Sadie, until we meet again....we love you!
He sure is cute though! He pulls himself up on everything 
....and Hoss, Thanks for Asking!
Then there was Cy, he was only in it for the tasting! Or as he says "Tasteee Mommy!" 
She is SO awesome. Talk about luck in the oldest department. She is so naturally helpful and sweet as can be. There is however, another side to Elle, she is SUPER competitive! She can't stand to loose at anything and has so much fun in any kind of competition. She is even a trash talker!
Matt took Ellery and Bailey to a little pick up ball at the gym the other day. They love to watch Matt and I play any kind of sports. After, he was shooting around with them. Ellery had the ball in her hands ready to go and yelled at him with her game face on.. "Come on Princess!" She yelled that out to her 6 foot 5, 340lb. lineman of a father. I swear I did not teach her that.
She has always had a little connection to others in need. She worries a lot about people who are hurting in anyway. Her teacher called me 2 days after school was out. I was a little surprised because school was already over for the summer. But she just called to let me know how much she loved Bailey. She said that she hasn't seen compassion like that in a person so young. Bailey is the youngest in her kindergarten class, but very smart and would always complete her work very quickly. Every time that she finished she would hurry to help a couple of kids who struggle in the class. Her teacher said she never asked Bay to do that, but that she could tell Bailey was concerned about those kids and didn't want them to ever feel embarrassed about finishing slowly.
Taite
She is so hilarious. I don't know what I would do with out my Taiter Bug. She is different for us from the older two girls. She is very girlie and dainty...and I LOVE it! I love having that change. She is always flitting around, twirling and prancing. She would wear a dress everyday if possible. Not so much a sporty girl so far. I asked her if she would like to take dance lessons and she said no, gymnastics. This thrilled me, I thought it was a perfect fit for her. She is freakishly flexible.
So off to gymnastics we go. I will have to do a post all by itself about that with some pictures, but I will tell you about the first day. I sat over in the parents section and Taite was in heaven. After a few minutes she came running off the mats and over to me. I was surprised because she is very independent and not afraid to be away from me.
I said "Taite, stay with your coach."
She looked at me and said "I have ta tell you sum-ping (something)...."
Okay I said.
"Mommy, I'm really good at this!" I sent her back only to have her run over 2 more times to report the same news. I told her to stay with her coach again. She did for a long time and then they were doing some trick and I think her coach must have congratulated her. She jumped up on a really tall mat and yelled over to me at the top of her lungs. "Mommy, I'm really good at that because I'm Bendy!"
Cy
Such a loving boy! The girls rotate helping me make dinner every night. I really make them do stuff too, I figure the earlier they learn, the earlier they can really be of help to me. So Cy wanted a turn the other night. He went and got the stool and came over..."Cy Cy turn heping!"
So here we are making our buttermilk biscuits...yum he kept saying! He had fun cooking with me, but he really is still a Daddy's boy! He gets very upset a lot of the time when Matt is gone at work. Once Matt gets home, he gets REALLY upset if Matt disappears from sight at all. I hope they are always very close.
Gus
Gus Gus, what a delight. He is so fun and such a great fit in the fam. He has been army crawling longer than any other baby we have had, almost 2 months now. But this last week he finally moved on. He will crawl on hands and knees some, but mostly he crawls on hands and feet like this. It is hilarious. I love this kid to death!
He is usually chewing on his tongue lately, but when he is not, he is still all smiles!
Sorry this post is so long, but what can I say...there are so many of them! I wouldn't have it any other way, they are way too fun!
Horton Hears a Cyrus!
Cyrus LOVES the movie "Horton Hears a Who" But his absolute favorite part is at the very end when they break out into classic REO Speedwagon. This is the result every time!
He got a little bit camera shy, usually he sings the whole thing at the top of his lungs, but you get the idea!
Cracks me up!
Today was awesome! The Relief Society in our Stake made a bus trip to the Chicago Temple today. I was not going to miss out on this opportunity and Matt as always was eager to help me get some time away. It was perfect. All those years of living within easy driving distance to many temples, I feel like I really took that for granted. It is kind of nice to be reminded what a privilege and joy it is to attend the temple. Anywhere all over the world...same peaceful feeling.
I am still so grateful for this unexpected continuing blessing of a very real example to our kids about how important Eternal Families really are. BBQ
We had a BBQ at Aunt Beth's house in Ft. Wayne and it was as usual a blast! We love being around all the Johnson family. I hope we can move down closer to them in the next couple of years, that would be awesome. Then we could drive them even more nuts! Here are some pics of the backyard fun...especially our dodgeball game, I think that needs to become a tradition!
