Hello?? Anybody out there?? :)

 I know, I know...its been a while since I posted.

I think my last post was that we were expecting baby #5...and I am feeling it! ;)

Don't get me wrong, I am very, very lucky.  I have many friends and family members that really have HARD pregnancies.  I am sick, pretty much all day...but its manageable.  

These last few weeks have just been all about figuring out how to make things work with a mom that is at WAY less than her best :)  I'm not good at taking it easy, especially when I have SO many things I want to do.  

Luckily for me...I have the best kids and husband on the planet :)  They are all stepping up to help keep our home in order so Mom doesn't lose it.  I feel blessed that so far I am still able to get up early in the morning and get in some kind of exercise.  Even though I am tired, that is MY time to focus on me and get mentally and physically prepared for my day.  

Now that I have had some time to figure out when I feel the yuckiest, and when I actually have a little bit of energy I plan on getting right back into the swing of things.  I REFUSE to let my favorite season pass us by without enjoying it to the max!!  

So, in short, thanks for still checking out this little blog, even though it hasn't been too exciting lately ;)

I do have a lot of fun things planned, some great FHE's on important subjects like media in our lives and modesty, and of course lots of fun with the kids! 

Thanks again for stopping by and have a fantastic day!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

 

Wouldn't you agree?

The AMAZING Hollie Hanson from Cherry Tree Photography did our family pictures a few weeks ago.  I adore every single one....but this one holds a special place in my heart.

We are SO excited that Johnson Baby #5 will be joining our family in April!!

Do I feel a little bit crazy?

Yep.

Do I feel like it is completely right?

Yep.

The kids are thrilled and so are we!  So far I have been feeling really yucky and exhausted but it is totally manageable.  I find the days I go walking or to the gym I have a lot more energy to get me through the day, so hopefully I can keep that up.

We are already starting to play the name game...and we've got nothing!!  Luckily we have a while before we need to nail one down.  I would love to hear some of your favorites though...for boy or girl!  I already have a Skylar, Kendall, Britton and Avrie...what sounds cute with those??

Thanks for your help, and wish me luck! ;)

My Half-Marathon Attempt...Take Two!

Hello, hello!

We had a crazy week last week...and this was how I ended it, running my 2nd half-marathon.

I had SUCH an amazing time!  The course was stunning, running down American Fork Canyon, through a golf course, and finally past the Mt. Timpanogos Temple.  It was cool and breezy, I had awesome music pumping through my headphones and surprisingly...I felt STRONG.

I say surprisingly because I literally had done one long run since my last half...3 months ago!  Even though I didn't really train, I shaved 8 minutes off my time and set a new personal best.  I am still slow...but as long as I am progressing with each race I am happy :)

 

I am so happy I did another race...after my last one I was content to have crossed it off my bucket list and never do one again ;)  I never thought I would say it...but I actually had fun running :)  And NOTHING beats that feeling of accomplishment when you see your little family at the finish line cheering you on, knowing you pushed yourself farther than you thought you could.

So that's what I was doing last week :)

Now that my race has passed, I feel like I can focus on some projects I have been wanting to do before school starts.  Make sure you keep coming back to see all the fun we are going to have...and THANK YOU so much for visiting Blue Skies Ahead!!

Smiling this Sunday!

Even though we had a really great week, and there are a LOT of things I am smiling about today, one thing makes me smile the most...

Yesterday I finished the Salt Lake City Half-Marathon!  Oh man...it was SO hard!  I thought I had trained well enough, but I definitely could have done a lot more.  I was a little dissapointed that I had to stop and walk a few times, but still proud that I finished that crazy thing!!

 

This is my favorite picture.  I felt SO sick and was about to throw up when I saw my family at the finish line :)  Best feeling ever!

My sister-in-law Jen ran it with me.  She is a rockstar.  Without any training she was pulling my butt the whole way!  I am so glad she was with me to keep me going!

My other sister-in-law Camille (another amazing runner in my family) was at the finish line with homemade signs...I really have the best family ever!  And I don't know HOW I didn't get a picture of you Camille!

