The doorbell rang...

This is what I saw when I opened the door...
I went outside to get a closer look...
I brought it in... opened the top?
Started to dump in out... I couldn't pull it because it was too big...
A prince with a hood?
I really DID know what it was by now...
I got back for a better, for a full-bodied look...
Look at these clubs! They were wrapped in plastic...in bubble paper...
I unwrapped the first one....
It was a hybrid iron...
Here's the putter...not sure if I like it...
Aren't they sweet?
The big daddy's still needed to have their bubble wrap taken off...
There are so many pockets on the bag! I have no earthly idea what they're all for...but inside one of them were these little covers...

That's sure a big pocket? What goes in there?
Oh, here's a photo of me! Not sure who I am with? My brother?
I put their little covers on and decided to pose them for another picture...
And then... the finishing touch...

My STATE FARM towel to keep the clubs clean!

Now I need some decent weather....

San Francisco

I love to look at sites on photography... I love to see how other photographers use different angles to get unique shots, to see the scenes they photograph... I love to see what equipment they use... I just enjoy looking.

Today, I found this site and this slide show on San Francisco put to music. It's beautiful! Click the link that says San Francisco...

Enjoy!


San Francisco

Posted using ShareThis

She was dreaming...

This is Bonnie Lou...

She never made it as a lifeguard...

or even a swimmer...

Who is that taking the picture, I wonder. Did he think she could swim? Had she told him this was where she sat during her lifeguard duties? And what's that hanging down from her blouse? A ribbon? Did she tell him she had won 1st place in a swim meet?

I guess maybe she was hoping she'd learn to swim by osmosis?

Maybe she was just dreaming!

Emerson, Thalia, and Benjamin's Christmas Greetings

Emerson, Thalia, and Benjamin send their Christmas greetings to all the readers of the Johnston Chronicles...

Emerson was enjoying the wrapping paper... looking forward to playing with his alligator... drooling a bit... and, in general, enjoying his first Christmas.

Thalia was in the midst of a singing lesson. Her blogging Mimi just happened to go enjoy watching her lesson... and decided to video part of it. Thalia is a phenomenal singer and guitar player... and soon to be piano player!

Benjamin was enjoying his first Christmas too... a little early with his Mimi and Papa. In this video, he was laughing at his Daddy... well, not AT his Daddy, but WITH his Daddy!

We all hope you had a very Merry... a very blessed Christmas...

Emerson's First Christmas with his Mimi & Papa... Gabe & Emily, too!

Hi Emerson! Your Mimi was afraid she wouldn't get to see her boy on Christmas...
Emerson wasn't too sure where all this was going... he was a little confused about what all this "Christmas" talk was about.
He wasn't too sure he was going to like it...
He looked at his mama...
He looked at his daddy...
He changed his clothes and then drooled a little...or a lot....
When he started playing with his red jeep, I told him he had gotten that from his daddy for Christmas...
and he had gotten this cool, wooden toy from his mama for Christmas...
Then he understood... and he was happy!
He put on his cute little Christmas bib from Grammy... and listened to Saddie on the phone...
He thought about talking, but just smiled instead...
When it was time to open his other gifts, he was a little timid at first... His papa helped him get started with the ripping...
Emerson looked at his Mimi and Papa when he saw his books... he was ready to read...
Papa decided to sing to him instead...
He thought that was pretty hilarious!
He wanted to open another gift...
He then discovered that he enjoyed the paper... he loved the noise it made when you crinkled it...
Now this gift was a little different. It wasn't wrapped but was inside a bag. No problem, he just pulled it out!
It was a bear jacket. His sweet mama put it on him, at least the hat part, to show how cute he was in it.

We already knew that...

He's cute in everything...or nothing!
His mama checked out her stocking...
His daddy was doing a little investigating of a package, trying to figure out what it was before he opened it...
Ohhh! A skill saw! Yep, he can sure use that!
Now Emerson gave his daddy a mug... telling him he was the World's Greatest Dad...
and he put a picture of himself on it so his daddy would remember who gave him the mug!
Back to the ripping...
Emerson was having a grand time with the paper... I think he would have kept playing with it if his Mimi hadn't declared it "group foto time!"

The timer on the camera was set...Mimi ran over to get in the picture...
and Gabe wanted to make sure we could see him in the photo! This makes me laugh...it's so Gabe!
Christmas morning, 2009
I was truly sorry that so many plans were changed because of sickness...nothing serious, but sickness none-the-less...

But I was happy to see Emerson, Gabe, and Emily... and Biscuit, too.... and to be with them on Christmas morning!

Christmas with Thalia...and Joshua & Erica, of course!

Thalia... what a sweetheart she is! I absolutely love this picture...
Daisy... this was part of her Christmas present from her parents....

