Spring Break & March 2010!

We had Kylie for Spring Break this year and it was so much fun! It was a fun-filled week...see below for the recap! 

Kylie and I went to the American Girl store for lunch at the Bistro.  Kylie, Rachel (her American Girl Doll) and I had a great time...

and we had some surprise guests...

Kylie was so excited when Meems and Mimi showed up! It was an unexpected and great surprise!You can see the joy on Kylie's sweet face!

Another day, Jeff and Kylie had a Daddy/Daughter date and went to lunch at Purple Cow and then saw Avatar in 3D.  The picture below is actually from another movie (How to Train Your Dragon) but I'm sure this is how they looked.  Hilarious.  Love these two people...even when they are wearing funny 3D glasses!! 

Spring Break ended with Me getting to have a "Girls Night" and see Black Eyed Peas in concert with some of my dear friends! Below is a picture of Mary and I at the concert. We stayed in a hotel and had an absolute blast!!

(Gotta love Mary's Fergie T-shirt that she picked up at the show.)

The week ended with another snow... 8 inches to be exact on March 20th! I think that is a record. 

Kylie went to spend the night with Popo, Coco and Mikael so we didn't get to play because it melted by the next day! However, the girls had fun doing their "photo shoot" that I don't think they even missed it one bit! 

I love the serious faces - our girls are growing up!! They did this all on their own - the outfits and everything. Mikael put everything together in a photo album complete with credits, etc. Too cute!

The rest of March was filled with fun too - we celebrated Ava's 5th Birthday at Chuck E. Cheese and cleaned out the garage!(something that was much needed and we were actually really excited to do as a family!)

Sweet Kylie with the Birthday Girl Ava!

Marley got to relax as we cleaned out the garage. Here she's laying on our "Plankets" - the tarps we use to cover up our plants in the winter. She kept finding things to lay on and it was too cute!

I would say that March was quite a success! Love to all! XOXO

Kylie's 10th Birthday!

 Kylie is 10! 

Double digits are BIG TIME! ;-)  We had a great time celebrating with friends and family and appreciate everyone remembering Kylie on her special day.  We started the weekend by going to Great Wolf Lodge on Friday with a few friends.  Mimi joined us for pizza and cake and got to experience the "kid-fest" that is Great Wolf Lodge.  It's like a mini Disney World and they sure know how to play to a parent's soft spot when it comes to spending money.  :-)

Walking in to GWL, you can see a few rides from the outside.  

That funnel ride was Jeff and my favorite!

The girls - ready to get out of the cold and into their bathing suits! 

They loved their kids cabin in our room! It was pretty fun!

Cookies I had made for her friends - they were supposed to be the "take home" gifts but got eaten pretty quick because the girls were hungry! I love the lady who makes these - she does such a great job!

Kylie wanted cookie cake and the girls were so excited to eat it! 

Mimi gave her the Hannah Montana movie and some money to spend how she wants!! 

Thanks for coming and hanging out Mom! 

We thought it was so ironic that the day we had Kylie's birthday, there was more snow than ever before - so it was funny that the girls were swimming. We had them step on the patio for a quick shot of this once in a lifetime occasion! 

Big hugs for Daddy!

Because GWL only allows a certain number of people, we had to have a two-night event.  The twins and another friend, Natalie, came over and had a slumber party and went to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Lightning Thief at Studio Movie grill.  

Being silly with the twins - her long-time buddies.  

We had a great weekend - and Dad & Kase came away quite tired - but it was all worth it.  Kylie had a wonderful birthday and the weekend was a success!  

Now that we've had all the snow - bring on SPRING!! We're ready for some convertible weather! 

Snow in Texas!

I must admit, I'm so behind in posting this but I am committed to catching everyone up! So, January and February brought lots more snow to North Texas than I've ever seen in my lifetime - and it called for some fun snow days for the family! See below for some great pictures!  Jeff and Kylie made their first life-size snowman and Marley had a ball playing in the winter wonderland!  

Our beautiful home with lots of snow!

Marley "chillin" in the snow - literally! :-)

Daddy & Kylie working on their snowman! 

She has that look like she's about to hit somebody with a snow ball! 

The finished product! Even Marley got in the picture! 

More to come - we had a blast for Kylie's 10th Birthday!

Yummy Tortilla Soup Recipe

One of my New Years' Resolutions is to get more creative and courageous in the kitchen.  While this recipe isn't hard AT ALL, I am proud because I have made it twice now and I am slowly building my confidence in the kitchen.  I got it out of my Bride & Groom Cookbook from Better Homes that my Mom gave us. They have lots of great recipes! Give it a try if you want a quick, easy and very yummy tortilla soup recipe! Enjoy! Stay tuned for my next recipe...Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole...can you see a pattern? I love Mexican food!

Tex-Mex Tortilla Soup (Makes 6 main-dish servings)

1 – 1 ¼ pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breast halves (I use the breast halves)

3 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped green sweet pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup frozen whole kernel corn

3 cups tortilla chips, coarsely crushed

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 avocado, seeded, peeled and cut into chunks (optional)

Snipped fresh cilantro and/or sliced fresh jalapeno chile pepper

Lime wedges (optional)

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside. In a 4-quart pot combine broth, undrained tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper, chili powder, cumin and black pepper.  Bring to boiling; add chicken.  Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Add corn. Return to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer covered for 10 minutes more.
   
