Our CREW

"I'd rather be absolutely RIDICULOUS, than absolutely boring!"

* Top Picture: Mike was going to have Krista cut his hair & so he thought, "Hey I'll help her out, I'll cut me some BANGS first!" Luckily this is the before Krista fixed his "bangs" picture. It wasn't all business in the front, party in the back for long. Thank Heavens & Krista!

*2nd Picture: Every year that we go down to Lake Powell, we take our "baths" in the lake. Well, ever since I've had my hair short, when I put shampoo in it I can sculpt the gnarliest Mohawk & so I do! It's only a Lake Powell thing though, when we arrive home from L.P. the Mohawk is retired, sadly.

*3rd Picture: I know that I had a picture very similar up of this on the side of our blog for a long time, but when I took it down I knew I HAD to feature it in an up coming post, so here it is. In all of it's glory! Camren in his princess get up on Christmas morning throwing a tissy fit at Mike- Priceless!

*Final Picture: This last winter when we lived at Vickie & Larry's, Jaden had gotten into some of their "dress up's" & came into my room & tried to scare me, I thought that it was so funny that I burst out laughing, Jaden was a little bit upset at first that I hadn't squealed in horror, but then he started laughing along with me. What a cute piggie/KISS band member!

A "FEW" things that make me, well...ME! :)

I've seen a few other people do this post & I liked it (I guess I like to learn quirky facts about others that I otherwise might not know)! It is a wee bit self indulgent I admit, but here are 100 different thing that make me who I am. Oh, & before I begin, you may want to grab a refreshing beverage cause this could take a while, & also I found a quote last night that I though that would go along nicely with this post....

"In a world where you can be Anything....BE YOURSELF!"

1. Whenever any clock says 11:11 or 3:14 (my b-day) I have to close my eyes & make a quick wish.

2. When I was in middle school I wanted a middle name so badly that I made one up for myself & so I would sign everything

"Laura Ashley Jackman"

3. When I was little I would go around our house & pretend that

I was "giving away" our furniture on The Price is Right, I would say things to imaginary people like "You could be the winner of this BEAUTIFUL Grandfather Clock!" & in that moment I was one of Barker's Beauties!

4.When I was in 8th grade I was over at my friends house & there was a cat outside with us that wouldn't leave my side & he ended up following me home & my parents still have him to this day, his name is Simon.

5. On my first date with Mike we stopped at a Albertsons in Park City to grab some treats & Mike grabbed the UGLIEST hat & said to me in the goofiest voice, "If I wear this, will you kiss me?" & from that moment on he hasn't stopped making me laugh.

6. I am the BIGGEST night owl, I would have no problem if "normal" hours were 12pm-3am

7. I have always, my whole life, said that I wanted to own my own dance studio when I grew up & so when I first started teaching dance at the studio that Mike built for me, it was like a major life

goal/dream being realized.

8. I like going out & partying as much as the next person, but my favorite thing really is staying home in my sweats with my huzzy, getting take out & watching movies.

9. I am beyond obsessed with music, I feel like it is one of the most powerful things, the way it can affect my mood is amazing.

10. I also am kind of a music slut, I like so many different types of music, as long as the song has some sort of feeling/emotion behind it, I like it. Whether that be music that makes me hyper or depressed.

11. When I was young I vowed that I would own a Tiger when I grew up no matter what it took! Now that I have kids & have seen one too many Discovery "When Animals Attack" shows, my view & passion on that subject has shifted a bit, but they are still by far my favorite animal!

12. If I could live anywhere other than Utah, I would choose Maine. I traveled there with my family when I was younger & for some reason fell in love with it!

13. When I was little I had New Kids on the Block sheets & on the pillow, I had to have Jordan's face facing up, so that he could "breathe"! For the record, No I will not be buying their new CD.

14. I have always wanted children, I wanted them so badly that Mike & I got pregnant just 4 months after getting married.

15. I think that 50% of my food intake entails Peanut M n' M's & Reeces Peanut Butter Cups. Rarely could you look in my cupboards & not find these two essentials.

16. I don't hardly ever cook (sorry Mike), but I think that it sounds

really fun!

17. I was so scared when I found out that I was pregnant with my second (because my first broke me in really well) & now that I WANT to be preggers again it hasn't happened for 2 1/2 years & counting....

18. I have always had a passion for reading & funny enough, I think that it started out with "The Babysitter Club" books, I was obsessed.

19. In my youth I think that I tried to start every single kind of "club" that you could imagine. The "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Club" was my favorite & whats funny is that we had a boy in the club!

