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!