To My Friend...

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters."

A very good friend of ours passed away. Our family has mourned this week. But thoughts have come to my mind that I would like to pay tribute to her and her life. The quote above, by Winston Churchill, is my new favorite quote. Karen, you have everything.

I was watching a show the other day when Jon Huntsman was being interviewed. He made a remark about how you should live your life in such a way that you imagine the eulogy at your funeral and what people will say about how you lived and imagine how many people will be there. I have believed this for a long time thanks to "A Christmas Carol" with George C. Scott. At the end of his night time journey with the spirit of Christmas future, he sees people laughing about his death. He sees people that have stolen his personal belongings and sells them for change. He sees his own tombstone with his name on it...and no one is sad that he died. No one even cared.

We all know people who "pretend" to be good in front of other people to get brownie points. Is that integrity? No. We all know people who do really bad things and blame other people for it or play the victim. Is that integrity? No. Honestly, no one would really care if those people died. Are you one of those people?

Karen, I know there will be standing room only at your funeral...because you are a good person. I also know what kind of things will be said at your funeral, because you are a good person. Karen, you are a hero to many people. You are a hero to our family.

Thank you for your friendship over the many years. Thank you for your support and understanding over the last year or so. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for being our savior in so many ways.

You are my hero!

Merry Christmas to All....







And to all a good night!!!
The Johnston's

Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving Thankfulness=Family Time.

As I get older, the presents don't seem as important

as the family time does. My heart takes so many

pictures that I can't capture with my camera.

I just want to put a big bow on my family. You are

my gift this year and every year. The material

things are just that. Material. I can't take them with me

when I die, but I can take my family and my memories.

I love each and every one of you!

Holiday Layla....Poinsetta and Reindeer....Welcome

Christmas, Christmas time!

Ok, Rob's house is on right. Cam's on the left.

Cam and Ellie....don't ask about their house.

Eric and Katie! This was Eric's first experience with

gingerbread houses. You did good Eric!

Brandee is counting down the minutes to the Black

Friday shopping. She stayed up all night! You go girl!

Mia convinced Cam to read to her. I think Cam

enjoyed it a little too!

Oh how Layla loves Grandpa's belly. Oh how

Grandpa Ron loves Layla to sleep there!

Dash's name tag...It was on the high chair, then

appeared on his forehead. At least we didn't forget

who he was. Gotta love me some Dash!

There is a story here...Every year we make 10 layer

jello salad. This is Cam's favorite thing of all on

Thanksgiving. Well, Robbie's too. Notice the 3 jello

squares on Cam's plate. I think he wanted to make

sure he got enough of it, because it goes quickly.

Gingerbread...here we come!

Green bean casserole, pecan pies and stuffed celery! That's my assignment for Thanksgiving. I am so excited for the holidays this year! In the past, I have been a bit of a Scrooge, but this year, I am already listening to Christmas songs and singing along!

I am making the trek to SLC this week and having sleep overs. Me and my sis are going to go see New Moon on Saturday, then make gingerbread. We have a tradition where after Thanksgiving dinner, we all make a gingerbread house, so that's what we are going to do. It's a chore, but the gang loves it.

We are trying to have everyone at Thanksgiving this year, because Dad probably won't be around next Thanksgiving. That makes us sad, but we are going to enjoy this year. I went and saw Dad yesterday and helped him eat his lunch. He is eating great, but very tired and sleeps a lot. I told him I love him. He smiled and said, "love you more." I am going to miss him.

Christmas is just around the corner and I have started the shopping. Little things here and there, but I have got stuff for my babies. They will probably not have a clue but it's fun. Dash is 6 months and Layla is 4 months. I am still searching for the that "perfect" gift for the Gabester!

I am thankful this year for many things. Most importantly, for my health. You just never know when that may slip away from you. You are in my prayers, Karen. I am thankful for my family. They are all I need in this crazy world we call life. I would be nothing without them. Love you all!

Brown hair

My hair has been a multitude of colors throughout my life. No, seriously. It has been pale blond, golden blond, brown, dark brown, red, striped, and even green. The green was not supposed to be green, but that's what you get when you do it yourself as a senior in high school. I wanted to have some highlights around my face, so I used some pasty bleach and painted it onto my hair. Left it there for way too long, and then I had brown hair in the back and white hair in the front. It was horrible.

I could not go to school that way. So I got another brown color and "did it myself" and the white hair turned to green. Now it was a nightmare. In high school, "hair" was everything. It was the Farrah Fawcett" hair style that was in. I think I managed to get the green hair toned down a bit and went to school. After that, I learned a very important lesson. Unless you are a hair specialist, don't do it yourself.

After experiencing many different hair colors throughout the years, I decided I was going to get back to my roots, literally. I was going to go back to my natural color. The only thing is I was not prepared for the color of my natural color. I was shocked to see the swatch of color that my roots were. It was dark brown. Isn't that the weirdest thing ever? I always pictured myself to be the "fair" one of the family. But this was dark stuff. I just couldn't do it. Visions of my mom kept running through my head. My mom always had dark hair. Is it bad that I was having visions of her? I just didn't feel dark.

I don't know. I picked a shade that was a couple shades lighter than my natural color. I like it. It looks sophisticated, instead of trailer trash blond/red/brown. It looks rich and warm. Good for the winter season.......right? Who knows, maybe I will bring back the "green" look in the springtime.