Meet the Cornetts

Turkey, Family, and... 85 degree Sunshine???

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Yep, for the first time in about twenty years, we spent Thanksgiving in sunny California, visiting my Grandparents! We couldn't believe the beautiful weather! It was about 80-85 degrees all the days that we were there with perfect, clear sunshine! I don't know what's wrong with me this year, but I have been the biggest grump about the weather getting colder! I was one of the ones that was basking in the late summertime weather we had through up to October this year, and felt tears come to my eyes when the very next week it was 30 degrees. I'm usually so eager to enter into Fall, and all of it's festivities, but this year I just kept dwelling on my loss of summer. This trip was so perfect for me! I felt like I got my summer back, except for the fact that it got dark at 5:00. We were able to sit out in the sun, lounge by the pool. It's just what I needed to let warmth go for another 6 months!

Our real reason for going down there, however, was not the sunny weather, but for a "Johnston Reunion", where all of my extended family shared Thanksgiving, and the largest Johnston Family event EVER! Everyone of my grandparents' posterity was there, and we had a blast seeing eachother again! It was really such a special time, and ot was my grandparents (among others) first time meeting Sienna! All the great-grandkids had a blast together, though I think that my kids overwhelmed the other kids with their intense energy from time to time! A big thanks to Great-Aunt Diney for pretty much pulling together a flawless Thanksgiving together herself! She had help here and there, but she put the menu together, cooked much of the food, and cleaned up the house in preperation for the event! And it really was such a perfect event, we were all so blessed to be able to be together!

My parents stayed at a hotel close to my grandparents' house, and took Breck with the for a couple nights. We were able to eat breakfast with them there. The kids loved looking at the koi fish and turtles in the pond inside, and going up and down in the glass elevator. It's fun to see them enjoy new things!

Speaking of new things, I think Breck found a new obsession in airplanes! He wasn't even hard to travel with because he was so excited to fly in the plane! He kept his face planted to the window for all flights with an ear to ear grin! Sienna found parts of it amusing, but is still a little young to understand what was going on.
All in all, a great, and needed trip. Special, fun, new, and memorable experiences were had by all! We hope all your Thanksgivings were wonderful!

This was the only picture we got of Breck in the plane, it doesn't show his full excitement, but I thought it was cute anyway.

Breck and Sienna out back at Grandpa and Grandma-Great's. They loved the orange tree!

We went out to eat one night at Marie Callenders

They were getting ready for Thanksgiving pie orders, there was this huge table with pies on it, then some next to it, and then three closed-off booths in the back full of them too! It was out of control!!!

Breck and Sienna having a ball with their cousin Ruby!

My grandparents' three kids

Sienna getting caught sneaking the chocolate!

The kids in front of the pond with the koi fish and turtles. They were even given pellets to feed the fish!

The fish

Me and Mary on Thanksgiving Day

Aunt Mary and Uncle Kevin brought some Army toys for Breck to play with, which were obviously a huge hit.

Sarah Marie, and her lunch.

All of us, From Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Grandpa-Great, Kevin Winter, Michelle Winter, Grandma J., Grandpa J., Kevin Smidt, Great-Aunt Diney (Dianne) Pearce, Grandma-Great, Great-Uncle Richard Johnston, Great-Uncle Irv Pearce, Donald Pearce, Ruby Pearce, Claire Pearce, Breck Cornett, Mary Smidt, Sarah Marie Smidt, Sienna Cornett, Daddy, Mommy.

All four great-grandkids

Ruby and Sienna (2 months apart) clicked pretty well

And then this happened 2 hours before regular bedtime!!!

Little Liliana

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:46:00 +0000

Well the newest cousin was born today at 2:00 this afternoon! Liliana Rae Cornett came into the world, to her parents, Javis and Chaylia, weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz., and 19 1/2 inches long! You can probably get more info from their blog in a couple days, when things calm down a little, but for now, here's a couple pictures!

Congratulations Guys!!!

Walkin' in a Wintery Fall Wonderland!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:47:00 +0000

We got our first snow!!! And by that I mean, the first snow that actually stuck! On Friday we had blizzards off and on all evening and into the night, and by Saturday morning, we had about a 4-inch blanket on the ground! On top of that, we had beautiful sunshine for much of the day, which sparkled against the fresh layer of snow! It was so beautiful to see! The kids were very anxious to get out there and see what it was like, though Breck seemed to remember a little bit of last year's snow.
Sienna hated it, but Breck loved it. Breck was all about snowballs, and exploring in it. Sienna pretty much just wanted to go back inside. It was cute to get them all bundled up for the first time this year though, and I do have to admit... even though I'm one of the biggest sticklers about not doing anything Christmas-y until AFTER Thanksgiving...it made me feel a little excited for Christmas, and I even busted out our Frosty the Snowman DVD! Shame on me, I know! But I just couldn't help it!

Here's Breck on Friday when the snow started falling. Excuse the nakedness, he had just spilled on himself after his afternoon snack...

Go figure, they would keep their gloves on, so their hands got cold, and we had to go inside before long.

