Christmas

Christmas was a little different this year.

We really didn't know if Curtis would be in the hospital, or when we would Celebrate Christmas for sure. 

I had everything ready, everything was pretty low key.  Just getting Curtis to surgery was out main focus.

A few days before Surgery Curtis' step family had a surprise 80th Birthday party for his step Dad Steve,

Curtis was a good sport, rallied for a few hours to make the big event.  The party was at a Brazilian restaurant in Scottsdale (Steve and his current wife are from Brazil).  It was good to see everyone, the food was a new experience for us, and I think everyone found something they liked to eat except Trey.  Curtis was in a lot of pain, he endured and it was a good time. 

Suarez-Johnson Clan

Happy 13th Bday

Happy Birthday Derek.

You are officially a teenager.  Derek had originally wanted to go on a long bike ride with Curtis and just have a bike outing.  This was planned before Curtis messed up his back.  We had to find a plan B.

Another Star Wars Birthday movie, and star wars, theme dinner.

 Another Star Wars movie came out, Derek wanted to see that for his birthday. We did the star war Festivities a few days before.  In order to fit everything in before Curtis had surgery,  the boys went to the movie Wednesday afternoon.  Dax and Derek had a half day at school, we pulled Trey out a few hours early. Sometimes you just have to make family a priority.  This was one of those times.  This year the Star Wars menu included Chewbacca Chicken, Hoth Dogs, Seven Leia dip, Vader Taters, Sith Kabobs, and Dark side dessert which was Darth Vader Cookies. 

Plan B: Derek asked his friend, David, and Dax if they could do the biking adventure.  We had planned out a route to drop them off, then set up kind of  a scavenger hunt.  We planned to give him some money, hey would stop for treats, and lunch etc. and then find their way home.  Unfortunately it rained pretty good the day before and the trails they would be riding was pretty muddy.  We had to find and alternate route. 

Off on the biking adventure.

It took them a few hours to complete their adventure.  They had a good time, they still had some mud issues, but I'm glad we adjusted the route or it would have been miserable.
For Derek's Birthday we gave him money (for the adventure) new shoes.

Curtis came home from the hospital today.  It was a hectic day, Birthday, changing the bike route, getting Curtis home from the hospital, filling Rx. I have decided getting any prescription that involves narcotics is never easy, and I feel like the pharmacy does a back ground check with each narcotic Rx.
I was very grateful our friends, the Engels brought us dinner this night.


This picture was taken of Derek's Deacons Quorum just before Christmas.  This has been a great group of boys with phenomenal leaders. A few of the boys are moving away, so it was taken for nostalgia. I'm happy Derek has had such a great experience with Scouts and the kids from church.

Deacons Quorum

Mike Cannon, Cameron Blacker, James Cannon, Garrett Kubricky, Case Lueck, Noah Hansen, Derek, Weston Thomas, Ben Jones, Parker, Dallin Blacker

Back Surgery part III

After surviving the last month Curtis was finally able to have surgery by Mark Wang.  This is the same Dr. that did his second surgery.

Curtis got a new back for Christmas, we showed up early on December 22nd.  This surgery center seemed a lot nicer than the one the previous surgeries were at.   The surgery went well, the recovery will be ...well recovery from a spinal fusion.  Possibly long and painful.

Prepping for surgery, this is when Curtis' anxiety kicked into high gear.

The aftermath

Just a few hours after surgery the Physical therapist put on the back brace and got Curtis out of bed.

His first walk after surgery, he did 2 laps which was pushing re-hab records.

Curtis did spend the night.  This was a first for him.  He usually convinced the Drs. to let him out the same day.  This surgery was a bit more intense.

Crazy stuff in November

Trey getting ready to blow out candles with his friend Andrew next to him

11.12.16-

Trey turned eight.  YEA!!  We had a low key party for him at Peter Piper Pizza with just a few of his close friends, Andrew, Kyle, Jeremy and Justin (Jeremy's younger brother) and Henry.  We had it on Veterans day because there was no school.  It was a bit crazy at the end and unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him with his friends. We gave him a new watch because his favorite watch broke (exact duplicate) his friends gave him the usual, nerf guns, and Andrew gave him a remote control car that was pretty fun.  He loved his bithday.  We opened his birthday presents Saturday morning, then I had to head up to Flagstaff to check on my dad.

