Green Acres is the Place to Be...

Farm living is the life for me!?! That's right people, I said farm living is the life for me. Well, now anyway. That is the big news from the Johnson Family- we are moving to Harlingen so that Travis can work with his Dad and uncles on the family farm. I'm sure you are just as shocked as everyone else we have told, but Travis and I have no doubt that this is what we are supposed to do.

Here is how all of this came about. About a month or two ago Travis couldn't sleep one night and told me the next day that he was up thinking about the farm and it was just on his mind for some reason. I pretty much dismissed this conversation and went on with my life. Well, a week or two after that the farm came up again and we started talking about the farm as well as Travis' current job with Zac. Travis absolutely loves working for Zac, but we have definitely seen a slow down in contracts coming in. We started discussing the viability of the company and the reality of how many contracts they actually have for the next year. We realized and confirmed by talking to Zac that if things didn't start picking up Travis would probably be out of a job. So we started praying about what we should do. Travis felt God was leading him to go home and farm so we really started praying for clarity and direction. Was this really what God was asking us to do?

So we kept praying and Travis approached his dad about possibly coming to farm. They talked one night when we were in Harlingen and he gave Travis some details about what might happen if we did decide that this was what we wanted to do. Travis relayed this information to me and I really felt like God was pushing us in this direction. One night while we were there God gave us total confirmation that this is what we were to do. I was laying in bed one night thinking about everything and a verse came to my mind out of nowhere. Deuteronomy 6:18 came to my mind. I had NO idea what this verse said but I just prayed that it would speak to our situation. The next day I looked up the verse and this is what it said:

"Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers!"

I couldn't believe what I read. I went and found Travis and told him about everything and we agreed we had our answer. I'm still amazed at how God chose to speak to us and give us such clear direction. He has never spoken to me in such a clear and specific way. I'm just still in awe and I will NEVER forget that verse in my entire life!

So from then on I have had no doubts that we are doing the right thing. And any fears or concerns I have about it are completely relieved because I know this is God's will for our lives. How could I have any doubt when he chose to speak to us like that?

We are definitely sad about leaving great friends and our amazing church behind. And we are very sad about being further away from my family. But we know this is what God wants us to do so we are jumping in with both feet. We feel like everything we have been going through (not selling the house, being on a strict budget, etc) have been preparing us for this move. We really need to sell the house now, but we feel like God is going to completely take care of that. I'm honestly not worried about it at all. You can be praying for our house to sell and for decisions that need to be made on the farm regarding us coming in. Well, that's our big news for now. I know a lot of you already know, but I'm sure there are some people out there who are just now finding out. I've got to go dig out my old pair of overalls now!

Harlingen Trip

Here are the pictures that Kelsey took while we were in Harlingen. We went to Harlingen to visit family and coordinated it so that we would be there while Kelsey and Charlie were there. Ross and Kim decided to come at the last minute. We had a great time and as you can see from some of the pictures we just couldn't wait to put the kids to bed so we could play the wii! Anyway, we had a great visit and the boys loved going to the farm to ride the combine with Papa Pappy!

Tyler at the farm!

The kids were so filthy when we got home!

Cooper living the life of a farmer.

4 generations of Johnsons.

Tyler discovered that he could open their refrigerator and decided he should cool off by getting in!

Kelsey took some great pictures of Grandma and her little boys!

Having a moment.

I'm not competitive at all! Look at those muscles- at least I got something out of having two kids so close together! I carry them up and down the stairs about a million times a day!

Look at Travis' face- I'm not the only competitive one!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

These pictures are not even staged! Cooper loves to crawl into the carts and stand or sit there while he plays with the cars and trains. This train table and train set are one of the best gifts for these boys! They absolutely love playing with the trains and having Mama or Daddy set up a new track for them. I haven't written much about the boys lately so I thought I would write what I love about each of them right now:

Tyler

• He is talking so much right now! I love it and love hearing new phrases come out of his mouth on a daily basis. Some of my favorite phrases from him right now are- "It's hot outside isn't it?", "Not ye-ye-yet.", "I did it", and "Thank you, Mama".
  
• He is such a sweet boy and is learning how to play nicely with Cooper. He has been doing so much better lately and is learning to take turns with Cooper and his toys.
• He loves to tickle all of us and to be tickled!
  
