The Johnston Family

Summer fun

2011-09-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

We went to the Highlands Ranch Rodeo and had a blast. Abby tried to catch a bunny along with the other 100 kids, but too bad, we still do not own any pets in our house. Liz, Porter and Daddy going for a 4th of July motorcycle ride. Cool Dude!
I curled the girls hair one night with sponge curlers and here is what happened. What a couple of Crazy girls!

Butterfly Pavilion

2011-06-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at the Butterfly Pavilion on monday. Butterflies were landing on everyone and Porter didn't know what was going on.

Abby made sure that everyone had turns with the butterflies and of course took the butterflies away from Lizzy alot. Lizzy is such a good sport.
Aren't my two girls sooo beautiful. The more they grow up, the more beautiful they become. I am such a lucky mom to have such sweet, cute girls.
Peek-a-boo! Can you believe how grown up he is? Porter is now seven months and almost two weeks old. He crawls all over now, and his new trick is standing while holding onto a short step or toy or something. He thinks he's pretty tricky.
When we first got there, a man was holding a trianchula and Lizzy went right up and said, "I want to hold it". Both Cory and I were amazed. What a stud.Abby on the other hand, did not want to hold it, until she saw her "little" sister step up. Then she said she wanted to hold it. It was pretty funny.

Abby and Lizzy's Dance Recital

2011-05-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Dancing Queens

The girls had a dance recital with the HRCA and did a wonderful job. We thought that Lizzy would not be able to dance in front of the large auditorium of parents, but as you will see, she was all for it. Abby was a natural and loved the spotlight.

My cute ballet dancers

2011-02-21T21:34:00.000-08:00

In January the girls started a ballet class at the rec center and both are having a lot of fun in their classes. Lizzy's class does a lot with beanie babies and wands and Abigail is getting pretty good at following the teacher. They are both soo adorable I love watching them dance.
Aren't they just so adorable with their skinny little tights and leotards. They are making their mama so proud. Now we need to get their mom in a ballet class and get her butt in shape too!

Porter's Blessing

2011-01-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

After Christmas this year, we ventured over to Utah to spend some time with family. We had such a wonderful time, minus everyone getting the stomach flu, but me! (Mindy) While we were there, we decided to have Porter's blessing. Cory gave a wonderful blessing and Porter was such a happy smiley boy that day. Look at these adorable pics.

Cory looked very handsome too, but this picture was so cute, I couldn't resist sharing. Sorry Cory, didn't mean to take you out of the shot.

There were a few in the family who think that Porter's hair is going a little red. What do you think? This picture really makes it look that way.

Pictures of Porter

2010-11-08T08:26:00.001-08:00

Porter loved getting his head scrubbed, but didn't like his body being washed.

Look at that face. He was so upset.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-07T19:16:00.000-08:00

This year Abby decided that because she looked so much like Princess Ariel that is who she wanted to be. I think that she was the perfect Little Mermaid. And adorable little Tinkerbelle was such a cute little fairy. We had fun trick or treating at the High School where all the high school kids handed out the candy by the handfuls. It's not like we needed that much candy, but it is always fun to trick or treat.

Here's Tinkerbelle making sure that she isn't missing any of her pieces, and that there was at least one reese's peanut butter cup for daddy. What a Sweet girl.

He is Here!

2010-10-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Porter Michael Johnston

weight: 8 lbs 2 oz

length: 21 in

Can we say FUN RUN!!

2010-10-02T15:47:00.001-07:00

Abby's school had a Fun Run Fundraiser the other day and it was so much fun watching Abby run. She ran 19 laps and did a very good job. She loved giving high-fives as she ran by.
The last few laps she held Mrs. Brady's hand. She loves her teacher.
Here is all of Abby's Kindergarten class enjoying their reward for a job well done. Yeah for popsicles.

Go Abby!

School Days

2010-08-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Abigail started school at Bear Canyon Elementary this last week. What a grown up girl she has become. Her little sis of course had to dress up in a pretty dress to match her sister.

Isn't she gorgeous. Abby is loving school and her very favorite things about school are recess and making crafts.

