Three's Company

Sledding action

2011-12-16T12:35:00.000-06:00

Little sledding action while enjoying a day at home with dad!

8:55 day two with Kevin gone

2011-12-04T09:14:00.000-06:00

Here's Laurel's new hair do

and the bird...

oh boy.

first day that daddy's gone...

2011-12-04T08:57:00.000-06:00

Kevin and most of the CPBC staff are off to a conference in North Carolina...and mere moments after they pulled away our day of craziness began. We went to the library to see Santa and as soon as we walked in the doors the librarians started saying, "Linnea! There's Linnea!" I have an over due fee that I owe and my guilty conscience made me think that's what they wanted me for...but it turns out that Laurel won a drawing sponsored by the Iron County Community Concepts. She got a cute handmade elf doll names Twinkle and she also won the honor of flipping the switch to turn the lights on the city Christmas tree. Laurel, the Stroms and I competed in this "Twinkle" contest without really even knowing the the prize was...all we knew was that all the kids would get a free book so this was really a surprise.

But. Not the most suprising part of the day. Nope. That was when Laurel called out from the bathroom where she was supposed to be going potty that her hair was "not too long anymore, [she] cut it all off!" I ran to the bathroom to see a pile of hair neatly placed on the edge of the counter. And Laurel, with a total mullet. My initial reaction was to get my camera. There things happen to all kids, right? I had to catch the moment for all to see :) My next thought was about this big deal Christmas tree lighting that was going to be in the paper! Thankfully it was snowing and cold and definitely required Laurel wearing a hat! At first Laurel was very proud of her work...but I think after I took some pictures and made some phone calls she got pretty embarrassed. So embarrassed that she didnt even want to go to town for the parade and the party at Yooperland Realty where we'd see all our friends. I had to pick her up and carry her into the car.
My relief came when I heard our friend Jenna would be at the party and would bring her shears to fix Laurel's hair. Jenna is a trained stylist so I knew if anyone could help it would be Jenna. Now Laurel has a pretty cute little pixy cut! THANK YOU JENNA. She did say it was the hardest cut she's ever done. Crazy, sporadic cut done by a 3 year old, a wiggly standing 3 year old in a realty shop with 30 adults watching her every clip... she deserves an award! :)

So enjoy the pictures from our crazy day and Kevin better come home soon... :)

I dont have a picture of her new do yet cause she was so done with everything last night...but I will put one up soon. AND 8:55 AM day two with Kevin gone and an enormous bird..we are talking a roughed grouse or a hawk or something just flew into the window in our living room. It's still fluttering in the snow!!! I'm going to have to keep Eli inside until I can find a man to get rid of it for me!!!! COme home, Kevin!

A well due Update

2011-10-31T09:17:00.000-05:00

We tried to teach our child about utensils, but as you can see, we failed.

A day at the Wallace Zoo. We saw everything there with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncle, what a blast.

Hello Everyone,
It's been awhile since our last blog update. Life has been incredibly busy for our family. We've picked up our belongings, moved out to covenant point this past August. I've taken a new job as the director of Maintenance for Camp. Linnea is back at school for her second year. Laurel, she is crazy and loving life. She is getting so big, in fact she goes to Tot Lot, a school program held every Friday at the elementary school. She had a blast this past summer getting to interact with all the staff, swimming, playing and just being outside. She is so much fun right now, a touch sassy sometimes but so much fun.
That's all for now. We'll try to be a little better at updates now that we've gotten into a better rhythm of life.

Blessings, Johnsons

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.....

2011-01-12T09:40:00.000-06:00

Songs, songs, songs. A typical day at the Johnson house is singing sounds, and the director, Laurel, of course requests that we sing them as loud as possible. There isn't many quiet moments within the walls of the Johnson house. Some relaxation comes after 8 at night when the snore of a 2.5 year old girl trumps the volume on the television. But there are many memories of fun and here is just another one to add to the archives. Cooking with mom and dad.

More dough is eaten that cooked with Dad in the house.

Blessings,
Kevin, Linnea and Laurel

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T08:39:00.000-06:00

We are off to a New Year and new adventures. Chirstmas for the us was wonderful due to all family members attending. Linnea and I hopped between families during the holidays because our parents are only 20 miles apart. It's a delicate process giving equal amount of time but in the end it's worth it. Laurel, or all of us I should say were showered with gifts and great food. It's no wonder my pants are a bit tight when I finally get back to work, to many chocolate treats.

Who is going to clean up that christmas mess?

Laurel's new blanket from Grandma Nyberg

More gifts, and a Micro phone so she can sing none stop.

Blessings,
Kevin, Linnea and Laurel

Well below average

2010-12-16T09:42:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas All,
With -20 degree weather in the area, several inches of snow, cars that will hardly start. Christmas tree up and decorated, wood stove going hot, Holidays just around the corner there is much to be thankful for this season. God has continued to bless my family and I. Good health for us and extended family. New life has entered the world with my niece Annika who is doing great. We will meet Annika for the first time this Christmas. Our daughter Laurel continues to become more and more of a little person with big personality. As each day passes it seems that Laurel becomes more entertaining for us. With a growing imagination tied with lies, our daughter keeps us on our toes and usually laughing. As for Linnea and I we are busy but enjoying the craziness of the holidays. School, youth group, worship, helping give to those in need with Christmas Jubilee that was started by our youth group. God has blessed us with such wonderful gifts and humbling opportunities these past couple weeks. And soon a break from school which will be nice. So as the year comes to a close the johnsons are wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly as he has done for us.

Blessings,
-the johnsons

Oh Fred Bear, walk with me down these trails again...

2010-11-16T10:33:00.000-06:00

A success full hunt was granted to the Johnson boys opening morning. A cool fall morning with a touch of snow left our ears on overtime as each grunch in the woods put us on alert. But in the end a kill, with irony and trickory. Not a huge rack, but a large buck and meat for my family. I'd like to thank Fred Bear as his spirit was upon us as we slowly but carfully snuck up on this buck with his girlfriend and also the Johnson game ranch for their hospitality and providing me with the opportunity to take this small trophy. The buck weight was 150lbs.

Welcome Annika Keefer

2010-11-08T09:37:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture welcoming Baby Annika into the Keefer family. Mother is doing well after a delivery via C section. She is expected to leave the hospital in a couple days. Annika I believe was a little over 7lbs and 20 inches long with a touch of hair on her head. Congratulations Keefer family...you'll never sleep again.

Enjoying Life.....

2010-11-03T08:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Again Everyone,
The johnson family has been oh so busy lately. Will Halloween done and behind us, two birthday celebrations I think we are going to be taking a breather... until something else comes on down the line.

No more monkeys jumping on the bed

How fun are the fall leaves?

Below is the birthday boy. A quick trip over to Duluth left us eating well and also allowed two crazy monkeys (above) to play in the leaves with their grandpa.

Happy Birthday Hank

Caps for Sale! A monkey! Man who just got off his bike. Priceless

A couple fun halloween pictures. This year our church hosted Trunker Treats. A parking lot filled with cars, energetic people made for a great trick or treat begining as hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of candy were handed out from the trunks of cars to the children of Iron River.

Above is Marc Ralston, a long time legend in the town for being crazy at Halloween.

Above was another birthday party in honor of our very own Lisa Hjelm. A chipotle styled dinner, beverage exploration and some sweet desert left our bellies full and our faces tired from so much laughter. Happy Birthday Lisa.

Carving our first pumpkin

2010-10-18T09:51:00.001-05:00

Good Monday Morning everyone,
This weekend we had the opportunity to carve our very first pumpkin with Laurel. She absolutely loved it. She didn't however like getting her hands dirty with pumpkin seeds, that's where her father stepped it. A quick 20 minute project provided lots of fun for Laurel. Later in the night we lite the candle and snapped some pictures. Even the computer background is of a pumpkin just so she can see it. Also this weekend we went to Phil and Pearl Carlson's house with the youth group kids and made some home made apple cider by manually pressing with a contraption that Phil has. This is now the third year that Linnea and I have participated in this with the youth and it is aways a hit with our kids. But for the students who hit the apple cider to much, not good for them the next day.

Blessings

ICKY

Laurel shouted, Triangles as dad cut out the eyes.

Why our daughter doesn't have shoes on, I don't know!

