Playing at our House

One of the perks of this trip was that we got to show everyone our new home!!!  It was the first time that any of them had seen it and it was so fulfilling to show it off and to be able to just share with them that piece of our lives.  It was also fun to "test out" the house and see how it could do hosting meals and activities for 26 people.  We were pleasantly surprised!  We also had lots of people sleep here - at least 10 (not including us).  So it was fun to see that we could comfortably host a crowd. :)  

The backyard was fun for football.  Dinner worked just great in our kitchen.  The adults could talk upstairs and the kids could wreak havoc in the basement.  And... apparently our garage is just the right space for hosting dance parties!  Jeremy was the DJ and we danced to an awesome mix of the Hokey Pokey, the Virginia Reel, line dances, contemporary hits, the chicken dance, and a slow dance to end things off.  It was seriously SO MUCH FUN.  Also, the adults ended up at our house after the kiddos were in bed on more than one occasion to play games and chat.   The evening chats covered everything from religion to marriage and personal goals.   The games were a fun card game called Pooh Head (we played that a bunch with Travis and Ashleigh while they were here), Extreme Balderdash, Nertz, and Like (Mommy's) Mind.  SO MUCH FUN.

 

A Thanksgiving FEAST

We had our Thanksgiving FEAST on Friday this year - so that everyone could be there.  And boy was it a FEAST.  I think we had every food under the sun!  Appetizers of homemade cheese ball, veggie platter, smoked sausage and crackers.  Dinner included turkey, ham, rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans and bacon, yams with marshmallows, and the infamous cranberry pretzel jello dish.  Dessert with pumpkin pies, blueberry pie, apple pie, pumpkin rolls, and ice cream.  Yay for a Thanksgiving FEAST!  The morning included a lot of cooking and fast style "official" family pictures (we jumped out the car and were literally there about 5 minutes - AWESOME - but our photographer thought the best part was us all caravan-ing the wrong way up on a one way street - OOPS).

The afternoon included the adults relaxing around the table talking about where we wanted to be 5 years from them and discussing the best things that happened in 2013 and what we are most grateful for in life right now.  Then the boys (and kids) headed outside to play football!  We took some of the family to see Jeremy's new office in Liberty.  The moms had a hair party up in Michelle's bathroom trying all sorts of fun ways to curl our hair.  The kids played Guesstures and the evening ended with singing Christmas carols around the piano. 

Gym Time!

It was COLD while the family was here - and we had a lot of energy to burn!  So we headed to the church gym to PLAY.  We played kick ball, lobbed the volleyball a bit, played with nerf guns, played car lot, and line tag and a bunch of other fun stuff.  Oh and the little kids wandered around on the stage and the stairs.

One day we decided to just have lunch there as well.  Troy and Emily had bought a bunch of frozen pizzas and were cooking them in the oven.  They had the rooms next to the kitchen all set up so that we could eat - great!  Right?!?  Until somehow a GREASE FIRE started on the bottom of the OVEN.  Seriously, we are sitting there we see smoke and we smell smoke and Troy opens the oven and there are huge FLAMES.  All of the kids were in the room next to the kitchen so we (remarkably calmly) shut the door and opened those windows for ventilation.  And Jeremy calmly grabbed the fire extinguisher and Troy opened the oven and they put the fire out.  Simple as that.  And no one stressed out even for a moment.  Ha!  I love the Johnston family and their ultimate flexibility and low stress outlook.  Emily and I drove the rest of the pizzas to my house to cook and the rest of the clan stayed to play and wait for the pizzas.  It took a little longer, but it all worked out.  And luckily, while we DID start a fire at church - at least we put it out promptly and didn't burn the whole place down.  I mean it could have been worse - right?!? ;)

Swimming!

 I think we were ALL excited to get to go swimming in the winter time.  It was great for burning off energy and it entertained all ages.  It was a big hit!  We found a sweet sauce indoor pool to go to down in Overland Park and we made the trek to spend the afternoon there.  The facility a big slide, zero entry wading area (perfect for the littles), a lazy river (that proved to be a BIG hit with everyone), a jacuzzi, and was just plain fun.  Isaac even got a little swimming lesson from his Uncle Hunter and made GREAT progress.  I only wish that this pool was closer to us so that we could go more often!