Jonny & Ashley Johnson

Happy 3 Year Anniversary!

2011-05-22T15:40:00.005-06:00

For our 3 year anniversary Jonny suprised me with a trip to San Diego. He had it planned for 3 months and I had no idea. About 5 days before he told me we were going somewhere so that I could make sure I got off work on time. The night before he told me what to pack. I had no idea where we were going until we were at the airport. Jonny is so good at planning sweet surprises. San Diego has so many memories for us, its where we started our new lives together after we got married. It was the best weekend ever. The weather was great and we stayed in an amazing beach house right on the boardwalk in Mission Beach.

Our beach house- we stayed on the left side. The front widows and doors opened all the way so the whole front of the house could be open.

This is what we woke up to every morning. It was AAA-MAZING!

View of the boardwalk in the morning. It was so fun to see all the joggers and bikers out exercising.

Before our morning jog on the boardwalk.

Laying out on the beach. It was so convenient staying right on the beach. We didn't have to pack a bag with all our beach gear because our house was right there. We played catch, laid out, read books, and while I napped Jonny made friends with our neighbors and play bochi (sp?) ball.

Jonny braved the freezing water and body surfed. I took pictures.

Eating at one of our favorite restaurants in Old Town- Fred's Mexicana. Yummy. We gave our leftovers to a homeless man outside the restaurant.

Hanging out at Belmont Park.

Eating breakfast while watching the waves.

It was such a fun trip and a great way to celebrate our anniversary. I'm so grateful for Jonny and love him more each day. I'm a lucky girl!

Snowboarding is always an adventure...

2011-02-19T15:54:00.005-07:00

One thing that Jonny and I both love doing during the winter is going snowboarding… although when I met him he had never been. He preferred skiing- boo. Just kidding. But I am glad he decided to try snowboarding two years ago because now he loves it and its something we get to do together each year.

Here is a little picture for you…. just a reminder of what happened the last time we went snowboarding last year…. needless to say, Jonny was a little nervous our first time on the mountain this year.

I can only post that picture because now we can all laugh about it. Well kind of... it still hurts sometimes and now our new insurance won't cover any treatment on it because its a 'pre-exisiting condition'….blah. But thats a whole different blog post.

We went to the Canyons before Christmas with Jonny's brothers and dad. It snowed all day long and there was tons of powder.

Me and Jonny-- awe.

In the gondola on the ride up the mountain- Jonny, Me, Boyd, Jordan, Josh.

The boys doing what they do best-- sitting on their bums.

Jordan, Boyd, Josh

Ha ha this is a great picture if you know the story behind it. Someone had a bright idea to go down this run that hadn't been groomed. There was probably 3 feet of powder and it was so steep that it was hard to get down. This was taken after Josh almost ran into a tree, got up and then almost immediately collided with Boyd. FUNNNY!

This is Boyd when he fell- you can't see it very well but his skiis got stuck vertically in the snow…another funny story.

This picture on the top is me after I fell…. but right before I face-planted it and couldn't get up. It took me forever to get out of the snow!

Jonny after a wild run in the powder…he may have face-planted it as well.

When we went snowboarding in Park City the weather couldn't have been more opposite than before. It was perfect! It was warm and the sky was clear and blue. We went with my brother nick and one of his friends… but my camera died so I don't have too many pictures of it!

I just had to post these pictures of Jonny with his two nieces. Aren't they cute :)

Rogers Family Reunion

2011-01-28T15:37:00.007-07:00

I started this post forever ago but never posted it. After Christmas (yes 5 months ago!!!) we had a family reunion with the Rogers side (my mom's side) of the family. We stayed in St. George and had a blast, even though it was freezing. We went 4-wheeling, almost killed Aubrey, played Hokey 6 and ate lots of good food.

Brittany and Nick

Me and Skyler

Me and Cameron

Me and my mom

Cam

Cubs

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Craft

2010-12-08T16:42:00.003-07:00

I really wanted a wreath to hang on my door and got the idea from a friend to make one. So I decided to be brave and attempt at making one. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I love making crafts. I found the wreath at Hobby Lobby for half off, got some cheap accessories at Wal-Mart, and used some left over Christmas tree ornaments. I was pretty glad with how it turned out- and it only cost about $30. Plus it was something fun to do while Jonny was out of town.

Our recent travels

2010-12-01T20:07:00.014-07:00

Jonny and I have been very lucky to have been able to travel so much lately! We are just trying to get it all out of our system before we have kids one day! :)

In Ocboter my good friend Robin and her husband JD invited us to go with them to Cancun. We had SO much fun. I had never been to a resort anywhere so I was really excited. I loved Cancun, the water was beautiful and so clear and the sand was so white.

This first day was in Play del Carmen, it was closer to our hotel than the actual city of Cancun.

Robin and I :)

We totally gave into this guy on the streets and paid him money to hold his monkeys. They were really cute tho….

We went to the coolest theme park call Xplor. If any one goes to Cancun I highly recommend it! We were there all day and got to zip-line, swim in caves, raft through caves, and drive these jeep looking things. The zip-line was SO much fun, but we didn't get any pictures. They had a water slide and 3 of the ziplines landed in the water. It was a blast!

We drove over these bridges and through underground caves!

The beach at our hotel was beautiful!

I have always wanted to go to a place that has a pool bar. Jonny and I won the water balloon toss contest so we got free drinks! virgin of course!

One day we went to Talum- a little town with ancient ruins. They have so much history to them.

This was the beach at the ruins in Tulum.

A giant iguana at our hotel.

ELITE HOME SECURITY *** CRUISE 2010

This was the most fun cruise I have ever been on! We had such a good time. Thanks Elite Home Security!

This was at the awards night….

Cabo San Lucas!

Mazatlan!

Puerto Vallart!

Some of the guys got asked to help with the promenade parade one night and dress up as the village people. It was SO funny! All the old ladies flocked to them to get pictures with them!

One night we played Sardines on the boat, I don't know whose idea it was, but it was the best! We had so much fun trying to find whoever was hiding….

All crammed in the elevator getting ready to play Sardines

At the end of the game, crammed behind a piano….

We had such a fun time!!!

West Yellowstone August 2010

2010-10-01T10:51:00.005-06:00

Every summer my brother, Cameron, moves to West Yellowstone, MT to be in the Playmill Theatre. I remember going to see shows at the Playmill when we were little and lived in Idaho. Now its even more fun to go since Cameron is there. We usually go in August around the time of the Mesa Falls marathon- but this year we went earlier. Everyone was there except Kris and Cami and their family (we missed you!) We had a lot of fun!

This was us all cramming in the car to go swimming at Firehole- its kind of become another little tradition. Except I hate cold water.

The only wildlife we saw this trip! We didn't even see any buffalo!

Cam, Chase, Shyla, Me, Nick and Jonny sitting in the freezing water..... There were cliffs and rocks everywhere that you could sit on.

Jonny getting ready to jump in the deep part. You jump in this skinny area between cliffs and it sucks you in and pushes you out further down the river. Doesn't sound fun to me- I tried it once and almost drown- and that was the end of my bravery.

Cameron--- the pro.

Nick.....

I had to put up this picture up of this little chipmunk or squirrel thing. While we were in the water, my Dad was feeding these creatures and taking pictures of them. I have about 100 pictures of squirrels if anybody wants any.

Chase, Shyla, Nick, Cam, Jonny

This picture is sideways.... sorry. Its my mom with 3 of her sons.

This was at some geyser. It was pretty cool.

Dinner at the Pizza place after a long day of swimming. Yummy.

With Cameron after the show Beauty and the Beast. He was the clock. It was such a good show, one of my favorites!

Us with cameron if his full clock costume.

Johnson Family St. George Trip

2010-07-29T21:43:00.005-06:00

We decided for our family trip with the Johnson's this year that we'd spend sometime down in St. George. We were supposed to stay a week, but since I got a new job we could only stay a few days. But we made the most of it and had SO much fun.

This first day the boys got up early and went 4-wheeling. So us girls went and got pedicures and then went to the pool. It was over a 100 degrees the whole time we were there!

Jessica and Braxton in the pool.

Addie and Nana floating in the pool.

Later in the afternoon we went out to Hurricane and met up with the boys and rode 4-wheelers for a few hours. I don't know how they did it all day, it was SO hot!

This is me and Jessica in our helmets.

Jonny teaching me how to drive Josh's 4-wheeler- those things are hard! I just like the big, sturdy ones that you don't have to worry about shifting and using a clutch!

Me, Jina, and Jessica

Me and Jonny in our new helmets!

That night we went to the Pizza Factory- Yum!

On Sunday afternoon we decided to drive up to Zion's National Park and ride on the shuttle through the park. It was so pretty.

This is Juli and Jina.

Me and Jonny at Zion's.

Driving in the car, Cubby loves Boyd. They took a little nap together- guess they were worn out!

We had such a fun trip- can't wait to do it again!

Random pics

2010-07-29T21:37:00.002-06:00

Jonny has been travelling a lot for work. In May I was able to go to Chicago with him. It was weird being back there again, it brought back a LOT of memories. We did a little shopping and ate out (of course, eating out is the best this to do in Chicago). But I'm mad because this is the only picture I took all weekend!

This was on our airplane ride home. The sunset was so pretty- I know its a bad picture, but it was the best I could do!

Jonny got a new grill for Fathers Day (he's a great father to our dog Cubby). Ha ha. But it been really fun to have BBQ's, its the best part about summer. And its so nice to be at home this summer and be able to BBQ at our own house. Plus its less cooking for me :)

Lake Mead May 2010

2010-07-29T21:08:00.004-06:00

Like I said earlier- I'm trying to play catch up. I have so many things I want to blog about but for some reason I procrastinate until I have so much to say that it takes me forever!

Every May and October Jonny's family goes to Lake Mead. We've never gone in May because we've always been out selling somewhere. So this is the first year we were able to go to the May trip. It was so hot, but the water was still a little cold for my liking! We had such a great time. We were at the lake for 2 days and camped overnight. Then we stayed in St. George for another night at Jonny's parents condo.

This is Jonny and I on the beach. We always go to this little beach that is perfect to just let Cubby run around on. I usually get nervous to just let him free because he runs, but there wasn't anything he could do to get in trouble here so we let him go. He loved it there- he was obsessed with playing fetch with his ball. We'd throw it out in the water and him swim out to get it. He also loved to dig in the sand and roll around in it- he got quite dirty! And yes I'm aware that I'm talking about my dog like he's my child- get over it! :)

Here is Cubby running on the beach and swimming. Jonny was so proud of him!

We even let Cubby take his first ride on the tube..... His ears stuck up in the wind.

Tyler, Jessica, and baby Lily.

Jordan and Jonny on the knee boards.

Cubby floating in the water on the board- he didn't like this so much.

Jordan on the knee board....showing off again. :)

Jonny on the ski.

