personal blog

Johanna - We've Moved

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:02:00 -0100

For those very few people who look at this site, I'm giving notice that we have moved our blog to http://thewoodhut.yakkel.com. So change all your bookmarks and come see us there. I'm trying to blog tonight so there will be something new to read.

Johanna - Here's the Latest

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:02:00 -0100

I don't even know where to start - and my sister, Erin, has already done a terrific job documenting all the significant events in our extended family - so... I'll try and talk about some of the things our family has done lately. I took Andrew and Haley out to Utah a few weeks ago to help my mom with some home improvement projects. I had a lot of fun - it's nice to do something like this when you don't have to take care of all the regular chores too! But, talk about tired! Saturday (we arrived on Wed.) I just sat around and napped. I was feeling 40 for sure! A highlight of my trip was visiting my good friend, Shannon Simmons. She and her family moved to Woods Cross last year. She was my walking buddy and personal therapist!! I have sooo missed her this past year. She met us in Salt Lake for lunch. We ate at the Lion House - very yummy food and so great to just catch up on everything. I wish we were still neighbors but I'm glad her family is settling in so well in Utah.
So, Mom and I and Tom's mom and the kids drove back to Denver on the 4th - just in time for my nephew's birth (he is so darling!). For all the info on that event, check out Alex & Cynthia's blog. We really enjoyed having Leone visit us last week. She got to watch Spencer play football and was such a big help to me in drying fruit for our winter storage. So, I feel like I've been running ever since we got home. Every day seems to be packed with things that have to be done. It's harder to simplify than it sounds!!
Lastly - Tom's birthday was yesterday. Wish I could have gotten him that flat screen t.v.!! Since that was beyond our budget, I took him to dinner at the Bonefish Grill instead. It's "bang, bang shrimp" heaven!! I'm so grateful for Tom. He's been a terrific husband and friend. Hope you have a great year, Tom!! Well, that's all for now.

Johanna - Back in School

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:52:00 -0100

It's been awhile since I blogged. We had a great time camping in Utah with Tom's family. But then it was back to school. Spencer started high school (!) last week. He isn't really enjoying himself yet - too much to do. He's playing freshman football which takes all kinds of time. Plus he just started seminary this week and is adjusting to the early morning wake up call. But if he can make it through the fall, I think he will survive! Andrew & Haley are out of school now - just went off track. I'm keeping them busy with housework and some school work too (handwriting practice for Andrew, math work for Haley). They would prefer to watch tv and play computer games all day - so they aren't having their ideal vacation - Oh Well!! I've been trying to actually get my house back in fighting shape. My bathrooms are finally clean, the furniture has been dusted for the first time in six weeks, and I actually have vacuumed the whole house twice in the last week (a miracle!!). I feel like I can stand to be in my home now. Now, if I could just get myself out in the yard to do some cleanup. We had a wonderful weekend of rain, last weekend. It just rained and rained and rained. I haven't seen it rain like that here ever! But we so needed the water and it cooled things off beautifully. Well - I'll try and write again soon.

Johanna - Summer Trip to Utah

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:17:00 -0100

Well, we're in Monroe, Utah for a quick visit with family. We left Denver on Friday afternoon and pulled into town about 1am Saturday morning. Mom had a nice room set up for Andrew & Haley to sleep in - but did they sleep? Oh no -- they stayed up all night long, dragging enough toys into the room to make it seem like an explosion in a toy factory, and then they went hunting videos to watch on the t.v. in the room. Jennifer & kids were at my parents too, and they woke up their cousins around 6am. I wouldn't have believed they would have done this, but now I know! Needless to say they both had naps after lunch - Andrew slept about FOUR hours. Unfortunately Tom & I were upstairs and didn't hear any of their exploits or there would have been major scolding going on and children sleeping under the stairs a la Harry Potter! Besides getting to spend part of Saturday with Jennifer and her kids, we also got to spend the day with Erin & Weston and Kate. It was a lot of fun to play with Kate (she is such a smiley girl) and Tom got to see her (which he really hasn't gotten to do before). In fact, we heard her fussing in the morning, so I went and "stole" her from her portacrib in the office. She was so happy to have us playing with her, but darn it - Weston came and got her for breakfast (the nerve!). Anyway. Yesterday we drove up to Provo to hear Aaron Watson's missionary homecoming talk. (Tom's sister Joanna's 2nd oldest boy). He did a good job speaking and shared some nice experiences he had teaching the gospel and watching people's faith in Christ grow. After church we all (meaning all Tom's brothers & sisters and spouses and nieces and nephews and assorted friends) gathered at the Watson's home for a late lunch/early dinner. We had a really good time visiting with everyone. Tom is on a "Dr Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog" kick and showed everyone the video - and then played it again for those who wished to catch it the second time around. To take a look at the trailer go to Dr. Horrible. Our whole family has taken to singing tidbits of the various songs from the video! Wednesday we head up to Provo to get ready for the Wood Family campout. There are plans for up to 50 people to join the camping fun! Maybe I'll actually take pictures - but no garauntee they will actually show up here!

