BBQ

 Everyone loves a warm spring evening, time with friends and grilled food!  We had our bible study over on Monday night for end of the year hang out before we get started with summer stuff.  It's always just fun to be able to be outside!  We even brought the couch from the porch outside for extra comfy seating... kind of like a frat house except for we're all too old to be in a fraternity. (Especially Jed... he turns 30 this weekend!!!)

 This series of pictures is really... special.

 

It was a really fun night.  We are looking forward to Mission to the City, Epicenter and volleyball this summer!

Tulip Time Adventures

 May means lots of things to me ... beautiful spring weather, blooming flowers, the end of the school year (from my 4 years of teaching, it's still exciting to think about) and arguably most important...TULIP TIME in Pella!  I asked Jed to take this Friday off from work several weeks ago and wanted to make a family day trip to the quaint little Dutch town.  I loved Tulip Time when I was in college at Central for 4 wonderful years - the people, the food, the tulips and the costumes - I love it all.  My senior year I even got to borrow a Dutch costume and scrub streets and walk in a parade.  It was like a dream come true.  You might think I'm being sarcastic, but I'm actually not.

Here is my sweet friend Heather and I back in 2007.  She is actually Dutch but if my memory serves me correct, we both "borrowed" babies to walk in the baby parade...  She has her own now and got to walk with him this weekend! :)

Julie shared my love for Tulip Time.  I got to see her this weekend and her and her husband were decked out in beautiful costumes and walked in several parades!

 This is my cousin Melissa and her 3 boys ... I got to babysit these 3 little guys during my years at Central and summers I stayed in Pella.  Melissa is a truly amazing mom and her boys were SO much fun to hang out with - I have learned a lot watching her love and serve her family over the years.  Scroll down below to see how her adorable crew has expanded....!

Here is my cutie pie at Tulip Time THIS year!  Just waiting for the parade to start!

 Lainey adores her Dad.

 Here is Melissa, my aunt Barb and Melissa's crew of 5!  4 sweet boys and then they were blessed with a baby GIRL this February!  Dara looked especially adorable in a little teeny tiny baby Dutch costume.  I wish I had gotten a picture of her!

 It was HOT!  Gotta stay hydrated!  We rounded out our day with a trip to visit my Grandma in Knoxville.  It was such a fun family day!

Saturday, we ran a few errands (Lainey got a baby pool!) and Jed worked hard in the yard much of the afternoon.  Jed got a text at about 4:30 and his plans for the evening changed SO we were able to join some of our friends for another night at Tulip Time!  It was a mad rush to get out the door in 20 minutes but we did it.  

 Lainey and Penelope's first Tulip Time together.  Probably not their last!

 You might recognize my friend Julie from above.  Bo thought it would be a great idea to ask some people dressed in Dutch garb to hold the babies and take a picture.  Luckily, we didn't have to ask strangers since we ran into Julie and her husband, Jeremy!

 These are 2 great, great Dad's!

 I mean... this is just the cutest.

 Lainey LOVES our friend Rick.  Actually, Rick is a favorite among many children at the DTC.  He is so great with kids and we are thankful for his friendship.

As the sun set, it was time for the lighted parade!  

I loved sharing my love for Tulip Time with my little family and with our friends this weekend.   I can't wait for next May already - we'll get to introduce the new baby Johnson to all of the fun festivities!

Bible Study Babies Part 2

I'm SO thrilled to write the part 2 post that accompanies this post back from the beginning of August. When part 1 was written on August 1st, we were 3 very pregnant girls ... I was 11 days away from delivering and Amber and Bo were about a month out. We knew we had 1 baby girl and 2 surprises on the way. Amber was getting ready to be a mommy of 2 and Bo and I had no idea what we were in for with our firsts! I love, love, LOVE how the Lord worked all of this out - for the three of us to experience pregnancy together for so many months, sharing and encouraging one another in the joys and struggles, and then for each of us to be blessed with a sweet, healthy baby GIRL!

The BEFORE:
(It's amazing to me that all of our bumps look pretty similar in size but the babies that came out of them were NOT. From left to right, their birth weights were 7lb 6 oz, 9 lb 4 oz and 9 lb 15 oz.)

And AFTER:Bo and Penelope, myself and Lainey, and Amber and Mia

(As you can see, Lainey is a giant. She is the oldest of the 3 so I suppose that makes sense. In fact, at Lainey's 2 month well baby check up [she was actually 2 and a half months but whatever] she came in weighing 13 lb 6 oz, 90th percentile and is 24 and 3/4 in long, which is actually off the charts. We've got a healthy girl on our hands!)

These 3 are destined to be great friends... whether they like it or not! :)