check it.

My friend Michelle introduced me to this unbelievably awesome website called http://www.blurb.com/. It "slurps" your blog into the software you download from the website and turns it into a book. You can pick from tons of layouts, backgrounds, and change it to look just how you want it to look.

Why does this excite me? Because now I won't feel guilty about not scrapbooking or keeping a journal. I can just do it all on my blog and then turn it into a cool book. No more guilt! The cost of the book depends on the size. Michelle did a huge one for about $75. I think it's totally worth it. So go for it and feel no more guilt!

I did run into one problem. When my photos are uploaded to my blog it lowers the resolution so I actually had to replace the slurped photos with the originals on my computer. Even if you don't post particular photos on your blog you can add them into your book.

Have fun!

happy 1st birthday baby gaige!




I cannot believe my baby is one year old! When Matt and I went to get him out of his crib the morning of his birthday we sang Happy Birthday to him. He cried...a lot! I think it was a little bit weird to him.

For his birthday we went down to my parents' house to spend his special day with family. Brick, Laura, Ann, Alex, Adam, and Allison were visiting for their spring break. And Trace, Leslie, Alexa, Chance, Dane, and Blake came over to party with us too. The kids played in the pool and we had a barbecue.


Since Gaige loves monkeys we had a Curious George party for him. I made some monkey cupcakes, a small monkey cake just for Gaige, and a big monkey cake for everyone else. He wasn't too interested in the cake until Grams gave him a fork. Though he didn't enjoy the cake too much he really liked playing with his presents and loved the curly ribbon (just like Bentley did when he turned one).


Dear Gaige,

You are my Chubby Muffin. I love you so much and I am very grateful that you are part of our eternal family. I could not imagine my life without you and your adorable dimples.

You love to giggle and laugh and are probably the most ticklish baby ever. You love to give kisses and hugs, and you are really great at sticking your finger up your nose. You always make us laugh with the silly things you do, like laying on top of Bentley, crawling with your head down and bulldozing, making monkey sounds, eating sand by the handful, and chewing on the walls.

Your favorite thing to do is suck your thumb and cuddle with something fluffy. You also like to point at stuff and say "duh", play with Bentley, go down the slide at the playground, and play in the bathtub. Your favorite toy is a ball which was your first word. You are almost completely walking. And you are the fastest crawling baby I've ever seen! You are so amazing and learning new things each day.

I love you,

Mommy

dodger game.


Matt and I left the boys with our neighbor so we could go to the Dodger game on Thursday night. We went with Matt's class and sat in the all you can eat section. This means all of the hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, and soda you can eat. It was definitely an interesting experience. The all you can eat section attracts a spunky and far from classy crowd. You would think that being full would make everyone lathargic and happy. But they must be serving angry hot dogs. There were fights, cross dressers, and lots of interesting people to look at. This made it a little bit difficult to actually watch the game. It was a fun night out regardless of the weird Dodger fans.

disneyland.

The boys and I met my parents and Brick's family and Disneyland last Wednesday. We had so much fun and I actually got to ride some big kid rides for once. It's probably been about 13 years since I've ridden Splash Mountain and Space Mountain...oh the memories! Bentley is now aware of everything around him so he was a little bit scared on Pirates and the Haunted House which is a bit of a bummer because Pirates is my favorite ride. He and Gaige loved Small World. Bentley sat with Ann, Alex, and Adam in the front of the boat and had so much fun pointing at things and saying "Wow!" Gaige sat with my Dad and danced to the music the entire time.

pop pop.


This morning at 8:30 am Bentley asked me if he could watch Monsters. He said the word so clearly I asked him to say "pretty please". He said "petty peeese" and then I asked for a kiss. He gave me a kiss. Then I asked him to say "I love you". He tried, but it didn't sound very close to the real words. So I gave in and let him watch Monsters Inc. After 10 minutes he asked for "pop pop". So we popped some popcorn and ate it before it was even 9:00 am! I am such a nice mommy.

easters.


On Friday we started our Easter festivities by having an Easter Egg Hunt with all of our friends. We had about 30 kids and their parents barbecue and hunt for eggs. Everyone brought me 10 Easter eggs filled with candy for each of their kids. Then we hid them on the playground and lined up the kids to go and find them. We had tons of fun and everyone brought some great food. This is Bentley making sure his Easter basket works.

On Saturday we went to Matt's sister's house to hang out. Grandma was there too! Bentley loved playing the Wii and he and Gaige loved playing with their dog Zoe. They gave her lots of kisses. Uncle Rob took his post at the barbecue as usual and cooked up some great chicken, steak, and shark. We dyed Easter eggs and had lots of fun. Bentley even snuck a bowl of jelly beans to share with Gaige. They stuffed themselves silly with them. Gaige tried feeding Bentley and Bentley tried feeding Zoe.

Easter morning came very early. Bentley woke up at 6:40 am! I'd like to attribute it to the fact that he knew the Easter Bunny was coming, but it's not true. He's been waking up early the last few days. After breakfast and a bath Bentley and Gaige opened their Easter baskets. Man is it hard trying to get 2 babies to look at the camera at the same time when there are chocolate and jelly beans in the mix!

After church we went over to Trace and Leslie's for an awesome Easter dinner. The kids hid Easter eggs for Bentley to find, jumped on the trampoline, and blew bubbles.

