November: Because It’s Better Late Than Never

December 18, 2013 By

Sure, I know we’re already blazing through December but November, how I loved November. I’d be pretty darn remiss if I didn’t give a few of my favorite November moments a mention before they’re lost forever.

We had our first family ski trip of the season at one of my favorite Colorado ski resorts, Copper Mountain. Many more details to come but for now, our first of what I hope will be many pictures on the lift together.And then there’s Hadley. This fun, free-spirited, strong-willed girl of mine and I may not always agree but there’s no place we bond more perfectly than the outdoors.

There was plenty of bonding for the whole family on the slopes and off. That evening, the kids tried to make me jealous when they abandoned me for Jamie’s side of our booth at Casa Sanchez Mexican restaurant.
Nope, I didn’t feel envious even one bit.

When people say they have no desire to ever try skiing because it’s too cold and difficult, I honestly feel sorry for them because they think a ski vacation starts and stops on the slopes. Soaking in a hot tub under the stars and white lights as you listen to the groomers on the mountain is truly a magical end to the day.

Boy with creepy beady eyes notwithstanding.

Jamie and I had a great month in the romance department. It turns out that if you sing “You don’t bring me flowers anymore” that if you married a good man, he will deliver.


We went on some memorable dates but none was more memorable than when we were at a preview for the History Colorado Center’s new Living West exhibit and we tried the two-seater outhouse.

Let’s just say I saw him in an entirely new light.

Do you love It’s a Wonderful Life as much as my Jamie does? I surprised him with a date night to see this  story brought to life as a 1940’s radio broadcast at Miner’s Alley Playhouse in Golden. I’m admittedly not a huge fan of the movie but fell in love with the charming and hilarious cast who made us laugh ’til we cried and ignited an appreciation for idealistic George Bailey as he received divine intervention one Christmas Eve. This 130-seat theater was quaint, the acting superb and the audience interaction was fun (have you ever been playfully given Jelly Bellies by the actors prior to a show?) 
We made an evening of it and went to dinner prior to the show. Downtown Golden has some of our favorite dining options and we tried the new Indulge Bistro & Wine Bar with outstanding service, food and ambiance  in Golden’s Gateway Station. I’m still salivating over my Filet Oaxaca, a Black Angus filet mignon served with manchego potato puree, grilled vegetables, blackened shrimp and mango mole sauce. I could show you a picture but it would just make me  hungry again.
In honor of Thanksgiving, Bode gave a great lesson for Family Home Evening and they made a big gratitude basket where we listed all the things for which we are grateful.

Jamie cut out a big pumpkin and put “grandma” on it. We all know what he really meant.

For the third year in a row, we served Thanksgiving dinner and made cards for low-income seniors through Volunteers of America.I get a little choked up thinking about all the wonderful people we met that afternoon that really brought home the whole spirit of Thanksgiving. November, you’ve never been a favorite but you will be most welcomed next year.

 

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, LDS, Marriage, outdoors, skiing, travel

Why I’m hiding the knives

December 13, 2013 By

Thursday is our crazy day when I juggle carpool, volleyball, piano and Activity Days at the church. Yesterday was particularly crazy because Bode had literacy night at his school and I had my Relief Society Christmas dinner, all at the same time as Hadley’s volleyball.

That whole cloning thing would have been especially useful.

As we were racing around, Bode I were chatting and he announced, “No pressure, Mom.”

I perked up, figuring he had something he wanted to add to his Christmas wish list but it was so much better/worse.

“No pressure, Mom, but when you die are you going to leave Hadley and me money?”

Jamie joked when I told him later: “I was wondering why he was asking about my life insurance policy the other day.”

Filed Under: Bode, Humor, Jamie

Johnson Family Newsletter 2013

December 4, 2013 By

In typical bipolar fashion, I decided to do a holiday newsletter, then opted out and then upon receiving newsy holiday  newsletters from friends,  decided it should be back on. After all, the world must know what the Johnsons did in 2013!

Overall, we had a great time full of family and friends, travel and minimal hospital visits (our gauge for a good year). We took plenty of fantastic ski vacations all over Colorado and a week at our favorite, Park City Mountain Resort in Utah. Last summer, the kids and I spent almost a month in Canada on a 3,000-mile trip that covered two countries and six states (Colorado, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah). Jamie was only able to join us for a week of our trip, citing  “someone has to work to support your playtime.” Wise man; I couldn’t agree more.

Here’s a quick glimpse at our happenings. Click on the links for more details!

