Goodbye

So long to our house.  We are out.  Lived there for eight years, built it ourselves, had Sage there, our kids did a lot of growing there, lots of good memories.  Was I sad to leave?  Strangely, not really.  I'm ready to move forward. Someday we'll build our house.  Jake's so busy that we might end up in this rental for a long time.  Fingers crossed.

Let's talk about this rental.  As far as rentals go, I'm sure it could be worse.  We have enough room.  Its definitely livable.  And my kids are still close to school and friends.  However, it was built for short skinny people.  I don't have a problem with the short part, but Jake is constantly hitting his head.  And there are random doorways that are seriously a foot wide.  Its awesome.  Diet motivation I guess.

So we moved a week ago (which was exhausting by the way).  We're unpacked and now scrambling to be ready to go on vacation.  Definitely one of those where we breathe a sigh of relief when we get on the plane.  Rhode Island here we come!  Peace out!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I have a love/hate relationship with this picture

Happy Birthday to Mom today!  She would be 59.  Craziness.  I told my kids to try to do something extra nice for someone today, in honor of Grandma Lu.  April and I are going to the Cheesecake Factory for the first annual Mom's Birthday Lunch.  Hopefully as the years pass we'll get more siblings there.  I'll eat the lunch for Mom, and the cheesecake for Linz:).  We all know food makes everything better, right?

In other news, Jake came through for me for Mother's Day (which is impressive since its not my favorite day, thus he has his work cut out for him).  Jake's cousin, Jordan Wright,  is an amazing artist.  Last year he painted this picture of Peach City in Brigham City.  I've been wanting it ever since for a couple of reasons.  My mom grew up in Brigham City, and not only that, but she actually worked at Peach City.  So now I can put this painting up that everyone can enjoy because its awesome, but for me it has extra meaning.

So, in honor of my mom, everyone do something extra nice for someone today.  Some act of service.  Because that's what she would be doing if she was here.

PS - If any of my siblings, or anyone else, want prints or copies of this painting it can be arranged.  Just let me know.

Time

Linz and Kate

Mom and Sage

"Time heals all wounds" I believe is how the saying goes.  Well, that's a bunch of crap if you ask me.  I will say that the daily heartache and sadness gets better, but I don't see it ever going away.  Especially in May.  May is not a fun month.  Every year I brace myself.  This year its harder than normal for some reason.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 is when Linz left us.  This year May 10 is a Saturday again.  Maybe that's why its harder this year?  I'll never forget that day.  The phone call.  The tears.  The shock.  The tears.  I remember going to church the next day in my parent's ward.  I remember crying while attempting to sing "Families Can Be Together Forever".  I remember coming home on Monday to do laundry and then rushing back to be with my family.  With my mom.  I remember how Mother's Day was the next day.  We were supposed to talk to Linz.  I remember figuring out the funeral.  What songs to sing.  Who to speak.  I remember Mom's birthday on May 14.  A few days after we lost Linz.  Poor Mom, had to celebrate Mother's Day and her birthday right after losing her daughter.  I don't know how she did it.  I remember trying to pick a present out for her with my sisters.  I think we got her a ring with Linz's birth stone.  And there are lots of other things I remember about that time that, six years later, are still to tender to share.

At least in those moments we had my mom.  Now we go through these days without her.  And its hard.  Mother's Day is no fun.  I've bucked up the last few years and put a smile on my face for my kids.  This year I volunteered to work.  Then we get through Mother's Day and have her birthday on the 14th.  So I don't love this time of year.  At all.

I'm not trying to be negative.  I know I'll see them again.  That's the only thing that keeps me going.  I know they're still part of my life, and part of my kids' lives.  I've had many experiences that teach me that.  But its still not fair.  And I still miss them.  I hate that I never got to go to Linz's wedding.  I hate that my kids don't get to play with her.  I hate that my kids don't remember my mom.  That's horrible!  She was the best grandma.  I hate, hate, hate not having any new pictures.  I don't want to see the same old pictures anymore.  I want to see new pictures.  New memories.  My heart hurts, and this year I feel like letting it hurt.

So, sorry this post isn't all fun and exciting.  I promise I'm not going to be all weepy for the rest of my life.  But sometimes things are hard.  Sometimes I don't want to put a smile on my face.  And that's what I feel like saying right now, even though it probably makes Mom and Linz mad…

Again?!!

I got the chance to do the Ragnar Trail Relay in Zions over the weekend.  I did it with April and Toby and lots of Toby's family.  It was awesome and horrible all at the same time.  Awesome because it was a trail relay and I love trail running.  Love it.  Also awesome because of great company, tons of food (more than we could ever eat - invite the Johnsons if you want good food), and the party that Ragnar races always are.  The awesome part about trail races is you get to camp instead of sitting in a car for hours.  There are three trails and as soon as everyone has run each trail, you're done.