Um? You may wonder what a Daisy is? I was uninformed before our journey to southern California... Thalia got the 'Daisy' a bit early...
For the 'Daisy', you need, well, you should wear a helmet...
Ah! Here it is... the Daisy is a little motor scooter... a pink motor scooter... a scooter that goes 15 miles per hour... a perfect speed...
Thalia showed her Mimi how to ride...
She was demonstrating turns, flips, and wheelies... just kidding, no flips or wheelies!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......... well, zooming at 15 mph anyways...
After my lesson, Thalia brought the Daisy for her Mimi to try...
Yee-Haw... this was fun!
I was going so fast, my hair was blowing in the breeze...
I do believe I was at full-throttle...

Once back inside, Thalia showed me how to take care of the Daisy... you have to plug it in to charge it. Blu jumped into the picture...
Isn't it cute?
What nice wheels!
Her Papa is very proud of his Daisy-riding granddaughter!

After our riding excursion, we were just hanging out...visiting, talking about cameras. Erica got out her Canon and then Joshua started taking photos of his sweet bride...

He was uninterested when his bride got ready to take photos of him... Donnie noted one time that Joshua doesn't smile much for the camera... true.
Blu was happy to smile...with a little help from Joshua...

Joshua, Erica, and Thalia are in a waiting game for their new house. They were SUPPOSE TO be able to move last Friday... 'Suppose to' are the key words here...didn't happen. However, their current house is all packed up...the Christmas tree was up, but it came down when they thought they'd be moved before Christmas.

We're flexible here at the Johnston Chronicles, so we improvised with wrapping paper, trimmings, and the festivities....
Some gifts were wrapped in wrapping paper, some in newspaper, some were inside stockings, and some were already being ridden. (The Daisy!)
We had a wonderful time anyway! Christmas usually includes gift-giving, but that's not what it's all about. Remembering the gift of Jesus is first and foremost... and then we love to be with our family...

Thalia was ready...

"Hey, nice sweatshirt, Thalia!"
She was good at ripping the paper off... no matter what kind of paper it was...
Oops... looks like this photographing Mimi forgot to take a photo of what was in the box for Thalia!
Mimi was in desperate need of some new earphones for her iPod...
Golf clubs? We found these in southern Cal...but I'm not sure if I'll keep these, or get the Prince Clubs from Costco. I just need a beginners set, but I want to get the best beginners set!
My baby boy... one of my baby boys!
Joshua had a great tool for his Pops...

Ron is a gadget-man ....
Another gift for Thalia... a beautiful cross from her parents!
Joshua was talking to his Pops about the tool he had given him... the more he talked, the more Joshua was thinking he should have also gotten one for himself!
Erica, a true Johnston if I ever saw one, was busy taking pictures... Remember she also drove 800+ miles in one day... add that to her picture taking = a true Johnston.
Notice Thalia's nails? Another early Christmas gift from her Mama...
Joshua was excited to see what was in his stocking. His Pops had some input to what went in it this year. Joshua needs tools...and gadgets... for all the projects he'll have on his "Pop's List" in his new house.

There was no "Pop's List" this trip... since moving into the new house didn't happen while we were there. We were truly disappointed... it would have been fun to mark off the list.
This tool is called a 'Stud Finder'... and Joshua showed us that THE STUD had been found (him!) We already knew that.
Erica started digging into her stocking...

Thalia dug into her stocking, too!

Erica started to open her beautifully wrapped package...
Ahhh, glasses... glasses for the new house...
Thalia was excited to open this strange-shaped, beautifully wrapped gift...
We all laughed, Thalia included. There's a story behind this...
We had gone to Costco a couple of days before and bought 2 jars packed together. Well, this is NOT one of those jars. Later, when my guy opened the trunk, the jars tumbled out, hit the cement, and... well, you can picture the scene. Thalia, seeing these laying on the cement, was crushed, telling us she LOVES pepperoncinis... so we went back to Costco, buying more, and wrapped one up for her.

A joke...
It took Erica a while to finish unwrapping her glasses. Or... maybe I put them on this blog out of order? Your choice...
Joshua was happy with his new level...another tool for his new project list...
Um? What else does Erica have? At least this one is in true Christmas paper!
Some new silverware!
The last present was larger in size... and it was for Thalia...
She is always playing our piano when she's here...and she is incredibly talented with music in general! So... a keyboard was a gift!
Joshua was equally excited about 4 rolls of duct tape... but unfortunately, when my guy asked me to wrap them, I had no idea that he wanted me to wrap one roll... the other three were for Gabe, Donnie, and him... oh well, Joshua got a kick out of it and tossed the other rolls back to his Pops.
I hope Donnie sees this photo of a smiling Joshua! Donnie is a project kind of guy, so he'll understand why Joshua is smiling...he's thinking of all the projects this duct tape will come in handy for...
Hey, a propane torch kit! Just what every project-oriented man needs!
Not wanting Blu to feel blue... Joshua wrapped up some treats for him...
He woofed them down...

and Christmas with Joshua, Erica, and Thalia was a great memory... a great time!