. . . . . Delaney & Mitchell

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-28T04:36:00.000-04:00

Well, we are ready for you!

Hang on tight it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Day 5 Part 2

2011-07-29T10:39:00.000-04:00

Day 5 (Part 2) Back to the Magic Kingdom for dinner. Our last Disney Dinner.

Off to Liberty Tree to have a family styled Thanksgiving Dinner.

Holy food! Turkey, ham, pork,

mashed potatoes, homemade mac and cheese,

green beans and THE BEST stuffing!

All you can eat!

Daddy was in his glory!

Mere & her kids

Daddy and his angels!

Wonder what these two are up to?

Lemons anyone?

CANDY!!!!!

Off to find some rides!

Finally a ride Mere wants to go on.....

Waiting in line for It's A Small World

Hmmm.... what will we see in here?

Chugging along.

Very difficult to take pics in The Small World, very dark photo opts!

See Ya!

Our name plate for the buggy (stroller).

While you are in Disney you CAN NOT miss this show.

Mickey's PhilharMagic show.

This is a 3D show where Donald loses Mickey's magic hat

and brings you on a GREAT 3D journey to find Mickey's hat!

Are we going to see these guys in there too,

YUP!

We are ready,

let the show begin!

It was awesome! I think everyone's fave of the day!

We had gotten fast passes to Peter Pans Flight once we got there

so now it was our turn to ride or should I say FLY!

I have to tell ya the truth, I am not sure why this ride ALWAYS has such a long wait line because it really isn't that great! You fly around in a ship and everything is under you! Kinda weird and whatever.

When in Disney you have to ride the HUGE Carousel.

Twinks in Disney is the best picture ever!!!

Ry Guy in front of the castle!

Hi Ry!

The best moment ever.......

Another stop that is a MUST DO while in Disney

is at the ICE CREAM PALOR on Main Street!

YUMMY!

Doesn't get any better than this!

Heaven!

Yummy, yummy in our tummies!

Even Daddy had to have some!

Oh Mickey, all the memories we have already!

Heading home from another great day!

Peace out because I am going to bed

but, hey, at least she walked home and wasn't carried home!

Good job Lane!

Once the kids were alseep (and after Daddy and Uncle Mike

went for a swim) Mommy, Auntie and Uncle Kev

went to have a glass of wine at the outside lounge.

Our last night! :(

Had to be VERY quiet,

we didn't want to wake Mere up!

GOOD NIGHT DISNEY!

Disney Day 5 Pool & Magic Kingdom

2011-07-26T12:36:00.000-04:00

Day 5...

The BEST morning yet (weather wise that is)!

We had already decided to sleep in that morning
(Yay right with 2 5yr olds in Disney)
and have breakfast, then head to the pool and RELAX for a bit.

(Erin was feeling much better than last night, thank goodness!)

If you haven't been to Disney, you need a vacation

from this vacation! So now it's POOL TIME!!!!

And off they went......

Ry Guy stayed by the side, for now!

I think he was in the side drain, gosh he is so cute!

This resort had the BEST pool.

Each 'Island' had their own little pool but this was the Main Pool.

The main pool with two different slides and two hot tubs.

The was the little kiddie wading pool.

Three littles fishies!

Miss Delaney was DETERMINED to learn to swim and she DID!

She was awesome, we were shocked and so proud!

Mitchell and Erin liked to keep their jackets on but did awesome too! Their jackets were a bit big for them but they still had a great time!

We were so happy for some good pool weather and

so were the kids!

The girls in line to go down the slide!

Mitchell was the champion slide goer!

We couldn't get him off this if we tried.

We couldn't get a good shot of D coming down at all,

but boy did you hear her coming down, screaming the whole way!

Oh Mere, I hope you are having as much fun as I am!

After the pool we went back to our rooms to shower and eat

something so we could go back to the Magic Kingdom

to catch the parade of all of our favorite characters!

Again, at the bus stop waiting to jump on a shuttle to go back

the happiest place on earth with our shiny, sun-screened faces!

Sitting on the shuttle so nicely!

And of course it started to rain! Didn't we have such a

great morning and SUN at the pool? Why? Why?

We were in our ponchos waiting the parade to start but because

of the weather it was postponed a bit. :(

Do we dare to take off those stupid ponchos?

Oh, what a lovely sight!

This never gets old!!!!!

HERE COMES THE PARADE!!!!!!!

Can you see Mickey?

It's coming, It's coming, It's coming!!!!!!!!

Uncle Mike can not contain his excitement and

Ry not sure what he is suppose to be excited about!

This is the start!!!

We had great seats on Main Street, right at the edge of the sidewalk!!!!

Look how close we were!!!

Hi Pluto!

Chip or Dale saying hi!

Those two look some much alike, I can never tell them apart!

The Mr & Mrs of the parade!

Delaney was thrilled to see everyone!

Hi guys!!!!

Pinnoccio's father....
(not going to even try to spell his name)

Aladdin pointing Mitchell

and asking him to show his muscles!

It was funny and Mitchell, of course, was thrilled to

be singled out!

Oh Cinderella, you are so pretty!

Always smiling that girl!

Our princess loves to see her Princess Friends,

it never gets old for her!

How was the Parade you guys?

2 thumbs up for sure!

Ryan waving at the Princesses. And Erin loved it too!

More to come of Day5....

Just too many pictures~~~~

Stay tuned!

Disney Day 4 Animal Kingdom

2011-07-15T09:56:00.000-04:00

Day 4....

And we are still holding hands and getting along!

Off to Animal Kingdom to have some breakfast nice and early!

BFFs

They really got along really well!

Off to the Tuskar House to have breakfast with the MAIN Disney Gang!!!!!!

The whole family with Donald Duck!

The Twins waiting to see who they were going to meet next.
Daddy was in his glory, again, because this was an all you can eat
buffet breakfast!

The Twins with Miss Daisy...

isn't she purdy!!!!

The whole crew (minus Ry) with Daisy!

The moment we have been all waiting for...

The Main Mouse...

MICKEY MOUSE!!!!