Birthday Boy #8

Jeremy and Trey, the prior week at Jeremy's birthday party at KTR.  Jeremy's parents dubbed this the VIP section "fast forward 10 years boys chillin in their first apartment"

YEA! 8 is great.  Finally old enough for cub scouts.

I had a birthday as well. Pretty uneventful, my friends took me to breakfast and we had birthday cake around the house for a few days.  Sometimes I feel like Trey has the never ending birthday.  I took treats to his class on Thursday, he had his birthday party on Friday, his actual birthday was Saturday, then we celebrate mine again on Monday.

11-19-2016

Trey gets baptized.

It was a nice day, We show up at the Stake Center, we have the talks, music etc.  Our ward had three kids that day.  Curtis performed the baptism and now that Dax is a priest he was one of the Witness'.  It was a nice day.

Trey with Tegan, they are also in the same class at school

We came home from the Baptism I rushed Dax over to a friends house to play Dungeons & Dragons, then I had to rush Derek over to an orthodontist appointment.  Curtis stayed home and watched a BYU football game, that is when everything changed.....

Prior to this Curtis' back had been bothering him for a few weeks.  Curtis has already had a few back surgeries, and sometimes pain comes and goes but he sneezed and wailed.  That is when I get concerned.  After already witnessing the pain he endures with herniated disks, I know that sneezing is not such a little thing.  Curtis assured me it was nothing.  After the baptism, Curtis went down stairs to watch the BYU game and then he tried to get up and he felt extreme pain and he couldn't walk so he laid on the ground for a while.  The game ended, he still was in pain he barely hobbled up the stairs made it to the bed and collapsed.  He just laid there, couldn't walk, stand or sit. He didn't sleep very well either.  Curtis said this pain was similar to what he had felt after one of his surgeries, and he thought it was a muscle spasm that was causing the sciatic nerve to be irritated and cause pain.  Curtis has a pretty high tolerance for pain, but I had never seen him like this.  He stayed in bed the rest of the day Saturday and all day Sunday.  He thought about going to the Emergency room Sunday night but didn't.  Finally Monday morning the pain was too intense, nothing was getting better. After I got the kids off to school on Monday we headed over to the ER.  He laid in the back of the minivan, and once we arrived I had to get a wheelchair, then they moved him to a bed right away.  After waiting around, filling out paperwork etc.  The Drs. finally gave him a few shots of morphine, and sterroids sent him home with a prescription for a muscle relaxer and a few more days of steroids.  Curtis was feeling better at this point. He could briefly stand and walk.  We hoped a few days of rest and the steroids he would be back to good.  We started to see slight progress each day, then he had a setback.  The extreme pain returned, he was no longer able to walk (not that he was going for or fast), sit or stand.  UGHH.  In the mean time, we had made a Dr. appt with his back surgeon just to get things checked out, the soonest Curtis could get in was Dec. 15.  We originally thought this appointment may not even be necessary by the time it rolls around. Not a big deal being scheduled a few weeks out.

Feeling much better after receiving some morphine and other pain killers in the ER.

Later in the week was Thanksgiving.  We had originally planned to go out to each at Rawhide like we did last year.  As it got closer we realized that was not going to happen because Curtis could not leave the house, much less the bed.  On Wednesday I went to the store, stocked up on Thanksgiving and we had a nice small meal at home, Curtis laid in the recliner and ate with us as we sat at the table.

The following Monday the pain was unbearable so we headed back to the ER again.  (That place is slower than anything and no urgency for anything but filling out paperwork and making sure they know how to get paid.  We decided all the TV shows about this place are pure fiction because nothing happens quick or with any type of urgency and the place is really quite boring).  We saw different Drs. this time and I didn't think they were as helpful, they were slower than the previous visit and the ER was not busy either time, we had to beg for Morphine and any type of pain relief.  They did eventually give him some and the steroids again but at a much lower dose.  By this time we knew it was urgent to get into a back Dr. before December 15th.  I called so many places.  I finally found one that could see him on Wed.  When we met with Dr. Anderson, who was more of a pain specialist, not a surgeon, he thought the pain was more than muscle spasms.  He suspected that Curtis was having more disc problems.  He did squeeze Curtis in his schedule later that day to receive some injections to stop the muscle spasms but didn't think that would solve his problem entirely because he suspected Disc issues.  Dr. Anderson also ordered an MRI, luckily we found a place that was to do the MRI the next day instead of waiting 10 days.

