2008 Johnson Family Reunion

Here's the gang...

...and here's the rest of the gang!!

Click the thumbnail images to the left to see the full-sized image, then and save to your computer so you can print at home or send to your favorite online print service.  The high resolution image is cropped and sized to be printed at 5x7.

Enjoy!  :-)

"Eye See You"

(Photos will soon be displayed inline to accompany this blog entry.  Please check back.)

Jack found out today that he only has one mommy and one daddy.  You see, he's had a lazy eye since birth.  I figure that he's been seeing double for a long time not being able to focus both eyes together.  We tried some corrective measures to strengthen his left eye (which turned outward), but to no avail.  In fact, in just the past month or so, seems that when he did focus with his left eye, then his right eye would turn outward.

OK, we accepted the fact that he would need eye surgery.  We had a number of visits with the eye doc, and it was mentioned that he would likely need surgery by the time he was three years old.  Yesterday, Jack turned three years old.  Woohoo!  Ugh!  The most dreaded day finally arrived.  Today.  The clincher: during the pre-surgery visit last week, that's when it was revealed to us that the doc would do surgery on BOTH eyes!  Yipes!

So, yesterday was a day to celebrate, but today is a day to remember.  I can't tell you how scared we were for Jack.  We prepped him over the last few weeks, helping him to understand that he would go to the doctors office to get his eyes fixed.  He kept saying he didn't want to.  All I could really tell him for sure is that mommy and daddy would never let anything bad happen to him, and that when we're not with him, other grown-ups will take care of him for us.  I let him know that the doctors would fix his eyes while he was sleeping and having good dreams" (Jack understands about dreams from watching one of his favorite programs, and he's also told us that he's dreamt about us).  I didn't candy coat it, either.  I told him that he wouldn't feel good when he wakes up, that his eyes would hurt, but that we'd be there to make him feel better.

Both eyes, though.  Can you imagine?  Over 40 years ago I had eye surgery.  Same surgery Jack would have.  Thinking back, I can still taste the nauseous ether in the back of my throat after waking up, I remember the puking, the cardboard tubes on my arms to keep me pulling at the patches and bandages, and the long hospital stay for 3 or 4 days.  Not just once, but three separate surgeries; twice on my left, once on my right.  If that's what I had to go through each time on just one eye, then how in the heck is the doctor proposing this is no big deal to put a three year old through this on both eyes at the same time?

Well, the answer to that is 40 years of incredible advances in medicine and technology, that's how.

We got to the clinic at 7am, Jack still dressed in his PJs.  The doc prepped us.  The anesthetist prepped us.  The nurse prepped us.  Our heads were floating with information designed to educate us, instill our confidence in the medical team, and to also put us at ease.  Yet it was so hard to place Jack into their arms once we reached the point of no return and watch as he disappeared behind the doors of the operating room.

One at a time, the doctor would put a speculum into Jack's eye and nudge it aside, then proceed to detach the muscle from the outside of his eyeball, move it back just a tad (quite calculated, actually), and reattach the muscle to a new spot with sutures.  This would relax Jack's eyes so that his brain could more easily work the muscles together.

The nurse came out within 10 minutes after taking Jack into the operating room to tell us that he was quite relaxed going with them (the nurse did give him some "I don't care juice" that he sipped from a spoon prior to going in).  They put a mask over his nose and mouth to breath a gas that quickly and quietly put him completely to sleep in about 4 or 5 breaths.  Then the nurse put a catheter IV (very, very thin) into the back of his hand, saying that it went very easily.  About 45 minutes later (honestly, it didn't even seem like 45 minutes!) the doctor came out to tell us that all went really, really well, gave us instructions for his care over the next couple days, and for the next couple weeks following that.  The doc also prepped us for going in to see Jack in recovery.