A praying child....Priceless

2010-10-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Everyone,
Not alot to report from the Johnson family. Though it seems our weeks our packed with continual events by the time Friday has come I've completely forgotten what took place on Monday. The weather in Iron River is getting colder. The leaves are just about all gone and morning frost is becoming regular. Living here is such a wonderful time. The changing of the seasons, color, smells in the air. These last couple weeks the aroma of tried, dead, burning mulched leaves has hung in the air. Yes for some of you that makes you wrinkle your nose but it's a great sign that winter is just around the corner and I am so excited to see how much fun Laurel will have out in the snow. Her little self lately has had such a large personality. Almost full and complete sentences. Heck, dad himself struggles with that. Laurel is making so many faces, entertaining herself. She even gives us the daily report of what took place at day care and who spent time in the corner. Everyday I am some how amazed at my daughter, and even more amazed when she prays.
Last night Linnea, Laurel and I went to Bill and Lynn Fishes house. Steak was on the menu with a side of salad and some grilled vegetables. But before we could eat we asked for the blessing. Holding hands we all closed our eyes to return thanks. As I closed one eye and opened the other to watch Laurel I was humbly surprised. She sat there holding Mom and Dad's hand perfectly still with eyes close like she was sleeping and prayed with us. While watching her I was in awe. My child is getting so big.

Picture time with Dad, while she is still eating a carrot.

This is a typical Laurel face saying. Dad, I see you, I hear you, but I just don't follow!

Don't focus on my tongue please, Focus on Laurel :)

Loves to paint, and then tell you what she painted about 100 times.

Blessings
-Johnson's

Stronger

2010-10-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,
This year three of the Johnson girls headed to the covenant women's retreat held at CPBC. A gorgeous weekend with bright fall colors, great food and good weather made for much fun as the women gathered and enjoyed fellowship with one another. Below are a couple pictures of the girls as they carefully navigate the high ropes coures and become stronger. Great job ladies.

Aunt Rachel really stretching herself physically and emotionally. Ray Ray isn't fond of heights.

Look at the upper arm strength in Aunt Ray Ray :)

Lisa going out on a limb for that hard to get camera shot.

Linnea is enjoying herself as Laurel watches mom from below.

Mom trying hard and keeping her focus to achieve her goal: Reaching the zip line.

I am pretty sure tha is you mom... way to go!!!!

Rain fallen, puddles remain

2010-09-24T08:51:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Several inches of rain have fallen again in Iron River. My prediction is that our winter is going to be very white with much snow. Life is great for the Johnson family. Linnea and I have three weeks of school tucked under our belts. As for myself I love my position. This year however, many students have asked why I do this job. My new response, I am a disabled Marine with a prostetic leg, and the position is only volunteer. HAHAHA. No disrespect for those who have served and lost a body part. But the response from the students is classic. They really believe me and always want me to lift up my pant let. As for our daughter, Laurel has adjusted well to playing with her friends at day care. At this point I personally think she prefers day care. It must be more enjoyable than hanging with mom and dad at home. It's hard to believe that sooner than later our daughter will attend school. Laurel is getting big as you can tell by the pictures. Last weekend we did the worst to her, we had taken away the pacies. Next on the list is to get her going on the toilet so we can save a buck on diapers. At times I wonder how many total diapers we have used. But do we as parents really want to know that number?

A beautiful fall morning. Laurel and I had a cleaning lesson. We talked about washing and waxing. Different techniques when washing and waxing and finally appropriate products needed to complete the task. She loves to clean... and that makes dad happy. After fresh wax on the truck she took it upon herself to clean her trike.

Below a classic request...read me a book. Lately we have had to sing Laurel the ABC's. It helps calm her, after all we did take away all her pacies.

Thats all for the johnsons we are going to try and keep good updates for the winter season. Take care all of you blog stalkers.

Just a quick update

2010-09-19T13:56:00.000-05:00

Grandma Johnson and Laurel playing the in washer box...the best toy in the house!!!

Mom and Laurel

We are sooo bad about updating....and right now i just have two minutes...because we are off to do a work project with the youth group kids at Covenant Point! And it's a perfect sunny afternoon to be outside working!

Kevin is working at the High School/Middle School and still loving it...He definitely gets too much happiness out of busting kids with chew! And I am working the the elementary school working with the Title One program...helping students who need extra support in math and reading. I'm just happy to be in the schools full time. Laurel is growing each day...and talking nonstop. That might be one thing she gets from her mom... :) She really loves daycare and it makes it much better for me to drop her off there knowing that she loves playing with her friends. Iron River is beautiful right now...so anyone thinking about a road trip...this is the place to go! :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Nyberg!!!!

2010-09-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

new pictures and quick update

2010-04-07T12:44:00.005-05:00

our own fancy nancy :)

big girl!

everyone loves the "oh face"

i know the excuse of no internet is lame, but that's all i have!
right now i am using the laptop on top of a laundry basket so it's right up next to the window so that i can scam just enough wireless power from the mcdonald's across the street!

now, the signal is weak...so let's hope i can get this done without being kicked off!
we are enjoying spring break. last weekend we were home (gladstone/cornell) for easter and this coming weekend we are going to make a quick trip to duluth to see anna, jeff, grant and henrik. laurel and grant are such good friends! i'm excited to see them together since they are both talking so much! it will be so cute to hear them chatting :)
kevin is still enjoying his job as the at-risk coordinator at the high school and i have been busy subbing. i like being home with laurel, but i will say that subbing is easier than a whole day with laurel! she is very stir crazy after a long winter and loves to be outside. i think we are going to check out a little tricycle for her one of these days.

enjoy spring!
the johnsons :)

Happy Holidays

2009-12-31T11:19:00.004-06:00

A look at our child bed head after a morning nap. This style hair is similar to my sister's daily style, sorry sister:)

Another glance at our crazy Laurel, Like her father she loves going outside. Below: a look of a snuggled up child waiting for a fresh diaper after a bath.

Hello Everyone,

Just a couple more days and the New Year will be upon us. Looking back much has happened for the Johnson family We have almost been in our new hour for a year, much rework and a lot of demolition. Many stories, many laughs and not much sadness to remember which is a plus. This past week we spent some time over at linnea's grandmothers original house. Grandmother has recently repurchased the house in Mora, MN so we had a destination Christmas with the Nyberg's. This weekend we are in Cornell at my parents house also doing some visiting. With the snow on the ground and plenty to snowshoe with it isn't a green Christmas at all. Perhaps we will do some hiking with Laurel and have a hobo dinner or two outside. Not much else to report on. Our little daughter made out well for herself this Christmas, if another grandchild come on my side she could see the amount of presents reduce drastically. Everyone, have a safe and happy new year and may much fun and joy come your way with 2010.

Johnson's

More Pictures

2009-12-20T18:34:00.003-06:00

Laurel has discovered the sweet cold sensation that is described with eating snow. Now if we could only move some of those feelings over to poddy training we would have ourselves on heck of a Christmas present.

Hey dad, how is that baby staying warm with nothing and I have to be bundled up like Randy from famous Christmas Story movie?

Baby? Laurel says as she continues to eat about 3 lbs of snow. It's like the gallons of juice that she sucks down aren't cutting it lately.

Holtz Hausen

2009-12-20T18:26:00.003-06:00

This fall I took the opportunity to learn about wood stacking. A friend on mine had given me some literature on stacking wood in a way that would allow it to season in as little as three months. The task... to stack your wood in a circle which intern would help to create a chimney effect. The time... to much. The end result a sweet looking pile of wood, the holtz Hausen. Now I must give a little bit more detail about this pile. If you look at the pile, to your left while looking at the picture you notice the pile is stacked in a nice vertical manor. However on the right you will notice the that side is not so nice. Seems to be a little top heavy you say? It is... just minutes after snapping this shot, part of the pile blew out. A stupid idea this pile design you ask? I to ask the same question as I watched my wood fall to the snow. My initail thought, how to make it better for next year! :)

Three Months later

2009-12-20T16:42:00.005-06:00

Ca mo day in the house! Laurel and I were practicing some covert operations in preparations for late night sneak outs and CPBC. She is learning, if we could only control the loud screams progress would be had.
A little bit of Chalk board time in Laurel's room keeps her busy for about 1 minute. With a child who has an attention span of nothing and wants to eat everything, the simple tasks are the hardest ones in our family.

