It's Great to be Eight!!!

What a special day today was! I can hardly believe that my baby has been baptized! I am so proud of you Dallin...you truly are perfect!!!



A family picture/ A picture with both Grandparents

My two perfect guys!!

My mom and dad!!

Alex and Colton...my other two perfect boys!!

Andrew and Stan...(they were the witnesses)

Andrew, Brooke, and Boston

Ryan and Jennie

Both Grandma Johnson and Papa Pete gave the greatest talks!!

Bishop Johnson and the Family....Great Friends!!

Right before the baptism!!

Three best buddies!!

Brad, Mel and Ari..they drove 18 hours to be here. Greg's Grandpa died this week and they came for that..but made the extra three hours to be here with us!! We love you guys!!

The Horton Family....The "perfect" family!! We have the greatest friends!!

Jeff, Kerri, Cooper and Parker


Bishop Johnson and Dallin

These pictures are proof that Dallin is perfect. It was really quiet for a minute tonight and so I thought I wonder what they are up too. I went into Dal's room and he was reading his new scriptures to Alex. He said, "Alex, tonight we are going to read in the book of Helaman!!' How darling is that???

Dallin Best Friend Forever.....TANNER

The Vickers Family...some of our greatest friends!!!!

Aunt Cammie


We missed all of the family and friends that couldn't come! Thank you for all of the love and support you give our family and for the part you have in making Dallin who he is. Today honestly couldn't have been any better...it was PERFECT!!!

Dallin and Alex sang at the baptism. I wish I could have videoed it because they did a perfect job!! Dangit!!! Oh, well, I taped them afterwards. They messed up the words but you can still see how stinkin cute they are!!! I love you boys!!

Open Mouth...Insert Foot

My wonderful hubby surprised me last night and we went to the Boys II Men concert at the Scera...or as Greg calls it, The "Sarah". Talk about a flash back in time. I think every dance I ever went to in High School played ATLEAST one Boys II Men song. I forgot how romantic some of their songs are and will be adding it to my..."let's get romantic" CD. I dropped Greg off to go get seats and I went and took the kids to my mom's and went and got us some Cafe Rio. Greg of course made some new best friends. These ladies would not stop talking about how polite and nice he was. I guess they had a little space in between them and so Greg asked if he could squish in there and they were so taken by his politeness they actually both got up and moved over for him. AHhhh, I love my prince charming. Anyways, we had a good time talking to these wonderful ladies. The one lady was from Michigan and she asked me what Greg does for work and so I explained to her about the seminary program and she goes,..."oh, oh, you one of those "mormons"?" But she said it in a whisper like she was saying a potty word. She cracked me up. I talked to her for a little while about it and she never could come out and say the word "mormon" in a normal voice. Hopefully what ever her opinion was before has been altered for the good.

Anyways, I just happened to have one of those moments that you wonder why you even ever talk. Unfortunetly it happens to me quite often. This guy was sitting in front of us and Greg says to him...out of the blue.."Dude, what size are your feet?" Nice Greg, why don't you offend the guy with the massive feet. The guy tell him he wears a size 18......Holy freakin crap....is that some kind of a disease? Greg then says, "do you know who you look like?" The guy says, "Who" and Greg says, "Mark Madsen." At this time, the man kind of pauses so I am feeling uncomfortable and so I lean up to the guy and wave my hand and say, "Whoever the heck that is?!?!" Just as I say that, he says, "Yeah, I get that a lot." Greg then asks him if he played ball. He says yep. Greg asks him who he played for and he says, "Stanford and the Lakers." Greg says, "What is your name,..." He says, "Mark Madsen"!!!! Um, excuse me while I go crawl under a taco stand...I was so embarassed and the worst part is that everyone around us was listening to the conversation so everyone at the "sarah" got to hear my stupid comment. How was I supposed to know. He just looked like a white guy with big feet. I just support my husbands passion...I don't memorize what every guy looks like..geez..get off my back. So the rest of the night I would just randomly start chuckling to myself and Greg would say, "what are you laughing about?" and I would say...just my fantastic comment I made to "Mark"..whoever the heck that is. That lady next to me at least thought it was funny. She said, "How we supposed to know he famous. Just ten minutes ago he was a white guy sitting on a blanket. Girl, how we supposed to know?" Love her!!

