The Johnston Family Blog



Happenings and musings from the Johnston family







Thursday, December 30, 2010

Fun in the snow!


We had a great time playing in the snow and going sledding. The boys both loved sledding and we hope that we have many more snowstorms this winter!!! We have a great hill right at the end of our street!















The best way to come in out of the cold...hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows!!!

Christmas Celebrations


A white Christmas!

We headed to both of our families for Christmas celebrations and enjoyed seeing everyone and exchanging gifts and having great food. Both Pearl and my mom go all out and we are always so blown away by all of their work and generosity. The boys are so blessed to have such wonderful grandmothers and grandfathers. We love getting to spend time with our families and it's especially fun on holidays. It makes it all the more special and memorable to be together.
French toast casserole...yummy! Can't quite break out the Christmas china yet...maybe in a few years when they are older. :)










We had lunch at Mommom and Poppop's.

All the cousins

On to Mimi and Grandpop's for more gifts and Christmas dinner!

What a delicious dinner with all of the favorites: turkey (smoked on the grill), sausage and apple stuffing, sweet potato casserole, squash casserole, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, mashed cheese potatoes, cranberry sauce and three different desserts!



Christmas Morning!


We had such a fun morning! It was fun to have two boys who were eagerly anticipating everything as Owen was old enough to join in this year and to celebrate Liam's first Christmas! The boys were so excited and happy when they came down and saw the tree. They had a grand time opening their stockings and gifts and even Liam was enjoying every minute of it. This year, the boys hand-picked their gifts for Dave and I. David had the idea to get Dave a Michael Vick Eagles jersey (Dave isn't sure how he feels about having one, but it's so special now as it was from David's heart) and Owen picked out a candle for me and David picked out a foot massager for me so ("It can make your feet feel better, Mommy"). We really enjoyed a special time together as a family and we feel so blessed to have our three boys. It was indeed a Merry Christmas!

Running down the steps!

















Christmas Eve Breakfast


Every year, I make a special breakfast on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, we had a sausage and egg casserole and cinnamon rolls. We gave Liam his first taste of cinnamon rolls and he loved them! :)

Later that afternoon, we went to CFC's Christmas Eve Service and enjoyed singing Christmas carols, a wonderful message, singing "Silent Night" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" by candlelight, and getting to see so many dear friends! My parents came with us and it was really nice to be together for Christmas Eve. After the service, we headed over to Dave's Aunt Betty's for the annual Christmas Eve party. We had a wonderful time with our dear family! After the party, we headed home to read our annual Christmas stories and drink eggnog and then put the (VERY) excited boys to bed to await what Christmas morning would bring.

Mmmm...


Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!


Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from they holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!
Our family wishes you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Our Christmas Baby: Liam


We all love our Lili so, so, so much! He is so cuddly and loves to give hugs and kisses. He is the cutest and sweetest little baby in the whole world!!! He just crawls around following all of us, wanting to be a part of whatever we are doing. He loves to be held and LOVES to cuddle. Liam is a complete delight to each person in our family. He brings us so much sunshine and joy each day. I love going into his room each morning to be greeted by a huge grin and lots of kisses. His brothers adore him and love to play with him and watch him grow. And Liam gets so excited when his Daddy comes home. He crawls over to him and lifts up his arms to be held. It's so sweet.
We love you, Lili! This Christmas is so much more blessed, fun, joyful, and special now that you are with us.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Cookies!


We've made a lot of Christmas cookies around here...mmm! The boys love helping in the kitchen. It's been really fun to have Owen included in the baking this year. He loves all the steps, especially eating the cookies! :) We've made sugar cookies, chocolate chip, peanut butter blossoms, and chocolate crinkles this year. We still need to make some snickerdoodles and gingerbread cookies!