Boyd on the ski.... look at that spray!

Eating dinner at our campsite. Jina is the best person to go camping with because she is always so prepared and has the best food for us!

Roasting mallows and talking around the fire.

The girls on our Princess ride..... even though we look scared in the picture below it wasn't too crazy. Thank goodness I was with a pregnant girl so they had to be nice!

Then we had a ride with the husbands, it was a little more crazy!

Cubby floating on the tube with Nana and Papa.

We had such a great time and can't wait to go again in October!

Finally an update!

2010-07-09T17:30:00.004-06:00

I have not blogged in forever, I need to be better at it. One day I want to make it in a book/journal so I feel like I need to blog about every thing we do! So I'll post a lot in the next few weeks, and I'll start clear back in April to get you all caught up!

Every Easter Jonny's whole family goes down to St. George. This is the first year we've been able to go, so I was pretty excited. It was a little chilly, but we still had fun!

Me, Rachel, Nicole.... all married into the Johnsons :)

We played games....

Played volleyball....

The girls painted crafts, while the guys went golfing...

Some of us girls also went to a zumba class at the gym and it was SO much fun. I've been dying to go ever since. We also had the traditional Easter Egg hunt at Granny and Gramps' place. Everyone has one egg to find, plus they have a 'golden egg' that has $50 in it!

The lovely Nicole...

My best friend who lives in California was also in St. George that weekend. I was SO glad we got to see each other. It'd been almost 2 years! She is having a baby this fall and I'm SO happy for her....

Later in April, my good friend from hygiene school got married. Congrats Mark and Mindy! Kim, Robin and I were able to go up to her wedding. It was beautiful!

BYU Women's Conference

2010-07-09T17:04:00.007-06:00

My Mom, aunts, and Grandma used to go to Women's Conference every year. My Mom hasn't been in a few years. But this year we decided to go, it was my first year. It was a lot of fun. We went full out and even stayed in the dorms... luckily we were only there one night....My mom and I shared a dorm with my Aunt Rita and their old college roommate, Nancy.

Here we are with my beautiful cousin Rebecca and her adorable baby, we call baby Jack.

One morning we woke up to snow! Yes, snow in April. Luckily it quickly melted and turned into rain. This was us walking to our class from the dorm.

Alex Boye was did a performance one night and the next day was meeting fans in the bookstore. At first we didn't want to wait in line to meet him..... so we stood in the back and got our picture the less formal way. We didn't realize until after we were done that we were in the back of other people's pictures with him too.... whoops.

Then finally we decided we'd made big enough fools of ourselves and decided to just get a picture.

After spending a few days in Utah we ventured down to Arizona to stay with my Grandma for a few days. It was SO nice and relaxing. I loved the warm weather, especially when it was still 90 degrees at 10:00 at night. We spent a lot of time at the pool!

Mom and Grandma working out in the pool one night.

We went to the temple one morning, its a pretty place!

Of course I couldn't go to Gilbert without visiting one of my best friends, Robin. It was so good to see her, I always have so much fun with her. And you know we went shopping.... and ate some good food.

I have always wanted to try SPrinkles cupcakes... and we finally did. They were yummy, all that Oprah says they are.

Random Things in Life

2010-03-19T17:03:00.006-06:00

I'm not very good at posting anymore... For some reason I think that I have to have some pictures to post about- or exciting news. Things have been going well for us though. We are just working away -- well some of us are still looking for another job (me). Jonny is such a hard worker, I am always amazed him. He is like the energizer bunny and is constantly going. There is hardly a night when we just relax and watch TV anymore. I guess that isn't a bad thing though- and it helps us enjoy the time we have together.

Here are some pictures of things we've been up to. ...

Just Cubby- How can you not love that face???

Jonny's friend Alex works for the Jazz and got us tickets one night. He is the manager over the suites- and since there was an empty one he let us go up in it. That was awesome. You get the treatment up there for sure. I ate WAY too much popcorn! The best part about it was that two sweets down from us was President Monson. (see below). I'm sure we weren't supposed to take pictures but couldn't resist.... It was so cool to see the prophet of the Lord so close- and to know that he likes the Jazz too!!!

Jonny was in Seattle one week and sent me these beautiful flowers!!!

This is the finished product of the bedroom downstairs..... We finished it a while ago but I'm still working on decorating it.

This is the finished bathroom. It feels nice to finally be done with our big projects. But probably not for long- we have a lot of work to do in the backyard once it warms up!

I've told a lot of you about our famous ottoman. Last fall we bought this nice ottoman- and it wasn't very cheap. Well we'd had it about 2 days before Cubby chewed the corner off. I was trying to figure out how to fix it but had no idea.... so it just sat there for a few months. Then about a month ago Cubby decided to destroy the whole top part. It wasn't a happy day at our house. But it actually ended up being better because I decided to try to be creative and recover the whole top and it worked out better then trying to figure out how to fix the corner part that he ruined first. Here are the pictures of before and after. Its not perfect- but as you can see much better than it was before!

Mexican Riviera Cruise

2010-03-04T17:39:00.005-07:00

We went on a cruise last month with Elite Realty Group. There were 24 of us and we had a blast!

The day we got on the ship was Superbowl Sunday- so the guys found them some chairs on deck and watched it on the big screen. It was really cool- just a little chilly though!

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta- we stopped at Walmart, went zip-lining, ate at an authentic mexican restaurant, and did a little shopping at the flea market.

Our second stop was Mazatlan. We rode horses on the beach and it was awesome!

Our last stop was Cabo. We went to lovers beach and relaxed in the sun.

One of my favorite parts of cruises is getting the towel animals in your room every night. This cruise made the best animals!

Jonny's Gimp Shoulder

2010-02-21T15:43:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went night boarding. We like to go on Wednesday nights because its 2 for 1. We went up with Jonny's cousin Derek and his wife, Nicole. About halfway through the night we stopped in the lodge for some food. The guys went back out and Nicole and I stayed in the lodge to finish our hot chocolate and warm up a little more. We were just about ready to go back out to meet the boys when they walked back in the lodge. Derek told me that my husband needed to go to the hospital. Then Jonny walked in behind him holding his shoulder. (they've played this mean trick on me before one time- telling me Derek broke his leg, so I wasn't sure if I should believe them). But when I realized he was serious when I saw how much pain he was in. He thought he broke his collar bone at first, but then we got his coat off and after seeing how much he could move it we realized nothing was broken. So we went down to the ski patrol to have them look at it. They put it in a temporary sling with ice and told us to go to insta-care and get it x-rayed.

So we headed back down the mountain to an insta-care by our house. The first one we went to didn't accept our insurance, so we hurried to another one. We walked in about 5 minutes before they were supposed to close- I'm sure they were thrilled to see us. After some x-rays and having the Dr. check it, they told him he had an AC separation. As far as I understand- when he reached out to catch himself he pulled/partially tore the ligament that goes between your clavicle and shoulder-causing the bones to separate (or something like that). There isn't much you can do but wait for it to heal. So once again they sent him out with a sling and pain pills. I think he was pretty lucky it wasn't any worse. He hit his head pretty hard but luckily had a helmet on. He's learned to appreciate a healthy shoulder, he gets frustrated when he can't do normal things without pain. It is slowly getting better though. He was really upset because it was 3 days before we were going on a cruise!! It was another reminder about how life can change in an instant and how we need to be grateful for our functioning bodies. :)

The last few months with the Johnson's

2010-01-31T16:37:00.007-07:00

I realize I am not a very good blogger these days, I'm going to try and be better. Its been over two months since my last post! Life is going great for us. We survived the holidays and loved all the time we got to spend with our wonderful families. There is something about Thanksgiving and Christmas that I just love. It is such a great time to celebrate the birth of our Savior and realize how blessed we are.

Since I last posted Jonny has been hard at work. He took his real estate test and passed on the first time. This was a big milestone for him- he's been talking about getting his license since I first met him. I was so proud of him for accomplishing this long time goal. And last week he closed on his first house! He was so excited and it was awesome to see all of his hard work paying off. He's also still doing the alarm systems as well. He's such a hard worker and I'm so lucky to have him!

I've been looking for a job since we moved back in October.... yes I said OCTOBER! I have never had this hard of a time getting a job. I guess its a sign of the economy and the overwhelming amount of hygienists in Utah. Thanks to a friend I have been able to get a job for Mondays. I'm so grateful for it :) Its at an awesome office in Provo and so far I have loved working there. So I'm just crossing my fingers to find a job for the rest of the days. Even though I haven't been working much I still find things to do with my time. We finally finished painting and fixing up the house, which feels great. But the housework never ends. I always find myself thinking, really do we have this much laundry? I just did it and yet its piled up again! And we don't even have kids yet. But, I am grateful for it. I'm grateful for all the blessings we have!

So here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately. There is a lot.... so enjoy! or don't...

Thanksgiving 2009

My parents came and stayed at our house over Thanksgiving. It was so fun to have them here and to be able to have them stay in our house with us. Two of my brothers live in Farmington so they were also around. We had a great time. We got together with old friends, saw some family, went to Grandma Boyle's grave, played games and watched movies.

Here is Mom and Dad sporting their BYU shirts ( they met at BYU, awww) . Go Cougars!

My Mom with her sisters, Rita and Rochele. They are a riot when they get together. We always laugh and have such a good time. Don't they look alike?

Here are some of the cousins that were also in Utah.

We went to temple square and looked at the Christmas lights.

Pinnacle Year End Party

We always look forward to the backend party for Pinnacle. They have great food and celebrate the success over the year. Jonny had a great summer working with them and ended up being 9th in the whole company. He worked so hard all summer so it was good to see him being recognized for all that work.

He he was getting an award on stage. He won some great prizes and got a nice plaque (below).

These are some of the girls I hung out with in Chicago (minus Mandi!)

My Birthday

I'm not one for big birthday celebrations and if you know me you know how much I don't like having a lot of attention. I love having parties for other people, just not myself. I had a great birthday this year. Jonny surprised me and had a little party planned with some of our friends. We showed up to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (just the two of us) and thats where everyone suprised me. They were already there waiting for us at our table. After dinner we went back to Josh and Rachel's for cake and ice cream. (Thanks Rach for helping plan it and for making the cake AND letting us hang out at your house!)

Table #1

Table #2

Jonny surprised me with a new MAC computer. I LOVE it. I was so surprised too! It was a great birthday and I have the best husband for making it so special.

Christmas!

Here is Cubby on Christmas Even in his PJ's. I thought they were so cute, even though Jonny thought they were silly and that I'm crazy for dressing my dog!

In our matching PJ's that my parents get us every year. This was our first Christmas in our house and first time having our own tree. I loved it!

Jonny on Christmas morning playing with his new golf clubs.

