So it has been a long time

I am not very good at this. I admit, I can't seem to find enough time, or I am just plain lazy. That is for you to decide. Since the last blog, there has been some things that have occurred in the Johnsen Family, but that won't be discussed here. If you want current events see my Facebook page. I instead would like to reflect on musings in my house, such as, when your 5 year old grand-daughter says, "Are you freakin' kidding me, why are you telling me I'm wrong?" OK, soak that in for a moment. Why was she wrong? What was she wrong about? It was a restless night in my house last night. I found myself on the couch, because I have had a cold and allergies that are causing me (beside my weight) to snore loud enough to penetrate my wife's ear defenses. Deep chamber sound vibrations slither through the micro-porous body of the earplugs and keep my wife awake. Kaylynn gets mad, and I removed myself from bed, so she can get more sleep. I did go away mad, but understand her need to more rest, plus the couch isn't that bad, but I digress. My oldest, grand-daughter came up from her basement bedroom around 0830 wanting me to get something that I knew nothing about or where it was. Since she was not satisfied with my inaction, she went downstairs to see if Mom will do what she wants. My oldest, Beth, has been living in my basement rooms for almost three years now, and I know she is itching for her own house again. Actually we are looking at a house a few blocks away from us and extended family that we have to figure out the financing, plus the house needs work. So having her daughter wake her up early, has become a routine thing. This particular morning unbeknownst to me, Emily was with Beth from 0630 until I saw Emily at 0830. Beth was not happy, because Emily was wanting Mom's attention and breakfast at O-dark-thirty by touching Beth's face and saying "but I love you" whenever Beth asked Emily to stop touching her face. The incensed Beth stomped upstairs without saying, "Good Morning" and got something of Emily. She had an exchange with Emily, and took a phone call and went out front of the house. Emily standing by the door was dumbfounded, and kept saying, "Sorry" This word, so often used around our house by all parties, is such a misused word. It has so many different connotations by the inflection and way it is used. In this particular moment, it was used as the don't-be-mad-at-me word. Beth wasn't having it, and Emily was confused. I told Emily, that the reason Mommy is mad is because she does not no what the meaning of 'No" is. When someone says "no" it means no. Emily yelled at me the phrase that started this blog, and did not talk to me for a few minutes.

Oh the days that go by, and the time that hunts you like a tiger, waiting in the dark to spring on you and chase you till the end. I remember a very strong willed child of mine who did not want to be at Church and got into a tear clothes, pull hair, scream and yell-fest with Kaylynn. Beth was five. Love the age. So what do you do when your grand-daughter follows the footsteps of the mother. Nothing, just laugh, because I am grandpa.

Merry Christmas to one and ALL!!

Dear Friends and Family,

It was not a crazy year. How crazy is that? There were moments of panic, but just moments.

Chris is still the site manager for Lockheed’s Distribution Center for Global Supply Chain Services out in Freeport Center. (I know, what?) With Chris home, Beth and the girls living with us and Doug finishing his mission this Dec. (Yes, right now!) we decided to sell the house and buy a bigger home. So, with contractors running all over the places, bids and bills, receipts and chaos we fixed up the house and put it on the market. As you can tell by the return address we are still here. (I do have a great new granite countertop.) We pulled the house off the market right before school started. I didn’t think I could juggle all the different schedules and keep the house “show” ready. Now we are getting Matt’s room ready for a second body. Matt is excited to be Doug’s next companion. Tori is looking forward to Doug’s return the day before her birthday. She considers him the best present ever. Beth is excited to have Doug attending Weber State University with her. And I’m sure that Emily and Sarah will think that Doug is the best Uncle Doug in the world when they meet him again. We didn’t go anywhere for vacation this year (well... we did go swimming at Pineview Reservoir and enjoyed Kaysville’s Fourth of July Parade & Water Fight) but we did pour a patio. Although everyone thought I was crazy when I had Matt pull up those scraggly, old rosebushes it is, now, acknowledged as the best feature in the neighborhood. We plan to have fire-pit fires and roast marshmallows for s’mores. We plan to visit with neighbors, hang out and draw with chalk all year long. During Trick-or-Treating we were the favorite stop (okay, second favorite after the haunted yard across the street, seriously, he had a moving skeleton crawling across his yard) for warming up cold hands. Beth is back in school at Weber State University. She received a 4.0 last semester and was inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society. She’s excited to apply for her major, Secondary Education: English Teaching. Beth’s divorce is final, however the stress is not. Being a single mom really is as hard as it looks on TV. She is the Sunday School Secretary in our ward. (She hopes being the bell-ringer doesn’t lead to bad posture.) Beth also attends the singles ward every other weekend. Beth just sang in the select chorus for the Tri-Stake Messiah and is also singing with Lex de Azevedo. She will be performing his Gloria. Emily (3) is doing great in her early intervention pre-school. She has made tremendous progress. Sarah (2) really, really wants to go too. Sarah is growing so fast she might pass Emily soon. And most of the time they love each other. In May Matt graduated from 4 years in the LDS seminary program. He is now working at the STAR Program on his High School Diploma. He also goes out in the community and learns job and life skills. Matt has mastered the city bus system and recently discovered that the TRAX system causes panic attacks. Matt won several awards at various local film festivals. He is still filming (and saving to buy a new video camera) and is applying for an Apprentice Program at Spyhop, a SLC Film School. Matt is enjoying the singles ward and institute. He even sang with the family at the funeral of his Great-Aunt, Kathleen Bonny. It is amazing what Katy McMillan, his girlfriend, can get him to do. Tori is driving people crazy, nuts and to the asylum. And staying busy behind the wheel: running errands, picking up and dropping off and sometimes saving the day.Tori is super busy this year, she loaded her schedule with AP and Honors classes and even a class from Weber State University. Tori is still playing the bass in the school orchestra and for our Tri-Stake performance of the Messiah. She is working hard on the Layton HS Musical of Wedding Singer. She enjoyed working this summer at Lagoon, our local amusement park, when she wasn’t stuck upside down in the stuffed animal bin and calling for help on her cell phone. Tori was just named MVP of the Multi-Family Turkey Bowl. Congratulations! After going where he was asked to go and saying what he was asked to say and being what he was asked to be Elder Douglas Johnsen is returning home with honor. After spending most of his mission rescuing trouble missionaries and saving mission districts on the verge of being closed, Elder Johnsen was relieved to be released from being a Zone Leader and elated to end his mission preaching the Good Word of God and crying Repentance unto every people. But, in his last transfer he was asked, again, to don the cape and tights and save yet another mission. In his latest email things had really turned around. One more success to add to his resume before he returns to the heart of his family. Elder Johnsen will be returning Dec. 17th. He will be speaking Dec. 20th. at 1:00 PM at 380 S. Fairfield Road, Layton, Utah. We will have an open house at 4:30 PM

Post-Father's Day stuff

So I decided I am going to write in the blog once every other week. I think If I can do that, then people will stop harassing me...sigh. It has been a very eventful week, and to cap it all off I had a good Father's Day. I got some thing for my fire pit, and I went shooting with my youngest. I will post pictures. I do want to rant for a second. I know that isn't in my nature, but please indulge me this time. A historical thing is happening in the country of Iran. Iran has been an enemy of the US since 1979. When Islamic, Marxist and communist revolutionaries, stormed the US Embassy and seized it, as well as took US hostages, it started a chain of events that has come to a head this weekend. Since that fateful day those many decades ago, the country has been ruled by the religious authoritarian mullahs and their iron fist hold on the country, which used to be pro-western culture and European ideals. Since then the country has been a thorn in the US side. They sponsor terrorism around the world, and kill US troops in Iraq by proxy through training and distributing weapons to terrorists and criminal in that country. The face of Iran has been this slimy suave character, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has taunted and pointed fingers at us, and been taken into the bossum of every US hating liberal in our country. Well Iran had an election between this man and his opposition. Ahmadinejad won the election, but the opposition declared voting fraud, and the country tumbled into chaos. There are riots in the streets and the people rising up to declare freedom from the oppression. They are standing for something and wanting to be democratic and free. The French President, Sarkozy, has said he stands behind them, and the German Chancellor, Merkel, says she sides with the freedom loving people, but our President Obama, wants to stay out of it. He is willing to deal with whoever winds up the President of Iran (a hollow job anyway, the real power is with the Ayatollahs) The message we are sending is so loud and clear to the middle east and the world. We will lay down with anyone as long as they play nice. North Korea, a couple of weeks ago, after a warning from the UN did another nuclear test and successful accomplished it. The also have been testing ICBM capabilities and have a missile ready to launch over 4000 miles. The UN issued and stronger resolution to have a ship search and seizure of North Korean vessels carrying weapons out of the country. The day it started, the NK merchant ship left for Myanmar, loaded with suspected weapons. Now it has been confirmed and our destroyer, USS John S. McCain watches from afar as the NK thumb their noses at us, and know we will not do anything because we fear the North Koreans. My country has become a paper tiger, and does not care for what is good and right in the world anymore. We used to believe in truth, justice and the American way. Now it is how much can we get away with things. God help us all.

