family and teeth

First of all, I'm really sad mom and dad are gone. SO sad. It really sucks not having everyone in the same state! Elise and Aaron, you guys were truly missed.

So, here I go with one of my "Try this! It's amazing!" tirades.
A cheap way to whiten your teeth:
After flossing and before brushing, take a Q-tip dipped in Hydrogen Peroxide and apply to your teeth. Leave on for 30 seconds to a minute. Brush.
Hydrogen Peroxide is the main ingredient in all teeth whitening systems. I've been doing it for about a week and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ....

*We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on ofhands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

I can't believe I remembered that! Call upon my memory from when I was 12 years old, yikes.

I want to start by saying {thanks} again to all the family who were able to make it this weekend and that we missed those who could not. We felt the Spirit so strongly on Saturday. I felt as though my chest would explode there was not enough room for it. Heavenly Father loves his children so much and I felt that love. Caitlyn amazes me each day with her strength and her strong spirit. As we sit down each week to have Family Home Evening I am always touched by her knowledge and her belief in the gospel. I truly believe that the spirits being sent to earth are the most prepared for the world as it is right now. It is not enough for them to just be told the principles, they want reasons and to have their testimonies truly strengthened, to truly be converted to our Heavenly Father's plan for us.

At different times throughout our lives we make sacred covenants with God, but your baptism is the first. When we make this sacred covenant we show our love to Him. We promise to take the name of Jesus Christ upon us, to always remember Him and to keep Him commandments. To live our lives as our brother did upon this earth. I am grateful for the examples of Mom and Dad, growing up in their home and even now. I am so grateful for a husband who is worthy to carry the priesthood power and the blessings that me and my family receive from that power. I am grateful that he keeps his covenants with God. I am grateful he was able to baptize our beautiful daughter and use that power so that she was able to receive the Holy Ghost to bless her and give her that guidance in her life.

I am grateful for this restored gospel, for the fullness of our Church. Heavenly Father made it simple for us. One truth. He lives. I have no doubt that He does. He has a plan for me. He loves me and I love Him. I am grateful for all my family, for their support and their unconditional love for me and my little family. I am grateful for the blessings that I receive each day. My testimony grows each day as I see the Lords hands in my life.

Caitlyn has made the right choice to be baptized a member of the Lord's true church and I know she will be blessed for that. She is a choice spirit and a blessing to me and Curtis. A true privilege and pleasure to raise on this earth. I am so proud of her!

Why You Should Follow the Recipe

I had some lemon curd (basically lemon jelly) that I needed to use so I decided to make this wonderful butter cake with a lemon filling between the four layers. I didn't have the two, 2" deep cake pans the recipe called for so I thought I would be really smart and just divide the batter between 3 less deep cake pans and make three layers instead of four. I won't go into detail about why it didn't work and bore you...I'll just show the results....

Hey even Julia Child had straight to the trash bin creations! So Aubrey called and I was telling her about my "crater" cake. By this time I was making /cooking the seven minute frosting. With her experience and wisdom as a baker she said , "If there's a problem just fill it in with frosting.

So I cooked and whipped my frosting into firm peaks...apparently not firm enough. And there was not enough frosting to "fill in" the problems as you can see.
Now for the moment of ...I don't know what, Aaron cut into the cake and the frosting flowed like lava. So this is why you follow the recipe. I have dubbed my creation Mount St. Helens. Because it looks just like the side of the volcanoe/mountain where the top blew off and there's a sideways crater. The flowing white lava was my special touch.
It tasted pretty good actually--it all got eaten. And it was a good laugh!!

In Love

Mae and I were reading the book Grandma and Grandpa sent her for Christmas, "Everything On It" by Shel Silverstein.
We came across this poem and thought it was written just for dad:

In Love


If my face could only twist,
Then I could give my cheek a kiss
And whisper in my lovely ear,
"You're so beautiful, my dear,"
And look into my eyes and see
Just how much I'm in love with me.


As dad always says,"I love myself"

Johnson happenings

Great idea, mom!

Well, the Johnsons are pretty busy.

I just started school on Monday and so far I like it. I take 2 classes every 9 weeks. Right now I'm taking Skills for Learning in an Information Age, and Cultural Diversity. It's all online. Basically it's like a online forum where we do our assignments and get participation points by discussing certain topics with other students. I am drawing every single day. Mondays and Wednesdays I go to Barnes and Noble from about 8-10 and just sit and draw or look through art books for inspiration. Toms friend from school recently asked me if I'd be interested in being a back up singer in their band. They play oldies, which I'm way excited about. My favorite!

Tom is busy at work and with Rugby. He is looking into other jobs as well.

Mae is doing school at home on abcmouse.com and really likes it. We're working on her reading. She is an amazing big sister. She and Sawyer are soooo cute together, and he just lights up when she walks in the room. We're going to sign her up for ballet soon.

Sawyer is just the happiest little guy. He's pretty much always elated about everything. We adore him. He is sitting up on his own. He's a bit wobbly. He's starting to look more like a little boy and less like a baby. It's awesome and sad at the same time. It goes too fast! He is saying "dada" "baba" and sometimes "mama". He is eating "solids" and loves sweet potatoes. He is a really good eater.

Here is his 6 month old picture:

Well, I think that's about it! Love you guys.

I meant to add that I know my post was not a simple couple of sentences but I the point is that I don't want us not to post anything because we feel like it has to be a long newsy post. We just want to hear from everybody so make it simple for yourselves. Love you all so much!

I thought we could use this marvelous blog to do a weekly family update. I am thinking simple here. We are all busy but I am hoping each of you (and me) will plan a couple of minutes each week to do a few sentences to up date us. example: Caitlyn got 100 % on her spelling test. Aaron is editing his three blind mice movie. It will be up and running on u tube soon., etc. If you have the time post some photos. I'd love to have a photos of everyone at their work ,etc. Ultimately I would like this to be a family record/ history of sorts, though obviously it doesn't have to be just that.

Dad is at the moment hanging out in the "man-cave" with Aaron and Mark Stevens watching the super bowl. They were supposed to go to Uncle Dennis' but there was some family problems going on and it was canceled. (Don't know what the problem was) Dad is so looking forward to seeing the grandkids in a couple of weeks. Sorry Melissa, Tom, Curtis & Aubrey you guys come in second to the grandkids. Work continues to be long hours and too many problems for one guy. But he's like the energizer bunny and just keeps going. He works harder than anyone I know.

I had a good report at the doctors. My numbers continue to stay low and he has taken me off the monthly bone treatment and I will only be having it every three months. The medication stays in the system for long periods so I felt good about the decision.

Grandma Lindgren sends her love to you all. She always asks about each of you when I call her. Her health is good and she seems to be happy. Kim has brought her all her geneology that she had stored at Kim's. It will be good for her to have a project to work on during the week. They keep trying to get her to come to craft time but she hates crafts. She has loved getting the notes you guys have sent her. It means so much to her.

I am sharing a recipe of Aubrey's that has become one of our favorites.

AUBREY'S CROCKPOT SOUP

Fill crockpot 80% full with layers of the following vegetables & meat that have been diced:

(salt every other layer)

Potatoes

Carrots

Celery

Cabbage

Onions (I have used frozen pearl onions)

Mushrooms

1-2# beef pot roast cubed

MIX Together:

1 can cream of tomato soup (I like to use 2 cans)

1 box(=2 foil pkts) onion soup mix

2 soup cans of water

Pour over veges & meat. Cook in crockpot 5-6 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low.

Dad made the comment that he wouldn't even miss the meat. It would be a good vegan meal.