Lilja's third birthday party!!

We were so lucky to have opa and oma here for Lilja's third birthday party.. As painting is in Lilja's blood and family we made it a painting party. Lilja was pretty specific on the friends she wanted to have over, so seven little one ranging from 2-6 years old came over and made little masterpieces.

Tada!!! everyone made a beautiful masterpiece. Can you guess which one is Lilja's ?? Yep, the turquoise one :)

This was the after picture of Lilja's monkey cupcake eating contest.. My dad has a lot more photos, I just forgot, I got so into the party.. sorry

Some of Lilja great friends, left to right.. lauren (my assistent for Tumbling Tots's daughter), JT (the little boy I take care of sometimes) and Yara, a little Dutch girl.

One of Lilja's bestest friend maddie!! also an after shot!
More picture to come from my dad.

Trick -or-treat!!

Lilja wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween, so My mom and I made her costume.. lots of glittery  butterflies on a heap of tule!! surprising enough, Daddy was very into getting all the candy 'Lilja" could get...

some houses just had candy in  front of their house,  Lilja did great getting just one in dismay of her daddy

Oma made sure her wings were pretty and straight

Those wings were a prop from a store that I asked to buy, so we could make them into wings.. pat on the back for mommy!

She finally found a blue lollipop amongst the candy.. now she could sit down and savor it.. Oh, no, daddy was ready for more candy!!

Mila (left) and Yara (right) are dutch little girls. Look Lilja,  we are vlinders (butterflies) too!! 

fun times with opa and Oma

Oma is feeling a little under the weather, so we stayed close to home the last couple of days. Lots of reading books, painting, and watching a new movie.. An Amarican Tail is our new favorite. These photos are especially for my sister who is left in holland all by herself.. she was worried I would stop the blog because mom and dad where here.. here is a mom and dad fix, pietje :)

being silly with Oma, she can tickle really good.. believe me!!

Opa loves to read books, and this one is a great one.. lots of recognizing words with pictures

we wanted to go to a pumpkin patch, but the one we went to was already closed.. so we chose one from City Market and had a pretty silly laugh when she was chosing one in the Citmarket produce isle instead of a fun hay covered field.. But oh well, luckily Lilja is little enough that she did not mind.. next year would be a different story.



Opa helped Aran get all the wood together for the winter.. Thanks Opa.. great job!!??



Lilja got a fun present from her birth great grandma, named Mimi and they were blue tablets for her water!!! Well, that was a treat!! Two of her favorite things.. water and the color blue!!

again a reading story time.. also one of Lilja's favotrite things!!

Oma and Opa are here!!

Opa and Oma (Nicole's parents) arrived late Sunday night . Lilja had been looking forward to their visit for weeks, having sleepovers in the guestroom and asking every day if opa and oma would be there when she woke up.. the time is here!! and it is all she expected.. lots of play, laughs, tickles and hugs! 

We will be going to a pumpkin patch, trick or treating ( we do not have halloween in holland) going to the Southern ute Indian museum and just having fun as Opa and Oma.. They got to take care of Lilja yesterday when I had to teach my infant massage class, so they get lots of one-on-one visits with her too..

we took the dogs for a walk in the morning and my parents were just so surprised how good she goes for a walk.. well, we have been doing this all her little three years of life.

fishing!!! AGAIN!!

and Flying throught the forrest with Opa

Peekaboo with Opa..he can be so silly!!

another walk with just Opa.. oma is a little under the weather.. they found a big stick to walk with

So cute how they just walked together. lilja had lots to say.. and Opa just listened

Ofcourse she got opa to help her climb a tree.. it must be a man thing!!

a week in the life of the johnsons

I still am figuring this phone out and some of these photos would not download, but I figured it out a week later..

Daddy is definitely a kid at heart.. making chalk people.. hmmm what does he think about what i look like??

And how do I see my husband?? just a joke those big ears.. i promise..

Our little family.. the chalk way

Hmm I probably will never hear the end of those ears.. But Lilja's was cute!!

FINGERPAINTING!!! Oh yes, i am that brave...

Lilja took the finger painting literally and painted both her hands and then some.. but she had a blast..

Leaf fun at caroline's house

And getting ready for Oma and Opa's visit.. she is having sleep overs in the guest room.

Fishes and Horses , Oh my!!

On Sunday we did a little family bonding time, it had been so busy, that we were looking forward to some quiet fishing and the sounds of the running water. lilja just wanted to be in the water the whole time. She also found a lot of rocks, trees and logs to climb on and told me.. "Momma I can do gymnastics right here..

Lilja loves to get down right dirty.. I think we have a tomboy on our hands, with sparkles..



Some quiet time for Aran way down there.



Like father like daughter.

How much do we love you??? This much!! 

Climbing trees is becoming the norm for Lilja, and we now know it is in her blood ;) so there probably is no stopping her, just teaching her to be safe.

We met up with some friends at their hunting camp and Lilja got to ride on one of their horses, Fresca. She did need to hold on to Aran's finger for a little while.



Lilja is not afraid at all riding bare back on fresca, she just wanted to keep going. Aran is afraid a horse will be part of our family in the near future.. but we have so many people around us with horses that I say, she can work for play...or batting her eyes and ask nicely :)

Daddy is fishing down the river, Lilja thought it would go faster by hand!!






I am balancing my body!

We had such a nice Sunday, Lilja passed out two minutes after we got into the car and she has not stopped pretending to go fishing with every stick she finds.. i guess a fishing pole will be on the wish list for Santa..

more misc.

Lilja is trying out her butterfly wings for halloween. they don't fit yet.. waiting for Oma to get here and we'll get them right.. 

I just love this photo.. I can honestly say she is pretty much this happy girl 99.9 % of the time..

she will climb all the way up AND step to the platform.. she surprises me everytime.. However one thing she did not like is slides, but guess what today she conquered her fear and slide down many time..

the stare is there, naptime!!

the silly faces of Lilja

Lilja has some very funny faces, and she knows it.. Now when she is in trouble, she will look at me and raise her eyebrows up and down.. I can't keep a straight face!

still a little munchkin down there..

again trying to get her to smile in the camera.. now that these photos are from my phone, it is a little easier..well, sometimes..

see.... LOVE this photo.. she is still our "outside blue" (turqoise) kind of girl..

Ok now you know what I am talking about.. try looking at this photo with a serious face..

tada!!! it worked.. thanks Lilja for a perfect picture..finally.