Paul was amazing.  He woke up super early, got all 4 kids ready and drove them all almost an hour to sit in the sun and wait for me reach the finish line.  Meant the world to me that he would support me so much.

My dear friend Hollie also brought her whole family to cheer me on.  Plus she took all these fantastic pictures...I am a lucky girl indeed.

What an experience!  It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I reached my goal and finished under 2 1/2 hours (not by much...but still!)  If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have said I will never do that again...but today I am already thinking I might HAVE to do it again to try and finish one a little bit stronger :)

Today I am smiling because I did something I never thought I could do...and most importantly TOLD myself I could never do.  Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family that could "BEE" with me every step of the way ;)

Have a great Sunday everyone!!

Smiling this Sunday

I decided I wanted to have Sundays on my blog full of things throughout the week that brought joy to me. I'm still working on trying to focus on the 99% in my life :)

Some of them will be little things, some will be big, but I can think of NO better way to go into a new week than remembering all the GOOD in my life.

So sit back and relax...and see all the things that are making me smile today.

This one is pretty self-explanatory :) This was my little bug after she woke up from her nap the other day. She looked so happy and chubby it was all I could do to not just squeeze and squeeze. She has just stared scooting ALL over the house. She is very content because she can be on the go...but I am having to vacuum about 5-6 times a day! That little girl will scoot by 47 toys to get that ONE beautiful piece of fluff! She looks just like my oldest daughter, sometimes looking at her takes me back 6 years. I love my little Avrie bug.

This picture was taken just a little over a year ago. It is a picture of my 3 older kids, their 2 second cousins, and their Great Grandpa Howard. Grandpa Howard passed away a week ago yesterday and as I was going through my emails I found this picture he sent me. I LOVE this picture. I LOVE that my children got to know their Great Grandpa. Because of different family situations he wasn't a part of my life growing up at all, and I never thought we would be close. For me to be able to spend the last few years communicating with him, and having my children love him and he love them...it has been such a blessing to me. A reminder that it is NEVER too late to build relationships. I am so grateful for all he was able to give to my little family, we are better for knowing and loving him.

This picture makes me smile because this is how my kids ALWAYS are. They are always smiling, looking all put together, hugging each other, singing sweet songs together, and telling me constantly what a great mother I am.

HA! Not quite! :) This picture makes me smile today because it reminds me that somewhere down deep...my kids might actually like each other.

They fight. All the time. Everyone assures me this is normal, but after the week we have had...I needed a little proof that they CAN sit next to each other for 5 minutes without screaming, pulling hair, kicking or crying.

On Christmas day I finished a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days. It sounds cliche to say it was life-changing...but it truly was. I am smiling today because my Dad and I together are going to do something similar with the New Testament. I am so excited to dive into the life of the Savior, and to share that experience with my dad.

Finally I am smiling today because of this fantastic blog I found. She is doing a month-long service boot camp...a way to get you and your families to serve, in any way you can! As soon as I saw it I enlisted me and my troops...and I can't wait to get started. We are doing a fun fhe tomorrow night that is our monthly service project...I will be sure to let you know how it goes!!

So now its your turn...what things are making YOU smile today?? :)

It's a good life

All week I have been thinking about a conversation I had with some family one day when we were leaving Disneyland just a few weeks ago. We had spent all day trying to make precious memories with our kids. It was a wonderful day, but by the end the kids were hungry, tired and grumpy! My little Skylar was especially upset when I told her no more soda for the day and said something to the effect of "this is such a hard day!!"

Seriously?

I was discussing this with my aunt and uncle and they said something that really struck a chord with me. They said, "It's 99% yes all day long, and then 1% no...and thats all they remember!" I remember thinking this was SO true! As we continued to discuss/vent/laugh about how dramatic kids can be I had a very interesting thought.

Isn't it possible (even probable!) that our Heavenly Father may feel the same way in regards to His children?

So often in our lives we focus on the ONE thing in our life that is not going the way we would like.
I will be happy when I can lose the rest of this weight.

I will be happy when we can get into a home.

I will be happy when my kids are all in school.

