Christmas 2014

Cooking Wars: Dad/Camryn vs. Mom/Lauren, Judges: Johnny and Samantha
D/C: bruschetta, cinnamon rolls, brownies with ice cream
K/L: buttermilk pancakes with homemade syrup and chocolate pancakes, red velvet oreo cookies
 Dad and Camryn looking for ingredients for 3 hours :)
12 days of Christmas
Sub for Santa
The play Rudolf
Going to 3 movies: Annie, Into the Woods, Big Hero 6
Bowling and Laser Tag on Christmas Eve
Lunch date with dad, Lauren and Reese
Visiting the 50th floor of dad's building
Christmas Eve at our house with the Caine's, the Ficklin's and Chuck Konan
"the ball"
Lunch with the Pollei's at the World Market
Community Center for Christmas Eve: Kormann's and Bowers, ice skating, balloon drop
Lighting of Nisswa for Thanksgiving with uncle Rich
puzzle of Times Square
The Hillyard's on Christmas day
Lauren moving her room into the loft
2 scoops and Famous Dave's
piano recital at the old folk's home
Watching Les Miserables
Making and delivering homemade oreos
Binge watching Lost (mom and dad)
Favorite gift: Camryn and Lauren: i pod touch, Samantha: doll with a rain coat and make-up
Johnny: checkers, robe, and magnatiles

Best of Summer 2014!

The Continental Divide
Leadville, CO
The alpine slide
ziplining down the mountain (Camryn)
Camryn and Lauren's new invented dance move
The Maughan talent show in Snow Mass
horseback riding
boating, tubing, and jet skiing in Deer Creek, UT
boating and tubing at Lake Minnetonka with the Beus'
Visiting the Woodley's new house
Waking up at 7 and going to the hot tub and pool table in snow mass with the cousins
Shopping on main street in Park City with Sarah Stone
Back to school shopping at the new Forever 21 in Maple Grove
Watching the orange magician in Aspen, Colorado
The ghost town in Aspen, CO
Starting the no junk bet and Johnny and Porter failing every day
Annie Baird's wedding dinner and reception
Dance try-outs and getting asked to join a new team
The Marriot Mountainside resort with movies, smoothies, cotton candy, popcorn, kids room, swimming pool and 5 hot tubs
Family nights and breakfast in grandma and grandpa's room
Sleep overs with cousins
Going to the state fair--fighting crowds!
Seeing Kathryn
Going swiming in Salt Lake at the country club, at Mark's work's pool, at Mary's pool with our cousins
Sleeping at the cabin with grandma and Nana and the cousins
Catching butterflies at the cabin
Hikes with grandma
Mom and Lauren getting lost on the way home from Stuart Falls (2 hours) and having to call for help from Sundance horse stables
Cooking camp and Photography camp for Camryn and Lauren
Girl Scout Camp for Camryn and Lauren
Johnny did football camp and basketball camp
Going to the zoo in Utah with grandma and cousins
Going to the MN zoo with dad's work and learning about bears and making bear popsicles
 Driving to Colorado and Utah and Driving home--staying in North Platte, NE at the Marriott
Going up the tram in Snow Mass
The beautiful, huge pool in Snow Mass
Aerobics classes at the fitness center in snow mass (Kristy and Meghan)
Eating Pizza in Snow Mass and in Leadville at the outdoor backyard
Eating Swig sugar cookies!!! (mom)
Hiking to the Y at BYU with the Stones
Visiting BYU and eating lunch in the Cougar Eat and ice cream at the Creamery
Dad leading family runs and bike rides
Samantha and Camryn getting new bikes
Johnny catching frogs and making frog obstacle courses
Pokeman cards! (Johnny)
Johnny's footlong corn dog at the MN State Fair
Camryn getting bangs :)
Johnny playing outside for hours and hours with all the neighbor boys
The butterfly farm at the state fair and seeing the baby animals
Going to the arboretum with the Caines and Lees and Colton :)
Swimming at their neighborhood pool
Swimming at the community Center with the Camargos
The ice bucket challenge!
BYU chocolate milk and cookies and cream milk
The rodeo in Aspen
Michael's work (free food!)
Sleep overs with grandpa Stone (Johnny's rodeo with gpa)
Charades at the cabin
Dying hair with cool aid!
Family pictures with Maughans and Stones
TWINS/YANKEES game on July 4th!
Fireworks at the Lees
Johnny's big fall off the log at the cabin on the 24th of July
Visiting the floats for the 24th of July in Utah
Rachael's new electric wheelchair
Maple Grove days!  The parade, the fireworks, the fun run--Johnny collecting as much candy as possible!
Bonfires with the neighbors