Hello Everyone,
The Johnson family is still alive and well. The dashboard on our blog indicates that our last update was September 28Th, not that long ago eh? Life has been wonderful for us. With the Christmas upon us and a New Year just around the corner our lives have been go go go lately.
This fall I took on a new position at the High School/Jr. High school at West Iron. The position is titled At Risk. In a nut shell I deal with behavioral students and tutor. Never would I have thought that while giving my Social Studies hell in 7Th grade that I would be the one helping these students later on in life. I love every minute of it and the work in my opinion is rewarding. As for Linnea she says fairly busy with subbing in the elementary building and high school. Morning sleep is often disturbed, not with a phone call that says school is canceled due to snow but instead you need to sub. Our jobs keep us busy as well as our child.
Laurel is almost 19 months old. With sharp little beaver teeth in her mouth you don't want to mess with this child, she is her father's daughter. Chewing through the sheets,running, screaming for more popcorn, constantly on the go climbing, touching everything in sight and in general pushing mom and dad's patients it is a endless circus at our house, some of you can relate.
The winter weather has taken effect in the home town, last week bone chilling temps and now today, Sunday, bright sunny skies with 32 degrees. You just never know what to expect.
Well that is enough update, everyone just wants to see pictures.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Love the Jonson's'

our favorite face

2009-09-28T14:31:00.002-05:00

thank you to our friend lisa for these funny pictures :) i'm actually stealing them from her facebook page...my solution for not being able to get our pictures from the camera to the internet!

laurel continues to entertain us...this is her "oh!" face. she makes it when requested to...and also when she sees herself in the mirror :)

last night she started a new habit that is not so endearing...screaming at people for no apparent reason. she entertained the sr. high youth group for quite a while by screaming in their faces. she's not mad...just needs to be heard i guess. well...when you have to compete for attention with someone like her father you do what you have to do!

a perfect august evening in the UP

2009-08-25T16:03:00.003-05:00

we had a lot of company this last weekend...kevin's parents, sister marsha and her husband mark, grandma carol and her friend karen, and my parents! we took advantage of the nice night and our nice friends the snows to take a pontoon boat ride on hagerman lake.

surprise mommy!

2009-08-25T15:53:00.002-05:00

i was visiting with my friend sarah snow the other day and i thought laurel was sleeping...she had been quiet for sometime...but then made some noises and i walked in to find this lovely display...

a naked baby with poop smeared all over her crib, her blankets, her yoys...yet mysteriously absent from her flushable liner that goes on top of the cloth diaper. kevin's daughter took off her diaper and then pooped. thank goodness sarah was there! i yelled for her to come...and bring the camera :) she then took laurel into the tub while i dealt with the rest of the mess. how come this doesnt happen when kevin's home??? anyway, i thought that the best way to punish laurel for that little stunt was to memorialize the event with a blog entry :)

5th of july at little lake

2009-08-12T10:58:00.002-05:00

here are just a few pictures of laurel with her cousins lena, yanik and svea at little lake, the 5th of july tradition! thank you all for taking such good care of laurel while you were here!!!!!!!

summer, cont.

2009-08-12T10:47:00.002-05:00

one nyberg 4th of july tradition is to go see anders play in the escanaba city band. this year not only did we get to enjoy great music but we also had some other entertainment in the crowd...laurel was being so silly! she was walking up and down the row we were sitting in pulling cob webs down when she realized that there were people sitting in front of us...and she could touch them! she started poking this guy. he politely ignored her for awhile, but it became so funny he gave in a laughed like the rest of us. you can see him in a picture above. laurel stood there and talked to him for quite awhile. she them moved on to entertain the crowd behind us by laughing and pointing at a guy wearing some kind of hat. he must have been making faces at her because she was laughing so hard (and so loudly!). i can see it now...in just a year or so she will be one of those kids dancing in front of the stage!

this post is for kaylan :)

2009-08-12T10:37:00.003-05:00

i'm just going to start by pleading our case...we have serious computer/internet issues! that is why we are so terrible about updating lately, but since i missed cousin kaylan's birthday this is a special update just for her :)
here are some pictures from our summer. this is at grandpa carl's house. the boys and laurel are modeling some Vietnamese hats that Lena picked out for them. if you look closely at the picture of paul and laurel on the hammock you can see laurel is trying to catch a bubble.

WE LOVE YOU BIG GIRL!

2009-06-05T09:52:00.001-05:00

catch up time

2009-06-05T09:01:00.003-05:00

we have been very bad about updating this blog and so much has happened so I'm going to do a major update session with many pictures :)

In the last month we have gone to Duluth, Hudson, WI/MInneapolis area, Kalamazoo, had a 1st birthday party and played with lots of friends and family! The pictures on the bottom are from our trips to MN (and Hudson). Thank you to Anna and Jeff and Kaylan and Jeb for hosting us!!! Oh- and there are way cuter pictures from those trips but I guess Kevin deleted them from our SD card...I'll work on putting them up when we get home(we're still in Kzoo).

The first pictures are from Laurel's 1st birthday party!! She was so lucky to have all of her grandparents there as well as great grandpa Carl, great uncle Anders and aunt Rachel too! AND Teri and Wayne Sherwood! Thank you to everyone for sharing her birthday with us!

Almost 1 year old

2009-05-26T08:51:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Well summer is well underway here in the great north. The leaves are out, some rain this morning is making our grass nice and green and the flowers are out. Amazing what a little summer color will do to someones excitement towards being outside. And, of course our little daughter is almost 1 year old in just a couple days. Again, amazing that we had had here for a year already, as well as Linnea and I living in our community for one year. So here are a couple pictures of here. Laurel really likes to be outside. Sometimes she chews on rocks and get dirt in her mouth. The other day she tried to take down and worm, however her father interjected quickly.
Hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday morning back from work.
Johnsons

Easter Pictures

2009-04-21T16:31:00.002-05:00

Here are some cute easter pictures, how cute is Laurel's dress?

Snow day

2009-04-21T16:03:00.003-05:00

Well Hello Everyone,

Several inches of snow have fallen in the last couple days here. To bad that just under a week ago we were able to walk Laurel in her stroller with just our sandals and t-shirts. I mean I had even started to work on my farmers tan while out working with duff.
Laurel is doing really well. She is pulling everything we have off the shelves always in the laundry basket and she now has two little white teeth on the bottom. They grow up so fast. Linnea and I are staying busy with work and house projects. Soon we will be sending you some pictures of the new summer construction that will take place.
Ok enough, here are the pictures that you orginally got on for
Johnsons

Don't make me eat that again, PLEASE

2009-03-17T14:29:00.001-05:00

OK, it's the Johnson family again.
All of you parents out there reading this know that children just don't like to eat their food sometimes. As for Laurel it seems to be all the time. But then just as if a light switch had been switched she is eating the food. Guess you just never know what gets into children. So I thought it would be fun for all of you to see just first hand some of the faces that we have to deal with while we attempt to nourish our child. With a little bit of comentary on the side.

Dad: Good morning Laurel, how did you sleep? Laurel: Morning dad, I really slept hard.
Dad: Well Lets start the morning off with some cheerios... Laurel: Oh dad you're the best I love cheerios.Dad: Finish those up and I will make some oatmeal. Laurel: What???Laurel: But dad, I am so sick of oatmeal, I eat it all the time.

Dad: Alright sweety you win, just eat some cheerios and then we will have something else, but do not tell your mother.

Laurel: Thanks dad

Hope everyone has a great week.

Johnson

One extreme to the next

2009-03-17T14:22:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

About a month ago the youth group at Grace Cov. decided to play the famous broomball out at Covenant Point durning the half time show for the Super Bowl. We figured we mid-aswell take out team spirit to the court. Anyways, A long story short, it was a very cold night out at camp. Around 25 below but we did have a lot of fun. However after 20 minutes of playing this is what Paul Nyberg and I looked like. And if that wasn't enough our eye lashes were starting to really stick as well. However, today just around a month later it's t-shirt weather. around 61 degrees.

Oh the life of a yooper.

E is for Elephant and F is for Flower

2009-03-12T16:53:00.000-05:00

Hello again,
Two postings in two days wow. Well I thought it would be fun for everyone to see what Laurel likes to do while she is on the floor. Something that her mother smiles at and something that her father just shakes his head at. She likes to look at books. I mean what ever happend to pulling things off the shelves or pulling hair off of Eli's body? That was always a good time. Oh well, what is a father to do but read to her. So her are just a couple fun pictures. Isn't she so cute. It's amazing how much of a sap I have turned into. My little girl is the best, but trust me I still have a mean side out there somewhere. Laurel will see it when she brings home her first boyfriend if it's before the age of 20 :)

Kevin

Rubber duckie you're the one.......

