Damon's Birthday, Kyle's China Trip...

Our Damon turned three on July 3rd.

He is learning and growing so much, we are so proud of him.
He is such a wonderful boy, and big brother.
We love you Damon!

He requested a 'Choo Choo Train' cake for his birthday, so I did my best.

Ang, Char, and Da

Brookie, me, Sarah, Lish, and Allison.

Claiming his spoils

Daddy would be proud...(Not quite BYU, but we can cheer for the Huskers!)

Our sweet friend/sis, Aud

We are so grateful for our friends and family. We loved seeing all of you. Thank you for your sweet gifts, letting us intrude on your space, and just for spending some time with us. We love you all and miss you.

We were sad not to have Kyle here for Da's birthday, but he was having some adventures half way across the world! Hopefully he can put up some pictures and stories soon. We sure missed him,...so happy we are back together again!
We made the 18 hour drive home Friday. We started out early, but for some reason this did not help much. Both boys had a rough time. Let me just say that I am not dying to take a drive anytime soon. I hope the next time we make that trip in the car it will be when we are moving. But we are happy to be in our own place again. Damon walks around the house saying, "I love my little room, and my little bed. I love my house, and my cute cute kitchen."



Kyle spent three weeks in China with his law school. A professor that he was doing research for was in charge of setting up a study abroad program with the Xi'an Jiaotong University law school, and she took Kyle along to translate. Two other students also went along to do research.
This was the hotel he stayed in on the University campus.

One thing we miss about China - the crowded markets

The drum tower at night

A long string of traditional Chinese kites

Kyle at the city wall

These pictures were taken at a thousand year old Muslim Mosque

Another one of our favorite things in China - the incredible food. The food in Xi'an was super spicy (the beer bottles aren't Kyle's)

The Small Goose Pagoda. Kyle climbed to the top of the 13 stories. Pretty daring since the building is 1,300 years old.

There is a strong Muslim influence in Xi'an, as could be seen by the beautiful architecture.

The terracotta warriors. One of the world's wonders.


After the soldiers were uncovered, only one was found completely in tact, the kneeling archer

This is the Great Goose Pagoda

A Buddhist Temple

While on the trip, Kyle got to attend a murder trial in the Xi'an High Provincial Court, the equivalent of a State Supreme Court. This picture was taken in front of the courthouse with Judges, professors, and a classmate, Holly.

After the trial, the justice department treated them to the most exquisite feast in the history of the world

Kyle, classmates Holly and Neil, Professor Shavers, and Liu Nan - Xi'an law school graduate

On his way back, Kyle got to stop and visit his favorite places - Hong Kong and Macau - with his friend Nathan Burby. This is Kyle in downtown Macau.
We're sure glad Kyle had such a great time in China, but we are so happy to have him home and safe!

Blessing, Family and Friends, Parade...

We blessed Jonas on June 6th. It was a wonderful, bright sunny day. What a special little boy he is. He has such a sweet pleasant personality, and is full of smiles. We feel so blessed to have such fun little boys in our family. They make our lives so happy! (Thank you to all our family for helping with this special day. Grandma Johnson is responsible for the perfect blessing tux, isn't it amazing?)

Such a sweet little guy!

Damon and Jake playing ball

Bitter family picture

We took the kids to the Aerospace Museum. The boys really liked all the planes.

I love how I got Damon jumping into the pool, and a sweet shot of Jayce running in the back

Oh boys, boys, boys...it is so fun to have them together again (Even if they get into it good sometimes. Just like brothers!)

Damon rarely looks at the camera AND smiles at the same time. Alisha got this picture with her amazing camera and I love it (Thanks Lish!) The kids were all riding the odyssey in the backyard so their faces are covered in dust.

Damon loves to go to Grandpa Johnson's house and ride on the tractors with him. Whenever we go over to visit, he can't stop talking about the tractors and going outside.

Angela got the boys these matching BYU shirts! They are so fun, and of course Kyle loves them too.

Chaleese invited us over to her parents house for a water party with the kids! It was so fun. Crazy to think that out of us four girls there are a total of 10 kids! They had so much fun, thanks!

Damon was more interested in watching the worm than swimming. Funny that the two girls are there along with him!

Group picture of the kids...minus a boy, girl, and three little babies.

The Syracuse Heritage Days Parade was today. Damon loved seeing all the fire trucks, floats, horses, and getting lots of candy!

Bruce and Jonas

So much candy...hard to hold up the bag!

Lately Damon has been really into holding Jonas! He is such a loving older brother, he can't wait till Jonas is old enough to do things with him. He is always trying to feed, talk, and play with him.

My little sugar bug is 4 months old now! He has grown so much, we just love every inch of his chubby little body. He does so well pushing up from his belly. He has rolled over and looks like he could take off crawling any day (please no). He loves to stand up while we hold his hands. His dimples, smiles and laughs melt my heart...

