25th.

christmas day we had a wonderful christmas service in nanna & poppa's living room. we sang & serenaded one another, basked in the retelling of the christmas story, and remembered christmastimes past. then what else to do but stay in jammies & play a pinnochle tournament, eat & visit with family & friends, and treasure creative gifts that promise to better our gardening seasons to come? ;) an absolutely delightful day.

hockey.

the ice is clear, and the boys (and one girl!) are taking advantage of it nearly everyday... what fun!

merry.

merry merry christmas from the johnsons!!

two continued.

well it is the plain truth that kj is one blessed girl. to have not one, but two birthday parties full of people that love her & want to celebrate her turning the big two!! WOW!

thanks to the johnson clan for gathering round our kiddo & filling her (& us!) with delight. thanks for being so very willing to focus on her for an evening-- to eat her favorite foods (pizza and marshmallows), to play her new favorite parachute game, and to gift her with toys that make her do the happy dance & compel her to play with them immediately. thanks for going her pace and celebrating her joys. it fills my heart to overflowing knowing that kj has you in her life!

hoops.

nj couldn't pass up the opportunity to play in his high school alumni basketball tournament this month! turned out that all four of the '99 guys of his team reunited to face off against his younger brother's team... what a start to the day! the whole johnson family was in the stands, cheering them on like in old times. i felt like i scored a glimpse into part of his life that i missed out on. and kj, she just liked cheering him on. and eating popcorn. "goooooo daddy!"

freeze.

there are some moments of my days that i would like to freeze in time, or at the very least in my memory. i feel inadequate in this department, so i am indebted and thankful for the technology called digital cameras. this particular day, the combination of daylight streaming through my bedroom window plus kj's insistence on wearing her "angel scarf" (as she calls it, because she likes to spread it across her arms & pretend she's an angel telling about baby jesus ;)), was too beautiful not to stop & capture by camera. thank you, Lord, for giving us this beauty.

two.

happy happy birthday, sweet kj! you're not "almost 2!" anymore, but you're the real deal. TWO!

oh my, what a day! it was one where this little girl was surrounded by much love.
it started at about 6am with the unveiling of her new play kitchen (hand-crafted by poppa & daddy!), which she promptly set about using for washing hands and making oatmeal. then there were more presents to open, each of which must be enjoyed for awhile before moving on to the next one (loved her style!)... soon after was school-time (ecfe), then nanna's arrival, THEN the big birthday party!

we hijacked one of our playgroup times, added a few other favorite friends, and crafted ourselves a popcorn birthday party for the big two-year-old! it was a bit tricky finding a birthday treat that kj would enjoy, since she really doesn't have a sweet tooth, but the popcorn proved a hit. so did the craft time (shakers using popcorn kernels between paper plates), the popcorn story, the popcorn fingerplays, and the popcorn parachute game. we had twelve kiddos in total, i believe, plus a newborn. it was a wild & wonderful party for our amazing girl. the day was topped off by a birthday dinner, more presents (a new babydoll!), phone calls from grandparents, and late to bed... i don't think she would have asked for anything more, if she'd know she could have... we love you, kj! so glad you had this happy day in your life!

smiles.

random cute shots of the day... featuring teddy-bear ears (a new hairdo), little baby (practicing for rocking her baby brother), and smiles (oh happy day!). ;)

true.

the picture of true friends... sharing a roll of ritz crackers while visiting our newest baby friend (his little sister) in the hospital! thanks for hosting us, l family! this was a classic day of toddler-dom that i will remember for a very long time... come see us when baby jj is born, and perhaps we can return the favor. ;)