Christmas 2007

Christmas was jam-packed this year to say the least. We started with a visit to Greg's parents house on Lake Dowling. It was a snowstorm on Sunday (the day we went), so I was a nervous wreck the whole way out there. Once we arrived we were treated to a wonderful meal and presents. Greg's parents were very thoughtful in "rushing" us out of their house because the snow continued to get worse. We are glad we made it home in the daylight!

Before Greg went to work on Christmas Eve we had a chance to go snowshoeing in the fresh powder. We have access to trails at the end of our dead end street. It is neat to never have to put Scout on a leash. We had a blast doing hill repeats and enjoying each other, while Brooks was sleeping at his Auntie Lee Lee's house.

On Christmas Eve we attended church and went to my parents for dinner and presents. It was a fun filled night of us opening up all of Brooks' presents while he was in bed!


Santa came on Christmas Day with more presents for Brooks. After Santa we were able to see all sets of Great-Grandparents and were able to spend some time at our Auntie Lee Lee's house.

We could barely keep our eyes open when it was all done, but we both agree there wasn't anything we would delete from our plans next year.

Excited for Christmas!

We are so excited for Christmas at the Johnson household! We are excited to celebrate this wonderful time of year with our new addition. We know that Brooks won't really understand that he is getting presents and that Santa will come, but that does not take away the excitement we feel this season. We are thankful for so much more than presents. We are thankful that we have a wonderful marriage and are best friends. We are thankful that we have a sweet, smiley (notice the teeth) baby boy and we are thankful for the true meaning of Christmas. We so anticipate spending quality time with both sides of our families and feel blessed that we live close to everyone.

Brooks had breakfast with Santa today at Northland Country Club. He doesn't get it, and just looks at Santa like "Who are you?" Even though he doesn't understand, it was very nice to be with family. We also had a chance to ski the Northland Golf Course. They groom it each winter for classic skiing. We had a blast and Brooks is so happy being outside. He was all smiles the whole time.






We will post Christmas pictures once we have them. Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We love you all and are blessed in so many ways.

Heather and Greg

They say I look like my Mom...

...and that is a wonderful thing! I love you, Mom! We had our work Christmas party at my parents house (we both work for them!). It was a nice 6 or 7 (we lost count) meal catered by The New Scenic Cafe on the North Shore. It was great food and a very mellow atmosphere, which Greg and I both appreciate. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Back to the Blog

Sorry for the lack of updates! Lots to report on since our last past, most notably the birth of Dylan Thomas Johnson. Michele and Tom welcomed their son into the world on 12/06/2007. Dylan was a healthy 8 pounds 4 ounces and we are so excited for Michele and Tom to enjoy the wonderful world of parenthood. We made the trip to the Cities last weekend to introduce Brooks to his new little cousin. Wow, it's hard to believe that Brooks was ever that small! He's only nine months old, but Brooks looks like a giant compared to baby Dylan.

We had a great visit! In addition to seeing Michele, Tom, and Dylan, we got to spend some time with my mom and dad. We went out to dinner and for the first time ever we ordered restaurant food for Brooks. He's a good little eater and quickly devoured his macaroni and cheese. Our stay at the hotel was good too. Heather was initially disappointed to learn that the fitness room didn't open until 9:00 a.m. (she likes to get her workouts in first thing in the morning) so she improvised and got in a killer workout by utilizing the stairwell. For forty-five minutes she ran up and down the stairs. She could barely walk the next couple of days! After the workout, we decided to put the hotel pool to good use. Brooks is definitely a water baby! We had a lot of fun playing in the pool before we packed up to visit Michele's new family one last time before heading back home.

Babies, babies, everwhere! There must be something in the water because it seems like everyone we know has just had or is expecting a baby. Our friends Joel and Dawn had a baby boy the day after Dylan was born, Chris and Jayme are expecting in the next month or so, and Chris and Amy are also expecting in just over a month. Life is good and we eagerly await these new arrivals!

