Summer Vacation 2010, Part 2

Part 2 of our vacation posts picks up on Monday, June 7. After a much needed night of sleep we had an easy morning and then went swimming with sister-in-law Heidi and her kids. When we got back to their house, some of the kids went swimming again in their bathtub to rinse off.

Monday evening means family night. Heather's brother, Brian and his family came over to visit. Heidi had picked up some beef and turkey after hearing about our Brazilian garlic sirloin and bacon-wrapped turkey skewers, so it was a cook out night. Although I was on vacation, I couldn't help but offer to grill. We loaded up the grill with meats and veggies - mmmm!

Little miss independent Sara trying to eat with her utensils with uncle Aarron looking on...

... And then howing Aaron and Heidi how she can take off and put on her sandals.

Heather and Heidi

In preparation for the wedding, the women decided it would be fun to get matching dresses for the 20+ girl cousins. They found a great deal online for the dresses and wanted to add a little purple sleeve on them. Carrie (Brian's wife) and Heidi took on most of the stitching and Heather joined in to help wrap up the work.

We had a Family Home Evening, played games, told stories, and had a great time.
The next morning we had planned to go to the zoo. We happened to go during international oceans week (who knew?) and there were several activities for the kids. Most decided to get their faces painted to match a fish of their choice. Bryant, like his dad, didn't want to have his face painted. My nephew, Jacobi, was one of my favorites...

The girls on a bronze bear statue.

"Look, dad. Bamboo!"

Sara enjoyed the petting station and nearly had her pecked by the chickens as she tried holding a cracker for them to eat.

After the zoo we went swimming again, and that evening went to the minor league baseball game in Greenville. We had a great time with Aarron and Heidi and a good visit with Brian and Carrie as well.

Wednesday morning came a little early as we had to travel about 2 hours to Columbia, SC for Michele's temple session. After that we traveled another couple hours to Ninety Six, where Heather's parents live. From then on, Heather was tirelessly working on the wedding cake and helping with decorations for the reception. I had the pleasure of doing some end of quarter work while on vacation that happened to be in the middle of all the decorating chaos on Thursday. Did I really miss out? I don't think so...

Friday came and we got loaded up again to go back to Columbia for the wedding. We all stayed at a hotel near the temple, played in the pool, hung out, and got ready for the wedding on Saturday.

For those that are familiar with some of the stories of Johansen weddings, this one was surprisingly normal. No marriage licenses were forgotten, everything was on time, and seemed to move very smoothly. I guess that's what happens on the 11th wedding out of 12 kids. Practice and planning must have played a part. Saturday was hot and very humid to be dressed up. The kids did relatively well during the wedding and everyone seemed patient for the pictures afterward.

Sara was tired and ready for a nap by the time we got around to taking this picture. Her friend is Benjamin's (the groom) sister who Sara made friends with earlier in the week.

The happy couple - meet Benjamin and Michele Gibson!

After all the pictures and lunch we had to travel another 2 hours to where the reception was being held. On the way out of town I saw this and had to take a picture. The "El Cheapo" gas station had gas at the lowest price we had seen on the trip. It certainly was el cheapo - look at the hole in the sign!

The final preparations were being made at the church for the reception. Heather asked me to help her assemble the tiers on the cake. We had to insert dowels and position the tiers around fresh flowers. Kinda tricky. Here's the finished product:

The kids were troopers. In fact, I think the kids lasted better and longer than I did that day!

Sara decided she wanted in on the bride's dance. She got some giggles going in the crowd while trying to steal some attention.

And one more picture of the Gibsons just after sharing some cake.

We ended the day with another 2 hour drive to Heather's sister Jennifer's house which was on our way to the beach. Because of the travel we missed the clean-up duty which is a first for us. We had a great time visiting with all of Heather's family. Despite the confusion that can ensue with 12 kids and their families, everything went really well.