2009-03-11T16:18:00.000-05:00

Laurel taking a bath with papa the other night, she absolutely loves the water

Laurel taking a small peak over the edge to see where I am at with the camera and loving playing peak a booo.

Hello Every body,

The time change has taken place and it's wonderful to have some light until 7 and not dark at 4:30. It's amazing what the small things will do such as time change and how much better you feel when the sun is out at the temperatures are about 35 here in the U.P. The other day I again had the privilege of working out at Duff's farm on beautiful sunny day. Small breeze in my face, long sleeve shirt, cordless drive and a thousand screws to put through some tin. Seriously people, after a hellish winter what more could a man ask for, perhaps a cold beverage of some choice but that's for another day.

Alright enough about me lets talk Laurel. Our little girl slept last night 11 hours. Wow! 9 months of getting up at least 3 times a night. Now on Laurel's behalf I think she has had 5 nights where she has slept all the way through. So, when she sleeps like that let me just say that Linnea and I feel like new people, and we are up at 6 a.m. not knowing what to do cause we usually have some pillow time with Laurel. But I would much rather have her sleep through the night. Laurel is getting much faster at crawling on the floor. Lately she has been copying some of the actions that we do such as waving, pointing her finger and with me she laughs a little when I do. Really at a fun stage right now. I almost wish she could just stay like this.

Well that is all for now hope all is well with everyone, and don't worry, summer short and sandals will be coming out soon.

Johnson's

Still Snowing and Blowing

2009-02-19T16:27:00.001-06:00

Laurel's first haircut. Thanks Jenny you did a great job!!!

Hi Everyone

Well old man winter still hitting us pretty hard up here in the north woods. But I guess we have to keep our heads up, only a couple more months and we will see some grass. But I do have to say there is something about working out in the sub zero temperatures that places a smile on my face. Or perhaps its the ice that hangs from mustache freeze my smile in place after a couple hours of work.

So.... Linnea and I are staying very busy with both of our jobs. Just a little over a month from now linnea will be taking on a full time sub job till the end of the school year. Very excited about that. And for me. Well I am just out at Ski Brule giving ski and snowboard lessons. Nothing two special. Although I did bump into Eric Strom last week out with a group. Always good to see the strom family and a big thanks again Eric, you made my day. As for our house, I have put most of the house projects on hold till spring. We still need to paint the outside and some major yard work and perhaps a new garage. We are just in it and enjoying it as of lately.

Laurel is getting faster at crawling on the floor. She is now able to sit up by herself for long periods of time. And she is so interesting in everything and loves to wave her hand and tell eveything HI. I can't wait to take her outside in the spring so we can start going for family walks again up on the property and explore the world and she can play in the back yard or go swimming when the weather really gets nice with mom and dad of course. Oh the summer, why can't it just get here.

As for the city of Iron River, nothing to interesting. Lots of snowmobiles passing through and a cold cold weather. But if you get up this direction, please let us know.

Thats all everyone. Oh make sure you place some comments on Megans blog. She is down in ecuador and might need a smile.

Johnsons

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2009-01-27T16:27:00.000-06:00

Grandpa Nyberg,

Hope you had a fun and Happy Birthday

Love the Johnson's

Little bit of work goes along ways.

2009-01-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

This is the kitchen that we started with. I don't know why we starting ripping things apart

Because it was just nothing but a dusty mess.

An more of a mess.

And of course we needed to take out a window and then add another window, to make yet another mess.

A little bit of new electrical work and some insulation.

Fresh paint with some cabinets

New counter tops with some floor and there you have it. A new kitchen with a lot of TLC. Add let me just go on the record and say I did it for my wife. Why you ask... because a happy wife is a happy life. isn't that what they say.

Well, here is a final picture of the kitchen. But before we show you it, lets just to a little recap.

2009-01-23T12:23:00.001-06:00

Hello Every one,

It has been some time since we last posted. Life here in the north has really been throwing us some curve balls that have been eating up our time. On the flip side little Laurel is doing well. Its safe to say that our child is food driven. As soon as she sees that we are making her some food or preparing a bottle she just goes wild. You would think that she hasn't eaten in days by her reaction. Don't worry we feed her alot. The little toy that is in Laurel's hand, we stuff with apples and bananas and she just sits their and sucks all the juice out of them. What a great time killer.

Well thats all for now. We will post more later.

Have a great week.

Johnson

Weather up here has been cold. Temperatures in the negative 10-30 degree mark early in the mornings. Lots of snow and spring isn't coming soon enough.

the money pit...and kevin's time pit

2008-12-10T15:13:00.000-06:00

our little house is coming along!
after another great johnson work weekend we got most of the painting finished and all of the cupboards installed! the house is beginning to feel more and more like ours...and this will be the first place that we move into together that will be ours. previously i moved into kevin's apartment and we moved into the Hudson's...it's going to feel great to have a place of our own.
for those of you who might be up here over christmas camp i'm thinking we'll have a little open house :) we'll keep you posted!
for right now here are the lastest pictures!
thanks again jim, lorna and rachel for slaving away for us last weekend :)

the kitchen, of course. i love it!

one living room wall. kevin and his sister rachel are working on it

oh, here they are smiling for the camera :)

another kitchen view

a view of the house from the kitchen

thanksgiving weekend highlights

2008-12-03T10:36:00.000-06:00

how do i look in grandpa johnson's hunting hat?

fun times with papa

eating pears with grandma nyberg...yum!

on her way to one...

2008-12-03T10:12:00.000-06:00

today is laurel's six month birthday!
these last 184 days have been incredible. now, i admit, i barely remember the first few...maybe because i was still coming off the drugs :) we are so enjoying watching laurel grow and change and become more and more like a little girl and less like a baby :)
laurel is celebrating her 1/2 birthday with a runny nose and lots of naps :)
but even the runny nose was exciting for me because i realized that it is the first time laurel has ever felt sick!
enjoy these pictures of our big girl :)

Laurel enjoying the snow

thanksgiving with Auntie Rachel

this is Laurel "walking" from my cousin Danielle to Auntie Anna in Minnesota

and the first picture with Great Grandma Grace, or GG :)

nothing new really...just some cute pictures

2008-11-20T08:54:00.000-06:00

Laurel and I are preparing to head to Minnesota this weekend! It will be Laurel's first time meeting many of her relatives! I'm sure we'll have lots of pictures from that adventure next week...but for right now, here are a few random pictures that we've taken in the last week.
enjoy :)

Laurel chomping on celery...I really wanted to get a picture of the initial look on her face - it was a mix of confusion and disgust, but by the time i got back with the camera she must have decided that she liked it :)

more progress!

2008-11-11T08:44:00.000-06:00

we spent another weekend, with the help of jim and lorna (kevin's parents) working on the new house...the kitchen is coming right along! i'm so excited to have a kitchen to call my own :)
we met our new nextdoor neighbor, a young, single high school teacher...with the small number of people our age in iron river it's very providential to have one next door!

oooh, our pet eagle just flew by! this is totally random, but for as long as we've been here we've seen this eagle flying down by the lake. this last weekend someone dumped some deer parts in the woods off of west park dr...the tasty snack drew our eagle, another bald eagle and a golden eagle to our little corner of the forest! they were right on the edge of the road so as we drove by jim took some great pictures. we'll try to get them up soon.

well, i digress...
here are some new house pictures...and now that all the really dirty work is done laurel and i have been joining the renovation fun!
and just so you know, we are covered in snow and this morning it was 10 degrees outside...we are so glad to be back in the UP! :p

i really hated the way the front of our house looked, so i thought i would spruce it up a little with a festive star :)

this is a view into the kitchen. you can see there is still alot of work to do in the living area :) one thing at a time!

here's the kitchen up close...and a picture of our hard working crew :)

hi auntie kay! good thing mom tried this dress on, it would have never fit me if i waited until 9 months! :)

here's laurel watching the progress in the kitchen. let me tell you though, she is already showing signs of being spoiled! if i stepped away to work for more than a few minutes she wailed!

always needing attention...sound like anyone else we know? :)

laurel's first "dress-up"

2008-11-08T10:56:00.000-06:00

october 31 was not only halloween here in iron river, but it was also the first playoff game for the wicked wykons! and it was at home...so i decided to make laurel's halloween costume do double duty...she was a wykon cub. for those of you not familiar with the made-up "mythological" creature it is a lion with three paws. it was made up to represent the school when they combined iron river, stambaugh and bates townships.
this link has the whole story for anyone interested :)
http://www.westiron.org/wykon.htm
anywho!
i made laurel into a little wykon cub. sadly we never got a good picture when she's awake, but here's a picture of her asleep at last night's game...which, i might add, they won!
you'll have to imagine that the sleeves are sewn into paws with claws and there's a nice long tail with a tuft of fur at the end. :)
laurel and i, along with our friend megan moberly, went to gladstone last weekend and to trick or treat to g and g johnson, g and g nyberg and great grandpa nyberg she wore the pumpkin outfit again :)

west iron county class of 2026

go wykons!

a few more house pictures...

