The most AMAZING woman I know!!!

February 16 2001
What a lucky man!

No this is not our baby, although Broden would be pretty happy to take her.

Even more beautiful 9 yrs later!

A couple of weeks ago we were sitting in church and a guy in our ward kept saying really sweet things about his wife. Jenni leaned over to me and asked "I wonder what he is in trouble for". I want to preface this entry by saying that I am not in any kind of trouble at all. Ok, so maybe I am a little bored and lonely since Jenni, Jacey, and Broden all took off, for the last week and a half, down to Toledo to help Jenni's mom after her hip replacement. As a result of my boredome I was looking through many of the previous posts on here and I realized that the majority of the posts are about our kids (to be expected) with a few about me sprinkled in here and there, but very few if any about my amazing wife. I have never done this before and am not even sure if this will work but I have plenty of time so I will give it a try. 9 years ago last month Jenni and I met for the first time. She was beautiful back then but I think even more beautiful now. When we were first married I didn't know how I could love her anymore than I did right then, but now I can hardly believe how much my love for her has grown. There are so many things I admire about my wife so I will just pick a few. Jenni is an amazing mother. As I watch her with Jacey and Broden and see how patient and loving she is toward them, I realize the kind of qualities that I need to develop so as to be a better father. Jenni loves spending time with our kids, and it shows in the love that Jacey and Broden have for her. Jenni is one of the most selfless and giving people I know. She is always willing to sacrifice for friends, family, and her calling. I love how dedicated she is to the most important things in life and have learned that if she makes up her mind on doing something she will get it done (even if it takes her staying up all night for several nights). I love the simple moments we have together where one of us does something stupid and we both can just have a good laugh about it. Most of all I love her because she loves the Lord and is patient enough to deal with me and is a true friend. I love you babe!

Happy Cheese Days!

I know people always chuckle when I talk about "Toledo Cheese Days" or how much I loved it when I was growing up. Unless you grew up in a small town, you just don't have the appreciation for how exciting it really was to a little girl. The truth is, I am thrilled to be close enough to home where we can go back to Cheese Days every summer. It was fun this year to see Jacey get so excited about the same things I used to love when I was little. I know it doesn't compare to the Daffodial Parade, but in my mind it will always be better. I loved small town life as a little girl. I know I'll never have that again, and that's ok, but it sure made some fun memories! Just a few Cheese Days highlights from this year....
Waiting for the parade to start....

It wouldn't be a true Cheese Days without tractors... or log trucks...
or clowns....
(on stilts I might point out. I don't think they were that fancy when I was growing up.)or ridiculously over-priced snow cones.....

or best of all.... the free cheese sandwiches. Yes, I made Dan wait in the incredibly long line in front of the Presbyterian church with me to get a nasty plain cheese sandwich. The look on his face says it all...

So we had an ultrasound......