So,the rest of the concert was great. I do feel a little ancient though singing at the top of my lungs. I forgot my camera and so I tried to get some footage with my phone and all you can hear is me singing....not Boys II Men, and so I won't go ahead and put that lovely video on here. Greg and I noticed though all these teeny boppers romatically swaying with each other to the song, "I'll make love to you." I said to Greg.."Um, I'm actually feeling a little akward." Did they used to play this at the dances and everyone would dance with each other and sway to the words..'I'll make love to you, like you want me to! And I'll hold you tight, baby all through the night?" Um, porno song!! I felt akward and we are married and legal...please don't imagine it...PLEASE!!. Okay, if you must... just imagine me at 110 pounds! Thanks!!!

I wish I could have gotten Greg dancing because it was classic. He was fascinated with their dance moves. He couldn't quite mimic them. Um, sorry honey....raising your hands above your head in fists and rocking to the beat isn't exactly 'cool' dance moves. Maybe I'll get him a dance instruction movie for Christmas so he can learn some different dance moves to try out at the New Kids on the Block concert!!

Thanks Baba for a wonderful night.....any night with you is twuly fantastical!! (oh, and on the way home from work can you swing by the store and get some cheese?)

Reason # 4 billion

I have reason to love my husband. He is nice, sweet, funny, freakin hot and completely 100% naive. Sometimes I'd like to be a little observer in his brain...just to see how it all works together. I think probably he is just sooooo smart that his brain decides to function at a lower "altitude" so to say. Just so the other brains don't feel bad. When it comes to the gospel he blows me away with his knowledge. He can quickly recall any scripture or quote or conference address you may need with a snap. BUUUUUT, if you need some help with english, math, talking, or anything in the like...you may not want to peek on his paper. Here are a few example from my week that just made my week and made me love my husband even more for his innocence.

#1. We went to the new Batman movie finally this week. First of all, wouldn't you say it was just a little to dark? I seriously wanted to cry like a baby and go home because I was so scared. Greg on the other hand was like, "Wow! Cool! Holy freakin Cow! That part was awesome.........but......I don't get it?" If you've gone to a movie with Greg right now you are nodding your head and understanding what I am saying. Either Greg doesn't get the movie and so he is saying, "I don't get it" the whole time, or he gets so emotionally involved with the movie that he starts saying things out loud to the character up on the screen..you know the ones who can't hear you because it is a movie? Gregs friends used to pay for us to go to movies just so they could sit by him. I remember with the movie "The Perfect Storm" he was seriously screaming at the "fisherman" to turn the boat around!! I finally had to tell him that other people payed to come to the movie and that if he couldn't get a hold of himself he'd need to leave. So, he stood up to leave...that is when I had to pull him back into his seat and tell him to sit, grow up and that the people in the movie couldn't hear him anyways and so there was no reason to be yelling at them to "turn the BOAT around!!!" Sounds harsh, but honestly...get a grip. While Mike Latham sat on the other side of him falling out of his seat laughing so hard he could hardly breath. So, Batman to Greg was very very good....but he "didn't get it." Now I know what my family is thinking while they are reading this...that Becky is one to talk because she didn't know that the Titanic was real. Ya, so, I think I missed that history lesson. My sisters make fun of me because when we went to go see Titanic I leaned over and said, "So...what is this movie about?" and they looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Um, the titanic!" and I said, "Um duh, I think I caught that from the title. But, what is it about?" and they looked at me like I was even more crazy and said, " You know the ship that sinks!" and I said, "Geez thanks a lot for ruining it for me." That is when they all about fell out of their chairs laughing. NOT MY FAULT!! I'd never heard of the Titanic and it really affected me after I saw it because I had the hardest time with the fact that it was a true story.

