Est. 8.17.12
Tempe
AZ
The
Marcus and Alexandria Johnson
Family
Eastward in Eden (our backyard)
Part 1: "Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee... By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread {and till the earth}" Gen 3:18-19
This was the situation of our backyard, until our visionary main man (Marc) decided it was time to relandscape this last April! Here are a couple "before" and "during" shots. Fortunately, Charlie was an excellent helper, and supervisor!
"Dress this garden, and keep it" Gen 2:15
Charlie supervising daddy
What happens in Vegas...
...makes for quite the story!!
We braved our first trip with two under two in May. Marc had a business conference in Las Vegas, so we packed up the car and drove our little family 5 hours to the Aria Hotel, right on the strip. What a beautiful hotel! We enjoyed beautiful sunsets every night from our room.
We also enjoyed some night life~ we walked to the Bellagio to see fountain shows almost every night! One night we walked over to the Venetian for dinner, and James decided that was a good opportunity to blow out of his diaper. So, on the other end of the strip from our room, we had to get creative!
Another night we went to Cesar's palace for dinner, at a cute little place called Serendipity 3. It was great food! On our way back to the hotel, we ate some chocolate gelato and a chocolate crepe at the Bellagio's Jean Philippe Patisserie, where the tallest chocolate fountain in the world is located!
Marc's business conference went well, and the last keynote speaker was Apollo, the "Gentleman's Theif." He was quite the presenter, but Marc enjoyed him so much we stalked him to get a picture with him!
The ride home was also successful, thanks to the awesome boys that took a nap most of the way!
<- The culprit.
Dun dun dun....
Austin, TX
In June we were off to another business conference! This time, we flew over to Austin, and still the boys did awesome! They are such great traveling buddies. We LOVED our stay at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Austin, and again had spectacular views of the city!
We walked over to the bridge on Congress Ave to check out the famous bats that fly out this time of year, and loved the time outside. Downtown Austin is such a pretty area, and there's music playing everywhere! I guess that's why they call it the "Live Music Capitol of the world!"
Gotta Hurry to Snowflake!
As last minute as we could possibly decide, we headed up to Snowflake for the 4th of July. What a party they have up in the White Mountains for Independence Day! It was incredible. Marc shot off the anvil, we laughed at the stump speaker, and had a grand time at the Taylor rodeo!
In true Snowflake fashion, it rained the last day, so we were able to enjoy the gloriously cool mountain air before returning to the inferno.
Fun fact: People come from all over the country to the 4th of July Taylor rodeo as it's part of the real rodeo cycle! It was a little bit bigger than the Flake family rodeo or Lehi Days down here in Mesa...
Back up to the mountains
We made the annual pilgrimage up to the mountains for Pioneer Day in July, only this year we all gathered a few days early than normal to have a little family reunion in Pinetop. We stayed at a cabin found via VRBO, and then played games, ate shaved ice, candy, and gelato (don't tell the kids about the last two - that was after bedtime!), walked around the nearby lake, and bonded over some good ol' fashioned competition - gokart racing!
The first night of the Pioneer day reunion, we had a big lip sync show, and everyone got way into it! We also had the Family Olympics, parade, rodeo, and a fireside with Grandpa and Grandma Taylor.
It was a wonderful escape to be with family.
Laguna Niguel
As Anne of Green Gables fittingly describes, "it was November, the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep hymns of the sea..."
Marc had another business conference, this time at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, California. What a stunning little pocket of this lovely earth!
While Marc was in his conference, the boys and I hit the beach with Lynn. In the evenings (and after nap time) we would go back down to the beach to enjoy the crimson sunsets.
Til next time, Laguna beach!
2015
For the first time since we had Charlie (almost 2.5 years ago), Marc and I went on a trip this Ocober without kids. We had a fantastic time, and kept up the non-stop pace.
We left late Thursday afternoon and drove straight to Salt Lake. We checked into our hotel, the darling Little America, at 3:30 am, and then after a blink of sleep we were back up to attend the sealing of a sweet couple from our Rio Salado ward. Then we went to the new Church History Museum (incredible, by the way) to see the brand new, panoramic video of the First Vision, among the other interactive and engaging exhibits.
Marc then reached out to Elder Golden's office (he's the General Authority who called Marc almost 2 years ago (it's crazy how fast time is flying!!)) and then headed over to the Church Administration Building for a visit. Elder Golden is truly an instrument in the hands of the Lord.
After, we ran across a wild rain storm to the Beehive house for a tour courtesy of the Richardson's, previous members of our stake who are serving a mission on Temple Square. When we were through, we headed back to the temple to end our evening in the House of the Lord participating in an endowment session.
The next two days were pretty straight forward: General Conference, eat a scrambled bite, conference, eat, etc. We did love stealing across the street from our hotel for a time to take in the splendor of the Grand America. The ballroom is marvellous! And the gilded furnishings, the white mouldings, the blue papered walls- glorious. But truthfully, the best bite in that area, and for a surprisingly inexpensive cost, is the Luck H Bar and Grill inside the Litttle America. Their Alfredo dish was so scrumptious we ordered it both nights!
Immediately following the Sunday afternoon conference session, we hopped into our car and drove straight home. We arrived back in Phoenix at 3:30 am, and slept another wink before we headed over to pick the boys up from their grandparents. In case you were curious where the boys where during our escapade, they were receiving the royal treatment at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's. The boys had such a great time they didn't even think to miss us! We have photographic evidence of the fact.
It was unreal, but if that's what retirement is going to look like for Marc and me, sign me up! It's going to stay a wild ride.
Utah for Conference