First let me give you one reason why you should be proud of me. I have been waiting and waiting for a long time to know what we're having. Not that it really mattered to me since we already have one of each, but I've been dying of curiousity. I had an appointment a couple of weeks ago, and I was right around the time when they usually do "the ultrasound". Dan had the day off, and that morning he asked, "Are they doing the ultrasound today?" I didn't know. He then said, "If they're going to, call me and I'll come right over. I want to be there for it." I don't know why we were thinking that would work. We live on North Hill and my doctor's office is on South Hill. It takes a good 20 minutes to get there. But I asked anyways when I got there, and the nurse said, no... having your 20 week ultrasound is a whole seperate appointment at Diagnostic Imaging. Ok. No reason to call Dan. But then, at the end of my visit, my very cool doctor says, "Do you want to take a peek at your baby? If you can wait around just a couple of minutes I'll wheel the little machine in here." SO tempting. What mom doesn't want a peek at her baby? So of course I said yes. But then he said, if I can see the gender, do you want me to tell you? I answered with a very unsure "ummm..... no?" Luckily the baby was cooperating anyways, and he couldn't tell. But he did tell me I could call and make my appointment for my big ultrasound at anytime. So I called that day to make my appointment. Guess what? They can't get me in for 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! So we went on our trip, came home, and today we finally went in for our ultrasound. It was a big production, and the kids really wanted to see the baby, so we hauled everyone in for the big reveal. I honestly had no preference what we had. Jacey, on the other hand, had a very strong preference. I was a little surprised she cared so much, since she is SO good with Broden, but she definately wanted a girl. When I asked her if she was going to be my big helper with the baby, she said. "I'll help you a lot if it's a girl. If it's a boy, Dad's just going to have to help." Whoa... So I was trying to prep myself for some drama this morning if we didn't get the outcome she was hoping for. I knew she would eventually love the poor little guy, but still.. The sonographer was very patient with the whole family in there, and Broden's never ending questions. (He was especially worried about the gel. "Why does mommy have gel on her tummy? Why does mommy have gel on her tummy?" over and over.) The ultrasound went good. Baby looks healthy, everything is right on track. After the ultrasound I took Jacey out to choose an outfit for the baby, and this is what she picked:




Yep, it's a GIRL! Oh, we are so excited! I would have been thrilled with a boy too, but I have been online all night looking at cute little beanies, the bows that clip on them, booties, etc. Jacey and I went to Old Navy, Kohl's, and Babies 'R Us, where Jacey accurately observed that "It's hard not to go crazy with cute little girl stuff isn't it, Mom?" "Yep... sure is Jacey!"

Family Reunion with the Canada crew

A couple of weeks ago we went up to Southern Alberta for a Sillito Family Reunion. It was so much fun. Dan and Broden went up last summer for a wedding, but I hadn't been up there since I was pregnant with Jacey. We camped for 2 nights and attended "The Great Canadian Barn Dance" Dan's extended family is so much fun, and there is never a shortage of entertainment. Here are some of our highlights of the weekend:

The family talent show. Out of all his siblings, Dan's dad was the only one to move down to the states. Every time I have gone up there, and ever since Dan can remember, the "American Sillitos" have been the brunt of a lot of American jokes. For the family talent show on the first night of the reunion, our family (us, Dan's parents, and his sisters and their families) got up on the stage, dressed in our Red, White, and Blue, told Canadian jokes, and sang "Proud to be an American" while waving flags. I might have felt bad, but for the most part the jokes were all in good taste and everyone agreed it was time to switch it up a bit. The other great part of the talent show was watching Jacey take her keyboard up there and play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for the WHOLE group. Might not seem like a big deal, but you see, Jacey tends to be shy in front of large groups and she had been practicing for MONTHS. I was thrilled that she followed through with it.

Seeing our kids have fun with their cousins. Jacey LOVED spending time with Ryker, and is counting down until she sees him again when we go to Rexburg in a few weeks. Broden and Taylee had a wonderful reunion, even though it has only been a month or so since Taylee left, and held hands most of the weekend. We love our cousins!

The dancing. Definatley the dancing. Saturday night was the barn dance. They had dance instruction before the dance actually started where they taught a couple of line dances and the two-step. Dance instruction was serious business for Jacey and her cousin Ryker, and it paid off! They danced the whole night, and just kept getting better and better! My favorite 2 moments of the night- First, when Jacey asked Broden if he wanted to dance with her. Broden said no, but then Abby, Dan's cousin, said, "I'll dance with you, Jacey!" So, off they went, and Ryker looked heartbroken. I said, "I'll dance with you Ryker!" That's what a nice aunt would do, right? He looked at me and said, "No thanks, I'll wait for Jacey" Like- c'mon... really... that is so NOT cool to dance with your aunt:) My second favorite moment of the night was on a fast song when Ryker and Jacey were out there dancing together. Jacey got a little excited and started breaking into some of her ballet moves. At this point Ryker stopped dead in his tracks, looked at her, shook his head, and started heading off of the dance floor. What a good kid. SO willing to do anything to make his cousin happy, even if it means dragging him out on the dance floor all night. (althought I actually think he may have been having fun as well:) But there's sometimes when for the sake of saving dignity, you have to draw the line. Apparently busting out ballet moves in the middle of a dance floor crosses that line.