Trip to Las Vegas

Jonny was in Las Vegas for work. So on Thursday night I flew down there and spent the weekend with him and drove home with him. It was a fun little vacation. I pretty much hung out in the hotel by myself during the day when he was working. But we had a lot of fun at night. We walked around the strip, ate at a buffet, and saw Mystere. It was the most amazing show ever!

Sundance Film Festival

Last weekend Jonny, Cameron, and I went up to the film festival. We weren't there too long, just enough to have some dinner and walk around a bit. We didn't see anyone famous :( I'm not sure of where the hot spots are to go! Next time we'll plan a little better and try and see a show or something. But it was still a lot of fun!

Home projects

2009-11-13T14:36:00.005-07:00

As soon as we got back from Chicago we started working on projects around the house. We painted just about every room in the house and got new carpet and tile throughout the whole house. I'd be fine if I never saw a paintbrush again! It was quite a mess for a few weeks, but it was so worth it. We love how everything turned out. The colors aren't great in all of the pics- but you get the idea.

Jonny tore out all of the carpet and old tile. It was quite a chore, but saved us some money. I'm still trying to get everything back in order. I think we had about an inch of dust on everything in the house!

Jonny and his brother tearing out the kitchen. Jonny's family was so great and helped us a lot through the process!

This is the basement. The wall on the right is khacki. We painted the dark brown on top and stained the bead board on the bottom.

Another view of the basement. And Jonny's pride and joy for selling 300 this summer, his TV. Close up of the bead board.....

Looking up into the entry way.... Cubby was following me everywhere.

Looking down on the landing.... new tile and new khacki paint.

This is our new dining table. I love it! It'll be great since we're having Thanksgiving at our house this year!

The kitchen.....

Living room.....

Bedroom- we did a light tan wall and dark brown accent wall.

This is Jonny's favorite room- he picked it out himself. So it was only fitting that its Bingham Blue right? :)

This is my favorite room- the color looks really off in this picture though. Its a really pale green- not so bright. Then we stained the bead board in here too.

Close up of the beadboard and green wall

It was quite a project but its so nice to have done!!

Trip to Arizona

2009-11-13T14:18:00.003-07:00

Last weekend I made a quick trip to Phoenix for my friend Robin's wedding and also to see my Grandma. It was such a great weekend. I saw a lot of great friends that I haven't seen in a long time. We all went to hygiene school together and we feel like family after all that we went through together! Friday night we had a girls night with Robin- we did a little shopping and went to dinner. It was so fun, it was just like we hadn't been away from each other! We had a lot of good laughs!Mindy, Kim, Robin, Colleen.

Ashley, Robin, Mindy, Kim

The new Mr. and Mrs. Stichler! The day was perfect and they make a great couple.

Kim, Robin, Mindy, Me- outside the temple. It was SO warm!!

At the reception. It was so pretty! It was at a friend's house on the lake and it was decorated so awesome. After the reception they left in a boat! I am so happy for Robin, JD seems like a great guy.

A view of the reception....

Me and my Grandma. I love being able to go see her and spend time with her. She is so great!

Halloween Festivities

2009-11-03T21:01:00.004-07:00

This post has a lot of pictures- we had a fun Halloween this year.

First of all was our ward Halloween Chili cook-off and Trunk of treat. Neither Jonny or I had ever been to a trunk or treat before, so we weren't quite sure what to do with our trunk. But considering we threw it together at the last minute I thought we did ok. Jonny actually did most of it, and it looked really good. We even won an award for it. You can't see very well in the pictures but we had purple lights so our trunk was lit up. It was pretty cool. Jonny in front of his hard work.

Jonny holding our award. He worked hard for it.

HALLOWEEN WITH DEREK AND NICOLE.....

Derek and Nicole.... so cute :)

Jonny being our photographer....

Nicole and I making carmaled apples. It was really fun and they were SO yummy. We had a fun night with them- going to dinner, making the apples, and ending it with a scary movie. I HATE scary movies. Its a good thing Halloween is only once a year.

Some of the final products....

THE ANNUAL JOHNSON HALLOWEEN PARTY

Every year Jonny's aunt and uncle have a Halloween party. Jonny talks about all the memories he has as a little kid at the party. Melinda always has fun games like fishing, bean bag toss, cake walk, and of course the adult money tree!

Some of the boys....

Jonny and I....

The girls....

Decorating cookies.

Papa and Addie

The MONEY tree before we picked our envelopes...

I won!!!!

Derek and Nicole- the BIG winners!

Jessica and Tyler's big day

2009-11-03T20:32:00.005-07:00

Jonny's little sister got married a few weeks ago. It was such a great day and the weather could not have been better! They are such a happy couple. Congrats Jessica and Tyler!Jonny and his two brothers Jordan and Josh Jessica and Tyler Day

Johnson siblings

The original siblings.... plus Tyler.

aww.... at the temple. It reminded me a lot of our wedding day :)

The Johnson girls

The growing Johnson family.

At the reception center- it was amazing there.

Bridesmaids.

Goodbye Chicago!!

2009-10-28T20:01:00.006-06:00

About a month ago we said our final goodbye's to Chicago, and I don't think we could have been more excited to get back home. Chicago is an awesome city, but it wasn't too often we got to take advantage of the fun things to do. My Mom flew out to spend the last couple of days with us, and to help us make the long drive back to Utah. Isn't she great for riding in the car with me for all those hours? We spent a few days in Chicago, a couple of days in Nauvoo, a few more days in Omaha, and then eventually arrived in Utah. It was a long week of travelling but we had a lot of fun.

On our last day in Chicago we spent the day downtown. Jonny took the morning off of work and hung out with us for a little bit. This is Jonny in front of Soldier Field.

The Field Museum

This was us in front of the Field Museum- a museum that has everything from dinosaurs to plants to Native Americans to Pirates....... You could spend days in there. But a few hours was enough for us. I was lucky enough to even get Jonny to walk into a museum, let alone spend time in there :) They had a pirate exhibit.... but we actually didn't go see it. We happened to go on one of the museum's "free days" and didn't want to pay extra to see the pirates.

This is looking down at the entrance from the seond floor. I really felt like I was in the movie "Night at the Museum."

Chicago Double Decker Bus Tour
My Mom and I went on a bus tour of the city. It was the best thing! They had 18 stops- and we could get on and off the bus whenever we wanted. They had buses come every 20 minutes so we could really do whatever. We got to see all of the hot spots in the city without having to worry about parking or taking taxi's. We ran short on time because we spent so long at the museum, so we didn't get to do everything we wanted. But it was so worth it. I wish so bad I would have done this earlier with Jonny. It was awesome to see parts of the city we normally wouldn't have and hear all the interesting facts. They had great tour guides so you learned things you normally wouldn't. We even drove by Oprah's downtown apartment!

Cool statue we drove by.

My Mom on Navy Pier- one of my favorite views of the city.

An awesome old church- where part of "My Best Friend's Wedding" was filmed. The architecture of all the old buildings in incredible.

Driving on the bus.....

American Girl!

The Famour Bean in Chicago....

Our reflections on the bean.....

One of my other favorite views of the city. It is such a gorgeous place!

NAUVOO THE BEAUTIFUL

We stopped for two short days in Nauvoo and Carthage. This is one of my absolute favorite places ever. I love it there. Jonny's cousin is serving a mission there right now and we were lucky enough to see her in Carthage. She even gave us the tour! She is an amazing missionary and it was so awesome to see her there.

In Carthage Jail.

This is the cabin we stayed in in Nauvoo. Jonny's relative owns all these old little cabins that they've rennovated(?)- they were really old cabins that they've fixed up. Each cabin has its background of where it came from and who owned it. Its such a cool thing and the cabins are so fun to stay in.

The temple at night - so pretty!

OMAHA

My brother and his family live in Omaha so its always fun to see them when we're driving through and spend a few days with them. I didn't take many pictures while we were there- I don't know what I was thinking!

Mom with her 2 grandkids.

FINALLY HOME!!!!!!!!

With my brother's before my mom left.

We are so excited to be home! We're both trying to find jobs right now- which is the pits! Jonny is studying his little heart away to take his real estate test. And I'm.... just being a bum until someone wants to hire me :)

Bahamas Cruise

2009-09-20T18:35:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from our fun cruise to the Bahamas. I loved the Bahamas! The water is beautiful and so warm. I hate cold water and don't like getting in if its freezing, so it was fun to finally get in the warm ocean! All together there were 16 people in our group, all young married couples. Jonny's brother and sister in law went too, so we had lots of fun with them!

This first picture is the first day on the boat- at the sail away party. I seriously love cruises, I think they are so much fun!Our first stop was at the Grand Bahama Island. We rented scooters and drove them around the island and ended up at a really pretty beach resort. Since it is September and the start of their off-season, there weren't a lot of people there at all. We pretty much had the place to ourselves! It was great! We laid in the sun, swam in the water, and played a little beach volleyball. And of course did some shopping. We got a little lost on the way back to the ship, but got to see a lot of the island so I wasn't complaining!

Our second stop was at Nassau. It was my favorite stop by far. We went to this awesome waterpark/hotel resort that a bunch of our friends had been to before. You could spend a whole week there on vacation and not get board! They had awesome water slides that all came out into the lazy river at the bottom, so you didn't have to get right out of the water! Then they had a water slide that went through a shark tank (we were in our own tube inside the tank). The landscaping of this place was awesome too! They had their own private beach, an aquarium, climbing wall, etc. I'd love to go back and just stay at the resort one day!

T
Some of the girls....
We were on the newlywed game- Jonny has wanted to do it every cruise that we were on. He was great at it, but I'm not so sure I was the best :) It was fun- and now I can check that off my list and never have to do it again! They recorded the show and then replayed it throughout the whole cruise on the TV in people's rooms. So the rest of the cruise people would come up to us and say stuff about it. I could have done without all the attention :) Half the group at dinner. They have the best food on cruises.

The group- minus a couple.

On the last day we stopped at a private island that the cruise ship owned. It was beautiful just like the others. There were jellyfish EVERYWHERE in the water, and people kept telling us they didn't cause problems. So some of the brave people went snorkeling- but I didn't. Two of our friends did get stung by them! That was enough to scare me! The boys played in a volleyball tournament and won first place! It was a fun, relaxing day.

Miami!

2009-09-17T17:39:00.006-06:00

We just got back from a cruise to the Bahamas with a bunch of friends/family. We were able to spend a night in Miami before the cruise and then a couple of days after the cruise too. I had never been there and was so excited to see Miami in real life compared to how it is on TV in CSI Miami, Brooke knows Best, and Khloe and Kim take on Miami..... Ha can you tell that I keep up on my TV shows? :) Get ready for a picture overload.... A pretty shot of downtown Miami- it was so pretty at night!
This is Bayside Market- its like an outdoor mall. It had tons of shops as well as a ton of good places to eat. They had music playing and people dancing- it was a fun place. Miami definately has a nightlife!