The place we were camping at had pools and hot tubs.  Super cool.  I was the first runner for our team. A three mile loop.  Then I got to go sit in the hot tub.  Sigh.  From now on I'm only doing races that have access to hot tubs.  I realize that limits me with races, but I'm ok with that.  Anyway, I got to hang out, relax, buy new trail shoes (gotta shop), and eat good food before my next run.  My second run was an eight mile loop in the dark.  It was awesome to run in the dark, but it definitely slowed me down.  My old eyes had a hard time seeing even with my lights (one on my head, one in my hand).  And I'm kind of bummed I missed out on the views.  I'm assuming they were amazing, but I couldn't see anything.  And I bet the stars were amazing, but the clouds were in the way.  Oh well.  I finished that run in less than optimal time (I've lost my running edge) and crashed in my tent.

Then the fun began.  We saw the forecast going into this and knew it was supposed to rain.  100% chance of rain.  Due to my past experiences of running in the rain, this made me super excited.  As noted above, I made it through my first two runs in great weather.  No rain, a little wind, nothing crazy. While laying in my tent I heard the rain start.  And it just kept raining.  Luckily I brought decent clothes, but still, there's no way to avoid getting wet while running in the rain.  I started my last lap at around 5:00am.  Still dark.  I started out running and quickly slowed to a walk.  If you could call it that.  The mud was amazingly horrible.  Thick, slippery mud.  Everywhere.  It was all I could do to not fall over.  I was grabbing branches and rocks to make it up the hills and wishing I had skis for the way down.  When my watch beeped that I'd gone a mile, I realized it had taken me twenty minutes.  Yes, twenty minutes for one mile.  I would have turned around (really I would have - I am getting slightly smarter in my old age) but since it was dark the only way I knew to get back to camp was by following the trail.  It was like something out of a nightmare.  All these people, sliding everywhere, in the dark, lit only by their head lamps.  Eery for sure.  It took me fifty minutes to make it the first two miles.  Fifty!  It was so fun.  By the end the trails were like rivers.  I wish I could have taken a picture.  Part way through the run the rain turned into a blizzard.  Even better, right?  I was lucky enough to finish before the signs could get covered with snow and I could get lost.  I finally finished my 4.5 mile loop in an hour and a half.  My best time ever.

When I got to the transition area Toby was there waiting.  I've never been so happy to see him in my life.  Luckily by then they were stopping people from going out.  This is good because Toby was about to run his eight mile leg and we would have never seen him again.  They ended up canceling the race a little later.  I think the worst part of the whole time was after my mud run.  I was warm while running (walking/slipping), but as soon as I stopped I was freezing.  I tried to take a shower, but the lines were eternal.  So I changed into some dry clothes.  But then I had to go back out in the snow and take down my tent and help get everything loaded up.  I kind of wanted to die.  But I didn't.  We managed to get everything loaded up and I finally got to sit down in a nice, warm car.  We may or may not have stopped to eat twice on the way home.  Because we deserved it.

The moral of this story is:  If you are signed up for a race and the forecast looks cold and wet, don't do it!  Drop out!  Its not worth the pain and misery!  This is what I'll be doing in the future.  If I ever do this race again (which let's face it, I probably will…its trail running and has a hot tub, thus fulfilling my qualifying criteria) I will run in the good weather, but as soon as it turns bad I'm out.  Just so you know.

getting ready to run in a tank top and shorts

Sisters!  This was April's first race:)

Pre-snow

Post-snow

After my mud run - this picture does not show how wet and muddy I am

Pretend the road is a trail…that's what I ran in

Our team…Johnson's Jollies

Spring Break!

I love spring break.  Its awesome and amazing.  For reals.  I especially love it when the weather cooperates and we can get some good outside time in.  And that's what happened this year.  We went to Moab with a bunch of friends and we had a great time.  Our kids had so many friends to play with that they were totally entertained the whole time.  Sage started crying when it was time to go.  I got my first sun burn of the year (hopefully the last).  Jake and Zack went mountain biking lots.  Zack's getting pretty good.  I can tell Jake's counting the days until Zack's good enough to head to Moab for a day and do some serious mountain biking.  It will be awesome.  Anyway, what we did in Moab:  went to Dead Horse Point, Gemini Bridges, hiked to Delicate Arch (no kids were carried - new record), ate yummy dutch oven food, ate yummy smoked pork, roasted s'mores, mountain biked, mountain biked, and mountain biked.  And I loved getting home in the middle of the week.  It was so nice to not have to get up the next day and drag the kids to school.  And now, here are a million pictures.  Enjoy!

Jake at Dead Horse Point

Sage with some of her friends

Kate and friends

Sage and her BFF

Delicate Arch

Sold!

I think I mentioned in my last post that we were selling our house.  Selling our house so that we can rent while we build a new house on the same lot as our barn.  Well, the first people who looked at it gave us a full price offer.  Our house is under contract.  One day of being listed.  And no, we didn't ask too little.  I don't think we could have gotten much more.  Just the right time with the right people I guess.

Yes, this is a good thing.  But I wasn't really prepared to have it sell so fast.  Holy cow.  That just doesn't happen.  So we've been scrambling to get our loan figured out, finish up our plans, and find a place to live while we build.  You'll be happy to know that we do have a place to live while we're building, and no, its not our trailer.  Jake wanted us to live in the trailer, or some other small cheap apartment to save money, but I put my foot down on this one.  You have to pick your battles and this was one worth fighting.  Jake wisely knew to give up on the trailer and let me have my way.  We're going to be able to rent the house our friends are moving out of in a couple of months.  Its a couple blocks away, the elementary school is literally in the back yard, and we're still close to all of our friends.  Perfect I think.