What a fun weekend! We can't wait for even more fun in a few weeks when we get to go to Idaho and see the Crabtrees as well as the rest of the Idaho kids again!

Relay for Life

A few weeks ago our family was part of the annual American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Tacoma. It was wonderful. I'm grateful for good people who spend their time and money working for a good cause. I didn't know much about this event before this year, but we know enough now to know that it's something we want to be more involved in over this next year. Our family has been affected by cancer many times with grandparents, aunts, uncles, our niece, etc. It's incredible to me to see the statistics of how much more effective cancer treatments are at treating the same kind than they were 20 years ago. I'm grateful for that, and hope to see that trend continue! Our kids loved the event, and I think Jacey learned a lot. She was very curious when Dan donated blood, and we were able to talk about what that blood is used for and how it helps other people. (although she was very protective of him for awhile, especially outside with the mosquitos. "Don't bite my dad! He can't give anymore blood! He already gave it to the blood people!") We saw lots of cancer patients there, and were able to talk about how the money we raised could help them. We were able to talk a little bit about my Grandma, whom they never met. Jacey LOVED getting her first facial by some students that were volunteering there. They highlight of the night for both her and Broden was making their luminarias. If you knew a cancer victim or cancer survivor, you could decorate a bag in their honor and they put a candle in it and lined the track and stadium with all the bags. It was a great evening, and something we hope to be a part of next year as well!

My husband doesn't fight fair....:)

My parents were thrilled when I brought Dan home. They were convinced we were the perfect match. In their eyes, he was perfect. Well....almost. My dad went to Pharmacy school at Washington State University. In fact, I was born in Pullman while he was a student there. Therefore, our family feels very justified in being Cougar fans, although we lived in Western Washington. Then comes Dan.... a University of Washington Husky fan. Did he go to school there? No... Did anyone in his family go to school there? No... His reasoning for being a Husky fan? "I grew up close to Seattle." Ok. I guess that makes sense. For awhile. But, when I graduated from high school and went away to school, my priorities shifted, and I became a True Blue BYU fan. So, after we got married and Dan began attending BYU I thought that we could forget about this whole silly UW thing. Nope. Don't get me wrong. Dan is a HUGE BYU fan, and diligently follows their seasons every year. We enjoy watching BYU/Utah games, especially when the outcome is the one we want. We even paid way too much money to go to the BYU game when we were living in Texas and they came down to play TCU. (Well, it wouldn't have been way too much money if they would have won:) BUT, he has definately reserved a certain amount of loyalty for UW. I don't make a huge deal about it, because to be honest, I don't actually follow anything of WSU. I just hold on to the loyalty thing because I lived there and it's Johnston family thing. So, when we were going through a box of hand-me-downs that my mom's sweet friend gave us from her grandsons, Dan was THRILLED to find a UW football jersey. I didn't really worry too much about it, because I'm the one who dresses Broden anyway. I just tucked it into a box to be packed away and didn't think anything about it. Only I didn't get it packed away soon enough. Dan saw it, fished it out of the box, and if that wasn't enough, put it on Broden. Then, he made it his special project to convince Broden that it's his favorite shirt. And it worked!! Aargh! Now I am the one who gets to fight the battle every morning when Broden cries for his "basketball" shirt (so he has his sports slightly mixed up.) I've pretended not to know what he's talking about, since it's not actually a basketball shirt. But deep inside I know what he's talking about and he knows that I know. Needless to say, so far I'm losing the battle. :( (Since when do boys care what they wear anyways?)

When the lights go out....

