Welcome 2010!!

The Girls

Lynda, Natalie, and I...some of my best friends from high school. I am so happy that we all still keep in touch.

Midnight toast with hubs

Kristi (my old roommate) was in town from Atlanta for New Years. It was so fun to get to hang out with her!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! When I think back on 2009, it really was a whirlwind year filled with tons of unforgettable memories. Between Jason and I getting married, being in many of our friend's weddings, buying a house, first holidays together, new jobs, and fun trips we have had alot of changes and adjustments to make. It really was a fantastic year, and we are so incredibly blessed. We celebrated the close of 2009 and toasted the beginning of 2010 at Nox with some of our good friends.

Christmas Afternoon

Christmas afternoon was spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We all brought food and had a late Christmas lunch. Of course, we had enough food to feed an army. I remember as kid thinking that my grandparents house was so big; however, this year after putting all 42 of us in the living room for presents it felt much smaller. It just wouldn't be Christmas though if we didn't all go to my grandparents house. For as long as I can remember, somebody has dressed up as Santa on Christmas and all the kids go sit in his lap to receive their gift. Our parents would make us sit in the living room and sing carol after carol until Santa came. I remember as a child really believing that Santa made a special trip to Grandma's house to bring me a present. :) Now that all of the grandkids are grown, we are carrying on the tradition by letting the great-grandkids sit on Santa's lap for their presents. This year, my cousin Keith dressed up as Santa. We all had fun watching the kids sit on Santa's lap. Some were pro's and others were not so impressed with the big-bearded man in the red suit.

Pressley receiving her present from Uncle Keith...aka Santa.
Tyler telling Santa that he was a good boy this year and definitely earned his gift.

Coop was alright receiving his gift as long as his mom was holding him. When Santa walked in the door Cooper just sat with his hand over his mouth the entire time. It was hysterical.

Marty reaching for his grandpa (my Uncle Wayne). His time in Santa's lap was short-lived.

Bailey is a pro and knew how to flash that precious smile to get her gift from Santa.

Callie checking things out and deciding whether or not she liked Santa.

Shelby was pretty sure she would rather stay with her mom than sit with Santa.

Leanne was positive she would rather be with her mom than have to endure Santa. I just think this is the most precious picture though. What parents make their children endure for a cute Christmas picture.

Cade knows the drill and sits cooly on Santa's lap.

Santa with Jason and I and my two brothers

Christmas Morning

I remember as kid not being able to sleep on Christmas Eve and finally yelling loud enough for my parents to wake up at the wee hours of the morning to open presents. As the years have passed, the tables have turned and my parents usually have to wake us up to open presents. Christmas morning is always exciting, and I truly love giving just as much as receiving. I love the feeling of finding someone the perfect gift and seeing their expression as they open it. We woke up Christmas morning to the smell of frying bacon and homemade biscuits and gravy made by my dad. We had a yummy breakfast that was worth every calorie. After breakfast we opened gifts and played with all of our new stuff until it was time to go to my grandparents house for Christmas dinner. More pictures of that to come...

Cale and Cody with their stockings

Jason and I holding up our stockings and some of our loot

My parents have heard Cale gripe and complain about how much he detests the snuggie commercials so being the loving parents that they are......they bought him a snuggie for Christmas. We were all cracking up when he opened it. A few gifts later, my mom opened the exact same snuggie that Cody and Britt gave her. It was hilarious. We spent several minutes laughing at them pose in their matching snuggies and making all kinds of jokes. It may have been one of those " you had to be there" moments, but we all thought it was really funny at the time.

On several different occasions over the years, my parents have made us follow clues to find our "bigger" gifts. This year Jason was the lucky one that had to endure a scavenger hunt to claim his Christmas present. My parents had him running around the house following clues. He definitely thought it was worth it when he found his prize. See Jason following the clues to eventually find................

A NEW GOLF BAG!!!!!! Jason immediately started transferring all of his golf gear over to the new bag and was able to break it in with a round of golf the day after Christmas. Thanks so much Mom and Dad for making Christmas so special and always being so very generous.

