Doug Johnson watches as his daughter acknowledges cheers from the crowd. They are now the parents of one of the most famous teenage girls in the world, but Doug Teri and Johnson seem to be still a little surprised at all the attention.

They are the parents of gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson and father Doug says their lives have changed dramatically in the last two weeks.

Doug Johnson says it has changes a lot, "It’s been really weird," but he says the changes have been for the good. Teri Johnson joined her husband and daughter for a welcome home ceremony in Des Moines Tuesday that drew some seven thousand people. Teri says all the attention to their family still hasn’t sunk in.

"Kind of unbelievable, but I mean it’s very cool, I mean who wouldn’t love this,come on, this is nice" Johnson asked,"It’s nice that there are this many people who appreciate what I love. This is good." Doug Johnson says it was nerve wracking watching their daughter compete on the world stage, but says they did get some time to spend as a family in China.

He says they had a great time and saw a lot of things on the days Shawn wasn’t competing, including the Great Wall of China, which he described as "awesome." Johnson was asked if his daughter did a back flip off the Great Wall.

"Well actually no, but she did do a handstand– we got pictures of that," he explained.

Doug Johnson was asked if he wants to go through it all again in London in four years when their daughter will be 20. "No I don’t," Johnson said as the crowd laughed, "but uh, she hasn’t decided yet. Hopefully she’ll decide one way or the other here shortly and we can either go for it, or she can relax a little bit."

Teri and Doug Johnson Teri Johnson was shown on TV breaking down in tears after Shawn won the gold in the balance beam, and said watching the performance is something she has to do second by second. She seemed to be hesitant as well to go through it again.

"If she wants to, I’ll be there for her again," Johnson said to cheers of the crowd. Shawn Johnson will lead the pledge of allegiance at the Democratic Convention in Denver Thursday before going on a nationwide tour with her fellow gymnasts.