Pictures of Kerry

Mom know's a snow job when she sees one.

Best friend Emily and Kerry at graduation and horseback riding when they were about 15. Kerry running cross country in high school.

Sister Amy's wedding

First neice, Madeline and Auntie Kerry

A Kerry montage: Budding Vanna White; showing off new duds in Beaverton Oregon house;

with playhouse that grandma Stewart sent to Ames, Iowa; Kerry and Kevin in Iowa; Soccer Pic; at a family reunion in California at Uncle Bill's house.

Kerry's first day home from the hospital.

Coming up on the 24th of July....

Yes, it's true. My baby...my youngest child...my heart...is turning 30! I'm not sure how this has happened. I did all the things I could think of to keep her a kid, but she's moved on anyway. Kerry Elizabeth Johnson, the last born of my children (but not the last to be profiled...Amy will be last in November because of where her birthday lands in the year.) will be 30 years old. It's a milestone of sorts I suppose, for both of us.

I've been dreading the day I would have to profile my daughters. Certainly NOT because they are any less in my mind, but because in a way, they are me. Okay, so maybe I'm getting a little philosophical here, but my daughters are my same sex. We have a bond that is impossible with the boys (the whole Mars/Venus thing I guess.) When they hurt, I hurt...when they are happy, I am happy, etc.,etc., etc. Okay, then....moving on.

Kerry was born in Ames, Iowa on July 24th, 1980. Her brother Kevin was only 18 months older, so I had two little babies. Amy was delighted to have the ultimate 'doll' to play with and if you ask her, SHE raised the two little ones. Steve was 10 and really couldn't understand what all the fuss was about...sure, another kid...so what...and a girl to boot! Big deal...and he was off becoming a pre-teen and running around the neighborhood with his best buddy. Me, I was just tired.

Kerry was different from Kevin at the git-go. While he was shy and easy going, she was inquisitive and a showman from the very beginning. When I asked Steve and Beth who are staying with me right now their impressions of Kerry, Steve said 'infectious laugh and ready to be with you in your idle time and have fun'. Beth's first impression of Kerry was at thirteen and her thought was 'loud'. I think the reason she said that was because when Kerry comes into a room, EVERYONE is aware of it. She is a force of nature. She is one of those lucky people that other people flock too. You can't walk through a mall with Kerry without strangers making comments to her, or randomly asking her advice. It just happens. I'm not sure why. It may be her head of golden-red hair that sets her apart, and that would explain why people notice her, but it goes deeper...it goes to her heart. She has a good and loving heart. Maybe that's it.

We moved to Beaverton, Oregon when Kerry was four. She loved to play with the neighborhood kids and spent most days at the park across the street. When she was 10 we moved to Salem, Oregon. By the time she got to middle-school (which was conveniently around the corner) she had met Emily Friess and they became best friends. The duo was joined by Jeanne Burke and became a trio. By high school they were inseparable.

The girls went everywhere together and had some great adventures. There was one time when I took the three of them to Canada for a road trip. I'm still not sure how they talked me into it, but we had a great time. At one point Kerry thought she saw a movie star on the streets of Vancouver that they were all in love with at the time so they piled out at a stoplight. I had to keep on driving. (this was before everyone had cell phones) so I circled several blocks for a long while hoping to find them again. I did, and all was well with the exception of the fact that it wasn't the movie star they thought it was. We went to the site of the Olympics and wandered around and saw some interesting sites. We also found some outlet malls with bargains we still talk about today. It was a good time.

After high-school they parted ways with Jeanne because they all had different goals by then. Kerry wasn't sure what she wanted to do, so she lived with her cousin Tammy for a year and acted as nanny for her two daughters, Kourtney and Kaela. Kerry went to college for a while after that and at the age of 21 decided to serve a mission. She spent 18 months in Chile and enjoyed that time very much. She came home and went back to school (changing her major many times) and then had the opportunity to go to Mexico with school on a work/study program. She did well at that and enjoyed the time and the opportunity to use her language skills. She went back to college, but came home after awhile because she couldn't seem to find exactly what she wanted to do with her life. I'm still trying to figure that out for myself and my life, so I don't worry about her a whole lot. Some of us are late bloomers and some of us will never bloom (talking about myself here) but it is what it is.

She and her sister started a business where they do personal shopping and style education for people. They found they were a great team, but they couldn't make enough money to live on, so the business has taken a back burner. She is now working a 'real' job where she has benefits and everything. She currently lives with her sister and her family, but is looking forward to the time she can purchase her own home.

As with all my profiles, this one barely scratches the surface of the incredible woman Kerry is. She is fun, spontaneous, soft-hearted, boisterous, loving, caring, awesome...and I could go on and on. I'm lucky to be her mom.

I'll have to edit this and post some pictures when I have access to them.

Life on the 45th Parallel

Ceddie's family has returned and he seems not to be holding any grudges. When they first came in the door he was upstairs, and I called him down....he heard their voices and was completely overwhelmed. He stopped halfway down the stairs and just started sobbing! I looked and asked him what was wrong and he said "Well, I just missed those guys!". He was very happy to have everyone home again.

Steve and Beth and the kids will be here another week or so. I'm just plugging along taking each day as it comes. I'll have Ben and Ryann for 3 weeks in August. When school starts in Septemb er I'll have to completely regroup because I'll be on my own again. I'm hoping to get swim lessons set up for Ben and Ryann for the last two weeks of August. It would be really good for them. They can both get around a pool, but neither really swims, more of a dog paddle.

