Pioneer Day Part 2

Foot races are always part of the fun tradition of Pioneer Day. Naomi was working so it was just Austen and Larson having the fun.

Notice Larson has his lucky feather in his hand. (it's actually from his headband from the parade) :)

Austen had a slippery start, but still made a good showing!!

Pioneer Day Celebration!

Larson (aka "birthday boy") is the only one left in this family that can ride in the primary children's July 24th parade. The leaders told them to dress up like their ancestors that crossed the plains.

We have been having many discussions about Dad's indian heritage (Cherokee) so Larson decided that he would dress up as one of his ancestors... the indians.

That lead to a great story about how the Toquer indians really did help many of our other ancestors in settling our little valley.

Larson loved being different and I think many of the parade watchers enjoyed the variety as well.

The Johnson Reunion

This year's reunion was held at Crytal Springs. It is a natural hot spring with pools, jacuzzi's, and water slides. We camped, ate, swam and had a blast! Here are a few of the highlights. Thanks to Kristi and Paul for fun fun time! The family videos were especially entertaining!

Cut... then Promoted!

This week was volleyball tryouts for the highschool volleyball team. Naomi was a little bit nervous, but felt fairly confident that she would at least make the freshman team. There were a lot of girls trying out and that always means nothing is for sure. She worked hard and hustled. She anxiously waited all afternoon until the list was posted at 5:00 p.m. Holding her breath, she walked up to the door then turned and smiled. She had made it through the first round.

She headed back for the second day of tryouts with renewed confidence. She knew that she could make this team. She served, she passed, she hit, she hustled, she sweat, and then she had to wait.

Later that afternoon Mom gets a call from Coach. He wants to move Naomi up to the Varsity gym so that she can progress and learn faster, but is she ready for it? Can she handle it? After consulting with her big sister Tia, we decide to encourage her to take on the challenge and give it her very best shot.

In the mean time, big brother was at the highschool doing senior stuff and ran into Coach. He had the final list in his hand and was talking about Naomi to Presten, saying that he just didn't know if she was ready for the challenge, then crossed Naomi's name off the list in his hand. Presten started to feel bad and concerned for his little sis, until he realized that by crossing her name off the list it meant that Coach was promoting her to the Varsity gym. Whew!!!!!

So we went down to "the door" to see the list. On a list of seventeen girls Naomi's was the ONLY one crossed off. It almost looks like they changed their mind and cut her after all.

Good thing that we knew she was promoted!! That could've been a whole box of kleenex and several chocolate bars just to repair the self image. :)

Tia's Dream House

Earlier this spring I was on a volleyball trip up north with Tia. We stopped in on 4th South at the CNG gas station and next door was this amazing house. Tia fell in love with it. She and grandma J. went over to explore and got "caught" by the security guard. He told them that they have homeless people and vandals trying to get in all the time. He told her that she could go ahead and take pictures though. We love the style. We have fun making up stories about how our lives would be if we lived in that house.

This past summer Tia found herself once again at the Fisher Mansion. She wandered over to dream and take photos. Low and behold someone was inside and the door was open. She carefully walked up the steps and nervously called out if anyone was there. A friendly face greeted her and told her that there was an architectural class that was studying it and they were going to refurbish it and put it to good use! Tia was surprised and delighted when the friendly face invited her to look around and take photos! Who knows someday, Tia might be found sipping lemonade on the porch of her very own Fisher Mansion!

My Bow tie Boys!

For the past year or so, Larson has taken to wearing this hideous bow tie that actually came from the dress up box. He is cute and adorable and can totally get away with wearing it. Everyone just smiles. You know that they are thinking.... "Clearly he dressed himself today, what mother would let her son wear that awful looking bow tie to church?"

I actually love it. Mostly because he has the biggest grin on his face and feels so handsome when he is all dressed up.

A few weeks ago, Bro. Thompson brought over a bag filled with the skinny bow ties that he used to wear in his younger days! Needless to say Larson was thrilled beyond comprehension. Bro. Thompson jokingly told him that he expected to see all the Beatty boys wearing them on Sunday.

Can you believe it? We actually convinced all of them to wear one to church on Sunday... even Presten!!! It was actually really fun to see them sorting through the bag to find just the right one to go with their outfit. (Even if the outfit was black pants and a white shirt. :))

Bro. Thompson was delighted!

We had a priest and a deacon that day wearing bow ties as well as a dad and best of all....

an 8 year old beaming from ear to ear!

Things are settling down... a bit!!!

Since the last post... much has happened! I will try to catch you up!

Ashli got married to a great guy.. Josh! Isn't it crazy how life is so backwards and inside out sometimes. The last few years I have been struggling to deal with the fact that my kids are growing up and leaving our home. The home is different and the table is smaller. Now I turn around and my family is growing and the table needs the leaf put back in!!! Isn't family wonderful!

Presten had an amazing track year! He was the region champ in the 100 meter, long jump, medley relay race, and 2nd in the 200 meter. The team also won the region championship. We went to the state meet at BYU and he did well there also. State champ in the long jump, medley relay team, and..... the team took the STATE TITLE!!!! He was so happy to be a part of that!

Naomi won all kinds of awards for academics including top ten in the national testing in 7 areas. Plus she was inducted into the Junior National Honor Society. She finished up volleyball by placing second in the intermountain volleyball tourney with her team in May.

Austen is still going like gang busters. He is currently preparing to participate in the Utah Summer Games with his soccer team. He is also preparing for toe surgery in July. If he ever grows into his feet he will be towering above us all (he has already passed me and he's only 12).

Larson is non stop energy. He wants to swim EVERYDAY!! Right now he likes spending time on his new bike, playing baseball, and this week his dad taught him how to pan for gold. He was so excited to see those little gold flecks in his pan. What a thrill!

Rick is getting stronger and better every day and I am so grateful for the technology and knowledge we have in this day and age. He has such a great attitude and just keeps on moving on and smiling along the way. The garden has been great therapy too.

Tia is working part time in Springdale, and really likes working with the many different types of people who come to visit (except the grumpy, cranky ones :)) She spends nearly every free minute with the singles ward and friends. She is also taking more and more photos and getting really really good at it!