At this point Curtis asked our Home Teachers for a blessing.  After all this (pain meds, steroids, injections, and the blessing) Curtis was starting to feel some relief.  It took a few days but he could finally get up and walk.

Curtis made a few posts on FaceBook about all this, these are his thoughts:

11-29-2016

ok 11 days of essential bed rest with some serious nerve and back issues has given me some challenges, and too much time to sit and ponder. I'm getting better and will be back causing trouble soon. Thought I would share a few in no particular order:

- I never want to retire ... I'm not designed to sit and watch TV and lay around ... pure torture. I have been able to grow a pretty decent beard though ... except I've got more grey showing up on my chin lol.

- when your physical health goes bad - not much else goes well ... debilitating pain can take over most thoughts ... rejoice in good health!

- my wife, family and friends who have reached out, prayed for me, and just sent texts are amazing. My wife Marilyn Lund Johnson is so incredible it makes me sad she is stuck with me ... but she said she draws the line if I have to go to diapers and change those lol.

- my real estate team I work with is incredible ... they crank on better without me in the way lol ... love and miss you guys!

- been to the ER a few times ... not sure why there are ANY TV shows about that place ... nothing goes fast, pretty boring, they are way more interested in filling in forms, instead of solving problems and stopping pain, not sure they even know what STAT means lol ... ok and the staff is hardly great looking ... so maybe they were all in the back making out or something, but how anyone makes a TV show out of that place is amazing ... pure fiction lol.

- lots more ... but last night as I got a blessing based on faith to help comfort and relax me a bit over some of the pain ... I felt an overwhelming connection to our Savior Jesus Christ and what he suffered for us to be forgiven of our sins, but also he took upon our pains and hurts emotionally and physically for us. I think there is something for each of us to learn as we go through pain - just like as we go through happiness. The point being to put it in Gods hand, and learn what we can.

My hope and prayer is I will be back crushing it shortly! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers ... enjoy your health!

12/3/2016

Ok ... so big deal standing up in my back yard right? Is there something in your life that if you instantly lost the ability to do, would send you into a dark place?

I'm fired up and excited about the simple things ... maybe these are some deep thoughts - or maybe not ... ok either way if you can think about this for a minute, instead of a silly cat video :) : sucks when you can't walk.

So for the last 14 days I have not been able to stand, walk or even sit up for more than about 20 seconds, because of severe back and leg spasms that cut off my nerve down my right leg. Crawling 20 feet to the bathroom - leaning against a wall to do my thing, would land me on the ground in tears for about a half hour. Several ER trips for morphine shots, and stacks of painkillers did very little.

Call me weak if you like, but I've got a very high pain threshold and ran a marathon years ago with 2 disks in my back that were crushed, ruptured and beyond repair. I committed to running it, and I trained and finished it. Several back surgeries ensued, so I don't say that to prove my wisdom ... but my pain tollarance lol.

I just wanted to thank everyone who sent prayers, and also good mojo my way over the last few days. Yesterday. I was able to stand and take a few steps ... today I was walking nearly pain free ... drove my car to take my wife Marilyn Lund Johnson on a hot date to Sam's Club for a hot dog since she had been so incredible looking after me. Yes if you were wondering - I stepped up, and got her the combo soda meal with it, and the ice cream ... I know when to really wow her :)

It's incredible to walk when you get to a really dark place and think "what if i can't ever feel my leg again, ever sit normal in a chair or even walk?" Today was a great day ... I so took the basics in life for granted!

I believe in faith ... I believe in healing ... I believe in the power of God doing in our life anything he sees fit. I did everything I could think to heal my body. It didn't work. It was, and is on his schedule always.

