February

It's still February, so I can still keep my resolution! :) In the past month, Ryan and I went on a cruise to Mexico, AMAZING!! We had fabulous ship mates (Ryan and Becky Facer, and Shawn and Kara Overall), and I actually could have spent a few more days in the ports with the beaches. Cabo was pretty outside the city, but we loved Puerto Vallarta. Can't wait to go back there. We did miss our little rugrats though. A lot. Luckily we had some videos and pictures we could look at. :)

Besides that... Cash got accepted into a nearby charter school that he is all too excited to go to, Marley got her first real haircut, and Halle is seriously OUT OF CONTROL. She rules the house. Cash turn 5 tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have pictures to post then. Here are some pictures!


Ryan and Becky -- last dinner on the ship!


Shawn and Kara -- Always tried the "Didja" dish.


Last night. I loved being served food every day... Seriously I could get used to that. :)


Tacos Al Pastor. I've been wanting them for the last 6 years... can you tell I'm excited?! :)


So dang good. So worth shoving my face. Together, we ate 35 tacos!!


On the pasero in Puerto Vallarta. We really did love the bumpy ride to the remote location. Thanks Ryan and Becky. :) Should have taken a picture of the pie we bought off the beach. :)


Night on the boardwalk in Puerto.


Becky and I at the start of our walk around the city.


So exciting to be off the boat!!


Let's go play!!


Last sunset. It was actually cold and windy, but we had to capture it!


Love the horizon and sunset...


Soaking up our last rays.


The end. :)

2012!!

Unreal that it's been 6 months since I posted anything. Sad sad sad. I have no excuse either. However, it's a new year, and this is something I vow to do better at.

The last six months have FLOWN by in the Johnson household. We celebrated went on a trip to California, celebrated 3 birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

We visited the Facer family in California for Becky's birthday, and for Halloween. I can't even tell you how cute it was to see our kids dressed up and go Trick or Treating and not have to be all bundled up in coats. Cash and Marley were pirates and Halle was a monkey (although she looked more like a teddy bear). The weather was seriously PERFECT, and we got to play at the beach almost every day.

Halle had her first birthday on November 16th!! My goodness, I can't believe she's a year old. She started walking all the time the day after her birthday. She even had 6 teeth when she turned 1! She is seriously such an amazing baby, still! We are so incredibly blessed to have that little chubby, happy baby in our family.

Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went all too fast. We decided to do a version of the "12 Days of Christmas" with the kids this year, and it was pretty amazing. We did something different every day for someone else. Some annonymous, some not. My favorite was the day we went down to WinCo and bought 3, $5 gift cards and wrote "Merry Christmas" on the back. I took Cash and Marley and gave them each one and we walked around the store and they got to pick who they wanted to give it to. Cash went first and picked a lady by the ice cream. I stood 20+ feet away and watched him walk up to her and hold the card out for almost a minute. She didn't even see him standing there! When he gave it to her, he said "Merry Christmas" and then a confused look immediately followed. It was so cute to see him try to explain to her that the gift card was for HER, and that it was a gift. She loved it! Marley then got to pick her person, but was too shy to walk up to her and give it to her, so Cash did it for her... she yelled from my side "that's from me!" And Cash told the woman "Merry Christmas." The last one went to a couple that I picked out that I saw three times in the store. Cash and Marley went together to give them their card. They were checking out, and could not see me at all. All they saw were two little rugrats running up to them and then running away as fast as they could, yelling "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Seriously, it was so fun to do some type of service with them during the Christmas season....

Our kids are amazing and I absolutely can't believe how big they are. Cash will be starting Kindergaten in the fall, and I'm definitely not ready for that. He is though. I can't wait to see what this new year brings and what stories I'll have. :)

Happy Independence Day!!!

I love the 4th of July. I love the smell of all the grilling, the fireworks, and the warm weather. Ryan actually took the day off and we got to just hang out as a family!! Well, Marley and I did go and get pedicures... so fun. :) We actually went out to dinner (don't hate) and then went downtown to the fireworks. My dad was nice enough to let us put Halle down and watch her at his house while we took Cash and Marley. Cash rode behind Ryan on his "hitchhiker" bike, and I pulled MJ in the Burley trailer. It was seriously awesome. Marley and Cash danced in the grass to the music until the show started, and then they were glued to the fire. It couldn't have been better. I love our country, despite all its problems, and I love my freedom. I'm so grateful for all those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice to preserve that.