Kyle left for China a little over a week ago for a study abroad program through UNL. This will be the longest time we have been apart since he got home from Hong Kong 5 years ago. He will be gone for three weeks. He is in Xian for two weeks, and then Hong Kong for one. We are missing him so much, but happy that he is safe and having amazing experiences.

Scary Dreams...

Damon woke up around 4:00 am this morning. After trying to talk him into getting back in bed and failing miserably, we were getting a little frustrated. I mean isn't it supposed to be the baby waking up in the middle of the night? Not our super awesome two year old sleeper! He was being very loud and we figured that after Jonas was woken up that was it. Damon is such a fun active boy, and decided soon after he was able to walk and be independent that he did not want to snuggle anymore. Hugs are good, hugs are awesome...but no snuggling. I wish that he would just come and sleep in our bed, but no that does not work. He can only sleep when there is no one else around. Otherwise he just wants to play. I started getting worried he was sick or something, but then I had the thought to ask him a few questions. Damon has gotten up from nap time a little upset and said 'scary nap', which we figure means he has had a bad dream. I asked him if he had a scary dream again and he said yes. He let me wrap him up in his blanket and hold him for a little while. I told him that I would help him say a prayer to Heavenly Father to help him feel better. After our prayer Damon calmed down so much I thought he had fallen asleep in my arms. He let me lay him down in his bed and he did not make another peep until he woke up in the morning. He came into our room and I asked him if he felt better. He said he did, and that he was happy. I told him that our prayer was answered and that Heavenly Father had helped him to be brave and not have anymore bad dreams. I told him that whenever he is scared or needs help he can pray. A few minutes later he was distracted playing around in our room. I always wonder if he will remember or understand things that I try to teach him. Then in the middle of him playing he said, 'I wuv you Jesus, thank you for helping me'.

Growing

It is amazing how difficult it can seem adjusting, but also how we LOVE being parents to two sweet little boys! Damon sure loves his little brother, as you can tell...

Jonas has such big eyes, I just love them!

So, we are past two months now and getting close to the third! We have had a few difficult circumstances occur, but all in all we feel like life has gotten back to normal. Especially since our little guy has been sleeping through the night for a while now. (I know I do not deserve such a wonderful sleeper, but it has been such a blessing.)

Easter

Our Easter/Conference weekend was so great! I think it was especially for me since I got to see Kyle a little more than usual. He is usually gone to school from 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning to 11:30 or 12:00 at night, but does come home for a quick dinner. Saturdays are a little less but still from 8:00-5:00 seems like a full day. We are so grateful for his hard work to do well in school. We can't wait for the first year to be over! A few more weeks...

Yay for Easter! (Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Bitter for your fun Easter presents! Of course Da loved them.)

I am sad that I did not take any pictures, but we had a fun Easter dinner with our friends. Thanks Charles and Valerie for organizing and preparing such wonderful food! The Andersons came as well, Damon loved having his good friends Lincoln and Sidney to play with. We ended up having it outside because it was so nice. Hooray for good weather!

As you can see our little one has gained a few pounds. I do love the chub!

I do not know if it is because we have a new little one or if time just passes by too fast, but our little Damon seems so grown up now! We love seeing him learn and grow. Sometimes I do not realize what he is absorbing until I listen to him while he is playing. He rambles off whatever is in that little brain of his and it amazes me.

Trying to zip up his jacket

What a handsome little guy!

It is so amazing to see how well Damon has done with the addition of little Jonas to our family. I was trying to prepare myself for the worst and was pleasantly surprised. Damon is of course a little to rough sometimes, but there is no denying that he absolutely loves his little brother. He is always wanting to hug, kiss, play, feed, and talk to him.

Visits from Family...

We were so happy to have the Bitter side of the family come and visit a few weeks in March and in April. We sure miss all our families. Nine months or more seems like forever when you are apart. During the first visit my mom, Ryan, Aubbie, and Breanne came.

We know that the 12 hour drive is not the most appealing, but we sure appreciate being able to see you all!

My boys love their uncle Ry!

Jonas and Grandma...

Beautiful Aubbie

The second round came a week later. The Johnson family (Brian, Alisha, Jayce, and baby girl). It has almost been a year since we have seen them! Oh, we are so glad they came! Sorry Lish, I know driving that long when you are so pregnant and ready to be done must have been awful. But you look beautiful, it is no fair that you can look that good when you are pregnant :) We are just glad it all worked out,...and we can't wait to meet that darling little girl! We know that Jayce will be an amazing big brother. He was so sweet and tender with Jonas.

Our fun little trouble makers. Do not be fooled by their innocent looking faces. :)

Last week the final batch came. The rest of my siblings and parents. Thank you all so much, I know that there is not much to do here in Nebraska and coming over your spring break probably was not the most exciting thing to do. But we had a blast and loved having you here. My parents, Brookie, Cambie, Bruce and Breanne. Brookie had her birthday while they were here! It was so fun to celebrate with them.

Thank you again for the visits! We love you!

(We can't wait to see the Johnson side, hopefully just at few more weeks!)