2008-10-30T09:19:00.000-05:00

ok...they're not really house pictures, just cute pictures of laurel with grandma johnson

Shocking Experience

2008-10-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Alot of news to report from the johnson family. Laurel is doing great and a huge step has taken place. She has started to role over. From her belly to her back and soon I am sure that she will be all around the house, that will be the exercise plan for linnea and me. As for the house... Lets just say there has been some electrifying experiences. The kitchen has been completely torn apart. I'm in the process of running new electrical, plumbing, and insulation. We took out two windows and put a new small window that will be above our kitchen sink. Then some drywall, new floor and cabinets will be installed and we will be hosting some top chief competitions, or not. Seriously though, it seems like these fixer upper projects go on forever and ever, I still don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and we have been on the project for along time.

So, Linnea and I, and Laurel too, help out with the youth group at Grace Covenant church. A couple weeks ago we had our first experience making homemade apple cider or apple pressing. We used an older apple press that Phil Carlson had (why does that man have such cool stuff?) The youth, as well as us leaders, had a really great time. But, for those who don't know, if you drink to much, you might be in the bathroom quite a bit. :)

And of course how can you have an outting up at the Carlson's house without using the gator. Man I love that machine. here are a couple pictures.

Hope you all are doing well!

Johnsons

defying gravity

2008-10-25T08:02:00.000-05:00

since laurel's birth there is one comment we have heard more than anything else...
"look at her hair!"
and it's true, she has some wild hair...
here are some examples :)

now you have to understand here that laurel is not laying down...she is sitting up with a blanket as a backdrop.

the picture below is too dark...but it's a better view of the wild hair standing on end :)

and the ponytail :)

laurel has two distinct layers of hair and the top layer looks and acts very much like a toupee!

rice cereal...not too tasty

2008-10-18T09:26:00.000-05:00

so laurel had her 4 month well baby visit...here's the update:
15 lb 1oz
25 inches
very healthy and strong
but because she has not yet slept through the night...and, it seems, is waking up demanding food more often she suggested that we give her some cereal before bed. AND...
1. it has not helped at all...
2. she does not enjoy the stuff
but i know it will just take awhile for her to get used to the texture and hopefully when more of it makes it into her little tummy we'll see some progress.
in the meantime, here are some picture of her first taste of the cereal :)
(ps i dont know why that part got underlined and i cannot figure out how to fix it...sorry!)

can you see me making the "mmm" face...does anyone else do this? open and close their own mouth when they are feeding someone else? it's so weird, and i'm caught on camera doing it :)

now, she doesnt look all that messy here...but she has actually gotten much messier with each try. this does not bode well for kevin's clean obsession.

and a couple other random pictures...

yep courtney...i think i'm going to be a fellow redhead!

More fall colors

2008-10-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

A gentlemen by the name of Phil Carlson informed my wife one afternoon that I had a beautiful pile of wood ready to burn. And I humbly thought to myself, I sure do. If only he had tasted my wife's home brewed apple sauce, then he would have had a sensory overload.

Fall Colors, here and gone

2008-10-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

Laurel loved playing in the leaves with her papa.

Hello everyone,

The fall has quickly come up in the U.P. of Michigan. Colors peaked last week and leaves are falling rapidly from the trees. As for our daughter, well let me just inform you that she loves the taste of a dead leaf. And she loves to be outside with her mother and father. It really is amazing how big they get and so fast. This morning laurel was in our bed with us for some tummy time and it's clear that in about a month she will probably start to crawl. The nights have been a struggle but we are hoping that some mouth development such as teeth might be playing a large part in that. As for the rest of her day, she is usually all smiles.

"A" team, ARE YOU READY?????

2008-10-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

THEN FLIP THAT HOUSE.... Ah crap, Mom you weren't supposed to tear that out !

Well let me just inform you that if you ever purchase a house that needs alot of fix ups, like the one that we purchased, you cannot get overwhelmed with how dirty and destroyed the place looks- because it goes down hill before it gets any better, like a couple of these pictures illustrate. But all in all, our little project is coming along. The kitchen demo is the three top pictures. We have decided to rip everything out and start over new, but that being said we will face much dust in order to make our kitchen look better. The bottom picture is a wall that I had to frame up in order to make a full room for our daughter. My helper shown above ( my father) is gracious enough not to show some plumbers crack while on the job. That's always been a little bit of a turn off to me personally :) Our bedroom, which I should have a picture of, is looking alot better. But there is more to be done. So keep checking and get out there a buy a house to fix up, then you can really see what if feel like first hand to flip a house, and let me tell you it's the most expensive fun I have ever had.

-Johnson Properties

papa's protege

2008-10-06T09:58:00.000-05:00

kevin was practicing for church and i guess he inspired laurel to join in :)

what talent we have in this family!

the best part is that right before kevin began at church yesterday he showed this video on the big screen and introduced laurel as their future worship leader :) they loved it!

we hope you do too!

laurel and grant

2008-10-01T07:52:00.000-05:00

the women's retreat at covenant point brought most of our (nyberg) family together last weekend. even great grandpa carl came over for the day!

laurel and grant have not had much time together up until this weekend...so anna and i might have gone a little crazy with pictures. we took 133 to be exact! and that's just on our camera. i think she has a few more on hers :)
i wont bore you with all of them...but here are a few of my favorites!

auntie anna with grant and laurel

grandpa GP with both grandkids

ok, these are my very favorite...we had grant and laurel out for a photo shoot in these pumpkin costumes i was given. grant crawled over laurel to get to a leaf and we though, yeah, let's give them each a leaf, that'll be cute! so this is the first picture...studying the wet, colorful thing.

followed immediately by:

the taste test!

finally, we had uncle paul take some pictures with the kiddos in the apple tree.

it was a great weekend :)

and now a word from the mistress of the house...

2008-09-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

eli all worn out after chasing chipmonks

and his favorite..flavored balls! (apples)

laurel in the new kitchen...can you see the lovely faux rock walls?

and a close up 'cause she's so darn cute

here i thought that i'd get on and finally update our blog and surprise! kevin already did it.

but i wanted to add that if anyone has some great ideas for paint colors i'm accepting suggestions. you saw the paint color brochures...there are way too many and i'm way too incapable! :)

and since kevin didnt put any new laurel pictures i thought i'd throw one or two up for you :)

maybe even an eli shot.

and just a note for you trolls and chicago people...now is the time to visit the UP! the colors are starting to pop and the weather has been amazing.

Life style for the not so rich and not so famous

2008-09-24T20:27:00.000-05:00

Well Hello my people,

First off I must apologize because it has been so long since I have personally sent out a letter to all fans that are out there. Life up here in the north woods is busy. More than I have expected. You know there is more to it than just sitting around drinking beer and talking about the thirty pointer. So, things have been really busy for us. Laurel has started to let out some small laughs which are so fun. And she is also realizing that she has these little fingers. Its so fun and funny to watch here. As for linnea and I. Well we just bought a small fixer upper house. Nothing special but enough to keep us well below our means and in our own house for a couple years. But don't worry, this house is not move in ready. No way. This is like what you see on the tv. Walls need to be built. Flooring tore up. Kitchen need to be gutted. Oh yes. It will be a project. Here are a couple pictures. Don't laugh. The house is right in town with smaller yard but we will make it work for some time.

Hope all is well and I will try to write more to all my peeps out there. And if you are watching from Schupans. I miss all you people.

-johnsons

an eli update for elisabeth :)

2008-09-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

poor eli...

he get so lost in all the baby bustle! it's so nice to know that there are still people interested in him :) one of my preschool students from kalamazoo requested a new picture of eli. eli was was as much an interest to the class as kevin or the baby :)

so here's a picture of eli watching down on us as we take off for a pontoon boat cruise. actually, the first time i took a little ride with phil and pearl (neighbors) eli ran along the shoreline trying to keep up with us :) we had to go back towards the Hudson's and then head straight out into the lake so he couldnt follow us :) silly eli.

we've been here for more than two months, but i dont think he's relaxed yet. poor guy's been through a lot of change. the good news is that he is great with laurel. in fact, if she's laying on the floor he often comes and lays down next to her. how sweet.

three months go by quickly!