Johanna - Random Stuff

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:38:00 -0100

First off, do you like our new look? I had to browbeat Spencer to get him to do something new. He's not impressed because it only took him a few minutes to design it - if it doesn't take four hours, it's not worth it!! We had a surprise visit from Mom & Dad Cottle this past weekend. It was great to see them! Dad finished pulling the tree root out of the ground for Tom, so we were soooo grateful for that. The last time Tom came in from digging and chopping, he said "that tree is winning!". My neighbor, who is a landscaper, came over on Monday and offered to take it to the dump, so it is even out of our yard! I love having it gone. Now the dogwood can really do it's thing. :) I have had a few not so great weeks. While the depression medicine has really been making a difference over the last nine months or so, lately it seems that I'm really struggling again. Some days I just want to stay in bed ALL the time! And even though I drag myself out and do stuff, there's no energy behind it. Plus, I'm not sleeping well again, which is such a pain. I'm trying to be patient and do more journaling and eat better (yeah, right!) but it is discouraging. I was kind of hoping to be ready to start tapering off the meds and instead, I'm wondering if maybe the dosage needs to be increased or I need to try something different. I guess that's what I get for living with it for so long. Maybe if I had gotten help sooner, I could have had a quicker recovery time. I think also I'm feeling my age. Ten years ago I had so much more mental energy - and now I'm finding that I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel. I guess that's why we live so long! God wants us to experience a wide range of things and get better at doing things His way in a variety of circumstances. I am grateful that I have found a larger group of friends than I had a year or so ago. When my best friend, Shannon, moved away, I felt so bereft! I still miss the great talks we shared, but I feel blessed that Heavenly Father knew I needed that kind of support and opened up new places for me to get it. Well, enough ramblings - I've been digging through photo disks and think uploading pictures might actually be getting closer to a reality!

Johanna -4th of July

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:15:00 -0100

We (well, really I, since Tom never does post) haven't said much lately, so I guess it's time to update again! Yesterday (after sleeping in - yea!) Tom and I got busy getting ready to host a BBQ for Alex, Andrew & families. Tom made a HUGE batch of his famous salsa. I did a quick run-through of the house (vacuuming, putting things away, trying to finish the laundry, cleaning the HUGE mess that is our kitchen 90% of the time). Then we attacked the yard. I really am going to post pictures, because we're so proud of all our hard work. A couple of weeks ago (or has it been a month?) we took up all the railroad tie garden beds in our yard. Tom cut them all down into shorter lengths and we have been standing them on edge around our new, larger, in the middle of the sun, garden bed. We've planted grass in one of the old beds, and we transplanted some of the sod to some areas in our yard that were just dirt. We still have a ways to go, but we are getting there!

Sarah and Andrew came by early in the day and took Andy & Haley with them to the Civic Green park to play in the water. That was so great! We finished our work while they were gone. Then Sarah, Haley, and I went shopping. Mostly we just did the "wander" thing. We found some great deals on shoes ($2 snow boots, $1 flip flops) and picked up a few necessities. Then we headed back home to EAT (thanks, Tom, for all the hard work over the grill!). Cynthia & Alex brought a great selection of soda, and Mom's famous baked beans (YUM!). Sarah & Andrew favored us with some melon and guacamole (what is the fourth without watermelon??). The kids had fun with bubbles and the mini trampoline. Then we all headed out to the park for a kickball game. I love that we live on the park. Almost every day I think how lucky we are and how I just love my home.

The night concluded with fireworks, courtesy of Highlands Ranch. The kids thought they were pretty exciting. Tom decided that we really need to be closer to the action next year - the "booms" just weren't loud enough for him from where we were sitting!! All in all a pleasant day. Thanks to Sarah for suggesting we get together!!