Jonny and Cody at the Port of Miami- excited to get on the cruise ship the next day!

In front of the American Airlines Arena- where the Miami Heat play. It was so pretty with all the lights at night and the palm trees.

This was after the cruise.... Me and Sara in front of this super cute Boutique. It had the funnest jewelry and accessories for super cheap. We went to Lincoln Road on South Beach. Its a pedestrian street with shopping and restaurants on both sides. I have never seen more people with little dogs until I went here! Its definately a posh place. I have also never seen so many expensive clothes!

This was at the beach at the end of Lincoln Road. I have never been on a beach on the east coast- where the sun doesn't set over the ocean. The sky was still so pretty and I love seeing the skyline of big cities at sunset.

We ate at the yummy sushi restaurant called Samba Sushi. It was so good!

On our last day in Miami we went to Gator Park. I'd highly recommend it! We went on an air-boat ride through the everglades and saw all the alligators in the water.

This one they called Scar Face. He got in a fight with another alligator one day- he won, but lost his left eye.

Another pic of an alligator..... They swim right up to the side of the boat, it was kind of scary! Our guide would through bread out to them and they'd snap their mouth open and eat it!

You can kind of see our tour guide in the back- I don't know why, but when we were riding through the everglades on the boat it reminded me of scenes from the opening credits of CSI-Miami! The boat was really loud so they had us wear ear plugs.

Holding an alligator! He was 4 years old, and about 4 feet long. Thankfully they had his mouth shut or else I don't know if I would have done it!

Go cubs Go!

2009-08-31T17:04:00.006-06:00

On the train on the way to the game. We are mastering the train system here!

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago waddya say, the cubs are gonna win today!

(this is part of the song they sing everytime the cubs win....)

Chicago has the most loyal and spirited fans I have ever seen! It adds to the experience of going to the game. All summer long we've heard about the Cubs, seen their apparel everywhere, and even heard the Cubs song at the Rascal Flatts concert. So we were pretty excited to get decked out in Cubs gear and go the the famous Wrigley Field for a game. Wrigley Field itself is like a museum. It was built in 1914, almost 100 years ago. So this is the 96th season. It is the second oldest stadium (to Fenway Park, built in 1912). This field was where Babe Ruth his his "called shot" where he pointed in the bleachers. After each game they fly a white or blue flag above the scoreboard that has W or L for win or loss.

Just a few facts for you...

View of the field. You can't really see but across the street from the stadium they have bleachers on the rooftops of these old buildings. You can get tickets to watch the game from the rooftop and have all you can eat food.

They still have a super old fashioned score board. Its not electronic and they still have somebody that changes the board inning, and when people score.

After the game, one of our friends we worked with in San Diego two summers ago showed us around Wrigleyville a little big. He's from Chicago so he knows all the cool facts. Wrigleyville is such a cool place! There are SO many bars/pubs/restaurants that you could never eat at them all. After the game people just hung around at all these places and had a good time!

The Oprah Show!

2009-08-28T18:58:00.005-06:00

I finally scored tickets to an Oprah Show! I was SO SO excited! I tried when we were here last year with no success. I told Jonny that since we decided to extend and stay through September that I better get tickets to Oprah (since she doesn't film in the summer). About two weeks ago I signed up to get tickets. They only open the reservation line for about 2 days. And there were only 3 available shows that time, so I got really lucky! My friend Mandi went with us- we had a good time!

We had to leave our house by 5:30 AM! EARLY! We got to the studio at about 6:15 and had to wait in line for about 20 minutes before they started to take us in. You have to go through quite a security check to get in so it takes a while to get everyone in. They make you wait in this waiting room for about an hour and a half before they slowly take you into the studio. The studio holds about 350 people and Jonny was one of ten guys there! Ha ha He was such a good sport (even though he really did like it!) While we were waiting in the waiting room there wasn't enough seats for everyone, so Jonny and the other guys gave up their seats so other people could sit down. Once we got in the studio they gave all the guys hats for being gentlemen. Awww....
The show was about some of the news events that happened this summer, since she wasn't recording this summer. It was more a serous topic but it was really interesting. Lisa Ling was on the show talking about her sister and the other girl that got kidnapped in North Korea. It was really interesting to hear some of the details according to her sister. I've always liked Lisa Ling since the Channel 1 days :)
The second guest was Erin Andrews, the ESPN sports reporter who was spied on in her hotel room. I can't imagine having that happen to me! This was her first and she says her last public interview about what happened.
The last gues was this Catholic Father (priest?) who got caught by the paparazzi on the beach with his girlfriend. I hadn't heard about that story.... but it was neat.
It was crazy because we didn't know what the show was going to be about until we were in the studio. They keep it really secret. I didn't even know about the third guy until he came out on stage.
Anyways, it was really fun! I'm so glad we got to go! Its something I can check off my to do list now. OH ya, it airs on September 11th, so watch it!

Across the street from the studio there is an Oprah Store. It has souvenirs, hand-made things from Africa, and clothes that were from Oprah's close that you can buy.

Jonny in his Oprah hat!

This is Jonny's new work car that he bought. Isn't it cute!? Ha ha

Puppy Class, check!

2009-08-26T14:08:00.005-06:00

About 9 weeks ago we registered Cubby for a Puppy class at Petsmart. He's not very social around dogs and I wanted him to be friendlier. We'd also heard how good they were for the owners. I was really excited to take it and now that its over I'm glad we did! He still has issues with other dogs that he doesn't know, and he's still a puppy but its helped us a lot! On the last day of class they do a little graduation party. We had a talent show, obstacle course race, and took pictures in a graduation cap. How fun! And yes, I took lots of pictures :)

This was Jonny taking him through the obstacle course. He took second place (only lost by .2 of a second)! jonny told him he should have tried harder.... uh oh, is this how its going to be with our kids? :)

This was Cubby's teacher, Wendy. He loved her, as you can see. Even though they had a rough start and she almost lost her hand (if you ask, I'll tell you) they've grown to be great friends. It could be that she was always giving him treats :) But, he really did like her and she was a fun teacher! This was during the talen show. We had Cubby do his backwards dolphin walk and give us five. He was so cute :) He's really learned a lot and has become better disciplined, at least when we have treats anyway.

This was the cutest thing ever!

Jonny wanted to get him this ginormous bone for his graduation present. He changed his mind when I told him he'd be in charge of taking Cubby outside in the middle of the night when he got sick from it!!

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

2009-08-24T17:47:00.005-06:00

Saturday was a fun day, we got to go to the Bears game. (And Jonny took the day off, long story, so we got to spend all day together too!) They played the New York Giants. It was a really good game and I loved seeing how much fun Jonny had- he LOVES football. From the second we pulled in the parking lot he kept saying how much he wished Utah had a football team. People are serious about their Bears. They have serious tail-gating parties and it looks so fun!

It ended up being really cold, 60 degrees! We haven't felt that in a long time. Jonny only had shorts and a t-shirt. We bought sweatshirts to stay warm... we better be Bears fans for a while because football apparel is never cheap!

This isn't a very good picture- it was night time and from the freeway. But Chicago is such a cool city, I love seeing the skyline at night!

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

2009-08-21T17:14:00.002-06:00

Last week Jonny and I decided to lay out at the pool for the first time together all summer! This is wierd for us because we always laid by the pool last summer in San Diego. It was a little overcast, but it was still warm. I was reading my Harry Potter book when all of the sudden it started pouring! With no warning (ok, it was cloudy- but usually it gradually starts sprinkling first). It was just like in the movies when it starts raining cats and dogs all of the sudden, I didn't think that really happened. So we ran home as fast as we could and decided to watch a movie instead. Well it didn't stop for quite a while, and then Jonny said, "Let's go play in it!" I ran out about 10 feet from our door and turned around and came back in- I was drenched in a matter of seconds! But Jonny and Cubby went running around in it. It was really funny to see them. We were all very wet, at least we had our swimming suits on already!

Doesn't Cubby look like he had the time of his life :)

Cubby wearing jonny's gym shirt... I thought it was cute :) Go Jazz!

This was at Buffalo Wild Wings- our favorite place to eat out here. The two guys below are Scott and Jose- Jonny's favorite techs. They are going home this week and we're gonna miss them!

Vancouver Trip

2009-08-17T17:24:00.008-06:00

Ok get ready for a PICTURE OVERLOAD! I had so much fun on our trip to Vancouver that I wanted to post pictures from everything!

The first day we were there, we spent the morning at the temple. That afternoon a large group of us went on a jet boat ride. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in Portland, we had a ton of fun. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, except I knew they were boats that went really fast. It says on their website that you may get wet. I thought people in the front or on the sides might get a 'little' wet.... but they're serious. We all got SOAKED! They call them jet boats for a reason.

Here is the group that went. Some of my family, my uncle Rick's family, and Grandma Mom. (yes, my Grandma is so cool and braved the water!)

Here are what the jetboats looked like. They crammed 60 people onto these, so I thought how fast and crazy can they go, right? Wrong. He would get going up to 50 MPH and then all of the sudden pull a 360. Thats when we got soaked. Or, he'd go really fast and then suddenly stop causing a wave of water of come over the front of the boat. It was SO much fun!This is my Uncle Rick, Courtney, Micah, and Aunt Cathy. They came down from Seattle and it was so much fun to have them there. They're always fun to hang out with, they are crazy card players!!

Dad, Cam, and Nick- after getting a little wet. Good thing it was HOT that day, it felt really nice! For some reason their side of the boat always got it worse.

The coolest Grandma ever! Too bad the poncho didn't help too much....

Me and Jonny....

After the ride, still smiling.

That night we had a big family/friend BBQ. It was the night before the wedding. We also celebrated Kris and Jonny's birthdays!

Family getting yummy food.....

Grandma Mom with 2 of her great grandchildren.

Mom and Jordan jumping on the tramp. He was so excited to put this up. It brought back a lot of memories from when I was younger. Jordan was so funny and we had such a good time showing each other our tricks on the tramp. He was SO brave by the end of the trip! I think I know what Santa needs to bring Jordan......

Jonny had to leave on Sunday to go back to Chicago :( Dang that work. But I was lucky enough to spend a few extra days at home with my family. I loved it so much. One day we went to Mt. St. Helens.... here is one picture. I didn't take much there. It was SO SO SO hot that day and I forgot how long of a drive (on windy roads) it is to get there. I hate being in the car... but I'm still glad I went.

It got SO hot the last few days there. It was a serious heat wave and broke lots of records. A lot of people don't have AC there because you don't usually need it, including the Boyle's. So we spent a lot of time out in the back yard, having waterfights and throwing water balloons. My Mom has a little kid pool in the back that she soaks her feet in. It was actually very nice to have when it got hot :)
Notice my mom and I are the only ones NOT in swimming suits.... we had just got home from the store when we got attacked by the boys. But I didn't even care, it was SO hot and felt SO nice.