Visit to Utah

2010-08-04T16:55:00.000-07:00

Visiting grandpa McClellan's work at the firestation. Abby as a future firefighter.

We got to go on a ride in the firetruck.
/

All the cousins!

Campout with Dad

2010-08-04T16:48:00.001-07:00

The night before the girls and I went to Utah for a family get together, Cory decided to set up the tent and sleep with the girls. Abby made it all night, but Lizzy wanted to sleep inside with mom. Cory took out the Laptop and watched Barbie-Fairytopia with the girls. I think that a Dad like that is one in a million. We love you Daddy.

Ice cream and Slip-n-Slides

2010-07-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

We found out at our local library that they were having an all you can eat ice cream event at the park, so the girls and I took advantage and headed over to the park where the girls enjoyed some fun ice cream. YUM!

Here is Abby, Lizzy, Eliza and Landon our good friends enjoying some popsicles and time in the sun.
" Thank you grandma for buying us this wonderful slip-n-slide for us to play with!"

Abs and Eliza

A fun summer!

2010-07-10T09:57:00.001-07:00

We arrived in our new home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on June 3rd. This is our front porch which has this awesome swing which we enjoy a lot. We think that we are pretty spoiled with our new home and are extremely blessed and grateful for all that we have.

My kitchen is ginormous compared to my last kitchen. The girls and I spend a lot of time cooking in this kitchen. Oh, and you can kind of see my belly bulge there.

We have a really fun park located in Town Center and we go there quite a bit. Here are the girls with their fairy wings on at the Kids festival. Aren't they precious.

Dr. Cory Johnston!!!!

2010-05-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

What an accomplishment! Cory graduated on May 13th, 2010 from the Dental School at Temple University. We celebrated big time with his parents, and brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Erica. It was such a wonderful day and I am so proud of my hubby. Doesn't he look great in his Grad robes. Thanks to everyone for all their love and support through the last 4 years of our lives. We are going to miss Philadelphia and especially all the wonderful friends we made there. So you ask what's next? Well, we move into a house, yes a house, on june 3rd in Highlands Ranch Colorado where Cory will start work with PDS on June 1st at an office there in Highlands Ranch. We are so excited. Yeah! Here are a couple of pictures from graduation.

Cory receiving his diploma from the dean, Abby, Lizzy, and Uncle Matt.

Abby was so proud of her Daddy.

Cory's Trip To Haiti

2010-03-26T04:59:00.001-07:00

Cory just recently went to Haiti agian with the school and had another life changing experience. They were all safe and protected, but on the way back their flight got canceled so they had to stay the night in Port au Prince, which at first most of them were a bit nervous about. They ended up meeting a photographer from the LA times and she told them of a place that was safe to stay, so they got to see a tour of the city and were amazed by the devestation that the earthquake had made there. They slept right across from the tent cities and counted their blessings as they went to sleep that night. I am so grateful that I have a husband that is so willing to serve the people of Haiti and has a great love for all of our Heavenly Father's children.

Aren't these kids just so adorable.

My 1st project done from the Retreat

2010-03-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

This last couple of weeks I left my sad husband for two weeks and went to Utah with the girls and then on to California. In Utah I got to go to my mom's American Quilting retreat (for the 3rd year in a row). It is a once a year break that I get away from my kids and life. It was a blast. I took some classes, made some cute things and had fun with my sisters, mom, grandma, aunt, and cousin. This picture is a class I took from Lori Holt and I got it finished today. It was super fun to make.

After the retreat we packed up in my mom and dads car and the girls and I, My mom and dad, and Melanie drove the 9 hours to Rosamond, CA. (Which by the way is in the middle of the desert). We had a good time with cousins and drawing up some new patterns to work on for the next quilt market in May. Now on to the next adventure in our life, finding somewhere to live for the next ? years of our life.

Here is Abby and Lizzy with their cousins Lucy and Logan.

SWIM LESSONS

2010-02-05T04:59:00.000-08:00

We have signed up the girls for swim lessons at the YMCA and they have absolutely loved them. Lizzy gets to swim with one of her parents, but Abigail is soo big and brave that she can swim a few feet now without any flotation bubbles or anything. We have really enjoyed watching them grow and show us all that they have learned at their swim lessons. A couple of the pictures of Abby are not the best, so it will be like 'Where's Abby' in a couple of them.

