Aqua Time

My wonderful, glorious, marvelous parents decided to take the potty-trained grandkids down to The Living Planet Aquarium in Utah for the day. 

And guess what? I'm potty-trained so I was able to go too!!

^^I was able to pet this bad boys ^^

^^ 3-D Movie that terrified all of the kids^^

From my parent's lips:

Their parents can deal with the nightmares. 

^^Oh the happiness^^

^^Oh my happiness of seeing God's most beautiful creations^^

And me traversing through the Amazons in style:

Thanks for the adventure Mummsie and Dad!

Sisterly Love

 A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

 Having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of. You know whatever you do, they’ll still be there. ~Amy Li

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves — a special kind of double. ~Toni Morrison

I know there is mostly just one of my sisters here, but I have been bombarded with the world's best sisters in the form of best friends, roommates, missionary companions, and, of course, my biological sisters. 

Despite kids, husbands, jobs, and life events, my role as a sister will always be high on the list. 

After the Manner of Happiness

After listening to Jeffrey R. Holland's talk titled, "Living After the Manner of Happiness," here are some of my things from my life that invite happiness:

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the many blessings that come from the gospel is General Conference every six months. Another blessing was being a able to serve a mission of inviting others to live the gospel. The best? Being able to combine those blessings by watching G.C. with Courtney who I met on my mission!

2. Being surrounded by God's beauty and creations on a daily basis. The trick is to take time out of your busy life to actually enjoy it. 

 3. Creating memories with the people I love. 

What helps you to live after the manner of happiness?

And Now I'm Back

.....from outer space.

(Please say that at least one person gets the reference).

Because of my 19 month hiatus from this blog I will treat you with a 19 point list of random loveliness. None in order.

1. I'm truly back from Tennessee and Kentucky (its own planetary system to be sure).

I flew into Salt Lake City on August 27th, and received quite the royal welcome from mi familia.

2. Reunited with the Mizzy!

3. Playing the most beautiful instrument with some talented youngsters.

4. I'm thinking Stevie is not too excited to have me back as her mother 

and I like to play around in Provo. 

5. One of my favorite places to be in on a college campus. Especially with those gorgeous mountains behind! (I really missed the mountains!)

6. Can you find the "Y"?

7. Seeing mission buddies! You talk about these moments as a missionary, but it seems surreal that you are able to hang out...in pants.

8. Stalking my childhood home. Those trees were definitely not that size. 

9. Visiting Jeb's grave in Malta. So glad he is closer to the rest of the gang!

10. Seeing MANY General Authorities! D. Todd Christofferson is somewhere in that mix. 

11. Being overwhelmed with all the new nephews and nieces. "They're everywhere, they're everywhere!"

12. Still being entertained by the elder ones. He asked me to handcuff him to the chair. Being the charitable aunt I am, I had to oblige. 

13. One of the members in my mission sent me this picture. Her daughter named her African American doll and stuffed pig "Sister Johnson" and "Sister Johnson" from when I was companions with a Sister Johnson. What a honor. 

14. Reunited with Pickle! Both proud of our Southern missions!

15. We received a knock on the door one evening and a guy from the ward bought a dozen roses and was giving a rose to each apartment. I happened to be the one to answer the door so they all claim it was for me.

16. What happens when you add Halloween and S'mores together? You get orange marshmallow cream = deliciousness. 

17. Mission Reunion!!! It happened to land on my one month of being home anniversary and was such a tender mercy to see so many of my good friends. Luckily I didn't have too many awkward "do we hug or shake" experiences. We all just went in for the hug.

18. 8:30 am church means special roommate bonding time.

19. And just another picture of the siblings. Thanks for singing in sacrament meeting!

SAN.DI.EG.O

San Diego has always been one of my favorites. On one such adventure down to America's Finest Cities, I developed many favorites that have not altered with age such as:

Favorite animal-Killer whales

Favorite scripture- 3 Nephi 12:16

Favorite temple- San Diego

One of my pre-mission goals is to go to the temple every week (and preferably a new one). My parents spoiled me by driving down to San Diego so that I could go through the temple there. If you look closely you can see me in my yellow cardigan in the picture above. 

Trust me on this one: try, try, try to get into the San Diego temple. It was absolutely gorgeous. They like to spoil the out-of-town visitors so I was able to see a sealing room and the Bride's room as well. If my parents were hoping to fulfill my desires, the visit only encouraged me to marry there. Don't worry, a temple worker offered her son at BYU. Maybe when I come back he will still be there?

Other than our wonderful time at the temple we were able to explore a few beaches, eat lots of Mexican food, and visit the Mormon Battalion historical site. 

And now I would like to mimic the sea lions (or seals?) above.

Care to join me? 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year That Happened a Week Ago

I had a most fantastic Christmas and New Years with hardly any pictures, but a basket of laundry to prove it. Most of the holidays were spent living out of a suitcase in Boise, Provo, and Bear Lake. 

My first photo with the new camera:

 For nine months of terrorizing her womb, we thank Mummsie by rubbing her feet:

Went through the Twin Falls temple (JC and Sara left before the picture):

And went through the SLC temple as well:

Latin Dancing at the Church History Museum. Not sure how those two relate, but please note the little punk in the background. He was kind enough to inform us of his photobomb afterwards:

She lights up my life:

Some events to celebrate the last days of 2012:

Reading books.

Snowmobiling and snowboarding.

Sleeping in.

Going through the temple.

Party with the family.

Party with my friend's family.

Les Mis.

The Hobbit.

Eating food.

Awkward church dances.

Sitting in the car.

Mummsie Monday

You know what is better than Music Monday?

Mummsie Monday.

(Say that 10x fast)

And it just so happens that on this Monday we celebrate day that the Mummsie was born!

*I dug this picture out of the 2008 archives*

So in celebration of all things Mummsie we need to:

*Eat chocolate

*Listen to music

*Spoil the grandkids

*Eat chocolate

*Read by the fireplace

*Wear a cozy sweater

*Eat chocolate

*Go on a walk or run

*Shop for new bowls

*Eat chocolate

Happy Birthday Mummsie!

I love you!

Happy Search

Happiness is:

-Ice cream after every meal

-Nieces and nephews

-No tuition because you work hard for your good GPA

-Utah plans tomorrow

-Pasta

-Using good smelling Bath and Body Works soap

-Writing a ten page paper in one day

-The sight of this:

One is for one week in Rexburg and the other is for 4 weeks in England.

If you said the one on the left is for Rexburg, you're wrong.

Be Happy!

Labor Day...for Some

The first Monday of September came all too quickly and we were boggled with the question, 

"What to do?"

Big sissy Janelle came up with the solution to have a good ole Johnson Family BBQ.

And so we did.

Hyrum watching The Prodigal Son.

He chose it.

 Riley with her favorite person in the world, her Grandma.

 Cheers...

All my Johnson ladies (Sing to the tune of "Single Ladies")

I graciously allowed for the use of my killer whale pool.

Lindsey's beauty shots

It was a great alternative to the Eastern Idaho State Fair...trust me.

But I got to thinkin', you know who works 24/7?

Moms.

And do they get a Labor Day?

That would be a no.

Labor Day is like an Unlabor Day for them. 

Anyways, keep up the hard work.