Whirlwind Weekend In June!

Finally an excuse to go to California. Whitney, thanks for getting married.

Robyn, Joe, Parker, and I decided that we needed to go to California for Whitney's wedding, so we left last Thursday afternoon to make the drive. In the typical Johnson fashion, it was anything but uncomplicated.

Thursday, June 7

12:00 PM
I call Robyn to see what time Joe's getting off work. She says 2:30.

2:30 PM
Robyn calls to tell me that Joe is leaving the office.

3:15 PM
Robyn calls to tell me that while on the way to pick me up in Provo Joe realized that he forgot his wallet.

4:00 PM
Joe calls me to ask me if I can go buy an air freshener. Parker had thrown up on himself when they got home to get Joe's wallet. Robyn had to change Parker and give him a bath. The car still smelled a little like baby vomit.

4:30 PM
Robyn and Joe (and Parker) finally pick me up in Provo, and we get on the road with an estimated arrival time of 1:30 AM (2:30 AM Utah time).

Parker was in and out of sleep the entire drive, which also meant he was in and out of crying. Robyn was wondering if we really should have made the trip.

12:30 AM (California time)
Parker wakes up coughing and vomits again. The smell of baby vomit that I had gotten used to over the last 9 hours filled the car again.

1:30 AM
Devon greeted us in the driveway. We made it to San Diego. He was up pressing onesies!




I took this picture in the parking lot of the arboretum after the reception. Luke's eyes are so blue.
Parker was worn out after the reception, and decided that the pillow was much more comfortable than the rest of his hotel crib. I wish I had had a giant pillow to sleep on as well.
The Gadds at Whitney's reception.
Kimberly and Taylor.
Sandi Linville and me. She sat with us at the reception.
Mom, here's a picture of the centerpiece.
The boys and their matching shirts.

On Friday, Robyn, Kimberly, and I went running (our new tradition). This time we left the kids at home with Joe, so no strollers to push. It was much easier going up the hills. After we went running, we all went swimming. I saw that my hair was as big as it used to be after it dried! I had to take a picture.
That night Joe treated us all to dinner at Da Kitchen. He also treated us to a Broadway worthy Elmo performance. The kids loved it!
On Saturday after the wedding we checked in to the Newport Bay View Marriott. I had to take a picture with said bay view! Thanks, Stephanie!

On Sunday we drove home. We didn't leave until after we enjoyed the breakfast buffet that David Patten comp'd us. We got the hook ups!

Check out the rest of the photo album here.

SEGWAY

My profile on the Segway!
NO HANDS...how does he do it?
And of course, I had to pose with my classic thumbs ups!

Susie, eat your heart out. Vespas are cool, but Segways are the walking of the future. Just kidding. Last night after I left Robyn's house (where she graciously fed me dinner since I have no food after my trip) I decided that instead of going home for ward prayer I'd go to my friend Marianne's house. Her parents live in Sandy, and there were three things that lured me there. One, they tivo'd the office season finale that I missed, and I got to watch it with them. Two, they had cake (I didn't know until I got there). Three, they have a Segway! Marianne would also add that four they have a baby (her nephew), but as Eric her brother pointed out, boys don't really care as much about other people's babies as girls do... Anyway, after the office and the cake, Marianne and I went outside and played with the Segway. I rode it around the block, I went forward and backward, I went in circles, I rode it sitting, and finally we rode it with two people at a time. We rode it over to a park where we did laps. I really wish that there had been people in their backyards as we made our way over to the park, 'cause it would have looked really weird seeing us gliding along smoothly and effortlessly...kind of witchy! I have now decided that I NEED a Segway. I don't know how or when, but someday I will have a Segway. It's electric, so if I plugged it in at home my roommates would pay for a 3/4 of its gas, without ever realizing...it's the perfect scam! I've since learned that they also have off-roading Segways made perfectly for the trail or the golf course. Now they just need to make them freeway safe, and they'll be set!

The rest of my trip!

First day in Tegus.

Last night at the President´s house we caught up with him and sister Farrell. Today, we woke up at about 8, got ready, and went to Valle de Angeles. All our missions we heard about how cool it was, but when we got there, we decided that it was nothing compared to Copan. I told mom and dad that I really want to take them there. They would love it! Ummm, after Valle de Angeles, we went to Tatumbla. We showed up at Aristides´ house, and a few minutes later, Elder Larson showed up. He´s a ZL in TATUMBLA, and he´s got 17 months in the mission now. I can´t believe that! He´s grown up so much. It was cool to see him. Tonight we´re staying in Tegucigalpa at a member´s house...it should be pretty interesting! Right now we´re going to see Spiderman 3! It´ll be fun. Talk to you later.

Lots of driving and Mayan ruins.

Im trying to load some pics, but dont know if the internet is fast enough. We drove for like 8 hours today, looked at some lots of ruins, rode horses, and now were in the nicest, cheapest hotel Ive ever seen. Its great. We are in Copan. Sorry, I dont have apostrophes again... Sorry, no pics...maybe tomorrow night. PS, we are staying at the presidents house.

We started the morning out by eating our favorite food, BALEADAS. They´re flour tortillas with refried beans, cheese, and mantequilla. After that, we went to the beach, where I taught Dallin how to body surf. After an hour or two at the beach, we went to the pool to get the sand off and then went to some botanical gardens. They were really pretty. If I could, I would upload a movie I made of myself swinging on a vine. If you want to see the movie, as my mom or dad, because I just sent it to them. Anywho, that is all for now!

I made it!

So, my day started today at 3:00 am. That´s when I woke up. I had Robyn take me to the airport, where I met Dallin, Jordan, and Kim...

Our first flight took off at 6:05 am from SLC to DFW. I don´t know when my next two flights took off, but I know that each of them were about two hours long and that they had about an hour between each one. From DFW I went to Miami, and from Miami I came to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. So exciting... Landing at San Pedro Sula was definitely less exciting than landing in Tegucigalpa, and a lot prettier, too. There were banana fields everywhere. It really is a Banana Republic.


I took this over the ocean somewhere between Miami and San Pedro. When we got through customs, we found that the Budget Car Rental guy was not at work. I had made a reservation with them, and was a little distraught that they weren´t there. I talked to Alamo, got a price, and then convinced Hertz to give me a better price (haggling/flirting works even on car rentals). The car we got, however, is about as long as Dallin!!! We managed to get inside okay.


We drove for an hour in some direction away from the airport looking for the Hotel Tornabe. I had talked to the owner a few days ago, and he said it was a great place, right on the ocean, etc. Well, we got to Tornabe, looked around, and decided it was the last place on earth we wanted to be. So we backtracked into Tela, found a decent hotel (Hotel Presidente), and here we are! It´s gated, has a guard, has air conditioning, and a pool, and is two blocks from the beach right in the center of town. We´ll see where we find to stay until we get to Tegucigalpa! We´ll be here in Tela all day tomorrow, and on Thursday we´ll leave for Copan Ruins. We´ll be there all day Friday, and then we´ll leave for Tegucigalpa, where we´ll turn the car in and take busses and taxis everywhere. It´s really humid now, and I think we´re going swimming! I´m surviving.