MY FIRST TIME GOLFING! ever! and I really liked it, I told Jonny that I found a new hobby. My mom has started going every week with some friends, so I was excited to try it myself. My mom, Dad, Kris and I went. We went early in the morning, but it was already really hot by the time we finished 9 holes. I didn't do great, but not too bad for my first time. I think i got 65 or something. I'm excited to go again sometime.

Dad golfing. He was nice enough to carry my clubs for me too!

GOAL! HA I know thats not what you say..... but you know what I mean.Mom... hole in two...

Relaxing in the shade...

Kris showing his skills.

Chase <3 Shyla

2009-08-16T17:07:00.005-06:00

A few weeks ago, we went home to Vancouver for my little brother's wedding. I couldn't believe he was really getting married, I still picture him as a little freshman in high school (how old he was when I moved out). Chase and Shyla have been dating since they were 16. They really are each other's best friends and are truly in love. Anyone that saw them that weekend could tell you that. It was a perfect weekend and I hope it was everything they wanted it to be.

This was after Chase and Shyla recieved their endowments in the temple. It was the first time our whole family has been there. It was such a special day. Chase couldn't take his eyes off Shyla the whole time :)

July 25th, 2009

This was their wedding day, Jonny and I outside of the temple. It was such a pretty day, the weather couldn't have been more perfect!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Boyle! Just married!!! It was such a great ceremony, the sealer did a great job and said a lot of neat things.

Me and Grandma Mom.

Our family at the reception. THe reception was in Shyla's parents backyard. It was decorated so nice!

The cool guys!

It was such a pretty night. And it was nice and warm too!

These are some pictures of the reception.

I'm so happy for Chase and Shyla- they'll remember this day forever. They had so much love and support from all their family and friends. I don't think it could have been a better weekend!

Flatt Boys

2009-08-05T20:22:00.003-06:00

We had such a GOOD time at the concert. It was seriously so entertaining. Usually by the end of concerts I get tired of standing and want to sit down. But this wasn't the case. Jonny and I had so much fun together- it was so nice to have a break from work and just laugh and sing together.We knew every song they sang so it never got old! Vince Gill and Darius Rucker opened for them and were also fun to see. We had great seats too! It was the first country concert ever at Wrigley field- that is a cool place!

We rode the train/subway to Wrigley Field. It was our first time and was worth it. It took a little longer- but we didn't have to deal with parking or paying to park. And it dropped us off right at the field.
Showing off the wristbands! We were right on Wrigley Field! Jonny wanted to steal some dirt- but they had it covered up. He was able to touch the grass on the infield though :)Summer Nights! The best song to open up with! It was a perfect summer night- and for once I finally felt like it was really summer!
On their encore they came out wearing cubs jerseys.

Posing. My favorite singers ever!

summertime!

2009-07-17T18:43:00.002-06:00

VERY EXCITED FOR THIS TOMORROW! WOO HOO!

Early Birthday Present

2009-07-17T17:22:00.002-06:00

I got a new present today! I lost my camera (sad story)... so I finally got a new one today. I'm totally bummed about losing my old one though- it had about 200 pictures of fun things we've done in Chicago that I hadn't uploaded to my computer yet! I'm no longer going to procrastinate that. I've learned my lesson. My old camera was also my graduation present from Jonny 2 years ago! It was a good little camera! But... now I hope to learn more about picture taking. I'm a complete amateur and don't know much. Last Christmas I got photoshop, so I'm finally going to make myself learn to use it!

Thanks Jonny for such a great early bday present!

Spring babies!

2009-07-02T19:26:00.002-06:00

Ok, I know we're into summer now, but I couldn't resist blogging these pictures I took a while ago. The apartment complex we live in has several lakes and beautiful landscaping. There are always ducks and geese everywhere. Early in the spring there were so many babies! Mandi called me over one day because they were congregating outside her back door. She was feeding them bread and they were coming right up to her door. At one point there were 4 little families there- about 20 or so geese. It was so cool! I love spring!

Our cute dog!

2009-07-02T19:12:00.003-06:00

So this is the process we go through everyday- two or three times a day. We wrap Cubby up in a towel and sneak him out to the car. I've got it down pretty good and Cubby is so good when he's hiding, he must know whats going on. I wonder if people see me and wonder what I'm always carrying in the purple towel.... but oh well. Only a few more months!

The other day I found a bunch of Cubs stuff at Wal-mart. I couldn't resist it! We got him this cute shirt, a cubs coller and leash. He's so cute in it. I know, I know... I talk about him like he's my baby, don't make fun!

We officially started our obedience class this last week at Petsmart. He's really good with people, but for some reason cannot stand other dogs (other than his girlfriend Maddy, whom he gets along with great). He barks and growls and tries to attack them. So hopefully after some classes we can fix that. It makes me feel better to see other dogs in the class that have bigger issues than him :)

Craft Day!

2009-06-24T19:36:00.003-06:00

Me and some of the girls decided we needed to have a craft day! It was fun to do something different to break up the daily routine of our lives out here. We made 'topiaries'? I have no idea how to spell it. It was actually pretty easy and I thought they turned out really cute. We all did really different styles so it was fun to see the different possibilities! I would definately recommend this as a fun home activity! The beginning.....
Mine and Sara's final outcome! She did vines with oranges, it turned out super cute.

My finished product- I think I might put a creme bow or something on it. What do ya think? (notice the TV in the back... ... Jonny's UFC fights)

Jonny brought me home flowers the other day. Isn't he sweet?! He supported some guy on the streets in the hood who was selling them. Even better :)

Date night

2009-06-14T18:14:00.003-06:00

I haven't updated in a while- but we really haven't had anything exciting happen lately. Its just work, work, work! Jonny is doing awesome this summer. He is 11th in the whole company right now. It amazes me how motivated and driven he is. When he wants something, he really sticks to it.

We really miss Utah, but feel blessed to even have this experience. Its fun to be together with each other and experience this new place. We've made a lot of new friends, and have also enjoyed being with old friends from last summer. The guys work so hard that we don't have a lot of time to do a lot of sightseeing, but Saturday night has become our weekly date night. We usually just have enough energy to go to dinner and relax-but thats okay because there are so many good restaurants around our place.

These pictures are from Bennihana. Even though you stink when you leave, it sure is delicious!Tiana, Derek, Bies, Mandi, Me, and Jonny

(Tiana and Derek were in our San Diego office last summer- Mandi and Bies were in Chicago with us last fall. Mandi does the office manager work with me)

Sara, Cody, Tiana, Derek

We have made it downtown once :) We went to Navy Pier with our new friends Cody and Sara. Cody is the lead tech in our office. THey just got married about 3 months ago. We have a lot of fun with them and are glad they're here. Chicago is a gorgeous city. The lake is beautiful and I love the view of the skyline.

Cubby's First Girlfriend

2009-05-20T22:23:00.000-06:00

Okay, before I start- don't make fun of me for blogging about my dog like he's my kid... but he is :)

Our friends Matt and mandi (matt sells for Pinnacle and Mandi works in the office with me) have a 4 month old Golden Husky named Maddy. She is so cute. She's half of Cubby's age- but double his size. Cubby's proven that size doesn't matter to him! They live right down the hall from us so the dogs play almost everyday. Cubby was a little hesitant at first, but now they're in love!

Cubby is your typical male dog.... but has slowly started to calm down and now they just play. I love that he has a friend here! Its so nice having a friend that also has to hide their dog, so we're not the only one. So far, so good though!

We're getting cubby neutered tomorrow (yikes!) So we had to get one last play session in before he loses his manhood. He has no idea whats coming! I'm actually a little nervous for the poor guy! Dont' worry... I'll blog about it and let you know how it goes!

Nothing too exciting

2009-05-01T17:29:00.002-06:00

We finally made it to Chicago! We were glad to finally get here. So far its been good- except for the fact that dogs are not allowed at our apartment complex..... Yikes! Nobody seemed to let us know.... . . There are also a few other couples with dogs. But since we came out early and were the first ones to show up with a dog, we got all the grief. So we call Cubby our little Andy Frank because he is in hiding. We can't walk him around our complex, so we've come up with creative ways around it. Since Cubby and I are home alone all day together (he gets super bored with me), we've become pretty close and had some not so fun experiences that I'm sure I'll laugh about one day. THe latest just happened a few minutes ago. Since we can't walk him around the complex, I sneak him to my car and drive to the park that is about a 30 second walk from our apartment. Ha how lame is that!? I drive to the back side of the park so nobody at the apartments sees me with him (again!) since he's supposed to be long gone by now. Long story short, he chewed on his leash and almost broke it so I was in the middle of tying a knot in the leash when he suddenly pulled and got away from me. NO!! We were walking on the road by the park.... and he ran... ran FAST. So of course I start chasing him and he thinks its a game to stay away from me. He would stop and crouch down and look at me while thinking "come and get me, I dare ya...." He was running around on the front lawn of these town houses.... So I looked like a fool chasing him in circles around one tree, then the next, and the next. Only 3 or 4 cars had to stop so they didn't hit him (while watching me run around like a mad man!) Finally I tricked him into chasing me (we've learned this is the only way to catch him). I got him to follow me into someone's front gate and up to some strangers front door. Wow, I was MAD! Everytime I think i learn my lesson about holding on more tight to the leash, it happens again. I do feel bad for him though, being couped up all day. We definately miss our backyard in Utah!!

This is a picture I just took- looks like all that running finally wore him out! whew!

Oh ya... Jonny is doing awesome out here!! He has made his way up to 21st in the company. So good! I'm so proud of him for working so hard. He has so much motivation to go out everyday and he is so good at what he does! way to go babe! I found this picture while I was looking on my computer. It was after a long day of selling for jonny, and another lazy day for cubby.

Easter with the Boyle's

2009-05-01T17:11:00.005-06:00

We were able to stop for a couple of day in Omaha on our way to Chicago. Our new newphew got blessed on Easter Sunday so we also got to see my parents. It was so good to see some family and spend time with them. Summers aren't really a vacation time for us because of Jonny's job, so it was good to slip in some fun times with family before we started the summer.
Me and Jordan while he was searching for the eggs the easter bunner (A & J) hid....

Showing off his easter eggs. It was so funny, everytime he found an egg he would turn and pose just like this for the camera. Ha ha

Jonny hanging out with cubby after church
Grandpa Boyle training his new granddog. He's so good with dogs. Cubby loved him.My cute newphews. Jordan and Joseph. Joseph has the cutest hair that sticks straight up. I love it!I'll let you guess why i'm laughing.. .. .. He was definately making good use of his diaper.

Monday before we all had to leave to go to our homes, we went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Jonny and I love that place. We had a lot of fun playing to trivia games... Boyles vs. all the other people in the restaurant.

