The Adventures of the Johnson Clan: ~A little bit overdone~

After a week of negativity, I really tried my hardest to focus on what matters most: my family.

It helps that it's Christmas season and so there is a constant reinforcement of

family time, service giving, and just being Christlike...

... and it also helps that I stopped praying for patients!!!!!! ha ha

Here are the highlights from our week of celebrating Christmas, and really focusing on putting the kids and our family above all other errands and to do's!

Monday

We had some friends over for our annual Christmas House decorating,

and an "Elf Dinner."

Essentially we ran out of time for dinner and ate SOooOO much candy while decorating that we made ourselves sick. Travis told the boys "It's like the Elf movie; we just ate 3 of the 4 food groups," referring to corn syrup, sugar, etc. :D The boys said they'd prefer healthier dinners from now on...

... so I guess it's a parenting win for us!!

Tuesday

Elf dinner backfired when Aaron woke up throwing up! ha ha. So he stayed home, and we LOVED having him home!! The best part was getting he and Addie into the stroller and going for an afternoon walk.

Wednesday

Had lunch and wonderful adult conversation with some of the ladies.

Went to a game night at YW's.

Practiced a Christmas duet for Sunday.

Thursday

prepped cookies for an exchange, made class treats, and put together gifts for some community members.

That evening my friend and I attended a cookie exchange and I don't know what was more fun: the wonderful company or the BEAUTIFUL home it was held in!

Friday

Had a kitchen in disarray from all the baking... and blew it off to tear apart the toy room and reorganize it to now fit the kitchen table. I got rid of a ton of junk and donation toys, sorted them into labeled totes, and turned the couch so it now faces the fireplace; we are loving the new flow and open feel of the actual kitchen area.

Our Friday Family Movie Night: Santa Claus 2.

We attended a Christmas party at a friend's home; once again, good company, delicious food, and a beautiful home.

Saturday

Prepared for a Chaotic and CRAZY trip to Minneapolis... The Saturday before CHRISTMAS!

We passed 4 accidents on the way there from rushed holiday drivers; this seemed like a bad sign; however, our first stop to Costco couldn't have started off better.

The lady at the desk worked some magic and ended up scoring us a free membership for this next coming year! This REALLY started the day off right!

The crowds weren't so bad, we found everything we needed quickly, and the check out lines were short... hotdog, the first stop was went swell!!

(Sorry, I'm currently watching It's a Wonderful Life for the first time so I'm picking up some of the older "lingo.")

Next, the Mall of America... the Saturday before Christmas!!!!

But as luck would go, we found parking and instantly had a shuttle pull up and offer us a ride up to the entrance; yes, please!

I then had to take care of business at GAP, which I was expecting to be TERRIBLE, but once again, it was great. There weren't any lines and the girl that helped me was extremely understanding.

So we celebrated our great day by going to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe before heading home.

Addie napped (awesome, since she hates the carseat).

We got home, so exhausted, barely willed ourselves to eat dinner, and got the kids to bed. And then fell asleep in our newly moved around toy room, in front of the fire.

Sunday

Woke up with a KILLING throat and a cold that just WON'T go away! It's been lingering, and I think this week I just overdid it!

And today I was expected to sing my Christmas duet. I felt like so screechy, but received a lot of kind words, which I appreciated.

We had a REALLY lazy afternoon and also delivered our neighbor/friend gifts.

Now Travis and I are watching It's a Wonderful Life and eating Muddy Buddies (yum), and Travis just can't believe I've never seen this before!

Sidenote: You may have noticed my attention to beautiful homes throughout the week. Well, Travis and I have just had our minds in the clouds in the few moments we've had together. We just feel like, with the holidays here and about to pass, there is nothing standing in our way between now... and the baby coming... the baby coming... and Residency ending!!!!!

And between a 4th baby and residency coming to a close (feels unreal to say) we've just felt like these little dreams we have to fix up the house here and there are actually more than dreams!

Anyway, that was our week in a nutshell.

Next up, Christmas time!!!