• He loves to pray at dinnertime. He reaches out his hands when we say it's time to pray and loves to say "Amen" at the end.
• I think he has finally entered into a stage of jealousy that you usually see when a new baby comes around. He wants a kiss if I get a kiss from Cooper. Or he wants to sit in my lap if Cooper is sitting there. But I just enjoy the hugs and kisses when I can get them!

Cooper

• Cooper can be such a sweetheart. Lately, he has been putting his head on my shoulder and loving on me. He will do it over and over and I love it!
• He has been getting better and better at playing independently and not having to be held or have my 100% attention. Part of it is that Tyler is playing better with him and hasn't been so mean and physical with him. But today they were both crawling around the dining room in between the table and chairs laughing away. I love when they entertain each other!

I love my boys so much and I'm so blessed to be their mom!

Pink Eye and More Snakes

People have been demanding more posts lately, but we just haven't been doing much this week. We went to Harlingen a couple of weeks ago, but I'm waiting on Aunt Kelsey for some pictures (so Kelsey if you are reading this, you better send me some pictures!) This is a very random post so bear with me.

Tyler has pink eye AGAIN! UGH! He had it about a month ago and then Cooper got it a couple of weeks ago and now Tyler has it. So now we are treating both of the kiddos with hopes of keeping it away for good!

We also had another snake around here on Sunday! AAGGGHHH!!!! Travis had the boys outside and I was at the kitchen table working on my grocery list when Travis yelled at me to come get the boys. With the tone of his voice I knew it had to be another snake. This time the snake was in the garage already back behind where we put all of the boys toys! Travis saw the tail of it but by the time he got the shovel and started looking for it he couldn't find it! It still freaks me out to go in the garage because I'm still scared it's going to be in there! Plus my car is parked on the side where he saw it.

Anyway, that's all for now. Stay tuned for some big news from the Johnson family... and no I'm not pregnant people!!!

Afternoon Visitor

We had an unexpected visitor this afternoon. The boys and I had pretty much been playing outside all afternoon after they woke up from their naps. Tyler was playing outside still when I went inside to get Cooper something to eat. I always leave the back door open so I can listen for Tyler and keep an eye on him while I feed Cooper. While Cooper was eating Tyler came in and insisted on having a snack as well. He climbed up in his chair and was eating Cheerios and requested his juice. I hadn't seen his cup in awhile and asked him where it was. He said it was outside and I asked him to go get it. For whatever reason he didn't want to go get it and asked if I would go get it. I'm so glad he refused to go, because when I walked outside this is what I saw:


Except for that it was about 5 feet away from me- it hadn't yet made it's way into our garage and it was slithering around our driveway. Of course if you know me at all you know I am absolutely, without a doubt, terrified of snakes! I screamed, ran inside and closed the door and immediately called Travis to come save us. He was luckily about 5 minutes away and so I watched it (through the window of course!) Anyway, Travis came home and killed it. I'm just so thankful that none of us were hurt and it wasn't poisonous anyway. I have no idea where it was the entire afternoon that we were outside. It just appeared and I don't know if Tyler ever saw it or not while he was outside playing. We definitely had a little lesson with Tyler about what to do if he ever sees a snake.

Sweet Summer Treat

Just Because

Cooper's First Haircut!

We decided it was time for Cooper's first haircut. His hair was just getting a little too wild! It was growing over his ears and the back was starting to look like a tail was forming, so this afternoon Travis and I gave him his first haircut. He looks so precious and so grown up! Here are some pictures to show you his adorable new look.

Summer Swim

Zac just finished two spec houses that haven't sold yet and they both have beautiful pools. The gang decided to head on over to break them in before someone buys them. Tyler had a blast and Cooper had fun once he got used to being in the water. Tyler was the pig of the party chowing down on hot dogs, chips, watermelon, and cookies! They were both prunes when we got out and headed home. It was a fun summer night!

Tyler trying out his floaties for the first time! He did great.

Cooper wasn't too sure about this whole water thing!

He just needed an innertube and a cold drink!

Maybe he had a little too much to drink!

Natalie and Cameron loved jumping off this ledge into the pool. Natalie wasn't scared at all!

Cooper the Clinger!

Cooper has a new nickname in the church nursery that is quite fitting: Cooper the Clinger! He definitely likes to be held! Here are some cute pics from lunch today.