It was cold cold cold. So cold that when I looked over at Laurie her eyelashes and hair were frosty. We ran 6 miles. It was 18 degrees and very foggy. I'm excited that we are starting to train for Ragnar but I am also ready for spring.

I love Luke's hair - the color, the curls, the thickness. I just love it. I love to run my fingers through his hair and the longer the better for me with this kid. He has been asking for a buzz for a few months but I kept making him wait .... until after the wedding....until after Christmas.....until dad gets home next weekend....etc. Finally I gave in and Todd buzzed it all off. When Todd was cutting it he even said "what a waste of good hair". Ha ha.



My sweet boy looks so much older with his short hair - I don't know if I like that or not. I think he looks adorable with short hair though I just don't want him growing up so fast on me.

I've decided that every Friday I'm going to post a few of my facebook posts to here for my journal.

I love the way I feel after a good hard run. (Friday - 1/28)

Thanks to cub scouts Tayson set the table, fixed dinner and did the dishes tonight. (Thursday - 1/27)

I hate bedtime. There are just too many kids in this house for this girl to handle alone. (Tuesday - 1/25)

The best part of coming home after being away from the kids for 5 days...all the hugs and kisses. My kids are so excited that I'm home that the are being perfect and giving me non-stop hugs & kisses. It's good to be home. (Monday - 1/24)

Home sweet home. (Monday - 1/24)

Hanging out with Todd in the sky club. I feel so fancy. (Monday - 1/24)

I had a very humbling experience this week. On Wednesday night during New Beginnings some of the things my Bishop said really struck home with me. He was talking about how difficult his calling is. Then after we had a meeting with the Stake YW presidency and the YW pres was talking about inviting the spirit into our lives and how it is something we have to do - the Lord won't force it upon us. It was all I could do to not completely break down right then and waited until I got in the car....thank goodness.

The thing is my life is crazy right now - Todd is gone 5 days a week, I work full-time, I have 4 kids 8 and under & I'm in the YW presidency. That being said - I've been using all of this as an excuse to do the bare minimum in everything in my life right now. I do what's right - we have FHE almost every week, I read scriptures with my kids and say prayers with them, I try to never miss church or YW's. However, my heart just hasn't been in it. I do it out of obedience instead of desire and love. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I have been relying on my own strength instead of turning to the Lord. And right now in my life I need him more than I ever have before.

Well that night I finally humbled myself had a long talk with my Heavenly Father and figured out a few ways I can do more without adding more time to an already full schedule. One of them was that I downloaded the Book of Mormon onto my phone so I can listen to it on my way to work in the mornings. Then today when I got in my car I couldn't remember exactly where I was but knew I was in Alma so I started with Alma 26. Here are a few of the verses:

12Yea, I know that I am ^anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will ^bnot boast of myself, but I will ^cboast of my God, for in his ^dstrength I can do all ^ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

37Now my brethren, we see that God is ^amindful of every ^bpeople, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.

Those 2 verses were just for me. Sometimes I wonder why I am so dang stubborn and why it takes me so long to realize that I'm not alone and the Lord knows exactly what I am going through. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knows me and loves me. I am so thankful He is patient and forgiving and occasionally gives me a quick kick in the rear so I can keep moving in the right direction.

Every year my dad gets free tickets for the kids to go to the circus. It's not the best one around but the kids love it and my dad loves it so we go. Timing was horrible for me this year.... first week back in the office after traveling for 2 weeks and I had to leave work by 3:30 to pick up the girls to get there by 4:00 when it started. Then to top it off it was the same night as YW ... and not just any YW night New Beginnings so I had to be there early, in church clothes and had to speak. I left the circus before it was over - and missed the motorcycles (one of my favorite parts). My parents had to take all the kids home. But even with all of those issues I'm glad I went. The kids had a blast.





P.S. Pictures taken with Tayson's new Christmas camera.

Todd and I saw these at Universal Studios and couldn't pass them up.

On our last day in Orlando we spent the day at Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure. I really wanted to see the new Harry Potter section and it did not disappoint.










I think my favorite ride was the Harry Potter dragon ride - although I really loved the ride that takes you through Hogwarts and you are on a flying school bench. The longest line we waited in was the Flight of the Hippogriff and was totally not worth the wait - unless we had little kids with us. It was a little short and too family friendly for the time we spent in line. I can't believe how much fun I had spending the day at an amusement park just Todd and I - no-one cried, we could spend as much or little time doing things as we wanted and it was so much fun to spend so much quality time together.

I had work meetings in Orlando so Todd decided to fly and meet me for the weekend. I stayed 1 extra day to have some fun and play. Saturday I finished working around 4:00 pm so we headed out to Epcot. I haven't been there since I was a kid and Todd had never been before. We cruised through the park pretty fast since we only had about 4 1/2 hours total. We walked through all the different countries and ate some very yummy food. Then we headed over to do a few of the rides. My favorite was "Soaring" and we loved the Nemo section too because there was a huge aquarium where people were even scuba diving.



Every time I saw the ball I would say "hey look, there's the ball". At first I think it annoyed Todd, but after I did it the entire night it was hilarious so we had to snap a quick picture in front of it.

After being gone all week in LA for work I told the kids we could go out and have some fun for family night. They chose bowling. We went to dinner and then bowling. They had so much fun. Tayson got a strike followed by 2 spares in the first 3 sets. He finished with 115. He's quite the little bowler. Claire was more interested in posing for pictures than bowling.





We had a good time....the only thing that would have made it better would have been if Todd had been there with us.

I got home from a work trip to LA on a Sunday afternoon while everyone was at church. I walked in the door and the kitchen was spotless (the dishwasher was even running). The front room was clean too. I was so impressed with Todd. It's not easy to keep the house clean with our 4 kiddos. Then I walked down the hall and busted out laughing. You couldn't even see the floor back by the rooms. Sophie had dumped out every single game in the closet. Claire's floor was covered in toys and Sophie's room had be toilet papered (not by teenagers ... by her). Then I saw the sign on the bathroom door. Oh boy why was the floor wet? I found out later from Todd that Sophie had decorated the bathroom with 2 tubes of toothpaste and the boys cleaned it up. It was actually very clean - there were just A LOT of towels for me to wash. I love that they put up a sign. Then I walked into our bedroom. OH MY!!! The bed covers were everywhere and the entire dresser top was strewn across the floor. Every one of my watches and Todd's watches were scattered around on the floor and there were clothes everywhere. When I asked Todd what happened he just said "you can't do anything if Sophie is around!" Don't I know it. She is so dang crazy. Of course usually when I have her there aren't quite so many messes...but she can really tear it up.

Utah I hope you are ready for these awesome girls to hit the road. We had our first official Ragnar 2011 meeting. We did awards for last years race, watched a very fun and ispiring video of last years training and race then drew our legs. After a few small trades I ended up with Leg 3. My first leg is 5.6 moderate. Second is 4.9 moderate and my last is 7.9 hard. 18.4 miles total...let the training begin!

For family home evening we set goals and new chores for the kids. When I asked what they would like to have our family goals for 2011 be Tayson said "we should all lose 10 pounds" - what? Does he realize how small they all are???? Claire is already the weight of a 2 year old and the last thing she needs is to lose weight. He and Luke are both obsessed with weight and always talk about being fat - weirdos. Anyway....here is what we came up with together. I'm not a big one on setting new years resolutions since I have to work and work and work to be a better person and it's not really a once a year thing but I am continually re-evaluating where I am and what needs to be changed. (I am however trying to lose 10 pounds - just not as a 2011 goal)

2011 Johnson Family Goals:

• Read the Book of Mormon (the kids were challenged by the primary presidency)
  
• Work on preparing for a mission (Luke came up with this one)

Tayson's Goals:

• 200 situps
• 20 pushups
• Run a mile under 8:00 minutes

Luke's Goals:

• 100 situps
• 10 pushups
• Learn to ride a bike with no training wheels

Claire's Goals:

• Be able to read
• Say prayers without help
• Make bed without help

Sophie's Goals:

• Potty train (again)
• No more binky

Kathy's Goals:

• Run 1111 miles

We also spent some time discussing allowance, chores and paid chores and set up new charts for the kids and reset expectations for them since they are getting older.

I can't believe 2010 is over already - this year went by very fast. I've been thinking a lot for the last few days about this years highlights. Here they are:










I have learned a lot and been stretched more than I thought was possible this year. I have felt the Lord's hand in my life leading me through all the hard times. I am loving the stage my kids are at right now - they are young enough to still be sweet and old enough to do fun stuff. 2010 was a great year!