2. Sprinkle each serving with tortilla chips and cheese.  If desired, serve with avocado chunks, snipped cilantro, sliced jalapenos and lime wedges.  (I usually just do the avocado and cilantro because the jalapenos are too hot for Kylie) 

A White Christmas!

Brace yourselves...this will be a long post! We had a lot of fun over the holidays! (Complete with 5 different Christmases!)  We were so surprised to see snow on Christmas Eve...and then again a few days later.  It really make it feel more like Christmas when there's snow on the ground.  We had a fun holiday this year, but it was very busy.  Unfortunately we didn't have Kylie for Christmas this year, but we used the time to surprise her with a completely new room! We moved rooms, painted, bought furniture and artwork, etc! It was great! She was totally surprised and excited. She said the room makes her feel like a big girl. (Pictures below)

Christmas # 1: We started Christmas early on the 19th celebrating with my Dad, Courtney (lovingly known to Kylie as Popo & Coco), Mikael, Nana & Papa.  We had everyone over to our house and Jeff made his famous chili.  Kylie was so excited to get her first American Girl Doll from Popo and Coco! She named her Rachel.

Kylie with Popo, Coco & Mikael                                                                      Getting her American Girl Doll!So happy!

 

They gave us a platter that says "The Johnsons". We used it several times over the holidays.

I love how Marley wanted to be included in this picture!

Christmas # 2: Next stop was Briarwood for Christmas with Mom's family.  Unfortunately the weather was bad so some of the family couldn't make it, but we had a great time anyway! We always do a gift exchange and have a full blown repeat of Thanksgiving dinner - which is awesome!  It was neat because we spent the night there and for the first time in many years we woke up on Christmas Morning with my Mom & Brother! What a treat! Here's a picture of our house as we left to head to Richardson...

So pretty! I love the way snow makes a house look so cozy and inviting! 

Here are some pictures from our fun on Christmas Eve!

Fun opening presents!

Jeff got an outdoor clock to go by the pool and then Meems gave us a hanging candle that matched perfectly! 

Meems & I sharing a hug after opening her present from us!

Even the dogs got new toys! We thought it was so funny that Mimi had gift bags for each dog (Marley, Muddy & Bailey) They actually knew which toys were theirs too!

                Marley having fun with her new toy!                                     Muddy with his squeaky Christmas light!

Christmas #3: Christmas Day we went to the annual Christmas party at Dad & Courts.  Taylor & Melissa did an awesome shrimp boil and I took the opportunity to show off my new platter with the appetizer we brought. It was great to catch up with family and friends!

Christmas #4:  Trey, Suzanne and Hayden came to Dallas to celebrate with us on the 27th of December. The adults did a gift exchange so that was fun! Hayden and Mikael had fun opening presents! We missed Kylie but she was definitely there in spirit! Here we are with our cousin Hayden who is 5. He's getting so big!

Christmas #5: Finally, the biggest Christmas of them all was our celebration with Kylie! We got her on the 28th of December so we were on day 9 of opening presents. We were so excited for her to arrive that we felt like kids on Christmas ourselves! We couldn't wait to surprise her with her new room! She had acquired quite a few presents from all the different family so she was excited to open everything.  First things first though, we had to surprise her with her new "Big Girl" room....

Giving Dad big hugs after her surprise... 

She literally had tears in her eyes because she was so happy

A room isn't complete without a new big girl dresser!

She loves her purple and pink Paradise! 

After the big room surprise, we headed downstairs to open gifts and Mimi got to come join in on the fun.  Kylie was so excited about her presents from all her family!

Our beautiful Christmas tree and mantle with stockings & presents!

Can you see the excitement in her face? She loved her Fashion Studio from Grandma & Grandpa!!

New robe from Mimi  - and she got one for her American Girl doll - so now they are twins! 

We had an amazing Christmas this year. We ate and drank like Romans (and are paying for that now! The gym is about to be our 2nd home!), enjoyed great friends and fun.  We love all of our family and friends and you are the ones who make the holidays special for us.  We all put so much time and effort into shopping, presents, events, etc. but when it all comes down to it - the most important thing is the people (and animals) we surround ourselves with.  We hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and we wish you a bright and prosperous 2010!

One last photo to end with...this is how we felt when it was all over...Marley shows it best! ;-)

Love and hugs to all!

-The J Crew

Thanksgiving in Tucson!

Things have been a bit busy with t he holiday season just behind us so I'm finally getting around to posting about our fun trip to Tucson to visit Jeff's family for Thanksgiving.  We were there for a week and it was a great trip! Jeff's brother Tom and his fiancee Stacy joined us as well so it was great to catch up and great to let Kylie spend some good quality time with her Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle & future Aunt!

The week was filled with lots of baking and cooking, fun dinners, games, etc. We also met up with some of Jeff's friends from high school who he recently reconnected with. It was cool to meet people who have known Jeff for so long.  See below for a few pictures to recap the week!

Here Kylie and Grandma are licking the beater after making the homemade whipped cream we ate with our homemade pumpkin and apple pies!

The whole fam! Grandma, Grandpa, Tom, Stacy and the "J Crew" coming down on Mt. Lemmon

Daddy & Kylie with Emma...J was showing his U of A pride!

Kylie loves her Grandpa!

A night out with Troy & Jen Hoch - Jeff's friends from High School!

We are so thankful for our family and friends. Thanksgiving was a great time to reflect on the many blessings we have as a family! I promise to not get so behind on posting next time!

I leave you with a shot of a beautiful Tucson Sunset...