We learned that after the reception while families were traveling home, Heather's brother Joseph blacked out at the wheel and drove off into a field. His wife, Becky, who was following in their van (and obviously freaked out by seeing her husband go four wheeling in the dark) stopped to make sure everything was okay. No injuries and they were lucky it was a field. A couple minutes later their son, Jared, noticed flames underneath the van that Becky had parked on the side of the road. It was too late to move the vehicle. They got everyone out and watched it go up in flames - tires popping, airbags, and the gas tank all blew out. It melted power lines overhead. They didn't lose very much in the fire (aside from a vehicle) - fortunately most of the luggage was in the other vehicle.

That wraps up week 1 of the two week trip. The next installment will cover the rest of my time in SC.

Summer Vacation 2010, Part 1

On a Sunday afternoon I find myself sitting in my home office sorting through pictures of our latest family adventure. It's taken me a week to catch up to home life, work, and home projects that have occupied my mind. Alone in the house (because the rest of the family is not home yet) I am enjoying the peaceful bliss of silence, broken now by the sound of my keyboard. I've decided it's time to blog and let everyone know what my clan has done for the first part of the summer. I think it will take a few posts to adequately cover the events of the past few weeks, so here's the first installment...

We found out in February that Heather's sister, Michele, was engaged to be married in the Columbia, South Carolina temple. Heather insisted that she wanted to spend some quality time in SC with her family. This seemed like a good idea and almost too convenient - the kids would be out of school, she could make the wedding cake as a gift, and could stay some extra time to see her other siblings. Aside from the wedding and seeing Heather's family (the obvious reason for going), I had one agenda on my mind - get to the beach! I arranged to have two weeks off at work, something that I haven't ever done since entering in to the workforce, and we began to plan a trip that some might compare to the Griswolds in one of their National Lampoon excursions.


A number of factors went into the travel plans, and we decided that it would be best for us to drive. After a couple months of preparations, lists, and planning, we finally loaded up the Grand Caravan with luggage, food, and entertainment for the kids and left Utah valley at about 4:30pm on Friday, June 4. Less than an hour on the road, we had to pull off for a potty break. Needless to say, I was not thrilled with the prospect of stopping every hour.

We got back on the road and then everything seemed to click. There was no major road construction in Wyoming. The kids didn't need the frequent potty breaks. The weather was clear, and I was feeling good behind the wheel. We stopped for a late dinner at dusk and got back on the road. Crossing into Nebraska at nighttime, we could see storms in the distance. As the night got later, the storm turned into one of the most fantastic displays of lightning I have ever seen. The storm lit up the sky continuously like a fireworks display on the Fourth of July. I tracked the storm's time for at least a half hour before the road turned enough to remove my view.

It was about 3:30am before I was tired enough to have Heather drive. She drove for a few hours until the sun came up. She got us to the corner of Iowa before I took the wheel again. We stopped for breakfast in St. Joseph, MO and then made our way to Kirksville to stay the night with my grandparents.

Kirksville is one of those towns that doesn't seem to change very much. Granny's house was very much the same as I have always remembered it. Different colors inside, but the same. We were all happy to be there after being in the car for so long. We spent the afternoon visiting and the kids went exploring around the porch. There was a light rain when we got there and the kids were fascinated by the buckets that caught the water.

We got there in time for lunch - dog sandwiches. Heather was a little confused and asked what a dog sandwich was - was it a cut up hot dog? For those who are uninformed, "dog" in this case is actually Grandpa's word for bologna. We all had a good laugh about that one.

After lunch we found the porch swing.

Sara enjoyed walking around, however she wouldn't let go of her blanket. I wasn't going to argue. It got washed that night.

And as a special treat, Granny made brownies to go with some ice cream after our nice roast and veggies for dinner.

Gina and Dennis joined us for dinner and Sammie and Joe came over a little later. It was a good visit and was fun to catch up with aunts and uncles I haven't seen for a couple years.

At bedtime, everyone was exhausted. I laid Sara down on a bed and about 5 minutes later she was out - didn't even turn over to her stomach like she usually does. The next morning it was still evident that everyone was tired. I woke up with the sun shining into the bedroom, but everyone else was pulling the covers up to get as much sleep as possible.

After a country breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice (my and Bryant's favorite) we took some pictures and loaded up again to make the second half of the drive.

