NO TV WEEK!

In April, Megan came home with a note from school that April 23-28th was no TV week.  Now, Megan doesn’t really watch a lot of television (especially not compared to her mom and dad) so I didn’t think she would take much interest in “No TV Week”.  But on the morning of the 23rd, I came downstairs to find that she had taped a sign to the TV that read “NO TV THIS WEEK.”  And she didn’t watch TV ONCE the whole week.  Or play Wii, or play XBOX.  She was pretty determined.

I tried to fill her week with some unique activities just to accentuate “NO TV” and I think she had some pretty memorable experiences.

She and her dad worked on this thing called “Snap Circuits” which Megan and I bought Adam for Christmas.   So you follow directions to put all different pieces together on a circuit board to create different things like lights, fans, alarms, etc.

The two of them had such a great time working on the different projects.  It was the PERFECT activity for them.  They spent hours working on it, and there are still plenty more projects to be done!

We also hiked up to “Y Mountain” for the first time as a family.  In fact, this was only my second time.  The first time I hiked to the Y was with Adam before his mission.  If was fun to go up there again together; this time with our girls.

Megan was our guide:

Oh to be young…she basically ran the entire way up the trail, which can get pretty steep at times…

“Mom!  I’m the ‘Y’!!!!”

Jane wanted to “SLIDE” the entire way down the mountain.

Mostly Jane just wanted to stop and play in the dirt.  Here’s Daddy giving her a little pep talk. “We’re almost there!” The girls taking a little rest (for mom and dad’s sake…)

“Mom!  There’s the temple!”

Megan at the top of the Y:

Jane at the top:

The girls and I at the end of the hike.  I was more worn out than the children!

We did lots of other activities during ”No TV Week”, but hiking the “Y” was by far the most memorable for Megan.  To this day she still looks up at the Y on the mountain and talks about our trip up there.  It was a totally fun experience!

It’s Been a Month?!

Wow, a whole month since I’ve updated.  One might get the idea that we are busy or something.  Welp, you’re right.

This little cutie turned 16 months old.

Look at her all sprawled out on our bed like she owns the place.  Oh wait, she does own the place.

Jane is something else.  She is hilarious.  She has so much personality.  She cracks me up.  She is talking a lot these days.

Jane LOVES Sesame Street.  Especially Elmo.  What child doesn’t love Elmo?  Oh, I know, those children who aren’t exposed to Elmo.  What a tragedy!!!  Jane’s obsession with Elmo is so fun. She can say “Elmo” and “Big Bird” and “Bert” and “Ernie” and she makes a grumbling noise which represents Cookie Monster.  I think the funniest one she does though is the character Count.  She does his little hesitated laugh: “Ah. Ah. Ah.” It is hilarious!  She also says “mom” but not all sweetlike, but more like an annoyed teenager: “MOOOOOOOOOOOM!”  She can say dad, more, all-done, uh-oh, dog, kitty, bye, hi, pop (as in popcorn), hello, drink, up, no, and “uh-huh”.  She says “ish” for shoes, and she wants her shoes on 24-7.  Probably because I don’t let her go outside without shoes, and she always wants to go outside.  She is too much.

Jane’s working on her next batch of teeth – I think she us up to 14 now, or at least almost 14.  She still does not like food.  So sad.  I really question whether or not my children are really my children because they don’t like food and I love food.  What is wrong with them?  Food is awesome.  She does like strawberries though.  And Jello.  But not strawberry Jello.  Just kidding. She does like strawberry Jello.  Tricked ya.

Megan is almost finished with Kindergarten.  Be still my heart.  Seriously.  I keep asking her to please not start First Grade in the Fall, but she tells me, “Jesus wants me to go to First Grade.”  And I just can’t argue with that.  So I don’t.  Mostly.  I’ve also asked her to turn five again next month instead of turning 6, but same thing: “Jesus wants me to grow up.”  Which is followed by, “don’t worry mom, I’ll still love you when I’m big.  Even if you’re in Heaven.”

Since we started evaluations for Megan in January, she has now received three separate diagnosis, which are all related to each other.  So she’s got Aspergers, and also what is called a Pragmatic Speech Impairment, as well as a Sensory Integration Disorder.  So we’ve got lists and lists of interventions we need to be practicing at home, and she regularly attends behavioral, occupational, and speech therapy.  Overwhelming is a gross understatement, but she’s doing great.

