Masaru vs reading

Masaru had endured reading because it's part of what he has to do.
When I started teaching him he endured it because he's obedient and I'm his mother.
When school 'eventually' started teaching him he did the home work cause he's a good boy and wanted to be obedient and make good choices.
He's a great kid.
This year in third grade we've been reading together for 20 mins a night.  Like I've stated before, it's been good for me to be doing this.  Sure I've got a million other things to be doing but I need to get over it.  Reading with Masaru is the most important thing I should be doing at that time and I know it, so I do it, cause I wanna be obedient to my Heavenly Father ;)
We've read 'Mouse and the motorcycle', a few other randoms and 'Magic tree house Deep dark Deep sea'
or something to that affect. 
I was visiting with my mate and she chose that particular book because it came with a secondary book full of facts about the sea and creatures that live in the sea.
Whenever Masaru brings home library books it's always about REAL things never FAKE FANTASY stories you know.  He wants facts this kid.
So I told my mate we'd give it a go.
Masaru's never read volunterally on his own.......................not once.  I just don't think he enjoys it right?  I mean you read on your own cause you love it right?
He'll look through his library books and focus on the pictures but he won't sit and read even those books.
I figured with this Deep Sea book we MAY have a chance.
We read the 'made up' story first.  He thought it was ok.  He never fought me when it was reading time but he certainly didn't ask me if we could read cause he was excited you know.
After that we started the facts book.
Last night we ran out of time to read.  So I told him he could read in his room and I'd tell him when 20 mins was up OR we could read together tomorrow morning.
He chose to read in the back room but was upset about it.
Anyway I forgot about him and went about my merry way doing whatever it was I was doing when I have no kids in my face..................
65 minutes later he comes out and says to me "Surely it's been 20 mins mum"  to which I replied "Ah more like 65 mins bub.  Have you been reading this whole time?"
Then he proceeded to tell me all about giant and colossal squids and how brainy an Octopus is and about Steve Erwin and sting rays as well as jellyfish and how there were a pile of them over in Japan as big as a sumo wrestler.  He was so excited and Dru and I were stunned and sat there staring as he went on and on about this book and how much he loved it and how he wants to collect all of them and read them all.
I looked at Dru and smiled.
'Finally' I thought 'He's found something he loves to read'
He had to do a summary of what he read and because he'd read so much he couldn't fit it all in on the lines.  So we just left it.
Now I'm in a mad panic to try and find some other magic tree house FACTS books that I can get my hands on.  I told him to look for them at his school library and I guess I need to face the inevitable and go to my local library, which I try to avoid like the plague.  I might ask my friend if she has anymore of those books.
He got an Abraham Lincoln book from the school library that we're going to start next but I have no idea if it comes with a facts book.
At any rate I'm excited for him and hope that this can spark of love of reading for him.
I don't need him to be on the couch constantly reading, I like how active he is you know, BUT I DO think it's important to LOVE what you're reading.  If I can keep the flame alive then maybe this will help improve his reading skills and then I won't have to worry as much.
His second grade year was tough on his 'reading self esteem' to say the least.
Fingers crossed.
If you find any of those 'fact magic tree house books' hook me up................

Humility

I was thinking today as I was cleaning my bathroom floors.............'How can I stay humble?' 
Then it hit me while I was on my hands and knees....................my kids! 
My kids are what keeps me humble.
Being a mother is keeping me humble.
I'm constantly checking myself and re-checking myself because of my role as their mother.  They keep me humble.
Plus being on your hands and knees and cleaning up pooh and pee keeps you in check as well you know.  You kinda don't let things get to your head when you're cleaning up that stuff weekly.
Then I got thinking................well that's great for now but what about when they grow up and are out of the house?
Then I thought 'service' I have to continue to serve cause ultimately that's what I'm doing as a mother right?  Serve, serve, serve with little recognition or thanks.
Love for Jesus Christ and service to others is the key to humility.
When I start slipping into pride, motherhood brings me back to my knees and checks my pride at the door (the bathroom door some days) and let's me know what my REAL purpose is and where my priorities REALLY need to be and WHO I really am to the Lord.
I'm grateful to be a mother because without it, I can't think of what trials I'd have to go through to give me the same lessons my children teach me on a daily basis.

