13 years and counting

We made plans to go out for a tasty fondue dinner in Portland. We arrived early and drove around for 20 minutes, no parking to be found! We decided it was not meant to be and headed for a spot we’d heard about, but never been to. Urban Farmer sits on the 8th floor of The Nines a hotel sitting above the downtown Macy’s. It was amazing! The night could not have been planned better. The drinks, food, service, atmosphere, & conversation were all perfect!

We had our choice of sparkling water or still water. We chose still. It didn’t taste. nothing. It was like nothing but wetness had been in your mouth, we couldn’t get enough of it. It looks like water, but tastes like nothing you’ve ever tasted, literally! The picture of course does not do it justice! Just looks like plain ol’ water… but boy, did we have fun drinking that water!

Our evening of perfection was topped off with this lovely dessert brought out from the kitchen with a special chocolate note attached:

It was amazing.

Max’s Vet Visit

In order to be accepted into his school, Max had to be up-to-date on his vaccinations. He only needed one more vaccine, so we made an appointment with our new veterinerian, Dr. Wendy.

Max was not a big fan of the scale. He is a BIG boy weighing in at 67.5 pounds!

After meeting Dr. Wendy and having her look Max over, we learned that Max had some fluid on his right elbow. She wanted to test the fluid to make sure it was not infected, so she drained a little bit off his arm. The results were no infection AND a soft little cast that stayed on his arm for all of an hour!

James playing with inflatable fleas & ticks in the waiting room of the vet office as we waited for Max.

We had a few errands to run, so the boys relaxed in the car as we ran here and there…

Out to Dan’s house to help Gramma move the Quad.

When we arrived home, James packed up his suitcase and toys for a special evening with Aana & Upa.

Five = Friends

For James turning 5 meant having a birthday celebration with his buddies! We set the date and all his friends showed up at The Kids Club for 2 hours of play-filled fun! The first hour was spent running, sliding, and moving through The Jungle, with the next hour spent re-hydrating and feeding hungry tummies! We topped it off with a special cake made by Auntie and some extra special gifts brought in by his great buddies! What a super-duper way to celebrate his 5th birthday!

~James with all his good buddies ~

The extra-special, way-cool BAKUGAN cake made with love by Auntie.

Pizza. Blowing out the Candles. Gifts.

make a wish.

As James told me the morning of the celebration, treat bags are cool cause they are a present you give your friends for coming to your party! So what did we do? We ran out after work, bought treats, and filled bags an hour before the festivities began.

…and James turns 5

Janurary 12, 2010

The night before the BIG event, the kids (James, Abbie, & Chandler) decorated lots and LoTs of cupcakes. They decorated little cakes for school, chocolate ones, yellow-cake ones, and fun-fetti ones! Lots of colors and sprinkles were necessary…

We ended the evening with pretty cakes!

James party was full of family & fun!

Gramma & James

James and his brother (as James calls Max!)

…and all the cousins celebrating James BIG day!

Maya is very excited for her 1st Birthday! We are practicing with the fingers in the cake!

WildCats Take 3rd

Last weekend Abbie and Josh left the house at 6am to travel to Estacada, Oregon for Abbie’s first VB tournament of the season.

Max helped Abbie get her bag packed…

Abbie’s team, The Wildcats, played all day… and took 3rd overall in the tournament! Abbie played well and had a blast!

Hooray for the Wildcats!

Our Boy, Max

Max has changed our lives… in the best of ways!

We wake each morning and take max for a long walk. After dinner the family all suits up (usually in rain gear) and heads out for an evening stroll. It’s been a refreshing change to walk so often!

We bought Max a new bed for his kennel (see below) he didn’t like, so we returned it for something softer. He’s much happier now. This bed made too much noise for him!

While at the pet store, the kids each got to pick out one special toy for their new buddy. Abbie chose a tug-of-war rope and the two of them have had many fun hours of tugging and playing!

James picked out a ball for Max. It happens to be his new favorite toy. He plays with it with or without James. He and James do get lots of enjoyment out of playing “throw the ball” he has learned to bring it back already!

James and Max have also learned to play Hide and Seek together. James hides and Max finds him. James giggles and giggles and Max hops and hops with excitement… so sweet to watch! Here James is hiding in the living room.

Josh spends time each day working with Max on his commands. He is a very good listener. Max starts school on the 19th of this month.

I just love my boy!

New Year’s

New Year’s Eve filled our house with family & friends. We had a wonderful night of conversation, food, and drinks. 20 of us surrounded the TV at midnight to take part in the countdown to to the ball dropping into 2010. It was amazing to look around and know we have so many wonderful people in our lives… a perfect welcome to a new year!

New Year’s Day proved to be a lazy day! My mom cooked a big, tasty breakfast and we lounged the day away in our PJ’s. It was perfect. Mom and Stephanie helped us clean up the mess left from the night before and we enjoyed being home. The kids decided to try out James new Easy Bake Oven. Abbie supervised. After 20 minutes tasty little cake was made.

Of course, Max likes to be everywhere the kids are… so he watched and waited with the kids as the cake baked!

Speaking of Max,

it amazes me that he has only been apart of the family for a few days. It feels like he has always been with us. He is so comfortable and relaxed and a joy to be with! We LOVE him! Last night we all snuggled in the bonus room and watched the movie Up. Max snuggled right in with us, it was fun! We take him on 2 walks a day; one first thing in the morning and the second after dinner. This morning we jogged together, he is a real motivator for me!

PS. did I mention how much he loves to be with the kids… so sweet!

Our New Family Member

Max.

We have been thinking and dreaming of completing the Johnson Family with a dog. We all decided a German Shepherd would make the perfect addition… so we began slowly looking. As things go, the stars aligned and we found Max. Steve and Sharon (Max’s 1st parents) were looking for Max to be with a family so he could get lots of exercise and socialization. We began talking and it seemed like we might be the family Max was looking for. We took a lovely drive out to Vernonia to meet Steve, Sharon, and Max. It was love at first sight! Max was so excited to play with the kids and while he is a puppy and wants to play, he listens well. Steve and Sharon saw that we would love Max and give him a happy home. They graciously shared their beautiful pup with our family. We look forward to getting to know Max better, playing with him, learning with him, walking and running with him, and snuggling with him too! He is a good boy! A big thank you to Steve & Sharon for taking a chance on our family!

Merry Christmas

After only 5 hours of sleep, the kids snuck into our room and woke us with a very excited, “Merry Christmas”. We all went downstairs where I insisted on making some coffee first. Next, we opened stockings which is my most favorite thing to do! I just love stockings filled with special little treats. Judie, Larry, and their foster-boys came down with gifts galore and some Cinnabon Rolls. We opened gifts together, shared some coffee, rolls, and a fresh pineapple margarita (a tradition).

After enjoying all of our new gifts and a fun morning, we packed up and headed to my mom’s house where we spent the rest of the day and evening with my mom, grandparents, and my sis&fam.

It was a perfectly wonderful day full of food, fun, relaxation, and excellent gifts! The only thing we didn’t get this year was snow…

Christmas Eve

We shopped all morning, baked cookies in the afternoon, wrapped presents in the early evening, enjoyed some snacks and treats with our families into the night, watched the kids open their gifts from one another.

Abbie gave James Splashy the Whale, a game he’d been wanting for so long!

James gave Abbie a Bop-It, a game she’d been asking for since fall…

We all had fun trying out the games. After the families went home and kids set out the treats for Santa and his reindeer… (in this picture Santa had already eaten most of the cookies and taken the carrots Rudolph)

Josh and I got back to work wrapping. We ended up falling into bed about 2:30 in the morning…