A Conversation with Brandt

Here is a snippet of a conversation I had with Brandt today while cutting his hair:

Brandt: When will you be done?

Me: When I'm finished.

Brandt: No. When will you be done?

Me: When I'm finished.

Brandt: I mean, when will you be done?!

Me: When I'm finished.

Brandt: Why do you keep saying that?!

Me: Because you keep asking the same question.

Brandt: Well if you were a kid, you wouldn't say that!

Me: Really? What would I say if I were a kid?

Brandt: You'd probably say 'I hate you!"

Me: I'd say 'I hate you' to you?

Brandt: Maybe. If you were a kid.

Snow!

It snowed here on Saturday. Not enough to stick . . . but still.

We were at our Church's Trunk-or-Treat activity and our good friend was chasing down Khyah to get a picture of her in her costume. She ran outside and he clicked at the exact moment she saw the snow. Priceless image!

Oh, the magic of youth.

Switzerland

A day late, and a dollar short on this post, but the pictures are too gorgeous not to share.

After my mission companion's civil wedding in France, we drove in a 3-car caravan to the Bern (Zollikofen) Switzerland Temple for the sealing. Kim and I were in separate cars when we crossed the border, but both of us felt it. It was a rush. An overwhelming feeling of coming home. And it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road and off the beautiful scenery that surrounded us. (For anyone who may not know, my siblings and I are a quarter Swiss German.)

Okay, one last commentary before the pictures . . .  having grown up in Utah, I have always loved the mountains. I have missed them terribly since moving away. So I thought I knew mountains. But wow. Utah mountains don't compare in the least to Switzerland's mountains. Breathtaking. Powerful. Beautiful. Mysterious. Commanding. And none of those words really captures it. I hope you all get a chance to go to Switzerland one day.

Here I am at the temple:

Kim is next to a lake we passed. This picture doesn't capture the amazing green-blue of the water, or the brilliant green of the hills.

Here is Kim, sitting on our hotel balcony. What a view, eh?

Okay, we might have had a little fun . . .

Maybe just a little.

And here's the view looking back down of the city of Lauterbrunen.

The Church you see behind us was featured in countless post cards, so we thought we should get a picture. This is actually where we parked our car before taking the tram.

And here it is again. I can't express enough how GREEN everything was. Just gorgeous.

This is the view we had as we walked down the mountain. I seriously wished I could live there.

And the view looking upwards. Seriously, the mountain had a soul, and you could feel it seeping out of everything.

Another view from further up.

I have so many more pictures I would love to share with you all, but I'll save it for another post. This time, I just wanted you to feel the grandeur of it all. But I'll work on culture next time (assuming I get that far). :)

My Child Thinks He's a Monkey

While my son thinks he's a monkey. He hangs on everything.

Thing is, he's not a lightweight anymore. I give you Evidence A:

And Evidence B:

Yup. Definitely not a monkey.

Life According to Brandt

It was Sunday, and London wanted to Skype with his grandparents, but Brandt shook his head sadly.

Brandt: I can't Skype. Do you want to know why, Mommy?

Me: Why can't you Skype, Brandt-boy."

Brandt: I can't Skype because I'm afraid of heights. That's why.

First Day of School: 2nd Grade

Slow in coming (only 3 weeks in), but here is London on the first day of school. Hard to believe he's in Second Grade!

His backpack is so full of supplies, he had to carry his lunch.

And here he is at the school.

So far, he loves his class and his teacher despite all the homework he gets daily.

Johnson Family Reunion: Part 3

Okay, because I know you didn't get enough of the beach before, here's some more fun:

London was the expert shell collector of the group. Here is a particularly fine specimen.

And Quincy was his partner in crime. Look at that beauty!

Thursday evening (our last one thanks to Irena), we all took a nice walk on the beach. Doesn't look like a hurricane is about to hit, does it? However, even then, the water was coming in higher than usual. Definitely past the established tide lines.

Khyah came with us and she was Daddy's little girl. She did not want to let him go.

Before the walk, we had changed the kids into regular cloths. Woops. A swimming suit would have been much easier to clean later.

Yep. Definitely much easier.

Rob and Tiff and Cadence came on the walk with us.

In preparation for Irena, the local news stopped by to film. Want to see what they're filming?

"Water Is Dangerous." Yep.

But we went in anyway. I know, I know. But it sure was fun! And again, I couldn't get to all the beach pictures, and I KNOW you're dying for more. Isn't that what a blog is for?