That's it for now. Not a lot to report. Today was the laziest Sunday I've spent in a long time. Tomorrow I will make a bigger effort to move more. :)

Ceddie the Bully

Today Ceddie and I spent a good part of the day doing yard work...I made him stand and water the lawn where he is wearing a path, while I mowed. A little later in the afternoon we went back to the lake so he could work on his paddling in the life jacket.

He had a squirt gun that I bought for him and I cautioned him against shooting towards anyone since the water is cold and it may make for a cranky kid if someone were to get a watery surprise. I sat on the sand about ten feet from the waters edge as he began his assault on the water. I noticed three large kids (O.K...FAT kids) in the water a good distance away in tubes playing, but I didn't think much of that. After all they were a lot older than Ceddie. I had a book and read a little while often looking up to check on him. Suddenly I heard a mom screaming at the top of her voice. She was yelling at someone in the water about throwing a rock. Suddenly I realized that this screaming banshee was yelling at Ceddie! He was standing in water shivering as she yelled at him. I was stunned into silence for a moment while I processed the scene. She's standing there screaming so that everyone in the water and on the small beach can hear and this poor little boy is just as stunned as I am. She continued to yell and asked who he was there with and he said 'Grandma' and pointed to me. She turned on me and began to yell at me. Apparently what happened (as I reconstructed the problem) Ceddie had stepped on a rock and simply picked it up and chucked it a little further out in the water. Admittedly it was towards her kids, but the chances of hitting them and doing any damage was pretty small. She yelled at me that if the rock had hit one of her kids they might have gone down and drowned! (They could have stood up in the water...it wasn't deep)It was pretty clear to me that she was totally irrational and in a case like that, it has been my experience that the best course of action is to agree with the person. It will usually diffuse the situation.

I knew I had two ways to play my response. I could be the 'adult' and calmly accept her explanation at face value, and assure her it wouldn't happen again....or I could stand up and kick her butt in front of her fat kids, push her in the water and try to explain to the police who would surely be called what had happened. My natural instinct was to kick her butt, but I wanted to be a good example to Ceddie, so I spoke to her in a calm voice and told her it wouldn't happen again. Then I spoke to Ceddie, in an equally calm voice and asked about it. He told me the truth and I explained that there was no place for rock tossing when other people were around, regardless of the fact that hitting one of them was unlikely. Then I told him to go back and play and have a good time. The woman left and went back to her chair. The group left a few minutes later because the children seemed to be very embarrassed about the whole thing. I wonder why.

I went back to reading my book, trying to retain my dignity. A woman sitting nearby said quietly to me "I'm sorry that happened". I was a little surprised at that and said "Well, she surely got her point across, didn't she" and kind of laughed. She said "But she didn't have to alert the entire lake of it! How stupid she was.I have to say....you handled that with grace. I was impressed." I thanked her for her nice words and went back to my book, knowing I had done the right thing.

Ceddie continued to play and have a great time. Every once in a while he would call to me and ask if he was doing great in his paddling. I assured him each time that he was doing extra great and I was proud of him. The screaming banshee-woman was soon forgotten. After a little while he came out of the water and sat by me while I tried to warm him up. He put his head on my lap and said "Gramma...I love you." I got my reward for the day.

Deep Thoughts...by Ceddie Johnson

• Sometimes clowns wear birthday hats. I don't hate clowns.



• If you put medicine on a bullet before you get shot....will you still die?



• If you mix lemonade and 7-up you get 7-ade.

Ceddie and I went to see another movie today. We saw Despicable Me. He liked it a lot, but I thought it was only so-so. A little later I took him to a place to get his favorite bean and cheese burrito. It was cold and breezy today so we didn't get to swim again, but possibly tomorrow.

The Mind of a Six-Year-Old Boy

I'm watching my grandson Cedric for a few days while his parents get away. His siblings have been farmed out to different relatives so its just him and me. It's only been a day and a half so far, but we are having a great time. We went to see Toy Story 3 yesterday afternoon. He spent most of the rest of the evening running a course in the front yard that he has established and being Ironman. The yard is sloped so if he takes off at a dead run from the high point he can get a good deal of speed built up to get him up another slope and onto the flat part of the yard. He will run this pattern for hours. He comes inside every once in a while to get a snack or a drink, but then he's off again...running....running...

He also has an ongoing commentary as he's doing this, complete with sound effects and threats to the evil bad guys. I can't exactly make out the details of his narration, but it must be compelling because he goes on and on. The sound effects are pretty awesome also. They range from gunshots to lazer beams and light sabres. He also supplies the screams of agony and cries for revenge from the bad guys. He's an all-purpose fantasy guy.

He's a great little kid. I'm glad I'm getting a chance to know him one on one. We went to the lake today. I put him in a life jacket and let him have at it. The area we were in was contained, but the water did get over his head in one spot and I didn't want to have to go in after him. He was having a wonderful time and kept saying 'this is GREAT!'...meaning the life jacket and his new ability to float. Of course I watched him every moment and made sure he was safe, but he was in his element. I think he's enjoying our time together also because he told me tonight he sure loves me. Of course...that comes on the heels of his comment about my being a really old lady.

Oh, and a post-script on the last post. The fellow who fell was released from the hospital after several hours and seems to be doing just fine. I'm glad for that.

I also suspect after a week with Ceddie I'll have several more stories to share. Stay tuned....