On the road again.....

2009-05-01T17:03:00.003-06:00

Its that time of the year again, we we pack up and try life out in another state for the summer. We'll be in Chicago for the summer and we're really excited! Cubby helping me pack for the big move!

This is Cubby's favorite place to sit and stare out the window. I think he was sad we were leaving. Ha, ya right. He had no idea what was coming up!

Driving in the car. Cubby found his seat. We set his blanket on the console in between our seats and he was perfectly content just sitting there. He'd even lay down and sleep for hours. He did really well in the car surprisingly, I think riding in the car makes him sleepy. I thought it was so cute that he was sitting there that I had to take some pictures.

Watching the road......

Some of the trip was spent in his kennel in the back. he was still able to look out the front and side window. So he really didn't mind being back there. (I know we have so many pictures of our dog, but he really is like our kid. I used to make fun of people for saying that, but its true!)

We survived our first year of marriage!

2009-04-05T19:14:00.007-06:00

Friday was our first anniversary- we made it! I can't believe that its been one year. It has gone by so fast- we've had quite an eventful year. We've lived in 3 different states, bought a house, added a new member to our family, and were able to travel to lots of different places. We've also grown so much closer and I am so grateful to have Jonny as my husband. He is such a hard worker but has quite a soft side to him (even though he tries to not let people see it). I'm so excited to continue the rest of our journey in life with jonny- he is the greatest husband!

To celebrate our special day we went on a cruise. It was so much fun. It was nice to get away one last time before we start the summer in chicago. The summer is Jonny's crunch time for work and since its hard for him to get time off we thought we'd take advantage of the last chance for a trip. We stopped at Catalina. It was beautiful. We rented a golf cart and drove it around the island. Jonny in front of the REX night club on the ship. RarrrOur last stop was Ensendada. Jonny loves this place. He is so good at bargaining with the store people. We went to La Bufadora (the blowhole) and did some quality shopping.

When we got home Friday night we had the top of our wedding cake that we had froze. It was actually still pretty good. We were really surprised! We took lots of pictures and cut it just like at our reception because we didn't get any pictures of it!

Jonny surprised me and had flowers waiting at home for me. Isn't he the best?!

I was so excited to get home to little Cubbers! This was the best pictures we could get with him!

Jonny's First Time Snowboarding

2009-02-27T18:33:00.004-07:00

We went snowboarding a couple of weeks ago with my brother Nick and Jonny's brother Jordan. It was Jonny's first time snowboarding and he did SO good. He is very independent as you all know, so the first few runs were a little frustrating for him because he just wanted to be good right away. After he realized he had to start with the basics he did so good, and by the end of the day he looked like a pro! Being the only girl I was always the last one down the hill, I'm SLOW! But we had so much fun. It was the first time I've been to the Canyons in Park City and I'd love to go back anytime.

Jonny loving life. He is officially obsessed with boarding now and is convince that we'll get season passes next year!Jordan after his big fall- he had to lay there for a few minutes. Lets just say he felt like he's never going to be able to have kids. Ha.

Me and Jonny (and my flared nostrils)

Jonny had a great fall getting off the lift. Ha he was mad at me for taking this. "thanks for caring about my safety and pulling out the camera instead...." ha ha

Don't you love the huge goggles?

Valentine's Weekend

2009-02-25T21:28:00.004-07:00

We had such a fun Valentine's weekend this year. We went down to Las Vegas with some of Jonny's friends. We stayed in two really nice hotels, Jonny was proud of himself for getting such a good deal on them. My husband is such a bargainer (is that a word?)!

In front of the Venetian- this is where we stayed Valentine's Night. It was gorgeous!

We went to Blue Man Group- I LOVED it! It was so entertaining. We went to the late show so we were really tired, but it was so awesome. I've always wanted to go see their show. And then we got to get our picture with them after!

Sorry this picture is sideways---- but we thought it was really fun. At least he's honest! (It says, "why lie, I need beer")

And of course we had to continue our tradition of getting a picture at the stateline!

Christmas, Puppy,, and more

2009-01-30T22:10:00.008-07:00

Ok so i'm really late with this. But the first of December I came home from work and was surprised with an early birthday present from Jonny. He got me a puppy! His name is Cubby and he is a puggle. Here are a few pictures of him. He is getting bigger now, he's almost 5 months. He's so fun and we love to play with him. This picture is after we moved in our house so he's gotten quite a bit bigger. Jonny finally let me get him a coat for when we go on walks...

This picture below is the true Cubby. He's turns into a bit of a terror at times. He loves the toilet paper and we've learned quickly to keep all the dorrs in the house closed and keep a close eye on him. He loves to chew- especially my hands. But we still love him.

This pictures are from Christmas time. We went to my parents house in Washington. The first day we were there they took us to get a Christmas tree. Its at this really cool tree farm where you get to pick your tree and cut it down. This year it was JOnny's turn to cut it down. And he did it in record time! It had snowed the night before so it was so pretty there!

This is my Dad and Jonny putting the lights on the tree. I just watched :)

Us with my parents and Baxter (the famous dog). It snowed SO much in WAshington. It hardly ever snows so it was major news. We were trapped in the house for a few days but I thought it was fun :)

Us on Christmas morning. We got these huge stockings at the dollar store. We also get matching pajamas on Christmas Eve (all our fmaily)

This picture was Christmas Eve. There was lots of snow and we always do these luminares (SP?) I LOVE Christmas time!!

This was on New Years eve- the first picture of 2009!

Us on Chrismtas Eve with "B Money"

Our House!

2009-01-30T21:41:00.003-07:00

Okay- finally here are some pictures of our house! I realize I took this one of the house in the dark- so I'll take another one sometime. But here it is. We've been here almost one month and love it. Its been so nice to finally unpack and settle down (for a few months- we are moving to Chicago again this summer). We've loved having our own place and do all the little house projects.

The front...The front room on the left, part of the dining room on the right. This is downstairs in the basement. its our family room area with the back door out to the back yard.
The guest bathroom

Our kitchen. I love the red!

So here it is! I'll put some more pictures up once I get more decorated and things. Also we have a great view of the new temple!

St. Thomas/Puerto Rico

2008-12-20T20:31:00.005-07:00

Okay here is the rest.... I kind of dragged this on for a while. This was St. Thomas- we went to the most beautiful beach and went snorkeling.
Crammed once again into a big van.

The girls!

Me and Nicole

Me and Jonny

Me and Rach (this was actually st. marten)

Josh (and his famous "welcome home" arms)

Jonny..... wants to be like Josh one day :)

Me and Jonny. There were some way cool fish here!

The beach by our hotel in Puerto Rico

These two were at the Fort in Puerto Rico. It was a really cool place and its amazing to think that they built this fort so long ago.

St. Marten

2008-12-17T16:36:00.005-07:00

Jonny playing the steel drums. They were playing Christmas Music.

We went zip-lining in the trees. It was so much fun, and different then the one we did in Mexico. They had different obstacles we had to go through like walking on tight ropes and walking across moving wood planks. It was a lot of fun, but they wouldn't let us take our camers. :(

All ready to zip line- this was the guy who helped get us all harnessed up.

Day in Curacao

2008-12-13T16:33:00.006-07:00

Derek, Nicole, Jonny, Ash, Josh, Rachel- this was a cool shopping area that had very brightly colored buildings. We had such a fun day! We rented buggies, mopeds, and 4-wheelers and went on a tour of the island. It was so fun, and there was such a long train of us!

We had one of the newest ones and ours kept breaking down! We had to tap on the engine with a rock to get it to start again. It died a couple of times in the middle of big intersections, but we survived and it was actually pretty funny. I felt like quite the mechanic everytime I tapped with the rock and made the engine start again.

We made a random stop at an ostrich farm.....

We went to the coolest beach. It had stairs that walked down into the water and you could swim out to a floating dock. I am NOT a fan of cold water so I was so excited when the water was warm!

Just me and Jonny

Aruba (jamaica, oooh i wanna take ya....)

2008-12-13T16:02:00.005-07:00

I can't say Aruba without thinking of the beach boys song- i can't tell you how many times we all broke out singing that. Our first stop was Aruba. It was kind of rainy day, although still hot ( i've never experienced warm rain) so we took a tour of the island. It was really cool to see different sites.

The whole gang crammed in the van.

Waiting to get started....

Our tour guide was so cool. She got really excited when we told her we were Mormon. So she drove us to see the church, and we happened to see the missionaries ride by on their bikes. It was cool.

We went to these big rocks that you climb up and from the top you can see most of the island. It was a little windy- hence the funny faces.

The beach- I was so excited to see the little straw huts because thats always what I picture when I think of the Caribbean.

Our Cruise!

2008-12-12T17:45:00.007-07:00

Ok I'm a little slow- but we had such a good time on our cruise. It was so fun to spend the time with Jonny's family. I have lots of pictures- so i'll break them up in a few posts. We flew into Puerto Rico Saturday night and stayed the night in a hotel. Then Sunday we got on the cruise ship. We stopped in Aruba, Curacao, St. Marten, and St.Thomas. Then we were back in Puerto Rico for another day and night. It was such a nice trip and was so hot! The gang in the airport- bright and early!In the airplanePracticing the evacuation plan, just in case we sink :)Our room was on the top- it overlooked the shopping area. It was so fun!Santa Clause! These guys that carve the fruit are amazing.This was the funniest thing ever. They have this game show called the quest. The audience divides into sections/teams. Then they give you these quests or different challenges that each team must complete. This was a kickline that the guys in our section had to do- and it was so fun because it was all our family!

All the cousins (well most) waiting for one of the shows to start

Me and Nicole- soaking in the sun.

They had a rock climbing wall that the guys loved- here is Jonny on his way down.

Jonny, Derek, and Josh

The family loved to participate in all the volleyball, dodgeball, basketball, and pingpong tournaments. THis is after the dodgeball tournament.

FORMAL NIGHT

more travelling pictures

2008-11-12T14:25:00.002-07:00

Jonny and I decided that since we were doing so much driving through different states, that we wanted to take pictures by the state signs. So here are some we took on our way home from Chicago. Enjoy!

Trip to Nauvoo

2008-11-05T14:28:00.010-07:00

We're back from Chicago and its so nice to be back in Utah! We had a fun 6 months but its nice to get back to real life. I have lots to blog about and catch up on. We are also in the process of buying a new house in South jordan! Woo Hoo! We are so excited and move in the first of december. So stay tune for news on that...

On our way back from Chicago we made a stop through Nauvoo. I love that place. It is so amazing to be there and feel the spirit there. I went there last summer with my family, but it was Jonny's first trip there. I was so excited to take him there. He loved it also. It gives you so much more respect for the pioneers and all they went through. I don't know if I could have done what they did, they had a tremendous amount of faith. They sacrificed almost everything they had, left their homes, and made the long trip to the Salt Lake Valley.