The next 30-45 minutes were the longest.  Every time the door opened, I was hoping to hear that we could go back to see Jack.  Finally the nurse called us back into Jack's recovery room.  He was still sound asleep from the anesthetic.  Once again, the nurse gave us the run down for what to espect and how to care for Jack after we got home, and said that after he woke up they'd check his vitals, let the drowsiness wear off, and as soon as Jack said he wanted to go home, they'd let us loose.

I don't think we were in that recovery room five minutes and suddenly Jack sprang to life!  He wanted to just jump right up, and he knew that he somehow had lost track of time and where he was.  He wanted to be held, and it was very difficult to restrain him from rubbing his eyes.  He is incredibly strong and strong-willed, and the more he cried, the harder it was for me to fight back the tears that wanted to massively erupt from my heart. We kept telling that the doctor fixed his eyes and we knew he didn't feel good right now, but he'll feel better soon, and that rubbing his eyes would hurt (it's also to prevent infection and disturbing the sutures).  As if he had listened to everything the nurse was telling us while he was in his drugged state of sleep (and I believe he could hear), he knew the quickest way out of there was to take his queue from the nurse's script, and the very next words out of his mouth was "I wanna go bye-bye!"  It took a few minutes to get him settled down, get some basic vitals, and get the IV out of his hand, and by 10am we were on the way home.

I cannot tell you how freakin' amazed I am at how this whole ordeal turned out.  Jack naturally wants to rub his eyes, but has figured out that it does cause more discomfort, so he's doing pretty good to not touch.  He's also taken to the ice packs and lays down, or walks around, with the packs on his eyes to soothe the achiness.  His appetite has returned to normal by midday, and afterward he took a real good nap in the afternoon.  Once gr'ma and gr'pa Kenyon showed up about 5pm, Jack was so sprite, like we was just back to his ol' self.  Gr'ma and gr'pa left about 8pm, and Jack wandered outside, then into the garage and got onto his bike and took it for a spin.  After a few minutes he rode into the garage, then came back out with his t-ball set and was hitting the ball.  In fact, after dinner he was also playing catch and playing kickball.

I still want to cry... because I'm just so ecstatic with how fantastic the medical procedure went and how resilient Jack has been.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, JACK!

Jack turned 3 years old today!

"Happy Birthday, Budderz!" (again)

You thought the bike was cool?  So did Jack.  But, check out Jack on his birthday scooter!

He's pictured here all decked out in his safety pads, gloves, and helmet.


Click here to see a video.

Birthday Bike

We celebrated Jack's 3rd birthday today.

"Happy Birthday, Budderz!"

Jack's actual birthdate is the 16th. We'll take Popsicles to Jack's daycare to share with his friends at the end of that day when we go pick him up.

Our neighbor across the street, Frank, or "B" as Jack calls him (because he's always playing basketball in his driveway?), taught Jack how to ride a two-wheeler. Pictured here is Jack on the neighbor's bike that he learned on (circa May/June 2008).

Click the picture to see a video of Jack taking his new two-wheeler birthday bike for a spin. Enjoy! :-)

It's interesting how quickly Jack picked up on the pedaling concept. Many kids will try to pedal backward, which is braking. But, perhaps it's because of Jack's tricycle that he knows that forward is "go." His trike has a stroller bar on the back, so that it can be controlled by mommy and daddy from behind. The pedals are "break-away" style, so that if we push and he stops pedaling, then the pedal wheel will still freely spin without breaking the li'l guy's ankles. The downside... no brakes, so Jack has learned to pedal forward and stop pedaling so that he gradually slows down (or drag his feet to come to a faster stop).

Congrats, Kaylyn!

Kaylyn Brennan, you've just graduated from Boise State University... what are you going to do now?

"I'm going on a whirlwind European vacation!"

Prom 2008

Nick looked very dapper and his prom date, Kayla, was quite beautiful. They complimented each other very well.

Prom was in Weiser (pronounced "weezer' for those of you not from 'round these parts of Idaho). They came to Boise (pronounced "boysee" for those of you not from 'round these parts of Idaho) to have dinner. With a few minutes to spare before dinner, we took advantage of a photo op at Katheryn Albertson's Park.