I know this has not been cheery, but I don't feel cheery, I feel sad. It is hard serving for 20 years, to watch as your country continue to lose status and power, and not by anyone else, but by our own people. It is what happens when we do not pay attention to history.

Ok, Ok, I have heard you, now you will hear me.

So, I have been pretty neglectful of this blog. I am sorry.

Well, since Christmas, we have been involved in re-modeling a 5th bedroom so that our grand-daughters can have a room of their own. It is a very nice room, and there are pictures from beginning to our current state. So check them out. Thanks to Grandpra Brown, and Beth, Tori, Kaylynn, and Grandma Brown for their support and help in the building of this room. Eventually we are going to add a bathroom, and so our house will finish out as a 5 bedroom 3.5 bathroom home. I really don't know what I am going to do when Doug comes home from his mission. I guess it really depends on the economy and what spacing we have in the house. Kaylynn and I have some thoughts about moving, but sometimes we think it would be better to just stay put.



The other big news in my life is I had my tonsils removed and biopsied. Talk about rough. The first day I woke up thinking, "What have I done.." Kaylynn stayed the night with me and I was very grateful for that. She fed me soup and jello. She has been very attentive at nursing me back to health. I was able to go on medical leave at work and that really helped me a lot. My throat still feels weird, but is getting better. I had a blessing by Grandpa Brown, and in the blessing he said that I would heal faster than others would normally, and that is what happend. The doctor even said that very same thing. I am grateful to the Lord for helping me recover.



I am here in Pennsylvania for training and leadership help. So now the blog is current. I will try to be better.

The Beginning of a New Year

Happy New Year!! 2008 is gone and now we have 2009. We'll see how this one stacks up since the last one was very difficult for me. In review of the year. I finished out my time in Oman. I worked really hard to make a difference and to withstand the stupidity that I had to endure everyday from the Omani Air Force. No matter how hard I tried to convince them of the correct way to maintain their airplanes, (after all we did design and build them in addition to flying them safely for 40 years) they wanted to do things their way without actually doing any work, they were wasting money even having us there. So in the end when the new bidding came out my company lost and we wound up leaving. DynCorp International won, and came in without much excitement or fanfare. I had a few of my people cross over to their company. I won't miss the fear of camel spiders, the long drives to Salalah, the fine talcum powder dust, or the British refugees that seem to have their own agenda. Oman could be a very cool place and has some of the most beautiful beaches and water I have ever seen. Just wish the people would try to pull themselves into the 21st century.

Kaylynn came over to visit, as I had mentioned in my earlier blogs. I have posted new pictures of our time in Jerusalem, visiting the Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, and seeing the Garden tomb, which I am convinced is the burial place of Jesus Christ. So check out the pictures below. I have a whole paper on why I believe this is the place. After Israel, Kaylynn and I went to Egypt, and I caught a stomach bug and gave it to Kaylynn, so we were both sick there, but I did get to see some very cool things like the Pyramids of Giza, and the Temples of Luxor & Karnak. We went home on a wing and a prayer I miscalculated our return time and missed our flight out of Jordan, so I had to beg onto a First Class flight costing me a lot of money. We did get back to Oman and Kaylynn left and I followed two weeks later. The whole experience was that, an experience. I learned about a new culture and what the other side thinks. Very insightful.

I came home without a job. (The contracts I might have run have been postponed.) I did find a position in Utah, which was a blessing, because it was not something that usually comes up. The position was the same as in Oman except more people, and not on the operations side, but more the logistics side of things. I really feel like a fish out of water. I am still trying to get used to it as it is very challenging. The technical aspect is nothing new for these guys who have been doing it longer than me. I don't know a lot about supply, but I am learning. I am working on being more interactive, and trying to gain all the knowledge I can about what we do. I love working for Lockheed Martin.

So here we are in our house in Layton. Kaylynn and I have callings in our ward, and we are talking about renovating our home because of Beth and the girls, and Doug coming home this year from his mission. With them and Matt and Tori, our house is going to be FULL!! So we need a bigger home, and I am not sure how that will work out for us. I am enjoying my time off, and Monday, I am back to work and rolling up my sleeves and ready to learn.