A Soldier and a Princess

Ezra had surgery last Thursday and this picture was taken just hours afterwards. It was an outpatient surgery thank goodness and only took about 45 minutes to complete. We stayed in the hospital for about an hour after that while Ezra was "coming around" from being knocked out with general anesthesia. He cried more that day than any day since he was born. Really. It was so sad. But, with a little Loritab he's been good. In fact, he has been such a little soldier that he still smiles and giggles when I play with him no matter how much it hurts. Sigh. I wish I could be as happy after surgery as he is.




And here is my princess. She honestly thinks she is a princess. We just got pictures done of her and Ezra and our friend Lyndsay came over and asked Eliza who was in the picture and she said "Brother and Princess". LOL. This picture is of her in her latest princess dress (every dress is a princess dress). She has the broom because she identifies that with Cinderella--her favorite princess.

Eliza to Shirley

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Shiloh's celebrities

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

The Rich Ones who look like Me.

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Casts 2-5...

Cast No. 2: True Blue for BYU!!!

Cast No. 3 : Formal Black for Family pictures!

This past month has been busy as you can tell! With Shiloh in school full-time at the UofU me and the kids are settling into a groove of a schedule. Ezra has been getting weekly casts and so we go to SLC each Friday. That is now over and we are gearing up for surgery next Thursday Oct. 11th! Wish us luck! We are hoping it will end up just being outpatient and he won't have to stay over night, however, they are scheduling him to be admitted just in case his pain levels are too high to go home right away. I plan to stay with him there on those "comfy" hospital chairs. Sigh. I am hoping they have something more comfortable than what I have seen in other hospitals--it is Primary Children's Medical Center, they should be used to this, right???

Cast No. 4: Bright orange just in time for hunting season.

I hope that this one isn't too risque for the blog! He's too young to be embarrassed. This is the way that we have had to bath him ever since he got his cast--sponge bathes. I usually do it near the sink, but Shiloh was in charge this time so he did it in the living room with a big pot of water. He happened to be watching football at the time. Go figure.

Cast No. 5: Bright Green to go with his jolly personality.

Gimpie, but you'd never know it.

Here he is everyone: Our latest gimpie and as happy as ever!! For those of you who don't know, Ezra was born with a "vertical talis" bone (meaning his foot was in the wrong position in the womb and so it came out "crooked"). Yesterday marks the beginning of his treatment plan to get it fixed. We will be going to Salt Lake weekly to get new casts like this one (of varying colors--we thought we'd start at the beginning of the rainbow). After about 8 weeks on October 16th we are scheduled to have minor surgery on his foot and then he'll get his final cast for 12 weeks. All should be said and done by mid January 2008. I am so proud of my little boy though. He just smiled and flirted with the nurses through his x-rays and casting. He really is the happiest and easiest baby I know! I am so lucky!!! (The cast is fiberglass bytheway and hard as a rock! He can barely lift his leg... Awe...)

Media Phone

Okay, so I just got a new phone. I was up for an upgrade and a new contract so I figured, why not? Of course with the constant pressure of an ever-increasingly technological world, my old cell phone looks like a grandma compared to what is currently offered. I mean who has a cell phone anymore where all it can do is call someone??

My first cell phone was a Nokia and it was like a mini brick--no color face or screen. No pictures or graphics, just an address book, a clock and a talk button. Remember those??? My new phone is a camera, a video player, a music player, an FM stereo for the car, and as a side thought: a phone. It is amazing. I am having a lot of fun with it. But, in the 8 short years that I have carried a cell phone, and the amazing metamorphosis I have seen occur with the technology. I just have to wonder:

"What's next???"

Here are some pics I just took with my phone.

The new face of CHIP

We were recently approved to be on the CHIP program (state funded health insurance for kids). I got a call a couple days ago from their public relations department asking me and our little family to come be a "face" for their press conference kick-off. We stood up there with the deputy governor and they told me before hand that I wouldn't have to say anything. Of course as soon as we stood there next to him he asked me to say a few words introducing myself and our family and how CHIP fits into our life right now. :) Several news stations were there, but I doubt we'll get much exposure. However, Shiloh & Ezra were spotted in the video clip for KSL 5. Click on the link to see their brief moment of glory!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1600512#

Eliza's Dinner Etiquette

Ezra the Thumbsucker!

Eliza is TWO!!

Okay, so now that I have a digital video camera, I am getting worse at taking pictures... Sorry. But here are some of our latest:

Eliza had her second birthday party with her best friend Rhyen (pictured with her). We planned a Luau for her with tiki torches, fruit kabobs, and a borrowed blow up waterslide. She had the time of her life playing with some of her neighbor & ward friends as well as several cousins and family from Shiloh's side. Again, she had a huge pile of gifts to which she had lots of help opening. It was so funny to watch her because she would get so excited with one gift she'd forget she had more. Then when we'd try to pull her away from it to open the rest she'd get upset until she realized that she had more presents to open. Silly girl.

We went to the Provo Freedom Festival on the 4th of July. It was incredibly HOT--I think it got to 102 degrees that day! (That's hot for Utah you AZ people who are smirking right now.) So we didn't stay too long. But, we were there long enough for Eliza to ride several kiddie rides with her best friend Rhyen.

Ezra is growing into quite the little man. I think he is beginning to look more like me as he gets older. Whatdoyathink? He has my eyes, but undeniably Shiloh's smile. He is doing really well holding up his head and body and is just the giggliest baby I have ever seen. He trumps Eliza when it comes to smiles and giggles--an amazing accomplishment given her lively personality. He is also very ticklish much to Shiloh's joy since he loves to tickle his kids until they can't breathe! Ezra does this really tight grunt as you tickle him like he's trying to hold his breath, but can't help himself to let it out with a laugh. Sigh. He is such a fun child so far. I am enjoying myself.

Johnson Family Reunion

We went to Arizona the second weekend in June for a Johnson Family Reunion (just for my parents and their posterity, really, nothing huge). We spent 3 days at a resort and had the time of our lives in the pool and playing games! We learned that Aunt Sherry is a the Monopoly queen and Cousin Jayden (3 years) is quite the shark at "Go Fish!" Shiloh and I managed to win "Name that Tune" somehow. Who knew? We also managed to blow a tire on our rental (a PT Cruiser of all things). Thank goodness for Uncle Aubrey who changed the tire lickiddy-split and got us a great deal on a replacement! What a guy!

Ezra's Blessing

We blessed little Ezra on June 3rd. He was a good little boy and slept like a rock through the entire thing... so I wrote down the highlights for him. :) The ironic thing about this picture is that I took it a month ago and he was a little small for it. I didn't put it on him again until the day of the blessing and ended up having to put a white onesie underneath because it would have been a crop-top if I didn't! He has grown so much and is in the 80th percentile for his height!

Walt Disney World!!!

Shiloh's parents treated us to a 6-day trip to Walt Disney World this past week! It was a short-notice surprise for us and we were thrilled to go. But none were more excited to go to the "pahk" each day than Eliza. Here favorite things were all the princesses, Mickey, and Nemo!


We spent one day at the Magic Kingdom, another at MGM, and split a day between the Animal Kingdom and Epcot. The other days were Sunday, in which we just chilled at our resort, and two travel days.




Shiloh's favorite attraction was the Indiana Jones stunt show at MGM. They had a huge set that moved and three or four different stunt "scenes" they inacted from the movie that were quite authentic! (Blown up trucks, gun fights, moving planes, and of course the huge rolling ball!)



My favorite attraction would have to be the gigantic safari ride at Animal Kingdom! It was breathtaking! They actually created a savana area in the park that is probably 3-4 miles squared or more (I am a horrible judge of size) equipped with all the indigenous plants and trees. They have a wide variety of animals that you would see in Africa such as lions, cheetah's, elephants and giraffes! We were taken on a huge glorified jeep vehicle through the safari and the animals were amazingly close (probably because of their domestication) and I really felt like I had entered a different continent. Amazing.

Eliza was afraid of many of the characters when we tried to take pictures of her with them... although she didn't have much trouble warming up to Mickey, JoJo the Clown, or the Little Einsteins!

In the end, we really loved our sleep... especially little Ezra who slept better on those pillow top/down comforter beds than he does at home!

the alpha

Here is where it all began... Shiloh and I dated for 8 months and were married in 2004. We are still madly in love nearly 3 years and two kids later. We are a strong team and the central unit to our new family. We anticipate a few more children of our own genetics and then hope to adopt at some point in the future.

As of right now our hobbies are: watching princess movies with our toddler Eliza, hiking with our kids on our backs, traveling, and eating Thai food.

I am currently in the Primary Presidency in our ward and Shiloh is an instructor in the Elder's Quorum. We really enjoy our ward.

Shiloh works for a residential substance abuse treatment facility that treats women with their children. He is a case manager and an instructor for the parent-bonding groups. I recently quit my job with the State, where I was working as a case manager with single parents on financial assistance. I really enjoyed my job and dearly miss working with the clients. However, I am really glad to be home and embark on a new chapter in my life as a full-time mom!