I also am not naive and think that just because of prayer I can walk fine etc, and that others who don't pray would be stuck on the ground ... bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to horrible people ... but maybe I needed to learn something, who knows ... maybe this is temporary, and I'll be back on my back again tomorrow?

I choose to see this as a gift and blessing from God. Each day we all have that. But for now I give thanks for you - my friends - my online buddies and those who need a little lift - have some hope ... just a deep thought here, if you are still with me:

Can I honor and give thanks to God when good things happen? Yes ... that's easy right? But what if I could NOT walk, and it was his will for me to suffer longer etc ... could I still honor and praise God then? Hard to say I wouldn't be frustrated ... but that's the faith i need to gain and the man I need to become. For now I'm just stoked to walk a bit, and ready to go use my body the best I can to honor God.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers ... this is not the end of the story ... I get all the tests and results Monday to see what the issues are ... maybe it's all in my head, or maybe I'm really messed up ... but for today I loved walking around! Do something great ... go take a walk ... tell someone you love them ... and use your life to do good today!

Among all this, I signed up to be an Escort on Trey's fieldtrip to the Idea museum.  I stocked Curtis up with supplies he would need, and left him alone in bed, while I went on the field trip.  His sister Alisa, did come to visit him while I was away.

I enjoyed spending the day with Trey on his field trip.  They learned about dogs, and the kids enjoyed it.

Curtis was finally able to get in to see his back surgeon. He will be having surgery 12/22/2016

Costumes 2016

We just had Halloween.  We didn't have any great ideas like we did last year.  Initially, Dax and Derek were not that interested in dressing up.  Trey wanted to be some character from a video game I had never heard of.  Not that exciting.

We made a few trips to the Halloween store mostly because it's fun.  I snapped a few pics of the kids having fun there.

Some "FNAF" (Five Nights at Freddies) character

The Horsehead was popular,
Derek & Trey were not even at the store together, yet they both tried it on.

I think this had something to do with the "Fallout" game, the kid is red is just some kid from the store, we don't know him

The Donald

Now for the Real costumes...

  Trey finally got some inspiration from the Halloween store and decided to be a "Prankster Gangster" that is a term from some You Tuber he watches, and he has a "fabulous mustache".  Super easy and cheap, I told him to wear his church suit, black shirt, and red tie,  I bought the hat and the mustache.  The silver gun is a funny story.  It used to be a neon green and orange Nerf gun.  A few months ago I went to a meeting at the school, when I came home the kids had spray painted it silver and named it "Smooth Criminal".  I feared the mess of the spray paint.  They did a fantastic job.  They got out newspaper , set everything up on the grass and painted away.  I couldn't be upset about that, they did everything right.  I thought the whole thing was pretty funny.

Prankster Gangster with smooth criminal

Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters, Incrediboy from Incredibles,
and Prankster Gangster from Pink Sheep videos

Derek changed his mind a few times, but ended up being Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters, I thought that was pretty creative and super easy as well. Nobody wanted to be Adam Savage his sidekick.

Some of the Young Men decided they wanted to go as Disney characters.  Dax decided to go as Incrediboy from the Incredibles.  Another super easy costume this year.  It makes up for the many hours I spent on the DeLorean last year.

Except for last year, I don't usually dress up. For many years and I have always thought the people dressed up were having more fun.  So I dressed up again.  I had an old Christmas fruit topiary decoration thing that was falling apart.  I gave it  a new life.  I added some bananas to the fallen fruit, and turned it into a hat.  I decided to go as Chiquita banana, I got a lot of compliments on it.

Chiquita Banana with my friend Pam.
I can't remember who she was dressed up as, but her eyes were creepy that night.
She had scary contacts

More Costumes....

A few months ago I was asked by the R.S. President If I would be in a play.  I laughed and sad no.  She said "we have someone else in mind if they can't do it, could you possibly be on backup"?   She had this particular dress for a costume and it  would possibly only fit me and one other person.  "Sure I'll be backup" thinking good I got out of it.  A few weeks later she texts me and asks me to do the deed.  Ugh, I so don't do things like this.

Anyway, a few costume fittings, and rehearsals later I am "Little Miss Muffett" in a play called Visiting Teaching in Mother Goose Land.  I remember my mom helping with something like this many many years ago.  I still have the stamp she used to make the invitations.  The play was actually pretty funny, and we had a good time doing it.  I think everyone liked it.  There was a lot of laughter. 

Claudia, The R.S. President loves to make costumes, and she is very meticulous with everything she does.  I started thinking back since Claudia was made president about 18 months ago, she has had someone in a costume at an R.S. event every chance she got. For being a  15-minute play, the costumes were amazing.  Not only does she have a ton of costumes, she has all the accessories, hats, hoop skirts, pantaloons, shoes.  It's really quite amazing this is just a hobby for her.  Another gal, Emily, is an artist and she made the back drops they were also amazing.  Because those two things were so well done, it made up for any bad acting.  I think Emily was the original Miss Muffett but she was needed in scenery instead, so I got the job. Thursday night was the play and it was a success.

Amy Bailey as "Queen of Hearts", me as "Little Miss Muffett", Ann Kirkham as "Little Bo Peep"

Fall Fun

We had a fun relaxing break, although we just hung around.  Here is a quick synopsis:

Dax had his wisdom teeth pulled.  He did great, and really breezed through it.  He was loopy when he woke up from the surgery.  He kept asking Dr. Eric Engle if this is what people feel like who take drugs, he also kept spitting the gauze out.  Minimal swelling and pain. He did great.

Dax after his Wisdom Teeth were pulled








Trey signed up to play basketball with his friend Jeremy at the YMCA, I think he actually enjoyed it.

Trey with his Basketball team, only half  the team showed up for pics

Curtis and I snuck away for a night at the Hilton Tapitio Cliffs resort in Scottsdale.  So nice the kids are old enough that we can do things like this now.  I think the kids like the independence as well.
We had an amazing dinner at their Terrace room with spectacular views.  They brought us a special desert.

Curtis chillin at the resort

My friend, Shadow who is big into politics, asked me to volunteer for a few hours at the campaign office.  Since Trey was out of school and a bit of a Trump supporter, I brought him along to teach him about the process.  He had a good time, and he was so excited to get on the tablets and start making calls.  He had no fear.  I was surprised how many people came in to get campaign signs for their yard, just for the two hours we were in there.

Trey making calls to remind people to vote. 

Derek was invited by his friend David to go up to a cabin they rented in Pinetop.  They had a great time, and Derek loved the cabin.

Derek and David at Woodland lake

Derek has fantastic scout leaders, and is nearing the finish line. He is ready to start working on his Eagle project, as soon as he figures out what he wants to do.  They went on a campout this weekend to work on the shooting merit badge.  We're all a little bummed the pulled his scout leader, Wes Lueck, out yesterday and put him in the Bishopric :(

"Dead Eye Derek" 

Big Announcement

 The kids have been on break, we stayed around this year.  Our family had a lot going on Curtis and I had originally wanted take the kids to California and have some fun there, but we assessed the situation and decided to stay home. 
 Back in August Curtis made the big announcement that he would be closing his Real Estate Company, Curtis Johnson Realty, and joining Revelation Realty.  This was not an easy decision. Curtis has put so much blood, sweat, and tears into building CJR for the last 12 years, but Curtis felt it was an amazing opportunity and put him on the fast track to get him where he wanted to be.  Chuck and Angela Fazio (owners of Revelation)  offered him part ownership in their Title company, which  was something Curtis has been wanting to do for several years, but it never seemed to work out.

Revelation is also building a new beautiful state of the art building, which will have all the amenities that Curtis has wanted to provide for his company for a long time.  Curtis will no longer have to deal with the day to day Broker issues, now he can really grow his business and provide opportunities for his agents, and clients like he has always wanted.  His business will now be known as the Curtis Johnson Division of Revelation Realty.  Chuck came up with the "Division" name because he knows Curtis will make it huge, so much more than just a Real Estate "Team"

We had to move the old office (the lease was up) and transfer all the license and broker info over to Revelation Realty.  This all took place the first week of October as the kids were just starting their break. We decided it was best to postpone the trip a few months.

Goodbye Curtis Johnson Realty

Hello, Revelation Realty-Curtis speaking at Ground Breaking Ceremony with Chuck Fazio looking at Curtis with great admiration.

Ground Breaking Ceremony on Friday 10/21
L-R Leigha Lawrence, Marilyn & Curtis Johnson, Chuck & Angela Fazio (Lance Gabbard in Back) Brandon Switzer, Julieta Sutton, Justin Dols, Justin Green, Danny Saucido

Hello Honda O.

Our beloved, Vanessa is gone.  Vanessa was our original Honda Odyssey mini van.  The kids name it Vanessa because it was a Van and the GPS voice was female, I thought it was pretty clever. We bought it used about five and half years ago.  It suited us well, I said I would drive that car until I couldn't drive it anymore.  It happened.

Back in August the A/C went out in the car.  That was pretty much miserable to have the A/C go out in the heat of a Phoenix summer.  I knew the car needed some other work on the brakes etc.  It was going to cost $1500 to get it all fixed, about what the car was worth.  We thought about getting a new car then.  We didn't just because we didn't want to take the time/effort of looking for a new car, plus nobody wanted to ride in it with the AC out. It was unbearable, especially when I had to sit and wait for Dax to get out of school, I couldn't sit with the windows up because I would suffocate, If I sat with the windows down and was almost just as hot because there was no breeze.  I don't know that I would actually call it a breeze, more like a hair dryer blowing in your face.

We fixed the AC and hoped it would last us a few more months then we would look into getting a new one.  It only took a few more weeks for something else to break.  It was time, repairs were costing way too much.
Curtis enjoys the car buying process (negotiating is a game to him) I sent him down with what I was looking for. He drove the limping Vanessa to the dealer, wasn't sure it could make it.

We got pretty much the same car, just a newer model, they have added a lot more bells and whistles to the 2016 model compared to our 2006.  Curtis did great picking the car, getting the right price etc.

Pretty much the same car and color, Not my first choice in color, but what they had.  I'll take it, color is minor. 

It is so nice to ride in a car without all the little annoying broken things.  You get used to the rough ride, and all the quirks, then when you drive something new, it seems so much nicer.   The first time Dax rode in it, he couldn't believe how quiet it was.

Back to School 2016

First day of school or as I like to call it.  The most wonderful time of the year.

The kids won't admit it but they are bored, it's too hot to do anything.  They need to see their friends, they need to have a reason to wake up in the morning besides office/school supplies are on sale (always one of my favorite things to buy)

 The kids all leave for school at very different times so I can no longer get the picture of all three of them together.  Dax had a great attitude, a little weary because he hears Junior year is usually the hardest.  First day went well and he loved his new Seminary teacher Andrew Gordon.

 Trey was happy to go back, and also had a good first day.  Two of his good friends, Trajen and Jeremy moved so he is going to be starting fresh with new friends.

 Derek is still recovering from 6th grade and was not too excited to start school.  He was also not happy that we made him spiff up his wardrobe a bit.  No free t-shirts to school ( t-shirts that were a give away/promotional item) and he needed to wear more than athletic pants every single day.  This was the best picture I could get from him.  He just kept looking more and more miserable (although I belive it is an act).  He had a good first day, he enjoyed riding the bus.  He had some friends of the bus as well.  Derek picked out his clothes for the first day (following our guidelines) he came home saying he looked like Jake from State Farm.  Ha ha he dressed himself in that.

Trey.  Happy to be at his desk in his classroom. His teacher is Mrs. Chiu.

Happy sweet 16.

Our Baby is 16.  WOW.

Once again Dax wanted to do the dive in movie for his birthday.  This year he went with Jurassic World, he thought that would be a good match for a movie watched in water,  since the water dinosaurs are pretty terrifying in the end. This year went much smoother than last year.

We had a great turn out, we invited all the YM and YW this year. We had a good mix of kids.  The weather forecast was 0% chance of rain, pretty perfect movie weather...  much improved over the monsoon that came in last year, just as the party started.

The boys did a great job setting up the party on a HOT July day

Herbivore Spread

 Fun party, everyone seemed to have a great time.  Dax feels loved. Being 16 is great and a perfect wrap up to a fun summer.  We gave Dax money for his birthday, he is going to buy a computer that he has wanted for a long time.  Hopefully he will get a job soon.