The County Fair

 Pop-pop and Grandma Lene took us to the County Fair the middle of September. Ezra had a ball on all the rides. We even got to ride a camel!! I never thought I'd ride a camel. The guy had me sit on the hump. Hmm. Ouch. Ezra thought it was pretty cool. 

He went on most of the rides by himself. Watching your children enjoy something is truthfully as much fun or more fun than actually going on the ride yourself. His laughter makes my days brighter.

Totally love his face in this one ^

And sweet, sweaty little Mak was a patient observer... for the most part. I did find myself getting excited for the days when he and Ezra can go on the rides and laugh together.

JFR- Part 4

Family Photo Shoot

We had a good friend, Kathleen Barlow, from church take some family photos for us. We realized just how hard it is to have a big group (especially with young kids) all smiling and looking at the camera in one picture.

After everyone else flew home, the boys and I hung out for another week.

My mom just had knee replacement surgery, so we had some wheelchairs to play around in :)

This is my good friend Sue, who refuses to pose for a camera, so this is the only pic I have of her. She's beautiful.

Is this what they mean when they say "baby blues"? Because I want some.

Tyler and Ezra

Nana loved snuggle time. She especially enjoyed Ezra falling asleep in her arms.

Climbing. It's his new favorite thing. 

And it was a wonderful family reunion. I miss them already :(

JFR- Part 3

Story Land
It's all about... Children Stories. I.E. Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, etc. We came here all the time when I was a kid.

All the kiddos in a pie :)

Jenn and me

Lily, Ezra and Tyler

I snuck off to try on some costume items, but my mom found me.

We learned Makai really loves Ferris Wheels. I hate heights, so it freaks me out a little how excited he gets.

All of us

Another spot to hit up if you ever find yourself in New Hampshire. They don't have as many rides for the younger kids, but there are a lot of other fun attractions for them.

JFR- Part 2

Santa's Village


It's a wonderful amusement park themed after.... you guessed it, Christmas. It was so fun.

They are so 'little' kid friendly, unlike many places lately. Makai could go on a lot of the rides and Ezra could go on just about all of them. It was great.

Notice Nerdy James? Yes, those are Ezra's sunglasses. 

Ezra and Lily

I can still hear his squeal.

Chase and Tyler

While it wasn't a big attraction, it was so nice to see a Nativity at "Santa's Village".

Ezra sitting on Mary's lap while Lily made sure baby Jesus was comfortable. Actually, I think she was trying to hold him. She's definitely in need of a baby brother or sister :)

Tyler, Ezra and Lily

Ezra and Uncle Kevin

Jenn, Kyler and Chase

Dad and James- love them. Ezra and I are in the cart in front of them. Ezra learned he LOVES roller coasters.

 The "Johnston" Clan

If you ever find yourself in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, Santa's Village is worth seeing for sure. They even have reindeer you can pet and feed. Ezra often talks about going to "Santa's Billage" again.

Johnston Family Reunion- Part 1

We had a family reunion for my side of the family the end of August. It was the first time we had all been together since my wedding and the first time all our kids have been together ever. We stayed in the White Mountains in New Hampshire at my parents timeshare (a vacation we took many times as kids). We all were too excited that we knew there were bound to be some hiccups, but it all worked out in the end.

There was my dad and mom, my sister Jenn, her husband Kylann, their kids Chase and Kyler, my brother Jason, his wifey Jamie, their kids Tyler and Lily, James, me and our boys, and my younger brother Kevin. Plus we got to meet up with my aunt Charlene, Uncle Dickie, my cousin DJ, his wife Alisha and their baby Landon, and my cousin Sheri's kids, Hailey and Jared! Does this remind anyone else of reading the Old Testament? haha.

 a lot of us our first night in the condo's.

Ezra and Lily became good buddies

I have a handful of pictures of the kids playing with Nana's ipad and itouch. It was definitely their favorite toy and also, naturally, the cause of many fights.

The Hurricane

Hurricane Irene threatened to cancel James' flight out, but we were thankfully able to change his flight a day early with no extra charge thanks to Southwest. Then it rained and the wind blew and it was no big deal. At least that's what we thought. The Pemigewasset River (normally a very shallow, rocky, river) near our timeshare was roaring and rushing. It broke the timeshare's water source. With no water they were forced to evacuate us due to fire code. We stayed in a hotel and prayed that they'd get the water fixed soon. Within a couple of days they got water back and allowed us to come back. While we still had to boil any of the water we used, the biggest headache was over.

That tree actually collapsed just minutes after this picture was taken and the bridge collapsed a couple days later. It was scary. The ground would shake from the boulders crashing and being ripped out of the ground. It was Crazy.

We got to spend lots of time together and it was fun. My niece Lily asked me to do her hair just about everyday and I loved it! Once while I was doing her hair I told her she was so pretty. She touched her hair and said, "not yet, almost."

She's darling.

We had some adventures while we were hiding out in the mountains. To be continued...