See more prom portraits -- click here.

Happy Easter

T'is the season... for lilies, l'il marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies.

Total Lunar Eclipse

This was my first attempt at astrophotography. Conditions... sucked; that's an astronomical term meaning that my neighbors' porch lights where on, street lights were on, and there was a slight weather inversion (layer of trapped fog in the upper air), all factoring in attempt to destroy my viewing opportunity. Fortunately, at least I got to see the lunar spectacle. My dad didn't get to see a thing from his cloudy and raining vantage point in Arizona. I setup on my front porch with my Canon 30D and Sigma lens mounted on a sturdy tripod, connected my shutter release cable, and took about 140 shots. Please enjoy these pictures.



This next one was a mistake. I thought I had set my shutter speed at 1/30 of a second, but it ended up being 30 full seconds. Happy accident, as this exposure picked up some other star light that I didn't observe with my own eyes. Looks closely to see a few stars tracking through the sky.




I don't have a cool set of images showing the phases of the eclipse, but this series shows the movement direction and distance of Moon through the sky in just a short seven minutes.


The last of Earth's shadow covers Moon as it passes through Sun's path. (Makes a decent desktop wallpaper.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

With all my love,
--Jack













And love from Jeff and Laurie, too! ;-)

Jack's Halloween Fun

I wish you could hear him "roar."

Crib Jumper

Last Friday night Laurie and I were talking about when Jack starts to get out his crib by himself then we'd convert his crib to a toddler bed.

We didn't expect it'd be so soon!

Two nights later he jumped out, and then a few more times each night during the week. Once I hid in his closet and tried to observe, but it was too dark, and he just seemed to feel my presence, so he never attempted.

Today I was putting Jack down for a nap. The pic here shows him sleeping now, but before he finally went down I setup the spy cam to see how he gets out. Click the image to watch the video.

After I walked out of the room, I heard the garage door open. Jack heard it, too (mommy was coming home from shopping). Jack heard me head downstairs, so this was his chance to escape!

Enjoy! :-)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve Block Party, Tempe Arizona
Left to right...
Back row: Ryan Panitz, Todd Anderson, Joe Kelsch, Chase Hutchinson, Jeff "JR" Carter, Scott
Front row: Jody Kelsch, Julie Braegger, Stacy Stuart, Laurie Carter

Christmas Surprise: My Little Pony

Oh, Christmas Tree

Someone at work asked me to post artistic photos of the lights and ornaments on our Christmas tree. Here's my feeble amature attempt:

Micron Childrens Christmas Party

Under the mistletoe
Baja Reindeer


Find the orange duck, win a prize!



Coney Island
Going to see Santa!
Santa's Lap

Happy Holidays!

Jack's perpective of our Christmas       A close up of our tree-topper,
tree.                                                  "Ol' Man Christmas."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laurie, Jack and I spent Thanksgiving Day at with our very good friend Kris Sasser at her home, along with Payton and Andy, Sandy, Tracey, Justin and Lexi, Marie and Paula. We were thinking about our own familiis and the many things we are thankful for.

This arrangement of candles inside of Kris' fireplace was photographed @ 1/6th sec, f/7.1, 200 ISO.

Happy Halloween

Keeping with the theme of "Jack" characters to dress up as for halloween, we take a page from the movie "The Incredibles."

Here's "Jack-Jack!"

Ohhhh... I'm signing my life away

Attention on deck! Weigh anchor! Nick has enlisted into the United Stated Navy on 11-Oct-06, two days after he turned 18. He would have done it on his birthday, but the government took the day off on "Columbus Day."
Nick practically aced his Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, scoring a 94 out of 99. The average tester scores ~65. The Navy will take a brain-dead recruit with a 35, so long as the recruit has a high school diploma.


