Summer Has Officially Begun

This morning we got up and had some cereal and then I took Autumn over to Mom & Dad’s so I could go to the temple. I was going to go at 1:00 w/ Liz & Liberty b/c her grandparents lead that session, but they weren’t able to go b/c Liz got sick. So, I went to the 10:30 session and it was really good. During the session, someone opened the door and then closed it and my mind started wandering and I started thinking, “What if they were going to interrupt the session to let me know that Autumn had drowned but then decided against it so I could finish the session and not be worried?” Then my thoughts really ran away w/ me and I even started crying thinking what if Autumn had drowned? It helped me to realize how important she is to me and that I need to have more patience w/ her when she’s being a stinker. And that I also need to spend more quality time w/ her instead of just vegging out in front of the TV when I get home from work. And I know I’ve said before that I would be better at that, but this helped to renew that conviction. Anyways, as soon as the session was over I rushed out of there (I usually like to go and sit in the celestial room for a while) and got dressed super fast and rushed out to my car to get my cell phone and call home. Mom answered and said Autumn was just fine and was sitting next to her on the bed watching a movie! WHEW! What a relief.

I stopped at Costco on the way home to get some gas ($2.55 a gallon) and then I went inside to get a few things that I had coupons for, which ended up saving me $20 off my $80 bill. I love the great deals I can find at Costco (especially w/ my coupons), but I still walked out of there spending $60, which is a lot of money. I stopped at Little Caesar’s on the way home and picked up a few pizzas for lunch and came home. At Costco they had big seedless watermelons for $6, so I bought one and it was SO GOOD and juicy and sweet and perfect. First watermelon of the season…definitely a sign that summer has begun!

After we ate our lunch, we were hot and wanted to go swimming, so we put on our suits and got in. The water was still chilly when you first got in, but after a few minutes it was nice and refreshing. Autumn is such a little daredevil and loves jumping off the Shamu shelf into the water. But, she still doesn’t know how to swim, so I have her signed up to take swimming lessons in July. I am glad she likes to swim and is such a little fish. First swim of the season…definitely a sign that summer has begun!

Nick worked on perfecting his cannonball. Look at that perfect form before he hits the water and then the big splash.

We finished swimming and went back in the house. Nate came home from his military training and wanted to do pushups. He tried to get Autumn to do some w/ him and she didn’t quite know how, but she did pretty good.

More than doing pushups, she wanted Uncle Nate to give her a ride, so she climbed on his back while he did pushups. She was laughing so hard and thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Then after Uncle Nate did some push-ups, Autumn decided it was my turn. I knelt down so she could climb on my back, but then she fell off and had to get back on. I went down and went back up once and then fell to the ground. I guess my arm muscles need some MAJOR help! We were laughing so hard I couldn’t even push back up.

Dad got home from work and Autumn “helped” him fix a few things in the kitchen. I love how Dad is measuring and fixing things while Autumn leans back against the counter and supervises. She cracks me up.

Then, when Dad went outside to do some drilling and cutting, Autumn “helped” him by putting her hand on his knee. He couldn’t have done such a good job w/out his little helper there to keep his knee steady. So cute!

This is a picture of how the backsplash for the sink and also the stove is going to look. I really like it and am excited things are starting to come together. Eric (Curt’s brother) was here for most of the day to work on cupboard doors since Curt is gone to Indonesia for two weeks. Eric discovered that a few of the drawer fronts were measured and cut wrong, so he’ll have to order some more. Mom is just so ready for this to all be over so she go back to having a normal house and kitchen. But in the meantime, we’ve loved having them come over to our house a couple of times a week to eat.

Mom went to the store to get a few groceries so we could grill hamburgers for dinner. Nick was pulling some of the weeds/grass out from between the brick by the grill and Autumn wanted a piggy back ride, but she got on backwards and Nick & I were laughing so hard. He’s such a good sport to put up w/ her and her silliness sometimes.

Dad was picking some of the dead flowers from off of the plants and Autumn was “helping” him, but she kept picking the live flowers off instead of the dead ones. He had to show her a few times what the dead ones looked like before she really got it.

For dinner, we sat out under the AMAZING patio and had hamburgers and grilled corn. It was so sweet and tender and tasty. First corn and grilled hamburgers of the season…definitely a sign that summer has begun!

Nate has military training on the brain and after dinner insisted that Nick go out to the fort w/ him so they could do pull ups. Nick actually surprised me and did 5 in a row.

Then Nate had a turn and did 9 in a row, and he extended his arms all the way. And on the last one he spread his legs out just to be a show off. Then he said it was my turn to try…BA HA HA! I couldn’t even keep my legs off the ground long enough for him to take a picture let alone trying to pull my body up over the bar!

Autumn wanted to go swimming, but she couldn’t get her swimsuit off the hook and got ready to throw a fit. But, Dad went over and picked her up so she could get it.

I love this picture and the expression on Dad’s face and on Autumn’s face. It was about 8:15 and she was EXHAUSTED! She hadn’t taken a nap all day and had been swimming twice, so she was wiped out, but refused to take a nap or lay down. Dad asked her if she wanted to go swimming since she had put her suit on and she said yes, and then laid down on his chest b/c she could barely keep her eyes open. That’s why he’s laughing and she looks so out of it. She is like me…she doesn’t want to go to sleep or take a nap for fear that she will miss out on something fun.

She finally did get a sippy and go lay down w/ Mom for a little bit. Earlier, Steve (Curt’s other brother) had come over to see how the kitchen looked and told us that the hot tub that we had carried was all plugged in and hot, so Nick & I said we were going to come over and try it out. On the way over, it was just getting dark and we heard some meowing and noticed that Curt’s cat had kittens. There are 4 in this picture. Can you find all of them? They were so cute and sweet and soft and fluffy.

Nick & I enjoyed the 99 degree hot tub. It is SO NICE and has a ton of jets for each seat and then a thing in the middle to rest your feet on that also has jets. It was like getting a back and foot massage all at once. And what’s really cool is that we just sat there talking and enjoying the hot tub while looking at the moon and a TON of fireflies out in Curt’s backyard. It was a great way to end a fun-filled day.

And hopefully this post had enough pictures for Mom since I took 54 pictures today! :)

Summer has officially begun at the Johnson home!