Arizona Living

Oh, hey there, blogging world!
Did you forget about me?
Did you forget about us?
I hope not!

I never forgot about you... I know that a move or two and no internet connection has really hindered our relationship, but I promise to do better!

For now, I'm shooting for once a week posts about the crazy, everyday lives of the 3 Johnson's, and hopefully, that will keep our relationship going strong!

So, a whirlwind update will start right... about... now!

On April 22nd, we moved back home to Cedar City and lived with my parents while we figured out where we wanted to be and while Dan helped out his dad, Steve, with work as he finished out his chemotherapy for Cancer.

That went great! We loved being near both families, and we especially appreciate my family for making that sacrifice to have three added house guests for an extended stay!

We definitely made the most of our time in Cedar, even making frequent visits to St. George, spending much needed time with all our family and friends... because we also made a major family decision while there that would move our family 6 hours from home, to a whole new state!

Dan and I decided I'd put my teaching degree to use and I'd apply for elementary education jobs. I first applied in Southern Utah to stay near home, but the more we thought about it, the more we felt we needed to do something else. I joined a great website for teachers that lets you select states you'd be willing to work in and all the jobs available in those areas--I put in all states surrounding Utah and quite a few jobs came up.

We researched those places and weren't feeling good about any, until jobs came up in the small town of Parker, Arizona.

We'd never been to Parker.
It's pretty much as big as Parowan, Utah... small.
We had no idea why Parker sounded good.

But I sent in my resume, and the principal of a school in the district contacted me to set up an interview.

I interviewed over the phone and it just. felt. right.

Two days later, he offered me the position as the new third grade teacher at the school and two days after that (and much praying and discussing), I accepted!

With a job in place and a home to rent from the school district, we made plans to move to Parker, AZ!

Dan worked his booty off to get our family prepared to move and I am so grateful for him and his willingness to support me in this new venture!

On June 22nd, we packed up our Budget moving truck and our family of three, and we were on our way to our new home... having NEVER seen it before! We broke the trip into two days, and stayed one night in Las Vegas, Nevada at our friends, Dan and Amber Shoemake's (that was so fun!).

On June 23rd (my birthday!), we made our way from Vegas, down through California, and across the Colorado River into the Colorado River Indian Tribes land and outter farming communities of Parker, Arizona to our new home right down the street from my new elementary school.

The drive was desert views; barren, harsh, desolate, and Dan and I were nervous as ever as we awaited the sight of our new area, but I will never forget the beautiful views of HUGE palm trees, gorgeous green farm fields as far as the eye can see, and the refreshing, blue water of the Colorado River as we came into Parker. Wow! Our nerves were immediately calmed and we were ready for the beautiful adventure we had ahead.

Fast forward to almost a month of Arizona living and we are loving it! We have been SO blessed and I know, our prayers are being answered! THIS is where our family needs to be. So many things have fallen into place; it's insane!

♥We have been able to see so many beautiful sights all up and down the Colorado River; from Lake Havasu City down to Yuma.
♥Our only neighbors when we arrived were my principal, Brian, his wife, Heather, and their son, Tillman, and they have made us feel so welcomed!
♥Despite having to first move into the house next to the one we were really supposed to move into, and then a week later, having to move again into that house, we were blessed with a cute little 3-bedroom home to live in!
♥My classroom is HUGE and there is SO much stuff there already for me to use...I am so happy, I could cry!
♥Dan got a job with the school district at the bus garage driving school bus for the school year almost immediately, AND they offer paid training! Then today, he was offered a position in their warehouse for the hours in between bus routes, so that we can successfully navigate living 20 miles outside of town, having one car, and one spouse work in town and the other 20 miles out.
♥We found TWO wonderful babysitters for Aurora; one Monday through Friday, and one as a fill-in on the days the other can't. She will get to experience so many fun things with both and friendships have formed between us already!
♥We have been blessed to be in a small ward, where we feel like family; the ward party is tomorrow and then Sunday, we've been invited to dinner with another family in the ward!
♥Dan and I already feel so much closer to one another, as we've had to rely on each other more being away from everyone and everything we know... Our family relationship is already growing stronger and we've become better friends!
♥And although, moving is always financially stressing, we have been able to make it...

Blessed! We are blessed!

So that's the fast version of our lives over the last month. It's different than Utah, but we love it.

AND as of today, it's officially official... We both have Arizona driver's licenses! haha

OH! And I helped another guy rescue a scared and lost little baby boy from the middle of the street today! I was driving to the park with Aurora when I drove past a boy around Aurora's age wandering in the street in nothing but a diaper and large shoes... in 104° weather. So I continued around the block to see if I could see some family (no luck) and as I came back around to the boy, I pulled up to a man in his car who had the police on the line to report it. We talked briefly and I let the man know that I would get the boy from the street while he was on the phone with the police department, then together we waited for them to show up.

By the time the police arrived, the cute and sweaty little boy was clinging to my neck crying as I held him in my arms and wouldn't budge. The other man gave his statement and left. Then I waited with the boy and the police officer for Child Protective Services to arrive since there was no sign of his family. Luckily, I got the boy to drink some water and got him cooled off a bit in the air conditioning of my car... and then just before CPS arrived, the boy's mom came walking down the street! She thought that maybe he had followed his older brother out the door without anyone knowing... Needless to say, I held the boy (and Aurora) for about an hour before his mom came... crazy. I gave my statement and my license to the police and then I went to pick up Dan from work.

