new nickname

Yesterday we came up with a nickname for Daniel. It is kind of long, but very descriptive of what he is up to lately as a busy 13-month old-
"Sticky, clicky, climbin' Ricky"

Daniel of course likes to feed himself- hence he is sticky. He is always making some noise with his mouth, either a clicking sound, or a car sound. And, last but not least, he is climbing everything! And his middle name is Richard. So we are constantly pulling chairs away from the tables, pulling him down from the couch and toilets, everywhere! We are considering some gates big enough to block him out from the kitchen. I just don't know what Nathan would think of gates, he's not big enough to get over I don't think. Nathan has officially entered the inquisitive stage. He wants to know "why" and "how" about everything. Today we were drawing pictures of brains for him. And talking about why we have to keep going to the bathroom over and over. Sometimes it is so overwhelming trying to answer all his questions. We did check out the non-fiction kids section of the library last week, so that is good. I just want to find of a book of answers to all the random questions he asks, any suggestions?? I guess I better study up.

So we are busy....

Quote from Nathan:
"When you take stickers off your shirt, they roll up like taquitos."

We are heading in to the final weeks of our marathon prep, its in 1 month! We are planning on a long run this weekend, 20 miles, and then tapering off. I am excited for it, a little nervous though. 26 miles is a LONG run. At least we are not going for any time records. 5+ hours sounds good to me!

Daniel's First Haircut

I can't seem to figure out how to move pictures around in this post, so they are a little out of order! The first few are post hair cut. He held still really well and got a pretty good cut, I think!

He wiggled a bit while I was cutting in front, so it got a little crooked, but its kind of cute.

Here he is before church wearing his new shoes! He walks really well in them.


Now these next ones are his 1-year old pics we had done before his hair cut. He did such a good job smiling and holding still for the camera.

Scott thinks this one really looks like one of his baby pictures!

This one showcases his mischievious look...he is getting quite good at it lately. We are having trouble keeping him off any tables or chairs around the house! Its kind of scary to walk in the kitchen and see him standing there!

August rain

Today has been a cool, cloudy day. It is even raining outside right now. Nathan and Daniel and I went outside to play and it was so pleasant! I do love summer, but cool days certainly are appreciated! Daniel is walking everywhere, including in the mushy plums in the grass. I need to find shoes for him now. I think it would be a good idea to acclimatize him to footwear before we go to Greece/Germany.

Here is Nathan at his swimming lessons. He loves going, and he is doing well. He has even jumped off the diving board a couple of times!

Here is the "daddy express." It is pretty slow moving though with 2 wiggly boys in tow.

We just celebrated Scott's birthday on Sunday, I think he had a good day. 29 years young now! Nathan was very excited to pick out dad's present- he got him BBQ chips and some candy! It was fun watching him when Scott opened the present, he was just beaming. We made him a football cake too- in honor of the upcoming football season.

Nathan is starting preschool this fall, and he is excited about going. I asked him what he wants to learn there and he said he wants to learn how to be a knight and a soldier. Hopefully he won't be too disappointed learning his ABC's! He is excited that 2 of his cousins will be there too, Landon and Tyson.

Scott helped Nathan make a knight's helmet, a sword and a shield.

Daniel had his 1 year check-up, here are his stats:
weight: 25lb 12 oz. (70th percentile)
height: 31.7 inches (90th percentile)
head circumference: 19 inches (95th percentile)
So, I guess he will be a tall, smart boy! He has discovered toilets- he likes to walk in the bathroom and wait for us to find him, and then starts to lift the toilet lid and splash in the water! Although, he is learning that it is a "no-no." Yesterday, when I walked in the bathroom, he shook his head and said, "na-na." It was pretty cute. He had his 1-year pictures this week, so we are planning on cutting his mullet hair. Our baby will be all grown up. I put away burp clothes and receiving blankets, and outgrown clothes this week too. But he is certainly a fun little boy to have around!

We are starting to really plan our trip to see Scott's parents in Greece next month. We will get to see Athens the day after we fly in, and then we will take a train to Thessaloniki in northern Greece to stay with his parents for almost a week. I am a little nervous about all the traveling with 2 little kids, but I do think they will do well. Nathan has proven to be a good little traveler, and Daniel did very well on his first trip overseas in June. After our time in Greece, we are flying to Berlin and meeting my parents and Erik and Anne to run the marathon with Erik and Dad. I hope we will be okay. We did great as far as training goes in the spring and June, but with all the fun family trips in June and July, we have been struggling to get ready for the marathon. I am just hoping to make it- it may get kind of ugly in the end though... I am sure that Scott will do well. He has done a great job running. He meets with a guy in the ward and they do early morning Saturday runs with a group of guys. And they go much faster than I do, so its a good challenge for Scott. It will make for a fun trip though. I am especially excited for Greece part. I have never been there, so it will be fun to go somewhere new.