Switching from babies to toddlers, we celebrated our niece Maggie's 3rd birthday last weekend. Time sure flies, I can't believe that it's been three years already. Each year Keven and Steph give their girls a theme for their birthday parties. This year, Maggie's theme was candy. A very fitting theme for little Maggie Jo-Jo! She even had a pretty special birthday cake that was decorated to resemble the Candyland board game. It's fun watching Keven and Steph's girls grow up. Maggie had a fun day and seemed to enjoy all of her presents. Heather and I gave her an old-school, non-wireless, push-button phone (that's what she wanted). Maggie called us later in the day with her new phone which was a good sign that our gift was a hit.

The last of the big news this past week involves Heather's sister Laura. Laura had been attending the Focus in the Family institute in Colorado Springs for the past few months. We got to welcome her home this week but not before a big scare involving the shootings at the New Life church. Laura not only attended this chuch, she was in the parking lot just minutes before the shootings occurred. We thank God that Laura is safe and pray for the friends and families who have been affected by this senseless tragedy.

That's all for now. We'll try not to go so long before our next post!

Time to Eat!

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Big people food! Yeah, Brooks! He is doing so well with crackers, pears, peaches, bananas, turkey, peas, and pretty much anything else we give him. It is amazing what a good "chew, chew, chewer" he has become.

It is also so sad to watch him grow up so fast. Tonight during feeding time, I looked down at my "big" little baby and felt such sadness. His legs and feet are growing every day, and pretty soon he won't want to have his mama feed him a bottle before bed. The baby stage is going way too fast. I try to remember to cherish every moment that we have at this age.

We had a very relaxing weekend with no real obligations. We spent Saturday working- out and hanging out with our cousins Kennedy and Maggie. Family time and working-out are two of our favorite activities. We had a great day!

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On Sunday we went to church and came home to nap. All of us tried to sleep and I think that Mama and Brooks were the only two successful ones. After a much needed rest, we headed out to Sam's Club, and to look at Christmas lights. We were also testing out our new mini-van...yes, you heard it right mini-van, on the icy streets in Duluth. Greg and I were able to trade in our Honda Pilot for a Honda Odyssey. We love the easy in and out of the Odyssey and all the features geared towards families. The mini-van even has a video image of what is behind us when we back up. It is great. I thought I'd never drive a mini-van and actually swore I didn't want to be so "mom-ish", but I am a mom and I love my van!


Brooks loves his rubber ducky so much, he wants to eat it!

Christmas Decorating and Boot Hockey!

Saturday we spent the day "bumming" around Duluth looking for more Christmas decorations. We found a bunch at a cute store called Country by the Lake just beyond the Ariel Lift Bridge in Duluth. We were on a mission to find three stockings that went well together and were able to do so. We are so excited for Brooks' first Christmas.

Once we got home we started in on decorating the house. Greg did the tree (inside and out) and I attempted to do the other decorating. Later in the evening, Steph's family stopped by to find me sitting on the couch having a meltdown because I didn't know where to put anything. We tripled the size of our house when we moved, I had more decorations than last year, and I still could not figure out where to put anything. So it was another case of "Stephanie to the rescue!" She was able to get me started (even though I had attempted it for over an hour) and we were able to get the house looking very festive.

Today (Sunday), we skipped church (bad) and let Brooks take a long morning nap. Once he got up we were off to do more errands. Tonight we had a game of boot hockey in the driveway. It was so fun. Afterwards, we ordered Chinese and listened to a beautiful Christmas presentation by Kennedy and Maggie. Brooks also had his first all solid meal. He had turkey, cheese, peas and pears. He did great, didn't choke (my biggest fear) and loved all of it! He even loved the peas! Way to go, munchkin!

It is so hard to think about going back to work tomorrow. Brooks has swimming lessons tomorrow night and we will be back in the swing of things. We still anxiously await the arrival of Dylan, our first boy cousin. He should be here any day now! Hurry UP!

Whirlwind of a Week!

Happy Thanksgiving a day late to everyone! We have had a super busy week and have not had a second to update. Here is our "week in review!"