3 of my greatests Loves

                                                                     My Kids
I'm so grateful that my children have been able to spend time with nana and get to know her.  What a blessing to not only know your grandparents, but also your great grandparents!  Although we don't get to spend as much time with family as I would like to, they all love nana so much and love to spend time with her and at "nana's house" which is what Samantha calls the cabin. :)

                                                                 THE CABIN
My childhood is filled with wonderful memories of being up at the cabin with family, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins and of course my grandparents.  It brings me so much joy to see my children loving and experiencing the cabin like I did.  This year before we went to Utah, Johnny said, "Mom, I have to go to the cabin!  I'm homesick for the cabin!" 

                                                                MY GRANDMA :)

                                         I've been so blessed to have my grandma in my life for 38 years now.  I   love her with all my heart and I look up to her in countless ways.  She's has always been one of my dearest friends.  She always makes me feel loved and special--as she does with everyone else too.  She is no respecter of persons, she is genuinely interested in everyone she meets.  She's never met anyone who isn't thought of as a friend.  She is 87 and still loves to explore new places, learn about new things, reads all the time, exercises regularly, and is interested in all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  My childhood is filled with memories of being with my grandma and LOVING it.  I remember her always humming, teaching us how to speak correctly :), having us over for sleep overs and making sure we ate fruit, taking me shopping on my birthday, out to lunch or breakfast when she felt I needed a little extra care or attention.  Always believing in me and my potential.  Thinking much more highly of me than I thought of myself--but making me want to live up to what she thought I was.  I named my first daughter after her.  I pray we can all be more like her.  I love you grandma.    

Best of Summer 2013

Best of Summer 2013

Water fight with our neighbors in North Carolina

Going to Disneyland

Soarin' over California

Going to grandma and grandpa's house

Going to Nana's cabin and sleeping over

Johnny: getting 11 things at the dollar store

Watermelon football in Nags Head where mom scored 3 touchdowns :)

boogy boarding in the ocean

attempting to surf in North Carolina

Going to Willow Falls in Wisconsin and playing in the waterfalls

Going to Nelson's ice cream after for a "kiddie" cone

Going to the beach in Minnetonka and eating Ben and Jerry's after

Going to the rope swing at Long Lake

It's a small world at Disneyland

Maughan Family talent show--the girls did a hip hop dance, mom recited a poem

Trying to catch the ball uncle Mark hit on the beach.

Running in North Carolina and California

Swimming in North Carolina, at Lifetime, at the Caine's pool

Samantha floating for hours in her life jacket

Uncle Rich and Matthew surfing

Uncle Rick's old man dive

Driving down the strip in Las Vegas

Going to the zoo with Kathryn Creer in SLC

We did not enjoy the traffic from CA to Las Vegas :)

Samantha playing with Biff and Hannah

Girl sleepover every night in N.C. with Camryn, Lauren, Sarah, and Rebekah

Lemonade stands with Mira and the police stopping by the buy some

Camp fire in Oxnard with smores

Daddy/daughter campout

Fireworks in North Carolina

Mommy and Johnny date night to Potbelly and the Planes movie

Catching crabs on the beach

Staying in the hotel with grandma, grandpa, and Porter and Claire, and Uncle Mike in Las Vegas

