Mayer Time VIII

Amidst the total craziness of my working/teaching life right now, I was able to sneak away to Phoenix last week to see my 8th John Mayer concert! Here are some pictures from the

Mayer-ific adventure!

With my friend/partner in crime Steph before the show...man, I am so dang pale!

That's right...JM concert #8, baby!

John's outfit was...well...unfortunate, to say the least! What's with the man-pris and the wrestler-looking shoes?? I mean, what good does it do to have Jennifer Aniston as your girlfriend if she doesn't do wardrobe control?!

John in action

Post-concert eats! Concert-going can make you very hungry!

The end of the road...time to say good-bye!
It was a fun time...despite the fact that there were only about 28.5 hours between the time I left for Phoenix and the time I returned to Vegas! I guess now that this adventure is behind me, it's time to start planning for concert #9!!

Friday Fun

To view video of some of the activities we were involved in on Friday go to the following blogs. We didn't have our camera with us the entire weekend so we didn't get any of this footage or any pictures of Grandma and Grandpa's visit. We are so thankful they sacrificed their time to come for a short visit.

http://www.trentandkylie.blogspot.com/
http://www.dalemart.blogspot.com/

Pay special attention to the waterskiing videos and the giant water slide.

Backyard Fun and Makeovers

Here are some pictures of the boys playing in the backyard on Saturday. Scott decided to get the clippers out and we both tried cutting the boys' hair while they literally ran around the backyard. Poor Rex wasn't so lucky, as you'll see in the pictures below. He ended up with a buzz cut to fix the damage his mother inflicted.

The boys wanted to make funny faces for the camera...Here's Rex. Here's FelixPre-HaircutThe Point of No ReturnThe Buzz Cut is Born (Thank goodness he's a boy!)

Grandparent Summer Fun

Playing at the park

PNC Park for the Pirates vs. Rockies game...Pirates won! A birthday miracle!

On the river downtown waiting for the Ducky tour bus/boat to leave

Felix driving the Ducky boat

Grandpa, Felix and Grandma racing at the park. Grandpa got the racing bug because he later raced Felix and Scott to the car after the baseball game. You might have to start training for the 1/2 marathon with Todd and Valerie!

Digging for Dinosaurs

We had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa and Lizzy this past week. Felix and Rex really miss you guys! I don't think you heard him as you were walking away from the car at the airport, but Rex kept saying, "Bye Bye Lizzy!" and Felix when we got home said, "I miss Grandma and Grandpa", but he was happy again when he remembered we are going to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures including Scott's Dinosaur Birthday Party (courtesy of Grandma), playing at the park, touring Pittsburgh on a Ducky boat and Lizzy's birthday gift to Scott...a Pirates vs. Rockies baseball game. Thanks for all the good times!

Melaleuca's Summer Picnic

Melaleuca's summer picnic was today. It's a six-hour free-for-all of sun, sno-cones, cotton candy, inflatable toys, pony rides, face painting, water park etc. They also give out about $25k in prizes - needless to say we walked away empty handed, which was pretty disappointing since the prizes ranged from flat-screen TVs to a trip to Disneyland and the Caribbean. None the less, Riley and Macie had a blast and here are a few pictures from their adventures.

Charlotte Rolling Over - Half Marathon - 4th of July - T-Ball

Here are some pics documenting Charlotte's rolling skills.

In other news...Valerie and I are training for the Top Of Utah Half Marathon at the end of August. We just completed our second week of training with a 5 mile run. I've come to the conclusion that running isn't that bad as long as you have something to occupy your mind, otherwise, it can get a little boring.

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July. We went to Menan Days again for fun, food, basketball, parade, and lots of sun. We took second in the three-on-three basketball tournament; we lost by two points in the championship game. Riley and Macie each placed in their age division at the always competetive Menan Day's races (The winner gets .75 cents, down to .25 cents for third place.)

Also some pictures of Riley at T-Ball.

Wacky Maggie

From the archives, we were going through some old videos on our camcorder over the long weekend and came across some of Maggie's hi-jinx from when she was here visiting last fall for Margie's play and Rex's birthday.

Enjoy!

Pittsburgh Johnson Happenings

Rolling-Pin Toss Champion

Yesterday at Forest Hills, PA's 4th of July Community days, the Borough crowned a new reigning Women's Rolling-Pin Toss Champion...our very own Margie Johnson!

The winning throw was very impressive...there were several ooohs and aaahs from the audience, and that wasn't just because Margie almost pegged a group of boys walking at what any reasonable person would have considered a very safe distance from the competition based on the placement of the other competitors' markers.

Unfortunately, because I was a little overwhelmed trying to monitor the two little guys at the time (not as expert as Margie at wrestling both of them yet), I was unable to capture the winning throw on video.

