Telling the Family

Since Jason and I found out at the beginning of December that I was pregnant, we decided it would be fun to wait and tell our families at Christmas.  It was difficult to keep the secret but also kinda fun that we were the only ones to know for a few weeks.  They were all totally surprised which made the wait so worth it.  We just printed a picture of the 7 week sonogram and wrapped it up like a normal Christmas present.  We didn't say anything and let them all just open gifts normally til they happened to open that one.  It was so fun to see their reactions and definitely something I won't forget.  So here are a few pictures from I left out from the Christmas posts........

Classic

 Excited

Mom was sitting on the other couch when Dad opened this gift so she was trying to figure out what was going on.

Every Heartbeat Bears Your Name

Jason and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting a baby at the beginning of August.  I am about 12.5 weeks pregnant, and things have been going great so far.  Other than being more tired than normal, I have really been feeling pretty good.  We have seen the baby and heard the heartbeat several times now, and it looks healthy and active.  We feel beyond blessed to be trusted with this little miracle.  We would appreciate each of your prayers for a continued healthy pregnancy and baby.

"God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine."  Eph. 3:20

Our little munchkin at 12 weeks.

Belly at 12 weeks.
Just this week my belly has started to change, but it looks much more like I ate too many enchaladas than a baby at this point. :)

Meet Miss Kinley Paige Smith

On January 4th, Brandi and Harrison welcomed Kinley Paige Smith into the world, and our entire group of friends could not be more in love.  She was 7.6lbs of pure preciousness.  Jason and I went over that weekend to meet her, and she slept like a little angel the entire time we were there despite us all passing her around.  Congrats Harrison and Brandi on your beautiful baby girl!!

Jason's New Love

After months and months of searching, Jason finally found the car he had been looking for back in December.  He has talked about buying a Z06 since he sold his old Camaro about 3 years ago, and we finally pulled the trigger.  The car has everything he had on his wish list, and we are both really happy with it.  He's spending a bunch of time in the garage now tinkering with it.  I keep teasing him that the car is his new girlfriend, and I'm afraid I've been replaced.  :)  This car has made Jason so happy though which in turns makes me happy, and I have to admit it makes date nights extra fun when we get to drive it around town.

New Year's Eve

We had a super low-key New Year's Eve this year.  When I got back from Harlingen I caught a terrible cold after just getting over Jason's stomach flu that he shared with several members of my family.  I laid on the couch most of the weekend trying to recover.  I did, however, get up long enough to head over to Harrison and Brandi's to celebrate the start of 2012.  Major props to Brandi for having everyone over to her house on her due date.  The boys bought tons of fireworks and put on a great show.  We left shortly after midnight since I was feeling so terrible but really did have fun while we were there.  We had some really great memories in 2011 and several really difficult months with lots of life adjustments.  I am looking forward to 2012, and everything God has in store for us.  It is shaping up to be a great year so far.   :)

Annual Hunting Trip

A few days after Christmas, Dad and I headed up to the lease to meet Norton for our annual hunting trip.  We had great weather, and I really enjoyed riding around in the Jeep and seeing all the animals.  Unfortunately, the trip got cut short when Dad came down with Jason's version of the stomach flu, but it was still a great trip and one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

Dad and Norton were on a mission the whole day to catch an armadillo.

Family Pictures

Since the entire family is really only together every other year now, we had a photographer come take our picture on Christmas afternoon.  We took a large family picture, and then one of each of my dad's siblings families.  Considering the Valley wind and the number of people we had, I thought the pictures turned out pretty well, and I am so glad we have them.

Of all the pictures we took, this was the only one where all the babies were looking at the camera at the same time.  Considering we have 14 kids under 5 years old, I thought that was a pretty big accomplishment.

Grandpa and Grandma 

Richard Johnson clan

Mark Jud fam

Wayne Johnson family

Lynn Johnson family

Happy Birthday Brittany and Jesus

Christmas morning, we woke up early and had a pancake breakfast to celebrate Britt's  birthday and opened our stockings from Santa before heading to church.  We had a great church service at my grandparent's church in Lyford.  Several of the family members sang, including Bailey who sang a solo.  My dad gave a short message that I thought was so great and appropriate for Christmas.  The whole fam gathered back at my parent's house that afternoon for a family picture and more celebrating.  The day could not have been more perfect (except that Jason got the stomach flu and hardly left the bed all day).  I felt so terrible for him.

Happy b-day Britta!

First United Methodist Church in Lyford

Bailey singing her solo....so brave.

The singers of the family

Dad

Dad took the kids on a hay ride, and they stopped to feed the cows.  They all thought it was so great.

Kristi, Josh, Maddie, Karyn and Presley

David and Luke

Kyle and Rachel

Uncle Richard and his girls

Emily, Micah, Tito and Marty

Steve and Dylan

Sisters

Uncle Richard with the newest addition to the family, Taylor.

Kids table

We had a pinata for all the kids after dinner.  They had a blast hitting it and even more fun with the candy.

Britt, Dad and I

Hula hoop chandelier...thanks Pinterst

At the end of the night, Callie kept curling herself under this plastic storage tub and pretending to sleep.  It was so hilarious.

Christmas night, Britt opened her b-day presents, and we all sat around talking about how great the day had been

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!