You get the idea :)

Is it possible, that just like my children, I am guilty of forgetting the 99% "Yes", and dwelling on the 1% "No"? And in reality, often times Heavenly Father's "No's" are really "Not Now's" or "Not this way".

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. This is a good life. It can be a hard life, but its a life full of love, growth, challenges and mercy. Heavenly Father has given me so much, things that may not seem like much to others, but that add to my 99% "Yes".

I am vowing to live my life with gratitude and realization of that 99%. It doesn't mean the challenges and trials aren't real, and that they are not hard. It simply means trusting in a loving Heavenly Father that knows me better than I know myself. A Heavenly Father that WILL give me that 1% "No"...because He knows it will help me become the woman I need to be. It means trying to live every day concious of the fact that this TRULY is a good life.

I loved this thought so much I made up a little printable I'm going to hang in my loft surrounded by pics of my family. Sometimes we all need this simple reminder :)

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

What a trip!

Wow! We have been gone for 2 weeks and it is SO great to be back home! You really see how blessed your life is when no matter HOW fantastic your vacation is...your favorite place to be is home :)

We have a bunch of new followers...thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you see some things you like, and as always, PLEASE contact me if you have any question or are interested in guest posting or blog-swapping!

We had quite the adventure on our vacation, starting with a day at SeaWorld, then one week at the beautiful island of Maui, and ending with 3 days at Disneyland! Yep...I'm exhausted :) I took about a bizillion pictures at all of these places, but tried to contain myself when posting them :) Here are some quick highlights of our very first trip without the kiddies in HAWAII!!

(and yes...I do realize there are a lot of pictures of me...feel free to scroll down if you want!;)

I have always wondered if they really give you a lei when you get off the plane...wouldn't that be incredibly expensive?! Luckily I got my lei when we arrived at the hotel...I would have been seriously dissapointed! ;)

This was the awesome view from our hotel room, we had a great patio with two loungers and a table with chairs. I loved waking up (fairly) early in the morning and going out to read, listening to the waves crash on the beach....SO relaxing!

We were exhausted the first day we got there and ended up taking a nap in the late afternoon. This is what we woke up to out our patio...

One really fun thing we did was to go golfing at one of the gorgeous courses by our hotel. It was my first time and I totally loved it! I want to take lessons so this spring and summer I can go out with Paul. It was a great place to have your first experience, just driving around the beautiful course in the cart was fun!

This is what we saw when we came out of our hotel every day...isn't it just amazing! I was constantly saying to Paul, "I can't believe we are in Hawaii! We are golfing in Hawaii! Can you believe we are whale watching in Hawaii?!" It is just so incredibly gorgeous.

The final night we were there we attended a Hawaiian Luau at a stunning villa RIGHT on the beach. It was rented out for the night and is officially my new dream home :)

These tables are where we sat for dinner, then the dancers came out with the trees and ocean as their beautiful backdrop.

One of the coolest things about going to Hawaii right now is all the whale watching you can do! We were lucky to go out 2 times, the first time was a combination whale watching and snorkeling excursion...we liked it so much we went back out again a few days later to see more whales. I loved this catamaran that we rode on...it was so fun!

Paul's favorite activity in Hawaii was learning how to surf. He was REALLY good at it, I was very ipressed. Since I am really uncoordinated and really bad at swimming...I layed out on the beach and took pictures :)

One of my favorite things about Hawaii?! Getting all dressed up! As a busy mom I am usually the last one to get ready, it was fun to take the time to get all ready to go out on the town with my guy :) And the shopping before Hawaii was pretty fun too :)

The best part about our trip was spending so much time with this guy. After almost 10 years of marriage and 4 beautiful children, he is still my best friend. I laughed every time someone asked us if we were on our honeymoon, but really, I still feel like we are. Every marriage has its struggles and is a lot of WORK, but all that work makes for the best reward. An eternal companion that I would never be complete without, I love you Paul! :)

Thanks for indulging me and all my pictures! I am excited to get back to real life and post some fun things I have had stewing in my head while I was gone. Thank you so much to everyone that emailed me or left comments while I was gone, I try to respond but I am sure I missed some of you. Stay tuned for lots more fun stuff at Blue Skies Ahead!! :)

My 2012 Word of the Year

Happy New Year's Everyone!