We left about 9:30am on Sunday. It was another uneventful drive across MO, into IL, KY, TN, NC, and finally to our first destination in SC. We arrived at midnight eastern time at Heather's brother Aarron's house.

With that, I'll summarize a few things for this post.

• Car DVD players, iPods, Nintendo DSi, music and audiobooks make this type of travel much more fun and enjoyable.
  
• Gas prices in Utah were at $2.97. The cheapest we saw gas was $2.37. Average price in Wyoming was $2.69, and from Missouri to the east the average was $2.49.

Relatively speaking, we had a pretty good time and pretty easy travel across the US. We live in a beautiful country and it was fun to see the scenery change from mountains to plains and hills, desert to fields and trees, and everything in between.

Easter (by Heather)

Easter weekend for us was super crazy! My sister was in town for a dress fitting and I also hosted a bridal shower for her Saturday night, with twenty guests plus four extra children. It was a blast and Michele scored some great gifts. Sunday we had more General Conference, Easter baskets, and the Easter bunny came and hid eggs. We also had a nice Easter Lunch with Michele, Benjamin (her fiance), and my cousin Bethany. It was a great weekend, even with all the crazy going on. I've posted some of our favorite pictures of the kids.

Getting the goodies out of the baskets.

Finding Easter eggs!

After Easter we had a week off for spring break and enjoyed visiting friends and NOT doing homework. :) This week it was back to soccer games Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri and trying to fit a somewhat normal routine in there.
We visited the dentist this week and were given another thumbs up. No cavities! So far we've been fortunate enough to not have to deal with cavities for any of our children yet. Hopefully that will continue.
I was also called to be the fourth Sunday teacher in Relief Society at church. I'm a little nervous, just because it's been so long since I've had to prepare more than a five minute lesson for family home evening, but I'm sure once I get going it will come together fine. Well, I think that's it for news this week. Until next time then...

Happiness is... a Fence!

Call it a barrier. Call it a wall. Call it a division. Call it privacy. Call it what you will - I will call it a little slice of heaven! (now that it's done, of course)

We've been in our house for about 2 1/2 years now and we've just installed a fence. Don't get me wrong - we enjoy our neighbors. They're good people, and good friends. Our kids play together on trampolines, swing sets, and on the sidewalks and street. We have fun conversations and we all work hard to provide for our families. At the end of it all, though, I'm happy to have a little world called my back yard that I can say is a lot more my own now.

Maybe it's the fact that I miss the wide open field before the houses were built behind us, or being able to see the construction of other new homes. I actually don't mind the look of dirt in the back door neighbors yard as long as the weeds don't grow as tall as I am (and taller). Whatever it was, I don't have to think about it anymore because this is what I see in my back yard now (click for larger view)...

We've been saving for a while to make sure the fence could happen this spring. The hard work has paid off.

The project actually started a couple weeks ago when I borrowed my neighbor's truck and trailer, and got some help from Nate, Scott, and my good buddy Jared. We had to prep materials for the retaining wall. Here's the reason why - the grade from our back yard to the house behind us is about 2ft higher on the property line...

Nate and Kirsta are in the process of redoing their flower beds - giving them a more modern look with some curbing, so I asked to take these cement blocks off their hands. (It's hard to resist free materials - a win-win for me and Nate!) We moved a total of 100 big blocks (plus some smaller finish ones) that Saturday. We're guessing that each big block weighed 70-80 pounds - 16 in wide, 6 in tall, and 12 in deep - solid concrete. After moving the blocks I got Scott to help me get some necessary tools and other materials from The Home Depot.


Next came the prep work - we needed enough space on the property line to place the retaining wall, as well as a clear path for the posts to be installed. In this process I determined that I wanted to go one level higher on the retaining wall than I had originally planned. I had to arrange to get more materials on another day.


The installation crew came and placed the posts last Friday in a matter of about 4 hours. At that point, I proceeded to assemble the retaining wall. I completed about 2 sections of wall on Friday night and then worked all day Saturday. Nate came down to help pay back some manual labor I gave to him while finishing his basement (although he claims I worked him harder). His help was greatly appreciated because in a matter of about 4 hours, we finished out the materials that we had on-hand. I made cuts on the blocks to make the posts appear to come up out of the wall. Diamond blades and a tough saw did the trick just fine. A hammer and chisel helped with the finer details.