20. Some of my dream jobs (other than the Dance Teacher bit of course) are Interior Decorator, Fashion Stylist, Magazine Editor, Make-up artist to the stars- especially Jennifer Aniston, music video choreographer, American Idol judge, Um can you imagine me being the female Simon "Was that singing? It sounded like a cat being ran over to me!"

21. I am a Product Junkie, if there is a new mascara/lotion/lip gloss out on the market, I want it.

22. I love being a Freelance Make-up artist for MAC, I take great pride in making people feel good about themselves. And it's just plain fun to go play in ALL OF THAT MAKE-UP!

23. I sometimes worry that since I am soo into make-up & "girlie" stuff, that some people might think that that's all there is to me.

24. Making custom CD's for other people is one of my favorite things to do, not only do I get to listen to great music (in my opinion) in the process, but then I get to share my love for music with others.

25. I bawled my eyes out in the movie "The Notebook", literally had snot coming out the nose, bawling.

26. I have weird irrational fears, like sometimes when I am about to start my car I'll think "What if theres a car bomb on the car?"

27. I've always wished that one day Mike would wake me up in the morning like Richard Gere wakes Julia Roberts up in "Pretty Woman", waving a credit card in front of my face saying "Let's go SHOPPING!"

28. My go to color to wear is Black, it's just so easy & helps with some of that "extra" weight.

29. My favorite color to actually wear though is a deep periwinkle.

30. My favorite flowers on earth are Calla Lillie & Gerber Daisies.

31. I secretly wish that I could plan my whole wedding over again, there are definitely some things that I would shake up a bit!

32. My brother Matt lent me Arrested Development & I am so glad he did, they are hilarious! Love that show!

33. I was soooo sad when Friends came to an end, that's my fave

show of all time!

34. I love going to concerts, there is just something about seeing the artist's you love & admire perform live, my favorite so far has to be U2!

35. If I could cast Edward in the Twilight movie, it would be Jake Ryan, you know from 16 Candles & Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

36. I've always wished that I could sing really good, & that I would get up in Sacrament Meeting & blow every ones socks off!

37. When I was little I had a "pretend" baby & I named her "Bubbles", and when I say pretend I don't mean a doll, I mean an invisible baby.

38. I am in love with the Victoria's Secret line "PINK"

39. I know that this sounds a little odd, but a while back I wished that I had a gay best friend like Grace does on Will & Grace.

40. I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have someone think that I was nice, sincere, funny or creative than think that I was pretty, it's a much better compliment I think.

41. I could spend hours & hours in Barnes & Noble sipping on specialty drinks & looking through random books.

42. I can never go to Target & only come out with what I went there for.

43. I'm not afraid of spiders or mice, but snakes creep me out.

44. I am obsessed with the sense of smell, everything in my life needs to smell good- EVERYTHING!

45. I sometimes wish that I could still live with my siblings & parents they are some of my favorite people to be around, & sometimes it feels like I don't get to spend near enough time with them.

46. I love turning music on in my living room & making up an improve dance right there on the spot. Pretending all the while that I have a huge audience watching & applauding me, of course.

47. Sometimes when I sing along to POP music in my car I pretend I'm in a music video & it makes getting from A to B a lot funner!

48. One of my favorite kisses with Mike was when we were in Lagoon's parking lot & it was just pouring buckets of rain on us & we were drenched- Too Much Info? Anyone? But I swear it could've been

in a movie!

49. I used to say ALL the time "Okay Dokey Hokey Pokey Rokey Smokey" & it drove everyone around me nuts, luckily for all around me I've kind of kicked that habit.

50. I love watching old movies, anything with Doris Day or Audrey Hepburn, I think it's cause me & my sister would always watch these with my Mom growing up.

Okay, so this is taking waaaay longer than I thought, so I am going to end for now & maybe there will be a part 2 of this post on a latter date! Hope you enjoyed reading up on a bunch of facts-o-Laura Ashley Jackman Johnston!

Is it possible?

How did this happen? How is it that my youngest is a PRE SCHOOLER!?! That's insaness, but he loves it! Do take notice that everyone else brought a backpack to school & my Cam brought his pink Cinderella purse. I just figure, let him do what he does & it'll all work out in the end. In the meantime though, it is quite humorous to watch! I was happy that "Ms. Amy" had room in her class this year. She grew up in the same neighborhood as I did & it's always comforting to have someone you know as your child's pre school teacher. It's fun because Sammy is in the class too & so Cam already has a buddy. His first day went really well & we'll see what I can do next week about the "purse issue". :)

They say it's your birthday....

