end of year hike

 

Most years I like to start a hike usually "A" Mountain in Tempe.  We still might do that hike soon but it worked out that the week between Christmas and New Years the Johnson's had been staying at my parents and Dad thought a hike is a good idea.  I agree.  Arizona winters are perfect hiking weather and it was a lovely morning. (Top photo taken by Beatrix.  You can see her shadow at the bottom and she did a great job!)

This time we hiked our favorite, Spook Hill over past Red Mountain Park on Brown road.  This a well loved hike, only about a mile, and in the city so close by.  I've lost track of how many times I've hiked it but it's in regular rotation usually a few times a year for me.

    Andrew had work as well as Ammon so I picked up Elmina and Allen, DJ brought some of his kids, Louise brought her kids, and Dad drove separately.  Hiking is always more fun with a group of friends or family. Well, at least for me because I'm a special runner/hiker.  

Take a look at that sky!  Just beautiful.

Avery Heritage winter formal

The dance was at the Wright House.

Avery’s first date and first school dance was winter formal last Friday. Such a big deal! She asked Jonas who was such a fun date. I took the group photos which is why I’m sharing a lot here. It was so fun being there for photos. Unfortunately Jonas missed photos and joined later for the dinner because he had to work. That’s ok because Avery looked cute on her own.

We planned ahead and felt really prepared leading up to the night of the dance. We thrifted a few dresses over the last couple years so she had a few to choose from, some fitting her better than others. 

This is the dress she had her heart set on so we got the cream undershirt for modesty and picked red as on accent color since it’s very Christmasy. The shoes, earrings, and hair piece were all from SHEIN and worked so well.

Aren’t they all so beautiful?!

Below is Emma with her date Rivers, who is on Rachel Willis’s ward. Emma is Sarah Hancock’s daughter and I love that Sarah and I were friends in college and own our daughters are good friends.

And of course this is Liberty below, who is Rachel Willis’s niece. She’s wearing her mom’s dress from when she was young so that’s cool.

And below this is Ella, Sally Johnson’s daughter, and Avery’s BFF. Her date is Ben Gordon who is in our stake and his dad teaches seminary at Heritage. This really is a great group of people!

Gotta love that pop of red!

 Overall Avery said she has such a great time and I’m so grateful to Sally for hosting the dinner in her backyard. Taking the photos caused me to be super later to the B2B work party but so glad I was able to do both. Elliot brought Berlin with us to the work party which was so nice. What an interesting season we are in right now

39 years old

A couple weeks ago a turned 39 on a Sunday. So crazy thinking this is the last year in my 30’s. Ruth offered to make my cake and I sent her the strawberry cake recipe for the cake recipe Zara asks for every year. Chocolate sounded good too but I assumed Andrew would want a chocolate cake for his birthday a week later.

 In the end Andrew wanted ginger for a change but Ruth did a great job on the cake. I gave her 4 inspiration pics for the cake decoration and let her decide what she wanted to do.

As you can see she went with own version of the top left. Ruth and I both love baking.

Doesn’t it look great?

Since my birthday was on a Sunday this year I didn’t get to go to Joes BBQ or Joe’s Farmgrill for a free meal. The sisters all took me to Balboas for a birthday treat after dinner Monday night. Michelle Weber and her family had just got in town from New Mexico for Thanksgiving week and was able to join us last minute. I love how well she fits in with the family. I mean, the Webers are family.

The owner overheard we gathered for my birthday and let me know I could pick a free cookie for my birthday! I tried this chocolate mint one that was fantastic.

 For the dipped ice cream I went for Oreo, chopped peanuts, and Nutella. Very sweet but good.

So grateful for family and friends helping me feel celebrated this year.

Dartmouth ward

They last few years our primary has a water activity to celebrate the start of school. It took a while getting the water started. The Ramada spicket didn’t work so they had to hook up with the cleaning supply water line. Once it worked fun was had by all. Popsicles included!

I didn’t stay the whole time but this was actually our last activity in Dartmouth ward. Yesterday we had a realignment approved by the first presidency and now we’re in Fountain ward. We were the only two wards that changed. So a chunk of our ward got moved to Fountain ward and a chunk of Fountain ward got moved to Dartmouth. 

Definitely bitter sweet. Andrew was 1st counselor in the Dartmouth bishopric and now he’s 1st counselor in Fountain bishopric. We were in Dartmouth ward (previously Lazona) for 15 1/2 years so this is a big change.

I know these changes are inspired by Heavenly Father and I look forward to getting to know and serve new people and have amazing experiences in Fountain ward. God is good.

 

Utah girls trip

Three weeks ago I got to fly to Utah on a girls trip. It was the first time I’ve done a trip like this and it was so special. 

Mom flew in on Thursday and picked up Sara, Ruth, and I from the Provo airport. We went to the Provo City Center Temple for a session, my first time in that temple.

That night we had pizza with the Johnson’s family and got to see Louise’s play Gerd & the Goose. It was wonderful and I’m proud of Louise and the Johnson family with all the time and work they put into it. There was so much talent that made it all work.

Such a beautiful temple! The old Provo temple is completely demolished so not an option for temple work right now. It’s always nice visiting a new one and this temple is pretty unique.

On Saturday before flying out of the Salt Lake airport we went to temple square. The church history museum was pretty cool and my first time there. There was a temporary exhibit with Minerva Teichart paintings. Very beautiful.

All that scaffolding was a sight to see!

Mom, Sara, Ruth and I got flowers for Louise for all her talent and hard work.

I got to cut and braid Odesa and Hazel’s hair. They look beautiful. I love doing hair.

These pictures are out of order but Saturday morning we joined the Johnson family for a ward service activity at the park near their house.

Here’s Steven as Conrad the goose boy. He did a great job and was even funny at times! Hazel also has a short scene.

Stanley and the kids worked concessions.

 I hope Louise does another summer production so I can bring the family next time.

Last summer practice

This June we started our pre season cross country practices. By we I mean Sally Johnson and me. Sally is the head junior high cross country coach for Heritage Academy and I’m the assistant coach. This will be our third year coaching together! Avery and Ella (Sally’s daughter) were on our team the first year before they moved up to high school. Ben Johnson joined the team last year and will be again this year, and Zara moved up to Heritage and will be on the team this year. So excited for this season ahead. For summer practices Rupert came to many, and we’ve had more younger siblings join practice this summer than other years. So fun!

We started summer practices weeks ago and it’s been so good getting to know a lot of new runners, build endurance, play some games, do speed work and last Friday was our last summer practice. School starts on Tuesday, July 30 and we had our last practice at Sally’s where we did the same 2 mile loop we always do and had snow cones afterwards. I also brought pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. 

Sally and I already got the schedule for our meets this season, all in September and October, so we have a month to get all our runners ready. We totally have this!

Every year we have an amazing team, but it’s feels different each year as we gain new runners and loose some. Different personalities effecting the few of the team each year. I have a good feeling about this year’s team!

 

Go Heroes!