Goooooo Broncos!

We love our Broncos!  It was a great season and we had so much fun watching BSU dominate Utah tonight (at least for three quarters).  Bella got her Christmas present tonight and is already excited for next season.

Oh-When!

Today my little nephew Owen turned one.   As a fellow Christmas-time birthday person and an aunt who is never there for birthday celebrations, I have to give this little guy a shout out on his first birthday.  From my total of 7 hours with this kid this week, it is apparent that Erin and Andy are going to have their hands full for about, oh, the next 17 years.  He is a a climber and a Christmas tree ornament thief.  When he does something that annoys Tyler, Tyler will yell, Oh-When!  I think that there are many more "Oh-Whens" to come.  I love him and his cute mischievous smile nonetheless and am so happy that he and his brother are here this Christmas to celebrate with us. Happy birthday little man.  I am so glad the princess, fireman, and pirate were able to make it to your party.

The Good Kind of Chaos

 
This is what Christmas looks like when there are six excited kiddos ripping through a stack of presents.  It was a bit chaotic for a minute and then everyone disappeared into their corner of their house with their pile of gifts to sort through the goods and there was strange quiet in the house. I love Kialaia's stack of pink presents - she is all girl.  The seventh (Owen) joined us after his nap and did not know what to think of opening presents.  We all stuffed ourselves with a delicious meal. Tyler enjoyed eating his fondue marshmallow with sprinkles and I enjoyed the fact that his parents were not mad that I made a mess of their kid.  Here is to the first of many official Christmas celebrations!  It is going to be an incredibly fun and busy week.

Santa Paws

As embarrassing as it might be, I took the Bells to see Santa Paws yesterday.  Yes, they even have a Santa Claus for dogs.  There are actually several around the city which might explain why this one looks more like a tiger and less like a dog. She of course loved him and the free treat that she got at the store.  We were even photographed for the Eagle newspaper.  

We have been enjoying all of the wonderful things that come along with the season.  We went all out with the tree this year and got our biggest one yet.  Aside from one mishap (the snow on the tree melting and soaking our floors), it has been awesome.   If I could have a Christmas tree up all year and not be considered weird, I would.  There is something about it that just makes a house cozier.  The Christmas parties and family gatherings are just staring and I cannot wait for all of them. Hope that you are all enjoying this time of year as well!





First Turns

Chris and I made our first turns of the season this Sunday at Bogus Basin.  Chris undoubtedly made more turns than I did and I am pretty sure that my legs are more sore than his today, but a good time was had by both of us.  We hope to see these views many more times this season!

Cheers to a good day of skiing!  Now that is what I call a good ski lunch!

Loving the Snow

After it snowed all day and night, we woke up to this. The snow has really stacked up here in Boise and we are loving it. It is so peaceful to listen to the snow falling and so much fun to watch Bella try to eat a yard full of snow.

Thanksgiving in Paradise

We returned today from a fabulous week in Maui.  We had such a great week with Chris' parents and the Whitfields.  The weather looked iffy before we left so I was not holding my breath, but we had almost 7 full days of sunshine.  It rained one afternoon, which probably saved me from a very bad sunburn, so even that was a good thing.  We were on the beach by about 8:00 every morning and spent most of our time there.  We went snorkeling, paddle boarding, and sea kayaking right at the place we were staying.  Chris and I also had a great double date night out with the Whitfields and another date night out in Lahaina where we got to see an amazing show called Ulalena, which I would recommend to anyone visiting Maui.  We spent the rest of the time just hanging out with the family.  Our niece Sophie even started saying what at least sounded like my name, a definite highlight for me.  It was one of those perfect weeks with not really any hurdles or hitches.  Thanks Johnsons and Whitfields for such an amazing week!



Sunset from the dinner table.

 




We discovered paddle boarding.  Apparently, it is the new thing to do.



 

Just a little wind.

Sophie the sand monster came out in full force and was adorable on the beach.

 



 

I have never spent Thanksgiving in a warm climate, but I think that it is something that I could get used to.  While we were in Maui, Boise's temperatures took a dive and snow dumped.  It was fun to drive up and see our snow covered yard.  We always wanted to see what Bella was like in the snow.  She loves it! If we had to leave Maui, at least we got to come home to a puppy frolicking in the snow.