We had such a wonderful day yesterday, it was the perfect way to end one year, and start another.

I love all the possibilities of a new year. I love a fresh start and the feeling that anything is possible. I also LOVE choosing one word to keep in my mind all year long, something I hope to focus on to help me become closer to the person I want to be.

This year the word I have chosen is CHERISH.

My life is such a beautiful gift, but am I truly cherishing it?!

I have a wonderful husband that provides for our family, not only supports my choice in staying home with my children, but LOVES that I do, and tells me everyday how much he loves me....do I truly show him how much I cherish him?

I have 4 fantastic, loud, wacky, dramatic, precious children. They have given my life purpose that I had never known, they have made me better and each has stolen a piece of my heart. Do I show them daily how much I truly cherish being their mother?

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Do I cherish the opportunity I have to serve? Do I cherish the chance I have to listen to a modern day prophet, read sacred scripture and commune daily with my Heavenly Father? Do I cherish the covenants I made in the temple and attend regularly to serve there?

There are so many more things in my life to cherish. I think we get in a rut sometimes of thinking "I will just be happy when...." I don't want to waste a minute of 2012 waiting for "when...."! I also tend to get a little nervous when things are going well. Anyone else? Almost like I'm waiting for something bad to happen, because really, isn't that how life can sometimes be? But really, how can you cherish your life if you are just waiting for something bad to happen??

Life can be SO hard! Some days I feel completely overwhelmed, inadequate and underappreciated! But on those days all it takes is to look around, see all the things I have been blessed with, to see there is truly SO much to cherish.

So if you are picking a word this year, I wish you luck!! I am excited to begin my year of recognizing, appreciating and CHERISHING all that my life has to offer. Life is not perfect, but it was never intented to be. Without the trials and tribulations there would be no growth, no progression. And looking back on my life and thinking I didn't learn a thing is scarier to me than those inevitable twists and turns anyway :)

A very Happy New Year's to you all and may we all have a very cherished 2012!!

Choose to Become...

I had the most amazing opportunity this weekend to join the women of my family and attend the Time Out For Women conference in Salt Lake City. Words don't quite do the experience justice, everything sounds too cheesy or cliche. But honestly...I came home changed. The speakers touched my soul, the music stirred my heart, and I was (and still am!) filled with more knowledge, desire, gratitude and love.

The theme for this year was Choose to Become. Could not have been more perfect for me. One of the things I love about the gospel of Jesus Christ is the doctrine about free agency and choice and accountability. I feel it is SO empowering...I HAVE THE CHOICE. I can choose every day to become the woman my Heavenly Father expects me to be.

One thought that kept coming to me as well through out the entire weekend was who I was before I came to this world. I believe we were all sent here with missions, divine works we are appointed to accomplish with specific spiritual gifts given to help us along our way. The thought kept coming to me as I pondered who I was choosing to become...perhaps I am choosing to REDISCOVER who I had already promised my Father in Heaven I would be. I am not trying to become someone I have never been, instead remembering who He promised me I could be. It was a pretty powerful recognition for me.

Joining me at the conference were my most amazing Johnson girls!! I am so blessed with my family. I was born into an amazing family and count my blessings every day for them. I am also lucky enough to be apart of the Johnson family. I feel as close to them as my own , and I know I was meant to be a part of them. I just found them through marriage instead of birth :)

Here are some pics of us gals at the hotel our AWESOME father-in-law paid for...what a guy!:)

Bet you wish you could have been a fly on the wall to hear all our conversations that night....actually...probably not ;)

A really fun tradition we have started at our annual Girls Weekends are to do our Favorite Things. We try to keep it at a dollar a person, but you think of one of your favorite things that you could share and give one to everyone. It is so fun to learn more about everyone and also get a bag of favorite things to take home!

How lucky I am to stand in the company of such amazing women!

I wanted to share with you some of the most inspiring words that I heard this weekend, I hope these can help and inspire someone as they did for me.