#2- Last night Greg had me come proof read an email he was sending to make sure there were no errors. It was quite a long email for Greg and I noticed that he misspelled the same word 3 times, "a couple" and he spelled it "acouple",...and so I called Greg in just to curiously ask him if he thought the word was one word or two words. He said the word really slowly...."AHHHHCUUUUPLE"... and then said "One word". Oh my gosh!! So all this time when Greg has asked for "acouple of M & M's" or "acouple of minutes to rest" or "acouple of sandwiches" he was speakin his own language. Only Greg!!

#3- This month Greg is the bishopric member over sacrament meeting. So he gets to be the one who welcomes, does announcement..you know the run down. Anyways, he was having people sustain this couple to a new calling and announced their names like this, "We are calling Bro. and Sis. Laura Reynolds to..." Anyways, they were making fun of him afterwards because he used her name and not his..and if that wasn't bad enough, he "doesn't get it" and says, "Oh, I'm sorry, is her name Lora?" So they try to explain it to him and I can see the wheels are just not turning right in his brain. And so when he gets home I said something about it and he just laughs and says, "Oh, I just thought her name was Lora, not Laura." Still not getting it. I explained it again to him that it would be like someone calling us Bro and Sis Becky Johnson....I don't think he got it,..but it might click one of these days when he's just sitting there.

How can you not help but love Greg. At least he is happy and fun to be around even if it doesn't even make sense to him sometimes why we are laughing!!?!

Okay, so after pointing out my husbands quirks.....I came home from church on Sunday..after a full day of meetings and realized that I had left green mask crap on my zit. I seriously think I have been bit by the acne fairy lately and so I used some of my mask to put on the zit the night before and thought I scrubbed and scrubbed it..and come to find out...it was still there the whole time!! It's like wearing a neon sign that say,.."Hey everybody, I have a zit so big I thought I'd show it off with decorating it up a bit for church!!" Niiiiice!! Greg and I are two of a kind!!!

Each Life that Touches ours for Good!

It is always nice to have a good laugh. I have sat down and written a couple of posts this week of funny things that have happened...but I haven't posted them. This week has been a week of reflection for me. It is amazing that in one week you can feel the influence from so many different angles. From the birth of a baby, to the death of a child, to the baptism of my first child, to the tragedy's of sin, to the trials of faith that a young couple must face, to the true miracle of forgiveness. Each of them causing such emotion to invelope me and take a hold of me. Each of these experiences have not directly involved me exactly...other than the baptism of Dallin on Saturday, but have caused my heart to grow in love and understanding. For that, I am forever changed through just this one little week in my life.

I attended a funeral today for a poor family who lost their daughter and sister. She was serving a mission and returned home early with health complications. She was diagnosed with ALS and very quickly passed away. This family has suffered so much prior to this because of poor decisions a loved one made. It is so hard to see them have to now endure the loss of a child and sister...but, I went today and felt as though, I was comforted and I was lifted by their strength and through their testimony of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. The spirit was so powerful that it could be felt in every ounce of my body. I witnessed the power of love and forgiveness. My own testimony was built upon and I am grateful for the life of this young lady who clearly was ready to leave this imperfect world. Her life has touched mine for good.

I know God completely understands and knows me. He knows that I am terrified of death. I'm not really scared of how I'm going to die, or what is to come after I die...but about leaving my loved ones behind. Without a doubt this fear has plagued me throughout my life. From the time I was young and wished on a star everynight that my family and I would be safe to the present time, where I pray and hope everyday that tragedy won't strike. I understand that I am not void from this ever happening to me...that is what scares me. But, through the faith and example of others, each day my fear is being slightly lifted and I know that one day I will lean on these experiences to get me through the experiences of death.

I read the saddest story this week about a young couple, crazy in love, who had tragedy strike them. I am not sure if they are quite aware of their situation at the present time, but I hope and pray that they can feel the love and faith of a complete stranger. My heart aches for this young mother who can't kiss her babies, who can't kiss her husband, and whose life will be forever changed as she once knew it. I am inspired by her life and by the love she had for her little family. As she lays lying in a hospital bed, I wonder if she knows the influence she has had upon me....a complete stranger.

