Jack and the City

On Wednesday Jay, Jack and I went into D.C. Jay had a school orientation and we decided to tag along and test out the Metro. Jack LOVED the subway. It rocks a little as it goes and he would sway back and forth in his stroller exaggerating the movement. So cute. We played at a park across the street from Jay's school while he went to a meeting. We fed the pigeons chocolate chip banana bread (Note to PETA: Sorry if you find dead pigeons. Is chocolate bad for them?) and Jack chased them around the park. He loved all the people walking past and waved at each one. I think maybe Jack loves the city?




We decided to tour a bit before heading home and walked over to the White House. The grounds are lovely and the people across the street that have been there since 1981 running the anti-nuclear vigil are a little wacko, but it was all fun to see!



Jay and Mr. Washington. I think his head may be almost as big as Jack's :)

Our New Neighbor"hood"

I finally got enough boxes unpacked and things cleaned up that I can finally post pictures of our new apartment! :) So far we really love it! The people are all so friendly and the area is quiet. A few streets down gets a little dodgy, but all in all it is a nice place!

Here is the outside of our building. We are the top right balcony.



Here is my lovely kitchen where I am happy to report that the muffins I made yesterday came out perfect! And round topped! That has never happened before! Must be the lower elevation!


Here is the bathroom. Just in case you were interested. Please notice our pink/peach bathtub because it is seriously stylin'.


This is the area that will hopefully have a table and chairs soon so Jack's highchair won't be so lonely.

Here is our living room and my very studious husband. Notice our huge windows. Jack has covered them nicely with kisses :)

More living room. You are just lucky I took out the camping chair for the picture :)


Ahhhh. Pretty sure this is my favorite spot in the house. I realize that it's not very space saver to have my shoes like this, but it looks so pretty!!



More closet. It is huge and wonderful.


Our bedroom. Please don't mind the mess under the bed or on the dresser :)

Jacks bachelor pad.


And that is the whole thing! Minus the other bathroom and the pantry, but I think you can live without seeing those :)

We Made It!!

Yes, we are still alive. We are living out of boxes, but happy as clams :) Last week we made the 4 day journey to our new home in Virginia. Jack can only handle about 8 hours a day in the car, so we had to take it pretty slowly. Jay's parents helped us drive the cars out which was a huge help. We decided to enjoy our road trip and stop a few places along the way. Our first tourist stop was in Nauvoo, IL. For those of you that don't know the history of Nauvoo, here it is in condensed version. The Mormons, or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settled in Nauvoo, IL. after they were driven out of Missouri. Nauvoo was basically a huge swamp as it is on the banks of the Mississippi. They irrigated the swamp to make it livable and built up the city. At one point (1845), it had more people than Chicago! They built the second temple (the first being in Kirtland, OH. which city they were also driven out of) and started really prospering. In the summer of 1844 our Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum were killed in Carthage, IL.(our second stop). The Mormons were once again forced to leave the state of Illinois and they all headed out west landing in Utah. So, that is why Utah is full of us :)

The town has been restored and the temple rebuilt. It is beautiful and hot and I'm glad I finally go to see it!

Here I am with a real honest to goodness Ox. This is what the pioneers used to pull their covered wagons. They are freaking enormous. This one is even a girl (I checked). I can't imagine how big the bulls are!!



Jay, Jack and me at the back of the Nauvoo temple. It is absolutely gorgeous.


Jay at Carthage jail where Joseph Smith was killed.


Monday we went to check out George Washington U where Jay will spend most of his next 2 years. It is awesome. It's right downtown D.C. next to the White House and all of the monuments. The school is actually just huge city buildings and the campus is spread out over a few city blocks. It is an interesting set-up but a sweet location.


Here is the Elliott School building where Jay will have most of his classes!

So, that is it for now! I will post pictures soon of our new place once I get some of the boxes out of the way!

(Jay wanted to include the following video. He and my brother, Doug, rescued a bat from our drain gutter...it was stuck. So, here is Batty climbing up to get ready to fly! Sorry it is sideways...not really sure how to turn it :))

Today, I Became A Surgeon

I have always thought that I would make an excellent surgeon. One day, in the not so near future, I am going to go to med school. It may actually happen in another life, but it's going to happen :) I think opening someones chest and fixing their heart would be the coolest thing ever. Or putting a face back together....that would be awesome. Today I got to practice on myself. I'm just glad it wasn't Jay this time. A casualty to Jay at this point in our move would be tragic. There is a reason that I don't move heavy things and much to Jay's dismay, I am going to call the men from our new ward to help us move in :) This is what happens when you move a really heavy dresser and you don't lift it up high enough and it scrapes over your foot......

Picture #1 - Initial injury
Picture #2 - Post op.
Picture #3 - Bandaged

I'm not going to lie, I really am mostly upset about how my toe will look in my pretty shoes the rest of the summer and I'm really sad about my lovely pedicure. I know....vanity.



On a happier note, we went to the zoo on Saturday. It is a really cool zoo where you walk along a boardwalk at eye level of the giraffes. Jack totally dug it. He loved the giraffes and even got to touch one!


I included this animal because it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen and I thought other people should be puzzled by its existence.

2 Weeks to Liftoff

We leave for D.C. 2 weeks from tomorrow. We are getting really excited and we are a ton less stressed now that we have an apartment secured out there :) Being homeless was not something I really wanted to try. We found a place in Alexandria that is hopefully not in the ghetto. I guess we will find out :)

Jack is obviously not feeling stressed about packing or organizing.


Jay made an absolutely fabulous cheesecake. Much better than mine, so I suppose he will be taking over in the kitchen now. Which means more time for So You Think You Can Dance, for me.


Yes, Jack is finally walking. Here is a really cute video of some of his first steps.



Jack is going to be famous for his serious drumming. My brother Doug is teaching him the ropes.

Catch Up

We have had a really fun past 2 weeks. Lots of posts and pictures! Enjoy :)

Johnson Family Extravaganza

We went to Lake Powell with my family for a week. We had such a fun time! Jay is a stud on the wakeboard, I'm pretty sure Jack grew gills and I got a sweet tan.


Here Jay is demonstrating his mad skills on the wakeboard.

Jack and I floated around a lot. He loved it.


Here is the family. This is only 4 of the 8 siblings! We have a big family.


Here is the story on this picture. The binding on the wakeboard boots were rubbing holes in Jay's legs. He therefore invented the "Skill Socks". He cut the toes off of some socks and basically made himself leg warmers. He then decided that his long hair and scruff would be enhanced by the 80's life vest. So, here you have Tom Cruise circa 1985.


I have been wakeboarding much longer than Jay and I still don't have any skills. Oh well. What can you do?


Jack loved the beach and the little mud hole we found him.


This is me and my little brother's girlfriend, Kaela, riding the tube of death. I ate it pretty hard a couple of times. Kaela is obviously a brute because she never fell off.


The men on the Ion.


Floating again. This is how I got my sweet tan :) Jack is still as white as he went!