They're here!

 "YEAH!" yelled Emerson.  He was so excited when he saw Benjamin drive up in front of the house.

Emerson had come earlier in the day with his daddy...but he was looking forward to see ing his cousin.  Benjamin has been camping, and they stopped on their way back and stayed a couple of days:) 

    Nathan, Liam (9 months old), Jessica, William (3 1/2 months old), Lindsey, Donnie, and Benjamin (3 years old)

Nathan, Jess, and Liam stayed awhile and visited...and we ate dinner together.  It was fun to spend a little time with them.  They're moving back to Iowa in a couple of weeks. :(

Emerson didn't care about anything except wanting to play with his cousin, Benjamin.

They have been having a great time!

Nathan, Liam, and Jessica

800

This is my 800th post here on the Johnston Chronicles!  That's amazing to me... That doesn't count the blogs I've done on my People to People trips...or my school blog... or my cooking blog - which I don't update very often...or my newest blog on Lindsey's family..

Today was the last day of school for this year.

So much I need to do...so much I want to do...

and I leave for Europe in 13 days!  We land in Ireland...then to Wales...then England...then France...then Belgium, and we end in the Netherlands!  Oh boy!

The Gap of Dunloe is in Ireland...in Kilarney.

Wales...the name of this town is incredibly long.  I wonder if anyone really knows how to pronounce it?  Last night I was there, I bought THE best salt, smoked salt, on the planet.  Hoping to buy some more when we're there!

London, England...I love the London Eye..the views of London from the top are amazing!

Paris, France..can you ever get tired of seeing the Eiffel Tower,,,of cruising on the Siene River?

The Grand Place in Brussels is so old...so incredible...

 

Amsterdam!  The canals and the homes are amazing...

Europe...I love traveling there.  The architecture is amazing, the languages and/or accentss, all the sites to see... I have decided it's time to get excited.  I didn't have the time to think about it with all that's been going on...but now school is out and my courses through UCLA are finished. 

It's time to get excited...and I am!

Just dropping by...

Lindsey, Donnie, Benjamin, and William stopped by for a little while today.

Stopped by...

I would LOVE it if they could just 'stop by' more often...but they can't, seeing as they live 6 hours from here - that's 6 hours if there's no traffic....or if some little man doesn't need to eat, or have his diaper changed. 

They were heading north to go camping with some friends who are ...moving :((.... :(( to Iowa in a couple of weeks.  Benjamin kept saying to me, "Mimi, I came back to your house!" 

They'll be back Saturday afternoon ... and then are staying a couple of days.  I'm excited!!!

June 13th

I never forget June 13th...June 13, 1980 to be exact.

My mom, Aunt Jane, and Ray were on their way, driving to California to visit us...when I got the call that 'something has happened to John..'  John was my dad.  That 'something' was a brain aneurysm that immediately took his life.  He was at home, listening to the US Open golf tournament with a neighbor.

My dad... he was a patient man...he loved his family... he was excited about 'Big Josh' learning to play golf...he was a writer... a sports fan and a sports writer... he loved dogs... if he really liked you, he usually made up some nickname for you..

My dad... he would be 90 years old if he was alive today...but he left us at 58 years old... I've probably written most of what I wrote today on previous June 13ths... but I never tire of looking at his pictures, remembering things about him...

I'll probably use some of these photos again next June 13th...

Rare day

 Yesterday was a rare day...

 We were able to COMFORTABLY sit outside and eat dinner!

The temperature got up to....66 degrees!  There was some wind...and the wind was pretty cold, but here on the patio we were a bit shielded from it. 

We were going to take a photo of us together...but realized we've lost our tripod.  How in the world do you lose a tripod?  Oh well... it was a beautiful, rare day here on the north coast!  They don't come very often, but when they do, there's nothing better!

Happy Birthday, Donnie!

 Donnie married my baby girl...

He's such a great guy...

He is now the father of two sons...Benjamin and William...

He is a great Dad... We saw that as soon as Benjamin was born...

Happy 37th Birthday, Donnie!!!

Benjamin's 3rd birthday party

June 2nd was the day to celebrate Benjamin's 3rd birthday with family and friends....

The weather was absolutely perfect...there was delicious food...wonderful friends...not enough family...but a wonderful day to celebrate the birthday of a special 3 year old... Benjamin!

Being Mimi and Papa

 I just love being 'Mimi'... and my guy loves being 'Papa'.... 

For Emerson and Benjamin's birthday, I made them a Shutterfly book... I love Shutterfly!... The books are called, "The Year You Were Two."  They both opened them Sunday and we were sitting outside with them looking at them while I read.  They're both ABC books, but full of pictures of them. 

I think if I wasn't a teacher, I'd love to be a photojournalist.  I so love to take pictures, to write, to play on the computer....thus, a blog!  (Did you notice on the right side of the blog there is a new blog called, 'Lindsey's Family'?  It's just a picture of the family each time I'm with them...to watch the boys grow.) I am also very nostalgic, very family oriented.  I'm so happy when I have my family with me... I have journals I bought right before Emerson and Benjamin were born.  Every time I'm with them, I write about it...what we did, what they're doing in their life now, milestones they've reached.  I also add a few pictures.  Before William was born, I bought a journal for him.  I wish, I wish, I wish I had thought about that idea when Thalia was a little one...  I hope one day, the boys will love reading them, reading about how much their Mimi loves them!

 I love this of my guy and William...he's getting so big!

 At Benjamin's party, I was taking pictures of all the families that came...hopefully I got them all!  As we were getting ready to leave, I realized I hadn't taken a picture of Lindsey, Donnie, Benjamin, and William.  So I took those...then thought I'd actually taken them of everyone except us!  Benjamin decided to join us in our picture...which I love, of course!

 

Another one of my guy and William...

THIS is fun!  Emerson slept in the bed with me...and Sunday morning, Benjamin came in saying, "Wake up!  Wake up!!!"  and we did...

We laid in bed and talked... Papa came in and a little rough-housing took place...

Then Papa took this picture... Mimi and her boys... I love it!

We're three!

 Emerson and Benjamin sat on the steps of the porch, discussing the fact that they're 3 years old now...

 They also talked about airplanes, making coffee, trains...

and about how fun it was to be such buddies!

I sure love these little guys!