Valentines Day

Okay so I know I am a little late with the posting but I actually had a great Valentine's Day. Trust me I am as surprised as you are! I was trying not to get my hopes up but I figured that perhaps if Ken was going to be able to get in touch Valentine's Day would be the day. I was pathetic and kept checking my email every five minutes to see if he would write. I kept this up until about 1:00 in the afternoon as Afghanistan is 11 1/2 hours ahead and so Ken would have gone to bed. Then I was really sad that I didn't hear from him. About 30 minutes later I was outside helping by Dad when a truck pulled up with a special delivery. My wonderful amazing husband sent me roses!!! They were gorgeous and of course I cried. Well we finished up our job outside and I brought the flowers in and started logging on my computer to email Ken and thank him for the flowers when my phone rings. It was Ken and I was sooooo happy. It was so nice to be able to hear his voice and tell him how much I love him!! Then later that night I got another special delivery. Look out Ken you have some competition!! Brandi and Austin came over with some flowers and chocolates!! It was so sweet!! Austin you are a little stud muffin!! :) Thank you Brandi for taking care of me and making sure I had a good day! You are the best!! So for all my stressing that I was going to have a miserable day, it turned out to be the best Valentine's Day to date!!! :)

Happy Birthday Cambree!!

Donovan and I were invited out to Tooele for Cambree's birthday party. She turned the big "8". I can't believe how grown up she is. The party was at a bowling alley and the Johnson's brought pizza and cake and ice cream for everyone. We had a blast. Donovan loved the bowling and even got a strike once!! Cambree was so excited opening all her presents. It was a really good day. Happy Birthday Cambree :)

Family Pictures

When Ken was home at Christmas, we went over to Shannon's and had some family pictures taken. They turned out awesome!!! A few made me cry looking at them. :) I will post them when I get them but for now you can check a few of them out on Shannon's web site: www.byshannon.com

Draper Temple

Last Saturday, Jerid and Stacie were kind enough to invite us to the open house of the new Draper Temple. I jumped on the chance to have Donovan see inside the temple. Brandi and Austin came too and we had a good time. The temple was beautiful and the spirit was strong. We parked at a church building and a bus took us up to the temple. The kids loved riding on the bus. Cambree and Reagen were cold so they both wore their Dad's jacket! :) Afterwards, we drove to The District and had dinner at Red Robyn. The kids were wild and crazy but we had a really fun night!!! Thanks Stacie and Jerid :) When we left Brandi assured me she knew how to get home which was good because I had no idea. Well I assumed we were going back the way we came but Brandi had me take a different turn. I said I didn't think it was right but Brandi was confident so I listened. We ended up at the entrance of Kennecot Copper!!!! Then I lost all sense of direction. It was a mess. We still could laugh though and got home eventually (only took about 2 hours)! Needless to say, Brandi is never allowed to navigate ever again! EVER!!! Love ya Brandi :) Good Times

More Battles

So Ken and I are both blessed and cursed by very talented siblings. Two of which participated in Battle of the Bands a few weeks ago. They were actually different battles different days but they both did a great job. This is Ken's brother Alex. He is in a Christian band called Phoenix Rising. They did a great job and they won their battle!! Alex's battle had 2 judges that picked the winner and eight bands go head to head. It is double elimination and they haven't lost yet! They have a few more rounds to go so here's hoping they keep winning!! :) Kristian's band is KHP and they are awesome too. (Though not so Christian :) ) This battle was judged by crowd response, however, we quickly learned that wasn't quite true. They actually picked the winner by number of tickets sold even though we screamed loud enough to be second at the very least! They took third which is still great out of 9 bands. Donovan and Alexis enjoying KHP. It is an all ages show so all our kids were running around crazy :) Little Michael couldn't make it to the end. Here he is with Jake's girlfriend Aubrey. At first we thought he was faking, but he was out cold!!

January Birthdays

Last Saturday all my family came over to celebrate the January birthdays. It is just my Mum and my brother Kristian in this month. We had a good time. Happy Birthday! Brandi's Austin came over to play as well. He got a light saber for christmas and was super excited about it so I just had to post the picture :)

Rantings of a Soldier Wife

So Friday January 2, we headed to the airport about 4:15 and I thought I was going to be strong. But as soon as we walked into the airport I couldn't stop the tears. Ken checked in and then we stood at the security for a little bit. I just held onto him tight and didn't want to let go. So many things were going through my head. How do you say goodbye to someone you love more than anything for so long and being aware there is a possibility this is the last time you will ever feel his arms around you? I don't know either so I just told him that I loved him, to be safe, and to hurry home. I waited and watched him go through security and then he turned and waved and was gone. It was a blur of tears getting back to the car. I worried if I had been able to hide the pain well enough so he wouldn't worry about me while he is gone. He will have so much going on and the last thing I want is for him to be worried about how his poor weak wife is back home. I wonder if he knows just how much I love him and will it be enough to get him through this tough road ahead. Is that last kiss going to be our last kiss? Was it good enough to show him just how much I love him and will miss him? Is it enough to help him get through the lonely nights? Will I be able to remember how he smells and the sounds of him breathing, the ways his arms feel wrapped around me and all the little things that give me butterflies? Now you all need to know that Ken's job is probably one of the safest things he could be doing over there. I am sure that he will be perfectly safe and may not even ever have to see any fighting. But as sure as I am about that logic, I can't stop the fear of the possibilities that come with going to war. Now don't worry I am sure that I am stronger than I think I am and I am sure to find out either way!! I really am doing well and staying busy helps. The nights are the hardest and as sick as it sounds I don't think I can wash Ken's pillowcase until he is home!! So it is a long road ahead but I am so glad it is only until August as many tours are alot longer. I will probably post some more rantings as the months go by as it is good therapy. I always feel better after I have said things outloud so bare with me:) Here's hoping I can be as strong and brave as my husband and live to deserve him. So pray with me that he stays safe and comes home soon!