On our way back up to L.A. we stopped by Carrie and Rob's again to see Lori, Connor, Barbara, Kevin, and Ashley.

It was a very busy weekend! We had a great time with all of our family. We are especially grateful for our Savior and the gift of eternal life that he has given us.

Happy Easter!

Love,

The Johnsons

spring.

This morning Bentley decided to give Gaige some loves. Though I don't think Gaige was having as much fun as Bentley. I had to pull Bentley off of him a couple of times to make sure Gaige could breathe.

Yesterday we called it a beach day and went to Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica with our friends Bryn, Claire, Kelli, and Ava. Bentley was amazingly well behaved and spent the entire 2 hours just playing in the sand with Claire. I've always just thought the beach would be too hard, but knowing that Bentley can just entertain himself and I can give Gaige enough attention to make sure he doesn't shove all of the sand on the beach in his mouth is going to make this spring and summer awesome! Not that I get to layout or anything, but I think chasing the boys around and playing in the sand will get me just as tan. Except now I am old and use lots of sunscreen!

We have our own garden plot at our apartment complex just downstairs from our home. It is only 4 by 5 feet, but it's cool. Bentley loves to water the flowers and dig in the dirt. Grams always lets him play in the backyard for hours watering with the hose, picking strawberries, and whatever else floats his boat. So we planted a rose bush on our garden plot with some renunculas. These are my pretty roses. Maybe someday I'll plant some basil, cilantro, and some other herbs. For now it just makes me happy that I can keep the flowers alive and Bentley has so much fun watering them.

Happy Birthday Bentley!

Bentley's 2nd birthday was on Thursday, April 2nd. Before he went to bed the night before we told him that it was his birthday the next day. We practiced saying "two" and holding our 2 fingers up (which is really all five) a few days before. When I went to get him in the morning I sung "Happy Birthday" to him. And he said "Happy Birthday". He ran out and saw his balloons and presents and said "boons" and "presents". Then he opened his presents from mommy and daddy. He got a squirt gun and a golf set. Then we ate pancakes for breakfast and even a cupcake! We spent the day playing outside and watching Monsters Inc.

We had his birthday party on Saturday at 11:00 am. Lots of friends and family came including Grams and Grandad, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rob, Kaylee, Madison, "Aunt" Nana and her man Adam. And all our friends from the neighborhood came to celebrate Bentley's birthday Kung Fu Panda style.

We made a Kung Fu Panda Evite invitation and this is what it said:

Come celebrate with your most attractive and awesome friend Bentley. You will be astounded by the sheer awesomeness that Bentley is turning 2! And don't worry, "There is no charge for attractiveness or awesomeness."

Our friends that came were: Davis Terry, Ryan Stout, Shae and Clare Flood, Ezra and Neve Johnson, Ethan Hodges, Grant and Avalyn Hulbert, Jackson Rasmussen, Claire Stucki, Gordon and Ella Earl, Alex Jensen, Jared and Lorelei Anderson, Sean and Dylan Joo, Taylor and Luke Burnett, Alisa and Lydia Manwaring, Cheryl Morris, and Ben and Katie.

I made a cake that looked like Po and tons of cupcakes, including one that looked like a panda. We had fruit, cheese sticks, crackers, Caprisuns, and bottled water. We decorated with homemade paper lanterns and I drew a huge Po Panda to play "Pin the Tail on the Panda". And we had Kung Fu Panda coloring pages for the kids to color. For goodie bags I used small colored take out boxes and put some Kung Fu Panda stickers, candy, kazoos, and squirt guns in them.

The party was short and sweet. We had tons of fun and Bentley loved all of his presents. Thank you everybody!

Dear Bentley,

I cannot believe that you've been mine for 2 years. Sometimes it feels like you've been in my life her forever! You are such a handsome boy. I still can't get over your bright orange hair and captivating eyes. Sometimes I just look at you in awe of how gorgeous you are.

You are very loving when you want to be. You give kisses, hugs, and bones to all of your friends. And you are so fun to be around that there are always lots of friends surrounding you. Your laugh is contagious and it is so fun to make you giggle.

You are such a great big brother. You have always loved baby Gaige and helped me do things for him. This past year you have helped me change his diaper, give him baths, feed him, and kiss and cuddle him. You are especially great at giving him zurberts on his belly.

Mommy is very grateful that you clean. You love to vacuum, polish the furniture, scrub the fridge, and anything else that has to do with a spray bottle or cloth. You also love to water your flowers, play with your trains, and watch movies. Your favorite food is popcorn, you ask for it everyday. And you love bubbles, in an obsessive way.

We love you so much and are gateful that you are part of our eternal family. The light in your eyes is very bright and we know you have been blessed by our Heavenly Father with many special gifts.

Love,

Mommy

brother.

Gaige took his first steps on March 14th while he was walking to his Grandad. He also says "ball" and "cracker". And when you ask him what a monkey says he says "ah ah ah ah". He started his monkey noises over a month ago. And he started saying ball around March 10th. He now cruises around the house in between the furniture. He loves to show off and dance around when you sing "Shake your Bootie". He is mostly happy, but has been a little whiner because he's been sick for so long (a cold, an ear infection, now another cold). We love our chubby muffin! He'll be one year old in 13 days!