Easter

Our original plan for Easter was to have all my family come down to Vegas and spend it with us, but with the passing of my Grampa our plans changed and we celebrated together up north instead. As crazy as it was to travel last minute it was a huge blessing to be able to spend quality time with even more of my family. I especially loved my time visiting with my Gramma Johnsen as well as my aunts, uncles, cousins and others.

The evening before Easter we roasted hotdogs

 and marshmallows and dyed Easter Eggs.

 

We made all the kids wait upstairs until we could all go 

down together to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. 

Braden got a yo-yo,and some awesome spy gear 

including a recording pen and night vision scope.

Carter got a laser pointer, a movie and night vision binoculars.

 

This was Riley first "real" Easter. Last year she was only 2 months old. 

Riley got some sunglasses, play jewelry and a birdie sippy cup.

After checking out their Bunny Treats we went out in the yard to hunt for eggs.

The Easter bunny hid 88 eggs in honor of the 88 years of Grampa Pete's life.

Each time Riley found an egg she had to open it up to see what was inside.

This is Riley's new thing: to say "cheese!"

Happy Easter!

Grampa Pete

Carl Deloy "Pete" Johnsen

1926-2014

My Grandfather passed away on Monday, April 14th the day after his 88th birthday. He had taken a fall nearly 6 weeks earlier and broke his leg and after having it repaired was taken to a rehabilitation center to recover. While there he got an infection and had to be transported to the hospital. He began to improve and spent his birthday surrounded by his family in the hospital. The next day things turned for the worse and he passed later in the afternoon peacefully surrounded by his children. My dad was holding his hand when he went. I was very emotional when hearing that he was gone. I felt a lot of comfort knowing that I could see him again but was saddened that I didn't get to say goodbye in person.
My dad and his siblings all stayed close to my grandmother and helped her with all the funeral arrangements and helped her pack her house (they had just purchased a single level house the week before so grampa wouldn't have to deal with the stairs upon returning home).
All of our extended family were reunited for the first time in what felt like forever for the funeral. It was a wonderful occasion to celebrate Grampa Pete and to be together. I had the special privilege to spend some time with my beautiful Gramma the evening before the funeral. We always have such wonderful talks together and this may have been one of the most special. It meant so much to me to have that time with her. Her faith and testimony bring me so much peace and rejuvenate my own testimony.
There was not a formal viewing, however close family members were able to say goodbye to grampa before the family prayer.

Braden and Carter drew special pictures and notes for Grampa 

and Gramma let them put them in the casket with Grampa Great.

The funeral service was absolutely beautiful. Riley was not a happy girl and Kam was wonderful to take her out so I could enjoy the service. My Aunt Nan and my dad spoke along with a friend of Grampa's who served with him at the temple. Afterwards we all drove down to Manti for the graveside service.

Taps

Gramma with her brother; he looks so much like her father.

My mom helped put together a special floral spray for Grampa.

Goodbye Grampa Pete. Until we meet again....

April Fools

I was having a hard time coming up with something fun to do for the boys to trick them on April Fools Day. Luckily, just before going to be I saw an instagram post from a friend who drew mustaches on her kids while they were sleeping! It was just the bit of inspiration I needed. Kam and I quickly grabbed a washable marker and headed to the boys rooms. I am so glad they are such good sleepers and didn't wake while we drew on their faces. I couldn't wait for them to wake up and see their faces when they saw what we did. Braden woke first. He is really good at getting right to it when preparing for the day and was completely dressed when he came in our room to get his hair combed. He walked in the bathroom and started grabbing what he needed and then looked into the mirror. His face was priceless! Shortly afterwards Carter came in our room and after seeing Braden's face buried his own in his lap. It took a minute but we finally got him to look at his new look. He thought it was really cool to have a mustache.

Of course we had to draw eyebrows on Braden as we 

usually tease him because he doesn't really have any!

APEX Fun Run

Braden's school hosted an APEX fun run to help raise money for the school to purchase items for their technology department and to purchase sod/turf for their playground (right now the school's playgrounds are only blacktop). Braden came home from school after a fun assembly excitedly wanting to raise lots of money not only to help the school but to earn prizes too! I told him that if he wanted to raise money he needed to put forth the effort and call and ask for donations himself. He was hesitant at first but after a couple calls to some family members he was on a roll! For the run the kids would run up to a total of 36 laps (each lap was 1/16 of a mile equaling 2 miles total) and donors would pledge money per lap he ran. Braden was able to get several pledges earning about $11 a lap!
The night before the run Braden was really nervous. He was afraid that he wouldn't have enough energy or stamina to run all the laps he wanted to so in his prayers he asked Heavenly Father to help him. Braden has so much faith and his prayer was answered as he was able to run 36+ laps!

Getting Those Shoes Tied!

Brady ran the whole time except for a mandatory 2 lap walk in the middle.

Their shirts had ticker marks on the back that we marked off as the kids completed each lap.

40 laps run in all!

Braden and his class were very successful in raising funds for his school and were rewarded with the opportunity to put a pie in his teachers face!

I am so very pleased with how well Braden did. He is an amazing kid. It was awesome to come support him and his school. Thank you to all of our family who helped us out and supported Braden by both monetary donations and encouragement for him to do well.

School Projects

Braden is a HUGE fan of SCHOOL. He loves his teacher Mr. R and is one of the top kids in his class in all subjects. Recently his class has been learning all about habitats and each student was asked to make a habitat diorama for homework. Braden really wanted to learn about the platypus so we went to the library and checked out a few books and then got started on the diorama. We made an unexpected trip up north for the weekend so we put together his project at Grammy Bo's house. My brother Dane who saw what we were doing was really excited to help. In fact he pretty much took over the whole project with Braden. They worked really well together and I and know Braden just loved doing more "uncle stuff."

Braden also had a special field trip to see the different habitats at the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and I got to go too! Normally Braden gets really funny when I come to volunteer at his school. He kind of acts like he's a cross between embarrassed and excited. I wasn't sure how he'd respond to me on his field trip and I was surprised at how lovey he was. I was not surprised that he was a good boy who followed directions.

After the tour we went into a classroom to expolore and learn different things about sharks and other fish and creatures in the aquarium. Braden was even chosen to be turned into a SHARK!