God, Gustav

well, if you haven't heard our plans for the storm yet, here they are:
Our staff was already planning a staff retreat for this weekend, so we are heading to a prayer retreat center about 2 1/2 hours northwest of here tomorrow. we were planning on staying until Monday noon, but the owners, who have been awesome, have told us we can stay as long as we need to. and, we are now bringing the 3 kiddos and two nannies, a good friend and our mother Leah. so, we should have a good weekend.

we met to pray tonight and we can already see how God has provided for our needs so much! there is so much excitement here with everyone nervous about another big storm, so it was a crazy day getting ready to leave and talking to neighbors, getting our oil changed, going to the bank, etc. well, it's time to do the last bit of packing--thank you for your prayers already and please remember this area as Gustav continues it's trek.
lots of love-
the Johnsons :)

creative genius

...right before this she was attacking the vacuum which is pretty funny since she used to be terrified by it. and, she is loving learning new words right now, isn't she cute?!

our excitement

well, yesterday, Everly and I were outside after it had rained. I thought she was leaning down to play with the water from the down spout when she suddenly jerked--she was playing with a wasp instead! the mean ol' thing stung her in the little pinky toe and she was pretty uncomfortable for a few minutes, crying- but not too bad. I think she's a trooper, really. the funny thing is that i was filming her at the time but let her play with the camera afterward to distract her from the pain and she deleted the footage!

then, today, i went over to our neighbors' home early this morning to be with the girls while Nick left for work and Danielle still had to finish and come home. While i was there i took the dog out and their neighbor, who i've never met, started talking to me. He was looking for Nick because someone stole his van last night! well, nick and danielle have a video surveillance camera and it caught it all on tape! so, that's what i did this morning. it was kinda scary, kinda fun playing detective. the bad thing is, they person who did it wasn't in a car- a bike, then foot, so there is not way to identify him. but they are giving the footage to the police detective who will take this case from me... hehehe! i did drive around the neighborhood a little today looking for it cause the guy probably lived close since he rode up on a bike, and then walked back. the bad thing was that they had left their van unlocked, with the keys in it, and had it packed full of their stuff because they were heading to Houston this morning for 2-3 months! eek. not good. later i went back to see if they needed anything- they're from Bangladesh, well, have lived in the states for a while. the husband was easy to understand and said he grew up in MS. they're really nice and have three girls- 2 who are in TX with their mom. so, hopefully we will get to know them more- I told them i would love to have some yummy Bangladesh food when they are back. but, they still are finishing their home, so maybe we can help them with that too.

okay, that was long. it is always exciting to meet international people- makes my heart happy. :) besides these excitements, we have been enjoying the olympics--Aaron's parents were here this weekend and we watched the opening ceremony and some of the games with them. how fun, and inspiring! which reminds me, i am starting the fall soccer season this week! yea!!!

a God moment

We had one of those God moments tonight. We decided to go for a walk to see if it was our neighbor's brother's trailer that burnt down today. It's about two blocks away, and when we headed down the street we saw some other people checking it out. We started talking to them, and it turned out that they lived across the street. They confirmed that it was our neighbor's brother's trailer, an electric problem they thought. As we kept talking and told them who we were, the wife, Melanie, asked about our counseling because she had seen it in the paper and was interested in it. She told me later that her 18 year old boy had just died a month ago, and that she also had a 4 day old boy die just days before Katrina happened. Her husband turned out to work at a sign shop- no kidding. So, Aaron and him talked a little about that. They also had a 13 year old, Shane, who didn't say much, and a 19 month old, Justin. Everly warmed up to Justin after a while, mostly cause she really wanted his football that he wasn't about to give up! and he didn't want her pink bouncy ball. Well, Lindley, the husband, said he goes to the Lutheran church in town and they knew the lady that we know who goes there and lives a block from them... and so forth. Anyway, we traded information and will hopefully have play dates and more connections with the counseling and church stuff too! What a neat thing when something happens in your life that you can see the finger prints of God on!

you know you're a mom when...

... the most exciting part of your day is your toddler peeing in her potty training toilet for the first time!

like my sister-in-law, i am making my own one of these statements!

we got the potty the other day from our friends, washed it up and tried to teach Everly what it was for. She knows what poo-poo is--i started teaching her that so she would begin to be ready for potty training. and, she doesn't like to be dirty! so, today we have taken a couple restroom breaks. both times, after a little waiting, she was able to pee! I know this might be weird/gross for some, but it's amazing to see someone so little grasp something like this, absolutely amazing. and exciting! I know it will take a while for Everly to be fully trained, but i think starting early is going to be good.

:)

more of Ev

bathtime pigtails! our camera was being funny...

afterward Daddy let her roam the house naked and she rode her butterfly! heheh

Ev loves to open the door, close the door, open, close, and so forth!

she's becoming a big girl! we moved her to the table and use our beloved place mat!

her new play kitchen- a $5 purchase from our little thrift store in town. now she just needs some play food and maybe a grocery cart. oh, and maybe a doll high chair cause she is such a girly girl and loves her dolls! we gave her a rag with her kitchen and she came into the living room and washed our hands and legs for us--i think she'll be a great mommy some day!

the kitchen in is the corner of our kitchen so she can cook with me. we actually made banana bread together the other day and she never got bored! I let her pour the measurements and stir a little. she liked that she got to see all that was going on. and when i handed her the bananas to put in she started to eat it, but then put them all in the bowl like mommy told her to. what a good little helper! and good self-control since bananas are her favorite!

life in pictures

for Aaron's birthday, we went to a Zephyrs game with some of our friends

the gang enjoying some baseball food- Aaron, Brandon, Ryan, Amanda

Becky and Ron Koval- Ron is the Gathering counselor and Becky teaches reading. Brandon is going to be their new son-in-law this December- Everly's in his and Megan's wedding, and so is Aaron.

Yum, chili-cheese hot dog

If only she would have sat like this the whole time! We had to roam a bit and found a playground that was a little too big for her to play on, but she was super excited. We had a lot of fun at the game though, with 1/2 price tickets and a surprise to Aaron :)


We have gotten to swim over at the Koval's house- Everly has learned to hold her breath under water!



Aaron and I went on a spontanious date night, thanks to our neighbor watching Everly. We went to the coolest hotel downtown that shows free movies by their pool. it is such a pretty area- a great place to have a wedding!


stars hanging for the trees

where the cars pull in to the hotel parking