The wall was about 3/4 done on Saturday. Easter Sunday came and we woke up to a blanket of snow. The weather didn't want to cooperate - we had rain and snow through Tuesday. Finally on Tuesday evening I got my neighbor to come help me and Nate load up another 40 big blocks to finish out the project. I took Wednesday off and finished the retaining wall. I filled the hollow core of the tall posts with some additional rock, sand, and concrete to help stabilize them.


I finished the retaining wall just in time. The installers came back the next day to place the panels. It took the crew of three a little more than an hour to complete the install. Here is the finished product (again).


What I've Learned:

1. I have a new respect for masons - stone, brick, etc. I cannot imagine how they can do that work day after day. Not a profession I would choose.
   
2. I have no desire to ever build a retaining wall again, but would know to do a few things differently if it were required.
3. Having the right tools for the job is priceless. My investments in a new saw, hammer drill, concrete blades, brick chisel, as well as other tools I have owned for years have been well worth it and have saved me time and money.
   
4. It all starts with an idea and a vision of how it should turn out. It all ends with hard work.
   

Heather's 31st Birthday

Yay - some pictures!

Happy belated birthday to Heather in the blogging world. Since no-one else knows how (or is daring enough to attempt) her favorie - ice cream cake - Heather made her own cake again this year. She didn't want a purchased one since hers are better. Notice the creative 3-1 with the candles on the cake - yeah, that's my contribution.

Heather's birthday prizes came early this year when we had a shopping spree at Kohls. We got her a food dehydrator to go along with all the other kitchen gadgets and appliances we now own... time for a bigger kitchen, right? Not for a while, although that would be nice.
So the family gathering was a couple days after her actual birthday. The morning of her birthday, the kids planned out their attack...

Breakfast: pop-tarts and a banana
Gifts: chocolate bar (raided from the pantry), a homemade bead necklace, and a card
Decorations: balloons from an activity from the night before, custom signage (and one misspelling: brithday - we all got a fun laugh out of it.)

The girls came up with this all on their own. Heather was surprised and I was impressed that they pulled it together in a morning BEFORE Heather got up to get them ready for school.

I think she had a good time turning one year older.

The project bug... and other sundries

First, I've been scolded by a few of you already for the long break in blogging. Let's just say it hasn't been top of mind for the past few months... I think the only way to change that is to start off again and try to make it routine - like so many other things going on at our house right now. No pictures for this post, as I'm not at my home computer, but they will come soon.

We've been busy since Heather's last post. One reason we got out of the blogging habit was the project of the winter season - build a new computer so we could archive all of our movie collection. That has been an undertaking. It's all put together and most of our movie collection is in some stage of digital formatting right now. I will report back on how many date movies we have purchased over the last nearly 11 years of marriage when they're all processed.

With all of this computer work going on, it was pretty much chaos in our home office. At one point we had two computers running, but one got disassembled in the process of building the new computer. Heather wanted more access to the computer (I work from home on some days) so project #2 of the winter was to reorganize our office space. We've added some IKEA shelves and desk in our "green" room and are slowly working on reorganizing the other "stuff" that's in there. It's looking good, but still too much stuff in the room for my taste right now...

Now that spring is around the corner we've turned our focus outside. We're tired of the weeds in our neighbors' backyards and uninvited kids liabilities on our swing set so we're putting in a fence. (To be clear, we're fine with neighbor kids, as long as they are invited) As part of that project, we also need to build a retaining wall on our back property line. Scott, Nate, Jared Moore, and I spent part of this past Saturday getting materials ready - namely moving concrete blocks from Nate's house to our place. I'm guessing we moved at least a ton of materials. Once the fence guys come to set the posts, we'll rush to place the retaining wall before they finish the top part. It's an ambitious project that I hope to have done in the next few weeks.

That's about all I have time for now. More to come in the near future.