Yuki is 6

 So Yuki was really excited about her birthday.  I kept telling her that it wasn't going to be a big deal like last year.  But that didn't matter, she was excited.
She woke up and we let her open her presents from mum and dad.
'Dad' or should I say mum, got her this drawing kit.  It has a light on the top and several slides and stuff that is projected onto the paper so she can trace various pictures on it and colour it in.  She loves it and is grateful to 'Dad' for getting it for her.  I'll give myself a pat on the back later on.
Mummy dearest got her some hair accessories as well as lego's and special nail glitter art.
She also loved that.

 So we had to do her hair and nails.
Takeshi wanted to do his nails as well and so painted his own thumbs and toes.
He did a blue stripe with a pink stripe in the middle.  He did this all by himself as I was concentrating on getting Yuki's glittery nails done without getting glitter all over the kitchen.
Didn't he do well?
Yuki's nails turned out great and I did her hair in a way that utilized as many hair accessories as possible.

 Here's her hot pink volcano cake.
When she saw it she said "Mum this is the best cake ever, it's way better than the other one.  This is exactly what I wanted"
Masaru said "Mum you totally nailed it, it looks so good"
I personally am disappointed with how it turned out but I let it go due to the fact that Yuki thought it was awesome.  So that made me feel better and not think too much into how I could've done this much, much better for her.

 Here's the house, somewhat, decorated.
I wasn't going to do any decorations but she asked me if I was going to.  I said "Well not like last year" and then got thinking about it and stuff so got a few things to put up for her.
It was easy to do and we did it while she was at school.
Takeshi was a great help.

 Here she is opening her presents from family and friends.

 Great things for her to love.
She said she wanted french toast for dinner.
So Dru made french toast for everyone and I cut up some strawberries and put syrup and whipped cream on top.
It was a hit.

 Then we did the pinata outside which was a bit 'hit' LOL   (good one Milz)

 Then we had cake and ice cream.

 Look at that cute face.

This photo is awesome don't you think?
So excited.
We also watched the movie 'Epic' with the kids and we didn't get finished until around 9:20pm
It was rather late for my liking but you can't just stop watching a movie half way through and send the guests home right?
I hope she had a great day and was happy.
She seemed to be.
We love Yuki.  She's a good sister and is usually very kind.  She can be a little sassy but for the most part she's a great girl.
She's always the first one to finish her chores and likes to help me with mine.
She loves all her friends and always wants to be with them.
She has a tender heart and is still scared of the dark but is doing A LOT better in this area.  It helps to have a sister and several various lights around the room.
She loves school and has made a few friends.  She's already gotten an invitation to a boys birthday party at the end of the month.  I'm going to attend this with her or not let her go, one or the other.
She loves church and movies and getting her hair done and dressing herself nice everyday.
She's a great soccer player for a 6 year old, but I'm bias and can't play, so take that for what it is.
I'm glad she's in our family and in my life.
I love her.
Happy birthday bub xox
love mum

Crunch time

So TODAY WAS IT......................what my church calling was MADE FOR.................
Today was the ward primary sacrament programme.
For those of you who aren't LDS this is when the children take over the first hour of church and do a scripted programme for everyone's amusement  entertainment  spiritual upliftment.
I was SUPER nervous about this.  More so than many, many things.  I think I would've rather spoke infront of 1000 people than do this.
I had nightmares last night about it.  It was how all these random kids came and wanted to be in it but where rowdy and rude and I couldn't control them and it really was a NIGHTMARE.
I woke up nervous and with anxiety.
Last time I remember being this nervous was waiting to see if Dru passed the bar exam!!!
It was really tough for me.
Dru kept telling me "It'll be FINE babe" and I always responded with "You don't know that.  What proof do you have of that?"
I was bordering on peeing my pants and tears all morning and throughout the programme.
I was a wreck, I mean honestly man A WRECK.
Anyway we did the programme and the children were AWESOME.
You never know what to expect with kids you know?
But we all got serveral comments about how that was the best sacrament programme ever and how well the kids did and how they made people cry with how awesome the kids were.
I'm just glad it's over.
People said 'We should have primary do this every week' and I'm like 'OVER MY DEAD BODY MATE'
I'm glad it's only once a year that's for sure.
We had a party afterwards with cupcakes, balloons, more singing, video's and games.
Now 'tis the season of fun, fun, fun and I'm excited to be more relaxed with the kids in their singing time and not have too much pressure of having to learn certain songs you know.
I love the kids and I love my calling.  I'm glad I'm in it.

