Special Photos for my Mother

 

 

My mom has always had a special spot in her heart for little kids in Sailor suits, so these pictures are for her.  She sent Gigi's outfit for her birthday.  I stumbled onto Henry's outfit at a garage sale down the street during the summer.  It's pretty old.  I'm not sure how old, but it's made in America, the elastic is ancient and not stretchy, and the only thing that comes up when I google the brand is listings on Etsy for "vintage sailor suits."

2013 Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to our dads and grandpas.  (Not all Pictured)

But most of all, Happy Father's Day to Nick.  I couldn't ask for a better partner is life and raising our children.

Henry's Birthday Interview, Age 4

Henry turned 4 a couple of months ago.  I interviewed him on his birthday, and would now like to share his compelling answers with you.

New Birthday Shirt

 How old are you? 4

Who is your best friend? Evrett, no Charlotte and Evrett

What is your favorite thing to do?  Eat some cupcakes

What is your favorite color? Green, and blue.

What is your favorite food?  Some rice and some macaroni and cheese

What do you like to do with your family?  Play Candyland, and Halloween to get some candy.

What is your favorite toy? Monster Truck [a hot wheels car he’s had for three hours.]

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor.  I want to help somebody if somebody is sick.

What makes you happy?  Clapping.  Stomping my feet.  [I think he’s thinking I’m asking about the song, “If You’re Happy and You Know it.”]

What  makes you sad?  When you don’t give me candy.

What is your favorite show to watch? Lightning McQueen and Wreck it Ralph.

What is your favorite book?  The Cat in the Hat

What do you love to learn about? About letters, like H-E-N-R-Y.

What is the best part of your birthday? Having cupcakes

Where do you like to go? I like to go to Costco and Hawaii.

Who was your teacher? Miss Jordan and Jamie.

What is your favorite treat? Suckers

What do you think about before you fall asleep?  About reading books

If you could meet someone famous, who would it be? Wreck it Ralph

What was your favorite birthday present? Some of those cards.  (He got some awesome birthday cards)

How tall are you? 4

How much do you weigh? 6 lbs

How old is your dad? 30

Special Birthday Treat at Costco

Eating dinner at their beloved train restaurant

Carrot cake cupcakes (his choice)

Look of utter disappointment when Gigi tried to blow out his candles

Caesar got in on the party action

Happy Mother's Day to All the Women in Our Lives

The Johnson Family Christmas Card, From Last Year

Here's our Christmas Card Photo for 2012, only I never mailed any cards.

So in an attempt to not let perfect be the enemy of good, I'm posting the picture.  I hope you had a joyous holiday season in 2012, and will have another in 2013.

Our village hosted a photo night, where you could sign up and have your picture taken for $15, and also included the kids' picture with Santa.

The photos are in focus, so it looks like we spent at least $17.  However, they were totally "flat" and looked they were in RAW format, so what you see here is after I processed them in photoshop.

Merry Christmas!

Sister Kira Archer: Sister Missionary Portraits

I got to take pictures of my cousin Kira as she prepared to leave for her LDS mission to Alaska.  She'll serve for 18 months in "The Last Frontier."  While I know her family will miss her, I have never met anyone so excited to serve a mission. Kira has exuded enthusiasm whenever she talked about preparing for her mission.  Her mom commented on Facebook after leaving Kira at the Missionary Training Center that she knew Kira was "Finally living her dream."

Good luck to Kira while she is on her mission.  She will be in our prayers.

It was such a rare treat for me to have a beautiful, cooperative model that can hold still when told to.

 

This cat was stalking us while we took her pictures.

Dinner at Hogwarts

On Monday, Nick and I attended a very formal event, held at Northwestern's University Club.  It started with drinks and hors d'oeuvre in the eighth floor library, overlooking the Art Institute.  This was no public library.  It looked more like a castle library you walk into and discover the Duke smoking a cigar as he reads Shakespeare. I didn't want to appear out of place, or overly impressed, so I played it cool and didn't take lots of pictures.



But when we walked into the dining room, it was too impressive to maintain a cool demeanor.  It was a cathedral-like room, and to add to the magic, had dozens of large golden snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.  It instantly reminded me of the great hall at Hogwarts in Harry Potter with its enchanted ceiling.  The room has crests of Ivy League schools all along the wall.  The stories-tall Christmas tree added to the charm.  My pictures don't do it justice of course.

This picture doesn't show how awesome my hair looked.

The place is so formal, that I think they made the one guy who showed up without a jacket borrow one.  The event was to present three surgeons with endowed chairs at UIC.  Everyone in the program was wearing doctoral robes, which look a lot like wizarding robes.  The was a formal procession in, with the lead person carrying a giant wooden staff, which then went into a holder on the stage.
I never figured out what that was about.

Nick was invited by one of the honorees who he has worked under and co-written a paper with.  I think we were about thirty years under the average age of attendees.  We sat next to a really fun couple, and when they found out we were from Utah, asked if we were Mormon.  Then they said, "Oh, so do you know so-and-so?"  And yes, we did know that family.  

When we were leaving, I found this door when I was looking for the bathroom.  How can this place not be Hogwarts?