A good friend of mine had a baby this week. This is always such an emotional experience for me as I recall each of the births of my children. To think that people truly believe there is no God and still witness the birth of a child is beyond me. I have carried my children, I have given birth to my children, I have witnessed others who have had adopted children and had them sealed to them, and I know without a doubt it is through the miracle of a true and living God. This life is a gift..and I am grateful for every second of it.

This week my oldest child will be baptized. My emotions are on fire this week. I feel as though I am extra sensitive to my surroundings. I know this is a gift that I have recieved. One of the most important decisions my son will make in this life, will take place this weekend and I am overwhelmed by this experience. As a mother, I am proud of the decision my child has come to on his own and I only hope that I have taught him well enough up to this point. I am in awe of how fast this life goes. It seems as though only yesterday I held this child in my arms for the first time. How quickly the time will pass...I hope I can hold on to each memory with exactness and fondness.

Tonight as I put my children to bed...I held them just a little bit tighter. I kissed them goodnight....and then I kissed them again for Judy..and again for NieNie....who can't kiss their babies tonight. Each second, each minute, each day of my life...is precious to me. I pray for these families suffering tonight and hope they can feel the peace that has been given to me...through their examples.

Flight of the Bumble Bee

Is it time for school or what? I feel like this last week has just come and gone so fast and now school is here. Greg starts tomorrow and Dal starts on Wednesday. Someone just reminded me that Dal gets baptized in a week and a half. Don't mind me...my mind is still on vacation...CRAP! I guess I better start planning it out and get some invitations made up and sent out..right? Do ya do that? Send invitations? Ah, la di da...we'll see what happens.

Well, this week like always had its exciting times and its not so exciting times. Where do I start? Greg and I were able to go and finish off my mom and dad's yard. We were helping them landscape and Dal and Alex went for a Grandma and Grandpa sleepover at the Johnson's and Greg had to work so I decided I would go over and finish...and finish I did. I almost wanted to jump off of a cliff. Holy Cow...I seriously had so much dirt boogers up my nose I thought I'd scream..but I am glad that my parents are happy with the end result. There may be a reason why I am the FaVoRiTe daughter...LOL!!! Okay, there SHOULD be a reason for me to BE the favorite daughter. I know siblings..those are fighting words...so why don't ya get your butts out here and do some gardening???HUH? Oh, and then we could hang out too?!?!?

Well, so Dallins forever bestfriend Tanner came to our house to sleep over on Wednesday. I hope he will forgive me for telling this story..but it has to be told. All should know by now that I am absolutely terrified of bees, hornets, wasps, any ugly flying thing that wants to sting me. If you don't know what I am talking about...refer back to my post about the bumble bee. It ain't pretty my friends. I seriously have to give myself a pep talk just to go out and get the mail because I am sure there are bees just getting ready to run me down and sting me as soon as I leave my house. I think they are a waste of life and I laugh when I smash their beehives...okay, so Greg pulls them down, I wait until all signs of life have left...like say,...two weeks and then I bravely march out there and step on it. Ya, ya, ya,..I know..so they help with pollen and flowers and whatever the other heck they do but I don't care. All you bee activists...just be quiet. I don't want to hear the speech on how good they are and what they do for our world....I don't freakin care! Stuff it...I hate them and that is all there is too it. So with that long explanation out of the way..onto #5,000,480,000,903 of why I hate the bee family. My poor little Tanner, (Dal's BFF) came to my house and we had just finished dinner. I was doing dishes and the boys were out in the back playing. I looked out the window and saw poor poor Tanner screaming and crying and running towards the house. Now you have to understand that Tanner is like a child to me. I just love him to peices. They lived by us in A.F. and we can't go long with out seeing them. Anyways, I noticed that Tanner was running holding his, um, let's see, let's just call it his "package". SERIOUSLY! I opened the door and said what happened. I could hardly believe it. We have one of those "waste of money, kids never play on it, 10 billion years to put together" teeter totter airplanes from Costco. He went out to get on it...in his swimming shorts (so ofcourse no undies) and propped his legs up on the teeter totter and low and behold a damn(sorry, no better explanation) beehive/wasp nest...whatever....was right there and up flew a bee and pierced his prives!!! No joke. Right in the nachos!!! Can you say...akward and painful?!?!? Now we know that "men" can barely have air blown towards their stuff without bending over in pain (atleast my man) and so can you imagine actually the pain of being stung in that area?!?!? I made him drop the shorts and I shook them out to make sure he still didn't have visitors and then I did the only thing I could think of...I threw him in the bathtub...and then called his mom. I felt so bad for him but then Martha and I couldn't stop laughing. How would you like to make the phone call to one of your good friends to tell them their son's jewels were attacked by some outrageous perverted bees?? I'm appauled and I immediately sent Greg out to kills the bees. Dead. Gone! Poor TanMan!! He said he doesn't hate my house...just my backyard. So, here's a message to the bees. You touch me...I will cry and then I will send Greg out to smash you and any relatives that may be flying by my house! No questions. Now, you touch me in off limit, out of bounds places...I will hunt you down and kill you myself.....I'll be the one in the "bee proof" suit! Got it?

