Welcome Home Elder and Sister Clark!!!

Monday, March 2nd 2015

Matt's parents returned home from serving an 18 month mission in

Hong Kong, China!

We were very excited to see them and have them home!

 And yup! We were that family at the airport. That's how we looked when they

took their first glance at us! :)

 Luke and Devin were excited and not shy at all to see them, but

James was only 2 months old when they left, so he was a bit more hesitant.

WELCOME HOME!!!!

Christmas Eve and the Great Grandparents

I love my grandparents!

Being the youngest of the youngest (my dad's the youngest in his fam of 7), I am not very close to any of my cousins or aunts/uncles on the Johnson side and my dads parents died long before I was born. So sadly, I never got the chance to meet them in this life. 

Thankfully I've been blessed with some amazing grandparents though, my mom's parents.

I'm so happy to be back to Utah and to be able to see them on a more regular basis. As I 

grew up I swore they never aged! It's like they've been the same forever. But of course they

 are aging, they

are in their mid-eighties and won't be around forever. I hope though, for many more years so I can 

see them even more and my children can get to know them. I'm thankful they lasted our long 

eight years while we were in Ohio. :)

On Christmas Eve day, we spent a couple hours visiting them. My sister, Mandy and her crew came along too. Before I left I thought to grab my camera so I could take photos of my grandma's many

Christmas decorations, the way I remembered them as a child.

In my grandma's more formal living room she has lots of fun decorations with lights and music, the little boys just loved it! And of course she loves to share it with them.

I'm sure glad that I thought to take my camera with me that day. Sadly about a week later, their sweet dog (and I mean that. I am NOT a dog person, but we really did love Sammy). Sammy unexpectedly passed away. It was so hard on them and so sad. They sure loved that pup and so did all the kids.

I took lots of photos of Sammy and printed them and gave them to my grandma and she just loved it!

She laughed, she cried, she just loved the photos!

James has always loved dogs from a distance. He just wasn't too sure about Sammy though.

My grandpa had these fun walkie-talkies and he let the kids play with them. They have a big yard and the kids ran wild. Not to mention it was like 50-60 degrees that day too!

These photos remind me so much of photos of me running around and playing in their yard when I was Luke's age. I can hardly believe I'm watching my own kids do it too. It sure is a sweet feeling.

My grandpa had been gone doing some last minute shopping, as most men do on Christmas Eve. :)

I just love his hat. He's such a handsome dude.

We'll miss you Sammy boy!

Mom's 60th Birthday

A few weeks ago was my mom's 60th Birthday!

We wanted the night to be extra special. 

I can get a little carried away with parties...as you may know. 

We hosted the party in the backyard. It was a lovely night!

Dinner was catered from Dickey's BBQ (YUMMY!).

I had so much fun planning and throwing this party with my sisters.

It turned out just perfect.

 We really didn't have to buy much as far as decor went. 

We bought the lights (and I love them!!!), flowers (costco), vases/buckets (the dollar store).

We had the table cloth, burlap, plates, napkins and silverware, and 

the twine was from our Etsy shop. It really was so fun!

And for dessert we had 3 types of fondue: chocolate, toffee and chocolate marshmallow.

 If you couldn't tell, only adults were allowed! 

It was a nice evening kid-free. :) 

We were only missing Brandon and Holly, due to work and illness. :(

 Jenny, Bryce, Susie, Matt, Angi, Gpa and Gma Hales, Mom and Dad, 

Steve, Mandy, Matt, Me, Chris.

 The original Johnson ladies. 

 My lovely mother, who does NOT look like 60! :)

And my adorable grandparents. 

And this squirt. He was supposed to be sleeping.

Happy Birthday Mom!
We love you!