Fun For All the Boys and Ghouls!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Happy Halloween all! Hope you guys had as great a time as we did! I have to say, this was one of the most fun Halloweens that we've had as the Cornett Family! Both the kids are now old enough to participate, and to at least sort of get the hang of what's going on! Our Halloween weekend included:

Thursday:
-Put finishing touches on Breck's costume
-Trunk-or-Treat at church

Friday:
-Drive around looking for pumpkins forever, only to find that there is not a SINGLE pumpkin left in the entire city of Moscow! (I know, that's what we get for procrastinating, but it was one of the first times that Josten was actually home in the evening in awhile, plus it's a tradition in my family to wait until Halloween Eve to carve pumkins, so in the hypothetical world that we could actually find a real pumkin, this really could have worked out.)
-Calling it quits on finding pumpkins, and search through Wal-Mart's $5 DVD section for a good Halloween movie
-Go home and eat Pizza while watching "The Addams Family"

Saturday:
-Get dressed in costumes again
-Take pictures
-Go Trick-or-Treating (or "treating" as Breck calls it, it's clear as to what was really important to him here.)
-Go to the mall to go warm trick-or-treating
-Have a dance party at home with Halloween music including:
The Addam's Familt theme
Ghostbusters
Purple-People-Eater
Thriller
Monster Mash and more...
-Watch Ghostbusters

So I decided to make/put together the kids' costumes again this year, which I love doing because it saves money, it's fun, and gets me into Halloween mode. To see details on what I did, you can visit my Project Blog, though now... I guess you really wouldn't need the ideas until next year...well, it'll be there when you do need it! Anyway, Breck was the Mad Hatter, and Sienna was Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Breck hated his hat, and would only wear it for pictures, and as you'll see from the pictures below, even that was quite reluctantly. You can also see now why I wanted Sienna to have her long hair for this costume, though she was still a cute litlle Alice anyways!

Trunk-Or-Treat

Breck got caught eating his candy prematurely on the way to the mall

Trick or Treat at the Mall

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:27:00 +0000

Yesterday was a tough day for us. Josten and I both shed some tears, but now I think we're coping and ready to move forward. The beloved firstborn of my loins got a hold of some scissors... I'm sure you can see where this is going... and cut not his own, but the beautiful long locks off the top of my little girl's head! We wanted to wait until she was about 2 for her first haircut, but I suppose with a 2 and a half year old around, that's a bit of an impossible dream. So I had to finally pull out the scissors and chop the rest off. I almost had a panic attack every time I snipped. I think she still looks cute, but I was counting on her long hair for Halloween. Why couldn't you have waited just one more week Breck??? Anyway, so here it is, everyone, Sienna's very first haircut, at 16 months!

BEFORE:

And just to show you how long it actually was in the back:

After:

Wisdom from Sienna

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:52:00 +0000

...Sometimes you have to chew through the trash to get to the sweet stuff...

Party Season

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:45:00 +0000

Though I'm still mourning the loss of BBQ season, I have to admit that I've had a blast with, and am really excited for the onset of PARTY SEASON!!! This is the time of year where we get together and celebrate virtually EVERYTHING! Harvest, friends, all we're gratfeul for, food, costumes, and we top it all off with the celebration of Christ's birth all through December! How fun!

Here in Moscow, we really like to find excuses to have a good party, and we've been very successful so far, and we've only just begun! Last week, we had an October Birthdays Party where we celebrated Alyssa, Brooke, and Nicole's birthdays. This was a girls-only party, which is sometimes very nice to have some good ol' girls time.

The second party was 2 days later, where we had a Halloween Party! That was for everyone, and it was so fun to see everyone's creativity in their costumes! My favorite was the naylor family, who came as the "Jeffs" family. I hadn't finished the kids' Halloween costumes at the time, so we got a little creative with them. Josten and Breck went as wounded soldiers, Sienna was a "flower child" and I was a black widow. VERY makeshift for my costume! We were all asked to bring a fun and scary halloween dish. There were some great ones from deviled eyes, to homemade bat and pumpkin chips, to mummy faces appitizers. I brought a "graveyard" with a creepy hand sticking up out of the dirt! They had fun activities for the kids, and some goos socializing for the parents!

Happy Party Season everyone!

October Birthday Party: (Left to Right, Top to Bottom) Paige, Me, Alyssa, Debbie, Sandi, Lindsay, Nicole, and Brooke.

Halloween Party

179th Semi-Annual General Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:02:00 +0000

This weekend was the 179th Semi-Annual Conference for our church, where our leaders speak to us on what they feel would be most useful to us, and what will better us.

Whenever I was to write about this, I always feel weird, because I feel like "What more can I say to expound on these talks? Enough has already been said." But I also feel that if I don't record what it means for our family, that I'm ungrateful for what I've recieved, and that I won't keep those feelings from the conference with me.

So, I will share a little bit of my feelings on the conference, and my favorite highlights, and if you haven't seen it, then I'll post a link where you can see them for yourself.

This was actually the first conference since Josten and I have been married that we actually just watched it at home. We usually go to a stake center, or down to Utah to watch it. My reason for doing this was that Josten was gone this weekend with the Army, so I didn't quite feel up to doing it all on my own this year, plus Sienna was sick. It was nice hearing the messages in my home, because I felt like I was in the actual place where i would need to apply these principles I was being taught. Kind of like on the job training...

Well I absolutely enjoyed all four sessions of conference. I missed Josten not coming home from priesthood and giving me a report of that, but I suppose we can read it in the Ensign. It seemed like there was an overall theme of bringing us back down to the simplicity of just listening to the spirit, and being worthy of that spirit.