"I'm so happy".

Thanksgiving Day

2009-12-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

I know that these are soo late but I thought we would share with you what we did on our thanksgiving day. We started off early in the morning and headed downtown for the Philly parade. It was a blast. The girls loved it. Here is Frosty.

Lizzy thought that the bands were all too loud so her kind daddy covered her ears as they passed.

We had dinner at our good friends the Robertsons house and the Wilde's also joined us. It was a wonderful, beautiful dinner of course.
Cory had a really hard day. Poor guy.

The first snow!

2009-12-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

It came! Our first snow of the year. The girls and I got all decked out in our rather small snow gear and headed outside in the snow. The girls lasted about 10 minutes until they said " I'm Cold!" It was fun to get out of the house and get some fresh, crisp air. We have been cooped up in our apartment for the last few days because it is so cold and rainy. Look at abby's pants, I think they are for a 2 year old. HE He HE. Someday we will buy some real snow clothes for our children.

Family Photo Shoot

2009-11-13T06:07:00.000-08:00

I think that it has been at least 2 years since we had a family picture so we are so grateful to our good friend Lisa Marshall for taking some photos of our cute little family. Here is a sample of some of the great photos we got.

Boo at the Zoo, Take 3!!

2009-10-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a tradition for three years to go to Boo at the Zoo with our family, rain or shine. And every year, it rains. But the rain can not dampen our spirits, we always have a blast. Here is Abby and Lizzy on our way. Abby was Princess Leah, and Lizzy was a cheerleader.Abby, Taylor, and Shane getting soaked.

What a cuttie pie. Lizzy is so precious and sweet.

Aren't these the cuttest kids you've ever seen?

Martha Stewart!

2009-09-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

If any of you are Martha Stewart fans, and if you have the chance to attend a live show, do it. On Wednesday this week a couple of friends and I went to the show in NY and guess who got to ask a question to the star guest? That's right, I did. I have to say though, the pressure got to me and I totally messed up big time. If you want to see me make a fool of myself it airs on monday the 28th. It was sooooo embarassing, yet so funny I just had to tell you all. Let me know what you think after the show.
Love, Mindy

Warm Yummies!

2009-09-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

That title goes out to Crystal! Love ya girl.

Have you ever seen such beautiful HOME MADE donuts before, I mean come on!
Yum, Yum, Yum. . . These donuts were delicious. We had fun with all the toppings, toasted coconut, chopped heath bars, and of course sprinkles. You all should try to make these.

The recipe is:

2 cups milk
4 Tb. butter
1 cup mashed potatoes
Scald milk. Melt butter in milk. Add potatoes.

2 Tb. yeast
1 tea. sugar
1/3 cup water
Dissolve above ingredients together

2 tea. salt
2 eggs - beaten
2 tb. sugar
5 or more cups flour

When milk is slightly cooled and yeast is dissolved add all ingredients together. Knead well. Cover dough with a towel and let raise until doubled. (About 1 1/2 hours)

Roll out and cut. Put donuts on a floured board. Let raise again. Fry in hot oil. Glaze while warm.

Glaze:
1 pkg. powdered sugar
2 tea. vanilla
hot water
Mix together until right consistency (quite thin)
*For chocolate, add quite a bit of cocoa until it tastes just right.

Video of abby riding her bike

2009-08-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

She was totally ok after that little run in at the end. Good job Abigail!

No training wheels!

2009-08-28T08:45:00.001-07:00

The other day daddy told abby that we were going to take off the training wheels and Abs said OK. Cory was so patient and Abigail picked up on riding her bike so fast. So now at the age of 4 years and 4 months old abby is a whiz at riding her bike. We are so proud of our little girl.

Ward Camp Out

2009-08-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks Grandpa for the hot dog roasters. They worked awesome.

Here is Abby with her friend Ryan. What cutties.

Oh, what a cheese.

Hiking Timpanogos Mtn!

