A Soldier, a Brother.

Back in August my little brother Austin got deployed with the National Guard. For the past three months he has been training on a base in Mississippi. The weekend before Thanksgiving he shipped off to Iraq. I gotta tell ya, it's a little hard having him gone and knowing that we won't be able to see him for over a year. I feel like a piece of my heart is now in Iraq. Austin has been a big part of our family for over three years. It all started when he came and lived with us in Michigan. Then after he graduated and we lived here he came back after boot camp and lived with us once again. He certainly became a part of our little family unit. Kamden and Karson are missing him dearly. Especially Karson. Him and Austin seem to be kindred spirits. Austin was with us before Karson was born and afterwards was such amazing help with him. Austin has the most tender heart and always is so gentle and kind with the boys. Karson still cries for Austin, especially when he feels like I have done him some kind of injustice. Austin was always Karsons shoulder to cry on, and no matter what Austin was always sympathetic towards him. (Karson loves this quality in a person.) Honestly sometimes I feel like crying for Austin too. Words can't express what he means to all of us. Him and Justin are best of friends. I am so so thankful for him, and the many wonderful opportunities we have had being able to have him around us. Here are some family pictures we took back in July before he left.

Austin we are so proud of the work that you are doing. We are proud of your strength and your courage. You are an amazing man and I am so lucky to call you my brother, my friend. Keep safe, and know that our love travels the many miles between us and is always with you.

Ollie Pop nine months old!

Oliver at 9 months-

• Started clapping his hands and waving goodbye.
• Stands up to furniture and walks around it.
• When I tell him "no no" he jabbers back "NNNNNNN"
• Jabbers a lot. Usually says "dadada, mamamam, nanannan,nnnnnn,babababa.
• Has got a Fro going on. Hair is getting lighter but longer. I think it will be curly.
• Starting sleeping through the night. Yippy!
• Has two teeth.
• Eats three times, new foods, are bread, cheerios, rice,
• Loves people!
• Is a happy little guy.
• Our little munchkin! At his Dr. Appointment his weight was 17lbs 12oz and he was 28and 1/2 ". About 50th percentile for Height and 30th for weight.

November

Well it appears that the month of November went by in a flash. It also appears that I have a whole month of blogging to catch up on. Well here are the high lights of November.

The first week in November we had a surprise visit from my sister Tessa and her hubby Page.

That weekend we all went up to the cabin and had a very nice and relaxing getaway.

Nov 10th- The Johnson Clan all went to dinner together the night before Grandpa Johnson went in for heart surgery. It was so nice to all rally together for love and support for Grandpa. We all love him very much and it is a true testimony to me of what a family should be. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of such a wonderful family. Grandpa had open heart surgery on the 11th and has made a great recovery since.

Nov, 11-14th Justin and I drove up to Moscow Idaho for the weekend to watch the Vandals play BSU. We had a great time hanging out with Jade, Megan, papa Jon, and Megans family. We were also able to catch up with some good friends from Moscow. It was freezing cold and unfortunatly the Vandals lost the football game but it was still a great visit. It was fun to be back in the place that we called home for four years. Moscow and U of I will always hold a special place in our hearts. Saturday we drove to Spokane and spent the night with Josh,Veronica, and baby Blake. It is always so much fun to spend time with great friends. Sunday we made the very long drive back home. A huge thanks to my mom and dad for watching all the boys for us while we were gone!

This month Karson finally got accepted for speech therapy through the school district. It has been a long process but we are excited to finally have something happen. He will attend a 30 min speech therapy session once a week.

Justin has been busy with Scouts every Tuesday night and teaching and ISU every Wednesday and Thursday. On the 19th he headed over to Boise with his BFF Chad and Brother in Law Aaron to go to a BSU game. The boys had a great guys getaway and enjoyed a night of eating hot wings, watching football, then of course staying up all hours of the night to play video games. I think they all had a great time and I was so glad that Justin was able to have some fun. He has been working so hard. While the boys were away us girls got babysitters and went out to dinner then went shopping.

Sunday Nov 21st Oliver turned 9 months old! (Of course this deserves its own post though!)

Also this weened my brother Austin shipped out to IRAQ (This too deserves its own post)

Monday we got all packed up to head to Mississippi for the week to spend Thanksgiving there. Tuesday we made it to the airport, checked our bags, went through security and was waiting to board the plane when they suddenly told us that all flight for the day were closing down for the day. This came as no surprise seeing as though we were having a extreme winter storm but we were still really bummed that we couldn't make it out. Justin went to book our tickets for the next day but they told him that the storm was moving toward Salt Lake and we would probably end up stuck there. So alas finally we just had to get a refund on our tickets and stay home. We were all pretty bummed out! The next day we got several calls telling us that Justin was on the front page of the newspaper. I will have to get a picture of it and post it.

Our Thanksgiving week was pretty mellow since we didn't have any plans and since the weather was horrific outside. It was kind of nice having the time to spend together with nothing to do but be lazy. Thank heavens my Mom had unthawed a turkey big enough for all of us. My parents, Eli, and Colby came to dinner. It turned out to be a very nice, impromptu Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be Thankful for.

We ended out the month with some Blake Friday Shopping, getting ready for Christmas, and Oliver had his nine month baby well visit. WHEW! What a month.

The first big snow of the year. Nov 9th

The three amigos all in the tub together for the first time.

My little mountain man Ollie pop staying warm!