2008-09-03T15:23:00.000-05:00

this is laurel's first dip in hagerman lake

heading out to the campfire at CPBC

last weekend was the Grace Covenant campout and kevin led some singing around the fire

grandpa johnson is holding laurel up so she can study all the interesting things on the fridge

does anyone remember lily tomlin sitting in a giant rocking chair? i cannot remember what that is from...some children's show?

oops, mom didnt notice that i spit up all over myself! but look at me stand! :)

today laurel is three months old!

there are somethings we miss about when she was tiny...but let me just say three months is way better than three days!!!!

let's see...for those of you who havent seen laurel lately let me fill you in on her three month accomplishments. (i'm sure these are very common for babies her age, but we are thrilled with every new skill) :)

1. holding her hands and using her hands to hold things

2. blowing bubbles and spitting (very accomplished in this department)

3. responding to her name

4. pushing her paci back into her mouth (if it hasnt gone too far)

5. standing with someone holding her for balance

6. before she stopped to work on her bubble blowing she was talking up a storm...we hope that returns soon...it's much more charming than getting spit at :)

i wish we could say that we'v conquered sleeping through the night...but we havent. oh well.

here are some pictures from today and a few from the weekend.

2008-08-28T09:22:00.000-05:00

and while i'm at it...a few more pictures

i call these

"an ode to cloth diapers"

and

"i cant sing the 'Victors' yet, but i can wear the colors"

sorry, nothing funny...just pictures

2008-08-28T08:48:00.000-05:00

so since our number one blogger is super busy i'm going to have to do...

but i'm just going to give the people what they want...

pictures :)

Hi Purple Room Friends

2008-08-17T20:42:00.000-05:00

Hi Purple Room!
I was talking to Miss Kim on Friday and we thought that it would be fun to send you a note on the computer!
Kevin, Laurel, Eli and I are all doing well. We couldnt put a new picture on the computer so I'll have to send you one in the mail. Laurel is so big now! Remember how tiny whe was when we came to Appletree? Now she is almost two feet tall! Miss Kristin and Miss Kim can show you how tall that is!
I wish I could bring snacks to celebrate my birthday with you all but we are too far away :(
I hope that you are all having fun and being so good for Miss Kristin and Miss Kim!!!!
I'll send you another letter with a new picture soon!
I miss you all,
Love, Miss Linnea

Motor Boat Motor Boat go so fast Motor boat, please step off the gas... I'm just a little baby

2008-07-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

We hope this update finds you well on your way and ready to start another work week Laurel had her first boat ride the other night. We ended up going out with several couples from around the lake. We had our cheese, crakers, and wine and it was a great time had by all. We actually left our daughter on the boat and went and seen The Dark Knight. It was ok we had a small little lifejacket for our precious daughter. Not much to report on though. Work is going well, the weather here has just been amazing. And our little girl is growing so fast, lately she is really trying to find her thumb, but on a more serious note, she has had some hurrican forced winds come from down below followed up by a huge smile. Linnea just looks at me and says, " Obviously shes' your daughter." I have to say ladies/Linnea I take some personaly offense to comments like those. It as if you are saying men fart more then women. And I would take the effort to argue that. But hey, considering that my audience for this blog is 90% women, I will just leave it at that. Hope all you ladies are doing great our there.

Well thats all for know everyone, we will keep updating

Still more pictures

2008-07-20T19:27:00.001-05:00

Great afternoon, so I decided we should go splash in the water a little bit. Grandpa Johnson feeding our little monster at the wedding

More Pictures

2008-07-20T19:21:00.000-05:00

Laurel seems to really like sleeping on the King size bed rather than the pack n play right now. Isn't such a cutie!

Our first trip to Chicago

2008-07-20T19:15:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has taken me a little longer between posts. There is alot of stuff to keep you busy up here in the U.P. Well Laurel had her first trip down to Chicago this weekend to a wedding. Another couple decided to tie the knot. Our good friends Joshua and Rachel. Here are a couple pictures of the weekend.

Enjoying some vacation,

2008-07-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

Laurel taking a small bath in her Great Grandmothers kitchen sink
Here she is wearing a small bib that says Daddy loves me.

Hello Everyone,

Hope you all had a happy safe and fun forth of July. Linnea, Laurel and I headed to Gladstone for the weekend. Relatives from Africa were around and they all needed to see the latest addition to the family. Here are a couple pictures of our little girl. She is starting to do some more facial expressions and verbal communication. It's fun to see that our daughter is growing. I can't wait till she can walk and we can take rides on the motorcycle or she can go swimming in the lake. Well that is all for now. We will try to get some family pictures up on the blog for you all to see. Well enjoy your weekend and be safe. Leave us some messages, we love to hear from all of you.

- the johnsons

2008-06-30T20:55:00.000-05:00

It will be pretty sweet to look at this view everynight.

We have arrived in the U.P.

2008-06-30T20:34:00.000-05:00

Here we have Grandma and Linnea filling up a closet Sister Rachel preparing some breakfast for the family

Laurel just swinging around while everyone else unpacks, Isn't she cute
Well this is our new house for the next couple months

Well Hello everyone,

I am sure many of you are wondering why have I been so slow at updating the blog. But I have been busy. Anyways, Linnea and I are all moved in at our new house for the next couple months. The move when well, and fast for the most part. We are staying and the Hudson's house. I start my new job tomorrow. We are really enjoying being back up in the U.P.

So here are a couple pictures. We will post more soon.

Have a great week everyone.

and faf

Pack your bags baby.

2008-06-22T17:51:00.000-05:00

Sweety, you have to keep your eye on the tv like papa.

If I could just put my head a little further forward I would have this thing Dad, I think you are to old to be suckling, while you sleep? Aunt Marsha comes over for one last visit.

Happy Sunday everyone,

Not much new to report around the Johnson house. Although our living quarters have been significantly altered. Some of you know and many of you don't know. Linnea and I are going to be moving back to the U.P. This coming Friday to be specific. I have been fortunate enough to land one full time job and a second part time. All the while we will be living at Jack and Verl Hudson's house during the time that they will spend in New York. So our lives are a little and alot crazy at the moment. But enough said, here are a couple more pictures of our sweet little girl. Laurel is doing great. We are working on her schedule. We have the night time sleeping down but that is about all. Everything else is pretty much out the window. One of the joys of being parents i guess.

Have a great week everyone.

-the johnsons

alive, awake and alert

2008-06-21T17:05:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,
here are a couple pictures of Laurel. Looking cute I must say.
of course she falls asleep right after she eats, but eating makes me tired also

Happy two week Birthday Girly Girl.

2008-06-17T20:11:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

It's amazing that we have had our daughter for two weeks. And at the same time we probably have 20 years to go. She'll be worth it. Laurel received a Birthday present today. It was given to us compliments of Matt and Lisa Smith, co-workers at Schupan. The gift, a new pacifier. Doesn't our little girl look so cute? She looks just like her father. Proud of you Laurel.

Enjoy your the rest of the week Everyone.

-the johnsons

Sunday Morning

2008-06-15T07:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

It's a beautiful Sunday morning down her in the zoo. Linnea, Laurel, Eli and I all went for a walk and tried out our stroller that we had purchased some months back. Works beautifully. Not much to update on. Linnea is feeling really good. Laurel is growing alot and I think she has already gone through 100 diapers. Eli is adjusting well. He really seems to like his little sister. Where ever she is he always like to be also. And as for myself. I am just staying busy with work and helping out around the house as much as I can. And on occasion I get to snuggle with my daughter for a couple minutes in the evening. Hope you all enjoy your day of rest.

Have a great week at work!

-the johnsons

Laurel, we'd like you to meet the family.

2008-06-13T20:16:00.001-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa Nyberg
Grandpa Johnson Grandma Johnson

Great Grandma Johnson

Hello everyone,

It's really hard to believe that our daughter is almost two weeks old. And so far, she has meet alot of the family and much more to come. G.P. and Betty came downstate for a couple days to visit with Laurel. After they shipped out on Wednesday, Jim and Lorna came down to see Laurel on Thursday. Didn't leave us with much of a break. On top of that Laurel was able to meet her Great Grandma Johnson for the first time on Friday. We even managed to sneak a picture which spanned four generations. Well enough talk, here are some pictures.

