Gone Country

Cody and I grew up during the best times of country music. Sure, there's still some good stuff out there, but nothing quite compares to the steel guitar and fiddle of the early 1990's. Because of this, we were super excited to have the chance to see Alan Jackson when he made a stop in Las Cruces on his tour. Perhaps the best part was that Cody's friend Blaine from Harlingen was there playing drums for Casey James, the opening act. (Casey was a runner-up for American Idol and has a couple of famous songs out that are playing on the radio right now.) Blaine was very generous and let us use his tickets for the show, so we had fantastic seats to see one of the members of country music royalty. Every song took me back to my childhood, and we had so much fun singing along!

Easter in the Desert

I'm going to go ahead and apologize for being a blog slacker. I got really good at it for a while, but wouldn't life be boring if it remained predictable? Not to worry though, because I'm about to catch up royally...

The weekend after Cody's birthday, we celebrated our second Easter away from family. A lot has changed since this time last year, and we continue to be incredibly thankful for the journey that God has taken us on and the wonderful ways that He has shown us His grace and power. I am feeling fantastic and have less time for blogging due to the fact that we're super busy being out and about all the time! I'd say that's a good problem to have though, wouldn't you? Hopefully you were all able to celebrate that same amazing love and God's great mercy at Easter this year. It's always such a wonderful reminder that nothing we go through can ever compare to what Jesus did for us. Although we definitely missed the family festitivites, we're enjoying creating our own family traditions and were excited to have a new member to add to the Easter celebration this year. He may be a little stinky, but we love him!

Our Easter featured a powerful illustrated sermon at the early church service, followed by a huge feast for the two of us complete with a ham, deviled eggs, homemade mac 'n cheese, green beans, and of course, the Johnston family track meet via telephone. We had a slight advantage this year due to the powerful winds that tend to blow through New Mexico in the spring, but I'd like to credit the victory of my team with the sheer athletic performance of our family members (myself included!). We missed out on the hula hoop competition, but I'm sure my cousin Daicee and Aunt Pat would've showed us up with their mad skills anyway. :) Rio really enjoyed his first Easter and even got to sample a bit of the holiday ham. Talk about livin' the dream!

The most handsome boys this side of the Rio Grande!

 Easter family pic

 I continue to believe that we own the most photogenic dog ever. Check out that pose!

 Rio reaped the benefits of the Easter bunny with a very large rawhide bone. He finished it in about 3 hours.

 And the track meet begins! Cody rocked the shot putt (cotton ball) throw.

 Me with the javelin (straw) and discus (paper plate). Rio is pumped, too.

 Cody was a little disappointed in our performance on the discus throw. Thanks to the wind, I'm pretty sure I received a negative 4 foot measurement...

Rio held down the fort while we competed like champs. Isn't a dog's life great?

Happy Easter from the Johnson's!

Cody's Quarter Century

This weekend I very generously handed over my birthday royalty title to my wonderful and handsome hubby. I have been planning to surprise him with a very special birthday weekend for quite some time now, and am so glad that the plans worked out. Cody's parents and brother, Cale, came out to the desert for a long weekend, and we had so much fun spending time with them, as always. It wasn't the same without Katie, Jason and Princess, but we'll all be together soon enough...can't wait for August!!

We started off the weekend with dinner at Cheddar's, always a favorite in the birthday boy's book. Saturday brought a trip to the Farmer's Market, where the boys got more than their fill of shopping before their first meal of the day. Tami and I joked that we were "grounded" after the amount of time that we forced them to spend waiting downtown while we checked out all of the vendors and a cute boutique that neither of us had yet discovered. As if that weren't enough, we continued
to shop til we dropped, and Tami definitely spoiled me with some fabulous new spring outfits. Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a few purchases for my super cute prego sis-in-law and her precious little angel. We had so much fun and were very proud of our finds!

My fabulous mother-in-law,Tami, enjoying the scenery of the Farmers' Market

The hubs and me 

Lynn at the Farmers' Market, enjoying the live music, but not really enjoying the musician's political stance. (She was clearly a liberal.) :)

Brothers at the Farmers' Market

I just had to include this photo of our little princess' first pair of shoes. It's never to early to start the collection after all!

After the shopping extravaganza, we returned home where the boys were grilling some tasty steak. Our good friends James and Zetdi and Chris and Samantha joined us, and we celebrated the birthday boy with great wine, basketball and of course, a Funfetti cake.

The hubs and his stack of steaks--we had quite the selection, might I add. Nilgai, oryx, elk and beef!

Cody and his birthday necessity, a Funfetti cake

Sunday brought a birthday breakfast fit for a king and a trip to Mesilla. We toured the square and visited a local vineyard for a little wine tasting. The scenery was beautiful, and we were happy to see sunshine and not the nasty dust storm that the weatherman had predicted.

The birthday king in all his glory, waiting to be showered with gifts

Me and the boys (minus one)

Just soaking up some sun (and needing this yellow rocking chair!)

Cale and me celebrating the infamous Billy the Kid

The boys in Mesilla

Lynn and Tami in Old Town Mesilla

Wine tasting at Rio Grande Winery

Last night when we were going to bed, Cody told me that I did very well with this year's birthday. I must say this was the ultimate compliment, and I only hope that it shows my amazing hubby just a bit of my appreciation for all that he does for me on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. I'm so thankful for him and every opportunity to celebrate his awesomeness! When we get to have family here to share in the celebration, you simply can't top it. Thanks so much to Lynn, Tami and Cale for helping me to make the birthday king feel extra special this year!

Cody and Lynn taking Rio for a desert excursion behind our house

Lynn, Cody and Rio monster

Happy Monday to everyone!