Joey & Mikaela's Wedding Dinner

Publish Post

Congratulations to Joey and Mikaela...

Josh's Cowboy Star

December 26, 1995 - Joshua 8 Years Old

Josh had asked if the Cowboys made it to the playoffs would I let him get a "star" cut into his hair... It was pretty funny... my dad was fit to be tied and said that no grandson of his would look like that! I kept telling him... it won't be that big of a deal... and it will grow out fast. The Cowboys played a Christmas Day game that put them into the playoffs. The funny thing is the next morning I received a phone call at work from by dad asking if Josh needed a haircut (my dad used to take him to Al with him... Josh was pretty fussy about his hair at 8... geeze) and then said... Al said "he can cut a star into his hair if you want him to"... Surprise... surprise... the other funny thing was... my dad kept trimming out the center of the star until after the Cowboys won the Super Bowl!

December 11, 2009 - Joshua 22 Years Old

Your star is awesome! How far will we go this year?

Being the ultimate Cowboy fan... Josh decided that the "boys" needed some help with their December "loss record" (for the past several years... the Cowboys loose the majority of their December games). It was time for a hair cut and he asked Al if he would put another star in his hair...

Pre-Christmas Dinner

Aunt Peggy looking pretty in red

Dad... what's the matter...
you're not eating Yum Yum Salad are you?

Aunt Peggy and her Rubber Ducky

Josh and his best Gal... and favorite pie maker!

Yummy.... Apple Pie

Since we have been having Christmas dinner at our house the past few years...

Mom doesn't get to entertain as much...

so she planned a dinner at her house after the concert!

Josh was a party popper about the concert...

but mom still invited him to dinner anyway. It was super delicious.

Thanks Mom!

Voice Male In Concert

John Luthy and John Huff

John Huff and Richard McAllister
Singing "Trackin' In A Winter Wonderland"
I love this song... it's about a Missionary
Josh was on his mission the first time I heard it!

Voice Male
John Huff - Richard McAllister

Mike Willson - Richard McAllister and John Huff
I was shocked when they posed just for me...
and I didn't get a very good picture!

Awesome! This is our 4th year of going to their concert at the Ellen Eccles Theatre. It never gets old... they have the most amazing voices... if you have not heard their music... you have to check them out at http://www.voicemalemusic.com/ Go to CD we've made and then click on a CD and select a song...you will hear a snip-it of each one.

When we were trying to find a parking place... John Huff and Mike Willson were standing on the stairs in the back of the Theater... being total dorks... we all waved at them... John did wave back (Mom is positive that is why he waved to me at the end of the concert).

They always sing "Rubber Ducky" and people in the audience throw rubber ducks of all shapes and sizes on the stage. When they come back out after intermission they toss them all back out to the people in the audience. This year Aunt Peggy caught one from Richard (last year one of those sweet ducks went zipping past us...we were on the front row and hit a lady in the 3rd row in the head... she was not hurt but the reason why they were being "tossed" back to the audience this year.

Thanks Aunt Peggy for treating us to such a fun holiday tradition! I love you!

Girls Night Out!

Jenna Mills - Vicki - Paige Thompson - Jana Perkes

Dinner out with the girls at Texas Roadhouse... what could be better! Jenna had great news... she's engaged! We are so excited for her! Looks to be a March wedding. It was great to catch up with everyone... it's been way too long! Thanks Jenna for always getting the "gang" together!

Once Upon A Christmas

A few years back... Mom, Aunt Peggy and I decided that instead of exchanging Christmas gifts... we would go and do "something" together during the holidays. The first year we went to Voice Male together... last year the three of us went to Savior of the World in Salt Lake... this year we decided to go and see Once Upon A Christmas... we had such a wonderful time! It is a play put on by the Davis Family from the Pickleville Playhouse in Bear Lake...as well as a super delish dinner before hand by the Coppermill. Anyone looking for something fun and entertaining to do for the holidays... you need to go and check this out! I would have taken more pics.. but the camera battery died after I took the first two...