2009-07-23T05:18:00.000-07:00

We were only about 10 feet away from tons of mountain goats. It's amazing how they can climb such high, rocky mountains.

We made it to the top! It was gorgeous up there and we could see for miles. What an experience.

Cory, Betsy, Olivia, and Mindy

We made it back safely and only got a bit muddy. We had the time of our lives.

Bunco!

2009-06-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful friends made Crystal and I this beautiful strawberry cake for our birthdays. Thanks Guys!

I made 15 of these (dumb) I mean cute bowls that I found at market from Fig Tree Quilts. They are adorable but they took a long time.

Everyone is a winner at my house!

I also made a table runner for one of the prizes.

Can any one say lickin good cake balls! My first attempt at "cake balls" and they were a hit.

Happy Birthday Liz!

2009-06-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

Our sweet little girl turned two this past May. We love her to death.

Abigail Turned 4!!

2009-04-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time at Abby's BBQ/Party. She is so grown up and adorable and is so much fun. Her little sister followes her every move and they have become the best of friends. I have loved having two girls so close together.

The pinata was a bunch of fun!

I thought that this cake turned out better than it should have. I was struggling with all those lame crumbs. But I finally think that I have figured out how to frost a cake.

Fun in the snow!

2009-01-20T14:50:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun in all the snow that fell in Utah. We came home to Philly and were a bit sad that it was just Freezing cold.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Cory's cousin Brysons house.

We had a very good time.

Here is a picture of the girls. Yeah for girls.

This is my Apple Raspberry pie that was divine. I was pretty proud of it. Except that the cut out apples look like well, not like apples.

How sweet are they.

Here is daddy teaching Liz the important things in life, the Wii.

We did a gingerbread house compition and our theme was based of of the book, Twilight. As you can see this is the cullens house and bella and Edward are in the trees, and Bella's red truck is parked out front. We had a ton of fun.

Sesame Place

2008-11-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

We went to Sesame Place with our good friends the Call family and had a blast. Here is Audrey and Abigail with Baby Bear and the count. How cute.

Here is Daddy and Lizzy riding a flying elmo pig.
I thought that this picture was absolutely gorgeous of Abby and Lizzy. They both loved the carousel. Abby was brave enough also to ride a large rollercoaster that I even thought was fast. We had a wonderful day.

My most attractive husband ever

2008-11-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

Nachoooooooo!!!!

We had so much fun trying to pull off Nacho Libre and Encarnacion. I have to say that I did a pretty good job making cory's stretchy pants. I think that he felt a little more at ease when there were two other men there in "stretchy pants" as well. We had so much fun and cory kept in character the whole night with all of the phrases that Nacho says. It was awesome.

Our Little Ladies, Lady bugs that is.

2008-10-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

We went to a Hauntless House with some freinds for games and candy. They all had a blast.

Half Marathon

2008-09-25T10:52:00.001-07:00

As much as I don't like these pictures, here ya go. I ran the Air force half marathon on the 20th of september and it was actually really awesome. I finished in a time of one hour and forty-eight minutes. I was 22nd out of my age group and I came in 335 out of 2500 people. I felt fine except for my knees the last 3 miles or so. I am getting old though. I definately want to continue to do some races like these. Who's in with me? By the way, if you do not know, this is my brother-in-law, Seth Marek who also did well at the race.

Cousins

2008-09-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

We just got back from visiting Mel and Seth in Dayton, OH and we really had a great time. Abby and Lizzy especially loved being with their cousins. I can't believe how great this picture turned out.

Our trip to Gettysburg

2008-09-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

What a cutie.This is at the visitors center in Gettysburg which they just redid and it is really nice. We had a guide drive us around for a couple of hours which was really neat.
It was really nice to have my parents with us on this trip. I love them to death.

At the fire academy where my dad had is fire safety training, they just dedicated this memorial in remembrance of the fire fighters that died on September 11th. It was a really neat memorial.

Happy Birthday Daddy

2008-09-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Cory turned 29 this last month. We had a great day. I also bought him a pretty sweet mountain bike which we have not taken a picture of but it is a kona coiler. What a lucky guy. We love our daddy.