It was an eventful trip to the park!

Recharged

We had the opportunity to visit both of our families in Cedar City on Tuesday and Wednesday, and while it didn't go quite as planned, it was SO AWESOME to see our families! We've been missing those people!

Poor Aurora has been growing four new teeth in on the top so she's been absolutely miserable for the past week; extremely stuffed up, ear infections, sick belly, the works. She has a sore throat from coughing and hasn't wanted to eat or drink anything. Plus, she threw up in the car when we got to Cedar and kept us up ALL NIGHT on Tuesday night... so we also took a trip to her old pediatrician there to make sure she was alright. Thankfully, she is just stuffy which is the cause of all our her troubles, so they did a deep suction on her nose and she was SO much better for the rest of Wednesday. She even slept all night for us on Wednesday night! Hallelujah! 

Despite those few things, we had such a great time! 

We got to meet our cute new nephew, Lucas, and he is so wonderful! When we took pictures of the cousins together, Aurora absolutely loved being able to snuggle with her arm around Grace and her other hand holding Lucas' hand. 

This is such a fun time in life with our siblings and us having kids around the same age. It's crazy to see how much our families have grown over the years AND how the children (us) are becoming parents and the parents are becoming grandparents! Life is sure moving along and we're just doing our best to keep up! 

We realized we now have a niece and a nephew on each side of the family. We are loving it! 

Over the time we were there, we were able to:

•Have Dan help his dad, Steve, deliver packages for his courier job while I spent time with my sisters and my parents

•Try out a new recipe (Ranch Pork chops) with Dan's family

•Hang out with Dan's brothers and visit with his dad, Shon

•Have Dan help Jeremy give his dad, Steve, a priesthood blessing for comfort and health

•Take turns trying different methods of comforting Aurora as she screamed the entire night... finally resulting in me taking her on a drive at 6:00am so we could get some peace... bright side? I saw the beautiful sunrise

•Eat breakfast at Denny's with Dan's brothers, Caleb and Ryan (Caleb missed school because he had to catch up on sleep from the Aurora all night crying thing)

•Go to that lovely doctor's visit for Aurora

•FINALLY TAKE A NAP (only 1 hour but, hey, I'll take what I can get!)

•Eat dinner with Dan's family at The Pizza Factory and Kaela even came with the kids so Aurora got to see more cousins! We miss living by them!

•Play games and chat with my family... we played Quelf Antics and laughed our butts off at my mom's interpretive dancing skills, Becca's humming skills, Steph's song writing abilities, Erin's artistic renderings, Dan's miming expertise, and me trying to play Jingle Bells using my mouth as a kazoo! haha If you are now curious about the game, go play it!

•Get pushed around in a toy baby stroller... oh wait, that was just Aurora!

•Get a much needed early bedtime and a full night of interrupted sleep at my parents' house

We got home this morning just in time for me to shower before Abi got there for me to babysit! And let me tell you, that mini-vacay must have been just what we needed to recharge our batteries, because today went great!

Dan got a nap, 

I played with the girls and picked up my friend's foster daughter from school,

I tried a new hairstyle on Aurora and she actually sat still long enough for me to do it (!),

Abi got picked up and we took the other ladies with us to Smith's to go food shopping, 

We got all the food on my list plus a bit more for THE EXACT amount of money we had planned (Boom, baby!),

We had dinner from Arctic Circle since we were starving (Yes, we're those people that spend money on food shopping only to become hungry faster than we can cook it and eat out...),

We got to chat with our friend, Kara,

I cleaned out the fridge AND the pantry (Go me!),

I made dinner to send with Dan to work (Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Casserole),

Aurora actually ate and drank stuff today (It's the little things!),

Aurora went to bed on time... peacefully,

Dan got off to work on time,

and I'm blogging!

Next goal? Get Liz to sleep before midnight!

New Adventures

Two months. TOO long!

In that time... 

♥ Dan got offered a new job as the general manager of The Port of Subs in St. George and he accepted! 

♥ He started training for the job in St. George in the middle of July and over the few weeks that followed, he did more training in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, as well. 

♥ By August 11th, Dan was done training and we had officially moved our little family to a new apartment in St. George, Utah! 

Since then, we have been loving life as St. Georgians... and for a girl who has never lived anywhere but Cedar City, that is a BIG deal! 

In other news, Dan and I bought life insurance AND Dan started selling life insurance for Primerica on the side of being the GM at the Port of Subs. We loved that the company was all about helping families get where they wanted to be financially. It's helped us, so far, and we've been able to meet lots of other couples through that.

Also, I'm working now, too... two days a week at Port of Subs! haha It's been fun and I get to work with my cute hubby... as my boss! I was nervous about starting work because of finding a sitter for Aurora in a new town, but we have had such luck with finding AWESOME friends here. 

Our great friends, Shaun and Kara Cox live in St. George, and they recently gained a cute little six year old foster daughter. Kara works two days a week also, so we worked out a babysitting swap thing for the days either of us work. That has been a life saver! 

Our other friends, