I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Since my Mom passed away I have decided to carry on her (and my Dad's) tradition of our annual Christmas Eve Pajama Party!  The little kids have always enjoyed it (and hopefully big kids too), that is the one time during the crazy year that we can count on having the entire family together!  It has been a great tradition to carry on and who knows... hopefully I can pass the torch on to my kids!  Papa plays Santa, the kids (and adults) sit on his lap and get a present from him.  Christmas morning is the most exciting time, we open our presents enjoy some hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls and reflect!  We always are so excited to go up north to spend time with the Johnston Family on Christmas day!  Family is for sure the most important thing in life, I am so grateful to have the Johnston Family, my Dad, five older brothers and their wives and of course my darling nieces and nephews!  Merry, Merry!

Turkey Bowl, 2009

Uncle Phil's traditional "Turkey Bowl" on Thanksgiving Day is always so much fun!  Grandpa Swan is the referee (which by the way is a scary job with some of the Swan Boys getting in his face) and of course we have the Cheerleaders on the sideline drinking hot chocolate, eating donuts, talking, laughing, oh, and watching the game!  The family always has a great time, so far, we have not had any major injuries (knock on wood)!  Happy Turkey Bowl!

Little League Football, Nothin’ better!

Little League Football! Is there anything better than cold mornings, being bundled up and the smell of hot chocolate, coffee and hot dogs? It is so much fun to watch the boys grow and progress and learn to love the game! I must say that our family goes through a little mourning stage when the season ends.
Who are we? Alta!!! How do we feel? Fired up!!! Go Hawks!!!

Had a Bad Day...

I think you can consider yourself pretty blessed if you have children that think of you when you are having a difficult time.  Megan sent me flowers when I was having a bad day at work.  It made things seem not quite so hard to bear and helped put things in perspective!  I love you Megs!

Lovin' Park City

We love our family tradition of going up to Park City for a week every year! We spend July 4th in P.C. enjoying the mountains, parade, park silly days, pool, restaurants, hiking, alpine slide and so much more! Our family has said many times that going to Park City for the week is one of our favorite vacations!

Chief Master Sergeant Ceremony

Hill Air Force Base Biography – Dale “Russ” Johnston

Chief Master Sergeant Dale “Russ” Johnston is the Chief Enlisted Manager of the 67th Aerial Port Squadron, Hill Air Force Base, Utah. He provides leadership and guidance for over 160 personnel and serves as a principal advisor to the Squadron commander.
Chief Johnston enlisted in the Air Force Reserves in March 1988 after graduating from Layton High School in 1986. After basic training he completed the Air Transportation Specialist Course at Sheppard AFB, TX and was subsequently assigned Hill AFB. During his career, Chief Johnston was voluntarily activated in support of Desert Storm/Desert Shield with tours of duty at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, and George AFB, California. In 2004 he was activated in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom for 365 days, tours of duty included a deployment to Tallil AB, Iraq, with follow on tours to Charleston AFB, SC, and Rhein Main AB, Germany. He was activated again in 2007, deploying to Bagram AB, Afghanistan, in direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

This is a night that we will always remember, watching our Husband, Father, Son, Grandson, Airman and Friend accomplish such a monumental goal. Less than 1% of Military members make it to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, so yes, we are proud!