Atop 14,265-foot Mount Evans

Hadley

Hadley (9 going on 19) is in fourth grade at her Waldorf charter school and continues to love their arts-based academic education. Our free-spirited, fun-loving girl has been on several camping trips with her class and keeps busy with piano and volleyball. She’s also a stellar skier and for my birthday, we had a girl’s weekend of mogul-busting, snowshoeing, lake-skating and sledding. Hadley is a huge fan of horses and was delighted to spend a week at overnight Camp Chief Ouray last summer. She loves Fat Kitty, swimming, hiking, crafting, gardening, cooking and she was the top-performing girl in her grade at her school’s Fun Run. I should know. I ran beside her the entire way until our fifth mile when she blazed past me and I walked with a limp for a week. Her love for Scooby Doo has been replaced by mind-numbing shows on the Disney Channel like “Jessie” and “Dog with a Blog.” It looks like we have a tween, folks.

Hadley’s first scary leap into the Rooster Tail at the lake house in Vernon, B.C.

Skating at Copper Mountain

Summer hiking group at Mount Falcon

Bode

Our resident geek, Bode (age 7) loves all things space, educational and ensuring everyone is following the rules all the time. He is moderately obsessed with being the best-behaved kid in his second grade class (yet somehow is also among the most well-liked), thrives in academics, is a great little soccer player, skier, hiker, cook, master pumpkin grower and lives for his bi-weekly WiiU and technology sessions. For the second year in a row, he and Hadley were my child models at the 9News Back-to-School fashion show and he put Zoolander to shame. He and his sister went to Avid4Advenventure’s Survival Camp last summer and I now feel confident they can survive exactly two hours solo in the great outdoors. He never shuts up on the piano loves to play the piano, enjoys to read Calvin and Hobbes, bike down to our neighborhood skate park and play with LEGOS. His current obsession is constructing dream mansions for us out of giant wooden blocks and creating intricate maps of his designs. We strongly encourage this as a future profession.

First solo flight to see Grandma in Utah!

A snowy hike in Evergreen=joy

First fish fly fishing at The Ranch at Emerald Valley

Jamie

The Pumpkin Man had a great year. He grew his biggest pumpkin ever, 1,220-pound Stanley, and we landed a picture of him in The Denver Post. A professional carver drove down every day from Fort Collins for a week to chisel a marvelously creepy face into the giant gourd. And then Stanley and Jamie went on tour visiting both of the kids’ schools and harvest festivals, thereby cementing his status as a local celebrity. In other news (though really, is there any other news?), Jamie’s web development business Pixo Web Design and Strategy continues to grow, he has a few employees and is always busy. We marked our 10-year wedding anniversary last February and he surprised me by recreating the magical night we got engaged that included a limo ride to the swanky Briarwood Inn. He was recently released from the Bishopric at church and not even five days later, he was called as a stake clerk over technology, a real stretch.

Atop McConkey’s lift for the first time as a family at Park City Mountain Resort

Stanley the Pumpkin

Stanley’s scary carving

Amber

I’ve had a busy year working for the newspaper and various freelance opps in the travel industry. Our favorite gig is writing for AAA Five Diamond The Broadmoor’s magazine because they pay their writers in trade, which amounts to an opulent, indulgent vacation like no other in Colorado Springs.  I love hiking every week, skiing, boot camp, volunteering at school and in the community. I received an award in recognition of journalistic excellence as a community blogger from Digital First Media, The Denver Post’s parent company. But my real prize was when I was at a media luncheon hosted by the Maui Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and my name was drawn as the winner of a trip to Maui (we’re going in February). At church, I was sad to be released from the Young Women (favorite calling ever) and now serve in the stake’s Public Affairs where I work with community leaders and media.  I’m also the volleyball coach and our ward’s Primary pianist and have mastered The Look from across the room, which quickly corrects the behavior of any misbehaving kids. We all have our talents.

Solo hike to Maxwell Falls in Evergreen, Colo.

9News fashion show

Girl’s only birthday ski trip

Fat Kitty

He’s still fat, snuggly, sleepy, sweet and lives for his backyard adventures of stalking mice and eating grass ’til he pukes. We often walk in on him licking himself in Cirque du Soleil-esque positions but it was this shot I took of him on my bed that convinced us all that he’ll be America’s Next Top Model. Look for him on a Kitty Litter advertisement coming your way soon.

America’s Top (Cat) Model

We feel infinitely blessed this holiday season for wonderful family, good friends and the gospel in our lives.

Merry Christmas!

