Rachel's Bridal Shower

My dear friend Rachel Ferkovich is getting married in just about 3 weeks! So, along with the help of some CSUN gals, I threw her a bridal shower. Rach loves all things vintage and her bridesmaids dresses are yellow, so I tried my darnedest to give the party that theme (you'll see lots of lemons). Here it is...

I just loved how the mason jars turned out! Brianne, Brooke, and I hot glued twine, a small piece of scrapbook paper, and than a button to the jar. Then we stuck a yellow straw in it for drinking. Each girl wrote their name on the little paper tag.

Each drink container had a chalkboard label (from PB Kids).

Lemonade, Water, Iced Tea...

This table was where the guests addressed their thank you card envelope (to make things easy for Rach later) and did the game.

Here's the favors...a lemon wrapped in a cloth napkin with "Love never fails" sewn on the top and tied with twine. Thanks to Jenny and Mrs. Danderand for their sewing skills!

Mike and Rachel have their own special napkins with their initials in grey on it. I also made this wood plaque for their house. It has the date of their wedding and initials on it.

Hannah and Brooke enjoying some lemonade.

Our breakfast! Sausage egg casserole, yogurt parfaits, lemon tea cakes, and chocolate cake...yum.

Lil Maddie loved being one of the "big girls".

We had breakfast picnic style.

Here's Rachel giving the answers to the game. You had 9 photos of Mike and Rach to put in chronological order from their relationship over the past 2 years.

After the game, we had a sweet time of prayer for the cute couple.

Then she opened all these wonderful gifts!

Bride and Mother of the Bride

Rach and friends. I love the yellow paper balls Karina that made! We hung them from the lattice.

Brooke showing off the bling.

Vivian is in Rach's small group.

Everybody loves Mrs. Zimmer!

Karina, Taylor, and Sarah.

Sarah and Jessica!

We had a fun morning together celebrating what God is doing in Rachel's life. We all look forward to seeing how He will use them for His glory in the future.

Happy Half Birthday, Savannah!

My little baby is growing up! Savannah is six months already. Sissy girl is a pure joy. She pretty much never cries, is now sleeping through the night (most of the time), and is a people person like her big sister. If someone walks in the room, she's got to stop eating to find out what's goin' on! Her stats are: 14 pounds 3 ounces and is 26 inches long (about the 50th percentile). We are so thankful for God's gift of this sweet, yummy, and precious baby girl!

Rachel Ferkivich took some amazing photos of Sissy Loo if you want to see them, go here.

Dr. Bill Shannon...

My dad completed his Doctorate of Ministry degree this Spring. I was so excited to see him work hard and faithfully through going back to school. My sister flew in for the weekend from AZ to surprise my dad! He sure was surprised, and even had a few tears :)

It was so fun- just the four of us (no husbands or kids joined) went to the graduation banquet Saturday night.

It made both mom and dad's day to spend the evening together!

We sat with our dear friends the Lemans and the Sanders at dinner.

The next day was graduation. Here's my wonderful parents.

The four of us!

And the Dr. and his girls!

It was such a sweet time with my family this weekend. I'm so thankful for the parents and sister God gave me. I am truly blessed to have grown up in this godly home!

Park with the Smiths

The girls and I drove up to Santa Clarita to have a play date with the Smiths on Thursday.

I think Maddie might have taken about a half hour to eat this apple!

Janet and I were practicing our photography skills on the kids. She was giving me some pointers. I like the lighting on Madison in this one! I've decided I'd like to get a lens to attach to my camera.

Captain Josh.

The kids played pirates on the play structure- I love seeing their imaginations grow!

Gracie and her cute smile!

Everything in Savannah wanted to play with the big kids, but she just hung out with Janet and me.

At the end of our play time Josh took Mads on her first drive.

Aw...

Catch Up Time...

The Johnson family sure has been busy lately! Here's a few of the fun things we've been doing...

We bought this jumperoo second-hand from a friend and Savannah just loves it! It's fun having her in the kitchen when I cook :)

"Mr. Ben" is an exchange student from England that was living with my parents for the last month. He became part of our family, and we sure are sad to see him go. Maddie LOVED playing in the back yard with him. Last Friday night he was over for a CSUN guys night. About 25 guys came over and John Rourke spoke about finances. I think they took some great pointers from the talk along with eating 5 pizzas, a watermelon, bag of chips, and a whole 13x9 pan of strawberry yummy dessert. I forget how much guys can eat!!!

Saturday we went to the Crossroads volleyball tournament for most of the day. I didn't get any pictures because I was keeping up with our kids and getting to meet new people. Right from the UCLA campus, we met my parents down in Santa Monica. We had a lovely evening at the beach! By the time we got home, we were all exhausted :)

Catch with Papa

Monday we met the Drollingers at Huntington Beach. We had fun playing in the sun!

Savannah and Brighton were pretty funny together!

Jesse was so sweet and took me out for Mother's Day today (he'll be gone preaching in Kansas this weekend). He let me sleep in until 7:30! I woke up to a beautiful hydrangea plant and then we went to breakfast at Aroma Cafe.

After breakfast we played at the park for a bit.

I'm so thankful to the Lord for the gift of my sweet little family! It's in the family that we are most challenged to be patient, speak with kindness, and love sacrificially. It's also in the relationships of the family that God causes us to become more like Him as we fulfill our God-given roles. When I am living out my role as a wife and mother in a way that pleases the Lord, it's so rewarding and brings me great joy. I'm thankful that God has so clearly communicated through His Word how we are to live and interact with one another as a refection of our relationship with Him. I love being a mother!