Home Again, home again

Family pic in St. Tropez. It was windy that evening, but the boys were so happy.

Stella, Liza and Anne.

Marketing in St. Tropez. Daniel was a great sport.

Oma and Opa with Daniel at the beach.

Congrats to Erik on his graduation. (Isn't he cute??)We are so glad that we could be there to celebrate with you!!

Yes, we are here! I can't believe how long it has been since we posted. I have been slow getting back into to the swing of things back here in real life. We had a great trip, but it is nice to be home too. Especially when the family from Germany follows us home and we get to play with them some more!

I am hoping that Scott will write a trip report soon that we can post and then add pictures to it. This weekend, I think.

Daniel took his first steps last Sunday, July 5th !! He walked a few steps to daddy, and he is getting braver all the time. A few more weeks and he will be walking all over the place.

We also celebrated Daniel's FIRST birthday on July 11th. He is growing so quickly. We'll have to give ya the stats next week after his checkup. We had a fun day on Saturday having a party for him. We made a puppy cake and let him eat it- he picked off all the candy and had some frosting. He didn't start throwing it til Uncle Curt laid him on top of the cake and then squished his hands in it. Then he really went to town! See video below:

We did webcam with Grandma & Grandpa Johnson in Greece saturday morning. Both the boys had fun playing with Daniel's ball-popper and crawling around. Nathan has a hard time understanding the whole birthday-present-for-the-birthday-boy concept. He thinks that he has full rights to the new toys. But Daniel is not so keen with Nathan taking over his toys. He really whines when Nathan gets on his train and rides it away. So, time to work on sharing!

Nathan is having fun in the sun- we got a little pool for the backyard, and he has had fun taking toys out to play in it. He also likes putting the slide in to it! And yes, he does wear his swim trunks!! Daniel is more of the in and out type. He likes to crawl over by the plum tree and scavenge for fallen plums. (never mind that they aren't ripe yet!)

We are enjoying the summer, we went camping last weekend up in Heber. Saturday we went to Jordanelle and rented a waverunner for the day, along with a tube. It was a blast, although Scott and I were so sore the next day! We could hardly get out of bed, and were taking turns picking up toys, etc from the floor.

I have been able to work a few shifts this month, it has been so nice that I can just do a few every month. Thank goodness for Scott's great job and his hard work at providing for us! The days after I work are hard, but I think Nathan likes that he can watch TV a lot of the day!

I finally figured out how to do a slide show! Its not very long; we didnt take many pictures this month I guess. Not that we couldn't take many, many more of our adorable boys!!! I am loving being home with them, the days fly by so quickly between playing with cars and legos, and trying to get a load of laundry in or the dishes done without the boys noticing that I am not right next to them. Daniel is getting better at entertaining himself playing with toys with Nathan. Nathan is starting to play with Daniel some, but it usually ends up that Nathan is laying on top of him. Daniel isn't too fond of that!!
We are getting very excited for our trip to Germany/France next week! Yeah for having a seat for both boys on the plane, it will be nice to have the room. I hope that they sleep on the long flight, and that the layover in Detroit isn't too stressful. We have been thru there before, and it is a nice airport. New and clean. And it had several kids play areas. Here is to hoping for smooth traveling...

Here we are....

Time to catch up- here is Daniel walking, kind of, and at his FAVORITE past-time, playing in the pantry. He loves to get the cereal boxes down and help himself to a snack. It usually entertains him long enough for me to get dinner ready or cleaned up. He always looks so mischievious when we say his name and he looks up at us! He is an expert crawler and loves to go around empyting any cupboards or drawers he can. You can always tell where he has played by what cupboards are open or toy baskets emptied! He has figured out waving and clapping, it is quite cute.

I want to try to make a slide show with some of the pictures from this month, I will have to wait for Scott to show me how to do it. I haven't figured that out yet.