Christmas Lights!

I think Josh is the only person who knows just how important Christmas lights on the outside of the house are to me. It all started when I was a little girl. We lived in an apartment on 1st East... a few days before Thanksgiving my dad would put a string of lights... it was my job to "color coordinate". That was my favorite thing! Green, red, white, blue and yellow. We could turn them on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Also on that day Logan City would turn on the Christmas lights down Main Street. Red and Green tinsel like decorations with lights that were strung across the street every so often... (It seemed like there were 100's of them...probably more like one every block). I loved when we could "drag Main" and see them if it was snowing... the effect was that much sweeter!

Forward to our house in Lamplighter. Because our house was dark wood... and we had a Cathedral ceiling in the front... when Christmas lights were turned on, it looked just like a Gingerbread House. The colors of the lights were more pastel... it was sooo pretty. They had 2 deer made (you know the ones)... They always were chained to the ground under the tree in the front yard. Our house looked awesome!

When I married Randy... we never had lights outside at all... It was dark and I hated it! So for Josh and I's first Christmas on our own I actually hung a strand of lights on the front of our apartment... it wasn't much... but it was back to tradition again! We lived there for a few more years and my dad did the work of hanging the lights... he even put lights on the small tree by our carport. Back to tradition...yea!

When Josh and I moved into the condo... wow.. .now it was time to really decorate. Josh was older so my dad taught him how to hang the lights on the house... set up the "loop da loops" (they are iron posts with a hook on the end), put the wreaths on both sides of the garage and set up the "courtyard" with loop da loops and our very own set of deer... my dad even created trees... he strung green lights on very large wire tomato covers. We had the biggest driveway of them all... completely lit with loop da loops... Our house rocked! Shoveling snow over the loop-da-loops was not an easy task!

When Val and I got married our first Christmas the boys put lights up all around the house... all 4 sides... we didn't use the little "twinkle lights"... we used the large white lights! My dad would tease that the planes flying into the Logan Airport would get confused and think that our house was the runway! When Josh left on his mission... holidays were super hard for me! So many of the holidays we had traditions and without him they just weren't the same. Lights on the house being one of them. I would start bugging Val about lights... (not his thing) and Ben would end up putting the lights on the house at the last minute.... Thanks Ben... that really meant a lot! This year I been so busy with work... I really didn't care if the lights got put up or not... Josh knew better. He kept bugging Val (until he didn't have a choice) Josh was going up on the roof... with or without his help! I came home after a very long day at work... to be surprised with beautiful multi-colored lights to greet me! Thanks Josh for knowing how much lights at Christmas mean to me. I hope when you get married... you will keep the Christmas lighting tradition going!

Sunday Night Football

The "back side"

Vicki - Uncle Darrell - Dad - Josh

Kendra and Vicki

Uncle Darrell.... Throwing "the bomb"
The "Heisman Pose" .... lookin' good Dad!

The Cowboys on Sunday night football... what could be better... a Johnson Cowboy Party! Chicken... rolls... pop and cookies for "treat time"... we were set. Since we all had jerseys... Josh wanted to make sure that Uncle Darrell had one too... #9 - Romo... fits perfect! (Thanks for being so thoughful!) Kendra had her first "Cowboy" game with the family... hopefully she will come back too! Here's to more Cowboy parties in the next few months... Superbowl has a nice ring to it... Go Cowboys!

New Do...

Finally after 6 months of giving up "Jef" long story... mostly $ related... and 6 months of hearing Josh say... "Mom your gray is showing"... I found someone here in Logan who gave me my new "look" ... I love the color... and I love the cut! Mom liked my cut so well... she had Lindsay cut hers too! She looks super cute with her new do too!

Awesome...

Josh and I decided to try out the new Texas Roadhouse for dinner Saturday night...and invited mom and dad to come along with us. All I can say is... awesome! I love the atmosphere... the food... and the company! I can't wait to go back!

Ooops...