XO

The Johnsons

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Family travel, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie, LDS, Marriage, outdoors, pumpkins, skiing, travel, Utah

My Husband: The Giver

December 1, 2013 By

It’s Jamie’s birthday next week so Hadley and I set out to find the perfect gift in downtown Denver yesterday. I discovered something about myself: though I usually don’t like shopping unless it’s at Target or Costco, I genuinely enjoy browsing unique boutiques and outdoor markets. Malls are pretty much my worst nightmare.

Something else I learned: Hadley is really picky with everything–from clothes to food.  I already knew that. But the epiphany I had was that, though it’s nearly impossible and frustrating to find anything she likes, having a tween who is picky with clothes is not a bad thing. I offered to buy her something yesterday but she couldn’t find even one thing she liked. Savings success!

She takes after her father who is tough to buy for but unlike her, he  only likes big-ticket items. This is a problem when you do not have a big-ticket budget. Hadley and I were wandering around T.J. Maxx looking for his gift when I found these shoes I HAD to buy.

My justification? He’d have wanted me to have them for his birthday because he’s a giver like that.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Thanksgiving 2013: Turkey Trotting and Bursting with Flavor!

November 29, 2013 By

It’s been a busy few weeks and this blog of mine has suffered. I literally have a month’s worth of updates and with the holidays upon us, it’s likely I won’t ever get caught up. I have some career changes I’m trying to navigate that, right now, are causing an uproar but in the end I’m hoping they’ll be good things. When a door closes a window always opens, right? At this point, I’m hoping for a skylight with a heavenly messenger telling me what the heck I’m supposed to be doing.

We’ve had a great Thanksgiving week. We skied Copper Mountain (details forthcoming), played a lot and ate even more. Jamie’s wonderful mom Linda is in town to help his sister after back surgery so we’ve been busy juggling everything.

I’ve stated before that Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite holiday because of all the gluttony and football but it’s  growing on me. We started out with our 7th Annual Turkey Trot Hike. It was a gorgeous day and I can’t believe how much my kids have grown since the first year we did it.

Please disregard the finger of the dude who took our picture in the top corner. He didn’t appreciate being asked to do it so I’m hoping it wasn’t his middle one.

The hike was as steep as always but these kids of mine are becoming intrepid hikers.

Plus, I gave the pitch as an excuse for Bode to hold my hand to give me balance on the way down. Gotta soak up these moments while you can!

Even in late-November, the views at the top were gorgeous.

We couldn’t fit our fat heads in this selfie but we had to try

Hadley has to free climb every rock wall or boulder she sees

Hiking Turkey Trot is always a great lead-in to our meal. We each had food assignments. Jamie’s brother Chris smoked the turkey (thankfully he gave in to my pleading NOT to do a deep-fried one), we did the sides (garlic-mashed potatoes, jalapeno sausage stuffing, pomegranate-pear salad, green bean casserole and cranberry salsa), while Linda made her famous rolls and was in charge of desserts.

Complication: The day before Thanksgiving she called to say poor Lisa was in the ER in pain so could we please pick-up the cheesecakes from Cheesecake Therapy and run to Costco for some apple pie? The cheesecakes weren’t a problem and Jamie grabbed egg nog, gingerbread, pumpkin and white chocolate raspberry from this darling bake shop.

The apple pie was a problem. I hate crowds and finish most of my shopping before Thanksgiving in an effort to avoid them (and yep, I don’t like shopping, either). So come hell or high water, there was NO WAY I was going to go to Costco the day before Thanksgiving and stand in line for an hour for just one item. Another complication: Jamie loves Costco’s apple pie but I came up with a solution to bake our own. I just added it to our list of items I was already making that also included several dozen cream cheese cutout cookies. Basically, my kitchen looked like a bomb went off. But Hadley was an excellent helper.

Jamie was incredulous. “So, you’d rather spend all this time making a pie just to avoid going to Costco?” Yup.

I retorted. “So you’re actually whining that your wife is making you a homemade apple pie instead of a store-bought one?” Touché, my friends.

In the end, everyone was happy. We had an amazing spread of food, Linda’s rolls were better than ever and Chris smoked some unbelievably delicious gouda cheese in the smoker.

Rolls, pomegranate pear salad and our appetizer spread

Chris smoked his best turkey ever: moist and bursting with flavor

The kids did a wonderful job setting the table with my mom’s china and grandmother’s beautiful utensils. My heart was full of love for this wonderful family of mine, the life we’ve created and the miracles that surround us.

I’m sure Jamie feels the same way regardless of the fact that every picture I took of him that night he looked like was going to burst.

