Let freedom ring!

We LOVE the 4th of July. It is by far one of my favorite holidays.  Between parades, barbeques and fireworks what is there not to love.

the Parade

Papa's truck is the best seat in the house.

Papa parks his truck at the church a week before the parade to insure a good seat come the 4th. Then at 5 in the morning he and some of the boys go to the spot to protect it from spot thieves.

love this shirt!

BBQ

After the parade we had a bbq at the "shop" with Ryan's family. The boys LOVE being around their Johnson cousins & getting dirty playing at the shop. This year I even let them ride a dirt bike for the first time. It scared me to death to watch them wobble on that thing. Somehow they came out of it alive. 

 

Jett

Rex

Ryan reminiscing

Asher was in heaven around all the trucks! He has got Johnson blood for sure. Good thing he has uncles to show him the ropes:)

 

 

Let's go for a ride on the Love Boat

It's Camp Gramma Luvlee time again and who wouldn't want to travel aboard the Love Boat, complete with Julie, Isaac the bartender, Captain Stubbing & Doc?

We were all ready for the adventure and enjoyed every moment. Of course who wouldn't want to travel to Russia, China, Ireland, India, Antarctica, England, Mexico, Paris France, & Australia on the love boat? It was only a five day cruise so we were lucky to get to see all these countries. First stop.....Russia!

In Russia we were greeted by a beautiful Russian man who told us some of the things Russia was famous for, among these things, St. Basil's cathedral and Rex & Jett's birthplace. Rex & Jett then taught the others a few Russian words like homo which means hello in Russian (not really but that is what they told their preschool class when they were 3). We also learned that Russia was famous for their space program, the kids decided to become cosmonauts in the Russian space program. They had to fight a space alien...

 rescue martians, return them to their ships and send them back into orbit

Then those who were brave enough entered a black hole to experience weightlessness. 

those who succeeded at cosmonaut training were rewarded with a badge, a certificate & lunch.

 Before we reboarded the ship bound for China we tried our hand at a solar tube.

 

Spasiba Grandma Luvlee!

Asher's 2

We have reached the two's (we won't call them terrible just yet). Asher is still a sweet boy he just is a bit of a yeller. In fact you can't touch him or sit in or around the area he is playing without him screaming at you. We think it is funny now but I wonder how long until it becomes something not so funny. It is good that he is cute. He is still quick to give kisses and is always wearing a smile. Some of his favorite things are: Cars, trucks, Handy Manny, Nursery, his friends, swimming, our turtle bob, playing blocks with Rex, wrestling with Jett, birds, helping mom sort laundry, chewing gum, his trucker wave, Jo Jo, turning off lights, playing on the bed with Dad, candy and waffles.
Asher doesn't say alot but here are a few of the fun things he says;
speed, I am speed
ye haw cowboy
I want movie cars
the prayer
when he walks into any room he says "hi guys"
one, two, three go

We celebrated Asher's birthday with a trip to watch Cars 2. Asher loves the first movie so we figured it would be a hit, it wasn't. He was amused for the first few scenes and then lost interest. Ryan spent the rest of the movie watching him run in the hallway of the theater. Then we came home for cake and ice cream with Granny & Grandpa and some of our friends and cousins.

 We sure do love our sweet boy. He is such a funny kid, always trying to make us laugh. Every time we sit down to eat he breaks out some of his funny faces to get us to laugh. He makes our home full of joy. Happy Birthday to our Asher Lev.

Cheap thrills

When we bought our house two years ago we did it with the intention of putting in a pool. Well this summer after finally getting grass put in the back yard we did just that. It has been so nice having an escape from the heat.

We were surprised at how cheap you could get a pool now days.

Maybe when we grow up we can get the real thing but in the meantime we are really enjoying our "cheap thrills"! We enjoyed the pool so much we also "put in" a slip-n-slide.

 The boys have got mad skill.

Asher hasn't enjoyed the pool as much as we have. He thinks his brothers are too wild in it. But here he is enjoying a cheap thrill of his own. Macey loves kissen on Asher. 

My "sun bathing beauties".

The world through rose colored glasses

I love when I go to upload my pictures to my computer and I find some hidden "treasures" mixed in with the pictures that I have taken. Jett loves to sneak my camera and go on treasure hunts. The pictures always make me laugh, and even though I have to erase a lot of them (like Rex going to the bathroom or Asher's bum) I love to see what he finds picture worthy.
These are a few of the latest...

 Oh to have the perspective of a child. Not only does life get a lot more exciting (who doesn't find giving your brother bunny ears behind his back exciting) but it is a lot more optimistic. Jett truly enjoys life to the fullest. He finds good in everyone. Maybe if I could be more Jett like I too would get so excited to go to the zoo that I would turn cartwheels while bystanders look on.