The Annual Party!

On last Monday night we held our annual Christmas party for the extended Johnson family. Getting together with these relatives that we don't get to see very often is definitely a highlight of the holiday season for us. Traditionally, this party was hosted by Mary and True on Christmas Eve. As their grandchildren grew up and had families of their own and the matriarch and patriarch of the family moved to a warmer climate, the tradition had to change. For the past several years Jim and I have hosted the party, with Adam and Emily arranging for us to rent the clubhouse in their neighborhood. It's a great facility--big gathering room, wonderful kitchen, a game room and big screen TV for the teens, a toy room for the younger children, and plenty of restroom facilities that none of us have to clean. Santa made his appearance amid cheers (and a few tears) and how we appreciate him (and his wife) traveling the long distance he must each time he does this. The food was plentiful and delicious and we loved being together. There are quite a few pictures, so we hope all of you Johnsons can find your beautiful faces among them. We missed those of you who didn't join us--hopefully you'll be with us next time.

Thanksgiving 2010

Some of our most precious blessings join us for Thanksgiving each year. We always miss those family members that aren't able to be with us and this year we especially missed my mother. Despite that bit of sadness we were happy to be together to share a delicious meal and each other's company.

Confession

I am a little embarrassed to admit this in a fairly public place, but up until last night Jim and I had never attended a Jazz game. I don't know why for sure--it could be a lack of desire to spend money to see a basketball game, a lack of time, or maybe even a lack of strong desire to see them play in person. Anyway, last evening my dad--also his first Jazz game-- Jim, and I were able to see the Jazz defeat the Raptors, as guests of Emilee and Joel. We had a great time despite the two guys behind us who talked loudly and constantly almost the entire game. (I'm not sure that either one of them ever stopped to breathe.) Hopefully we'll get another opportunity to attend a game.

We had parked at the church office building and walked to the arena, but decided to take Trax back as far as Main Street after the game. The Trax ride was another first for Dad and me. Now I feel like a true Utahn!

Halloween 2010

Our ward celebrated Halloween with a very wet and soggy Trunk or Treat last night, but we celebrated as a family tonight on a beautiful fall evening. We also were celebrating the October birthdays--Dad, Jeremy, and Gentrie. Our dinner was our traditional beef stew, a very delicious, spicy chicken pumpkin chowder, witchfingers (breadsticks), candy corn jello, orange jello, mini-mummies (pigs in blankets), fruit salad in a pumpkin, streusel crumb cake, and "wormy" cupcakes. Our clever cooks made it all lots of fun and very tasty. Our guests included princesses, a fairy, a skeleton, Woody from Toy Story, two werewolves, Alice in Wonderland, a wizard, a hobo, a tiger, a pea pod, a chili pepper, and other sundry characters.

Stairway to Paradise?

More than two months ago we decided that replacing our front steps had become an emergency, so I had my general contractor cousin, Doug, come over to assess the situation. Well as things usually go, one thing led to another and we ended up with new cement in the driveway, a new surface on the retaining wall, a new front porch with a nice new surface, new steps, and new railings. Fortunately for Jim, these improvements will not lead to new furniture, but we do need to replace the outside lights and get a new doormat. We went without front steps for about eight weeks, but we think the wait was well worth it.

Little Girls

One of the fun things I did during the summer was to make some dresses for some of my granddaughters and here are Cassidy, Gentrie, and Emily modeling the results.

Ora Ruth Hall Kirkham

Ora Ruth Hall Kirkham

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, and daughter of God

December 7, 1920-October 2, 2010

Red Rock Relay

Our daughter-in-law, Emilee, has spent months organizing a team to run in the Red Rock Relay to benefit her grandfather's charity, Tiny Tim's Foundation for Kids. She and Joel got everyone started in training for the event and even bought the $400 van (shown above) to transport half of the team. Jim and I signed on as volunteers, with Joel, Emilee, Jenny, and Nate making up four of the twelve running members of the team. Jim and I drove as far as Cedar City the night before, with most of our team staying in Brian Head where the race would begin bright and early on September 10th. We met up with Van #2 a little way from Duck Creek about mid-morning, then headed off for our volunteer assignment at the turn off to Navajo Lake. We spent six and one half hours directing runners and their vans in the sun and dust--and honestly we felt like we'd been running the race by the time we got done. The following picture is of Joel after he ran his first leg, more the 5 miles mostly uphill.

We were so proud of all of our runners, who finished up in Zion Canyon some 35 hours later. Many family members came down to cheer them on.

We spent a couple of days in St. George with Jim's parents and then it was off for home with a side trip to the ghost town of Grafton. Some of Jim's ancestors, who were killed by Indians, are buried in the cemetery there. Stephanie, Danny, Jenny, Nate, Sam, and their kids joined us on the adventure/photo op. We went home through Zion National Park. Everyone had a great time, but we were all tired and happy to get back to our own homes.