Anyways, Tan recovered within the hour and all the kids came out to help us wash the van. That's right.. we washed our "van"... we're that kind of a family and I'm proud to be a van owner. Love it! Anyways. Greg and I were quickly reminded why maybe we shouldn't have reproduced together. Dal collects rocks and he was ecstatic to find when I was painting his room last week that the previous occupant had a rock collection in the vents. I always wondered why that room was so hot in the summer and cold in the winter..it was blocked by about 25 rocks.. oh and a barbie boot. That didn't come from my boys!! Funny stuff. Anyways, I was vaccuming the van out and Greg said, "Hey Bec, go check out your son." I walk out there and he has like 60 rocks lined up on the sidewalk and he is holding up a sign that says "Free Prittie Rocks....60 cents!!" I'm surprised Greg caught that...I was always pretty good with the math..okay up until like 8th grade..but did I ever mention I was Validictorian in the 6th grade? No..I'll share another time..just thought I'd mention it again. But, Greg on the other hand is better at other subjects...like LUNCH! (just kidding Greg, you were good in Phys Ed too!!) We had a good laugh and he actually had some customers. I told Greg to quit his day job and start selling rocks...the kids were really excited!!

Greg and I went to Brian Regan on Thursday. I think everyone in life needs a good laugh. I was laughing so hard. I am always quickly reminded how obnoxious my laugh is because people turn and stare. Get over it..he was funny! I was almost front and center..I was sure we made eye contact. Sadly though, even being close up, I am so blind I had to still stare at the big screen to the side. Thanks to all of our "cruise buddies" for getting us to go! I love Brian Regan and I'm pretty sure if we hung out we'd laugh all night...oh wait..that's what we did!! I'm also pretty sure he got most of his material from studying Greg. There were sometimes Greg and I were laughing so hard because it was taken straight from our lives!! Good thing we can laugh about it.

Well, life begins again this week and I'm sure there will be more drama on the front in the Johnson home. So it goes. It just makes life more exciting!!

Colton is determined to undress and dress himself. He found himself in an akward position the other day...I just had to take a picture!!

Colton's favorite thing to say this week: "You play ball like a girl!!!"

Alex's favorite thing to say this week: "you da best mom EVER!"

Dal's start soccer this week!...Yeah!!

Birthday Message for Alex

My little buddy is 4 years old. I can't believe how fast you have grown up! You are such a miracle baby boy! We didn't think we would be able to get pregnant again...and then we finally did..and then you were really sick and we didn't know if we'd ever meet you...and then we did and let me tell you from the second you were born you were such a sweet sweet spirit. I remember finding out I was pregnant. Dad had gone to play basketball and so I knew he was leaving so I wanted to see while he was gone so he didn't have to see me cry again. I could hardly believe that the prenancy test said yes..so I took another one. I started screaming and jumping up and down. Dallin came running in and asked me what was the matter. I told him I had a baby in my tummy and he started jumping up and down and screaming, " I love you baby!!!" I had Dallin tell dad when he got home from basketball...dad doesn't cry much, but he put his head down and started to cry. We really truly couldn't believe you were on your way. Dallin started the anitbody disease but you got to take it over in full force. We got to see you weekly through ultrasounds and hear your heartbeat twice a week at nonstress tests. You came a little early so that you could start your blood transfusions. You were perfect. I would come up to the ICU to see you and you had those funky glasses on for the bili lights and I would whisper, "Hi baby Alex, mommy loves you!" You would hold your breath for just a brief second and then you would start breathing really hard. I LOVED it! You knew who I was and you have always been a little mommy's boy.