....the books open. There are a lot things about Jacey that I love, but one of my favorite things is listening to her read. She's been reading for awhile now- words here and there- signs, etc. I now choose stalls in public restrooms for her based not only on clean toilets, but also the least amount of writing on the walls. But lately she has really began to LOVE reading. I mean, to the point where she hides books in her bed at night and reads them when she's supposed to be falling asleep by the light of the hall. The dead giveaway though, is when she comes to a word that she doesn't know and starts sounding it out out loud. But really, what are we supposed to do- punish her for reading? I guess if it gets out of hand or keeps her awake too long we'll have to do something, but right now I love it. And obviously, from the pictures, it's not interfering with her falling asleep. The funny thing is, I remember hiding books in my bed as a little girl as well. I survived, so I'm not too worried about Jacey (although I was in glasses by the time I was nine years old....)

Our hero...

I love watching Broden experience true boyhood. Surrounded by females all day, there's been a few things that have rubbed off... he doesn't mind playing dress up with Jacey (in fact, he gets upset if we try to distract him with something else while she's dressing up), he sometimes slips and asks for a "big girl cup" when he doesn't want to drink out of his sippy cup, and the other day he told me his sandals are beautiful. BUT... there are somethings that are ALL boy, and would be no matter how many girls he was surrounded by. One of the most handy is the fact that Broden has claimed the role of "spider killer" in our house. That works out pretty good, because when Dad's at work, it's a job that neither Jacey or I want. But, the one aspect of boyhood that I really enjoy watching is the sheer joy that a simple stick can bring him. It becomes his sword, or more accurately his "zapper". He knows that he will get in lots of trouble for hitting with it, but he has free reign with zapping. Anything will do- a stick, his foam baseball bat, in this particular case it was the pole that goes to his t-ball set. More recently, however, Grandma surprised him with his very own foam sword, which has become the "zapper" of choice. It's a good thing he has it, because he has taken it upon himself as his solemn responsibility to protect everyone in the house with it. If we're walking into a dark room, he'll hold me back with his arm and say, "I go first Mom. I zap the monsters for you." And then he becomes a fierce warrior turning left and right, pointing the zapper while yelling, ZAP! ZAP! You never know when you may need those special powers, which explains why he has his zapper, even in bed. But shhh.... don't let the secret out that our fierce protector has been known on occasion (especially on laundry day) to sleep on flowered sheets with a ballerina pillowcase!

Taylee's Party

Ok-so these are all out of order, but I'm just trying to make sense of the piles of pictures that have been accumulating on my computer. Our niece, Taylee finished her chemo here at Children's Hospital in Seattle in May, and we had a fun little celebration for her at Mud Mountain, which is a fun park that Dan's family used to go to a lot when they were growing up. It was the perfect day, and a wonderful reason to celebrate! We broke out the croquet and had fun with that. Jacey was old enough to get it and have fun, but Broden just kept getting frustrated that he couldn't put the ball on top of the poles and hit it with his croquet mallet like he hits the baseball on his little T-ball set at home.

A date with Jacey

Since usually Dan is the one to take Jacey on Daddy-Daughter Dates, we decided it was time for me to have a special afternoon with her, instead of me doing all of the routine day-to-day stuff with her while Dad plans the fun stuff. One of Dan's patients is a dancer with the Pacific Ballroom Dance Company, and they had their end of year performance in June. Jacey and I made an afternoon out of it with lunch at Red Robin first and then the recital. They were AMAZING! It was hard to believe they were high school students. Jacey could hardly contain her excitment and was jumping out of her seat the whole time. At the beginning they encouraged the audience to clap or cheer at any time during the different performances, and not to wait until the end of each song. Jacey was a little too shy to start cheering on her own whenever she felt like it (which probably would have been nonstop). It was cute though, that anytime anyone in the huge auditorium would whistle or yell out for their dancer, who was usually being showcased at the moment, Jacey would jump up and join in a standing ovation. I love seeing my kids happy, and it was certainly a happy day for Jacey and I!