I feel like this was stressed because we need to apply that now, more than ever. We live in a world that is decreasing it's moral values by the second, and calling what used to be considered moral values ridiculous, or even evil! There's so much that goes on, so much that fills our brains, and so much forced into our brains from so many different directions these days that it is now more important than ever to find time to strengthen the Holy Spirit's influence in our lives. It is such a time where every value is debated both in the world and within the church, that it is absloutely necessary to have the Spirit with us to help us make the right decisions, and to help us distinguish between what actually is right, and what is wrong. The Spirit will never lead astray.

I had so many favorite talks, as I usually do, but 2 that stuck out most to me were President Monson's talk on Service on Sunday morning, and of course, Elder Jeffery R. Holland's fiery testimony of the Book of Mormon.

President Monson is such a loving person, and he delivers his messages in such a way that you feel his love and concern for you personally. No one is MORE qualified to speak on service than he. I was so touched by all of his examples, and insights. I want to always remember the things he said, and to practice them in our home.

There's not much I can say about or add to Elder Holland's testimony, other than ask you to watch it, if you missed it. This is something to be seen, though the words will be powerful in written form as well, to really appreciate this, it needs to be seen!

I loved this conference because Breck is finally old enough to listen a little bit and participate. He loved hearing President Monson open and close conference, and his beautiful talk on Sunday morning. He sat still and listened everytime President Monson spoke until he was finished. He loves the prophet so much, and was so anxious to see when I told him that "the prophet was going to speak to us today!" Sienna was sick, and not quite at that age to sit still, but hopefully she could feel the spirit that these leaders brought with their words!

If you missed it, I strongly encourage you to see it. You can go to byu.tv and view it there. There will be a little box in the upper right hand corner that says "Watch General Conference". It was amazing, and I'm so grateful for Leaders called by God Himself, so intune to the spirit as to actually know what each of the church's members need to hear. What a wonderful weekend!

More Family Visits!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:19:00 +0000

After a fun, family-filled weekend in the Tri-Cities, we went straight up to Coeur d'Alene to drop me off at my parents' house to visit my sister, Mary, who had come up for a couple of weeks with her little baby girl, Sarah, who we hadn't seen since they let her out of the hospital! She is so big now! And such a laugher! You just look at her funny, and she busts up laughing! So cute!
Well, it was a fun little visit. Mary and I went shopping a couple of times (something I NEVER seem to have time to do), my mom took a couple days off work to hang out with us also, and we went up to Stoneridge and had lunch with my dad, where Breck and Sienna were able to take a ride in a golf cart! We got a lot of good quality time in!
On Tuesday, we went to the park with my sister-in-law, Shawnte', and little Vance. We later met up with Jessy Maus and her little girl Lexi. Lexi, Vance, and Little Sarah are all about the same age, within a couple of weeks of each other, so they had fun hanging out together on the blanket. My kids, meanwhile were crazy about Ft. Sherman, I don't think they've seen such a large park! They played so hard, and slept VERY well that night!
Wednesday, we decided to muster up enough strength and courage to get a good grandchildren shot, though there weren't quite so many children to coordinate for in our family, as there was the weekend before! Later that night, Mary and I went to a girls' night, which was a blast. It was sad to leave!
Breck was able to work on a little project with Grandpa, a little race car that they made with scrap wood. Breck helped with everything, the drilling, painting, glueing, and even a little cutting! He was pretty excited about having a new toy car!
We had a blast, and came home ready to see Daddy and have some good family time at home!

Jovi and Tracen's Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:04:00 +0000

This last weekend we went over to the Tri-Cities for two very special events: our Elder Jovi's (Josten's brother) homecoming party and talk, and baby Tracen's blessing! What a fun weekend! We actually had ALL 12 GRANDKIDS together at the same time! We somehow managed to get them all to somewhat participate in a big grandkid picture! It was so good to see Jovi after two long years of being away in Pittsburg for his mission for our church, and to see the man he has become! On sunday, Jovi gave an excellent talk, recounting the blessings, inspiriations, and experiences from his mission. He delivered it so well, and I think we all felt the spirit in his words. After Jovi's ward, we headed over to Karen's ward, to bless baby Tracen, who we met for the first time as well! (On top of FINALLY meeting Brody, Jonbrock and Sheri's new little boy!) What an amazing blessing he was given by Grandpa Cornett! We're so excited to see him grow and turn into a little boy, then a big boy, then a man, and watch him turn into the man that we all felt he would become that day. We were so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to visit with family, especially for two very special events! Congratulations Jovi and Tracen!

Uncle Jehkiah playing with Breck, while Sienna looks on covetously

The Grand Kiddies: (From Left to Right) Braden Baisden, Sienna Cornett, Colby Beaver, Mackenzie Beaver, Brody Olsen, Kaelynn Baisden, Zoey Olsen, Breck Cornett (only wanting to play), Shyane Beaver, Vance Morton, Tracen Thorn, and Makenna Baisden

Sienna and Grandma Katrina having a ball!

Elder Jovi Olsen, Last time he saw Breck he was 5 months old!!! And of course, Sienna was non-existent

The girls hanging out in Shyane's room. Shasta's getting reacquainted with newborns in preparation for #4 in May!

The Men from the blessing circle.