MY picture day (sorry Masaru)

 So it was school picture day yesterday.
I've YET to purchase one.  They just don't turn out well at all, plus it's hard to pony up with 1.2 million dollars for something I could capture myself on my own terms with REAL smiles.
Masaru was at school when I took these.  And I'm GOING to do a little 'shoot' with him, but between soccer, scouts, homework, piano, showering and sleeping it's tough to get some 'shoot' time with him.
Sorry bub.

 Here's Miss Yukiko.
Her teacher is making her write 'Yukiko' on all her papers.  It cracks me up.  I guess I better say that it's ok to have her call herself 'Yuki'.  I like that she doesn't assume we shorten it though, cause with the boys we don't, and all the teachers have shortened Masaru's name, which bothers me slightly but not enough to cause a fuss.

Here's my favourite out of the ones I took of Yuki.
I know you get sick of me saying this, but her beauty amazes me.  I mean she's so beautiful.  Yesterday I had a chuckle to myself cause she was talking about her hairstyle for the pictures and such and I'd just finished doing her hair and she goes "That looks good, thanks mum, I'm going to look good for my pictures"
I'm thinking "You have no idea man"
I realize I'm bias right?  But I think she's a stunner..............moving on.

Awwwwwwwwwwww and here's my little beauty Emiko.
LOL So cheeky and so fun.
Look at those cute cheeks.
She sees the camera and tries to do her best pose for me now.  It's pretty awesome.

She has the same kind've cheeks as the Nakaya's.  I'm jealous as I love those Nakaya cheeks.  It's what makes Dru's smile amazing as well as Emiko's.

I can finally get her hair into two full piggie tails.  Pretty cute man.

I'm still not sure what colour her eyes are. More time before a real decision can be made I guess.
So sweet, so cute.

Takeshi wanted a mow hawk for the occasion.  So we did a faux hawk instead.  No shaving around here with Dru as the Dad.

Cheeky monster.

I think he looks like  Nakaya in this picture above.  He's the closest to a Nakaya we have.  My kids are mostly Wright I think.

This is my favourite picture of him as it captures his real personality.
I think Takeshi is a very handsome child, but I don't think he'll ever care, or not for a while yet.
Love him.

The two ladies together.
Emiko cracks me up.
She's probably yelling at me about something.

Takeshi trying to get his bicep muscles a little bigger ;) 
Look at those three beauties...........

Emiko telling them not to TOUCH her.
She doesn't like people touching her.  Just Dru and I can touch her whenever and her not freak out.  Others have to approach slowly or they'll get it.
She'll lash out and scream.  Word to the wise man.

Cute faces.

Takeshi trying to be a pirate hahaha

My favourite shot of those three together.  I wish Masaru was here to be a part of it.
Oh well.
Look at how different they look and yet you can tell they're siblings.
Awwwwwwwww love them.

Watch out..........

 We went and visited a mate and she took this picture of our kids. 
While we visited with her, her husband totally took over and entertained our children the whole time we were there. 
It was really nice. 
When you go and visit someone with all your kids you always wonder how it's going to go you know.
Well this couldn't have gone any better.  It was a nice visit.
Look how happy Emiko is?  Great sign.

 Their family hunts.
So here's a picture of the kids with some of his hunting gears.
SO CUTE.

Can you believe Yuki is 2 full years older than these boys? 
She's such a shortie.
Oh well.
Good times.

My new BFF

That's right folks I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT............................the mop of my dreams.
My floor was DISGUSTING and this was on sale at Fred Meyers and so I thought 'what the heck' and got it.
I thought to myself "If THIS thing can clean THIS floor I'll be amazed"
I.AM.AMAZED!!
Whoooohoooooooooo I've just found my new BFF people.
Oh yeah baby, I love this thing.
It cut through all the dried on food my kids like to throw on the ground and my floors look awesome AND I was able to clean them FASTER than the bucket and mop with a little less effort.
I'm so happy if you can't tell cause I hate mopping the floor and it's SO HARD for me to find the motivation to do it.
NOT NOW babycakes.....................thanks to swiffer and bissell.
I dunno who's on the 'group' of thinkers but I'd like to send them each a thank you card with a smiley face from one happy mother with clean floors.