"One who chooses Christ chooses to be changed."

In regards to our Savior..."We need to remember not only what He has saved us from, but what He has saved us FOR."

"God's delays are NOT denials."

The above were all quotes from the amazing Brad Wilcox. He spoke about our Savior as our Redeemer,and His ability to mold and transform us. It was truly beautiful.

The person I was MOST excited to hear from did not disssapoint!! I LOVE Sheri Dew. I love her boldness, her faith and her ability to make me want to be more simply by listening to her. She had some very powerful things to say as well...

"There is not one cell in my body that is neutral about the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"We need to become seeking women, not silly women."

In regards to what to tell someone when they ask us mothers what it is that we actually do all day....you simply say, "I'm nurturing 4 children along the path to exaltation...how abou you?" :)

I have a journal with pages FULL of these quotes and so many more! The thing that was truly amazing about this weekend was that out of 8 women, we all heard exactly what WE needed to hear. Sheri Dew said "The Holy Ghost is the great translator" and I know that is true. He is able to take the message that is given and translate it into our hearts so we can hear what we need.

The other thing this tells me is that Heavenly Father knows ME. He knew what I needed to hear, if I would only listen. Within minutes of hearing the first speaker a word kept coming to me over and over. Throughout the weekend I kep thinking of this word as I pondered who I was choosing to become. When I came home I was impressed to read my patriarchal blessing. I was surprised to realize that same word is repeated over and over, and it had never really stood out to me before. I knew that Heavenly Father was telling me exactly who I could choose to become, because He knows exactly what I am capable of, and WHO I am capable of becoming.

The same is true for all of us. He knows you. And as we strive to become whoever we choose, He will be with us every step of the way.

Thank you for stopping by today. I know that not everyone that looks at my little blog is of the LDS faith, but I believe these concepts are true for ALL of us. We were all born with a divine nature and limitless possibilities...the challenge in this life is seeking those out and trusting ourselves and our Heavenly Father enough to let it all happen.

Living the dream...

We just got back from a wonderful weekend of visiting family in San Diego. We had a fantastic time and were a little sad to come home. As I was going through these pictures I realized something quite amazing. Usually I look at pictures and realize I only captured the good moments...quietly ignoring all the tantrums, breakdowns and fights that always occur with young kids and trips! However, as I looked at these pictures, I realized they WERE a true representation of our trip. The kids were abnormally well-behaved, we were lucky to be joined by my super fun brother and sister-in-law, and I really feel just like the title of this post says...I am living the dream. Or at least, MY dream.

I only have about a million pictures, so sit back and enjoy!! :)

Our big adventure was taking the kids to SeaWorld. The weather was perfect, no crowds, and lots of fun. What more could you ask for?!

We didn't have room to bring our huge stroller so we just rented one they had there. It was perfect because Avrie loved looking around and the big girls could sit on the footrest when they got tired.

2 of the loves of my life :)

This is my brother Tim. He is awesome. I couldn't believe how much patience he and his wife Sara had for our kids. It made our trip a million times better having them with us.

One of the kids favorite things to do was feed fish to the sea lions. I couldn't believe they would grab those stinky little fish and launch them at the sea lions!

Here are some of the beautiful sights at San Diego SeaWorld!

They had THE cutest Sesame Street Playland and we all LOVED going on all the rides together.

How can you NOT smile when you take a break from pushing the stroller, look down, and this is what you see?!

I love the smiles on my kids faces...priceless!

I think this was Paul's favorite part of the day,he loves a good rollercoaster. I was glad he had Tim and Sara to go with him ;)

A huge bouncy-house for Britton to go crazy in? Yes please! :)

Man, we had a great time!! I am so grateful for this little family of mine. They have made my dreams come true, even though,lets be honest, some moments feel sort of like a nightmare! ;)

I am finding a deep contentment in my life RIGHT where it is. There is so much to work on and improve, but meanwhile I am grateful for all that we have been blessed with. I love this time of year to reflect on all these beautiful feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving, and try to treasure every minute of living my dream :)