4 Years! Wow!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:15:00 +0000

I'm torn between saying "I can't believe it's been 4 years already!" and, "Has it ONLY been 4 years???" In reality, it feels like longer, because so much has happened in those 4 short years, that it seems like a lifetime worth of events, rather than something that could be forced to fit into 4 years. I also feel like Josten's ALWAYS been a part of my life, and it feels hard to imagine life when he didn't exist to me. On the other hand, wow, that went quick! I still feel like the awkward 19-year-old girl that Josten somehow saw potential in, when we both made a decision that would change our lives for the better. Though maybe still a bit awkward, it's hard to think to myself how much time has passed, and that I'm now not only a wife, but a mother...of two!
We have so much to be grateful for, so much to celebrate as we celebrate our four years together. We have a wonderful little family, which fact brings us so much joy, it's hard to contain! We have truley been blessed in so many ways, in so many little instances and so many huge instances as well!
We definitely feel the blessings we have reaped from a temple marraige. We feel the Lord has been on our side, has helped us, and blessed us beyond anything we could have ever thought possible. I love you Jos Sauce, for all eternity!

Our anniversary was sort of funny this year. Josten was changing out the liscence plates on our car, and cut his finger open. He had to go get 7 stitches, which they gave him some pretty heavy drugs for. After DRVING to school, his classmates in ROTC sensed his weakened condition, and drove our car home with him. I, meanwhile, had no idea that anything had happened, that he had even hurt himself, and driven himself to the hospital gushing blood, as I saw Josten emerge from the passenger side of our car, ana a little loopy at that. He hurried and got ready to go out (thanks so much to the Thackers for taking on our kids for the night!) and told me the whole story as we were driving to dinner! We had a great time, though Josten would occaisionally drift into lala land here and there. It was just nice to get out just the two of us, and reflect on the last year, and make goals for the years to come. We had a great anniversary, and have had a great 4 years!

Tracen Nicholas Thorn

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:54:00 +0000

After a very long day full of labor, Josten's sister Karen and her husband Travis, welcomed their seventh child, Tracen Nicholas Thorn last night around 7:45! Those boys sure give Karen a run for her money! Her labor with her girls were always super-quick, but her boys just seem to want to stay in a little longer through the labor! Anyway, from what we hear, Karen did great, and both mother and baby are doing well! We are so excited to meet you Tracen!!!! And congratulations Karen and Travis!

Mother and Child

Daddy and the Tracenater

His oldest sibling, Shyane, who was there the whole time as a support

A beaming Grandma

Nana's Annual Tea Party!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Another year of the annual "Pride and Prejudice" Tea Party has come upon us, and it was sure fun this year! Once again we found ourselves dressed in our best Pride and prejudice attire, while Mama Cornett hired a carraige driver to come pick us up at the church in Post Falls, then over to her house! It was just like taking a good ol' ride up to Penberly to see Mr. Darcy! We arrived at her house, and were escorted back to the backyard where we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and fresh squeezed orange juice from Gary! The food was of course exquisit as usual, Mama C. and Gary did an AMAZING job (they always serve breakfast, lunch and 3 tea times)! We switched up the movie-watching this year, though, and instead of watching Pride and Prejudice, we watched "North and South". It was a great movie; a lot darker than the frivilous and excited gossip scene of Pride and Prejudice, focusing a lot more on realities of life during an industrious period in Northern Endgland. There was of course, a romance blossoming in the midst of it though, and the ending...oh so romantic! It was just nice to be able to spend time with sisters, and have good old fashioned girly time! All in attendance were: Mama C. Shasta and Kaelynn Baisden, Shawnte' and Vance Morton, Amy and Mylie Reynolds, and of course me...kidless! Josten was so kind to take over the kids for the day, while I relaxed and enjoyed good company! Mama C. sent us off at the end of the day with soaps, candies, and a copy of the dvd we watched! Thanks Mama Cornett for another great tea party!

The invites made by Mama C.

They were even sealed with a wax seal!!!

The carraige

Coming to a stop

TERRIBLE Twos???

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Now WHAT is so terrible about this???

Oh boy, having a two-year-old ROCKS! He is SO helpful! This video doesn't even do justice to his helpfulness!

Breck LOVES to:

-Sweep the floors whenever he feels like it
-Grab a wet cloth and start wiping down the table after we eat
-Retrieve diapers for Sienna when needed
-Throw away garbage, and knows EXACTLY what is garbabge and what isn't
-And of course, vaccuuming

I'd love to take credit for his tidyness, and tell you that I thoroughly taught him how to do all of these things and when to do them, but I didn't! He just picked it up on his own, and has become such a helper around the house because of it!

Coeur d'Alene, Family Fun and Drill

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:38:00 +0000

Having Josten home again has been so great. With him being gone, we realized there was a lot we wanted to do once he got home. Josten was of course eager to see his family again, and with him being gone, we hadn't been to the temple in awhile. Then, of course, Josten got a phone call telling him that drill weekend (in Post Falls) had been moved to this last weekend, so we decided to kill 4 birds with one stone and make a trip out of it! We saw Josten's family, went to the temple, Josten went to drill then visited with my family!
We were able to spend some quality time with Josten's family, and have a little belated birthday celebration for him at aunt Shawnte' and Uncle Cameron's house! Shawnte' and I worked on a clever little army battlefield cake for him! The kids were able to play in the pool and I think that Breck made some monumental steps toward getting over his fear of Koda, the dog. The morning that Josten went to drill, Mama Cornett made a big breakfast for all of us, including Cameron and Shawnte' who were able to come over, and we ate to our hearts' content!
We went to the temple early friday evening which was of course, so great. I always love the feeling I get when I go there, to get away from intruding thoughts of the world, and to focus on things more pertaining to our true goals in life. It's also nice to be able to be alone with Josten, not to mention it being just he and I in the most holy place on earth!
On saturday afternoon, I headed over to my parents' house, and we had fun just hanging out and relaxing! As usual, my mom and I decided to take a walk around our neighborhood after dinner with the kids. Breck is really into pushing Sienna around in the stroller, so he enjoys the walks as well.
Sunday, Josten got back from drill, and we had a belated stake birthday dinner with him. It was the first time my parents had seen him since he'd been back, so more happy reunions!
We came home Monday morning, happy to be home, but happy about the trip we had had.

At Cameron and Shawnte's house enjoying company

Breck and Sienna following TaPa around in the garden

I got Sienna's hair to go into a fairly triumphant ponytail, of course I had to document the momentous occaission

Breck helping Nana clean

A pretty heated fight between Breck and Sienna, it was pretty even, but we had to step in and break it up shortly after.

Breck with his newest prized posession: a Lightning McQueen backpack from Grandma. He carries it everywhere!

Bathtime at Grandpa and Grandma's!

Daddy Comes Home! Just in Time for his BIRTHDAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Well it's true... DADDY IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! It was so good to finally see him again! The kids were so thrilled to see him, and anxious to go and start playing with him, even though it was 11:30 at night! It was so fun, and it's been SOOOO nice having him back home! He had an interesting time, to say the least at his training, which he promised to write about in a later post. But just to give you a small preview, they actually had to go into a gas chamber for one part, and take all protective gear off, and TRY not to freak out and endure the pain. Sick. Hearing some of the things they did made me feel guilty for having pity on myself for being home alone without him. He definitely had it worse off! I was completely comfortable, got a full nights sleep every night and full meals, which is WAY more to say for his conditions! Well, I won't say too much more, I'll let him tell you.
So anyway, Josten came home on the 31st of July, and his birthday is the 30th, so we celebrated his birthday yesterday. He's the big 2-7 this year! We celebrated by going to Robinson County Park just outside of Moscow. We cooked hot dogs over a fire, and let the kids play around for awhile. We played ball, and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine. We went back home afterward for cake and blueberry shakes (which shakes we didn't have until today because we were so full) and presents. It was a fun carefree day, and mostly fun because we were all together again! Thanks to everyone who sent gifts, cards and messages wishing him a happy birthday! We love you all!

And this picture below is just a fuunny random picture I caught of Sienna the day Josten came home. She had gotten into the refridgerator and helped herself to some grapes.

Pioneer Day Activity and Daddy

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:26:00 +0000

Pioneer Day was this last Friday, the 24th of July. This is a very special day for our fammily for two reasons. The first reason being that I, Sarah, am a direct descendant of one of the LDS pioneers who came over in the handcarts. Though my great-great-grandmother came over with the handcart companies later than the first advance group that came across the great plains, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on the 24th of July, 1847, it is still a day to remember and be grateful for ALL those who sacrificed so much to be able to worship the way they desired.
The other significance of this date to our family is that it is the 7th anniversary of the day that our beloved Daddy entered into the MTC, to start a journey of his own, as a missionary of our church. The sacrifices he made, all he gave up both physical and not, have not only forever changed and affected his own life, but all those he taught, and now 3 others as well, with however many more to come.
Now here we are, on this wonderful day, yet we are here without our daddy because of the sacrifices he makes for our family. We were finally able to hear from him this weekend, which was so great! He's doing so well, performing well the tasks he is given to complete and is coming home on FRIDAY!!! I'll have him write more specific details about his experience when he comes home!
Our stake had a Primary Pioneer Day activity for the kids, so of course we went to that! It was tons of fun! They had pioneer songs, pioneer games, including a 3-legged race and leap frog, and a station where the kids could make handkerchif dolls, which basically turned into Mommy making the dolls while the kids ran around wreaking havoc! We all had tons of fun though, even Sienna was able to enjoy herself! It was definitely a fun way to celebrate the day!

Breck and his wonderful 3-legged race partner, Kari Stevens

The handkerchif doll, and Breck

Sienna and her trail mix

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:28:00 +0000

If you recited the rest of the line in your head after reading the title, you can probably imagine the fun time we had this weekend! Nana Cornett got us tickets to see the WIGGLES! We went with Nana, Aunt Shasta with Braden, Kaelynn, and Makenna, and Aunt Shawnte' and her neice Ella Morton. We were all super excited to see the kids' reaction, especially Breck who is an avid Wiggles fan! But I should probably be honest... I think I was even more excited than Breck! I really enjoy the Wiggles, and their tunes are hypnotizingly catchy! When Uncle Jehkiah stayed with us a couple weeks ago, he commented on the fact that once the kids were asleep, the Wiggles movie wasn't turned off! Well we weren't done watching it! :) Anyway, so there we were all excited, and SOOO close to the front, and there they were... Big Red Car and all! Breck was absolutely stunned! It took him about a half hour before he even moved. He sat there staring at them with his mouth open and all! Like I said, completely stunned! Sienna actually danced a bit before zonking out and sleeping the rest of the time. Once Breck started breathing again, he seemed to really enjoy himself, and by the end, he was dancing along with everyone else! Like any other concert, it was so weird to actually see someone who you are used to seeing in pictures or through the TV screen in person! We were so close to them too that they weren't just specks, we could clearly see them and their faces! What a great time! We once again though, really wished Daddy could have been there, he really would have had a blast too! After the concert, we let the kids play around in a fountain outside the performing arts center to cool off. We intended on them just dipping their feet in, next thing we know, Braden was playing scuba diver, and guess who wanted in on the fun? Of course, the Breckster. Breck wasn't quite as brave as Braden was and only got in up to his chest. So, needless to say, he had a wet trip home. Luckily it was about 100 degrees, and he was only slightly damp by the time we made it to the car!