Cheese

2008-09-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, Lizzy's most favorite word is of course "Cheese"! Isn't she a hoot.

Trip to The Natural History Museum/Butterfly Exhibit in D.C.

2008-09-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at the butterfly exhibit. There were hundreds of butterflies and both girls loved it.

What a brave little girl Abby is. Look at the size of this caterpillar.

Princesses

2008-07-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is what our girls look like most of the day. Abby is teaching Lizzy a thing or two about dressing up. I think Lizzy's totally getting it.

The Fourth of July

2008-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that this is kind of late being posted but we thought that the pictures turned out pretty cute so here they are. We enjoyed a parade with friends in the sweet little city of Oreland that morning then we went to some friends that night for a barbeque. We had a blast.

Doesn't Abby look like such a polite little lady.

Cookin in the Kitchen

2008-07-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

The girls love to help me cook and most of the time it is helpful and fun. Today was a good day for that. We were making chocolate cookies with powdered sugar. Yum.

Our new blow up castle Toy

2008-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

This was a fun purchase we made for the days when it is 100 degrees and can not stand to be outside. Lizzy and Abby absolutely love it. Abby on this day wanted me to take her picture a hundred times and was saying, "take a picture now, take a picture now." What a little model.

Fun in the Sun!

2008-07-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Whoooo Hoooo!
We have so much fun swimming in the neighbors pool. We love it. Abby is becoming quite the little swimmer and Lizzy is just crazy.

Dance Class

2008-07-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here is adorable Abby getting ready for her first dance class. Abby and her best friends Audrey and Jaycie all wanted to look the part. I taught the dance class at the church and it was a lot of fun.

My Birthday!

2008-07-02T11:00:00.000-07:00

We went out to Olive Garden for my birthday as a family and had a ton of fun. Look at this sweet shirt that Cory hooked me up with. Pretty awesome. Abby looks so grown up huh. I definately had a wonderful 27th birthday! I'm getting old.

Silly Lizzy.

2008-07-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Lizzy does this face about 1/4 of the day. She is a hoot. Lizzy definately has a very vibrant, feisty personality. She is such a cuttie pie.

Friends

2008-07-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

2008-07-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Abby loves being the center of attention, I don't know where she got that from. We went to the park and had a picnic with a bunch of friends. Here is abby with audrey, jaycie, and brandon. She is a very personable person.

Black Eye

2008-07-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

So I think that Lizzy and Abby play too hard sometimes, that's why abby is sitting here with a black eye. They have so much fun together. Abby loves to pick her up and carry her all over.

2008-06-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Lizzy is now starting to walk. She is so proud of herself when she walks to something or to you. It is the cuttest thing. Because she is such a little tiny thing, she looks a bit funny when she walks and climbs things though.

Ms. Potato Head

2008-06-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

This was hilarious. Lizzy thought it was so funny to put the Mr. Potato head stuff in her mouth. We were having so much fun laughing that day.

White Coat Ceremony

2008-06-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of cory's class mates, don't they all look sharp in their new coats. How official!

Here is Daddy's two girls that are so proud of him for finishing his second year of dental school. Go Daddy!

Lizzy's Birthday!

2008-06-09T06:37:00.001-07:00

Here is our cute little Lizzy. She turned one last month and is such a little doll. Abby and her are becoming the best of friends. I think that this cake is bigger than she is, don't you?

Abby's 3rd Birthday! Yeah!

2008-05-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Abigail's third birthday party. We had so much fun and abby had about 20 of her little friends come to a barbeque at the park. Her mommy made her a barbie doll cake which was a lot of fun.

Photo Shoot

2008-02-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

Mindy took the girls into Target for some pictures. Elizabeth was very photogenic which made it hard for us to decide which shots to keep. We could have keep them all, but here are the ones we chose.

New York City

2008-01-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

New York was so much fun at Christmas time. We got to see the big tree and the ice skating at rockefeller center! It was awesome. We didn't even have to wear gloves it was pretty nice.

Cory Johnston Family

2007-12-18T08:01:00.001-08:00

2007-12-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

Here is our family!

2007-12-18T07:45:00.001-08:00

Our Two Girls:

Abigail and Elizabeth