Family pictures

In June my family (parents, siblings, in-laws, us, & the kids) all got our pictures taken. This was a great chance for a Bietz-Johnson-Lehner picture! Below are some of the ones that I like best. Enjoy!

Here is the whole group - aren't we so stunning? :)

Grandma, Grandpa, and Grand kids

My Parents

I think we were supposed to look like we were walking... we obviously weren't, but still a cute picture!

This is my favorite - Love this photo of my family!!!

Another good one of Team Johnson!

Here is one of just my siblings and spouses - it is a really good picture!

Sister & Brother-in-Law

Brother & Sister-in-Law

Here we are - don't we radiate Love? I love this picture!

How cute is Myles!!!!

Siblings... Wish they got along this well all the time!

What do you suppose is going through Holly's mind right now....

Isn't this picture so cute you could just eat it up?

My happy little girl!

Hanging at Lord Fletcher's

Last night we took Billy to experience Lord Fletcher's. It was fun! The food was yummy with zero nutritional value to it (gotta love Cheese Burgers!), and the weather ended up being great! Not to hot, not to cold, and no rain! Yeah!

Erik and Bill before they chowed down on dinner!

Como Zoo

On Friday morning we took our kids to the Zoo. It was a ton of fun! We currently have an out of town guest with us, Billy from CA. The kids love him! He is like a real life toy or something. They love to goof around and race around with Bill. So of course we had a great time at the Zoo. The kids got a kick out of the animals and even saw the Sparky show. While we didn't see every animal there, we stayed for a few hours. We packed a great picnic lunch and enjoyed eating outside of the Zoo on their picnic grounds. The kids then played on the playground for a while. It all ended when Holly fell and scraped her elbow. Nothing that a band-aid couldn't fix!

Enjoy the cute pictures of the kids at the Zoo!
AJ

We went into the Butterfly house - it was pretty cool! Lots of them just hanging out so you got a chance to get up close and personal with them. I think this was heaven for Holly!

How cute is this picture of Myles in the Butterfly house?

Just as exciting for the kids was this turtle statue - they jumped right on and had a blast!

We made a pit stop at the Sparky Show. It is kinda neat all the tricks they can teach a seal.

Here the kids are outside the seal habitat. Holly laughed every time she heard the seals barking.

They both were totally fascinated with these lily pads at the entrance of the Zoo.

Soccer

Myles is having a blast playing soccer, and we are loving watching him play! He has games twice a week and we all look forward to them. Yesterday his team (the Hurricanes - blue jerseys) played a team called the Venom in yellow. The Hurricanes played hard and were rewarded with a win! The score was 2-1. Myles made his first goal ever, and it was the game winning score! He was so pumped, and we are so proud of him!

Below are a few pictures that one of the parents took and sent to us all. I selected a few to share with you all.

AJ

I believe this is after the first goal made by a different team mate. But they all were very excited about it. You can see the enthusiasm from Myles! Now imagine how enthusiastic he was when he scored! :)

Myles going for a shot on goal. This one didn't yield a goal, but still a good try!

Here is the team after they won the game. Everyone was so happy!

Happy Birthday Holly - 3 years old

Today is Holly's 3rd Birthday! I can't believe that 3 years ago, she was born. She is still my little baby. Just a little bigger, heavier, smarter, louder, faster, sassier, funnier, etc.... sigh. I sometimes really miss holding her in my arms and rocking her at night. That was so wonderful. But today, she is an independent and talkative 3 year old. She definitely has her own opinions on what to say, what to do, and how to do it. Yup - she is my daughter!

The day started off slow. I made muffins and eggs for the kids for breakfast. Myles loved his, Holly just at the cottage cheese. Figures! We then watched cartoons and played with toys for a while. I then needed to start cleaning. I was motivated to get most everything cleaned in the morning so that I could watch the World Cup Soccer match in the early afternoon. While Holly napped, Myles and I watched a tough match between Holland and Spain.

At 4:00 pm family started to show up. By 4:45 Holly was opening up gifts. It was cute! She really seemed to like everything and played with each thing. When we were done with that, Erik began grilling the brats & dogs while I prepared a few side dishes. Dinner went off without a hitch, and we all ate our fill. Cake and ice cream followed next. Yummy!

I would say that it was a very good 3rd Birthday for Holly! We love her so much and are looking forward to watching her grow this next year!

Holly starting to open up her gifts

Pausing for a picture before opening

One of her gifts was this little puppy - which she promptly put a sticker on its back.

Grandpa and Holly

Holly and her butterfly cake

For weeks I would ask Holly "what kind of cake do you want?" and she would consistently answer "A Butterfly one!". Well, places don't really sell Butterfly cakes around here, but Target does make this lovely Butterfly cupcake creation! Holly was happy with it, so I was happy!

Both kids were excited to eat their cupcake of choice!

The family singing happy birthday to Holly!

Myles' First Soccer Match

Been a while since I've been on the blog. I shot this video with My iPhone. Came out pretty good. Myles had been looking forward to this game all week. He had a shot at a couple of goals, played goalie and cheered on his teammates. They even ended up winning 1-0. He has really enjoyed soccer.... And I must say (I know, I am biased) he shows some real talent for it. Must take after his Mom!

Myles' first soccer match.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!

We went out of town this weekend - to visit with lots of family in South Dakota. The kids did pretty well the whole weekend. They played outside a ton with their cousins, and at a TON of junk food. It was so wonderful to see everyone and to catch up over a few days.

On Saturday, we took the kids to an outside water park - below are a few pictures:

Cutie pie Holly taking a little break from swimming

Myles also taking a quick break

Wow... those goggles sure are stylish!

Mmmm... cookie time, and then back into the water!

Holly thought this little floating turtle was fun!

Myles LOVED this Lilly pad - the kids were all scrambling to get on it and then to tip over the Lilly pad. The poor life guard kept telling them to stop. But the older boys kept doing it, and Myles didn't seem to mind. Until he got pushed off, then he was upset. It is tough to hang with the older kids!

After the water park we changed, took a quick nap, and then back to Grandma's house for some family fun. Holly enjoyed this bubble wand. She plays with it again the next day as you'll see below.

This is my Uncle Tim - There is a running joke that his Rapper name is One Dolla. So Erik had a t-shirt made for him. It was really funny!

Patrick and Nicole enjoy some family time outside.

And here is Holly again with the bubble wand! This is from today - notice the cute 4th of July shirt she is wearing! Good thing I bought a $5 shirt for just one day. :)

The kids made some pretty pictures on the sidewalk in front of Grandma's house.

Here are some of the family members eating the 4th of July food. It is safe to say that enough calories were consumed over the course of 3 days that we don't need to eat for a week. Luckily we escaped for home without having to take anything back with us. It may not have been a healthy weekend, but it sure was yummy!

3 Generations - Me, my Grandma, and my Mom.

Erik and Tim take a break from the food - for only a minute! It is easy to re-charge the tummy!

My little 2nd cousin (Eden) - this pouty little lip was so cute I had to take a picture!

So we watched this hot dog eating contest on t.v., and it inspired my cousin Andy to have a one man challenge with a piece of chocolate cake. Can you guess who won?

Myles and Lily - they played very well all weekend.

Stacey and Andrea - can you tell that we just gorged on tons of picnic food?

One last cute picture of us before we took off to head back home.

We had to fill up with gas, so the kids were being silly in the car. Good chance for a picture!