We are family!

Every time we're all together, we try to get a picture.
This one might be a little more realistic, though!

My sisters and I with Jeremiah.

See how thrilled he is that Aunt Kierstyn and Uncle Curtis have him?

Aunt Megan and her favorite niece. The two brave souls who have married two of the Johnston Girls. And they lived to tell!! And they're happy.

Super Aunt Shannon, entertaining Elizabeth before church.

sissyters! We were watching Harry Potter 5, getting ready for the midnight showing of HP6.

I love my family! I wish we could all get together more often. But I'm very thankful for the times like this past weekend when we can all be together, celebrating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. Now, how much longer till Thanksgiving??

Baptism

The whole reason for our trip to Georgia was to be there to participate in Jeremiah's baptism. It was beautiful! Matt, Megan and Jeremiah make a beautiful family! And it was such a joy to see them take the vows to raise Jeremiah in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Jeremiah, this is our prayer for you.

"Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil."

Proverbs 4:23-27

Grandma and Grand-Daddy

My parents are amazing parents!!

And they are also amazing grandparents!!!

This trip was the first time when all four of the grand kids had been in the same place at the same time. My Mom, thinking ahead, bought the kids matching outfits. Though it was a bit of a challenge, we got a couple great cousin pictures.

Doesn't Mom look happy?? Those kids sure do love their Grandma!

Meeting Jeremiah!

This was the first time the kids and Curtis had the opportunity to meet Jeremiah. The kids loved him to pieces! Literally, I think they would have help him every second he was awake.

Drvin', drivin', drivin'

Being the good scrapbooker/blogger/photographer I try to be, I documented our trip to GA and back. Benjamin, being a goof ball.
Welcome to Louisiana!!! I had originally wanted to take pictures of the kids with all the state signs. But we crossed into LA while on a very tall bridge. Just didn't happen!

My sweet friend Kristy Bell got Elizabeth this map place mat with the states. Elizabeth loved finding the new states, as we entered them. LA is under the glare. We named this trip our Bridge Trip. There were so many HUGE bridges! This one led over a ton of swap land.

Welcome to Mississippi.

Thank-you Vana!

Curtis did an awesome job mapping out our trip. He then printed out about a dozen maps, and tracked our route while we were driving. So very Curtis!!

This picture was taken on another bridge, this time in MS. Just over the horizon was the ocean. So is the water in the picture fresh or salt? Hmmm......

Welcome to Alabama!

One of my favorite picture from the drive. Isn't she adorable??

We were in Alabama FOR-EVVVV-ER!!!! The kids were supposed to be asleep when we got to Georgia, but weren't. Montgomery, AL was Benjamin's breaking point. So we were glad to see....

Welcome to Georgia!!!! Really, I promise that's what that green blur says.

Sleepy eyes!

The trip from Kingwood to my sisters house in GA took 14 1/2 hours. We made 7 stops, the longest being 30 minutes. We also made one side of the road pit stop to try to save time.

For the drive home, my Mom and I drove from Georgia to Layfette, LA. It was 9 hours of driving, and took us 11 hours. My Dad graciously got us a wonderful hotel to stay in to break up our trip. When Elizabeth walked into the room, she started talking about how beautiful it was, and it was so wonderful, look at the beauty, and ended with, "It's a miracle that we get to stay here!!!"

As miraculous as it was, it wasn't all roses. This morning, when we woke up, Micah was throwing up. We ditched the plans to swim, waited till the puking had subsided, and got on the road. Too bad the break in puking didn't last. (He isn't actually getting sick in this picture. He was just examining the inside of the trash can.)

Thankfully the puking was only once (until we got home) and we made it home in one piece.

I was very proud of us for making the drive!! It's nice to know that the kids can do such a long car trip so well. Who know, maybe there are more road trips in our future?

HA!!! Not for a long time.

Hi friends!

I'm sure you've been anxiously waiting to hear how our drive to Georgia went. Well, I'm pleased to say that it went very well. The kids did great for the most part. About the time we hit Montgomery Alabama, Benjamin was screaming. It took a good 10 minutes of me holding him to get him to calm down while Curtis took the big kids in to the bathroom. Benjamin kinda revolted on us earlier in the day and decided he was only going to take 2 one hour naps, and not eat. But, looking at the big picture, they really did great.

It took us 14 1/2 hours. Not too bad!

We've been enjoying our time in Georgia. My sister has a pool within walking distance from her house, so the kids have spent lots of time there. That is until Elizabeth got pink eye. Blah!! The boys had pink eye (very minor) before we left. The doctor gave us some drops and the OK to head east. We think Elizabeth's pink eye is unrelated to the boys, and we're all keeping our fingers crossed and doing lots of laundry hoping that Megan and her family don't get it. Unfortunately, it's too late for Shannon, who got pink eye the day she left.

