Thursday, May 24, 2012

Our Garden and our View from our Porch

Valrie planted a garden for us this year.  While Valrie has the green thumb in the family we both do our part to maintain it.  We have a Bougainvillaea plant, a Valencia orange tree, and tomato, peas, lettuce, carrots, onions, oregano, spinach, rosemary, basil, and cilantro plants.  Here are picture of our garden and the view from our porch.  And yes, it is possible to maintain a little garden like the Prophets have told us too, even if you are in the city and in an apartment like us.

 Valrie's Bougainvillaea Plant she got for her birthday and a tomato plant


 Our garden.  Lettuce, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and a Valencia Orange tree are in this picture

 More of our garden.  In this picture are peas, lettuce, rosemary, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and Valrie's Bougainvillaea plant

A view from our porch.  It would be better if the buildings, parking lot, and cars were gone.  Still, sometimes when we lay on our couch and look out the window all we can see are the tops of the trees, the mountains in the background (not visible in the picture), and the blue sky

Skylar and Solo Doing What They Do Best: Sleeping and Relaxing

Here are some pictures of Skylar and Solo doing what they do best: sleeping and relaxing.

 Here is Skylar (left) and Solo (right) sleeping together

 Here is another shot of Skylar (left) and Solo (right) sleeping together

 Skylar sleeping in one of his favorite places, in Valrie's arms and on her lap

 One of Skylar's other favorite places to sleep is on top of Cody's brief case on top of the filing cabinet

Solo relaxing like a fat slug

Cody's Direct Lineage to Wiliam the Conqueror, King Charlemagne, and other Kings and Queens

This is a list of Cody's direct ancestral lineage to the Kings of England and France without any gaps or conflicting information.  All of these people can be backed up by Wikipedia, historical documents, and proven genealogical research.  This is only one of Cody's several lines that go back to these Kings in various ways. 

This particular line comes from Cody's Grandma Johnson, Lorna Rogers and stretches through Samuel Hollister Rogers (a member of the Mormon Battalion), Thomas "The Pilgrim" Rogers (Passenger on the Mayflower), "The Reverend" John Rogers (Who assisted William Tyndale in the translation of the first English Bible and was burned at the Stake as a Martyr); King John Plantagenet (who signed the Magna Charta); William the Conqueror (who conquered England), King Charlemagne, and on to some of the first Kings of France.  Here is the lineage:


I, Cody Johnson (1983-    ) am the son of
Craig Johnson (1959-    ) the son of
Lorna Rogers (1926-    ) the daughter of
Wilford Rogers (1888-1986) the son of
Smith Doolittle Rogers (1852-1909) the son of
Samuel Hollister Rogers (1819-1891) (Member of the Mormon Battalion) the son of
Chandler Rogers (1795-1846) the son of
Philemon Rogers (1775-1834) the son of
David Rogers (1719-1803) the son of
Josiah Rogers (1679-1757) the son of
Noah I Rogers (1646-1725) the son of
William Rogers (1612-1669) the son of
Thomas “The Pilgrim” Rogers (1587-1638) (Passenger on the Mayflower) the son of
Thomas Matthew Rogers (1565-1608) the son of
Bernard Rogers (1543-1609) the son of
(Reverend) John Rogers (1507-1555) (Was burned at the Stake as a Martyr) the son of
Thomas John Rogers (1485-1530) the son of
Catherine Courtenay (1438-1514) the daughter of
Sir Philip Courtenay (1404-1463) the son of
Sir John Courtenay (1364-1406) the son of
Philip Courtenay (1340-1406) the son of
Lady Margaret de Bohun (1311-1391) the daughter of
Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet (1282-1316) the daughter of
King Edward I “Longshanks” (King of England) (1239-1307) the son of
King Henry III Plantagenet (King of England) (1207-1272) the son of
King John “Lackland” (King of England) (1166-1216) (Signed the Magna Charta) the son of
King Henry II Plantagenet (King of England) (1133-1189) the son of
Queen Mathilda (Matilda) (Queen of England) (1102-1167) the daughter of
King Henry I (King of England) (1068-1135) the son of
William the Conqueror (King of England) (1024-1087) (Conquered England)

And from King Henry I

King Henry I (King of England) (1068-1135) the son of
Queen Matilda (Maud) de Flanders (Queen of England) (1031-1083) the daughter of
Adela of France (1009-1079) the daughter of
King Robert II “The Pious” (King of Franks) (972-1031) the son of
Adelaide of Aquitaine (945-1004) the daughter of
Duke William III (Duke of Aquitaine) (915-963) the son of
Duke Ebalus (Duke of Aquitaine) (870-935) the son of
Duke Ranulf II (Duke of Aquitaine) (850-890) the son of
Duke Ranulf I (Duke of Aquitaine) (820-866) the son of
Hildegard (or Rotrude/Matilda) (802-841) the daughter of
King Louis I “The Pious” (King of Franks) (778-840) the son of
King Charlemagne “Charles the Great” (King of Franks) (742-814) the son of
Queen Bertrada of Laon (Queen of the Franks) (720-783) the daughter of
Count Charibert of Laon (690-761) the son of
Princess Bertrada of Prum (Merovingian Princess) (670-721) the daughter of
King Theuderic III (King of Franks) (654-691) the son of
King Clovis II (King of Franks) (637-658) the son of
King Dagobert I (King of Franks) (603-639) the son of
King Chlothar II “The Young” (King of Franks) (584-629) the son of
King Chilperic I (King of Franks) (539-584) the son of
King Chlothar I “The Old” (King of Franks) (497-561) the son of
King Clovis I “The Great” (King of Franks) (466-511) the son of
King Childeric I (King of Franks) (440-482)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Dinner, Games, and Fellowship with Friends

We recently had a dinner, spiritual thought/lesson, and some games with our recent convert Jen Meyers and her husband, Devon Meyers at their home.  The Sister Missionaries joined us.  It was fun and here are some pictures from this event.

 In the kitchen.
L to R: Sister Heward, Valrie, Sister Dodge, and Sister Peavler

 Devon and Jen saying good bye to the Bishop who dropped by briefly.

 Valrie playing tug-of-war with the Meyer's dog, Athena.

 Valrie enjoying playing with Athena.

 Athena sure could hold on tight.

 After our lesson we settled down to play Bonanza, a card game.  Here are the participants with Cody taking the picture.
Clockwise from far left: Devon Meyers, Jen Meyers, Sister Dodge, Sister Heward, Sister Peavler, and Valrie.

 Devon Meyers taking pictures of everyone (except Cody)

 Devon realized that Cody took a picture of him taking pictures of everyone and decided he would get one of Cody, but not before Cody got one of him preparing to do so.

 Midway through the game.  No one knows this picture is being taken except Sister Dodge, who is glaring.  Apparently, she could not DODGE this photo.  Lol.  L to R: Devon Meyers, Jen Meyers, Sister Dodge, Sister Heward, Sister Peavler, and Valrie's arms.

 Cody during the game.

 The beautiful ladies of our group.  L to R: Sister Dodge, Jen Meyers, Sister Heward, Sister Peavler, and Valrie

 The girls again.  L to R: Sister Dodge, Jen Meyers, Sister Heward, Sister Peavler, and Valrie

Devon tried one more time to get Cody taking pictures, but again failed before Cody struck with his camera.  If this were a western gun fight Cody would still be standing.

NUTS! Picking up macadamia nuts with the Young Men

To raise money for camp for the Young Men, Cody joined them and their leaders to pick up macadamia nuts from 50 macadamia trees.  Overall, 600+ pounds of macadamia nuts were collected.

 The bald-headed members of the ward collect nuts.
L to R: Unknown, Unknown, Richard Ortiz, Mark Moody, Unknown and Unknown

 The Young Men and their leaders picking up nuts.

 Cody's bucket of macadamia nuts at the beginning of his collection.  In total he collected 3 buckets full.

 A not so glamourous picture of Cody collecting nuts.

 More pictures of collecting nuts.

 And another one.
 
And another one.