Now I'm trying to wrap my brain around moving.  Packing boxes.  Ugh.  Jake says I have mad moving skills.  I'm pretty intimidated with this move though.  We have lots more stuff than we did last time we moved.  I suppose I'll tackle it like a do everything else - a little at a time until its done.

I'm calling this year the "Year of Change".  It seems like everything is up in the air.  Selling our house, living in a rental, building a new house, having a baby.  And on top of everything else they just split our ward.  Too much change.  We are going to be pros at change by the end of the year…

PS - Couldn't resist throwing the baby comment in there.  Its a lie, a joke, whatever.  We're not having more kids.  That is all.

What's Up?

I'm sure all two of you have been dying to know where we've been.  Why in the world have I not updated my blog for so long?  Well, the suspense is over.  But by the time I'm done you'll probably wish I'd stayed away.  The reason I do this blog (no offense) is not for my two readers.  Nope.  Its because I'm awful awful awful at all things scrapbook, photo, etc.  This is the one way I document the happenings in our family.  That said, I decided that this post is going to really tell it like it is.  Give you a look into our life and why in the world I haven't had a spare second for the blog.  I want to remember how life really is, not just a few highlights.  I know, you're so excited.  Here goes….

I have to start with Jake's work, Jorgenson Builders, because it tends to dominate things around here.  I'm not complaining (Jake), its just how it is.  If any of you have your own business you understand.  Anyway, back in October Jake moved his office from Heber to our front room.  This was to be for a "few months".  Well, they just moved out yesterday.  Almost 6 months later.  That's right folks, for 6 months I had people working in my front room.  They would get here at 8:00am.  Yes, right in the middle of getting the kids off to school and all of the chaos involved.  The employees loved it.  They especially loved it when the kids got home from school and had friends over.  Oh yes, they got lots of quality work done.  Here's an example of how its been… I was talking to Sage about stranger danger.  At one point she said she would run home as fast as she could.  Then she said, "but what do I do if you're not home, and Dad's not home, and Kristine and James aren't there?"  Yep, part of the family.  Awesomeness.

Not a great picture of the barn, but you get the idea

I know, you're wondering why having people in my front room kept me busy.  Let me explain.  I left the house most of the day so I didn't have to be here.  Just kidding.  They moved into our front room so the company could save money while we build a barn/shop/office thing.  Why did this take 6 months?  Two reasons:  Jake is Jake and likes things done with super high quality.  How does he get this high quality?  He does it himself or has his carpenters do it.  So what were we doing at night?  Working on the barn.  What did we do every Saturday?  Work on the barn.  Jake works hard, so we work hard with him.  This is not just any barn, its Jake's barn - so its really nice…cedar siding, wood windows (never do wood windows, they take forever to paint and stain - did I mention we painted the office area? never again), radiant heat, stained trim, custom doors.  Its awesome, especially now that its done.

On top of being a laborer for the company I'm attempting to take over marketing for the business.  I was given the choice between doing the books or marketing.  I believe I chose well.  Come to find out, marketing is kind of complex.  And the busier we get the more there is for me to do.  I'm trying to find my inner marketer though because this will be the perfect job when all the kiddos are in school.  If any of you know anything about marketing I would love to learn.

sisters minus one

see, didn't tell you about this either - cousins!

No, I haven't forgotten about the kids.  Of course not.  They've been busy too.  Zack had ski lessons every Saturday December through February.  So we would go to ski lessons, then work on the barn.  I'm secretly glad for the ski lessons because it forced us to get out of the barn.  (Forgot to mention that Jake broke his finger in the middle of all this - don't worry, he's fine).  Anyway, Zack is a good little skier.  Better than I am.  He really enjoys it too.  In fact, all of my kids are loving skiing.  Makes me so happy.  We actually had one day where all of us were up on the mountain together.  Best day ever.  We even got to go skiing with our cousins this year.  So fun.

Zack, Ethan, Marcus, Megan

All the skiing cousins!

Kate did her first piano festival and got all superiors.  She's amazing.  She was so excited and really loves playing the piano.  Sage is like a tornado.  She gets more out in 5 minutes than most people do in a day.  But she's so happy and fun that we love her anyway.  She's gotten sneaking snacks down to an art…all the way to shutting the cupboard and putting away the stool so there are no signs of the occurrence.

Kate's first piano festival

Had to include Sage - I thought I was done with strollers

Ok, enough already.  In case you think I wrote too much…I didn't say anything about my trip to Vegas with Jake and no kids, my girls' trip to St George, Zack's science project (horrible), or the fact that now that I don't have anyone working in my front room our house is for sale.  Nope we haven't been busy at all.  Good times I tell you.

PS - I know you're all super busy too, so thanks for reading this novel!

PPS - Now that I'm caught up (or as caught up as I'm going to be) my goal is to stay on top of this little blog.