Sunny Sunny Florida- we miss you already...

We went to Florida a week ago and it was A-mazing! So fun to get away together and be in some hot weather, but stinky to come back to SNOWING in Utah- ugh! We had a jam packed 4 days there and loved every minute of it. The first day we spent at Discovery Cove which was awesome. We snorkeled with tropical fish, stingrays, sharks and barracudas (they were behind a glass wall) and I swam with a dolphin, it was the bomb.

Posing with my dolphin Lester. He was huge, a lot larger than I was expecting. And don't worry that Lester is 40 years old, and the average life expectancy of a dolphin is 20 years. He was pretty much ancient.


The whole park was completely tropical looking with white sandy beaches, we loved laying out and just taking in all the beautiful scenery. I was a baby and wore a wetsuit for the first half of the day. I began to get tan lines that weren't attractive, so I decided to toughen up and ditch the wetsuit.


Lester taking me for a ride- best thing ever.

As you can tell I was SO excited about the dolphins.

Day two was spent at Sea World and of course we loved that too. Zachary was not happy about posing next to this manatee, but I thought it was a good photo op.

Of course one of the first things we did when we got there was go on a ride that SOAKED me! I seriously felt like I had just jumped in a lake. Zachary thought it was awesome, and me, well not so much. I was hating life.

Hence, these wonderful Sea World shorts I got to sport the rest of the day, I looked so goofy, but I was dry, and that is all that matters!

We loved the shows at Sea World, they were so fun. Zachary was going crazy with the camera taking a million pictures at the shows, I guess he just wanted to capture every moment... :)

Shamu- gotta love it.

If you know me well, you know I am a major shark fan. I just had to include this picture because I think sharks are cool, and it is just plain scary, check out those teeth!

One last Sea World shot, please, ignore the shorts.

Day three was spent at Universal Studios, and of course we loved it. It was probably our least favorite park, but we loved it still.

I hate the Simpsons, but of course it was my favorite ride there. Just couldn't pass this picture up, sorry if you think it is rude.

Love this shot.

Lucky for us there was a Collective Soul concert at Universal Studios the night we were there. Z apparently loves Collective Soul so he was loving life. I knew a few of their songs, but was mostly entertained by the singers awesome rockstar moves. He was seriously killing me, I think I could teach him a lesson or two about rockstar moves.

Our last day we just took it easy, did some shopping, and had lunch before it was time to head to the airport. We had such a great time, and you better believe I was planning our next trip to Orlando for when we have some older kiddos- that trip will be the bomb.

Love Daylight savings, and LOVE that Spring has finally decided to make an appearance.

I can't wait to start shopping for some fun summer sandals like these!

Valentines

Valentines Day this year was awesome. Zachary and I spent the whole day together having fun! Trafalga was one of our stops, and it was the bomb. I never knew how much I would love that place! Our favorite was the XD theatre, that was 3D and the chairs moved around with the movie, we loved it.

Next stop was MONSTER JAM! It was the greatest, and let me say there was no shortage of romance, I mean Monster Jam, come on, it is definitely Valentines Day material.

And, of course, no Valentines Day date is complete without a souvenir Monster Jam T-shirt with "grave-digger" on the front. Zachary REALLY loves me!

Wishing you an early Happy Valentines Day. I hope it is lovely!

Zachary and I have been crazy busy as of late. School is taking up more time than ever for me, but I am loving all the new stuff I am learning. I can't wait to be in the classroom in a few weeks and actually put my "skills" to the test! It seems like we are constantly counting down the days until the weekend, and the weeks are just flying by! Before we know it summer will be here, Hallelujah!

A Vegas Vacation

Zachary and I had a long weekend last week so we decided a quick getaway to "Fabulous Las Vegas" would be fun! It was spontaneous which I don't do well with, but we made the most of it!

(Please don't ask about our pose, I do not know what we are doing.)

Hands down my favorite thing we did was Siegfried and Roy's Dolphin and Lion Habitat at the Mirage. I could have spent hours there!

This Lion seriously growled at us, and I thought he was coming through the fence to get us. It scared us so bad, but it was hilarious!

I love, love, loved the dolphins. I used to want to be a Marine Biologist ya know, serious! After seeing the dolphins I am SO excited for our trip to Sea World in March- I can't hardly wait!

Zachary's favorite part of the trip would have to be the buffets! He just can't get enough of that crab! I think those buffets are rather sick though.

Love the Bellagio water show, it's always so amazing to me.

I was in heaven at the M&M's store- so fun! Of course I stocked up.

One of our nights we went to a Lance Burton Magic Show. The Magic show was really Zachary's favorite thing. Those illusions are crazy, I just do not understand how they get those tricks to work! It was so fun to get away together and be in some WARM weather! Until next year...

Christmas in Washington

We spent our Christmas break in Washington with my family and it was wonderful. I just love being at home! We pretty much just partied 24/7 and it was a blast! The highlights of the week included going skiing (don't worry I went off some jumps), ice skating at the Stock's pond, visiting with family, PRESENTS!, and celebrating Christmas with the ones we love.

We LOVED ice skating at the Stocks pond, even if it did get a little brutal out there at times! Don't let the little guy in the front fool you, he was nutzo with snowballs!

My dad and me spending some quality time in the kitchen

We made pretzels one night and they were amazing, just like the mall pretzels, but better!

We definitley got our fill of junk food, I've been home in Utah for 2 weeks now and I am still recovering!

Despite treacherous conditions outisde we made our way over to Grandpa and Grandma Gibbons house on Christmas Eve. Don't worry, we bundled up.

Grandpa Gibbons with his Christmas Gift, I'm so grateful that my Grandpa lives so close and we get to see him often when we are in Washington.

Don't be fooled by their glam, this was Christmas Eve- Love these girls, they already make me feel like an old married - good thing I have them to keep me young and hip ;)

And what would Christmas morning be without our annual picture taken on the stairs. (Don't ask me why we continue to take this picture every year, it is NOT flattering to anyone!) My dad still likes to treat us like we are five, and no one is allowed to see the tree until the video camera is on. Oh the anticipation......

Christmas Morning

Z always loves to test out his new apparel.

Of course we had the annual Gibbons Christmas party/gift exchange. I feel like our family is getting bigger and bigger. It was so fun to see everyone's kids and catch up with them. We don't get to see eachother often enough! I just wish someone would have recorded us singing the little stockings song. The Gibbons Family has skill in the music dpt. :)

We are so blessed and so grateful for the Christmas Season.

Now it's a new year, and of course we can't have a new year without some New Year's Resolutions. We are already working hard to keep some of the goals we set, but I have a feeling 2009 is going to be a great year for the Johnsons!

Last Friday my co-worker Emmalee and I decided to brave the cold and try and get some Wicked tickets! We waited in line for about 6 hours in the freezing cold but finally the ticket office opened and we just kept our fingers crossed that there would be some tickets left for us to buy! I'm glad to say that it paid off and we both got our Wicked tickets for next April, I can't wait! It was quite an experience getting the tickets, but I definitely think I would do it again!

(my favorite part about the picture above is the 40 year old man with "transitions" glasses in the background giving me bunny ears- too funny!)