Although you were born with holes in your heart, you have the most loving heart of any kid I know. You are so sensitive and loving to everyone. You never want to hurt anyone's feelings and you just really take care of Colton. I love to watch you mimic everything that Dallin does and to watch Colton mimic everything that you do. It is so sweet to watch you quickly bow your head and say your prayers when you need help. Even at 4 years old you understand that if you pray to Heavenly Father and Jesus, that they will help you.

You have the greatest personality. Dad and I love to sit and talk to you and to listen to your contagious laugh. I love to listen to you sing. No one sings "I am a child of God" better than you. Your sweet little voice brings so much joy into my heart it just might burst. You love to dance and honestly have some of the best dance moves. There is never a dull moment with you around. I love to hold your hand and feel how little it is in mine. I am so proud of you for getting to be such a big boy, but it makes me sad that you are growing up so fast. Thank you for always loving mommy and for being such an amazing little boy. I'm so proud of you my little buddy!!! Today on the way home from church you said, "mommy I love you! This is the best birthday EVER!" I am so glad you had such a good day and I hope you know that every day with you is the best day EVER for mommy!! Happy Happy Birthday my little Alex!!

Love,

Mom

Birthday Message for Dallin

Dallin, my sweet little boy.....you are now 8. I can't even believe how fast the time has gone. I remember finding out I was pregnant with you...I remember being told I had lost you (good thing doctors can be wrong).....I remember feeling you move for the first time...And I will always remember the first time I held you in my arms! You are such a precious angel to me. When I think of a perfect child..I think of you. You are not only my first child, my first experience with motherhood, but you truly are one of my greatest friends. Looking back now, I am so glad that I got to spend four years with just you. You were always my little buddy. You cracked everyone up. One of your first phrases was, "hey baby!" And you would raise your eyebrows up and down. Everyday that you have been in my life, you have made each of my days brighter with your smiles, your laughter and your pure and complete love for me, for your dad, and especially for your brothers. You are so kind to your brothers. You love them, kiss them, and make both of them feel like they are your best friend. I will never forget the unbreakable faith you had when you were just three years old. We were driving in the car to go see our new home in Pleasant Grove. I heard you talking in the back of the car and so I turned down the radio and asked what you needed. You quickly said, "Mom, I'm not talking to you." I kind of laughed to myself and probably said, "oh, excuse me." But, I was curious and so I listened and realized you were pleading with your father in heaven. We had been told that our chances of getting pregnant again were probably slim to none. It broke my heart that you would not have any brothers or sisters. But, on this day, I listened to your prayer. I will never forget the words to your prayer. "Heavenly Father, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeease can I have a baby brother? Pleeeease. I need a brother so bad." I began to cry and pleaded in my own heart that if not for me...than for you and because of your faith. Not a month later,...we were pregnant with Alex. (after 2 1/2 years of trying.) I will never forget the lesson you taught me of faith...even though you were only three. Your faith continues to amaze me. You have a testimony of Jesus Christ and I personally believe you have a strong relationship with him. You amaze me and I am proud to be your mother. Thank you for always being so kind to everyone around you. It makes me proud when teachers and parents comment on what an amazing child you are. I know it and I am glad that others get to know it too. You are my sunshine and I am so lucky to have you as my son. I'm excited for your baptism and excited for you to makes those promises that you were sent here to make. I hope you had a Happy happy Birthday!! You are my sweet sweet boy!!!

Love,

Mom