Johanna - Quick Update

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:02:00 -0100

So, I still don't have cool pictures to post - I probably never will!! We're down to the last week of school for the little kids (but they will be heading right back to school two weeks later!). They are totally excited to be going to new grades. Hope it meets their expectations! Spencer is getting ready to go to BYU football camp next week with a couple of friends. He started strength training this week to get ready for the football season in the fall. I hope he enjoys freshman football. I think it could be a great experience. I have been reading, reading, reading! I finally added a widget to our blog that shows the most recent books I have reviewed. If you click on the little "L" on the left side of the title, the list expands to show that review. If only I could figure out a way to get paid to do all this reading!!! I actually have done more than read. I had a marathon house cleaning day on Tuesday (I had Activity Days girls coming over) and got the carpets vacuumed after probably two weeks of dirt. I finally got all the laundry done this week - it took about four days of pretty much non-stop running of loads during the day. I'm not sure how I got so far behind with laundry, but it feels good to have clean underwear in the drawers again! Last Saturday Tom and I got all the garden rail road ties up and out of the ground (I really should take a picture). He cut them up into lengths and we are going to stand them on end around a new, larger, (but just one) garden bed for vegetables. I'm afraid we're probably too late to plant any vegetables this year - but at least we'll be ready for next year.

Spencer - New pictures

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:28:00 -0100

I posted my parents hilton head vacation pictures. So go have a look!.

Johanna - Summer Weather

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:27:00 -0100

So, we spent our Saturday doing yard work. We got the chain saw working and took down one of the dead limbs in our cottonwood - then borrowed our neighbors tree trimmer to take down all the smaller stuff. It looks a lot better, but we spent most of the day working and I could hardly move by the time evening came. I took some tylenol and crawled into bed and felt surprisingly better in the morning (except for my hands - I didn't wear gloves and I did do some weeding in addition to bundling branches - my poor fingernails are hammered!). Spencer and I have had our first week together since he finished school. I've had to bribe him to come to work with me (which is BORING, he says) but he's had the chance to do some things with friends, and his cousin, Drew, spent Friday with us - they had a blast! We are thinking of having a Star Wars marathon day (well, actually two days because we can't watch all six movies in one day). I'll let you know how it went! We took the kids to see "Prince Caspian" on Memorial Day (oh, yeah - we had a holiday in there some where!). They really enjoyed it (I did too). But the rest of the day was a bust. It rained, so we didn't have our planned cook out (Tom was going to do "surf and turf"). Andy had a melt down in the park, so he spent a good part of the afternoon in his bedroom. Finally, in the evening we went to Texas Roadhouse (our second time) for dinner. It was good - the kids loved eating peanuts and tossing the shells on the floor. There was a balloon guy there making stuff out of balloons, so the kids were happy. Anyway - still no pictures posted. Will try to twist Spencer's arm this week!

Johanna - What's New?

Sun, 25 May 2008 22:56:00 -0100

So, we've been home a week and what a week it has been. Last Saturday we gathered together to see Andy get baptized. I'm not sure what, if anything, he got out of the event - but we are hopeful!! The younger kids are still punishing Tom & I for being gone a week. They are all over the place with their emotions and we're fighting old battles over what's o.k. and what's not. Such is the life of kids with insecure attachment as babies & toddlers. We talked about how their baby cousins are learning to trust their parents by playing "peek-a-boo", having their parents leave the room for a short while, spending time with a babysitter, etc. Then we talked about how they are having to learn these things as older kids, but that they can learn in their hearts that we will always come back. Not sure it registered, but it made me feel better! Spencer has officially finished Middle School. I really can't believe it! Can I really be the mother of an almost 14-year-old? He's totally excited for the summer - hope it lives up to his expectations! My expectation is that he is going to work, work, work!! I don't think that is what he is hoping for. Still trying to get him to get our pictures of Hilton Head posted. Hopefully this week. And I'm trying to get Tom to post occasionally - we'll see!

Spencer - New Layout (again)

Sun, 18 May 2008 19:24:00 -0100

Well the other one had so many issues that I couldn't stop myself from making another one. The layout is based heavily on the web monkey website http://www.webmonkey.com/

Anyways, i know that my website has been down a lot lately, well i will be switching hosting within the next 48 hours, so by then it should be stable (for those of you who are wondering).

Well enjoy the amazing designs by spencer (yeah right), and comment what you think.

