Developmental Steps

Mayumi rarely does anything on cue, but for some reason I was able to capture her clapping here in this video (taken in Arizona!).

The Johnson Family Variety Show

Good times were had at The Stansfield Home in Gilbert, Arizona this April. I hope you enjoy the following pictures...and video!Allie Brooke loves to be in charge of her nieces...especially when they are in the car seats.

New mother Monique with Leah (B'Leah), doing what she does best: sleep.

Allie, too, liked to watch over B'Leah.


I caught a lot of great scenery on film but I'll only feature this one photo.

B'Leah wasn't awake much, but when she was she usually had a big smile and lots of sweetness for everyone.

Some of the family on a hike...four babies = four baby carriers.



Weirdlyl enough I didn't get ANY pictures containing my father--except this (and a few other) video clips. He WAS there--thankfully!

I like to call this "Ballerina with Banana"

Cousins, B'Lily and B'Yumi

My favorite photo--the bathing beauty.

Nate and I promised ourselves we'd start a garden as soon as we owned a home. Well--here we are, planting a garden. In fact, it is planted!

Here I am, earlier this spring, marking off the plot of land in barkyard designated for the garden--20 by 12 ft. Pretty ambitious!! Mayumi is looking on, fascinated.

Some weeks later, our neighbors kindly lent us their rented Rottotiller...and away Nate went. We (maybe mistakenly...we'll see) didn't kill the grass first, and just started hacking away at it.

My friend Rachel, who knows all, is my mentor in this project. She has contributed much and is, in fact, sharing this garden with us. Here she is (in the brown shirt) working the ground (you'll notice the nice brown dirt-i-ness of it...we had some topsoil and compost brought in). I am planting the first row of Alaska Peas.

And while I'm at it, I've decided to become as fully 'granola' as possible. To aid me in this plan, my mother kindly gifted me with a wheat grinder! Yay!! here I am grinding my first item--not wheat, as it turns out, but cinamon!! I've since ground much wheat and it makes DELICIOUS bread. Thanks Glo!

What happened to The Caterpiller?

For the longest time I assumed Mayumi could only move backwards, and only by accident. One day, however, I tried to lure her forward by dangling my iPod and lo--she did that breakdancing move The Caterpiller--and speedly crossed the floor to get it. Imagine my shock!

Two weeks ago I took Mayumi to Arizona to see her grandparents, aunties, and cousins, and we all speculated that she'd probably never actually CRAWL (hands and knees), but that she'd go from The Caterpiller to Walking. Three seconds after we said that she proved us wrong...as you can see below:

Happy Birthday Hilary!

Nate, in classic form, came up with a most excellent birthday present this year--a piano!!! Last year, as you can observe on this blog, he made me a kite (from scratch) and took me to the National Mall to fly it--which also happened to be the Cherry Blossom Kite Flying Festival. THIS year, he drove a completely oblivious me to the home of the man selling the piano--and viola! A piano!! Mayumi may be a prodigy just waiting to happen: