July 20th, 2009.

A really special day that I always want to remember. Joseph's 8th birthday and his "double" baptism with his cousin Evelyn who is only 20 hours older.

Here's a copy of the program,

Conducting Bishop Les Kuhnz
Pianist Katelyn Johnson
Chorister Emily Johnson
Opening Song Teach Me to Walk in the Light
Opening Prayer Christa Johnson
Talk on Baptism Grant Johnson
Musical Number “Baptism”
sung by Shirae Telford, Stephanie Arter, & Jenelle Moore

Baptism of Evelyn
by her father Aaron Telford
Baptism of Joseph
by his father Anthony Telford

Musical Number “If the Savior Stood Beside Me”
sung by Ali & Brooke Gertsch
& “When I Am Baptized” sung by Shirae Telford & Stephanie Arter,
& Joseph and Evelyn Telford

Talk on the Holy Ghost Christine McPeak
Confirmations of Evelyn & Joseph
Welcome to the Ward Bishop Kuhnz
Closing Song Families Can Be Together Forever
Closing Prayer Julia McMillan



...and the photo that was in the program.

Aren’t they so cute and so grown up? They sang the second verse of When I Am Baptized & even though they were a little too loud and squeaky, it was so adorable and we all wanted to cry.
“I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away and I can be forgiven and improve myself each day. I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.”
Joseph actually asked me before the baptism, “Mom, I don’t get that. How are my wrongs being washed away if I don’t have any wrongs? Remember little children are innocent before they turn eight, so I don’t have any sins to wash away.”
Good one, Joseph! You are such a smart kid. The ordinance of baptism is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, & it does wash away the sins of those who are accountable for their actions (older than 8). The purpose of baptism at 8 years old isn’t to cleanse them from sin, but to get them started on the right path, as a member of the church, and to make a promise to try to avoid sin. So that song applies more to someone older getting baptized, so it’s interesting that they have it in the primary song book, LOL. BUT the symbolism of the baptism by immersion still represents new life, being buried and coming alive again, in Christ, and since that is renewed each week with the sacrament, it’s like having your sins washed away, so technically the “wrongs being washed away” concept does apply to 8 year olds on a weekly basis if they have a reason to repent.
Tuesday morning Joseph woke up & looked in the mirror and said “Can you believe I’m 8? I still look like a 7 year old boy.”
I laughed & then said “But do you feel 8?” He said Yes. Followed by, “Has the accountable part started yet?” I said yes, and he thought for a sec and said, “Did I do anything wrong last night?” LOL. Making sure he’s caught up – wouldn’t want to miss repenting and lose track!
So cute. He’s such a good kid. We’re very proud of him and hope his sweetness and good strong qualities continue as he grows up. Thinking of him as a teenager, and a grown man starting a family, really gets us emotional. Obviously. Anthony really thought he was going to lose it at the baptism, he felt so on edge with his emotions leading up to it. He gave a very strong blessing (the confirmation) but didn’t cry after all. We were all teary-eyed the whole time though. Joyce was definitely very emotional, I noticed. It was so touching.
My Mom cried a little when Stephy, Jenelle, and I sang our song together. We did 3 part harmony and it sounded pretty cool because we blend well together since our voices are all so similar. Far from perfect, but it was neat.
Oh, and it was so cute when Anthony’s sister Christine was giving the talk about the Holy Ghost, and Joseph kept answering her questions and responding to her comments, raising his hand, and being “so smart”, Grandpa Johnson leaned forward and whispered to him “Boy, you just have all the answers, don’t you Joseph?” and Joseph smiled but quickly responded “Yeah”. (“I do.”) Grandpa laughed.
Joseph is a funny mix between cocky confidence and shy humility. It cracks me up.

The only thing that made the baptism less than perfect was the fact that Mom & Dad (Bob and Wendy) weren’t there. At least it’s for a really good reason. The kids will always remember that their grandparents weren’t at their baptism, but it was because they were serving the Lord in a far away country; making an unselfish sacrifice that will bring many many blessings. We are so proud of them and love & miss them so much.

Happy Fourth of July!

I didn't get any pictures this year except for Kayla girl in her patriotic outfit. Isn't she growing so fast? & She's so pretty! even if I do say so myself.

Okay, I spoke too soon when I said we actually don't have any big plans & that it would be a pretty simple summer break. Probably 2 days after that, our life turned into a whirlwind of house hunting, thinking and discussing, & decision making, for about a week & a half - 2 weeks. But the hunting & discussing is over. We signed the documents and put down a deposit for our new house on Saturday. 5501 Jade Springs Drive, in Kavala Ranch, Rancho Cordova; it's brand new development, a growing community next to Anatolia on Sunrise Blvd. We didn't expect to move for a while yet; but this just snuck up on us rather suddenly. We can't afford this wonderful Callaway home any longer, as our mortgage payment goes up in a few months when it goes adjustable, & the bank wont refinance unless we're behind in payments. So we concluded that the best choice for us was to purchase a new home and sell this one, which our realtor will start doing in October when we move out. So although it's not ideal circumstances, and we'll have to be really smart with our money decisions to make it work, it's worked out nicely at least that just in time for our fourth child (a couple of weeks after he's born, probably) we're moving into a bigger home (2980 sq. ft 5 bedroom & a bonus room, compared to this 2000 sq. ft 4 bedroom), brand new, beautiful, and in a great ward with LOTS of kids for our children to make friends with. We visited the ward today and loved it, so I'm excited. After church we drove to our new street and showed the kids our house which is just finished being framed and looks ready for the sheetrock phase, etc. It's estimated to be finished Sept. 24th. The next step is calling the elementary school & finding out if the boys will attend this year or be going to Cosumnes River for one more year first. Wow, it's crazy how life can flip so suddenly -- 2 weeks ago I was content to be here for a long time, and never leave the Wilton ward! and now I'm ready to move onto a whole new area of people just like that; and although I am sad about leaving the Wilton & Rancho Murieta families, it feels okay and I know I will be happy. I think we will stay friends with a few of the families here a long time after we move. And who knows, it's possible that one day we will move back to that area to build a house on a piece of land like we always dreamed of, but it's also possible that we'll be content in this house for the rest of our lives, too. It's definitely roomy enough to raise our family. I guess it depends on how the area develops and the neighborhood feels after many years; it depends on a lot of things. I am very excited to move our things in and start making the new house a beautiful home, although I realize it may take a long time to afford to decorate it with drapes on the windows, or things for the walls, etc. But it's refreshing to start new & I'm looking forward to running life in this new house; I actually think cleaning and laundry is going to be somewhat enjoyable! because the house that I'm cleaning is truly clean (brand new carpet, tile floors, shining bathrooms) and the laundry room is UPSTAIRS with the bedrooms which is so awesome, AND it's big & has a counter and sink. :) I think what I will miss the most is the peaceful, safe, beautiful Rancho Murieta setting. I love this neighborhood -- the mature oak trees and professional landscaping, the wide streets and hills (not typical flat suburbia), the way the houses are set just a little farther back from the street than other places, (although still not as far off the street for a really beautiful neighborhood, in my opinion! I love the neighborhoods that have larger lots, so the front lawns are big and there are plenty of tall trees...) Anyway, I'll also miss our backyard golf course view, very much. I stand out there whenever it's breezy and look at the trees blowing, I love the glow of the sunset or fluffy clouds above the houses on the other side of the fairway, and I love it when it's dark & those houses are softly lit inside, and trees are lit by the moon - it's seriously like a Thomas Kinkade painting sometimes. Each time we went in the spa at night together I felt almost overwhelemed with gratitude for the beautiful place & wonderful circumstances that I live in. So I will miss this environment, for sure, but I am looking forward to a backyard that will be usable, play-able space, unlike this yard. Althoug the view is gorgeous, there's no flexibility with what to do in the yard. No room to play catch with a baseball or football, no room to put up a play structure or clubhouse, or basketball hoop, or anything at all. This new backyard isn't huge, but it's big enough to do those type of things & will be a place the kids will want to play, FINALLY!

This is the model of the house we got.

June 2009
WOW. Time is flying by and yes I know I haven't updated this blog for 7-8 months now...I dont even know if anyone looks at it anymore! But I'll just do a quick update for the heck of it. School is out; the boys are actually at field day right now in the soggy grass and mud from all the rain last night - crazy lightning bolts, yikes. So they'll come home good and dirty... I believe there are some more storm clouds yet to pass over, a little more rain expected tonight... What a way to kick off summer break. But I know how fast it's going to heat up and then I'll be miserable! and wish I had a pool! but thankfully we've got the lake, and friends with pools. 3 more months of being pregnant left...
I am very excited that my sisters are having boys too. These 3 little cousins, Nate, Jake, and (?) yet to be decided are going to be sooo cute together.

Other things to look forward to this summer besides having baby Jacob in September are Joseph's baptism, both of the boy's birthdays/ the 4th of July, football season starting (AGHHH time consuming but great for Joseph), Joshie in karate, the Coldplay concert that Anth & I are going to with Anth's brother Scott and my sister Stephanie, and going to visit my family when I drive down for Stephanie's baby shower. And then just warm days of swimming, chillin on the little beach over at the lake, water fights, picnics, bbqs, and lots of morning walks. I need to walk everyday to help avoid cramps and pinched nerves. This pregnancy's gonna be the toughest on my body in that way. hmm. anyway, we ctually don't have a lot of big plans. Pretty simple summer break, but busy enough that it's gonna fly by & then school will start back up (Joseph in 3rd grade, Josh in 1st) and we will have a newborn taking over our lives for a while. The boys are so excited for their new baby brother, and Kayla's starting to get it a little more now, asking about baby Jacob and when he's gonna come out. Doesn't understand how it works, but knows there's been talk of a baby in my tummy and wants to see him! She always asks me "Where is he?" and when I say he's going to come out she says "Not yet? Later?" Yup. Later. Trust me Kayla, I want him out now too!


What's she thinkin... ?

Here's a nice one of Josh and Kayla, taken a few days ago:


And here's one of the Telford boys at Yosemite, last weekend:

October 2008
stephanie & reggie are now Mr. and Mrs. Arter :)
their wedding on Oct. 25th in Fresno was so wonderful, everything went smoothly & turned out beautifully. My only complaint is that it came at an inconvenient time (we had to miss our Halloween party! waaaah) but it was soo worth it, duh! ha ha... I wouldn't have traded being in the temple with Stephanie & my mom & sisters (and the men too) for Stephanie's endowment session for anything...like a halloween party. Here are some photos I took at their reception:

Joseph's "Tough" Football Player Face

...a little too tough, maybe? on first glance I couldn't decide whether he looked depressed, mad or tired. I just dont like how his head is tilted down and his eyes... look so different than normal? anyway, Anthony thinks it's cool, and obviously I always think my son is cute. It's cute that he was trying to be so serious.

Joseph's had a good season playing for the Jr. Eagles (jr. peewee); his team was undefeated until today's game, which they lost 26-18. Joseph plays noseguard, left tackle and right tackle, and his greatest moment was in game 4 against Golden Sierra when he singlehandedly tackled the runningback.

Joseph is #99, on the far left about to sack the quarterback in the 1st photo, and in the middle on the second photo.

Here's our growing-up too fast son with his supportive family after the game:

A Wii?!!!!! A Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, check out this little home video clip of our boys getting a wii this last week. Anthony recently earned points through a company at work that allowed us to get a bunch of wii games, so we decided to buy the console and have many fun nights together as a family. Well, our boys never even etertained the thought that they might get a wii, not for their whole childhood life because we always said no in such a final way, that it was too much money, that we already had an x-box...etc. Well the games came in the mail (we hid them in the closet) and we couldnt wait for christmas or a birthday so we just did for family night, which made it even more of a surprise because they weren't expecting any kind of gift. We made it fun by playing a scavenger hunt (I made 10 clues for them to find different things around the house, for example, "Find something green that is taller than mom" which was the plant in our front room, and "Find something that makes mommy happy, something that she loves and is good at" (the piano)... So for the last clue I said "Find something that makes you happy; that will complete your life" (which was supposed to be funny and cute because of what Joseph said a couple weeks ago when we saw a poster in the window at Blockbuster that read 'Win a Free Wii' -- when Anthony pointed to the poster Joseph said in an excited voice "we should enter the contest" and Anth said, "Nah, you don't really want one" and Joseph said, "What?! I totally want one!" and Anthony and I said together "No, when we asked you what you want for Christmas this year, you didn't say anything about a Wii" and then Joseph said very slowly, in this hilariously serious tone: "Dad. Mom. I only want a wii. It would complete my life."
We got such a kick out of that, so anyway, the video is right after they receive the last clue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfKGdklKcKo



August 20th, 2008
Jenellie is maaaaaaried - we can't believe it.
My wittle sister Nelly, 19 yrs. old, was sealed to Noah Moore in the Oakland temple on Friday, Aug. 15th & then we had their reception on Sat. evening in Fresno.
To see the pictures I took at the event, visit telfords.shutterfly.com & click on that album.







August 10th, 2008
Ok, this summer, well this whole year, has been the busiest year of our married lives so far. It will probably continue to get busier and crazier with each year, I realized. Our calendar has been full, something written on every day, I cant even believe it. I definitely did not have a lounge around (somebody else's) pool, soak up some sun kind of summer. We went swimming once at a friend's house - Pretty sad huh. Joseph has wanted to play with friends all summer, ride bikes, etc. but nobody's been home whenever we try! poor litte guy. And then we've had many family things and trips, a lot going on all around.
Here's a pic of the family at the Johnson reunion we had 2 weekends ago in Stanley, Idaho, in the Sawtooth National forest (beautiful views, very peaceful spot on the Salmon river).

