The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am not really sure where the first two weeks of November went.  Things have been busy in the Johnson household!  Both of us have been busy with work and Chris has spent a ton of time lately in the yard cleaning up the blanket of leaves that the beautiful fall trees left.  I am not so sure he loves the trees as much as I do anymore.  He has worked hard and the yard looks great!  The only problem is that there are still four hold-out trees with all of their leaves still on them. His work will continue, but he will be rested after our upcoming trip to Hawaii.  I have been in Las Vegas and Colorado this week on work trips.  I don't know how the frequent work travellers out there do it.  I find the entire experience of travelling on work exhausting and am so happy to be home!

This is our favorite time of year and I cannot believe that it is already here.  This weekend was the official holiday kick off for us. We had a date night last night to see the Warren Miller's Wintervention, which got us in the mood for skiing. We broke out the Christmas music this morning. We made a trip to Home Depot to purchase lights for the house (we are SO excited to put some up!).  Ever since I married Chris, I wanted to get my hands on his nutcrackers, literally.  He received a unique nutcracker for Christmas every year from a good family friend and built up quite the collection.  I think that they are the coolest decoration ever.  His mom was always eager to pass them on to us, but we never had anywhere appropriate to display them.  This year they were the first decoration that I put up. I absolutely love them!  Thanks Nethercutts for giving Christopher such an awesome gift year after year that I now get to enjoy.

We even had a wonderful early Thanksgiving dinner with my mom tonight complete with turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, among all the other yummy things.  Thanks mom for such a great dinner!  The holidays are here and they are going to be awesome!

Halloween Continued: Diva, Ninja, Cow, Horse, and an Octupus

Since Bella does not really count for a Halloween cutie, I thought I would post my family's real Halloween cuties.  A  diva, a ninja, a cow, a horse, and an octopus . . . how is that for some serious variety?  I am totally biased, I know, but I think that I have some pretty cute nieces and nephews, two of whom had birthdays this week!  I am a lucky Aunt.



Brad (turned 11 on October 25th) and Kialaia (7)



Tyler (3) and Owen (10 months)



Sophie (turned 1 on October 26th)



Halloween

Since we don't have any cute little kiddos to post Halloween pictures of, our fuzzy Muppet Bella will have to do.  This year I thought that I would get a little more artsy with my pumpkin.  My artistic endeavor ended when my pumpkin carving knife broke  mid-owl.  In case you cannot tell, my pumpkin is an owl sitting on a branch. Maybe I should just stick with the goofy faces. Happy Halloween!

I had to post this because of cute little Bella peeking out the window.

Autumn is officially here.

Quite fittingly, my friend had a baby last week and named her Autumn Grace.  It is the perfect name because Autumn has officially burst onto the scene in a beautiful way.  We got back from the wedding and it was like fall had taken over Boise.  This week I found myself taking the longer country road into work so that I could have a few extra moments enjoying the colors around us. When Chris and I carpool, I point out a tree with beautiful colors to him about every thirty seconds.  I am sure that he finds this a little annoying as it is hard to hold a conversation when I am always making him look at trees, but he has been known to point a tree or two out himself lately.  It has been a long time since I have been in a city with true fall colors and I am loving it. I had full intentions of going to some of the parks to capture the colors, but ended up just snapping some pictures around our house.



Our front yard trio of orange, yellow and red.





We even get to enjoy the fall colors from our dining room table.

The other signs of fall are frost on the grass in the morning, pumpkins on the porch, football dominating our television (except when the Giants are playing), wearing my Uggs in the mornings to walk Bella, planting tulip and daffodil  bulbs around the garden, and enjoying a hot apple cider by the fire at night. I never really thought that I liked fall all that much, but I am finding it really refreshing this year. I am sure that when it rains for two weeks straight I will feel differently, but for now am I feel like fall has revived me. Happy fall to all of you!

We'd also like to give a shout out the San Francisco Giants and Becko/Becks, we were driving home from an event last night and were screaming in the car when they clenched the win!  Just one more reason that this fall is so great.

Go Giants!