Monday: Mama worked. Daddy took Brooks to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. After work, Mama and Daddy got Brooks all dressed into his swimsuit only to realize that there were no swimming lessons because of Thanksgiving. So...daddy, being the awesome daddy that he is, gave Brooks swimming lessons in the bathtub.

Tuesday: Happy Birthday Celebration for our Auntie S'ers. She turned 31 on Thanksgiving so we celebrated with a party at Oma and Opa's house. We also went to Kindermusick and had a blast "scrubbing, dusting and washing our clothes." (The theme this week was cleaning)

Wednesday: Mama had to go to the cities for work. When she got home she brought Brooks over to Auntie Le Le's for a sleepover. Then mama, daddy, Auntie S'ers and Uncle Keven went to the grocery store to get food for Thanksgiving. Everyone went back to the our house to set the table, make potatoes for Thanksgiving and play Wii (the boys!). It ended up being a late night but was so much fun.Thursday: Happy TURKEY Day! We are so thankful for our little man "Brooks Hartley." He has blessed us in so many ways. We can't remember life without him and feel like he has been in our family forever. He brings us so much joy and we thank the Lord for him. It was a great day with the whole family over at our house for dinner. We also enjoyed each other's company at the Turkey Trot. Brooks experienced his first race being pushed by Opa for the 4 mile race. He even got a T-shirt that may fit him when he is 10 years old or so.Friday: When Brooks woke up we had a little "family bed time." It was fun to cuddle Brooks in bed and give him millions of kisses. We all had the day off, so we went shopping and hung out as a family. This evening we had Greg's close group of friends over with their wives and kids. It was really fun to see the group changing as more babies are born. Brooks found a new friend named "Lilly." She is one month younger than Brooks. He tried to kiss Lilly and also shared his toys real nicely with her. Notice that Brooks is a GIANT next to Lilly. He looks like he is 2 years old!

Tomorrow we will decorate for Christmas and continue to enjoy our long weekend!

Giggle, Giggle, HA HA!

Brooks thinks that funny faces during lunch are so funny. Check out this video. You NEED volume. It is so wonderful. Music to our ears!

Happy Birthday Auntie S'ers!

Happy 31st Birthday to our most wonderful Auntie S'ers. We love you so much. You have taught us so much about how to raise Brooks and how to be good parents. You are so loved and adored by the Greg Johnson family! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

You are so "Rock of Love!"

Back From Colorado!

We had a good time visiting Auntie Bean in Colorado. We were able to see where she goes to school, meet her new friends and do some tourist type activities. We visited the Olympic Training Center and also Garden of the Gods. It was beautiful. Brooks was a trooper. We had many people ohh and ahh over him and tell us how well behaved he was on the plane. There was only one stretch of the plane rides that he was crabby, other than that you wouldn't of even known he was on the plane unless you were one of the lucky ones he was flirting with over the back of the seat! Brooks had a couple of firsts on this trip. He got a much needed haircut for the first time and learned to pull himself up on things for the first time. He now stands (I can't believe it) up in his crib and screams at the top of his lungs for us to come and get him. Once he sees us, he just smiles at us like he is so cute or something! :) We have pictures of the first haircut, but we have to figure out how to load them from Snapfish onto this site. Once we figure that out, we'll let you see how Brooks went from baby to little boy in less than ten minutes. He now has bangs and sideburns. It is so cute. He cried when we had to hold his head and hands down. It took 4 of us to get the cut accomplished and it still is a little bit uneven. What can you do when your 8 month old has a full head of hair? Upon return we got to see our cousins (Kennedy and Maggie) who were really missing their cousin Brooks. They kept asking their mama when Brooks would be home. She would tell them and they'd reply "That's a long time!". (It was only 4 days!) Kennedy and Maggie came over on Tuesday and we ventured into the woods in our backyard to play "Pilgrims". We brought out corn and walnuts to mash and make into bread. It was great to visit with Auntie S'ers again and so fun to be with the girls again. Life is now getting back to normal. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving at our new house this year and look forward to spending time with our awesome families! Kennedy took this picture of Auntie S'ers and me playing "Pilgrims" in the woods. We put down our "weapons" and "fishing spears" to take this picture. Too fun.