Christmas Eve

Kristi and Josh bringin' down the house with their rendition of "Summer Lovin" (Once again, not sure why this picture won't move to the bottom)

The Johnson family has grown bigger and bigger over the last several years. It seems like every year we either have a wedding or new babies to add to the family. This year, we were so blessed to have all 42 members of the family in Harlingen for Christmas. Our family is so close, and we cherish the times that we can all get together. It has become increasingly difficult over the years since we are spread out across the country. Since everyone was in town, my grandparents wanted to take a family picture. On Christmas Eve afternoon, we all met at the designated location to snap a big, family photo. We are having to become quite creative in order to fit everyone in the picture. After the photo session, everyone headed over to my parents house for the Johnson tradition of chili and tamales on Christmas Eve. After dinner, everyone bundled up and headed outside for some fun. My parents hired a karaoke company to come for a couple hours after dinner. I was skeptical about whether people would really get up and sing or not. By the end of the night, I think everyone in the family got up there at one point. We had an absolute blast cutting up on the microphone and showing off our "skills". I feel so blessed to have such a loving family that cares about each other and makes it a priority to spend time with each other. I cherish all the fun times and memories we have made over the years and look forward to seeing how our family will continue to grow in the future. (We are adding 5 more to our family this year with one wedding and 4 babies on the way).

Dad and Travis singing "Boot Scoot and Boogie"

Cousins!

Jason and I

David and Rachel (Johnson) Lippe with their daughter Leanne (We just found out that Rachel is expecting another baby!!)

Uncle Mark, Cody, Sarah (with little baby girl coming in April), Aunt Susan

Dad, Cooper, Uncle Richard

Me and Grandma

Bailey started everyone out with a fantastic version of "Jingle Bells and Silent Night"

Girl's singing R-E-S-P-E-C-T (It was much more difficult than it seemed when we picked this song)

Cale and Charlie I think attempting "Gettin' Jiggy with It"

Mom and Jason impressed us all with "Hey Jude" (After Uncle Mark teased them that they were scaring the children, they decided to get the crowd involved to help them finish the song) haha

Mom with her boys

Dad, Grandpa, and Cody

Boy's turn!

Aunt Sherry, Grandma, and Mom

A Whole Lot of Christmas- Part 1

For some reason I can't make this picture go to the bottom so you will just have to imagine it is with the other one. :)


Jason and I had a fantastic Christmas this year, so much so that I need to break it up into a couple different posts. This year was our year to spend Christmas in Harlingen. Before we made the trip down South, we got together with Jason's Dad's side of the family to celebrate Christmas. We went to his grandma's house and had appetizers and fun catching up with everyone. Everyone went together to buy Grandma Bev a new tv so the boys busied themselves getting everything set up for her and teaching her how the new and improved tv operated. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera out for pictures. For the last several years, I have hunted with Norton (a good friend of our family) over the Christmas break. Jason had to work so I decided to fly down early so I could get my hunting fix. Usually the hunt consists of my dad and Norton shooting everything in site while I ride around in the Jeep and provide entertainment and good conversation. This year's hunt started out business as usual until we rounded a corner and saw a group of female nilgai standing about 150 yards away. Norton surprised me by asking if I wanted to shoot one. I quickly accepted, grabbed Norton's gun, and pulled the trigger. It had been several years since I shot anything, and I had an absolute blast. We had dinner at the camp that night and hunted the next morning before heading back into town. Thanks Norton for such a fun trip. I have so many cherished memories growing up hunting with my dad. I remember being just a little girl with my camo coveralls, red cowboy boots, and ratty ponytail having the best time of my life. I looked forward to those trips of spending such quality time with my dad. Although the hunting outfits have changed over the years, I still cherish getting to be a part of what my dad loves to do. I love that he instilled a love for the outdoors in me and has taught me so much over the years.

Happy 6 Month Anniversary

I am obviously a little behind in blogging since these pictures were taken in mid-December right after Jason and I had been married for 6 months, and we just passed the 7-month mark. It is hard to believe it has been that long. This year is flying by. I wanted to do something fun to celebrate our 6-month anniversary since you really can only get away with that on the first year so Jason and I decided to get away for the weekend to San Antonio. We drove down on Friday night after work and spent the weekend at the Westin La Cantera resort. The hotel was beautiful, and the service was amazing. Unfortunately, it was very cold so we didn't get to take advantage of the fabulous outdoor pools. We had a late dinner at one of the restaurants at the hotel and just relaxed. Saturday morning we woke up early, and Jason braved the 35ish degree, drizzly weather to play golf. Being the supportive wife that I am I even rode in the golf cart with him decked out with many, many layers and a huge blanket that I stayed snuggled under in the cart. The course really was pretty, and I enjoyed riding around despite the chilly weather. Since I braved the cold with Jason, he braved the La Cantera mall with me for a few hours that afternoon. Saturday evening we went out to dinner to enjoy some yummy Mexican food. It was a great weekend together and always exciting to get away every now and then. Enjoy a couple pics of Jason on the golf course below.

Westin La Cantera resort