The unavoidable connection between Margie's expertise wrestling the boys and her victory in the rolling-pin toss was not lost on me or several of the other onlookers.

To compensate for not recording the winning throw, however, I have posted video of the awards ceremony for all to enjoy.

The most remarkable parts of the awards ceremony are, in order, 1) the announcement that Margie set a new Borough record, and 2) the bizarre behavior exhibited by Felix on the podium with his mother.

Regarding the first of those two points (Margie's new record), several attendees also commented confidently about Margie's prospects for taking her game to a higher level (hello, Beijing).

Margie's trophy is currently displayed prominently on our mantle.

37 and Counting

On a separate note, I traveled to Montréal for work last week. It is a very beautiful city, and one I would love to visit for leisure sometime.

Because my passport had expired in 2003, 10 years from when it was issued prior to my mission (yes, I know I'm dating myself here), I was not eligible to fly into Canada, which requires a current passport.

For another year or so, however, U.S. citizens traveling by land or sea can still enter our northern neighbor with only a photo ID and birth certificate. Consequently, I made arrangements to fly Southwest into Manchester, New Hampshire, rent a car and drive the rest of the way to Montréal.

In addition to NH, the trip also took me through VT, another state I'd never visited before. The highway I was on drove through Sharon, where the monument and visitor's center for Joseph Smith's birthplace are located. Unfortunately, I was on a rushed schedule and was not able to stop there but slept away the drowsies for about 45 at a rest stop in Sharon.

It was very beautiful driving through NH and VT, two states that from what I could observe mandate ownership of Subaru Outbacks. They were everywhere I looked!

With my visit to those two states, I've now been to 37 of the 48 continental. I've posted a map that shows which states I've visited; as you can see, I'm keeping very close track of this all. If our travels to next summer's JFR go as planned, by this time next year, I should be up to 42 of the 48 continental, towards my goal of visiting all of those 48 by my 40th birthday.

Hope everyone is doing well and having a happy long weekend!

Sabbath Day Holy

Where to start? First of all, it's Valerie. The weekend in Driggs was fun, but I knew before we even left that the RIGHT thing to do was to pack up and come home Sat. night so we could go to church. Well, to say the least, we were exhausted after hiking all day Saturday and tucked the kids in for an early bed. We sluffed church and Macie burned her legs. Lesson learned. The burns didn't look too bad on Sunday. I called the pediatrician; the nurse told me to put neosporin on them and keep them covered, so I did. Macie cried when it happened, took a nap, and seemed completely fine when she woke up. When we got home I changed her dressings and saw that the skin had turned black. I looked up burns on the internet to see that the worst possible burns are "painless" due to nerve damage. I immediately freaked out since Macie showed no signs of pain. I called Janet for advice (thanks :)) and went to the ER since it was now 8:05 and, of course, the instacares all closed at 8. I was a wreck and crying, but Macie was on cloud nine. She was jumping all over the chairs, (sliding down them,which made me cringe every time knowing that that poor burned skin was underneath) and having a great time. A nurse informed us that there were 55 patients waiting. After I calmed down and let Macie play in the ER for two hours, we decided she could obviously wait till the next day to see her pediatrician. the pediatrician sent us to the wound/burn center at the hospital. The Dr. said it was 2nd and 3rd degree with some exposed nerves. She just sat there the whole time and let him do whatever he wanted. He was flabbergasted that Macie didn't cry and scream when he removed the dressings and had to pull some of the dead skin off. He made sure she still had feeling by poking her everywhere, and she eventually pulled her leg back. He said she was the toughest patient he'd ever had. (When I have had to call back and ask questions I explain who I am and they say, "Oh, that tough little girl with the burned legs?") Anyway, she is fine. Yesterday they said by next week the new skin should be growing! I did, however, let her get wet today at the splash park, so hopefully that doesn't slow things down. I couldn't say no to this special event...she loved it! Apparently I didn't learn my lesson as Riley got herself a pretty good bumburn. I take no responsibility for this. I tried my hardest to apply sunscreen to her legs, but she wasn't about to have it. She has a million scratches on her legs (she always tries to slide during her t-ball games) and says that the sunscreen stings too bad.

So there is our week in review. Charlotte had her 4 month check-up today. She is in the 50th percentile for height and weight and her head is in the 90th. We are so proud :) Enjoy the pics...and thanks for putting little Mace on the temple lists. You guys are the best!

Weekend In Driggs

Here is a link to a photo album of our weekend in Driggs, Idaho at the Burnside residence (Buffy's parents' house) We went up Friday and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was a great time until Macie burned both legs by sitting on the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle.

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d7a677a4e544d784d673d3d0d0a&campaign=blog_playback_link&blogview=true

Father's Day Miracle

We witnessed a Father's Day Miracle yesterday as Riley learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. We didn't have our camera at the time, but caught this action when we went for a walk around the neighborhood tonight for FHE.