Have a great week.

-johnsons

Laurel, what does a power walk equal? Thats right girly girl. A long power nap with papa :)

2008-06-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Well smiles at our house from all, Laurel included. We have figured out the feeding process and our daughter is like a new happy baby. This afternoon I took Laurel and Eli out for about a half hour walking around. After all that fresh air we took a power nap and these were the results. When we awoke from our little bit of hibernation. Miss Kim from Linnea's work at Apple Tree was her to see visit.

-the johnsons

Tight in her robe after her second bath!

2008-06-07T06:35:00.001-05:00

" I love my little sister", says Eli

2008-06-07T06:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Well it has and hasn't been a long week. Delivering a small child on Tuesday, coming home on Thursday, not getting much sleep Thursday and Friday night. Trying to figure out as parents what in the heck we are doing. But slowly we are figuring it out and our daughter is worth every minute of our efforts and patients. As for Eli he already loves his little sister. He lays by her as much as he can. Off to the doctors this morning to make sure she is doing well and then maybe we will go for a walk this afternoon and test out some of our equipment.

Here are some pics, Have a great Saturday.

- the Johnson's

This.... is American Idol

2008-06-05T20:20:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

An exciting day for laurel, She took a huge nap on papa's chest this afternoon. Both of us woke up with some messy hair. We quickly fixed her hair and made her pretty because Simon Cowell stopped by to check out our little girls talent. Ok so it's not Simon its Danny from church

but he could pass for Simon. Also a picture of our friends Darren and Dana stopping by to check out the newest addition to the family.

Hope you all had a great day. Thankyou all so much for the comments and the prayers they are much appreciated. You are all the best.

-the johnsons

More Pictures

2008-06-05T10:41:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,
Well we just got out of the hospital and Laurel is home and happy, as is her father. We have had a couple long days. But she is worth it. Here are some more pictures.
Have a great week

People of Narnia I give to you Princess Laurel!!

2008-06-03T20:03:00.000-05:00

Ok everyone, here she is. Born June 3rd at 2:30 via "C" section which was interesting and very last minute. 9lbs. 4 oz. 22 inches long and a massive head of hair. Hope you enjoy her as much as we have.

Nothing Yet

2008-06-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Yes I know the big question.... Has she come yet? No is the answer. We went in this morning which is Sunday for the doctors to try an induce. We spent almost the entire day, eating hospital food, and watching tv and still nothing. Our baby is in place but just still not the right time. She will come... and it will be at just the right time and it will all be perfect. My nerves have actually calmed down today, I was really excited but not sure what to say to her when and if she came out and seen her parents for the first time. I guess now I might be able to quote an Alabama country song " God must have spent a little more time on you". Don't bother correcting me if I am wrong, I don't care.
We will keep you updated with the blog and phone calls when she finally comes. Until then just hang tight with patients. That's what we are having to do. Have a great week and thankyou for your continual prays and comments. We love to hear from all of you :)
- the johnsons

Come out come out where ever you are!!!

2008-05-28T16:41:00.001-05:00

Hello every one,

Still no signs of our little girl. Although today Linnea's doctor did another ultra sound because she was concerned with how big our daughter was getting. According to the ultra sound she was 9lbs. 10 oz. But the lady said that was more that likely incorrect and our child is probably middle to upper 8's. Either way nothing yet. Everything looks good and we even got a couple pictures of our daughter. Here she is. I love the one on the left, it's as if she's trying to say leave me alone I am sleeping.

Keeping checking for updates

-the johnsons

Up from the Grave she Arose

2008-05-26T10:31:00.000-05:00

Hello every one,
Well if you are like our family in which we consider you all family you are curious to know if something has happened yet. The answer, sadly is no. Nothing yet. The doctor said that all is going well, but still not yet. At the latest, the doctor will induce June 6th. So at least we have an end date. We will try to put up the latest post soon after out little child comes. As for my wife, well its getting harder and harder to get her out of bed in the mornings. It's like trying to raise the dead, almost impossible and who can blame her. When you have a belly that large and its the last couple days, or perhaps hours I wouldn't want to move either.
Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day keep checking for updates!

-the johnsons

Looks like she dropping!!

2008-05-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Hello every one,
The doctor informed us this week that the baby has dropped over the last week. I personally haven't noticed a difference but when I felt linnea's belly this morning there wasn't much up top, our little girl is all down at the bottom, hopefully soon. Not much to report. Linnea is now down to working just one job, which is at the church. I do have to say my wifes savage meter is very very high after working almost 60-70 hrs a week through 85% of the pregnancy. Nice job muffin I'm very proud of you.. As for Eli and myself, we are just waiting for that big day to come. We are trying a small video this morning. Many a people keep asking about Linnea and her belly, sure would be nice if someone asked how the husband was doing :( Hope you all enjoy. The due date is between 22nd and the 31st, will she be late, or will she be early??? And what the heck gender will our child be? Yes we are just as eager as you are.
Have a great week
- the johnsons

You just can't go wrong

2008-05-05T17:50:00.000-05:00

Hello every one,

Hey a quick question for all of you? Have you ever stopped to think about the things that make you happy? It's really is amazing the simple things in life and how they can bring such great joy to individuals. For example, the hamburger. Now I have cooked these suckers on the grill for years. I've tried a variety of methods, none really ever worked out better than others. But the simple fact remains that when I smell a grill warming up and see the smoke hanging still in the air, simliar to how the fog lingers over a lake on a cool summer morning, a tear comes to my eye. And when I smell that beef char when in first makes contact with the hot flam and the fragrance of beef is released into the air like a women sweet sweet perfume, my knees get weak. And then after the smell has gone through my nazal passages and fired all of my sensory nerves and caused me to scream uncontrolably. I can only think one thing... BEEF it's whats for dinner!!

I'm I the only crazy out there like this!!! Have a great week.

-the johnsons

Ready or Not, here (he or she) comes ???

2008-05-03T08:38:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

I know what you are thinking, what does that title even mean. This week Linnea had her doctors appointment. Upon finding the heart beat the doctors told Linnea that is sounds like a healthy little BOY!.. Linnea said, " We were told that we're having a girl." The doctor said that the women who had performed our ultrasound has never been wrong, but what if? So the entire week we have been wondering, is our child a boy or girl, princess or pirate ( ladies not to say that women can't be pirates but... you know what I mean just let it go). Either way we will be happy, even though we have alot of girl clothing I am confident I can modify all that pink into black with some spray paint.

Last night we headed out with a couple that had their first child in December, little Harrison. They gave us some tips on the flow of the baby room and this morning we were trying to impliment all of them. Starting with the diapers and there location. We have placed them right above the changing station. In addition we are continuing to read more and more directions. Like the breast pumps. Who could have thought it was that complicated to assemble a pump. It can't be that hard I told linnea. You just place it up to yourself like this and start pumping.

Looking back, if the two of us would have known about all the literature that needed to be read before you even have a child, we would not be in the position that we are in. All you singles out there, think long and hard.... do you really what to do this?

Thats all for know. We will keep you updated and keep those comments coming our way

Have a great week

- the johnsons

Sometimes, Men need to be MEN

2008-04-28T15:39:00.000-05:00

Well hello every one,

Spring is well under way down here in lower Michigan. And a lot of exciting news has been coming our way from several different people. Ryan and Nikki are expecting their first child in November, Congrats. Jack and Verl Hudson, no, they aren't expecting another child but are on their way out to New York for the next several months as Jack takes the position of the pastor at a church in need. And of course, I should talk about Linnea and I. We are coming upon our due date rather quickly. I have the baby bags ready to go to the hospital, one for mom and one for my daughter. The camera is ready. I have read and studied the manual to the car seat. I do have to add to that part though. Who ever in the crap makes the manual for a car seat really needs to implement some more pictures, that was way to much reading. I read more information about that car seat then I read in my entire college career.... :) And after much work around the house. Eli told is papa that he needed to take a nap and I agreed. A quick dog treat for the both of us (don't give me that look, like you haven't tried a dog treat before, or eat them often...) and we were down for the count.

That is all for now. Soon I will be putting pictures of my daughter online. Have a great week.

-the johnsons

Did you feel her???????