The kids of our group: Makenna, Braden, Breck, Kaelynn, Ella, and Sienna. Poor Ella got stuck on Sienna patrol, making sure she stayed in the picture. She did a good job regardless of Sienna's determination to get away!

"Cuz that's the way we do it, riding in the Big Red Car!"

Breck is stunned

Warming up a bit, dancing with Nana

Wake Up Jeff!!!!

Still Stunned

The End of the Show

After the show, Sienna just woke up.

Coeur d'Alene Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:51:00 +0000

This is part 2 to the 4th of July, I went up to Coeur d'Alene the day before the 4th, and stayed there until the 12th. So after all the great festivities of the 4th, we were able to have a nice laid-back, but fun week. We went out to lunch with Grandma, during the first few days, and went to the library, played outside, etc. On Thursday, Aunt Shawnte' came over, and we visited while the kids napped. We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, and hang out for a little bit at the little beach/boat ramp by my parent's house. That was fun, and we saw some neighbors setting up for a garage sale for the next day. We decided that we would hit it up the next day, so Aunt Shawnte' and Vance were able to come yet again the next day! We did a lot of the same, visiting, walking, garage saling, and walking along the dock at the country club. We had a blast together, and it was great getting out in the nice weather! On Thursday night, my parent's graciously offered to watch the kids, while I went and hung out with my long-time friend Mikelle, who just returned home from her mission in New Hampshire this last May! It's not the first time I had seen her, as mentioned in a previous post about her homecoming talk. Anyway, as usual, it was so good to see her again, as well as her family briefly. Even if we spend so much time away from eachother, we still can just talk and talk and talk like we never skipped a beat! It's been that way since 7th grade! But anyway, we went and walked around downtown and in the park, then decided to go into the resort and chatted in there for a little longer til we were both about to fall asleep! We had fun, as always, hopefully we'll be able to hang out again soon! On Friday night, my parents took me to a concert by the Kelly Hughs Band, a local country rock band that was playing up at Stoneridge, where my Dad works. My dad took Breck around in a golf cart when we got up there, and they stayed at watched the concert in it! Breck was in love. The concert was fun, tons of energy, and very entertaining. The had a BBQ there as well, which was yummy. On Saturday, my mom took me out to lunch sans the kiddos, which is something I hadn't experienced in awhile. I'm used to being in restaurants trying to keep track of fallen binkis, cups, crackers, and kkeping water pitchers out of reach! So it was fun. We went to a baby store after that to buy a few things for the kids, then that night we had a steak dinner. DELISH! The adventure ended Sunday, when we came home. Though the kids had a blast, and it was nice to visit everyone, I think it felt nice being home... it's just missing Daddy! Only 2 more weeks though! Thanks everyone who made our trip up to Coeur d'Alene special!

Welcome Brody Brock!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:16:00 +0000

This is a little late, 2 1/2 weeks to be exact, but I had to pay tribute to our newest little nephew/cousin! His name is Brody Brock Olsen, born on June 27th, 2009, weighing 6 lbs. 13 OZ. 19 1/2 inches long! All in all, a perfect baby! How can you NOT just want to squish those perfect little cheeks?!?! Unfortunately, we have not net him yet, with Josten being gone, me being out of town as well, and all the craziness of events, but hopefully not too much longer! Congratulations Jonbrock and Sheri! And welcome Brody Brock! We love you!

The 4th of July: Sienna's Big Day

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:10:00 +0000

Well, Sienna shares something special with our country, the same birthday! We were in Coeur d'Alene for the holiday, since Daddy left for training (one month) the day before. We missed Daddy so much, but we had a great time with family. We went to the parade in the morning, which Breck loved! He was entranced by the floats, but most of all the big trucks with honking horns! Sienna, was a little... cranky. She wasn't too thrilled about the noise and huge floats. She ended up falling asleep for the last half of the parade. Both the kids were decked out in their best 4th of July attire, and feeling patriotic; or maybe just excited about the weirdness of the day! After we got home from the parade, we went back to my parent's house, while the kids took a nap. When they woke up, we went over to Uncle Cameron and Aunt Shawnte's house to have a swim in their kiddy pool! Breck of course loved it, and got right in, but it was an even bigger surprise to see that Sienna liked it too! She didn't feel the need to say in quite as long, but she did enjoy it. We had a fun time just hanging out together, enjoying the nice and HOT weather, and getting our fix of eachother's kids! After swimming, we went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a BBQ! Yummmmm! After dinner, we had dessert, which was a twist on our usual berry flag cake. It was round for Sienna's birthday, with a fun fruit design! My mom's cousin Julie joined us for dessert and fireworks, and it was so nice to see her again! Sienna had fun with the cake, yet again, and we all loved the excuse to eat cake again! After dessert, we had our own fireworks, then headed over to the Hayden Golf course for the fireworks over Hayden Lake. Beautiful as usual. Sienna slept through them, and Breck was a combination of terrified and excited. It was more entertaining watching him! It was pretty much his first 4th of July with fireworks and all, his first one, he slept through, he was only a few months old. The 2nd was last year, but we were all a little busy last year :o), so this was his first real 4th of July experience! It was a fun day, the only thing that would have made it perfect was Daddy! We love and miss you Daddy! We are thinking about you and your sacrifices this 4th of July!