Jeremiah's baptism was beautiful! Of course, I cried. Is there anything more beautiful then a baby baptism? I think not. It reminded me again how thankful I was for the opportunity to be a part of a covenant family.

When we were leaving the church, after Jeremiah's baptism, Micah and I were talking about what we had seen. Micah made a comment about Jeremiah's gown. I told him that he had worn a gown too. Micah looked at me and asked, "Was I a girl when I got baptised??" Hilarious!

Last night my sister, brother-in-law and I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. We got in line at 10:30. Megan and I were so excited, and spend a lot of time texting Shannon and Curtis, knowing that they were about to get in line as well. The movie was pretty good. Of course it wasn't as good as the book, but it was still fun. About 2 hours into the movie, the lights came one, the movie stopped, and the fire alarm went off. We were shocked! You know you're hard core Harry Potter fans when you 1) go to the midnight release and 2) don't immediately get out of your seat when the fire alarm goes off.

Curtis flew home yesterday for class and work. My Mom and I will drive home tomorrow with the kiddos. We're undecided if we'll make it all the way home or if we'll stop part way. Either way, it's nice to know that we'll be home in just a couple days. Swimming lessons start on Monday, so we'll start of week off with a bang!

I have lots of pictures to share, but no time to upload. But we'll be home soon, and I'll share then!

On the road again.....

You know us. We just can't stay put for more than a month. And we haven't been on a car trip since June 6th, so it's time for us to load up the mini van and hit the road!

We leave Thursday evening to go to Kingwood, by way of Houston Hobby airpot to drop of Curtis' car. After spending the night with our dear friends there, we will head towards Atlanta! As of right now, our plan is to make the entire drive on Friday.

Yeah, I know it's a long drive.

According to Map Quest, it's 782 miles and 12 hours and 32 minutes from Kingwood to my sister's front door. I won't lie, I'm a little nervous. So I've done what any mom in my situation would do.

Google!!!!

I've spent a better part of the evening googling ideas on how to keep the kids busy, what new songs I can sing with them, and basically trying to turn a very long day into a fun family adventure.

Here's what I've got so far:
new movies that the kids haven't seen. Or at least haven't seen in awhile.
I Spy bottles, which is bottles of rice with little treasures hidden inside.
Ocean bottles
several new toys
a hymnal
a couple read aloud books
new coloring books, markers, pencils, and stickers.

Anyone else have any ideas? I will have Benadryl on hand if needed. Yep, I'm one of those moms.

See that? All those happy faces? That's going to be us Friday evening when we pull into GA! Well, except our youngest won't be wearing a jumper of any sorts. Check out the mom's face. That's a mommy who knows how to spoon out the Benadryl!

4th of July Part 2

After the parade, we headed to Wal Mart to pick up a few things for our dinner. We joined the Findleys and Haileys at Casa de Findley for burgers, hot dogs, watermelon and some fun!! We had such a great evening, that I totally forgot about taking pictures. But check out Beth's blog for some cute pictures from the evening.

After a game of Apples to Apples, we headed home, did quick showers for the kids, and headed to Reed Arena to watch the fireworks from the Bush Library. The kids had fun running around waiting for the fireworks, and then Curtis and I had fun running around chasing the kids while the fireworks were going, while they tried to find the perfect spot to watch.

It was a good day!!!!

4th of July Part 1

This morning we went to a park with decorated bikes and scooters to participate in a 4th of July parade. Elizabeth was our patriotic alien. :-) She did a great job during the parade riding her bike and waving. Micah, ready to ride in the parade! About half way through, he decided he'd rather walk and collect rocks. Poor Curtis got stuck pushing Benjamin AND carrying Micah's scooter.

This cute kiddos had it easy! He cruised around, letting Daddy push him, while sipping on some lemonade!

Happy 4th of July, from the Krajcas!

Big Day for Elizabeth

Yesterday Elizabeth had her 5 year well visit. Afterwards, she announced that her shot wasn't that bad, and that she was ready to get her ears pierced. Totally caught me off guard! She'd been asking about getting her ears pierced, and we always reminded her that it hurt, kinda like getting a shot. She decided that the shot wasn't that bad, so why not get her ears pierced?!

This morning, we headed to the mall. Grandma and Grand-Daddy were even able to join us.Elizabeth did great! She picked out her earrings, and the lady who did it was very good, and very quick. It was over in no time, and all Elizabeth said was, "Ouch!" No tears or anything! We were so proud of her!

Doesn't she look grown up in her pink diamond flower earrings?