Goodbye Grandpa Johnson

We lost my grandpa on Friday and his funeral was today. I’m praying for my family during this difficult time! I will miss hearing him say, “Hi, Miss Lucy!” every time I saw him. I never knew why he called me that, but it was a special nickname for only me. I know my fondness for classic country music and camping comes from him. He was 94 and a WWII vet. He was a great gardener and loved watching baseball. He loved his grandkids and greats! As was pointed out today his commitment to God is to be admired. We just celebrated last month with my grandparents on their 70th wedding anniversary. Thanksgiving was the holiday we spent with them until they couldn’t host anymore, and I definitely learned to be thankful for family.

I feel like I can add a few more details here as I’ve been reflecting on Grandpa’s life. He was very quiet. Honestly, while there are so many memories with him around, but I don’t know much about his life, and never felt super close woth him. Even yesterday at the funeral not much was shared about his life growing up, where he worked, what he liked, etc. I’m sure that’s on me for not asking those questions, but still highlights the fact that we can be around people a lot and still not know a lot about them. I also had a rough childhood in a lot of ways because of my dad’s struggles, and I think some of those things would have been shared if things were better. I know he was kind and loving, loved God, and my grandma and family so maybe that’s what’s important? I’m definitely thinking about this more as I interact with others who are still here. Something I’m going to do better for our kids is not take the time for granted and share memories with them!

cabin trip 2015 (part 3)

A huge part of this trip was spending time with cousin Weston! Elle prays every night for her family, friends, and cousins. Cousins rank so high with her and she loves them all! The kids were so excited and couldn't wait for Weston to get to the cabin. They had so much fun playing in the cabins, and all over the mountains. Just wish we had more time to spend with Weston and Kathy. Todd and Weston loved being able to play rescue bots together, and Elle roped Weston into playing lots of things. Can't wait to see what these kids get into in the future! Thanks to Aunt Kathy for taking most of these cute pictures!

One of my favorite pictures!

Guymon Trip September 2103

We got to make a trip to Guymon in September to see Chris' parents. One thing we did while there was  check out their fun park and lake. We fed the ducks, played on the playground, paddled on the paddle boats, and even rode the cute little train around the lake. It was a fun trip! But I think the kids enjoyed being at Grammy and Granddad's and playing with all of Chris' old toys the most.

holidays 2012 pt 3

We cut our holiday trip short since we were all sick and Chris needed to return to work New Years Eve. Unfortunately, New Years this year was not very exciting since Elle was still getting sick NYE. We had Grammy, Grandad, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Kyle and Weston meet us at our house New Years Day for our third Christmas. After presents we did venture out to eat because I didn't feel like cooking and I wasn't sure what everyone would feel like eating. Kathy and Kyle picked TGI Fridays since they don't have one in North Carolina.

holidays 2012 pt 2

We drove to the farm for the second part of Christmas. We had a lot more fun with family and little cousins, playing in the snow, and doing farm chores! That is until the plague hit fast and hard! In about 24 hours it had got 9 out 17 people who were there. Thankfully, Chris and I managed both kids and got us home before either of us felt bad. Here's a quick look at the second part of Christmas:

Our nephew and Todd were so active and so there was lots of playtime with Chris and his sister Kathy's old toys.

Mops also got a lot of love from Weston!

Elle finally got to play in some snow! Chris took her up on the hay bales to play like he used to do with his cousins. Todd couldn't resist joining them!

One thing about the farm that I love is all the wildlife you see each time. Because of the snow we didn't see much, but we found bunny tracks mixed with the peacock tracks. Elle had to have her puppy time too! 

Grandad took us out to feed cows. Elle wouldn't get out of the pickup!

We got to see a lot of family this year, which was nice because we didn't make it last year. Several members finally got to meet Todd, and Todd and I got to meet Tyler, the little boy of Chris' cousin Annie. Elle now enjoys naming all of her cousins and 2nd cousins.

holidays 2012 pt 1

The blog was on hiatus for a while because I ran out of photo storage room on picasa. After some research I discovered I could use the URL from my shutterfly account to post pictures so we're up and running again. It takes longer to put pictures on a post so I probably won't post as many in the future. I recommend you check out our shutterfly share site and you can see more pictures than you ever wanted! Here's a quick look at Christmas 2012:

We've been using the whole floor for playtime!

We had our Christmas morning a day early so we could head to Tulsa. Elle loved her ponies especially this year and Todd couldn't wait to get on his big gift right away!

In Tulsa we had lots of fun cousin time and great visits with a lot of family! It was especially fun this year to see the kids playing together. We stayed a couple of days then headed to the farm and planned to come back to Tulsa later in the week to see more family.

pecan picking at mohawk park

We found gigantic acorns and lots of pecans at Mohawk Park in Tulsa a couple of Saturdays ago. It was beautiful weather! The kids loved playing in the leaves and running everywhere. We even saw deer come out as the sun started to go down. I think our count was up to 6 or 7. It was a fun evening with family doing something outside before the really cold weather hits this year. But we needed a bath as soon as we got home!

daddy break = cousin playtime

We went to Tulsa for a day or so because we wanted to play and give Chris some writing time. Michelle took Corey to a visit so Derek and Ruby came to Grandma's to play. We always have a good time with them! I can't believe how fast they're changing. We even had a special older cousin sleepover. Todd just didn't think it was fair that he couldn't get in the bathtub with the other three. Love you Taylors!