We have been enjoying spring, getting lots of jogs in with the boys in the stroller, going to playgrounds, playing in the backyard, eating on the back deck. It is nice to have warmer weather. I am not sure I am quite ready for the hot weather though! Nathan and I played in the sprinkler yesterday afternoon, he thought it was pretty fun, he is asking if we can do it again today! Its a good way to water the grass I guess. Nathan liked taking the hose and chasing me or Scott around the yard trying to get us wet. We planted some lavender plants in the front of the house- I love those plants! We also got some basil for a planter and a couple of tomato plants. I think the lavender and the basil will do fine, I am not sure about the tomatoes.

Last week we took a car ride with Daniel in the big carseat facing forward- I wanted to see how he would do, seeing that he will be using that car seat when we fly to Germany next month. It didn't go too well- he cried most of the time, and when we got out of the car, he proceeded to throw up all over my shoulder and feet! We couldn't decide if it was really the car seat, or that he ate too much. We realized he had eaten a BIG dinner between what was actually on his tray and his grazing before and after. I guess we will find out. I think we will just keep him rear-facing til the airplane. We are getting very excited for our upcoming trip- Germany for Erik's graduation, and then on to the beach in St. Tropez!

St. Tropez has been the place of so many great memories for my family. We first went there when I was in 7th or 8th grade I think. We stayed at a campground inland somwhere the first couple of years, and then a British man driving a big American Jeep with Texas plates(not a common site in France!), chased us down seeing our USA license plates on our American van. He told us he had some trailers at a campground right on the beach, and that he wanted to get American military families staying there. So we tried it out, not being too sure when we first drove into the camp- it seemed so crowded! But, that was 10 years ago, and the rest is history! It has been a great vacation for us. 2 weeks together at a trailer just feet away from a beautiful beach...we love our camp Kontiki! Many years we had friends from the ward there with us. I think the year I graduated from high school, there were 10 families from the ward. We had a big 4th of July party on the beach in France! The food is great, the sun wonderful, after the first sunburn! The village markets make for fun shopping; I plan on new tablecloths and maybe a new bedspread, among other things! Not to mention the time spent with family, playing games and laughing together. Many, many books have been read on the beach, along with hundreds of baguette eaten every day! I am excited to have Nathan and Daniel there this year. It will be so fun to play in the sand with Nathan, and hopefully keep Daniel from eating tooo much of it. Hopefully we will have hot weather and warm water this year. And one day with big waves to jump in! I wish it was closer so we could go more often.

Here is Nathan on our 2006 trip, he was 9 months old!

Flower stand at the St. Tropez market. We always go early in the morning to beat the crowds. By mid morning, the aisles are packed with people. By that point, we like to be done shopping and on our way down to the harbor to look at all the multi-million dollar yachts! They are a sight to behold!

2006 family pic on the beach! Time for an update I think, we are missing Daniel and Stella's hubbie Curt from this group of the fam!

Again, St. Tropez, 2006. This is one of the best parts- lots and lots of time with my wonderful husband. I am so grateful for him- he is so good to me! I love him very much. We have so many great memories, can't wait to make some more this summer with all of the fun things we have planned!

This may be one of the other best parts, warm sand and sun to tan my white legs- sitting next to my best friend(my mom!), holding a cute baby! This is what vacations should be like. Here is to 2 weeks and counting....

Picture Update

Just a quick post of Nathan's new Lightening McQueen boots he got for Easter. His winter boots were trashed from 24/7 use, so the easter bunny brought some new galoshes for spring!! Nathan is acting like a soldier in the pictures above.

Easter Egg Hunt with the Johnson cousins.

Daniel after eating dinner... he eats much better if he does it himself, so he is covered with food too by the end of the meal. At least he is happy and fed! He went for his 9 mo. check up this week, and is 23.5 lbs (90th percentile) and 29.5 inches (90th percentile). So no worries as to if he is getting enough food in his mouth! Daniel got the go ahead to eat what he wants, of course, minus the nuts, peanut butter and honey.

We got our jogging stroller/bike trailer, and it was a hit! Scott took the boys for a run up through Daybreak to a park. It sounds like the run went well, and the boys were excited to ride away. Now we don't have an excuse for not running. Some pics from Conference weekend. We had a hard time trying to get a picture of the 3 grandkiddies. But, here are three of the sisters, we just need Anne laying across our laps! :)

This is before a bath for Elsa and Daniel. We thought they would have fun, but Nathan threw a toy at Elsa and scared her, and then Daniel was crying and we just did quick suds-ups for the babies and got out. Maybe they will have fun next time!

Elsa is 14 months old, and Daniel is the same size as she is! But she is one up on him, she is walking everywhere and talks some. It is way cute! Give him some time and he will catch up.