The Eclipse". Way better than the second one. I have had both those books waiting for about year. Just couldn't get into them yet. Both very good. Can't wait to start "The Pretties".



We ate at Jack in the Box and loved the Teraraki Rice Bowl. I couldn't believe it. Jack in the Box was really popular always a big line.



We had a great time. Now if we can do something about the planes.

I Hate Flying

I hate flying........You have to wait and wait and wait....,.No wonder we miss so many planes because Joel wants to show up 30 minutes before takeoff and walk onto the plane. I have taken it on as my personal mission not to miss another plane. 6 flights and not one missed one yet. I hate the security nonesense. Damn all those Obamaists to hell. I hate the seats and I hate the fact that the airlines even allow the seats to recline. We get into our 12 inches of space and the idiots in front of us recline their seats. I couldn't even cross my legs it was miserable. I thought they were ignorant and they were from Newfoundland...My first experience with a Newfie. Being from the States I had no preconceived opinions of them but NOW I do.....These Newfies then precede to sleep in their nice relaxed place until about 1:am and then they go get their 9 month relative and bring him back to the seat and then precede to goo gaa at him in really loud voices while the rest of us are trying to stay asleep. I was ready to kill them. Yes we did meet up with the Newfies again on the way home I couldn't believe. But they were across the aisle from us this time. But not the last experience with them...... When we went thru security the security guy told me he would let me take my tanning lotion even though it was 4 ounces not the 3.5 allowed so when we got to Vancouver and had to take our luggage thru customs I put the lotion in the checked baggage. I was waiting in line and the line starts to move and Mr. Newfie trys to pass us.....It didn't happen but what a jerk.......It is way more comfortable to drive by car. It is too bad it takes so dang long.

Update, FINALLY!

We have been busy but can't really think what we have been busy doing. We went to Idaho for a week and saw Mother and Dad's new house. Also saw Uncle Bob riding his scooter with his golf clubs.....

I finally got to babysit the boys....and got a picture of Greyson smiling. He is adorable if I do have to say so myself.... Brooke was home in the morning so she helped then and my friend Evelyn came over for a while in the afternoon. We found out they are not liking their stroller all that much... We ended up carrying them and using the stroller for our stuff. We need to do some training. But they are so fun......love em love em....