Johanna - Hilton Head, SC - part 2

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:25:00 -0100

So, we're on day five here in Hilton Head. Yesterday Tom and I actually went swimming in the ocean (for some reason, no one gets in the ocean. Maybe sharks? Anyway, we did it and nothing happened, so either everyone is super cautious or people just don't like the ocean). Here are some pictures of the view.

Last night we went to dinner at the "Jazz Corner". The food was way overpriced and sort of mediocre, but the music was great. Plus, we were sitting about a table away from the performers, so we got a great view of the actually playing - wow, they were impressive. They played a mix of contemporary, blues, and traditional jazz. My favorite number was "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck. Awesome! Then Tom watched the Jazz game (started at 10:30 pm) and was so disappointed by their loss - plus it was at least 1am when we went to bed. (Fortunately, that is only 11pm on our regular time!!). Our trip is drawing to a close, but it has been great!

Johanna - Hilton Head, SC

Wed, 14 May 2008 08:52:00 -0100

So, we're here in gorgeous South Carolina on Hilton Head Island. It is so beautiful. We are staying at the Marriot Grande Ocean Resort (see http://www.vacationclub.com/resorts/gr/default.jsp for the home page). We've been sleeping in, walking on the beach, eating great food, and just enjoying being here. I promise to upload some pictures soon.

P.S. I played around with the layout to try and fix the overlap. Did it work for you? Let me know.

Spencer - New Layout

Sun, 04 May 2008 22:59:00 -0100

Whoo, I'm not lazy. Enjoy.
(by the way, the blog is screwed up in IE so um, by clicking here - http://http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Johanna - Utah trip

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:52:00 -0100

Well, I don't have any photos to upload (yes, I did bring my camera but no, I have not taken it out of the bag yet!!), but I thought I would give a little update on what we've been doing (we being me, Haley, and Andy). We left Colorado Wednesday morning - uneventful ride - we listened to "Henry Huggins" by Beverly Cleary - and also some misc. music. We arrived in Monroe about 4:30pm and got to visit with Erin and play with Kate (my new niece) before they had to head back up to Provo. Kate is adorable, by the way - and so little!! Thursday we just hung out and visited with Mom & Dad & Aunt Winnie. The kids were loving being able to get out and play in the back yard. In the afternoon I headed to Walmart to do some shopping and then made dinner (I know! What a shock!).
Friday I worked on a jean quilt (I've been collecting squares for years now) and I went and got my hair cut at the "Spruce Moose" (It looks fantastic!). Then Erin and Kate came back down for the weekend. We've been having so much fun together. Dad bought a couple of bikes from the DI so the kids have been riding around town feeling pretty grown-up. On Saturday Mom took Erin & I back to the "Spruce Moose" for manicures and pedicures. It was heavenly! I am sporting the most deliciously wicked shade of bright red! Sunday was down time - Church in the morning and naps in the afternoon.
So - I'll try to get some pictures taken and posted. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying some down time from my regular life. Later ....

Johanna - My 40th! Birthday

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:35:00 -0100

So, I'm officially 40 years old now! It was a crazy day. I spent the whole morning like so:
7-9am - clean up the kids rooms and the upstairs bathroom (with help from the kids)
9:30am - take Andy to piano lessons
10:30am - take Haley to her soccer game and co-coach the game (we won! and Haley made a goal! from a pass - which we have been working on in practices)
11:45 - take Andy to buy a birthday gift and then drop him at his birthday party
12:30-2pm - clean the house and do laundry - this includes cleaning out all the tools that we have had in our bedroom due to the on-going tiling project
2:15pm - pick up Andy
3:30pm - finally get a shower and sit down to relax a little
5pm - people start arriving for the party that Tom threw me (with much insistence on my part!!)

The Party
People who came: Trav, Jen, & kids; Alex, Cynthia, & kid; Andrew, Sarah, & kids; The Driggs, The Scott Robinsons, The Jay Robinsons, The Wagners, Amy & Grace Wilson, Bonnie Olnowich. It was great!! I had such a good time visiting with everyone and I really appreciated that everyone came. Tom asked people to dress in 60's style - and people actually did it!!
The food: There was yummy punch (thanks Cynthia) and fruits and veggies and cheese and crackers, and Tom's famous "bang bang shrimp" (a Bonefish knockoff), and also his famous salsa and queso (also a knockoff of Chiles). Everything was great - thanks to all who brought food to share.
The cake: So, I found this picture at Walmart of a beautiful cake that I decided I wanted to have for my birthday. But I wanted Tom to make it, since the original serves 170 and we obviously didn't have that many people at the party. So Tom did some figuring of how to use the pans we own to make this cake. Then he got to work Friday night while I was at my bookclub. When I got home he was ready to start assembling and icing. Yeah - I helped ice my cake!! What can I say? I have a steady hand. We iced all three layers and then (at midnight) went to bed. Tom assembled and decorated Sat. morning while I was running around. It looked amazingly like the one in the picture (but sadly we did not take out our camera during the party so I have NO pictures).
The gifts: Tom & kids surprised me with the Cricut. Tom and I had watched an infomercial about this product and I was totally convinced I wanted it. So, I'm excited to get started - I'll let you know how I like it and what I've been able to do with it.