Weekly swaps with the Camargos

Girl Scout camp for Camryn and Lauren

Dad's car accident :(

Bjorkman kid camp

Making the hip hop dance competition team

The Maughan grandkid Olympics--Camryn won so many things they had to stop giving her prizes :)

Going to Monster University with the Caines

Outdoor Mary Poppins movie with Mira's family

Shopping in N.C. on a rainy day

Family Pictures

Going to Home Depot with dad and building things out of wood

Reading "A Wrinkle in Time" together at night

Sleepovers in California with the kids telling each other stories at night

Games at night with the adults in California

Morning donuts from uncle Dave

Chick Fil A coming to Maple Grove---block party

Hiking to Cecret Lake with grandma and Kathryn Creer

Going to the cabin with grandma and nana

Lauren's Quick Turn Around

Last night Lauren woke me up at 3:00 a.m. saying her stomach hurt "so bad!" I asked her if she felt like she was going to throw up...she said no. It felt like sharp pains that wouldn't go away. I made her a bed by me and told her to tell me if it got worse. A little while later she insisted that she had to go to the hospital. I started thinking it must be bad if she's asking to go to the hospital. Was it appendicitis? I had no idea, but she said she'd never felt like that before and had to go. So, at 3:40 I woke up Greg and told him he had to take Lauren to the hospital. She was in tons of pain, etc. I had to stay with Camryn who just had surgery a week ago.

Anyway, Greg said he was driving Lauren to the hospital and she was moaning in the back seat. Then after a few minutes she started talking, "Dad! Look at all the people out! Look McDonald's is open! Look at all the people at Walmart!" A minute later, Lauren broke out in song. :)!!! At that point Greg asked "Lauren--are you feeling better honey?" Lauren, "yeah, it doesn't hurt so much now." Greg parked in the parking lot at urgent care and they decided to wait for 5 minutes to see how she felt. After 5 minutes Lauren said she was fine and they came home. :)
She slept through the rest of the night and woke up chipper for school.

Quotable Johnny

Johnny: Mom! It took a really long time for me to decide which girl to marry!

Mom: Oh? Who did you decide on?

Johnny: Millie!

Mom: Oh, I like Millie. That's a good choice.

Johnny: But mom! All the girls think they get to choose who to marry, but really the boys get to choose!

Mom: Well, it's best if you choose each other.

Johnny: WHy?

Mom: so that you both want to be together.

Johnny: Well, Addie needs to pick someone else, because she wants to marry Josh and he doesn't want to marry her! She needs to looks for someone else!

The worries of 4 year olds! :)

From Minneapolis to Mazatlan Mexico

In March, our good friends, the Gardners, invited us to go to Mazatlan with them for Spring Break. It was pretty hard to leave Minneapolis at this time of year to go to Mexico, but we did it anyway.....
Oh Heaven!!! It was amazing. Just to feel the warm sun again and feel your whole body unthaw, and to remember there really are warm places in the world! Once we got there, we never wanted to leave!
The kids spent hours and hours playing on the beach. We also had bonfires on the beach at night and roasted marshmallows...great memories!
Camryn and Lauren dancing on the beach
Lauren strikes a pose!
Samantha's hair was so curly there. I loved it!
We rented a 4 wheeler (I should say, Greg rented a 4 wheeler--his favorite thing! :) for an hour one day. It was so much fun to ride it up and down the beach.
Johnny is actually driving the golf cart all by himself. The Gardner's house is right next to a beautiful golf course.
A four wheeler and a golf cart in the same day----what a treat for a little boy!
There were beautiful sunsets every night.

Camryn is our boogy boarder and body surfer. She runs right into the water and spends hours in it every day. She's our little fish.
And little Sammy--she was just happy to be outside, exploring the world on her unsteady little feet!

Samantha Turns One!