The Pretty Temple

We went on an oxen ride- those are huge animals! It was a really fun time to be in nauvoo because there weren't a ton of tourists so all the senior missionaries loved to talk to us and give us great tours.

This one (above) was on a carriage ride we went on, they told pioneer stories. Even though it was a little cold, it was so neat.This was Jonny's favorite place- the blacksmith shop. We also made a stop by Carthage Jail. I was so glad we were able to go there too, even though it was a quick trip. You can't describe the spirit that is there, its very humbling. Its so neat to be in the same room and see exactly where the men were when the mobs attacked.

We were able to stop and stay a couple of nights with my brother and his family in Omaha. This picture above is Jonny and Jordan playing the Wii. Its a rough life.

Kris and Cami took us to the Winter Quarters Temple and visitors center. It also is a neat place to learn more about the pioneers. They have a cemetary right by the temple where so many of the saints were buried, its sad to see how many little children and babies died. That must have been so hard for the families.

We got to dress up as pioneers and pull a handcart a few feet. I couldn't imagine walking across the plains- in the freezing cold, of super hot, and in a dress!

The Winter Quarters temple. It was freezing and super windy!

It was a great trip home, we had so much fun seeing all the sights and learning more about the Pioneers.

Girls Day Downtown

2008-10-21T15:33:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, a few of the wives out here went downtown for the day. They have this big strip called 'the magnificent mile.' Its a mile with a bunch of shops, restaurants, and hotels. It was really fun. We also stopped by Millenium Park- its got the famous Bean. I had always wanted to see it so i was glad we went there. Its huge and you can see the reflection of everything, there is one spot where you can stand and see the reflection of the skyline. It's really neat.Mandi and I

This last picture is the amptheater downtown. Its where Oprah did her show last month with all the Olympians. Just a little FYI :)

my crazy husband

2008-10-16T12:54:00.003-06:00

One of the first things I learned about Jonny after we got married, was that he talks in his sleep and says the funniest things. The first time it happened I got a little creeped out, but after a while I just would laugh and try to talk back to him. A couple of times he's actually talked back to me. He always says the most random things and I try so hard to remember them, but since I myself am groggy and tired, I'm not very good at remembering the details in the morning.
So last night i was reading my book in bed, with the lamp still on (Jonny was already asleep), and Jonny turned over to me and said
"where are you going to put the animals?"
"what do you mean?" i asked.
after which he said something about a frog hopping and turned back over to sleep. so I chuckled to myself and kept reading as this is not a rare occurance. Just another funny thing to add to the list I guess. But this is not the best part.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke to Jonny standing at the foot of the bed. He was wrapped up in our blanket and was giving some type of acceptance speech or something. He said something along the lines of "Great, well I just want to thank you so much, I really appreciate it."
Bah ha ha! What a funny guy. I just started laughing, realized I was cold, and told him to give the blanket back and go to bed. I don't think he ever woke up, he just started mumbling and laid back down. And believe it or not, this was not the first time he's done that. Sometime last week I woke up and he was doing the same thing- standing at the foot of our bed wrapped in a blanket.

I just thought it was so funny, and wanted to share :) He'll probably be embarrassed I made a post about it! Just another way that life with Jonny Johnson is never dull!

6 months!

2008-10-03T14:48:00.006-06:00

Jonny and I have been married for 6 months today! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Looking back we've done a lot in our time as "the Johnson's." We have lived in 3 states and travelled through even more. I'm so grateful for a husband who is such a hard worker and so motivated in life to support our family. Jonny is one of the most positive people I know and hardly ever complains. I loved our wedding day- it was the most perfect day ever. I love looking at our pictures and remembering it, so here ya go!

We started our the day by going to the Chicago Temple this morning, its so pretty (of course it is, silly!) We'd never been there yet and I'm so glad we got to go. I feel so lucky to be able to live in these different places and see all the different temples there are. We're going to dinner tonight at a yummy steak restaurant! So i'm sure I'll post more pictures another time.

Boyd and Jina in Chicago

2008-09-30T20:19:00.010-06:00

Boyd and Jina (Jonny's parents) came to visit us over the weekend. They were only here for a few short days, but we sure had fun and did as much as we could. And of course we played the Wii and Wii fit a lot! I think Boyd is addicted -but at least he got his daily workout!

The first day they were here we picked them up from the airport and went to lunch at Portillo's- one of our favorite places here. That night we took them to the Riverwalk, this time I got some good pictures in the daylight! Its so pretty!Jonny and the famous Chicago style pizza. It was SO yummy! It was the thickest pizza I've ever seen- really like a pie. They cook the crust, then the cheese (tons) and toppings and then they put the sauce on top. Yum. It was so good, but definately not on our diet menu!

So of course you can't be in Chicago and not take a picture with Michael Jordan!

On Saturday we spent the day downtown. It is ginormous- a little bit bigger then hometown Idaho! Jonny took this picture of his parents walking and holding hands :)
In front of Sears Tower..... bad lighting in the pic but it was the best we could do......
this building is seriously SO tall- I got dizzy looking up to the top!

On the elevator ride to the top! 103 floors! We stood in a line, watched a cool movie about the building of Sears tower, then crammed into the elevator. Let me start by saying how much I hate elevators- and this is like the King of elevators. It goes 16 miles per hour and is not a very smooth ride, especially when you have smelly people standing in your bubble :) But I was brave and pretended not to be terrified! And luckily the power didn't go out and strand us in the elevator like I was worried about, huh Jonny?

I know you can't really see this picture very good- but i wanted to document everything! Okay so these 2 pictures are of the parking lot across the street that we parked in. The top one is not zoomed- but the bottom one if full zoom. That just shows how high we were! Our car is 2 to the left of the big RV in case you were wondering.
And of course I zoomed in on Soldier Field. GO BEARS!

It has the most pretty view of the city (this is only one side view of the city, imagine this all around) and the water. The lake is huge, its hard to think its not the ocean! You can't even see land on the other side.

Jonny, Jina, Boyd- on the water taxi. The river runs through the city and so you can take these "water taxis" to different places. It was so nice to go to the tourist spots without having to worry about driving/parking. And it was pretty!

NAVY PIER

More Chicago

2008-09-23T19:32:00.003-06:00

Last weekend it poured for about 3 days- seriously the rain didn't stop. It wasn't a light drizzle either, it was the hurricane storm I guess. There were a lot of problems with flooding around the area and we had our own little flooding in front of our house! These two pictures are our front door and patio.

Jonny and Geoff thought it would be fun to jump in the pool when it was raining. Ha they're so funny- it was SO full because of all the rain and it overflowed everytime they jumped it. You can see how full it was in the pictures.

Jonny is so sweet all of the time and does thoughtful things when I least expect them. The other day he brought me home flowers and the sweetest card... and bought me a new pair of jeans! woo hoo! he's so good and i'm a lucky girl!

THe other night we went with some friends to the Riverwalk in Naperville. It was a lot of fun. We went to dinner then walked around the river. I know the pictures are dark but it was so pretty, I can't wait to go back sometime in the day.
This is Jonny on the bridge- you can kind of see the river with sidewalks on both sides.
Across the river they have a monument for 9/11. They have a huge wall with faces carved in them. The faces were drawn by school kids in the area... We couldn't resist taking pictures by them!

Life in Chicago

2008-09-22T19:23:00.004-06:00

On the beach at Lake Michigan... ... a little different from the beach in San Diego. (they really do have a little beach, we're just standing on the rocks). The lake is HUGE, it really just seems like the ocean but without the big waves. You can't see anything but water!
Last night we drove to downtown - it is AMAZING! It is the coolest city, there are so many cool buildings and bridges. some of the city is on the water, its really neat. Unfortunately, once we got by the lake it got really foggy so we didn't really get any good pictures of the skyline. The tall building is the Sears tower, it is seriously the biggest building ever. I just look at it and imagine how tall the twin towers were and I can't comprehend it!
This picture is really blurry- but we're by the pirate ship.
Ha Jonny reminds me of a little kid in this picture. This is how foggy it was- we couldn't see in front of us! I was sad because I wanted to see all the city lights, but we couldn't! Navy Pier- It is huge and so fun! They have tons of shops, places to eat, carnival rides, boat tours, etc. So much to do and so lively!
I thought this was a cool pic- it was so foggy that the lights were all reflecting. One day we'll go on the ferris wheel, when we can actually enjoy the view!These were the funnest mirrors! Sorry you can't see them very good, it was getting dark and i couldn't use my flash to take them.
Navy Pier- again its a little dark, but it was such a fun atmosphere I wanted to show everyone!

Us at the entrance of Navy Pier.

We're having so much fun! We haven't been able to do a lot because of Jonny's crazy work schedule, but I guess that just makes us cherish the fun times we have. Chicago really is a neat place and I'm loving the opportunity we have to live here for a little bit! Oh ya- I tried to get Oprah tickets the other day and was unsuccessful :( I tried ALL DAY! There is only one day a month that they open the phone lines for the following month. So last week they opened the tickets for October- the last month we'll be here. So it was my only chance. I tried all day and just got the busy signal. Now I believe people when they say they try to years to get tickets! Maybe one day.....

Boating with the Johnsons

2008-09-09T14:27:00.004-06:00

We were able to spend some time with Jonny's family too. It was good to see everyone and hang out for a few days. Boyd and Jina took us boating one day.... Here's some pics!

This picture is Jonny's Dad- He's really good at skiing (I don't know how to spell slolam? ha ha) anyways- ya he's good and we always like to see his big spray.This one is Josh when he's practicing his flip- or trying :) ha I love this picture, his head crashed right in the water! Maybe next time Josh! jk I can't make fun because at least he's doing it! He's really good on the wakeboard (when his head isn't crashing in the water that is).

These 2 are me and Jonny on the knee boards- don't let this fool you tho! I was only on it for about 10 seconds- literally. I'm not the biggest fan of being in the water, i guess you could say i'm SCARED of crashing! seriously tho..... i'm a wimp.

This is me and Jina on the tubes- our "princess ride." Thanks Jina for going slow with me! ha We had fun.

Jonny and his brothers

Jordan and Jonny on the knee boards- they're always really fun to watch cuz they splash each other and stuff.

My jonny on the board- woo hoo! He was so excited he got to wear his wet suit from high school

Trip to Idaho/West Yellowstone

2008-09-09T14:01:00.004-06:00

Okay I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on our trip to idaho. We had a family reunion in Rexburg, which was super fun. I saw a lot of family that I haven't seen in a while. It was at my Grandpa's house and we just hung out, played volleyball, had fires and roasted mallows. It was good to see everyone. Hopefully I can get some pictures from my parents.