Mom and Betty were in the parking lot on their way home from church when....crunch! Mom was hit in the back quarter panel by... none other.. their neighbor 2 doors down! Cory has a "big" truck and didn't see the Camry... even after he hit her... he still couldn't see her. He was much relieved when he jumped out and saw it was a car and not a child that he hit. No one was hurt... and the car is still okay to drive...just an inconvenience for a few weeks... and another deductible (since it was on private property!) Hello... Autocare...we have another one for you to repair! Do you give family discounts?

Logan and Imigration Canyons

I took a drive to Montpelier to help train their employees on the new Vision Data System... here are a few of the pics I took... snow... yuk!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A Big Thank You!

There really is light at the end of the tunnel... who would have thought that re-entering in 400+ ads... figuring out what the new "class codes" are.... (yes they changed all of them!), making all of the price adjustments between the two systems... creating all of the headers and all the "little things" that goes into publishing a daily classified section... we actually pulled it off. It was not a "thing of beauty" but it worked... "Today's newspaper is tomorrows bird cage liner"... my "go to guy" Paul Davis told me that when I first became the manager 5 years ago... its taken a few years... but Paul... I believe you now... errors are a way of life in the classified department. It's still a little tough in trying to enter ads... Jana and I are not as quick as we were on the old system... but each ad is getting better... and a little bit easier! We still have lots to "figure out"... but I think the worst and hardest part is over...and we have Classifieds!

A BIG THANK YOU...
* For the sweet cards left on my desk...
* The encouraging e-mails...
* Hugs from those who could tell I was loosing steam... fast...
* The "sports guys" who would come and check on me from 7pm - 11pm... to make sure I was still awake and not doing a "face plant" on my desk...
* Those who told some silly jokes to make my "load" a little lighter...Kristy I will never never stop laughing at those jokes... even though no one else thinks they are that funny!
* To my sweet Josh for bringing me lunch or dinner depending on how late I was working
* To my husband... for letting me "vent" at him when nothing would work!
* To my family... for understanding my crazy work schedule and not expecting me to do much... make that anything... on the home front!
* Paul and Jared - for understanding my "head popping up and spinning around" moments and still holding my hand on making the "techee" things work... you two are the best!

I hope The Herald Journal "mucky mucks" know what awesome people they have working for them! The way the HJ staff came together to take on this project... the extra hours that were spent at "The Office"... and all the moral support from the other departments... who this project really didn't affect... but were willing to do what they could to help us out... I think our staff is one that would make any company proud!

Herald Journal Employees...
You Rock!

This Too Shall Pass...

I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people! Here are just a few examples! Needless to say... it's been pretty crazy at the office the past few weeks. Our new computer system will be going "live" on October 1st so I have been busy trying to get all of the Classified "ducks" in a row. I've been putting lots of extra hours the past few weeks... and asking lots of "favors" from everyone! Josh has been my trooper... he calls almost everyday to check-in and see if I need him to bring me some lunch or even dinner... he will even drop by just to say "hi" since I'm not at home as much. I went out to grab my paper (if I don't read it in the morning... it won't get read for the day) and found some chocolate chip cookies left by my awesome visiting teaching companion along with a note... reminding me she thinks I'm wonderful... and no... I ate all 5 of them all by myself... and they were "Super D"! Then after I had a complete "head pop up and spin around moment" on Thursday morning... sweet Devin came over and asked if I was okay... and said "I think you need a hug"...and he was so right! With outstretched arms... he gave me just what I needed. Thanks to all of you who have gone the extra mile --- to remind me to SMILE!

Mom and Dad's New Patio

Framed and ready for cement...

Waiting for the cement to come pouring out...
Notice the hose dangling down

This is what that hose is connected to...
It's pretty sweet how they can get cement
to the back of the house... without wheel barrows.

Final pictures with the steps completed...

Changes... changes... it took Dad about 2 days to completely tear down the deck... it was sad to see it go... we've had many celebrations on that deck...Now we can have many new ones on the new patio! Josh was still sad that it still did not help our badminton court at all... we will still have to play that on the side yard...