2008-04-16T19:36:00.000-05:00

Well hello everyone,

Looks as though old man winter has possibly left south Michigan, although if a snow storm came tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised. We had some guests stop by the Johnson house the other night. Allison Knapp and her fiance' Jim to whom she will be wed to in June. The two of them are such a fun couple to be around. And like many that are around us lately, they all want to touch Linnea's belly to see if they can feel our daughter moving inside. And of course give our daughter just a couple seconds and she will let you know that she is there. The count down has begun. Our tour of the hospital is complete. I know where I have to get my wife, although it would be much better if it was a drive thru to drop off, the I could go search for a good parking spot and come in.. Ok.. ok just kidding around. This weekend we have the famous lamaze classe that we will be taking together. I have no idea what to expect for that, I am sure it will be very interesting to be around women that have baby brain. Hopefully some men my age will be there. Well that is all for now. Hope all of you are out enjoying the weather, unless you are the unfortunate ones and live in Minnesota. My heart goes out to dose kind of people who live up dere in da Nort country.

- the johnson

Arts and Crafts

2008-04-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

Well hello everyone,

It's amazing the Michigan weather, two weeks ago we received a huge snow storm and now the sun is out, the trees are starting to blossom and the temperature is a bright and sunny 60 degrees. Not much to report though, Eli and I went for our morning walk this morning. He was able to run after a couple deer and we also stopped and watched Mr. Beaver busy working on his home, Eli says hi to all. As for Linnea and I, we have been staying busy with our work. Linnea is now 32 cm as of last Wednesday and our little girl seems to be forming well and she will be here before we even know it. Linnea continues to tell me that our daughter has her fathers inability to sit still, she is always moving a foot, or a little hand. It is so cool to be able to watch Linnea's belly and see our child moving around inside. And the fact that our little girl can hear us talking to her. Above are a couple pictures of some home made items that my older, loving, and wisest sister created for her new niece.

Hope you all have a great weekend and an upcoming week.

-the johnsons

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T07:34:00.001-05:00

He is Risen

In like a lamb out like a lion

2008-03-23T07:34:00.000-05:00

Well hello every one

We have had not much excitement take place in our lives over the last couple weeks. We have been busy working our jobs and mission banquets to attend at church. Aside from that the Johnson's have been taking in easy. Although the only thing that hasn't been easy for us has been the weather. A week ago Friday, 3/14/07 we had 62 degree weather. I was our riding my Harley and Linnea, she was walking around in her chacos. If that isn't enough this Friday the 21st, Kalamazoo received a 14 in blast of snow which fell at about an inch an hour. For many it was, "how could this happen?" And for others, just the simple fact that it was Michigan was enough of an explanation. As for our little Eli who had already made the transition from snowballs to sticks. Its as though his little doggy prayers have been answered. He is loving the snow once again.

Enjoy the week

-johnsons

Yet another wedding

2008-03-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Linnea and I attended yet another wedding last night up in Grand Rapids. A college friend of Linnea's decided that she and her better half wanted to tie the knot. It was a beautiful wedding.The ceremony was held at a rather large Catholic church is GR where the inside was amazing. The architecture in this church was just simply stunning. As was the after party. A live blues band carried us into the late night hours. Which by the way as some of you know, when you get older/ married, the late night hours are anything after 9 p.m. and before 11p.m. Yeah we had a good time and our company made this night a night to remember. As for miss linnea and her face. I just want everyone to see that this is the look I get. Men you know, " the look" when you have done something wrong!

Have a great week everyone and stay safe out there.

- the johnsons

Eli's a big Brother

2008-03-05T18:36:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,

Well I believe it's safe to say that our poor dog is completely confused as regards to the additional toys and clothes that have been brought into the apartment. On top of that our little daughter was kicking Eli's paw this evening. He jumped a little bit but I think he has a sense that some changes are going to take place rather soon.

As for Linnea and I we are staying busy with work and our extras. The other night we dressed ourselves in 80's clothes and went to the roller skating rink. I have never smelt such a smell as 30 year old roller skates. After I was done making several hot laps with the high school kids I threw out my socks. Aside from that nothing is to new. Although linnea's belly continues to grow as you can see. From the latest measurement, she is 26cm . Comming along rather nicely

Have a great week

-johnson's

Wow, you women are crazy!!!

2008-02-23T17:16:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone,

This afternoon we had our baby shower for our little baby girl that is soon to be coming. Linnea is now 26 weeks for those of you wondering and soon, oh so soon we will be welcoming our little girl. And let me tell you our little daughter is already, as they say in Kzoo, hooked up! We recieved so much stuff today. It truley is amazing how much God has blessed us. So many great people have purchased items for us. In fact we spent so much time working on the baby room today that a nap was much needed. And let me tell you, big papa johnson didn't have any problems falling asleep after he had to be with 30 some odd women today. Plus carring all the gifts up three flights of stairs... yeah, can we say tired. In fact I fell asleep learning that "B" is for bear.

Have a great day

-the johnsons

Please stop kicking me!

2008-02-16T10:15:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Well another busy week has come and left Linnea and I. Seems as though the days just fly by one right after another. The other night I had a great experience with my daughter for the first time. I decided that I needed to place my ear on linnea's belly to listen and hear what our daughter was doing inside. Wouldn't you know as soon as I had place my ear on Linnea's belly I was getting kicked in the head. Our little daughters kicks have become very powerfull, especially over the last couple weeks. In fact you can now see them just watching linnea's belly. Well thats it all for now. I believe Eli has just informed me that he wants to go snowshoeing out in the woods. Can't really argue with him on that. It's a beautiful sunny day here in kalamazoo!!

Enjoy your weekend.

- the johnsons

Visibility.... ZERO

2008-02-10T10:57:00.000-06:00

Goodmorning to all,

Hopefully this posting finds you relaxing on a Sunday afternoon and staying warm inside your homes. As for Eli and myself, we have been out helping the grounds crew boys at our apartment complex clear the sidewalks of snow. One would have to say that the two of us are crazy considering the temperature is 5 and with the wind chill it's about 25-30 degrees below. Despite the bone chilling temperatures and a visibility of about zero, there was a job to be done. And who better then the johnson boys/animals. After all, I have to honestly say that both of us salivate at the site of cold weather and large snowflakes. Enjoy your day.

-Eli and Kevin

Bibs.. Cribs... but please no more!

2008-02-09T12:18:00.000-06:00

Hello all,

Linnea and I headed out for a Saturday morning drive today. Destination, about 1/2 hour out of kzoo to a co-workers house to pick up some more baby clothing. Seems lately like we are working for the salvation army. Thats ok with us, if it's free the johnson family is all over it. I am not a 100% positive but I would say we now have enough clothes for about the first year, maybe more. As Linnea worked like a busy beaver though the pile of clothes, she found a cute shirt that said " I love Daddy". Mean while I assembled the cribs and had to run to lowes for hardware. All in all, is has been a very successfull morning and I believe that we are now ready for a good old fashion saturday nap.

Ben Glenn... THE CHALK GUY

2008-02-08T16:44:00.001-06:00

Hello everyone,

Linnea and I had the amazing opportunity to join the senior high youth group on a weekend retreat at Spring Hill Camp just last month. The camp is located just outside of Evart, Michigan about two hours north of Grand Rapids. I personally must say it was an amazing weekend, despite the bone chilling weather. Factoring in the wind chill I believe the students were playing broom ball in 25 below weather. In addition we were able to watch Ben Glenn a very ADD and gifted chalk artist. Above is one of Ben Glenn's picture in action. It was amazing how quickly this man worked, also how effective his talks and his activities were, both for the students as well as the adults. It was clear that Linnea and I had equally as much fun, if not more than the kids.

Enjoy

Coming up on the 6th month mark.

2008-02-04T17:23:00.000-06:00

We have been so blessed with numerous people giving us everything from clothes to monitors to cribs to swings, etc.. We are starting to collect alot of stuff in our new baby room. On top of that Linnea's belly continues to grow alot. It's so cool to feel the baby kick. I do have but one concern, that our baby girl might never know where her father even went to college. With Linnea's strong emotions towards Michigan I am afraid there will be now room for WMU. I guess I just have to sit back and smile fulling knowing that a bronco could flatten a wolverine like a pancake. Thats all for now
-enjoy

Choose your own adventure

2008-02-04T15:51:00.000-06:00

A choose your own adventure had the five of us working up a sweat after a freshly 4-6 inches of snow had fallen at CPBC over Christmas. The back forty never looked so beautiful as the trees branches hung down with heavy snow like little fingers over the trail that we so proudly made in the afternoon sun. I guess that is a true testament to yoopers, out enjoying some good old fashion snow shoeing. As for Julie and Miss Snow, deep down they want to become yoopers!