Happy Birthday Camren!!! Cam turned 4 years old yesterday! I can't believe how the time flies by! The day started out by us all going out to his cousin Paul's baptism. I love that my boys have these older cousins that are such good examples to them. I know that Jaden in particular looks up to Paul & so for both him & Cam to be there to see him be baptized was awesome! From there we went to Toys R' Us & let Camren pick out any toy in the store for his birthday (well within' reason, & by reason I mean budget, you'll know why I say this in un momento). He kept picking out things & so we'd put it in the cart & then he'd find something else & if in his mind it triumphant ed over the other toy already in the cart, we'd swap out. Well do you think in any of the swaps that there was ever a boy toy even in question? No, there was not, not even a gender neutral toy. Just Fairy Wings, Crowns, Tea Sets etc... You get the point. He finally decided on a Disney Princess Guitar that plays "Be our Guest" from Beauty & the Beast. It was a good purchase though, it has already gotten a lot of use out of it already, namely from Cam & Kyra dancing around like ballerina's to the music- they love it!!! Then from the good old T.R.U. we headed on up to Chuck-E-Cheeses, you know, where a kid can be a kid! Anytime we asked Camren what he wanted to do for his b-day, he'd always say that Chuck-E-Cheese would be the place that he would be celebrating & no where else. He had a BLAST! Between pizza, rides, games, cake & actually getting to meet "the cheese" himself, he was in 4 year old heaven!Oh & after all of those games that give you tickets, he takes up his little receipt that says he has 60 points on it & looks up at the girl & says "I want those pretty sparkly earrings" Mind you, they were worth 80 points & he was 20 points short, but she must have thought that it was so cute that this little boy wanted "sparkly earrings", that she says "What color would you like?" In Cam's most excited voice he squeals "PINK!" So, in the bottom picture you can see him wearing his prize, what a perfect way for him to end off his day!

Picture Posing.....

Peter Loosli took our family pictures over at Gardner Village this last Monday. Everything went mildly smooth, other than Jaden getting stung by a wasp & Camren almost getting bit by a duck- all was well! I do have to tell ya though, if that duck had gotten Cam, he totally provoked it. Cam for some reason has no fear of animals! And the boys mostly went along with everything, I'm not even going to mention how Mike & I kept bribing the boys, "Hey boys we'll buy you ice-cream cones, pop, candy anything you choose if you smile good", oh wait, have I said to much? Whoops-a-daisy! I am excited to get the pictures & put them up in my new house whence it's done! Fun Times! Thanks again Peter Peter Pumpkin Picture Taker- okay I'll finish now, I've just crossed over to the "Corney" side. Not unusual for me though, I have to say!

My KNIGHT in Shining Armour

A few days ago Jaden & Cam had saved up enough money to go to the store & each buy a toy. Jaden, of course, bought a new Transformer to add to his "collection", he now has 14 total & keeps them all perfectly lined up on his window seal. Which I actually find cute, cause that is what Mike would've totally done when he was a wee one. I guess he used to shine up all of his toys/basketball shoes/basketball cards real nice back in the day & just sit & stare at them. Unlike me, I wore my stuff out, if I hadn't already broken said toy 6 minuto's after buying such purchases. But that's not the point, sorry I always sort of veer off track a bit don't I? Well to my surprise, and to Mike's great pleasure, Camren didn't choose anything princessy, no bippity-boppity-boo's to speak of! He chose a Knight costume! Wehoo! Maybe this is a sign that he really just has a "crush" on Cinderella & wants to be her Knight in Shining Armour & sweep her of her sparkly high heeled glass shoe wearing feet & marry her one day! Let's keep our fingers crossed! ;)

More Alaska Pictures, Cause I know you were all DYING to see More!

My brother Matt, or Mataydo as I like to refer to him, put these pictures up on his facebook. So, of course I had to snatch them up & share them on my blog! They really showcase every ones personality beautifully, wouldn't you say?

Ya'll are getting a Two-fer Post

Yes, I said it "Ya'll are getting a two-fer" & for any of you who don't know what a "two-fer" is, it's a two for the price of one type of a deal. Two subjects in ONE post! How lucky for ya'll, oh yeah & by the way I'm saying ya'll, cause well, I just think it sounds appropriate with the word two-fer! So onto the post, shall we? This last Saturday Mike had a carnival at his work & they had face painting. Jaden wanted an Optimus Prime on his arm & Camren wanted, what else? A butterfly, but of course. They loved it & Cam didn't understand why we had to clean off his "sparkily, beautiful butterfly" to go to church the next day.