January 28, 2011! One of the fastest years of my life! Where did the time go?
Happy Birthday cutie pie!
Not sure what to think at first....
Decides to touch it and see what happens...
Finally takes a bite...
Turns out she loved it! :) Way to go! You dug right in. You'll fit in just great in this family! :)
Samantha Marie Stone...absolutely adored by her parents and 3 older siblings. She loves to be right in the middle of the action. Loves to be held, loves her favorite pink fuzzy blanket, her bottle. Loves to smile and laugh and to be anywhere her mom or dad is! We love you!

Christmas 2010

This was our first year staying home for Christmas! Although we missed being with family, it was fun to be in our own home. On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner, then we read the Christmas story and the kids did their favorite Hanks tradition, "the ball!"
Johnny got a fire station from Santa!
Camryn and Lauren both got Nintendo DS's from Santa! They were really excited.
Lauren also got a piggy bank, some wii games and some clothes.
Here they are bright and early waiting to see what Santa brought!

Samantha was not sure what to make of it all! :)
Here they are doing "the ball." On Christmas afternoon we had some families in our ward over for a Christmas Brunch. We also surprised our kids with their biggest Chistmas gift: a trip to Pennsylvania to see all of their Stone cousins and their Grandparents. We left the day after Christmas. The kids were really excited!

Johnny Turns 4!

I just had to write a few things about Johnny on his birthday. I can't tell you how much I love this little boy. Part of me can't believe he's 4, but a bigger part of me can't believe he is only 4, because I can't believe that there was ever a time that he wasn't a part our family. I can't even imagine my life or our family without him in it and it seems that I've known him for a lot more than 4 years.
Yesterday, we had a speech assessment done on him so he can start getting speech therapy. He was so cute, he yelled out all the answers to every question with such energy and confidence! :) Anyway, after the interview, the lady said to him, "what's it like to be the only boy with all these sisters?!" Johnny thought for a second and said, "well...I have my dad!" It was so cute, because Johnny truly LOVES his dad and feels such a connection to him. Whenever Greg is home, Johnny is his little shadow...following him everywhere and just talking his ear off :) He always says, "We the boys!"
Today Johnny said, "Mom, I can't believe I the birthday boy!" Johnny's present from me today was that I played cars with him on the floor for over an hour---something I never do and should do more of. (now we have to move all the cars over here and fill them up with gas...now we have to drive all the cars to Wendy's...now we ......) Good for all you mom's who do this on a daily basis! I don't know how you do it! Luckily Johnny's usually just as content doing it alone :) I did enjoy it today.
I also just wanted to write about Johnny's prayer tonight. I love hearing what comes out of his mouth/brain/heart..."Heavenly Father, thank you for this day...all about Jesus never die on the cross again and he go up in heaven and he stay there so he safe so the bad men can't never kill him again..."
I love you Johnny!

Lauren (6) and Samantha (1) dressed alike one day :)
Lauren saw that she had Samantha had matching clothes, so she wanted to dress up like twins one day and take a picture. Lauren loves taking care of Samantha and playing with her. She's such a good big sister to her.
My three darling daughters eating waffles!
I love this picture. I still can't believe sometimes that I have 3 daughters! I am so grateful for them. They are so beautiful. I don't want them to grow up! I love to watch them love each other so much and be such good friends. I hope they always do!

Johnny Quotes

Johnny and Millie

I just had to write down some of the cute things Johnny has said lately so I don't forget them. The other night I was saying prayers with Johnny before bed and he said, "I will talk really loud so that Jesus will hear me!" I also have to write a typical Johnny prayer: "Heavenly Father....all about... we don't fight, all about I get to eat candy, all about we play with our friends...etc...amen!" We have no idea where he got the "all about.." but it's so cute when he says it. :)

The other morning I went in to see if Johnny was awake yet and he was just laying in bed looking at the ceiling. I said, "Hey buddy! You woke up?" And he said, "Mommy, I love all my friends and all my family." He is the sweetest little boy. He's just laying there in bed thinking about how much he loves everybody!

