My new snowboots

I've been wanting to take Jayda sledding ever since it started snowing. It's been tough to do because of our funky schedules, but I am determined. Anyway, I went to buy Jayda some snowboots, and got myself some while I was at it. Tonight as we were loading up to go to my parent's house I packed up all of Jayda's gear as well as my own intending to play in the snow. By the time we got to the house, Jayda was in no condition to play, not to mention it was already getting dark. So instead, I did something so out of character. I laced up my snowboots, got as bundles as I could and went out walking by myself, in the freezing cold. It was honestly the most cleansing and refreshing half hour of my life. I could have walked so much longer had I not lost feeling in my face. There was something about being in the dark, cold silence that made me realize how LOUD and INTENSE my life is, pretty much every second I'm awake. Even when I do get some time to myself, it's usually filled with music from the radio, or sounds from the TV while I work as hard as I can to get my chores done. I rarely have time, to be alone, and just enjoy the quiet. Tonight I was able to. It was beautiful. I didn't even really think about anything, I just walked, and listened to nothing. I'm going to be doing that much more often, I just might live a little longer if I do.

In my humble opinion...

Freedom Writers is an AWESOME movie. It is an incredibly powerful story, and a true one at that, go rent it if you haven't already seen it.

Some of Jayda's handywork

Jayda is not destructive, she's an artist. Here is some of her work...

Vampire Fish

For our wedding my mother-in-law put bowls of goldfish in the center of each table as center pieces. All of them died pretty quickly, except this one...



This fish has been alive four and a half years now living at my brother and sister-in-law's house. They even left town for six months and it still lived. Janice has even said that it died, and came back to life! Crazy!

Our Christmas

Christmas was great this year, but, although I'm usually a little depressed when it ends, this year I'm okay with it. It was VERY busy, and a little hectic. But Christmas day and Christmas Eve were such great days adn we had such a good time with our family.

The Saturday before Christmas I was able to go to lunch with my Uncle Carl's family who I rarely get to see. It was really fun because two of my cousins are going to the same dental school as we are, so it was great to swap enthusiasm. Unfortunately, thanks to Jayda, we had to leave early, she just wasn't having it!




Sunday we took some family pics over at my parent's house. Aren't my mom and dad good looking!






Later that night we went to Glenn's brother's house for their traditional "Christmas Lights" dinner. It's a really nice tradition of sitting down to a great meal with only the Christmas lights and candles to light the room. Afterward they do a cool program with the kids. It was fun and we were able to meet some new people.






Christmas Eve has always been a big deal for the Johnson family and we like to adhere to some pretty longstanding traditions. We usually first all meet for breakfast. Afterward we go bowling, to a movie, and out to lunch. We finish the night off by eating tons of food and watching some sort of Christmas movie before waiting out the long night before Christmas morning. THings have, of course, changed now that there are children and spouses and other families involved. But we still like to do the best we can!







Bowling with Jayda was so fun. She loved to throw the ball, it just needed a little help down the lane! She was definitely done by the end of the game, but she had a good time!






Christmas morning at the Greenhouse was fun. Jayda got a new set of play dishes, which she loves. Skyler got some new chew toys, which he loves as well. Glenn and I are waiting to do Christmas for each other in a few more months because of $$$$, so we just did stockings for now. It was fun to watch Jayda have so much fun opening presents.





After Christmas at our house, we went back to my parents for more gifts and a great dinner of surf and turf. It was such a nice day, I really didn't want it to end.







So that was our Christmas and it was so fun. I hope you all had a great holiday too! Now it's time to start focusing on the New Year! Here's to the end of 2007!

The things that rub off...

Jayda: "Mommy, you owwy neck?" (She mentions this about ten times a day-still!)

Teresa: "Yes Jayda, mommy has an owwy neck."

Jayda: "Oh, poor baby!"

New Pics!

Yes, I like pictures. I like to take them and I like to look at them. This explains the over-abundance of pics I throw your way. Anyway, we finally got our laptop to comply so I can post pics of what's been happening the last few months, starting with this...

Our Halloween started with a family party that we have every year. Carving pumpkins, decorating cookies and acting like complete weirdo's is usually part of the festivities.








The night of Halloween we got with some friends for dinner before trick-or-treating. Glenn and I took our kids to the mall with our friend Janna and her daughter Audrey to overload on candy. Jayda got ended up with so much candy in her mouth that she could barely slurp out "trick-or-treat." She was in HEAVEN!









These are just really cute pictures of my kids...




Owwy neck! I had to have a couple surgeries in November to remove a nodule in my neck. The first surgery was to just remove the nodule, the second surgery was to remove the whole thyroid after they found cancer in the nodule. It sucked, to be honest, but all's well that end's well. I came out the other end feeling even better, and lost a few pounds!



Thanksgiving for us this year was spent in Jackson Hole, WY. We stayed in a cabin with my family and some good friends of our, Jacob and Suzanne. It was the week after the surgery and I wasn't sure that I was going to do too well. But once we got up there and put our feet up, we had a great time. Even after a week, it was really hard to go home!















And now that we are moving into the holidays, here is Jayda visiting Santa Claus...




Well, I could keep going, but there's a point where it just starts to get ridiculous! But I hope you enjoyed and as always I'd love to hear from all of you. Have a very Happy Holiday!