Now, onto the.....HOUSE, it is already all framed! Talk about speedy! We are already having our 4 way inspection tomorrow so that they can start sheet rocking (um, is that really how it's spelled- doesn't seem right)! What do they have, majic elves up their sleeves working through the night? Insane, but very exciting!!!

Jaden's FIRST day of FIRST grade!

Okay, so first of all Jaden said he was "too embarrassed" to pose for a picture for me at school, so I had to sneak this one & so this is the best I got! He was really excited & just "an insy binsy bit nervous". He loved that he had three recesses & that he got to eat lunch at school. And of course, my early riser slept in today & so I had to actually wake him up for a change & when I did he was all "Moooom, why does 1st grade start sooo early? This is crazy!" Which I found hilarious, because I was actually waking him up about an hour later then when he normally wakes up. Kids! :)

Um waiter, I think there's a BEAR in my soup

So, as you all know from the previous post, this last week Mike was in Alaska. Well he's finally back, I'm telling ya, I don't know how on earth my sister Stacy does it when her hubby Chris goes off to war for months & months at a time! She must just be a much more self-sufficient person than I am & much better at the whole playing the "single mother" role! I have always had such respect for her, for thousands of reasons, but that respect has grown by leaps this past week! Stacy is amazing! So strong! Anywhoo, now that I have ventured off of my original point, as you can tell from the above pictures Mike had a blast! My Dad was so generous to take them & Mike is beyond greatful. I can't write from first hand experience, but I did hear some pretty "detailed" stories. The first of which was, that on the second day of fishing on water that had 15 ft swells for hours on end, everyone was feeling, should I say, a wee bit Weezy?!? I guess my Dad was the first to loose his lunch off the side of the boat....8 times! Mike, not an easy thrower upper by the way, had just eaten a PB&J sandwhich & some Doritos to chase it down. Well let's just say that that didn't stay in his tum-tum too long, & before you know it, it was fish bate in the ocean....4 times! I wish that you could hear Mike & my bro Spencer re-tell the story, their version, along with demonstrations & sound effects is hilarious! But they did end up catching & bringing home TONS of fish! 9 huge box full's to be exact! Halibut, Samon anyone?

Okay, now to the BEARS! Right outside of the hotel that they stayed in, there were these 3 huge black bears just hangin' around one day. Mike apparently got within 60 ft of them- Scary, but Cool! They also got to go on one of those cool water airplanes & Mike got to sit in the cockpit with the Capin'. What a stud! Also, while they were out on the boats, they saw a whale do a full breach about 100 ft from there boat & they saw a Bald Eagle swoop down into the ocean & get a fish. Mike loved it all & loved the company, they all missed Chris, who sadly couldn't make it. And I am just happy as a clam (are clams really all that happy?) to have my man back!

Missing Mike

I have been missing my "Huzzy" this week, he's been off on an adventure in Alaska with the other boyz in my familia this week. My Dad took them all there to go Deep Sea Fishing. And from the sounds of it they are going to be bringing back tons of fish! Too bad I don't care much for fish...at all! But I am happy that Mike is off having a blast, he deserves it, he works so hard for our family! I just miss him & am excited to have my best friend back in a couple of days! Love Ya Mike!

And the Dawn did Break...

So, I realize that this post is oh, only about a week behind schedule, but whatcha gonna do? Anywhoo, Me & my girlies went out last Friday, along with the rest of the world, to get BREAKING DAWN. What a fun night, we went to Chilli's for din-din & then hopped on over to Barnes and Noble just to get a taste of the madness that WAS that night. It was insaness, people dressed up in who knows what, but it was fun to share in on the madness, even if I wasn't dressed up in an 80's Prom Dress. From there we decided a Jamba Juice was in order, so a Citrus Squeeze it was! I could drink one of those every day of my life & only feel the insy-binsiest bit guilty for it. But mooooving on, we were going to go to Wal-mart & make our big purchase there, but what do you know, as we were walking away from my beloved Jamba J. there was a small line forming in front of Deseret Book. How lucky for us, they price matched Wal-mart for us & we were on our way home by 12:25, not bad at all! Why can't every Friday night be Girls Night? LOVES IT!!!

DINOSAURS!!!

Today Krista & I took our kids to the Dinosaur Museum @ Thanksgiving Point. It was so fun & sooo crowded, they are doing $2 Tuesdays in August & I guess everyone else decided to jump on the good deal as well. The kids absolutely loved it. And I loved that they had a great time!