White Coat Ceremony, Elder Nelson, and Bath Time
Johnson Family Newsletter - written by Ryan
My parents have been so busy lately that I’ve decided to write the family newsletter for them. First, let me tell you about Dad. He has been studying a lot lately for quite a few tests. He also has a lot of papers to write. I get so excited when Daddy gets home. I always reach for him so he’ll pick me up. It’s hard for him to study at home because he just wants to play with me. Dad is also busy playing basketball. He and his daddy friends put together a USUHS intramural team. They are all great basketball players and it’s a very competitive league so they have fun. Mom and I go to all the games and sit with all my friends and their moms. I patti-cake every time Dad gets a basket (which is a lot). Dad just got a new calling at church. He is the second counselor in the Young Mens. He likes it a lot. The young men think he’s awesome. He just spoke in church and I guess he did a really good job. The Stake President was visiting and said it was the best sacrament meeting he could remember for many years.
Mom is busy taking care of me! She says she has to watch me all the time now that I can crawl. She spends a lot of time working on her scrapbook stuff. She’s doing a scrapbook of Daddy’s mission right now so that is keeping her busy. She is going to teach Homemaking this month all about scrapbooking. I try to play with her paper but she won’t let me. She is also starting a Family Home Evening packets group so she can make lessons and activities for me when I get older. I’m excited. Mom loves to take me to the mall. I like to look at everything so I’m really good.
Not things about me. I’m seven and a half months and the past month has been a busy one. At the beginning of January I got two teeth. Mom and Dad didn’t even notice them until they gave me a drink of water in a glass and heard a clinking noise. They were so excited. What’s the big deal"? Mom taught me how to turn on and off the lights in the bathroom and now every time we go in there I have to try it. I just tried my first vegetables - mashed carrots and squash. I didn’t like it and I guess I made silly faces because Mom and Dad laughed. I’m so good at getting around now. I roll all over the place. I can very easily get from lying down on my stomach, to a crawling position and then push my arms back until I’m sitting. I love to sit up. I’m the best at crawling backwards and I just learned how to crawl forwards. I’ve been busy ‘exploring’ the past couple days since I’ve learned to crawl. There are so many things to play with. Mom turned the bottom two shelves of the bookcase into my toy shelves because I love to crawl over there and pull everything off of it. It’s really fun. Now I won’t break anything. Mom also put plastic plugs in all the outlets. I love to crawl over and kneel holding onto the dishwasher while Mom does the dishes. I like to show off for Mom or Dad so now whenever they look at me I have to patti-cake, wave bye-bye, nod my head up and down, or hold up the toy I’m playing with so they can see. They think it’s cute. They think everything I do is cute. I’m not allowed to use my baby bathtub anymore because last time I practically climbed out. It’s so boring to just sit there. Now I use a little bathing seat thing and we fill up the bathtub. It’s fun because I can make bigger splashes! My Daddy calls from school a lot and I get to talk to him on the phone. When he talks, I try to look at where my Daddy is, but I can’t figure it out. I kept saying “Dad, Dad, Dad”. I don’t know what I’m saying but it sure make my Daddy excited.
Last week we were able to go to an Institute Fireside for all the LDS Medical Students. Elder Russell M. Nelson came to talk to us. He spoke about life as a doctor and how to balance medicine, church and family. My Mom and Dad loved it. We got to meet him before it started. It was awesome. I was so well behaved. I entertained myself with my cars and my book of mormon. After the fireside, a bunch of big people came back to my house to eat something I can’t have yet. Mom wanted me to go to sleep but I decided I’d rather stay up for the party so I postponed my bedtime. Luckily Mom agreed. Everyone was watching me show off … and I loved it.
White Coat Ceremony
It is tradition for Medical Students to receive their official white coats. These are special white coats for medical students, however, shorter than the white coats actual physicians wear. Ryan and I headed down to the school to be a part of the celebrations.
Valentines Day Weekend
Our weekend was really fun. I picked Chris up at school at lunch time on Friday and we headed out to do a bunch of errands together. We bought our scanner, exchanged some stuff, bought Ryan some cute brown shoes and a booster seat. It’s like a high chair but you strap it to a chair. It has a tray and everything. We like it because if fits in our house better, it’s cheaper ($19) and when we don’t need it anymore it will be easy to store. Friday night we watched Friends and ER (we taped them).
Saturday night, we went to Chris’ school Valentines Day Dance. It was so fun. All of our friends went. We took Ryan with us and we all danced together or let him crawl on the floor while we danced around him. I LOVE dancing so I was in heaven. Chris doesn’t really like it that much, but he did it for me. I made Chris raisin pie for Valentines Day.
On Sunday, we went to church and then to a baptism that night. So many people have been getting baptized into our ward lately. Monday was a holiday so Chris went to play basketball in the early morning and took Ryan in his exersaucer so I could sleep in. It was wonderful. Chris studies most of the day but then we went over to some friends that night to watch The Saint. Good movie.
Chris survived his batch of tests last week. He is doing really well. I guess there are already some medical students who have dropped out and a couple who have to retake some classes in the summer. I’m glad Chris is doing so well.
Next weekend Chris has a scout camp. His new calling is demanding a lot of time from him but he likes it. He’s already booked to speak at a Court of Honor and a Standards Night next month because everyone says he’s such a good youth speaker. I’m very proud of him. One lady came up to me on Sunday and said, “You know you married an incredible man, don’t you?”
