Johnson Family

Here's a picture of the can that Pepsi made for dad's retirement (the new picture of him is from before his heart attack -- we can't believe how much weight he's lost in his face!). Today is is his last day and he's very excited!

I was wondering how many people are going to Jim and Jennifer's wedding in CA. Jeff and I are trying to decide whether to go, but we would like to see as many people as possible. Thanks!

To anybody who can add a name to their daily prayers, please add Karie Schlukebir to your list. She was a classmate of mine in highschool...we played lots of sports together, her dad coached me through little league, and we have talked on and off over the years...

She had cancer our freshman year of college, but it was treated and she went into remission. However, I recently found out that the cancer has returned, spread into her lungs and other parts of her body. She is heading to California on Wednesday (March 29th) to undergo intense chemo for 5 days. Her dad said it does not look good...

Please keep her in your prayers; she is engaged to be married this summer...

On Saturday night, Elliana, Daphne, and Raleigh went to see Annie. Look at this great picture of the girls with the star of the play.

I'm possibly doing a race that goes from Hawarden, Iowa to Decorah, Iowa on a bike. Yes I know it sounds crazy. Is there anyone that is close to those places or in between? The race is called the Trans Iowa and it is at the end of April.

Nancy and two of her friends visited us this weekend. They arrived on Thursday morning, all three looking very much like New Yorkers in their leather jackets. Since Logan had been sick he and I put them on the bus into the city for sightseeing on their own. Not going to lie, I was a little bit concerned. They took the double decker sightseeing bus tour. These ladies from Iowa even sat outside on the top, which was funny considering it was about 35 degrees! Eventually they met up with Jeff for dinner at the first pizza place in North America. Or at least that's what Peter told us. Friday was spent touring the United Nations building and taking an NBC studios tour. I met them for dinner and then we went and saw WICKED, the Broadway show about the witches from the Wizard of Oz. It was fantastic.
The bus ride home was very interesting. We are in the tunnel between NY and NJ when Jeff and I turn around because we hear a commotion. Turns out there is these two idiots FIGHTING. I mean there was blood and everything! So the bus driver comes to a halt outside the tunnel and withing 5 seconds our bus is surrounds by three police cars! Once the guys stop fighting since they have realized the cops are there, Jeff and I hear Nancy (who is about 8 rows ahead of us) say clear as day: "I come from a small town where there are no traffic lights!" The two guys are both taken away in handcuffs! This is something that we have never seen and the guy Nancy met the next day on the bus said that has never happened and he apologized to her for having to witness it.
Saturday we walked around the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then came home here for dinner. And on Sunday Jeff dragged them on a boat, again it was about 35 degrees and very windy, to tour Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. They eventually made it home, two hours or so later then originally scheduled.
You can't say that nothing ever happens in this city!

Just thought I would let everyone know that I went skydiving yesterday...and SURVIVED!!! It was, by far, the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I loved every moment of it, and definitely want to do it again. Thank God...my chute opened :) I didn't have to use Uncle Bob's advice, but I had it as a back up plan! Thanks for all of the prayers...they were much appreciated :) Here are the stats of my jump:

Jumped from height of 12,000 feet
Freefall: 45 seconds
Speed: 120 mph
Pulled parachute at 5000 feet
Landed: gracefully :)

I added more pictures to my album online. The site is:

http://community.webshots.com/user/little03heet

I also had to make a new album because I was at photo capacity. All of my skydiving pictures are on this one in case you want to see them.

http://community.webshots.com/user/little03heet2

Hope everything back in the States is going well!

Love ya,
Lisa

Apparently, you don't have to be Irish to be "Irish". I'm the only "gringa" on the nursing staff at a predominately Hispanic Clinic. This morning we were having breakfast together when everyone begins to wish ME...and ME ONLY a Happy St. Patrick's Day. At first I thought that everyone was joking around. Then I realized that they really DID think I was irish, because, after-all, "all irish people are white and look alike anyway Becky". :)

I'm in a March Madness pool (ala Ben Karrer). In respect for Becky, I chose Marquette to go all the way. THEY LOST IN THE FIRST ROUND!!
Thanks for nothing Becky
What did I ever do to you?

I thought everyone may enjoy me sharing a few crazy things that can happen when you are a Speech and Language Pathologist working in North Carolina (in a poor costal area).

When I go to pull a child from his classroom, you never know what kind of haircut he may get overnight. Here is a student of mine who got a mohawk! I was laughing so hard, but I still managed to take front and side-view pictures with my palm pilot!

Also, I have to go to see a child at his home. He lives off a long and bumpy dirt road. This is not the problem, but when I try to leave the dirt road and turn onto the street to head home, I get atttacked by this turkey (or whatever)! Every time I'm there, it makes a beeline for my car and runs in front of it so I can't pull out! I was very cautious at first, but now that it's been almost 8 months of a crazy-attacking turkey, I'm now aiming to hit it and send the meat home to my Dad! :o) Tanya

Ok, so instead of e-mailing pictures (I have way tooooo many already!), here is the plan. I put them all on a convenient little website for your viewing pleasure. So, enjoy! Just go to the following site:
http://community.webshots.com/user/Little03Heet

and you will live NZ through pictures. Hope you like them! I'll be adding/updating a lot so, check as often or as infrequently as you would like.

Love,
Lisa AKA the flying nun

Carrie went skydiving when she was about your age. I'll give you the the same advice that I gave her. When I was young I use to have dreams where I would be falling toward the ground. In the dreams I would think at the last moment that if I would jump UP a few feet before hitting the ground then I would be OK. AND IT WORKED! Always a soft landing, although I would then wake up on the floor beside my bed. So if your chute for some reason doesn't open then at least you have another option. I was also wondering that if you are on the bottom of the world and jump out of an airplane then you will actually be falling in the opposite direction that Carrie did. At least we hope that is what happens. Hate to lose you. Love, Uncle Bob.