Temple

I finally went with Dru to the Temple on Saturday night while our good friends looked after all our kids for us.
Bless their hearts.
I thought it was great.
I didn't get too weepy like others have told me they got BUT I did get emotional when I realized that Heavenly Father gave us a way to get back to Him through our Saviour Jesus Christ.
It never hit me before and it hit me like ton of bricks when I was sitting in the Temple on Saturday night.
A huge wave of gratitude for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ surged through me and I couldn't help but be grateful in my heart for their love for me and you and Christ's sacrifice for my and your sake's.
I bet when Heavenly Father told Adam and Eve that there was a way back for them it wasn't just them that were grateful and full of happiness and gratitude.  I bet we were up there cheering as well that the plan of happiness was beginning and we were all getting the chance to be tested, tried and given a chance to prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made for us and return to live, again, with our Father in heaven.
I wish it wasn't longer, but it is what it is I guess and I need to just deal with it.
It was nice to go with Dru, we've been going by ourselves for a while now but I thought it would be fun to go together for this one.
We had a great talk about it in the celestial room afterwards, which I'm grateful for.
I'm glad we went and I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father who I KNOW loves me and really does want me to make it back to Him.
I'm also grateful He never gives up on me.  I'll be eternally grateful for that act He does for me on a daily basis.

Who can do this?

Come on man who's ever tried to do the caterpillar in their life?
I know, back in the old days, I always tried to.
Masaru makes it look easy.
I wonder if I ever made it look easy?
I don't think I should attempt this, however, I dunno if I'll hurt myself permanently.
One day maybe.

Teeth

 Emiko has teeth coming in and plenty of them, all at once.
Maybe this is a contributing factor to her behaviour as of late?
Who knows.

 As mother's know, it's tough to get a shot of your child's teeth. 
So here are my two sad attempts without man-handling her to the point of torture!!

 Here she is all happy and playful.

She's doing SO WELL in nursery.  I've established the routine (cause she struggles with us leaving) of giving her kisses and hugs and telling her bye to her face you know.  She seems to be doing well with this.
On Sunday when we walked in there was a child screaming and it's like she didn't even notice.
I dunno about you but when I go to nursery and there's a child screaming it always makes me wonder if that's going to set my child off as well you know, like they're going to realize "I SHOULD BE SCREAMING TOO RIGHT?"
But she just looked up at me and gave me a kissy face, which means to give her kisses, and so I did and then she gave me a hug then headed towards the toys.
This has been the case the last 2 Sundays.
My little girl is growing up.......................................I'm not sure how I feel about this all of a sudden.............
*sniff, sniff*
I love her.