And of course Mommy's favorite dog...

Goofy!

The whole gang with the Mouse!

Oh Mickey, we have been so patient waiting for you!
(again with the hands)... oy!

Breakfast was over and the park was just opening, so we

went straight the the safari ride.

Hope the animals are awake!!!!!

We had pretty darn good seats and there was hardly a wait,

15 minutes, now that is good!!!!!
Away we go.......

Hungry, hungry hippos.

These boys were MASSIVE!

Pink Flamingoes

The giraffe, yes it was that close, no zoom!

What made this safari ride even better was that our tour guide

sounded (and kinda looked like) my cousin

Christopher! Told silly jokes and tried to crack everyone up which is so much

like Chris! You were there in spirit Cuz!

Next, to the CRAZIEST ride I think in all 4 Disney Parks......

Mount Everest!

Yes, this was the mountain we were about to embark on,

are we crazy? And all 5 year olds were ready to go!!!

The roller coaster comes out AND down this mountain!

The twins did great on this ride! Not only was there a big drop down the mountain, at one point the ride stops and WENT BACKWARDS!!!!
Delaney laughed/screamed the whole way down,
Mitchell was a bit stunned, and Erin did not like it saying
she did not want to go back on. Me either Erin, me either!

Now to get cooled from this Florida heat!

No better way to do that at Animal Kingdom than

going down the Kali Rapids.

As the sign says, you will get wet or you can get SOAKED!!!!!

Hmmmmm, I wonder who will be the soaker?

Ready to cool off!

Here we go.....
Daddy & Mitchell were a pair,
Uncle Mike & Mommy sat together, and
Uncle Kev took Laney with him.

and the last pair were Auntie & Erin.

One of the above pictures is of the duo that got the soaking!

Who do you think is was?

Uncle Kev & Laney or Auntie & Erin??????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soakers were DEFINITELY Auntie & Erin.

Mommy & Uncle Mike did not get a drop on them.

Auntie & Erin were so soaked it was almost sad!!!
But oh soooooo funny to the rest of us!
Especially Uncle Mike & Mommy! Who were sooooo DRY!!!! :)
A VERY wet Erin Elizabeth!!!!!

The little dude fell asleep while we were sliding down the rapids.

So sweet!

Another bad looking sky above us but we keep on

truckin' along to Dino Land.

Dino Land is small area with a few rides and loads of

carnival-like games to play.

Dino-Rama ride....

Wheeeeeeee........

Lane waiting on line.....

We come all this way to Disney World to play.....

Whack-A-Mole???? Really?!?!?

These beauties walked around the whole park, Delaney was in

her glory with all these birds around.

Finally, to Camp Minnie & Mickey to see the BEST

SHOW in all the Disney Parks....

The Lion King!

Simba

Peace Out Animal Kingdom,

we are outta here!

This was the sight we arrived 'home' to in our window....

our new friends, Sorcer Mickey & Rapunzel greeting us back!

It was so hot we needed to cool off at the pool....

and a much needed drink for the Big Kids!

CHEERS!!!!!!

(Billy was in the pool with the 5 year olds)

Ohhh, how refreshing!!!!

Delaney was determined to swim....

and she did learn to swim under water,

BY HERSELF!!!!!!

Go Delaney!!!! We were so proud!

Not so shocking, Mitchell was more keen to

hang in the hot tub!

After some time in the pool, we all headed back to our rooms. A well needed rest and shower were in order for all. We all met back down at the resort's food court to get something quick to eat so we could head back to the Magic Kingdom. Before dinner was over Erin wasn't feeling well so Meg & family decided to go back to their room and not come with us. Mere & Uncle Kev felt the same way, wanted to just stay back from a very long day.

Sooooo...... in pure Johnston fashion... we were on our way back to the Magic Kingdom!

Delaney trying to show off her Tinker Bell ring that Mommy found on the ground,

that matched her dress PERFECTLY!!!!

You can see her wings, right?!?!

On the go.... again!

But we love it.

Mitchell soooo wanted to climb the Tree House earlier in the week...

so off we were to the.....

Swiss Family Robinson Tree House.

They really lived here?

This how the Robinsons' brought water up behind us.

We went up and down the tree house.

It was very cool, they had bedrooms and bathroom with tubs.

The Haunted Mansion was just next door,

so we went on AGAIN!

This has to make 4 or 5 times already!

HORRIBLE picture next to the haunted carriage that

you can not see at all! Sorry!

Finally, going to see a parade in the Magic Kingdom...

The Disney Electrical Parade.

We looked and looked for a good spot for the

twins to watch the parade and we thought we were doomed.

Until we found a huge oversized flower pot.

It was more of a tree pot but the twins fit in perfectly....

SMILES!!!!!!

Here's the start of the parade....

Tinker Bell (I know you can't see her) lead the parade,

Delaney was so happy to see her.

The parade was great, Mitchell yelled to Peter Pan

and Delaney to Cinderella!

Great time was had by all, wish everyone else was with us! :(

It was CRAZY getting out of the park because

the fireworks were to go off within the hour.

The crowd was HUGE and took us a long time to get back to

the entrance so we could get our bus to go back 'home'.

Good night Magic Kingdom!!

We will see you tomorrow, for sure!!!

Disney Day 3 Hollywood Studios

2011-07-10T09:52:00.001-04:00

Oh boy, this is going to be a long one......

Day 3.....

Off to find Woody and Buzz!!!

Buzz, your partner in crime is waiting for you...

He's wearing a special Tshirt for you.

Despite looking like it is night-time, it wasn't,

just on the bus on our way to our next stop.

Seriously, Ryan is such a cheese ball.

Everyone looks so happy!!!

On our way in,

in the best cousin way possible.... hand in hand!

Hello Hollywood Studios!!!!!!
Are you ready for the Mere's Retirement Celebration?????
Ha, you don't stand a chance!

The Dogs!!!!

Goofy & Pluto

We were so lucky to be walking in & a slew of characters were on their way out!

We made the best of the photo opts!

As we were soaking up all the Disney love Daddy went running

for Fast Passes, again, this time for Toy Story Mania!!!!!!

A very cool ride.....

Run Daddy Run, get us good times.

After a lot of hugs & kisses to/from the characters,

our first stop, of course, was to check out Ariel's play!

We sat in the front row and got splashed

when she dove into the water... so fun.

Next, off to see how long the line was for Toy Story Mania.... which was only 30 minutes.

Even though we had Fast Passes for this ride after lunch,
30 minutes was not a long wait for this ride.

So off we went!!!!

A lot to see & photo opts while in line for this ride.

The lines inside have all games pieces to old time games that the kids have no

idea about. It was neat and made the time go by fast while waiting!!!!!

Mitchell with his hero... Buzz Lightyear!

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

Delaney looked so cute next to the crayon!

AND WHO STOLE BABY RYAN?????
This is a big kid not our baby!!!!!!
Cheese!!!!! Yes, you say cheese and this is
what he does! He cracks us up!

On our way in!!!

This ride is like a Mid-Way (carnival) game where you sit in a bucket with

3D glasses and shoot at targets on different scenes to gain points, SO MUCH FUN!!!!!

When we got off the ride and who was ACROSS THE STREET?????

None other than WOODY & BUZZ!!!!

There was a wait (45 min) but Mitchell was all over it!
Who could say no to THAT?!?!?!

40 minutes later.....

This little boy's dream came true. He met his heros!

What's up Buzz!!!!

No one is cooler than ME at this moment!

The Three Amigos with The Guys!

Ok, just for blackmail for when she's older....

Delaney DEFINITELY crossed the line of

possible sexual harassment with Woody!

Oh my word, so many jokes can be made out of this picture,

I am not going there! LOL

But only if you could see where Erin's hand was on Buzz, even funnier!

Off to lunch at Hollywood & Vine

where we had a buffet lunch with the Disney Junior Characters.....

Special Agent OSO

(Is it me or is this a WEIRD looking bear,

the colors just do not go!)

Handy Manny!!!

We saw him earlier too!
Of course the twins asked, "Where are the TOOLS?"

Leo from the Little Einstein's!

Yay, someone that Ryan didn't cry to meet!

We love you Leo!!!!

So after lunch everyone wanted to go on the Star Wars ride.

Mommy said NO WAY! She almost got sick on it last year.

DD didn't want to go on either because

Mitchell & Erin had both gotten a stuffed toy earlier,

Erin got Hugs A Lot from Toy Story (yes it smells like strawberry)

and Mitchell got Mickey in the the magic hat.

So Delaney, Mere, Ryan and I went on a mission.

TO FIND RAPUNZEL!!!!!

After some time...........

WE FOUND HER!!!!!

Our Princess with her new fave princess!

Mission=success

Then, of course, it rained (should say down poured!)

Didn't stop the smiles from Mere & Ry!

Nor from Mommy & Laney!

We just tried to find a covered spot to wait for everyone to get off their ride.

Since the rain was putting a damper on the afternoon,

we decided that it was time to leave and head back to the Resort.

We went back to the Resort, took a nap and headed down to dinner.

Everyone is refreshed and ready to gooooooooo...

Back to the Magic Kingdom we go.....

(Mere stayed back with Ryan so he could get a good nights

sleep since we had an early morning the next day.)

Oy, look at that sky! I wonder what will happen?

Not looking too promising!

We immediately went to see if we could get on any of the Mountains...

Splash Mt, Thunder Mt, or Space Mt!

We went to Frontier Land and we seaw empty logs going down Splash Mt.

We had no idea why. But to our surprise, when we

went to ask, we were able to get on with only a 20 minute wait....

HORRAY!

Splash Mountain..... here we come

3 VERY excited kiddos waiting to go down....

LETS GO DOWN THIS MOUNTAIN....

Then we got on, saw The Bears,

and were sooooo excited.

Anticipation was building for the BIG SPLASH......

2 logs before the big fall, we were

STOPPED! Stand still for almost 30 minutes.

:( They came and we had to get off.........

The backlot tour of Splash Mountain

(that we would rather not have seen).

They did, however, give each of us a Fast Pass for any

ride in the Magic Kingdom..... Hmmmmmm?

We took the chance that Thunder Mountain (right next door to Splash)

didn't have a long wait, which it didn't! WOO HOO

AND A WAY WE GO!!!!!!

We got off Thunder Mountain knowing we have these Fast Pass Tickets

burning a hole in our pockets, where to go?????

SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!

We went through the entire Fast Pass line, almost to the very end,

reached the height requirement bar, and :(

Miss Erin was an inch shy of meeting the requirements to go on.....

So Meg & Erin couldn't go with us. BUMMER!

We went down without fail...

Delaney's words once we got off..

"That was nice but I don't want to go on again!"

Good night Day 3!

We have HAD ENOUGH of you!!!!

See ya on Day 4..........

Disney Day 2 Epcot

2011-07-09T07:16:00.002-04:00

Day 2...... Off to Epcot.

Our smart Mommy took a picture of us every morning

just in case we went wondering and got lost, she

would have a picture of us every day!

This was our Day 2 photo.

When we got to Epcot we were on a mission... to get Fast Passes (this pass

lets you jump in front of the line) to Soarin. Tell you more

about that ride later.

Nemo's ride that everyone was able to go on.

You ride in a shell and tour the under ground aquarium

that Disney has Nemo and friends swimming in. Very cool to see

how they make Nemo swim with actual fishies!

"What's for dinner tonight?"

TWINKIES

This poor fish didn't stand a chance with these 4!

Nemo world, hey there's Dory!!!! Hi Dory!

Seriously, can you stand Ryan as a little boy???

Where is our Baby Ryan?

Mitchell with Mader and McQueen, ok

so what they are made out of bushes, he didn't complain.

Off to Mexico!!!!!

Big hats, shaky things (can't think of the
proper name) and of course when in Mexico
you must have....

MARGARITAS!!!!!!!

Yes, it was only noon but come on it was vacation!

Cheers Mere!

Then we quickly moved through different countries in a hunt for....

Princesses!

And luckily we found them in Norway and had

to have lunch with them of course!

At Akershus; Royal Banquet Hall.

Ariel.... Delaney's favorite

Belle

Mary Poppins

The Princesses were all so nice. Mr. Ryan,
however, was not impressed by these beautiful ladies.
He would cry each time one would even walk by.

And hey, when did Mary Poppins become
a Princess? Just saying.

This was my favorite meal of the vacation, great food.

Auroa

Cinderella

After the Princess went around to every table all the Little Princesses and the Little Prince Charmings paraded around the restaraunt dancing and singing. Again, Ry was not having it.

Of course, Miss Cinderella made her appearance as
the last Princess to come into lunch and lead
the parade. I was hoping she would take our girls'
hands to help lead the parade but there was a little girl dressed up as Cinderella behind us who got the honor. Oh well maybe another time.

Once lunch was over we had Fast Passes to Soarin,

THE BEST ride ever at Epcot.

Ok, so this is a ride that if you are afraid of heights you shouldn't go on. You sit in a row side by side and bar comes down over you to hold you in. And off you go up into the air! You watch a HUGE screen that makes you think you are flying. You fly over the Pacific Ocean and smell the salt water, fly over a forest and smell the pine tress, over an orange orchard and smell the oranges! It is crazy. You also fly over a mountain with people skiing down, over a golf course where a golf ball flies right over your head, over waves that make you lift your feet because it really looks like you are going into the water. You end flying over Disney at night with the fireworks. It is an amazing ride!

I am sure you all know that Mere did NOT experience this ride!

She didn't even want to talk about so she stayed behind with Ry.

After a wonderful Soarin ride we headed back to

the hotel for a quick dip in the pool, dinner at the resort,

and to head back to the Magic Kingdom.

First ride that night.......

A pirates life for me!

Captain Jack Sparrow, we are looking for you!

Yet again it started to rain! Gotta love our ponchos! It really didn't phase the kids at all. Just more annoying to the Big Kids of the group.

After Pirates Ride, it was still raining.....Surprise, Surprise!

So we headed to another 'covered' ride.

The Jungle Cruise it was for us to get out of the rain.

Still raining....

Heading home.

See ya on day 3....

Wonder where we will head next?????

Disney Day 1 Magic Kingdom

2011-07-08T08:07:00.003-04:00

Mom very excited to start her trip!

The twins and all waiting for the Disney Magical Express to

pick us up and take us to

our hotel, Carribean Beach Resort.

Time for a quick dip at the pool in Aruba.

Then we are off to the Happiest Place on Earth...

MICKEY'S HOUSE

The best sight to see.....

CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!

Off to dinner at the Crystal Palace....

A little hot waiting for dinner.

A hug from Eore

A snuzzle from Tigger.

First nights dinner was early, 3:40 to be exact at the Crystal Palace.

We had a buffet dinner with Eore, Piglet, Tigger and of course Pooh Bear.

Of course Mommy & Daddy were smart enough to get a stroller first thing,

they made a mistake last year by not doing it right away.

Uncle Mike's shoulders got one for Erin the following day. :)

Mere's first ride... Aladdin's carpet ride.

She was not happy that it went up and down so much.

Suck it up Mere, Ry Guy even thought it was great.

Hopefully you can tell from the picture but this was the

first (and certainly NOT the last) rain storm that started.

Sadly, our daily use of ponchos came out so we headed to

the Haunted Mansion to get out of the rain.

Poured so much we went on that ride 2 times in a row and then found a

place to stay dry through the downpour. Did a few more things like

Monsters Incs Laugh Floor and then headed home....

And course Delaney feel asleep on the way home,

a trend she is continuing from last years Disney trip.

See ya on Day 2......

Disney

2011-07-07T10:05:00.001-04:00

One happy lady!

Disney, here we come!!!!!

Nothing says this better......

It's been a long time....

2011-07-07T09:17:00.005-04:00

I don't even know if anyone evens stops by and looks at this blog anymore. I stopped or left this blog for reasons that had nothing to do with the twins, I just didn't want to put their "lives" out there for some time. Now looking back at my decision it was a wrong one. This blog is for no one other than the twins to have to look back at their childhood. At some point I will explain to them why a year of their life is not present or maybe I can go back to archive some of the past year. Who knows, I will just continue from here!

Updates on the Twinks:

Both are doing great and are such good kids. Mitchell loved playing baseball this year while Delaney rocked Irish dancing. Both are looking forward to football and cheerleading this fall. Flag football for M to ease Mommy's worried head! :) They will start Kindergarten at the end of the summer... CRAZY!!!! Didn't I just have them!

We (all of us) just returned back from an awesome Retirement Celebration in Disney for Mom as she ended her teaching career! We had a great time and I have loads of pictures to share, 1,254 to be exact!

Here is the proof that the Twinks are happy little 5 year olds! Look forward to sharing more....

ps I have already gone back and added some posts from last year, we will get there! Thanks for checking in... means a lot! xxoo

Christmas Eve 2010

2010-12-24T15:08:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve at Uncle Kev's

Gramp with his 1st set of twins

Who's coming???????

Santa.....

The kid always get their Chritmas PJs on Christmas Eve

and a small gift when Santa pops by.

Cookies, milk & carrots

for the Big Man and his reindeer.

Now it's time for bed........

Sleep tight Twinks.....

tomorrow is a big day!!!

NY Christmas Party

2010-12-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Every year we take the trip to Broad Channel for

Grampa Fred & Gramma Dee's

Yacht Club Xmas party...

The girls hamming it up for the camera.

The 3 Amigos...

One handsome dude

Now for some face painting...

Erin

Spider Man himself

Miss DD didn't want too much so a

Ladybug on her cheek! (that you can't see)

The Polar Express...

2010-12-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

Choo Choo......

Off to the Polar Express we go to have some

hot chocolate and cookies with

Mr & Mrs Claus

Daddy with his little girl

As always, some cheesy Twinkie smiles!!!!

They were more interested in meeting the Claus's

The Big Guy.....

The girls hoping to get want they asked of The Big Guy!

They are so hopeful!

We will have to see what happens in a few weeks.

DD spending some time with Ry Guy.

She is such a good cousin.

And the Mrs with Erin & Mitchell

We had a great ride with Santa & Mrs Claus.

Only a few more weeks until they visit again....

rest up The Claus Family,

we are sure we will keep you very busy!!!

xoxoxo

Fun in the leaves

2010-11-07T20:31:00.001-05:00

Daddy so wanted to get a Christmas card picture of the Twinks in our

gorgeous Japanese maple tree leaves.... some out-takes.

Love watching the twins play in the leaves together!

xoxoxo

So which pic do you think made the cut as our

Christmas card this year?

Daddy's Football Honor

2010-10-27T19:35:00.000-04:00

Billly and I were so lucky to be able to celebrate

20 years of Sacred Heart University Football!

Billy was part of the the very first football team at SHU!

20 years ago.... SHUTTER!

Daddy with Uncle Kevin

The GUYS...

It was so overwhelming watching these guys being honored

with their jerseys that they wore years ago. Very touching!

They were beyond the moon with this act of kindness.

Daddy on the field he loved so much.

Daddy being honored as a great Captain and STILL holding the University's

record for the most yards on a return for a touchdown, 105 yards!

Billy and the other 4 honorary Captains for the game going

in for the coin toss!

20 years ago these guys started SHU football!

Proud to be a Sacred Heart University Pioneer

Lyman's for some pumpkins

2010-10-17T07:02:00.001-04:00

Lyman's Orchard is always a great place to

head to pick some apples and pumpkins

(and to steal a few peaches for Mere).

Can you say cheese balls!

They do, at times, like each other!

Mere with her Twinkies

Should have been our Christmas card this year.

Nothing better than Twinkies in trees, thanks Daddy for the help up in the trees.
Delaney likes the green ones just like her Mommy and Mitchell just ate whatever fell from the tree just like Daddy! :)

Maybe next year we can climb the trees on our own, behind Mommy's

back of course so she doesn't freak out!

Out with the old......

2010-10-07T19:18:00.003-04:00

and in with the new......

Yes, we are getting a new kitchen!!!!

Good bye outdated, yucky, old kitchen....... see ya!

Good bye old cabinets.

Oh wow, nothing is left.....

Thanks for all your help Papa and Nana! xoxoxoxox

New kitchen to be revealed soon!!

So excited......

The last of Summer 2010

2010-09-21T07:32:00.003-04:00

BEST picture of the summer, hands down!

Fun at the beach

Sailing into the sunset, TOGETHER!!!!!

XXOO

Fishing

2010-09-20T06:55:00.001-04:00

Fishing with Uncle Kevin was a blast!!!

We liked the bait a bit better than actually fishing,

come on we are still only 4!

2 fishies were caught in the 2 hour fishing trip,

but neither were caught by Mitchell or Delaney,

Mommy or Daddy,

or even Uncle Kevin, the pro.

The 2 fish were caught by MERE who was only there

for 20 minutes!!!!!!!!!

Regardless, the twins LOVED that she caught them!

Gramp would have been so proud!

Our Irish Dancer

2010-09-18T20:52:00.002-04:00

Miss Delaney started Irish Dancing this

past Friday and she LOVED it!

(so did I)

Video to come soon of her first day!

Bye, bye summer 2010

2010-09-16T20:03:00.002-04:00

Summer of 2010....

You were very good to us,

a lot of days at the beach,

hanging in bed late mornings with Mommy,

swimming at Nana & Papa's and

playing with so many of our friends!!!!

Delaney

Mitchell

Summer, please DO NOT hesitate coming

early next year or we will miss you!

Thank you for a great 3 months!!!!

xxoo

Hurricane Earl.....

2010-09-03T20:47:00.000-04:00

Really,

Hurricane Earl?

Wow, you were BAD!!! :)

Mitchell in front of the HUGE rip tides!!!

SCARY!!!!!!

Delaney was so scared she gave us

a fake smile!!!!! :)

Hey Earl,

We WERE scared of you but we WON!!!!!

Love, The Twinks

No comment other than.....

2010-08-17T21:54:00.001-04:00

PURE LOVE!!!!

Love at the beach

2010-08-16T19:45:00.000-04:00

Having fun looking for

"crabbies" and

jelly-fish!

(Mitchell got bit by one of those crabs!)

Gramp ROCKS physical therapy!

2010-08-04T19:58:00.003-04:00

Gramp's physical therapist thought it was a good idea to have Lil Mitch help

Gramp with his therapy and boy was Mitchell so excited to help out!!!!!

They had a nice ball toss for about 10 minutes.

Mitchell was in his GLORY and Gramp was loving it too!

It was great to see the 2 "Mitches" playing together!

A memory I will never forget!

WE LOVE YOU GRAMP &

you are doing GREAT!!

xxoo

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-28T21:11:00.001-04:00

Customize your own free slideshow design

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Field Day 2010

2010-06-27T20:32:00.002-04:00

Free picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

The twins had their 1st Field Day at Seth haley and they had a blast! They weren't quite sure about all activities but both tried everything at least once! Their PreK class was a JOY to watch! One of the perks working at the same school your kids attend! ;)

New York City 2010

2010-06-26T20:53:00.002-04:00

Free picture slideshow customized with Smilebox

Cape, May 2010

2010-06-01T07:51:00.000-04:00

This digital scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

2010-05-28T08:41:00.000-04:00

Free digital greeting card created with Smilebox

I had a great day as well! Just wasn't enough time for pictures with me and the Twinkies, but nonetheless, I had a GREAT DAY!!! xxoo

Baseball 2010... RED SOX

2010-05-27T08:32:00.000-04:00

Create a free digital slideshow

Easter 2010

2010-05-25T09:09:00.000-04:00

Make a digital scrapbook

St. Patrick's Day 2010

2010-05-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

A free digital greeting card by Smilebox

Feb 2010

2010-05-20T08:43:00.001-04:00

Another free photo slideshow by Smilebox

Sorry....

2010-05-19T20:36:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone, or anyone, who is still out there looking at this blog. We have had a few months of tough times but we are finally climbing out of it and recovery nicely!

Delaney's surgery and recovery was tougher than we imagined, physically and emotionally. We thank all the nurses and Drs at Yale who watched over and took care of our little girl during our longer than expected stay! They will be forever in our hearts. Delaney talks about them everyday!!!

Over the next few days, (I hope) I will be posting a month at a time pictures from SmileBox. We hope you enjoy them and I will be back to posting regularly (I promise Uncle G)!

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts during this rough time for all of us!

xxoo

~Us

We met.....

2010-02-18T07:03:00.000-05:00

MICKEY & MINNIE!!!

Mitchell was a tad crabby while meeting the famous Mice, granted it

was around 6pm on our first day and we had been up since 5 am without any naps. Delaney fell asleep in my arms on the train to see Mickey & Minnie, you will see that later.

Can you tell we are exhausted?

L-O-N-G day! But loved EVERY second of it!

So many more memories to come!

Our 400 th Post.....

2010-02-17T07:37:00.000-05:00

and there is no where better celebrate

our 400th post than in Disney World.

Thank you for being a part of our twins' blog!

We hope you enjoy it for years to come...

to the next 400 posts..... CHEERS from Disney!

We made it.....

2010-02-16T07:01:00.000-05:00

to the happiest place on Earth......

Disney World

Oh My Gosh, the sun is in OUR eyes!

WE ARE IN DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!

Mommy, stop squeezing us so much, it hurts!

"Laney, we made it!!!!!"

It doesn't get better than this, that is for sure!!!!

Wow, we made it....

let the fun begin!!!!

First Glimpse....

2010-02-15T07:02:00.001-05:00

from OUR smallest Princesses' eyes of

Cinderella's Castle!!!!

"Oh my gosh Brookie,

Cinderella lives THERE!!!!!!!!"

To watch these two walk down Main Street hand in hand was PRICELESS!!!!!

Johnstons Cousins make it to DISNEY

2010-02-14T06:38:00.003-05:00

Cayla, Jerrett, Mitchell, Jake, Alexis, Brady, Brooke & Delaney

The Johnston Kids are about to conquer

DISNEY WORLD!!!

Look out Mickey, here we COME!

Happy Valentine's Day to ALL!!!!!

The Johnston's on their way

2010-02-13T07:52:00.005-05:00

The Johnston Cousins on

their way to the Magic Kingdom

Older Cousins taking good care of Miss Laney

On the bus to see Mickey & Minnie!

So not happy with these pics,

were suppose to be in "antique" phase.... NOT.

SORRY for the dark pics.

And we are off....

2010-02-12T07:54:00.000-05:00

The Twinks went from Hartford

to Orlando within 10 hours!

Hotel stay & a snow storm couldn't

keep us away!

Playing at the Hotel

Mitchell dancing to his "smooth jazz" while

Delaney had "blue" (pink) eye but

in great spirits and ready to

meet her Princesses, especially Ariel!

5 AM and ready to get this show on the road..

Mickey & Minnie, we want to see you!

We were GREAT 1st time flyers!

Can you see the snow on Mitchell's window of the plane....

SCARY!!!!!! (Twinks were NOT phased, Mommy,

scared to death!!!!)

As you can see the Twinks weren't

always happy with one another on the flight.

They ended up agreeing on watching

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"

We landed within 2 hours & 32 minutes....PERFECT!

DISNEY..... HERE WE COME!!!!!

Guess where we have been?

2010-02-11T19:48:00.002-05:00

Any ideas????

Soooo many more pics to come!

Happy Birthday Auntie

2010-01-31T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Auntie!!!

We hope you have a great day!

You are so lucky to share this day with such a great

person... OUR MOMMY!!!

We love you!!!

xoxoxoxo

Happy 89th Gramp

2010-01-30T14:58:00.002-05:00

We love you Big Guy!

xoxoxoxox

Bag Lady?

2010-01-22T06:51:00.001-05:00

With all the beautiful clothes she has....

THIS is what she chose to wear!

I love both pieces because they were made by 2

wonderful women but they just.....

DON'T go together!

Delaney needs a Makeover!!! :)

The Princesses on Ice

2010-01-16T06:46:00.000-05:00

Snow White & her Prince

(the pictures of the skaters didn't come out AT all :(.....)

The kids waiting for the show to start.....

Cheesy Laney LOVIN' Ariel!!!

Erin~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mitchell

Thank you Auntie & Uncle Mike

for a great birthday present!!!

We had a great time!

So glad to share this memory with you all!

Too cool for school

2010-01-15T06:43:00.000-05:00

Mitch, we thought you LIKED school!??!?

Where did the sunglasses come from??

Cool DUDE!

Family Picture

2010-01-13T06:36:00.000-05:00

Finally, a family picture together.

4th Birthday Celebration.....

2010-01-11T06:34:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Birthday Cakes & Cupcakes

2010-01-10T19:50:00.019-05:00

Happy 4th Birthday Twinkies!!!

Mitchell & Delaney

Mitchell & Spiderman

Delaney & Tinkerbell

CUPCAKES......

Delaney wanted pink frosting &

Mitchell went for the green frosting!!!

Our Snowman

2010-01-06T06:11:00.000-05:00

Our first Snowman of 2010!!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Twinkies

2010-01-04T06:44:00.000-05:00

At 6:44 am, Tuesday, Jan 4th 2006 this little angel came screaming into the world...

and this is our beautiful, loving angel 4 years later!

At 6:46am, 2 minutes after Delaney this quiet little guy arrived,

(he's not that quiet anymore!)

And 4 years later here is our athletic and charming little man!

Happy Birthday Twinkies.

Every year we are so thankful for you both, our miracles,

and do not take any of it for granted!

Happy 4th Birthday!!!!

2010... A New Year

2010-01-01T15:27:00.001-05:00

Happy 2010 everyone!

May you all have a great and healthy year!

xoxoxoxox

Laney & Mitch

Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T11:21:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Goodbye 2009 ........

This is what chocolate does to me.... "Makes me CRAZY!"

Hoping 2010 is a happier and healthier year for all!!!

Merry Christmas.....

2009-12-25T05:53:00.000-05:00

From Our Family....

To Yours!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

May everyone have a happy and healthy year!

Meeting Ryan for the 1st Time

2009-11-13T06:41:00.002-05:00

The Twins' first meeting with Cousin Ryan!

To say the very least, the Twinks were in LOVE from first sight, weren't we all?!?!?!

They love their new baby Cousin Ry~Ry!

Fun with Nana & Poppa

2009-11-12T06:38:00.000-05:00

I LOVE this picture! sad that I'm not in it!

But, nonetheless, the BEST Johnston picture! :)

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

LATE Halloween Pictures (SORRY!!)

2009-11-10T17:58:00.008-05:00

The Fairy and Spiderman

A great time was had by all...

Spiderman, Fairy Princess and Ariel!

~Happy Halloween 2009~

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-30T06:53:00.003-04:00

Delaney's Pumpkin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~Mitchell's Pumpkin

All the cousins with their pumpkins!

A good time was had by all!

Finally....

2009-10-25T08:04:00.001-04:00

After losing A LOT of pictures when our computer crashed

I learned the lesson that I need to be in more pictures.

It's not a great one but it's a start!

Daddy!!!

2009-10-24T07:57:00.000-04:00

The twinkies LOVE their Daddy!

He's a great Dad!

Upcoming artist?

2009-10-22T07:53:00.001-04:00

Can you guess the artist who is drawing all these silly faces?

Let us know who you think!

** It was Delaney!!!**

Thank you for all who guessed! It was fun!

Ryan's Blog

2009-10-21T07:47:00.001-04:00

Ryan's now has his very own blog .....

http://www.masterryanmatthew.blogspot.com/

Everyone is home and doing well!

More pictures coming soon!

Pure Love......

2009-10-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

can I say more?

Big Kid Beds

2009-10-15T06:43:00.001-04:00

We are now in Big Kid Beds!!!!!!

we are soooo excited and love them so much, can't you tell!

Cheesy, happy smiles all around!

Uncanny......

2009-10-14T19:44:00.004-04:00

Not the pictures I was looking for but still!!!!

Who is who everyone???????

Both Erin and Ryan at 1 day old!

**Billy got it wrong!!***

Out of the mouth of Delaney

2009-10-13T06:50:00.001-04:00

Delaney:

While at school, Delaney's PreK class was listening to a story about Johnny Appleseed and how he went around the world planting appleseeds. When he meet up with Squanto, the Indian. With that the following conversation occurred in her classroom!

D: "Hey, Mere knows that Indian!"

Mrs. V (PreK teacher): "She does, does she?"

D: "Yeah, and he steals all her money!"

With that the teachers nearly fell off their chairs laughing.

Mrs V: "Mrs B and Mrs C (aides in the room that help out) know that Indian too!" Laughing not knowing that OUR daughter would have a come back to that...

D: Turning around to face Mrs C and Mrs B, "Does he steal your money too!?!?!?"

PRICELESS~~~~~~~~

By lunch time the entire school knew about Mere's habits! Oh the joys of little ones!

Hope this silly makes your day Uncle G! ;)

This party of 3.......

2009-10-12T10:19:00.000-04:00

Just became a party of FOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Introducing.........

Ryan Matthew

born at 10:19am

7 pounds 10 ounces

20 1/2 inches

Baby and Mommy are doing great!!! Big sister Erin was very impressed with her Little Brother!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

We love you already!

xoxoxoxoxo

And the Gymnast.....

2009-10-02T07:18:00.000-04:00

A gymnast is born, well sort of! :)

Needed a lot of help on the bars!

But rocked the balance beam better than we thought she would!

We are working on her coordination, because

everyone and anyone who knows this child.....

SHE NEEDS IT!!!!!!!!!

Our hockey star....

2009-10-01T07:32:00.000-04:00

First time on the ice and he skated right off!!!

"Laney, you see me skate?" Mitchell said!

Delaney replied, "You go Buddy!"

We don't think Mithell really likes the sport very much! HAHAHAHA

All smiles!

Random pictures.......

2009-09-29T07:02:00.000-04:00

How do we sit on pumpkins?

Very carefully!!!! :)

An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Hands up for Libby's Ice!

Cheesy smile from Laney.....

On top a fire truck!
Hanging witht the boys and hammering nails.

Another cheesy smile!

Apple Picking

2009-09-27T18:14:00.006-04:00

The last photo together before Baby Boy arrives in 2 WEEKS!!!!!!!!

We had a great day "twisting and pulling" in the apples orchards.

Although Mere didnt get her peaches off the tree!

Mere and her gang!

Twins trying out some apples along the way!

Happy Fall to everyone! :)

First Day of Pre School

2009-09-23T17:56:00.004-04:00

The twins had a great first day of school.

Mommy was a wreck and had Daddy followed the bus from

school to Daycare on the first day and Auntie Lynette

followed it the 2nd day. Can you say Mommy is neurotic? :)

The twins have had a lot of firsts lately, first day of camp with Dradon,

Mitchell's 1st day of hockey, Delaney's 1st day of gymnastics with Erin,

and their 1st ride on a school bus.

Mommy is trying to get a slide show together to show all the

great pics of our firsts. Still no computer so trying to do my

best on the laptop!

Great Pals

2009-09-21T21:19:00.002-04:00

Gotta love GREAT times with Great-Gramp!

He is ALWAYS there to give Delaney a helping hand!

They are best pals!

Thank GOD!!!!!!!!

2009-09-19T18:53:00.003-04:00

This was one of the pictures I was most upset about losing!

I FOUND IT!!!!!!

I know the picture looks small but the memories of that weekend are HUGE!

2009-09-17T13:12:00.003-04:00

As I sit here and go through the Blog from years passed I am so sad to see that most of the pictures are now gone due to our computer crashing. I almost think I should just erase this blog and start fresh. The empty boxes will be a constant reminder that all of the time and effort I have put into this blog was for nothing! :( I can not begin to express how upset I am over this. I know they are just pictures and I have the real things in front of me, THANK GOD but I am still upset because this was to be THEIR BABY BOOKS! I am at a loss of words right now!

* Hysterics are now over. I was looking at the blog from school and I didn't see ANY of the pictures. Since I use Photobucket to hold the pictures on an occasion I had already saved a few that are now forever gone in Computer Crash H*ll! Thanks for all the words and encouragement that the pics are still here! Still no new computer yet so bare with us!*

Heartbroken....

2009-09-01T19:40:00.001-04:00

I am sorry I have been away all summer but we had a great summer, camp, Cape Cod, Sesame Place, the beach and just lazy days with Mommy and most recently our FIRST DAY OF PRE SCHOOL!!!!!! But....... our computer has crashed with all the pictures from when then twins turned 2 until now. We are devastated to say the least. Please, I am begging all of our friends and family to please (when you have time) to please email us ANY pictures you may have of the twins so we can try to replace the ones we have lost. I know this is a lot to ask of people but if you can send us pics from Christmas, birthdays, random pics, and most of all, any the pics of the whole family with Gramp when Miss Claire was here, I am most upset by those because I was never able to post them. :( You all know I live my life through the lens of my camera so I hope you all realize how important this is to me!
Thanks and when we get out new computer I will post the pics from the Twinkies first day of school... it was great. Mommy cried her eyes out but the Twinks did great! Thanks to Daddy and Auntie Lynette for following the bus! :)

A Helping Hand From Daddy

2009-07-01T22:13:00.002-04:00

We have the BEST Daddy!

He is always there to give us a hand!

Laney loves her Daddy!

Look at that smile!

Me and My Best Friend!

2009-06-27T07:31:00.000-04:00

Delaney & Erin

BFF!!!!!!
Best Friends Forever!

Welcome to.....

2009-06-26T06:29:00.004-04:00

the lazy days of summer....

and beach lovin fun!

More cousins!!

2009-06-24T14:17:00.002-04:00

Our three monkeys are wondering about Miss Claire,

who STOLE the show, can't you tell! :)

She fit right in with her older cousins!

Guess who is home for the summer....

MOMMY!!!!
Yeahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

See how excited everyone is?!?

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful
men in our lives!
We love you all and thank you
for loving us the way you all do!!!
Have a great day!

Cousins or Siblings?

2009-06-13T08:17:00.000-04:00

Brady Thomas & Mitchell Thomas

Brooke Delaney & Delaney Noi

Seriously, is it me or can these cousins

pass as brothers & sisters????

We have a visitor!

2009-06-12T20:42:00.000-04:00

Cousin Claire!!!!!!

Isn't she precious! She looks just like her Mommy!

Claire's Mommy, Grandpa, Grandma & Uncle all came for a visit,

all the way from IOWA!!!!
The twins enjoyed their time with their youngest cousin (*so far*)!
We went to the aquarium but Delaney
was disappointed she didn't see a whale.
Next time Laney!

1st trip to the water '09

2009-05-29T08:15:00.000-04:00

The twins tempted to go into the water on the
first warm day of the season!
BUT!!!

They came running back very quickly!!!!

Best Friends

2009-05-27T08:11:00.000-04:00

What better way to beat the heat on a hot day...

sit in the driveway with your pals eating icepops of course!

Our Garden

2009-05-25T08:02:00.000-04:00

is planted!

We have tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers for mommy,

squash, zucchini and eggplant!

They don't quite understand why they can't have the tomatoes NOW???

Safety First!

2009-05-12T07:24:00.000-04:00

Alittle help from my friend!

Please make sure you wear your 'gear' when riding your bike!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T07:24:00.000-04:00

To all the wonderful women in out lives.....

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

I know I am so lucky to have you all in my life!

Thank you for making me a better mother!

Who can tell us....

2009-05-08T07:47:00.002-04:00

when did the Twinkies get so big??????

At the Beach with Uncle Kevin

2009-05-05T07:36:00.001-04:00

Life at the beach.... what gets better than this?!?

Dinner with Mere

2009-05-03T07:26:00.000-04:00

All kiddies got to spend a night of dinner with Mere/Gram!

Chicken nuggets and Mac & cheese for all!

What is better than that?!?!?!

A Spring Stroll

2009-05-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

at the beach!

Gotta love that!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

2009-04-29T18:30:00.006-04:00

Two monkeys in the tub!!!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T00:00:00.001-04:00

Here comes Peter Cotton Tail....

Hopping down the Easter Trail....

Hippity, Hoppity Easter's on it's way!!

We hope the Easter Bunny filled your Easter basket with LOVE!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!

xoxoxox

Twinkies for the Twinkies

2009-04-09T07:57:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday Twinkies

Auntie Lynette & Uncle Damien sure knows how to spoil us!
Twinkies for the Twinkies.... what a GREAT idea!
We LOVED it!

Marcus and Dradon loved it too!

Yummy!!!!!!

Thank you Auntie Lynette & Uncle Damien for our birthday Twinkies...

sorry it took so long to get them on here!

Our hypochondriac

2009-04-08T08:15:00.001-04:00

Every time Mitchell has an ailment, no matter how small or large, it requires a band-aide. He scratched his nose for this one and there wasn't even a mark! Daddy came home and told him Spiderman doesn't wear band-aides on his nose... and that was the end of the band-aide! :)

He's a ham!

Like father, like daughter

2009-04-06T08:12:00.000-04:00

This was the one trait I was hoping that Billy didn't pass down to the twins.....
Closing his eyes for every picture! Well, he has definitely passed it down to Miss Delaney!
She is still cute though! OPEN YOUR EYES GIRLIE!!!!!!!!!

Bag Heads Video

2009-04-04T22:00:00.002-04:00

No Twinkies were harmed in the taping of this film! :)