She’s still our little smartie pants.  She is currently determined to learn the names and locations of EVERY country in the world, and she’s very interested in the value of money and how monetary exchange works.  Mathematics continues to come oh-so-easily to her and recently she has taken to division.  She is enrolled in a Chinese Immersion Program for first grade, and she is totally stoked about that.  She is LOVING piano lessons.  She pulls out her music books on her own each day to practice.  We never have to remind her.  She also adds lyrics to all the practice songs that are just notes.  I am not sure how her teacher feels about that…but her music books are FILLED with her own notes and lyrics.  It’s wonderful to see her eating it up like this.

Adam has wrapped up another year of teaching at UVU, and will take a break from that for the Spring/Summer.  He received such good evaluations from his student this past semester.  He is a wonderful teacher.  I love that he gets to teach at UVU, but I also love that we get to have him home again on Saturdays! Yay!

We are so excited for school to be out and for Summer to arrive.  This upcoming Monday we are having a “calendering” FHE where we schedule out the days of Summer.  Can’t wait to fill the dates with trips to Seven Peaks and all sorts of Summer activities!  We are also so THRILLED for Adam’s sister Carrie who is getting married to James in the Timpanogos Temple on June 16th!  Adam and I REALLY like James.  We can’t wait!!!  

I am going to work on going through some pictures now so I can get some new posts up.  I hope there are at least a few of you who are looking forward to some updates!

Spring Break Swimming

We were in Vegas for the start of Spring Break, and we were able to go swimming in Adam’s parent’s pool. The weather was nice and warm outside, and Adam’s parents heated the pool so the water temperature was wonderful. We brought along our niece Jamison, and Megan, Jamison and Jane had a WONDERFUL time swimming.

Jamison didn’t even need her life jacket, and she was a total fish in the water. Megan was more daring than she had ever been before; spending sometime under the water as well as jumping in over and over and over again. She even let her daddy throw her in a few times (a first!) Megan loved when Grandpa Johanson got home from work and ran in and jumped into the water.

Jane LOVED the water and kept her daddy busy by fickle-ly flitting between the hot tub and the swimming pool.

After hours and hours of swimming, a tired and hungry Jane started doing the sign for “milk.” I stripped off her swimsuit and was preparing to take her inside when she ran back to the hot tub and got in again. You can see the torn look on her face as she is continuing to sign “milk”, but also wants to keep swimming: now in the nude!

All three girls (and Adam, Grandpa, and myself) had a GREAT time swimming. It was the perfect start to Spring Break. Thank you for having us Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Baby Isaac

Adam’s brother Joshua and his wife Alyssa welcomed their first child, Isaac, on January 11th. This Easter Sunday, Isaac was given a name and a blessing by his father and our little family was able travel to Las Vegas for the occasion. This was also the first time we got to meet Isaac, and he is just so cute. Adam and I have been impressed since he was born that he is a very special little spirit. His blessing was wonderful and tender. I just love this little guy who made me an aunt for the 30th time. We look forward to seeing him again in just a couple short months!

Easter Visitations.

Adam teaches a Saturday lecture at Utah Valley University (UVU). One day I really should write a post about all the positive reviews Professor Johanson ALWAYS gets from his students, but today is not that day (seriously, he is an AWESOME professor.) Anyway, we had plans to head to Vegas for Easter weekend, but we couldn’t leave until Adam finished his lecture. So we headed out later than we normally would. Also, because I have such bad back issues, I decided I would pop a couple Lortabs as we were running out the door. Bad idea. The medication made me so nauseous, we had to stop several times because I thought I would be physically sick.

So one place we ended up stopping was Mesquite, Nevada. We probably wouldn’t have stopped there otherwise, since we were late getting out and our girls were anxious to arrive at our destination, but I am so glad we ended up stopping there. We were able to visit my dad’s gravesite, which is always wonderful, but was especially appropriate this Easter weekend. Megan really enjoyed “visiting” Grandpa Marshall, and it was a sweet way to usher in Easter Sunday.

On Easter Sunday, we visited Baby Jack’s gravesite. Megan was so sweet, she wanted to bring him all sorts of Easter gifts and treats. Both girls enjoy every trip we make to see Jack.

Jane exploring the cemetery.

Megan always has a special interest in the birth and death dates of the children buried in the “Garden of Innocence” with Jack. She is so sweet and loving about it; she has such a tender heart.

Easter is such a special celebration for our family. Our Savior died and then lived again and we will all do the same. And when that day comes, we will be with our Jack again and my dad again!