Halloween!

Halloween took place in Spokane at Kim's in-laws, Brad and Carol. We took Jack and Haylee trick or treat-ing. They made it to three houses! Jack was a farmer (after Little People's "Farmer Jed") and Haylee was a precious little flower. It was fun to get away for a weekend for some shopping and relaxing at Brad and Carol's. The kids had a blast, and the adults had fun too (Chad especially had fun because his Oregon Ducks won that night). Fall time is so much fun!

Haylee's cute smile.

Me and the farmer!

Grandpa Johnson really plays well. He's a kid at heart.

This is Brad (Grandpa) LaVine.
He was Obama for Halloween. The ears are just the right touch!

You'll be surprised to know that eye liner also serves as farmer freckles.

Haylee Jean the daisy. I think she was a little shocked at first.

The farmer and the flower.

First family picture since HJ's birth.

The neighbors loved Jack and Haylee's costumes.

This is Danny. He is Brad and Carol's Labradoodle, covered in curls.

Buckin' bales: who needs a guy?

Kim, Chad, Jack and Haylee came to visit a few weeks ago. We had a great and busy weekend! Chad and Kim brought Brad and Carol's trailer to haul some hay back to little Felecitee in Spokane. Well, Dad just had 3 hernia operations a few days before and Chad hurt his lower back playing basketball, leaving them both handicap to lift anything over 20 pounds (Haylee was the exception weighing only 13 lbs). So Kim and I got on Dad's old jackets, gloves and we tackled that hay! With many he-man grunts (notice Kim's expression in the 1st photo) we bucked 12 HEAVY bales into that trailer. While the guys sat on the heated screened-in porched and watched from afar, Kim and I conquered the rigorous job, and life, for that matter. We were pretty proud of ourselves. Jack was close by playing with the kittens asking many questions while we huffed and puffed our way to hay-bale buckin' victory. So this just goes to show, you can take the girls out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girls. Kim and Rachel, farm girls fo-life. :) Oh and mom helped as our photographer.

So as you can see in Kim's face, this was quite the job. The difficult part came from trying to walk the bales up the slipperly, steep gate of the trailer.

Looking at our accomplishments, fatigued.

"Farmer Jedd" and his cat "Mama"

Cute little farmer close-up.

So there you have it, a day in the life of workin' farm girls. After Kim and Chad left Sunday, I had the privilege of mowing the lawn and blowing out the water pipes with Dad. I guess living rent free does have it's disadvantages. Kidding ;)

Busy Busy Aunt!

Thanks to my well-fertile siblings, I have been blessed with two nephews and a niece! Jack (2), Haylee (5 months), and Mitchell (2 months). Haylee was born in May when I was still in New Zealand, and Mitch was born right after I got back. It's been so fun to hang out with all of them. Each of them have their own little personalities, especially Jack, who talks up a storm. I'm a little biast, but they really are the cutest kids ever! Keep 'em coming Kim&Chad, Bryan&Katie :)

Reunited with Jack and meeting Haylee Jean for the first time!

Haylee being all cute!

Jack sporting his fo-hawk.

Reading a bedtime story.

The fam minus Katie (she's taking the picture) and Jack, at Mitch's birth!

Bryan, the new daddy, with Mitchell Bryan Johnson.

Jack wanted me to get in the "airplane" with him. I barely fit!

Holding Haylee.

Jack and I playing with his favorite kitten, Fireman.

Taking Mitch for a walk in Hermiston.

Holding Mitchell, 6 weeks old.

Cute little puggy guy.

Mitch rocks the pout really well.

The Johnson fam.

Back on the Mainland

I was in New Zealand for 10 months on a working/holiday visa with a girlfriend from school, Kara. My dear friend! We had a great time in such a beautiful country! Check out what we did in our blog www.kararachelkiwi.blogspot.com. We got back to the U.S. in July and spent a couple days with friends in L.A. and Seattle. It was awesome to be reunited with familiar faces that we missed for so long! Thanks everyone for a great first week back in the good ol' U.S. of A!

We flew into LAX and stayed with Kara's friend Katie for a couple days. She literally lives a five minutes walk from downtown Hollywood. After adjusting to jet lag and the hugeness that is America (especially So-Cal) we did a lot of walking around the Hollywood "stars" enjoying the L.A. heat, shopping and the sweet taste of American food!

The Hollywood Hills amidst the smog!

Kara and I trying to get the Hollywood sign in the background. We had to prove we were really there!

The famous star walk.

The mall square we hung out in everyday.

Hollywood Blvd.

Honored to get a picture with Jimmy Stewart.

We had a few hours to kill before flying to Seattle. So my Uncle Mike picked us up took us to see some celebrity mansions in Beverly Hills (Nick Cage's house) and then bought us lunch at Venus Beach before taking us to the airport. Thanks Mike!

The strip with some of L.A.'s finest!

Jessica, Kara, Shanon and I on Puget Sound.

We stayed in Seattle with our friend Jessica for a couple days. She was a great host and really gracious for letting us invade her apartment and her busy schedule! Shanon came over from Spokane and we had a mini Whitworth reunion!

Reunited with my roomate from college, Shanon.

On the Pier on Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA.

We saw a guy paddle-bording. I've always wanted to do that!

It must have been our lucky day, because we all found 4 leaf clovers! This was the best shot we could get out of about 10.

A crabby crab.

The Pier from the shore.

I was deprived of my favorite sour apple-o gummy rings for 10 months! They didn't have them in NZ:( So the first night in Seattle Jess and I went to the store and I bought some!

On our last night in Seattle we celebrated Jessica's 23rd birthday. We got dressed up and went out to dinner and dessert. Here we are with a beautiful puget sound sunset in the background.

Mom and Dad picked me up in Seattle and took Shanon and I to a Mariner game. Score! Sadly, the M's lost by 10 and we left by the 7th inning stretch. It was even Dad's idea and he would be the last person on earth to leave a baseball game early, but the cause was justifiable. The cost was free at least!

Safeco all green and pretty.

We dropped Kara off at the airport on our way to the game. This was our last picture together before she left for her hometown Hamilton, MT. It was so sad to say goodbye! We have some great memories of New Zealand and hopefully we can travel again together in the future.