Johnny and Millie

One of Johnny's best friends is a little girl named Millie. They love to play together and they go to pre-school and church together and play a lot. Anyway, the other day I was picking them up from pre-school and I looked in the back and saw that Millie's seatbelt was already buckled (she usually likes help) I said, "Millie, did you buckle your own seat belt?" Johnny said, "No, Mom, I got it for her." Johnny had climbed into the very back seat and buckled her seat belt for her and then climbed up to the middle seat and buckled himself in. :) I hope he always treats girls like that! :)

Right now Millie is over and she and Johnny wanted to watch "Rudolph," but they were worried there were scary parts. Johnny said, "Mommy if it's scary, I will cuddle with Millie so she won't be scared."

Other Quotables

Johnny follows Greg around the house all day on Saturday and Sunday. If Greg goes out to shovel the driveway, Johnny goes out to help him. One of his favorite sayings is, "We the boys!" He always asks Greg if he wants to be in his "candy club." and he's always saying, "Come on dad, let's fight!"

One of the greatest compliments Johnny can give you, is to invite you to his birthday party (in May :) He always says, "Mom, I love you. I'm going to invite you to my birthday party!" (He's also been known to get mad and tell me I'm NOT invited to his birthday party--but not very often :)

2 more things: The other day Johnny came downstairs and said, "Mommy, I did get scared in my room and I did say a prayer and Jesus did answer my prayer."

Johnny's favorite thing to do at bedtime is to have Greg and me lay by him and talk about all of his favorite kinds of candy. :) He gets so excited talking about it :) Then when we're about to leave the room, he wants to know how many more days until Easter (the next "candy" holiday!)

Lauren

Lauren just said, "Mom, what does "snow forts" mean when they say it in church?"
Kristy: "Snow forts?"
Lauren: "Yeah, ...(then she sings)..."evangelists and snow forts..."

The First Day of School 2010

Johnny started pre-school this year at St. Thomas. He goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours and he loves it! I think he wishes every day was a pre-school day. In the morning he asks me, "Mom, I have pre-school today?" and if I say yes, he say "Yeah!!"
Lauren started kindergarten! (finally! :) She's been ready after 3 years of pre-school! She goes half-day for 2 1/2 hours, so it's still short, but she loves it and she gets to ride the bus home with Camryn. Here she is showing her High School Musical backpack.
Here's the beautiful Kindergartner! She didn't seem a bit nervous, just really excited! 3 of her best friends are in her class and ride the bus with her.
Here is the beautiful 2nd grader on her first day of school. She has a great teacher and her best friend ended up being in her class too, so she was really excited.

Lauren Turns 6 at Chuck E. Cheese!

This was Lauren's new birthday outfit that she wore to school for her birthday. These are some of the things I love about Lauren: She is so full of life and energy. She is curious about everything and loves to learn. She loves people and makes friends so easily. Everytime we go to a park, she comes away having met someone new. She is a free spirit and always has been. She doesn't worry too much about what's going on around her because she's too busy doing her own thing. She is loving and a great big sister to Samantha. She's always the one I can count on to drop everything and run over to Samantha to make her laugh if she starts to get fussy. She's daring and adventurous, always coming up with new things to accomplish at the jungle gym (get across the whole thing without touching the ground, etc.) I have a feeling she'll accomplish many good things in her life. I love her so much! (And I love that she picked out these pink cowboy boots for her birthday--they are so Lauren!)
Lauren had been dreaming for a year (ever since her 5th birthday) of having her next birthday party and Chuck. E. Cheese. We're glad we could make her dream come true! :) She invited all her friends and had a great time.
The birthday girl!
Eating pizza and chocolate cake with her friends and siblings.
Camryn and Lauren and Chuck E.
Lauren in the ticket booth. This was definitely a highlight! So fun to watch her grab for tickets! It was so funny because some of her friends had token left after 2 hours, and some of the boys went through their tokens in about 5 minutes!