Nick's amazing ASVAB score qualified him to select any Navy job he wanted. After a lot of soul searching, Nick has decided to become an Electrician's Mate... in the Nuclear Field! Nick will attend a couple years of school before ever seeing his first duty assignment and will serve a 7-year patriotic stint.

Following his enlistment, Nick went to the tatoo parlor to get branded.









Nick is known as being an all-around good guy and athlete. Nick affectionately identifies with the "Superman" icon. Nick's friend Chris, who lived has a good part of his young life in Hawai'i, helped to design the tribal markings that create the negative space within the logo. This is the result of two three-and-a-half-hour sessions.

Two-Bit Haircut (* 2^5.3219 to account for inflation)

I'm here to get my first haircut!
"Is this going to hurt daddy?"

"No, son. It kinda tickles, though."
"Just a little off the top, please."
"...I said a little..."

"Wow! Look at all that hair fly!"
"I'm lookin' gooooood! Whuddaya think, mommy? Am I handsome?"
"I feel like a new kid! Where's my big brother? I'm a chick magnet now. Let's go to the mall!"

Johnson Family Reunion

Thanks to Mike and the support of family, we had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company over the weekend at scenic "Camp J" near Leavenworth, Washington.

See the gallery photos.



(This photo was taken Sunday afternoon after some family had already departed on their return journeys back to their homes. Sorry we didn't coordinate this sooner. Wish you were here!)

Canyon County Fair

Riding on a carousel horsey with mommy.

My Aunt Julie is on the carnival staff. Her sister-in-law, Sis, is the owner. Worked the family connection and got a carte blanche pass to every ride at the fair.

Thanks Aunt Julie and Miss Sis! I had so much fun! :-)

I'm #1!

Take a look at my Birthday Photo Album for a look at the people that celebrated the my fun! :-)

Rocket's Red Glare

Took a lot of tries to get this shot. Either the camera settings weren't just right, or I was too slow or to fast on the shutter button. Here's a bottle-rocket taking off during a home fireworks display on Independence Day!

1/3 sec • f/5.0

Ooooh... Ahhhh... Ohhhh!

Some of my favotire shots during a home fireworks display.






1/3 sec • f/9.0









2/3 sec • f/9.0









3/3 sec • f/9.0









4/3 sec • f/9.0

First Steps!

NEWS FLASH! Jack took his first steps all by himself tonight!

(Happy Father's Day!)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day, mommy!
:-)








I saw my Gr'ma and Gr'pa Kenyon on Mother's Day.
:-)











Here's my mommy and Kris in the parking lot of IHOP where we went for a pancake breakfast.



And here's my friend Payton, Kris' li'l jewel.



And here's Greg, always ready with a quick joke or some interesting trivia.


Here's Nick flexing his muscles doing this crazy balancing trick with me.

Merry Christmas!

Ho-Ho-Ho ...

My little friend Peyton came to visit me and gave my this cool hat and some clothes.


We played for a awhile, then after Peyton went home daddy traded me hats!

My visit with Santa...

. . . and I want a puzzle, and I want a cell phone, and a Red Ryder BB Gun, and world peace, and . . . . 

Trimming the Christmas Three

 

Reminiscing...

I was just looking back at some beautiful pics taken of Laurie and I on our wedding day. Enjoy! :-) 

Boo!

Well, it's obviously been a long time since we've blogged. Family and firends have been making us feel guilty about that.

So... here's a quick update. Thought we'd show you what Jack was dressed like on Halloween.

"Jack"-o-lantern!

We didn't go out trick-or-treat'in. We just stayed home and handed out fun-sized candy bars. The little girls and mommys that came to the door were gushing all over Jack-o. He's a cutie. :-)

OK, here's a question: who was the darned person than shrunk a candy bar and decided to call it "fun-sized?!" 

Happy Birthday!

I just realized that today is my big brother’s birthday. Talk about a communication gap. He and I must be a lot a like. We rarely take the time to keep in close touch, but I am always thinking about him and I know that he is always thinking about me. I miss him a lot. Happy Birthday, Johnny! :-)