Pack Meeting

Joshua officially received his Wolf badge last Friday night (although he's been finished since May). We had Pack meeting at our house and had a great time. Since there are only 4 Cubs in the Pack it wasn't a big deal to have them and their families for a simple bbq and meeting. Here's Joshua pinning the "Mom pin" on my collar.

Joshua with Bro. Jones.

I personally love the stocking feet - you can't do that at the church building.

Snakes and Intruders (or are they the same)

So, it was cold enough here yesterday that I had to break down and light a fire. It was 61 degrees in the house and Andrew and Samuel were frozen. Out to the woodpile I went. As I lifted the first logs of the season I discovered 3 or 4 baby snakes hiding out under the wood. Anyone who knows me well knows that snakes are not my friends. I don't like them. I acknowledge the need for their existence and am grateful for all the critters that don't continue on in this life because of them, but I still don't like them - at all. Starting around midnight I had horrifying nightmares about snakes in my woodpile. Usually I can just tell myself, "It was just a dream, it's not real." However, this time it was real - there really are snakes in our woodpile. So all night long I have been dreaming about these snakes. It was a very disturbed sleep and poor Adam had to put up with my jumping out of bed and starting awake all night. That is until he heard some very suspicious noises from outside. He went to the window and told me to dial 911. Four people were standing outside our house. One of them was walking around to the back, they were all dressed in dark clothing. Flashbacks to last fall when a guy walked up the basement stairs into our kitchen raced through my head. I called 911 and they sent out the police. Adam and I huddled for a minute or two just watching these people imagining the worst. What did they want...we're totally outnumbered...will the police get here in time...sshh don't be to loud, we don't want them to take off before the police get here...should we have bought a gun last fall...even if we had, one against four isn't good odds...

Then we hear - "It's Alexia!" Relief flooded our systems. We ran downstairs to let in Alexia and her friends who had stopped on their way up to Maine for a little rest. We actually knew they were coming but had totally forgotten about it - things don't make much sense at 4am. We greeted everyone as they entered. I had stayed on the phone with 911 and was able to tell them right away everything was all right. I saw the police cruiser pass by as everyone filed in. We were safe the whole time but despite that sleep has not come easily to me this night. I'm a little wound up while exhausted at the same time. I decided to come do something productive instead of lying in my bed waiting for sleep to come (it probably would be riddled with snakes if it did come, snakes and intruders, one in the same :-)).

They can see clearly now...

After complaining of headaches for the last few weeks, we decided to take Joshua to the eye doctor. As long as we were at it I made an apt for Jacob. Turns out both boys have the EXACT same prescription. Both are near-sighted and both needed glasses. I apologize here and now for passing on my eyes. However, I think the realities of being able to see clearly are sinking in. Joshua is very reluctant about the whole thing and Jacob can't wait to show them off at school tomorrow. I must toot our own horns here and say I think they both look great!

Oops, a few more vacation pictures

This just cracked us up. Waterton was so exhausting. We rarely stopped and I think this picture says it all.

Samuel and Uncle Steve enjoying ice cream in front of our hotel room in Waterton.

This is the "bunk room" at Grandma and PopPop's house. Jody and I went into check on the sleeping angels and discovered Tanner fast asleep on top of Jacob. Both boys are sound asleep (even though Jacob's eyes are open, trust me, he's asleep) but Jacob is realizing there is something not quite right :-).

Last of the Utah pictures

Backyard bbq at Grandpa Green's

Jacob loved the smores

Jack loved everything

Olivia, Grandpa and Aunt Bethany

Great Grandma Green
This was at a Green family reunion on July 3. When Samuel saw Grandma walking in he was pretty convinced that she needed help with her walker. He "helped" her all the way to the table.

Waterton International Peace Park - Alberta, Canada

This is my attempt to share some of our trip to Waterton in July. Quite literally this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the pictures. Between all five families there were over 2500 pictures taken. Anyway, here's a taste.

Cameron Falls

Red Rock Canyon
The Red Rock Crawl, as it's called at my families reunion, is a tried a true tradition. I love it! I must explain that the water in this part of the world is glacier fed and REALLY cold. But we Johansens love it anyway. Crawling up this canyon, and through and around the river that made it, is an adventure for even the bravest souls. The goal is to stay dry as long as possible. However, the canyon continues to deepen the further up you go. There are natural water slides that drop you into deep pools of freezing water - but it's great anyway.

At the starting point of the canyon. Adam is in the orange hat holding Andrew's hand and carrying Samuel.

This picture is from a bridge overhead. It was right about here that Joshua and Jacob decided they were done. They didn't get the memo about staying dry and were almost blue.

My nephew Spencer braving one of the water slides.

Bear's Hump
This is the view from one of the many hikes that are available. The town below is Waterton and you can see the whole thing from up there.

The view on a sunny day

Uncle Ben and Aunt Alicia took this crew up Bear's Hump. It was the first break in the rain for 2 days and everyone was itching for some activity.

Wagon is the preferred mode of transportation. My sister brought her wagon and PopPop bought a wagon which he assembled when we got there. One of the highlights for a few of the grandkids (Samuel and Camille) was helping Pop put it together.

My family (Jennie's) - We were a small portion of the 247 Johansen cousins present at the reunion.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House - July 3

We decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to attend a temple open house. Natalie and Megan joined our family and Catherine was very brave and brought Lucy and Jack along. I believe that's where the name "Andrucy" was born and we had to keep calling Andrew and Lucy back into line. Fortunatley, it was a very crowded day and we didn't have to worry about spoiling the reverence for anyone.

Joshua lost a tooth - hence the tissue.

We had a long wait.