New Year's Eve

We spent New Year's Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's house eating dinner, setting off "fireworks" on the street and roasting marshmallows in the backyard. Then, we went to the Martinsen's to hang out with Rob & Annie. We planned to play games and ring in the New Year together, but we were so tired that all we did was sit around watching t.v. and eating. I guess parenthood will do that to you.

a RARE occurrence

Eli & his buddy, Lucas, were so excited to play in the snow!

Christmas Day

We decided to stay in Anthem this year and try to just enjoy Christmas at home. We missed out on some fun traditions in Mesa with family, but it felt good to be unhurried as the last few months had been very busy and stressful.
Eli finally got a pet! In fact, he got 2 leopard geckos! They were quickly named, Streaky & Strikey.

Caleb got his most desired gift... tetherball!

This picture illustrates Ryan's personality pretty well.

Grandpa & Grandma Johnson came by to visit and deliver more gifts.

Christmas Eve

What an appetizer feast we had!
Gyoza, ribs, wings, veggie plate, cheeseball & crackers, Martinelli's, jalepeno poppers, eggrolls...

Then, we opened our Christmas Eve pjs from Grandma Martinsen.

She didn't hold back this year!... especially on Ryan's!

Then, we sang a few tunes, read Luke 2 & an Ensign article before calling it a night.

A Gift for Uncle Buddy

Here's Caleb super excited about doing crafts! The boys made a shirt for Uncle Buddy & Aunt Sarah for Christmas. Buddy's had Chevy symbols & Sarah's had a lovely flower design.

Christmas Card

GREAT NEWS!

One week after Nolan was born, I got a call from our state's geneticist. He explained there was a chance that Nolan had an extremely rare disorder called VLCADD (very long chain acyl-coa dehydrogenase deficiency). We immediately started him on a special formula, meds (levocarnitine) & fed him every 3 hours, even through the night. The next day, we met with the geneticist who explained more about the disorder and took a biopsy from Nolan's thigh for more extensive genetic testing which would determine conclusively if he did in fact have VLCADD.
We then waited for the results while following all protocol, acting as if Nolan did have the disorder. After 3 very loooong, sleep deprived months, we were overjoyed to get a call letting us know that Nolan was VLCADD free!
What a blessing it is to have 4 healthy boys!

Nolan's Baby Blessing

Ryan gave Nolan a beautiful baby blessing on Sunday, December 5, 2010, with help from Grandpa Johnson, Grandpa Martinsen, Uncle John Payne & Uncle Rob Scoresby.

Holiday Decor

Tree Time

It's always fun to cut down a real tree for Christmas. There was enough snow for a snowball fight and cold enough for lots of hot chocolate.

On Santa's Lap

Caleb was too cool for Santa this year.
Eli took his turn with Santa very seriously, describing in detail what he wanted for Christmas.
Marcus didn't understand what to do.
And Nolan just went with the flow.

Here's What I See Every Weekday Morning

Hard to believe, but Grandma is 49 years old... and holding!

Uncle Ralph and Aunt Denise hosted Grandma's 80th birthday party. What a great influence she has been throughout my life. I have many fond memories of grandma... running down Green's Peak at the Heap Reunion, trips to the Phoenix Zoo, making peanut butter fudge, reading stories on her fuzzy "lion" blanket during sleep-overs, listening to her homemade stories on the way to the reunion in the back of grandpa's truck, her taking care of us every afternoon while mom was sick, going to Circle K for treats and only getting to pick 3 candybars, amongst others. My hope is to be that kind of grandma to my grandkids one day.

Johnson Desert Ride

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed to Mesquite Wash for a picnic, 4 wheeler rides and gun shooting.

Nolan wasn't happy about the picture, but he did love bouncing around on his ride in the Ranger and even fell asleep.

Ryan's cousin, Curtis Farley, told Eli that if he dug a hole and hit water he would give him a dollar. Curtis then agreed to give him $100 if he hit lava. That was all the insentive Eli needed to dig for the next 30 minutes. He never did hit lava, but I think Curtis gave him a few dollars anyway.

Cutie Nolan Boy