We also spent some time in West Yellowstone watching my brother at the Playmill theatre. We go every summer and I love it- I look forward to it every year. I don't know what I was thinking by not taking pictures! Cameron did SO good- he was Curly in Oklahoma. We also saw Hello Dolly.

On Saturday my Dad and Uncle Scott ran in the Mesa Falls marathon. Its a fun marathon to watch because you can drive along the trail and cheer them on along the way. Since all of our family was there that weekend for the marathon there was a lot of us. At one point I counted 9 cars following them. We'd drive ahead about a mile and wait for them, cheer when they came, then drive ahead and do it again. My uncle scott had matching shirts made that we all wore. They did so good and we were so proud of them!

I know he was thinking in this one "get that camera out of my face!" Ha ha
Uncle Scott showing off with his shirt off. He would dance for us- i think the running made him a little loopy
Mom, Cam, Jonny, Me- in our matching shirts

Jonny and the girl cousins who loved him! Notice all of the cars in the back that were following dad and scott.

Dad- almost there!
Finally, the finish line! My brother and Jonny ran the last mile with my dad. Some of the little cousins did too. On the last block we all ran with them- it was really cool! There was probably 20 of us running with the 2 of them. Seeing the finish line really makes you want to run a marathon- but its crazy, I don't think I ever could. I respect the people who do it though. good job dad and scott!

Our last California Adventure

2008-09-05T18:51:00.006-06:00

Okay so I'm really far behind on my blogging- as I always seem to be. So i'm gonna catch up- lots of posts and pictures! Sorry!

This is our last little hoorah in California. We went up to stay with my brother in Ventura. We met him in Santa Monica and rode bikes along the beach, to Venice Beach and back. Venice beach is crazy! There are crazy people, crazy shopping, and crazy people fighting! You could say its the "free spirit" beach. It also has Muscle Beach, so of course we had to get a picture there! It was a lot of fun. We walked around the Santa monica pier and its huge! Its like a mini carnival on the pier. Poor Jonny got pooped on by a bird- what a mess!!! He didn't think it was quite as funny as Nick and I did. :) Sorry Jonny!

THen we drove the scenic route to Ventura along the coast through Malibu. It was such a pretty drive! We stopped to eat at Neptune's- this little restaurant thats in lots of movies (Fast and the Furious, etc). It was pretty good even though it was kind of a little dump :)

This is the view across the street from Neptune's. i LOVE LOVE sunsets! especially on the ocean!We went to six flags the next day too. I definately feel like I'm getting old- the roller coasters were way fun- but seemed more brutal this time around. I think we all left with some pretty big headaches.

This first picture is on the scary boat ride. Sorry you got so wet nick! He took all the water for the rest of us!

The boys were actually really excited to get their pictures with the pigs..... seriously?? ha ha

So that was how we spent our last weekend in California. We spent the next days packing up and cleaning the apartment. We for sure miss it lots there!

Driving, Family, Driving, and Driving

2008-09-01T20:05:00.002-06:00

Its been quite an eventful few weeks. Jonny and I are now in Chicago! We left San Diego, stayed for a night in Las Vegas, then drove to South Jordan, stayed a night there, then drove to West Yellowstone. I had a family reunion in Idaho and we spent a few days in West Yellowstone watching my brother Cameron at the Playmill Theatre. My Dad and uncle ran a marathon that weekend too, it was fun to have lots of the family there to support them. After a fun weekend in Idaho we spent the week with Jonny's family in Utah. It was fun to see all of them and they were so nice to take us boating (even though I'm such a scaredy-cat!)
Saturday we began the 20-hour drive to chicago. We stopped in Omaha and stayed at my brother's house for the night. Thanks Kris and Cami! I wish we could have spent more time with them. And now here I sit in Chicago while Jonny is at work, and I'm not quite sure what to do :) We're so excited to be here and see this part of the country. So in about 2 weeks we drove through 10 states and spent over 40 hours in the car! Yikes!
Soon I'll post some pictures, I have lots to post! But I wanted to give everyone a little update!

2008-08-11T19:27:00.003-06:00

Josh and Rachel (and Addie) came to visit us... ... almost a month ago. I'm a little slow at posting. We had a lot of fun with them when they were here, they are such a cute little family. It was fun to have some family visiting. Addie is so cute and is getting so big!Of course we went to Sea World- you can't come to San Diego without going there. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures- but here is one of Rach, Addie and I at the Shamu show. One of the radio stations had a $5 concert on the beach. It was SO SO SO pretty. It was Josh Gracin, Heidi Newfield, Phil Stacey, and Whisky Falls?? Ha I can't remember all of them. Anyways Rach, me and Jess went to it and it was such a fun girls night! We went a little crazy without they boys around. The sunset was so pretty and you could see the beach/water. The pictures don't do it justice.
The pretty view.... we sat up in the bleachers and this was our view. When Josh Gracin came on we went down by the stage and screamed like teenage girls. There was one point Josh came out in the crowd and we all touched him and screamed :) Ha ha

This one is for you, Ali! Its your friend Tony! I knew you'd want to see him again :)
After the concert- walking around the beach.
And then we just had to take a trip to Tijuana while they were here. We got some great deals! Even Addie enjoyed it!

Jonny and I on the mechanical bull in mexico. It was my first time riding one ( i don't know that it counts though.... they moved it pretty slow for me)

The San Diego Chargers vs. The Dallas Cowboys

2008-08-10T20:23:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we went to the chargers football game. It was SO much fun. Neither Jonny or I had ever been to an NFL game so we were really excited. My brother Nick came down from Ventura to go with us.

Jonny in front of Qualcomm StadiumWatching the warm up.Going to our seats.... on the field! You know I had to get some pictures of Tony Romo! I tried to look for Jessica Simpson, but didn't see her. Dang.Warming up before the game. This is Terrell Owens and the backup quarterback.In our seats before the game. We had such good seats and it was so much fun!

Nick and the Chargers girls. They have a little bit more clothes on than the Rock Star Girls. This is for you, mom.

Jonny's favorite is Weddle- I guess he played at Utah or something.
Terrell Owens and LaDainian Tomlinson talking. Tomlinson didn't play because it was a preseaon game. I feel so smart knowing all these names :)

The end of the game. Chargers won!!!

Happy Birthday Jonny!

2008-08-02T13:01:00.003-06:00

Okay so I'm a little late, but last Wednesday was Jonny's 24th birthday. He kind of had a whole birthday week since his parents were here the weekend before his birthday. I surprised him and bought him a Nintendo Wii. He wanted one forever but I kept telling him no, but secretly saved up for one. He was so excited! I gave it to him early when his family was here so he could play it with his brother and dad.
Then on his actual birthday I surprised him with Chargers tickets (12th row!) and a jersey. He was SO excited. The game is this Saturday and they play the Cowboys.

Happy Birthday Jonny! Thanks for all you do and I hope you had a great day! love, Ash

Boomers

2008-07-14T16:57:00.002-06:00

We went to a family fun park by our house called Boomers. We did the bumper boats (which no one ended up liking- due to the little kids in there and an old grandpa, who kept spraying water at all of us). No one wanted to get wet, but we kind of got bombarded. Then we rode the go-carts a few times, did the batting cages, played laser tag (I won!), and mini golf (I didn't win). It was a really fun night, and a really fun weekend.

4th of July

2008-07-14T16:37:00.002-06:00

Ok, we had too many pictures so I wanted to add a slideshow. We had a super fun 4th of July. My brother and his friend Andy came down from Ventura to hang out with us. We went to the beach around noon. It was SO SO crowded. Jonny and Francis joined us after a day of selling sometime in the afternoon. It was kind of overcast all day, but cleared up a little in the late afternoon. There was so much to do there, they had all kinds of food vendors and people everywhere. We stood up to take a picture by the sunset and all of the sudden the fog rolled in. Within about 2 minutes we could hardly see anything! You can tell if you look at the series of pictures of jonny and I by the pier- you can see the fog getting thicker until you can't even see the pier. So we decided to keep on hanging out, hoping the fog would lift and we'd still be able to see the fireworks (they light them off the pier). But.... 9:00 came and we could sure hear the fireworks- but couldn't even see them light up the sky! It was kind of a funny story and we were all a little bummed, but we still had a great 4th!

Jordan's Visit

2008-07-11T14:21:00.007-06:00

Jonny's little brother Jordan came to visit us for about a week. We had a lot of fun when he was here and did a lot of things! One night we pulled our matresses in the living room and had a big slumber party with jordan and jessica. It was a lot of fun and kind of made me feel like a kid again. The first night he was here we went to the San Diego Fair. My brother Nick was visiting us too- so it was one big party. We ate lots of junk food, played at the petting zoo, and went on a couple of crazy rides. Oh ya- and we squeezed all 6 of us into the ferris wheel. I thought it would be no big deal, but it was so packed. And then when we stopped at the top it was making all kinds of sounds like it was going to break. And we all thought we were going to die! But the little carny man didn't seem to worried about us screaming everytime we came around and he must have known what he was doing because somehow we survived!

Then one day Jordo, Jessica, and I went to the San Diego zoo. That place is HUGE, but it was really cool. I've always wanted to go there, so I was glad we went.

And of course a trip to San Diego wouldn't be complete without a Padres Game. After the game we went to Mission Beach and rode the roller coaster and played games. I loved Jordan's face in the picture on the roller coaster. (jonny likes to take pictures on the ride!) It was so much fun having Jordan here- we hope he had fun too!

Go Padres!

2008-06-14T19:51:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we went on a big group date to the padres game. It was so much fun and they won! Its become one of my favorite things to do in San Diego. The guys were so funny to watch, they got way into the game.

When they hit the winning homerun in the 10th inning!

2 months already!

2008-06-14T19:41:00.003-06:00

jonny and I have been married for over 2 months now- and its flown by! On our 2 month anniversary I was in the middle of making dinner (steaks.... mmmmm!) when Jonny got home early from work (and surprised me with flowers-that was just the beginning). We were planning on going to get ice cream after dinner, but since it was so late already, Jonny told me we needed to hurry and get ice cream first before all the places closed. So I left dinner where it was, raw steaks in the pan and potatoes in the oven. We ended up driving all over trying to find a good place since the cold stone by our house is closed for remodeling. After about 1/2 hour we ended up going thru the jack in the box drive thru and just getting shakes (which was perfect for me - thats what i kept telling him to do all along). When we got home there was candles all over our house- and dinner was ready on the table!!!! It was so cute! Jonny's friends snuck in and finished dinner and decorated while we were gone. They even cleaned the dishes- it was so nice of them! It was such a perfect night- Jonny is always doing thoughtful things! Here are some pics!

These are the 2 trespassers!

My Sweet Hubby

2008-05-26T16:13:00.001-06:00

I came home from work the other day, and found these pretty flowers on the counter! I have the sweetest husband ever! He is such a hard worker and he never complains (unlike ME). I don't know what I'd do without him!