Johanna - Design on a Dime

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:06:00 -0100

So, I tried to post this earlier and had trouble with pictures and then lost my whole post. It's been a few days, so I thought I'd try it again. Three weeks ago we redid the upstairs bathroom (see first post for a little bit about why). So now we're working on the bathroom in our bedroom. Here are some pictures of the project, mid-renovation. (Yes, we're still waiting to put the toilet back in!!). So - the bedroom is a total mess (dust everywhere! It's driving me crazy). There are tools scattered everywhere and extension cords, not to mention the big boxes full of toilet parts and such. We're hoping to have it all finished up tonight - how nice not to have to trek down the stairs for midnight bathroom trips!! So, ifyou're in town, come see our handyman skills!!

Click for fullsize

Johanna - Check out our Picture Page

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:00:00 -0100

Hey everyone! Spencer posted pictures from last summer's vacation. Click on "Pictures" to see them.

Johanna - Conference Weekend

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:45:00 -0100

Well, we've made it through another conference weekend, and all children are alive! I made conference bags with stuff to do for each of the kids - the stuff lasted about one and half hours and then Andy started crying because we wouldn't let him get up and leave. Fun times at our house! Seriously, though, I really enjoyed this conference. There were some great talks and I came away feeling so grateful for the apostles and the prophet - for their varied personalities, for their humor, and kindness, and willingness to address serious topics in such careful ways. I'm grateful, like Pres. Eyring, for belonging to the true and living church.
Tom and I have been working on the upstairs hall bathroom. We tiled the floor, and then replaced the counter top with one of those integrated sink jobbies - oh and replaced the toilet (yeah, this all started because we had a perpetually running toilet which we couldn't easily fix because somebody had the brilliant idea of extending the counter top across the top of the toilet). And we needed to replace the sinks because the porcelain had chipped off the cast iron sinks and there were big rusted spots inside and continually shedding chips in all the drawers from the underside. So, it took us a whole week, but it looks really good. I will try to post some pictures this week. Next up is our bathroom. We really only need to tile the bathroom floor. We'd like to replace the counter top in our room as well, but it could probably wait for awhile. So next weekend I'm guessing we'll be hard at work again!
I visited a couple of elementary schools this week. Since Spencer is on a traditional calendar schedule, we decided it would be easier if our younger kids were on the same schedule. Littleton School District doesn't run their schools on a year-round schedule, so we are trying to get our kids open enrolled there. Both schools I visited are pretty old - built in the 50's and 60's. They definitely had a character missing in our schools - all built on the same architectural plans. The second school I visited was pretty small - 2 classrooms of each grade - which is similar to the school Spencer attended as a kindergartener. I really liked the feel of that school and would be happy if Andy & Haley were able to go to school there.
Well - this is a long post, but hopefully will give you all a feel for the week. Pictures hopefully in the next post!

Johanna - Introduction

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:26:00 -0100

Well, we're going to try a blog - bowing to pressure from family to "get with the program!" Spencer requested that we blog here at free webs because he knows how to program web pages, but not so much blogger. He still hasn't given us the tutorial on how to upload pictures, so we're handicapped. But I'm sure we'll get there eventually. What's here now? Well, Spencer's website is linked here, so you can check out what he's doing. Also, my LibraryThing is linked (as well as a list of my recently read books). LibraryThing is what I do online. I have cataloged about half the books we own in the house, plus all the books that I have read from the library over the last couple of years, plus whatever I have been able to remember having read. A good portion of the books have my review/reaction. I have fun there, and if you are interested in my obsession with books, this is the place to go. Hopefully we'll have pictures soon and maybe we'll actually think of things that would be interesting for you all to know about us. But here is our first (and hopefully not our last) post!