At the Parade

Sienna Slept

Breck watched carefully, never getting too far away from Grandpa!

We thought Breck was being too quiet, which usually brings out a sudden panick in me, but we found him here...of course, watching a race. This kid loves cars...

Sienna talking with Vance

Although Sienna was upset at this moment, she really did like the pool.

Happy Birthday Sienna!!!!

Breck during the fireworks

Breck and Julie

Breck and Mommy

Sienna in her dress

Happy One Year Sienna Bug!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:35:00 +0000

My Dearest Sienna,
You were born a year ago now, and boy, has that year flown by! I remember so clearly the day you were born, the 4th of July; you gave me a labor that was only 2 hours long, and 10 minutes of pushing. I knew you were going to be good to me after that!
Well, my theory proved to be right after you slept through the night for the first time at 3 WEEKS OLD! You were a consistent sleeper after that, which made my transition from one to two kids ridiculously easy. I felt so spoiled, I never felt like it was a struggle adjusting after I had you, and it was all because of your angelic demeanor!
From the beginning, you have always loved to smile and laugh! It’s like you can even sense when we’re just TRYING to make you laugh, and that makes you laugh, even if it’s not funny!
I think if I could name one physical trait that I think would stand out most about you, it would be your hair. You were born with a TON of hair that NEVER fell out! It just kept growing, hence your almost-shoulder-length hair at one year old! It’s been fun to play with, even if you don’t let me work on it too long!
You have such a strong nurturing side already. Any doll or stuffed animal is sure to find its way into your arms to be cuddled, patted, soothed and squeezed for hours!

Some stats on what you’ve accomplished this year, and where you are at are:

-Slept through the night: 3 weeks
-Rolled over (all ways): 4 months
-Sat up: 5 ½ months
-Crawled: 6 months
-Clapped: 9 months
-Walked: 10 months
-Talked (other than mama dada baba): 10 ½ months (Thank you, cracker, juice, and mmmMMMMmmm for when you’re hungry)
-Folded your arms for prayer on your own: 11 months

Current stats: 19 lbs. even 25%
24 inches 50%

Sienna, what a joy you have been in our home, and how we couldn’t live without you! You truly bring an element in that we never knew was missing, but are so glad we have now! We have no doubt that you will continue to grow into a beautiful, valiant, and loving young lady. We can’t believe you’re already a year, and can’t wait for the years to come!

Happy Birthday Sienna Bug!!!

Party Hardy with Sienna and Other Events

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:17:00 +0000

This weeked sure was a busy one!!! To ensure I give each event proper attention , I will talk about each one individually and post pictures in sections.

Okay, Number 1.
Grandma Johnston's Birthday!

My parent's came up this weekend for 2 reasons, one, for Sienna's first birthday party to be discussed later, and two, for my mom's birthday! I won't tell you how old she is, since she would probably murder me for sharing it over the internet, but it was a good one none-the-less. We celebrated on Friday, though her birthday was actually Saturday. We went out to La Casa Lopez, my mom's choice, a Mexican restaurant here in town. We then went back and had cake and ice cream over at our house, and opened a few presents. Breck and Sienna kept Grandma and Grandpa entertained and busy the rest of the evening. We went out to breakfast the next morning, on her real birthday, and on the day of Sienna's party.

Next was Sienna's First Birthday Party!

The theme was an Art Party, so that was a ton of fun! We were able to have it over at the clubhouse at our complex, so we could accomodate more people. We had little arts and crafts for the kids to do, including, Coloring on the wall (with freezer paper covering it), painted noodle and fruit Loop necklaces, painted handprints, and a play-Doh station.
Guests included Grandpa and Grandma Johnston, Nana and TaPa (Cornett), Aunt Shawnte' and Vance; Uncle Jehkiah; Greg, Brittney and Anilyn Croft; Chris, Alyssa and Kardynn Stevens; Dan, Kari, and Beckham Stevens; Katie and Ada Langston; Nicole and Aiden Todd; and last, but not least, Jeff, Annie, Jake and Beckham Thomason.
We had a ton of fun, and Sienna had a blast with all her buddies!

The Cake

Cake Table

Decorations

Sienna's Artist beret that I made her!

The Food

The Party

Singing "Happy Brithday", she didn't want to keep the hat on

She started out really neat and clean for the first 4-5 bites...

...then after bites 6 or 7, she looked like this, and then...

...let's just say she got a wardrobe change and a bath before she opened presents!

For ant info on how to do some os the things for the party, visit my Project Blog for instructions!

Next Item on the list...

Uncle Jehkiah stayed the night with us, and we chatted until about midnight with him (well, I chatted with them til midnight, Josten and Jehkiah stayed up way leter talking!) and in the morning, we woke up early to go to church in Cd'A to hear my long-time friend, Mikelle, give her homecoming talk, since she just came back from her mission in New Hampshire! She did such a great job. Such a valient missionary! We were so proud of her! It was nice to get to chat with her, though it wasn't the first time since she's been home. It was also nice seeing so many familiar faces from her family, and her old home ward.