Quiet

So it's been over a week since I blogged and I don't have much to report.
I know that's not like me, but I guess it is what it is.
Things are plugging along and going up and down while I 'plug'.
Takeshi's been like a werewolf with a full moon out 24/7.  So, consequently I 'lost it' with him this week.  I was on a 2 week streak and doing so well *sigh*.  So I wrote it up on my calendar so I can be reminded to shoot for more than 2 weeks this next time around cause if I can make it longer between 'lost it' moments then I'll be happy.
I'm not sure what his deal is but he's acting out more than ever before, so more prayers to the Lord and meditation while considering how to parent this child, otherwise he's going to be out of control in the near future.
My guess, which may not be true, is that he'll struggle in the public school system.  He moves around too much and has too much energy plus he doesn't care much about consequences.  That never works well for the system.  So I've got a year with him until he's released into the wild, so to speak, and I start getting 'reports' back telling me "Your son is full of energy and he's cute but................................." *sigh*
BUT WHO KNOWS.................................I could be jumping to conclusions and he'll do GREAT.
Only time will tell.  But I'm his mother and only the Lord loves him more than me so I'll continue to do the best I can for him so that he gets whatever it is that he needs.  He's a good boy and I always need to remember that.
Emiko has started throwing tantrums.  Dru came home the other night and asked what that noise was.  I had to tell him it was Emiko throwing a fit in her crib.  She made noises I've never heard from her before in her short wee life.  It was interesting.  She's got stamina as well that girl......................great.  She's screaming, throwing things, hitting, pulling, getting into stuff and throwing herself onto the floor *sigh*
She has a bunch of teeth coming in (which I need to get a picture of) so that's gotta be hard for her.  She also fell off the chair yesterday and hurt her pinkie.  It was so sad, poor wee thing, and so I tried to strap it together, but she was having none of that.  So I dunno.  I guess she just needs to power through the pain.
She still wants to be with me 90% of the time which is hard on me.  But I need to get over it and I'm doing pretty good with it.  She's 'talking' a bunch and it's pretty cute man.  She's starting to copy words you say to her.  When she wants something to eat she'll get into the drawer and pull out a bib and say 'bib' and then try to put it on.  This means that she wants something to eat right now.  It's also cute and I try hard to adhere to her wishes.
Dru's wrist is VERY SLOWLY getting better.  I feel bad for him as he hasn't been able to exercise a bunch and it's showing in his personality.  He's like the rest of the boys in this family and needs to be run daily, or there are consequences.
He's a little nervous for his transition next month into the office once a week but he'll do great. 
He's been looking up a bunch of things for his 'dream' house.  He's got good taste man.  You should see the stuff he wants to do and put in.  It's SO BEAUTIFUL.  He has a visionary gift.  We might not be able to put ALL the stuff in STRAIGHT away IF WE ever build BUT eventually, piece by piece we may be able to do it.  His taste is beautiful BUT expensive.  Go figure right?  I think we'll break even with all we'll save with him building the house because of this taste.  You know what's funny, however, the things he likes reminds me of our places we lived in at home.  I guess the style he likes I was semi brought up with so a lot of the things he's showing me reminds me of home and my upbringing, which makes me feel good.  So if this dream ever comes true, I think this house will feel like 'home' to me in a way, which is what we all want in our homes right?  They just don't build houses like they used to back in the day.  But there's a reason for that........................$$.  Enough said.
Masaru hurt his leg the other night and is limping a little.  He still went to soccer last night though so I'm not sure how sore it really is.  Hopefully he'll be ok.
He's enjoying scouts and soccer and isn't giving me too much of a hard time with homework.  Thank goodness his teacher just asks him to read for 20mins and practice his spelling.  I'm SO grateful as it's not much at all.  Plus it's really nice to have 20 mins with him on the couch reading a book together.  I'm glad to be 'forced' so to speak to slow down and have this time with him.  I like it.  His reading is ok and really, it is what it is you know.  I'm glad that he likes his teacher and hope this year is ok for him.  Last year was tough.  I'm glad we left to NZ for a month to tell you the truth, he needed to break from his teacher and for his self esteem.
He's working hard on his piano and I love hearing him play.  I'm really happy I put him in piano lessons and he likes it as well and loves his teacher.  Yuki will start a year from now.  I'm excited for her.
Dru only wishes his mother had put him in piano lessons and I wish my mother hadn't let me quit when I was young.  Ah regrets............................oh well.
Yuki and I are having fun together everday while I do her hair.  I've come up with some awesome hairstyles that I'm doing in her hair and now it's forming into some mother daughter time together.  I'll do her hair while she reads to me.  I LOVE doing hair and we'll pick out a style, daily, together on the internet.  I WAS thinking of cutting her hair into a cute bob so we wouldn't have to deal with it anymore but now I'm glad I didn't do it.  Yesterday she said to me "Mum you made me beautiful" to which I corrected her and said "You're ALWAYS beautiful Yuki, I just made your HAIR beautiful"  She smiled and said "Oh yeah.  Thanks mum"
Yuki's a good girl,  I like her.  I'm glad she's a part of my life.  I feel bad for her having me as a mother sometimes, but then I get over it and try to be the kind of mother she needs.
Me!!
I'm doing pretty good man.  I'm motivated and feeling good.  I had another great time mountain biking on Wednesday night with my girlfriend.  I love it.  We did it in 1:45 this time.  I need to get better at the uphill though.  I had to stop twice and I really wanna only stop once or no times.  I'm just not fit enough yet and it's going to take practice and working harder on my cardio.  I can do it, it's just gonna take time and training.  Those hills are tough and seem to be NEVER ENDING hahahaha.  Always the way.
I don't feel like I have the perfect balance yet in my life with juggling everything  but this week's been a pretty good week.  I'm less busy this week and that's been a HUGE help for me.  I haven't made any plans with anyone to do anything (apart from mountain biking) and that's made me very happy and content this week.  I've been getting pretty good sleep and really am feeling happy with things.  I'm glad for my faith and for my kids and husband.
Well look at this. ...................... turns out I DID have something to say..................................if you just get me started...................