Just chalk it up to an overabundance of culinary blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed Under: Bode, Family, Foodie, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie

When you can’t win in marriage

November 26, 2013 By

Jamie and I had a bad night’s sleep and I really, really, really didn’t want to go to a party that night but knew we should.

“Jamie, I don’t want to go. But tell me I need to go.”

“Go.”

“Has anyone ever told you how bossy you are?”

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, Uncategorized

Pumpkin season is a wrap with the school’s pumpkin drop

November 5, 2013 By

When Bode’s school announced they were doing a pumpkin drop fundraiser for the Colorado flood victims the day after Halloween, we were all in. It was for a great cause and we figured we needed to cut up the pumpkin anyway so why not do it in front of a crowd?

So 695-pound Elbert was the star for the day, which was pretty nice for him since his big brother 1,220-pound Stanley got all the limelight this season. (Read about Stanley’s dismantling here).
We even let kids climb all over him for once because he was near death anyway.

The PTA organized all kinds of fun games like pumpkin bowling, a pumpkin splat where people chucked their pumpkins at a target and then another where they were dropped from a ladder. Twelve lucky kids had their names drawn to have their pumpkins released from a fire truck. I’d like to think Hadley and her friend were marveling at the height of the crane, not the cute firefighters. Give it a few years.

Talk about an impressive drop and of course, Bode and his buddies thought it was awesome.
“Homerun!”

We did not have the proper equipment to lift and drop Elbert so while the other pumpkins met their death, Jamie started cutting Elbert open for the seeds. When everyone saw what he was doing, they raced over and a pumpkin celebrity was borne.


Kids and adults were begging him for seeds. He denied most…he has people all over the world who have already spoken for them but he did relent when some started offering him money. I was proud when he didn’t take the money from the desperate 5-year-old waving his dollar bill. That kid has a future as a pumpkin geek.

Looking inside the giant pumpkin

And just what did Elbert look like on the inside? The meat wasn’t very thick at all–the reason why Elbert went way lighter than his measurements.

My friend Amie and her mom Sara were so darn cute–they’re The Pumpkin Man’s biggest fans.

We found many new uses for Elbert, including the portion that was used a rocking chair.

Little did that kid’s mom know her son would come home covered in pumpkin guts.

When people saw Jamie was preoccupied with cutting up the pumpkin, they started asking me questions. One woman had grandkids at the fundraiser and was thrilled when I scored her a seed. “I read about you in the newspaper,” she raved (referring to this funny article here where Jamie was made to sound like a local celebrity).

Her husband soon approached and as I was talking to him about Jamie’s insanity (particularly the part where he monitors the temperatures of his early-season hoop houses from a temperature gauge near our bed), he said Jamie sounded just like a guy he saw on TV.

Then, there was that awkward moment when he realized we were those crazies who appeared on the Marriage Ref battling it out about pumpkins. I assured him we were still together and all was well well. :)

So, this is the official end of pumpkin season. One of Jamie’s pumpkin buddies left me a cautionary note on Facebook:

Please make sure you watch Jamie closely for signs of Post Pumpkin Depression…obvious signs are hiding money to purchase seeds at auction. Watch for invoices for next years pumpkin supplies. Only cure I know is to start preparations for next year by hauling large amount of compost, leaves and manure. This should not be confused with Pumpkin Envy which is more serious.

I’m bracing myself for the fallout.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, Marriage Ref, pumpkins

Halloween 2013: A wig-fighting, sugar-coma-inducing great time

November 4, 2013 By

Confession: I often look enviously at families who dress up to a theme at Halloween because that likely ain’t ever going to happen. I mean, just look at my friend Lisa’s clan as the Adams Family.

Her husband is a plastic surgeon. I can only imagine the transformations they’ll undergo in the future. :-)

Jamie isn’t the dress-up type (besides his lame pumpkin hat) and my kids prefer mainstream (read: boring) costumes.  But I guess I’ll take what I can get with Luigi and Harry Potter’s Bellatrix Lestrange, right?
I won’t mention the “creative differences” Hadley and I had regarding her wig she begged me to buy but then later deemed “too big.”
Girl wouldn’t last even one day with my ‘fro.

With the kids in two different schools, I’m normally racing around to their different schedules but Halloween worked to my advantage. Bode’s party was in the morning.

While Hadley’s was in the afternoon.Note the lack of wig. You win some, you lose some.

