More August Birthdays!

My handsome hubby shares his birthday with his mother. So we had a combined party where the Birthday Boy cooked! He cooked chicken in the dutch-oven and I took care of the rest. It was a delicious meal. Grandma Johnson made a home-made german chocolate cake for dessert. It was fun to get together to celebrate to special people.

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I am so thankful I married this sweet man.

He is respectful, kind, loving, and so supportive of me and our family.

I am so in love with him.

He makes me happy everyday.

I love you Mr. Johnson

The BIG 1-0

Ten years ago on August 26, Jeslyn entered the world...she was the sweetest 7 pound 12 oz. baby ever...and our lives have been blessed every day since.

Jeslyn is kind. She is obedient. She is a great friend and VERY genuine and sincere. She is smart, helpful and polite. I could not have asked for a better little girl. She is such a delight!

Her birthday always falls around the first full week of school or this year the weekend after. So with all the hustle and bustle of preparing and adjusting to the new schedule; birthday plans get a little left out until the last minute, which I feel terrible about. I think I redeemed myself with a swimming trip to Lava and a sleepover with her BFF Wesley.

Lava was beautiful and so enjoyable. Dirk went with us. (Everything with Dirk is always better!) He took Clay most of the time so I could play with the girls, but he and I did get to go down a few slides just us which was nice. I left my camera at home for this part of the birthday so imagine a beautiful sunny day swimming with my favorite people and just relaxing in the sun with very few people around and BIG smiles on the kids’ faces. It was priceless and my kinda b-day party. After swimming we came home and attended to our chores. Dirk saddled up Pinto Bean for the kids to ride. They all loved it.

Tradition is for them to pick out what they want for their birthday dinner. Jeslyn decided on hamburgers, corn on the cob, potato salad and for dessert of course cake and ice cream. We ate dinner real hill-billie country style…on the front porch! It was such a nice summer evening we thought we would take advantage of it knowing we might not get too many more to enjoy. Grandpa and Grandma Johnson joined us for the birthday festivities. After dinner the birthday girl blew out her candles and opened up her presents. She only wanted one thing….a BB gun!

It was great day for a special girl. I am so grateful to be her momma. Jes you are such a sweetheart and the best little babysitter. We love you so much! Happy Birthday!

Victor & Pinto Bean

We made a mad dash to Victor one weekend to check on the cows and to pick-up Pinto Bean—Jeslyn’s new horse! He is a horse that Dirk used at the Dunn Ranch. He is very smart and trustworthy for kids. Jes has shown a lot of interest in riding and wants to do Horse 4-H. When Pinto Bean became available we jumped at the chance to buy him. She even got to put him to use that day. They gathered the herd and pushed them to the other pasture. Clay and Jauncee even got in on a little action.

I don't think Jauncee trusts Jeslyn all that much! She looks like she is going to cry here. Poor thing!

My Little Gardener

One afternoon I was out weeding and watering the flower bed. Clay was over on the patio playing with the moon sand. It didn’t take him long to find new entertainment. It was so cute! He was so fascinated with the water and the mud. Boy was he filthy and wet! I think it is good for kids to explore and have fun with all kinds of different things. Good thing it was a warm summer day.

Evening Stroll

Now that summer is over, I am really starting to miss our evening strolls. I think Jauncee and I looked forward to them everyday. Clay really liked the stroller but seemed to like the bike wagon better. Maybe it’s because he went faster in it. :)

First Day of School

My sweet girls on the first day of school.

I am still obviously playing catch-up…they have since finished the first term! And both of them did fantastically well. Jeslyn wrote us parents a cute note that said “I hope my work impressed you. 4^th grade has been terrific! I’ve learned about similes, paragraphs, compound sentences, and suffixes, prefixes and vocabulary. Don’t worry I’ve learned a lot more, but I just can’t name it all. Love, Jes” It was very cute. I am proud of both my girls they love school, have tons of homework, but they never complain. I sure love these two!

I need to add that Jauncee is very picky about her hair and that day she did NOT want anything frilly or fancy...just curled and left alone. It was cute. I just prefer their hair out of their face. But what do you do when you have a strong willed one on your hands at 6:00 am?

Mabey Ranch

A couple days before school started we went on a spur of the moment family outing to the Mabey Ranch where we range one of our herds of cattle for the summer. I was looking forward to getting out and enjoying nature along with seeing the calves and how much they had grown. Jeslyn was hoping to pick her out a steer for next year. Jauncee & Clay love to tag along and Dirk, well anything cattle related he enjoys. I couldn’t believe how early it was starting to get dark. We got out there a little late and the sun was setting but that didn’t stop us. We headed down the beaten cattle trail and didn’t have much luck finding the herd. So we stopped to enjoy the view and let Clay down to play in the dirt and rocks. It was so peaceful and quiet Dirk and I decided to talk to the girls about a Fathers Blessing and if they wanted one prior to school starting. Of course they both said yes. It was such a wonderful evening the spirit was so strong and the Lord had sweet and special things to say to both girls. I definitely have a testimony of the power of the priesthood and am so thankful that my dear husband is worthy to be a holder.

I am sure the girls will always remember this evening!