Joshie had such a fun time running around being a wild indian for 2 days. He literally had that pop gun in his hands the whole time, no shoes, dirty face, muddy from crawling through the bushes and in and out of the river, using his imagination with other 5 and 6 year old boys (he loves his uncle Adam; they are best buddies); he was in heaven.

Stephy is finally ENGAGED! yea!! I say "finally" only because she was soooo anxious for it (engagement to Reggie Arter, not just engagement) to happen. She's been drooling over Reggie for years and once he got back from his mission, she was on pins and needles, trying to be patient, LONGing for him to ask her. We were all thankful when he did - now the whining and wondering and questioning could stop! ha. just kidding. She wasnt that bad, I'm just teasing her in case she reads this.




They are so adorable together & I can't wait till their wedding. Stephanie Nicole Arter!!! Ah! I love you Steph.

Miss Kayla. So so cute. I love it.






July 16, 2008
ok, so I wish I had a post for the 4th of July, but I took video instead of photos all day with my family at our super fun swimming, bbq, volleyball, etc. day in my grandparents backyard in F.O. and our video camera doesn't have a port for the cable you need to connect to the computer (long story, but we are getting a new camcorder very soon & will be able to add video clips - yea!) So I enjoyed the time spent with my family on the 4th, and the next day, Saturday, we went to see Wall-e in the EDH theaters.

I really loved it; thought it was very cute. It had me in the first 5 seconds of it starting because the opening scene is Wall-e listening to "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from one of my favorite musicals, Hello Dolly. Throughout the movie he sings along to this song, watches them dance with their hats on his old tv set, and longingly gazes at the screen when "It Only Takes A Moment" comes on and Cornelius and Irene Maloy hold hands. I was cracking up & found it to be absolutely adorable, the whole thing.

My family took off back for home in Coarsegold right after the show, but then I went down to visit them the next weekend for Jenelle's bridal shower.
I had a good time, as always, just being with them for 2 days. We spent most of Friday shopping, for the shower, and other things; watched a movie together Friday night, then stayed up talking & giggling (Natalie, Stephanie and I) till 2:30 in the morning. I love how my sisters and mom and I get laughing at the stupidest things, we just get sooo goofy and cant seem to control the silliness, until our tummies hurt from laughing sometimes. Ah, family. The boys are in on it too now, in fact, they are a big part of what makes us laugh. Stephen's humor is pretty goofy, he's always sarcastic; he just cracks me up.


To see the few photos I got at Jenelle's shower, go to telfords.shutterfly.com, and click on jenelle's link.




June 2, 2008
Agh! I Don't have time for this! (right now) and yet I can't resist; everyone who knows me knows how big of a journal-writer, photographer, scrapbooker I am, so blogging is definitely me; it's just so time consuming! and having time to work on something like a blog because I am so organized in every other area of my life is definitely NOT me, so there's the conflict.

Real quick I will just say that Anthony & I and our little family are doing Great; kept busy week in and week out with school, sports, church callings and lots more... We are enjoying watching our kids grow older, and realizing, with not as much enjoyment, that we are growing older too. Anth can't believe he'll be 30 his next birthday.
It's been a wonderful 8 years of marriage (this September) and we're excited for the future.

The most recent event in our house was the loss of Joseph's first tooth (FINALLY) on Friday.
This kid has been looking forward to losing teeth for at least 2 years, maybe 3, actually talking about it, asking when it's going to happen, and pouting when his friends lost theirs and he didn't. So when the time finally came that he said his tooth was loose, we were very excited for him and it was cute to watch him light up with anticipation of having it fall out, and putting it under his pillow for toothfairy money. Which, he said he didn't believe in last week, then changed his mind once it fell out. He talked about the fairy, that she was only about 3 inches tall, and wondered if she could lift up his pillow and carry the bag with the tooth inside. We played along with the magic of the tooth fairy, and granted him a grand prize of six dollars and fifty cents (for being six and a half years old, although he's almost 7)...yes, six and a half dollars for ONE baby tooth; I know... I just knew how excited he's been for this for such a long time! so I wanted it to be fun. He requested between $1.99 and $10 on his note to the fairy, so he got within his desired range of prize money. ha ha! anyway, too cute; we love this adorable little - I mean, Big - guy so much.