Hello dear dear family of mine. I finally have working internet in my room. Unfortunately, when I click that little button to add an image, it does not bring up anything, so therefore, there are no pictures, which makes this a sad, sad day. So, this is what I'm gonna do. If you would like pictures, comment your e-mail address, and I'll do it that way (hopefully, it will work).

Things in Auckland have been awesome! Classes are going really well, and I continue to meet interesting people every day. This weekend, I am going on a field trip for one of my classes to do something with pipis (I have no idea what they are either...apparently, something to do with clams). Sunday, I am going to another beach. I love beaches and there are plenty here to keep my interest. The following weekend, I am going to a rugby match (sooo excited for that) and then the next day (the 19th of march), I am going SKY DIVING!!! I CANNOT wait for that! Prayers would be wonderful that everything goes well (and maybe for my mom, too, as she is a little bit freaking out that her little girl is jumping out of a plane!) Anyways, that's it from Auckland! Hope all is well over the big pond! Miss ya!

Love ya,
Lisa

Okay, since we are all putting pictures of our kids on the blog, we will do the same...this is what it is like in the Kuipers house...tutu's and tapping shoes EVERY DAY. We have to bribe Raleigh to take them off... as for Sydney, she's not so much into the tutu's yet...we'll give her a year...

Here's a cute picture of little Kylie (I guess not so little any more, she'll be 10 in June). She broke her arm last week falling off the monkey bars at school. She sure is a tough little girl, told me it didn't hurt at all, and was pretty psyched to out-do her Aunt Marni in the broken bone department. She broke one bone and bent the other 28 degrees or something so they had to put her under and break the other bone before they set it. She was mostly worried that they'd have to put a bunch of pins and rods in it like Grandma's leg...

Luckily she didn't turn out to be a lefty like Colleen wanted :)

- Marni

Hi All!

The post that Heidi put up about the MS Walk got some comments requesting her phone number and address. Since she doesn't have the Internet (she actually made the post at my house!), I'll put it up for her:

Heidi and Tony Mazzola
1497 East G Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49004
269-388-2863

I'm sure she'll be thrilled to get some donations for such a great cause!

Hi All!

The post that Heidi put up about the MS Walk got some comments requesting her phone number and address. Since she doesn't have the Internet (she actually made the post at my house!), I'll put it up for her:

Heidi and Tony Mazzola
1497 East G Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49004
269-388-2863

I'm sure she'll be thrilled to get some donations for such a great cause!

We took Logan into New York yesterday to the Natural History Museum. The displays are protected really well so we were constantly side stepping kids all afternoon. Logan was no exception. He had a ball! He was so excieted to see the dinosaurs that he just kept running from one to the other and the promptly turning around to pose for a picture. It was fun watching him experience all the cool stuff.

Monday, I went into the Bloomingdale Marathon station to buy a soda. Because the fountain soda only had 4 choices, I grabbed a 20 oz Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper from the store refrigerator. While in line, I took a fountain cup with ice to pour my Dr. Pepper into. Following is a rough dialogue of the conversation.
Me- "Hey- I'm buying this bottle of Dr. Pepper, but I grabbed a cup to put it in".
The cashier was livid.
Cashier- "Well", she says, exerting her authority, "you're gonna have to pay for both".
Me- How much is the cup- like ten cents?
Cashier- We charge for the cup restocking fee. It doesn't matter if you put pop in it or not- you're gonna pay for both.
She then charges me over $3 for my soda endeavor. Frustrated I leave. I talk big talk to the guy in my carpool about how I'm gonna go in to the Marathon the next day and claim my soda (I'm all talk- no action)
The next day, I get in my car to drive home and my carpool guy reminds me of my pledge. So I walk into the Marathon with my precious cup.
Me- "Hey- remember me (I wave my cup triumphantly in the air), I was here yesterday and made the mistake about pouring my soda in the cup. Well, I'm just here to fill up the cup with the pop I've already paid for.
The cashier decides to take a stand. NOOOOOOOOOOOO- she says. You're not gonna fill up that cup with pop unless you pay for a refill.
Me- (super friendly) Oh no- I don't want a refill. I already paid for the pop... I'm just going to fill up this cup....
Cashier- "What do you think? Everything in this life is free?"
Me- "No- I have already paid for the soda"
Cashier- "Listen- we charged you yesterday for the cup and we're charging you today for the soda. You can't claim that pop back- you already paid for it"
Me- "exactly"and on and on and on....So finally (because really, I was picking an insane fight over $1.09) I throw the empty cup in the garbage, make sheepish apologies, and start to walk out.
Cashier- "You know" she yells as I open the door, "you can't just get things in this life for free"
Apparently, at the Bloomingdale Marathon Station, you can't even get things that you've paid for.

Eric and Ryan
are fascinated with the toilet! In the picture, they are watching spongebob square pants swimming.
On Christmas Eve morning we heard, "bye bye binkies" and then the toilet flushed. Well this was a good way to get rid of binkies! From then on both boys would remind us that they flushed the binkies down the toilet.
When we had enough snow, Eric and Ryan loved sledding! The boys are growing up too fast! They will be three years old in July.

Yea, they both look innocent, but you leave these two together for an evening and what happens? Well, Mom comes home, proceeds to feed cute, little Levi, and what has Daddy taught him while Mom was away?

Oh, just how to roll his lips and spit! The result is the second picture....

I love being a mama!!!