Johnny is a bright light in this world! He has a contagious, happy energy that surrounds him wherever he goes. He’s enthusiastic about everything he does, especially if it involves the great outdoors and/or the dogs. Whenever possible, Johnny wants to be outside experiencing the real world. It is such a joy to be around him and see the pond, creek, or even the grass through his eyes. One of Johnny’s latest sayings is “I’m having a really great day so far”. It has matured from “this is the best day ever” but still the most genuine sentiment of truly loving life. He usually follows it with “how is your day going, mom”. I proceed to melt and concur that I’m having “a really great day” too. And when he gets upset or has a stubborn streak, it’s usually over quick and with him owning every aspect of it. I feel like the luckiest dang mom that there ever was with Johnny.

Johnny is in 1st grade and has started the Spanish dual immersion program at Parley’s Park Elementary. He loves to learn and loves his friends even more. Johnny’s teachers have an affection for him that we all share. Johnny also enjoys all sports possible, especially soccer and baseball. He is an avid outdoorsman and is quite skilled with a knife, hammer, fishing pole, bugs and all things with dad. He loves animals and seems to have a special connection every critter he finds. Johnny is also a proud little brother to Charlotte and does his best to push her buttons as well as give her hugs at recess. He continues to make us all laugh with jokes, voices and silly faces. We’re grateful for the joy Johnny brings to our family. Happy 7th birthday, bud!

Here are a few pictures of Johnny on his actual birthday, September 9th. His birthday party was a few days later with more details below.

For Johnny’s 7th birthday, we created a survival skills birthday party for a bunch of energetic 6-year-old boys. It was a total hit! John was troop leader as he led Johnny and his friends around the ranch on a scavenger hunt to learn a few basic survival skills. They learned how to use a compass and a signal mirror. They also went to rescue an injured hiker and learned how to apply pressure to a wound and make an arm sling. The injured hiker was Charlotte with a very (fake) bloody arm. The last test was knowing a parent’s phone number in case of an emergency. Surprisingly, most of the boys didn’t know the phone number. We told them that was their homework 😉 We ate trail mix, hot dogs and fish cooked in tinfoil (Johnny ate the fish eyeball). The party ended with singing happy birthday and eating cake!