Update

So it's been a week of school.  We're basically back into the 'new' routine and I really like it.
These three play together so well in the mornings and help me tidy the house.  It's quite pleasant having them around.
Then we drop Yuki off to Kindergarten and do our errands for the day and/or come home and put the baby down for a nap.
Then it's Takeshi and me time and it's great.
I'm beginning to understand why I needed to keep him home.  Slowly over the next few months I'm sure I'll continue to be re-assured that it was, indeed, the right decision to make as a family for him.

'So Melissa, how's the *ahem* yelling and such going?'
Well it's nice of you to ask actually.  It's going great.  I can't think of a time over the last week that I feel ashamed of..................................so gold star to me right?
I've been super aware of it you know and so I think since it's in the forefront of my mind I'm able to try to do my best to think of other ways to motivate my kids, or not 'lose it' when they're fighting, being disobedient or moaning to me.
Trying to keep the spirit close to me helps as well and being aware of that.
So, so far so good right?

Dru sprained his wrist on the weekend as well so that's been tough of him.  He had to miss out on mountain biking with his buddies.  Because of a meeting with church tonight I have to miss out too but I think I'll go tomorrow night by myself.  I think I know this one trail pretty good and am looking forward to doing my best to ride the whole thing and not have to stop.  I'll  listen to music on my ipod.  Should be fun and tough.  I'll miss the company but I really want to do it once a week so what do you do?  You just make it work and hope for the best.
I started a new 12 week challenge with my family.
This will be my 3rd challenge this year. I can't figure out how to win!!  I weighed in on Monday and have lost 10kgs (22lbs) so far this year.  That's pretty slow to most, but 22lbs is better than zero pounds you know.
My goal this challenge is to lose another 10lbs by the end of November, which I think is totally doable and not CRAZY!!

After this challenge I'll be ready to start concentrating on my bodyfat % rather than my weight.  I'm looking forward to not weighing in as much and just getting my measurements done and trying to reach for my goal of 19%.  I can't believe how close I'll be to that goal once this year is over.  I'm so excited to reach this long term goal of mine, I can't begin to even explain.  I guess once I'm at 19% I'll need a new goal.  But for now, the journey continues.

Labour Weekend

So this was the only photo I got of this weekend and I FORCED everyone to stand and smile for the camera right before they left.
Dru's sister's family came into town to spend the weekend with us this Labour weekend and it was lots of fun.
They arrived on Friday night and we situated all the kids in their allocated spots and then stayed up and talked and listened to the kids muck around till close to midnight!!
With a change of Yuki and Ella's situation all was quiet on the home front for all of us to get some sleep.
The next day we went boating out on the 'lake' for basically the whole day.
I had a good time talking and looking after the baby on the 'beach' while Dru took everyone around in the boat.  Our neighbours came with us as well so it was a party of sorts.
It was really nice to get out in the boat again.  Our third time this summer here in Boise!  It would've been our 5th but fires and changed plans had stopped us from going out on two other occasions.
BUT on the way home the tire hub started smoking and the tire was wobbly and a black cap thing fell off and we barely made it home!!  So Dru has to look into it and see whether or not he can fix it in the time and price range for us to be able to go out again this summer!!   So that's a bummer.
We came home and ate pizza and chilled for the rest of the night and got the kids in bed.  They went to sleep much quicker and with less hassle since they were out in the sun all day boating.  Then we got Kristin and Chris  hooked on the programme 'Suits' that we have on our hard drive.  After the first episode they were hooked......line and sinker.
Sunday we went to church with each other and Chris was able to watch Dru teach and Kristin was able to watch me do the music for the kids which was cool.  The kids liked having their cuzzies in class with them as well.  So that was nice.
We came home and played/ate/talked/napped till dinner then ate and chilled until we put the kids in bed then watched more of suits with each other.
Today we got up and played/ate/talked and then took a bike ride down to the river where the kids got wet, threw stones, pretended to fish, biked, ran and waved at people passing by in their rafts.
Once we got home the Johnson's packed up and headed out and that's when I realized I took ZERO pictures of the weekend.
*Sigh*
Oh well.  It was fun and I'm starting to get lazy with my pictures.  I'm sure I'll regret it but at least we got this one together up the top right?
It was an awesome weekend and we're really grateful the Johnson's came up to be with us.
It seems like it could be turning into a yearly tradition...............................which makes me happy.
'Love you Johnson's and miss you already'
Now I need to get ready for a BBQ with mates tonight...............should be fun right?