I made oodles of tasty pumpkin treats all week including pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pancakes with caramel apple cream cheese syrup. Papa John’s was advertising their pumpkin-shaped pizzas and I admittedly have become a pizza snob, refusing to buy the disgusting sodium-drenched frozen ones and only occasionally indulging in greasy restaurant pies for our family’s traditional Friday Pizza & Movie Nights. Our homemade ones are so much tastier with our backcountry honey pizza crusts.

Basically, my goal was for us not to eat anything healthy on Halloween. Mission accomplished!

Our neighborhood is about as family-friendly as it gets and Halloween is a non-stop party! We met at the fire station a stone’s throw away from my house for treats, drinks, pictures and friends.

Fun at the fire station

Then set out on a parade that was led by one of the fire trucks.
Two different kids, same Minecraft costume. Can someone please explain to me how that was one of the most popular costumes this year? “Look how cute Timmie looks. Oh wait. His head is a block.”

Jamie and I usually swap off taking the kids trick-or-treating and staying home to hand out candy. But this year, my feet were killing me so Jamie was on Operation Get Candy duty.  They came back after only 20 minutes with half-full buckets. Good mom that I am, I sent ‘em back out ’til this babies were full. Mama has an Almond Joy sweet tooth to fill.

Judging from their sugar coma, I’d say Halloween ’13 was a success.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie Tagged With:

The Glorious Broadmoor: In Pictures

October 22, 2013 By

Sometimes I’m way too verbose for my own good so here’s a pictorial glimpse at our Labor Day weekend at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs’ AAA Five-Diamond resort.  I was on-assignment to write about their new Ranch at Emerald Valley through a child’s eyes (read about it here). It was one trip that would’ve made me wish I could be a kid again…if I wasn’t having the time of my life.

Hands down, our favorite activity at The Broadmoor is hanging out at the glorious infinity pool.


Usually we paddleboat around pristine Cheyenne Lake but this time we took the electric boats for a spin.
Apparently it was a very serious matter for the Boy Captains.


Sometimes you just need a break from the water for some Magic Treehouse moments.

We usually spend at least an hour in The Broadmoor Children’s Shop.

Everything is bigger and better there.

We also did some very serious gaming.

And we just had a wonderful time hanging out together.

Did I mention The Broadmoor’s coffee shop Expresso’s has wisely replicated the cronut craze (think: half-donut, half-croissant) that is sweeping New York City? This was their basic cinnamon-sugar Broadmoor Donut, which was melt-in-your-mouth amazing. I may-or-may-not have almost started weeping when, on the drive home, they announced their new flavors for fall: Pumpkin Spice & Apple Broadmoor Donuts.

We first took the kids to The Broadmoor when they were 3 and 1 and one of their favorite things to do is play on the elevators.


I love this shot. Doesn’t it look like it could have been taken out of their archives?

One afternoon while Jamie got a massage and I hiked the Upper Columbine Trail (details on that tomorrow), the kiddos went to the resort’s Bee Bunch kid’s club.


They had a great time. I think. This picture could go either way.

We can’t go to The Broadmoor without partaking in their legendary brunch.

Bonus: no children threw tantrums during this photo shoot (unlike last time in Tearing Families Apart and Bringing Them Back Together).

And why would they freak out when they have a spread like this?

Lest you think our trip to The Broadmoor is all about food, you would be correct. Cases in point: room service.

And we instituted a new family tradition at PLAY, The Broadmoor’s luxury retro six-lane bowling alley, game room and eatery: we started with desserts first, followed by the main course topped off by appetizers.
Upon returning home, I spent hours and hours writing about our experiences and was relieved when their magazine editor loved it. As payment for their writers, they give us a return trip so we can stay and play at our leisure.

Because we didn’t do enough of that during our latest visit.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie, travel Tagged With: , ,

The Carving of The Great Pumpkin

October 18, 2013 By

On a whim, Jamie put his giant 1,220-pound pumpkin up for sale on Craigslist a couple of weeks ago. He never really expected to sell it. His asking price was high and not too many people have their own forklift and flatbed required to haul it away.

But he did get an interesting response from Michelle Barnett: she was dying to carve it. For free!

And so she drove down from Fort Collins every day this week (about an hour drive) and worked in the cold, rain, sun and even snow flurries. She was so patient, passionate and probably spent 20 hours carving the beast.

Before:

The very beginning

After:

The (mostly) finished pumpkin

Michelle was a hit with our neighbors who were constantly stopping to watch her work and someone on the next street even invited her for coffee.

Ask me if a neighbor has ever invited me over for coffee (never mind that I don’t touch the stuff).

But if I want to ante up on my popularity, it would appear I need to grow…and carve a giant pumpkin.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, pumpkins
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