And finally, we went to Josten's mom's house where we had a Graduation/Achievement party for Josten and Jehkiah! Jehkiah graduated just a couple of weeks ago from OIT in Klamath Falls, Oregon, studying Nuclear Medicine. He's worked so hard these past few years, he totally deserved a celebration! Jehkiah, being the modest and thoughtful person he is, after hearing about some of Josten's accomplishment through the Army this past year, wanted to make it a joint party for Josten as well! It was a fun time, and we had lots of good food, and company. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

Karen's Baby Shower!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Well for those of you who don't know Josten's family too well, Josten has a sister named Karen who is pregnant for the fourth time, but combined with her husband, it will be their SEVENTH child!!! She hasn't had a baby in awhile, and had given all of her stuff graciously to all of us over these past couple of years, who have had babies. They were completely starting over with this little boy, so we thought it COMPLETELY necessary to throw her a shower!
So Katrina, Shasta, Shawnte' and I got together to throw her a wonderful shower, and it turned out so fun! Katrina took care of the food, Shasta did the games, Shawnte' did the cake, I did the invites and party favors, and we all helped out with decorations! We had it at a restaurant that both Karen and her husband work at, which they catered. Karen looked adorable, of course, with her blossoming belly! She also got a lot of really nice things, so I think she'll be very prepared!
After the shower, we had fun as a family at Dad Cornett's house, just enjoying the company and the beautiful weather! It was so fun to have all the cousins there (except Zoey and Baby Brody, Sheri was having labor pains and dilated with Brody, so she's was of course, taking it easy), and watch them play together. Love it.

We love you Karen and Travis and are so excited to meet little Tracen!!!

Sisters (Me, Shawnte', Shasta, and Karen)

Watching the gift opening, and chowing down on my prize from the games!

Cutting the Cake

The Cake

The Spread

Sienna and Grandma Katrina

Relaxing on the Swing!

The Catch-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Josten and Sarah) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:16:00 +0000

It's been a couple of weeks since I have posted, so I thought I'd better catch up real quick on what's been going on in those last 2 weeks. We've been staying really active with the beautiful weather, taking walks, riding bikes, playing with the kids, etc. and we LOVE it! As for us individually, I'll go through each of us.

Josten: Done with school for the semester (yay!) and preparing to be gone for the month of July for more training (boo!). He's also been a busy boy working on the Jeep getting it somewhat reliable again! He amazes me at what he can do, I didn't even know he had the knowledge of cars that he does. There were a TON of things wrong with the Jeep, which he fixed all himself, except one problem, a valve in the engine, that he is currently working on with a friend from our ward (thanks Tim!) who is very familiar with engine work, especially Jeep engine work. Lucky us, or blessed, I should say! Josten's been our Mr. Fix it around the house since he's actually had time to do these things that have been happening throughout the busy semester.

Me: I've been a project-ing fool! I've been very busy helping out making things for baby showers in our family this month, for gifts and for the actual showers. I am still ridiculously chrocheting my life away for Farmer's Market, which is going well. I get around five special orders a week so far, and it always varies from week to week how many of my existing beanies I sell. I've been trying to get things ready for Sienna's birthday party, which is quickly approaching (I can't believe it). I've also been doing a lot of work for the kids' rooms, who will soon have their own rooms. I've been enjoying having Josten home for a change, and trying to soak it up for these last few weeks before he leaves! This week I got released from my calling at church as Gospel Doctrine teahcer, and both Josten and I got called to be Nursery Leaders! I'm pretty excited, since Sienna's at that impossible age to sit through 3 hours of church while still too young to go to nursery herself. Also, I'm excited to be able to see Breck first-hand in nursery, and to watch him interact at church. I can't wait to teach these special little beings, and watch them deelope a tesimony for their Savior.

Breck: Oh Breck. He's a firecracker. He's LOVING that his siter can walk now, and often grabs her hand and walks hand in hand with her. He loves grabbing us too by the hand and dragging us along while saying calmly (t's go...t's go) or to translate, Let's Go. Much to my demise, he's developed a love of Bob the Builder. I usually enjoy whatever my kids seem to get a kick out of, but Bob the Builder is just so stinkin' boring! Oh well, at least it's not telletubbies! He is OBSESSED with cars! He actually sleeps with one of his cars at night, and cuddles it close as if it's a stuffed animal. He has to have it, because he wants to know that the instant he wakes up, that he can start playing again with his cars! He loves the nice weather, and loves playing around outside. He's developed some friendships in our complex, even with some older kids! The otehr day we got a knock on our door from a five-year-old little boy in our complex who asked, "Can Breck come out to play?" How cute is that? Anyway, he's doing well, and broaden's his vocabulary daily!

Sienna: She's a walking machiene!!! She's actually trying to say things now!!! I can't believe it! She mimicks us when we say thank you, cracker, and juice. She is learning how to feed herself, and LOVES the attention her brother gives her now that she walks! She also loves being outside, and likes books. We've become recent library addicts, and the kids both love the variety in books they get every week! She's almost one, and she's turning into a little girl right before my eyes!

That's about all we've been up to, just mainly busy around the home, and busy doing our everyday things, which though may be just the old regular, it's still so fun and rewarding. We constantly reflect on how blessed we are in our lives to be where we are, to live where we do, in the place we're in, with the friends and neighbors we have. Sometimes, even though things don't always go our way 100% of the time, we are amazed at how great life can be even in the midst of it.
We are so excited about everything happening in our lives, and so excited about the nice weather. Happy Summer everyone!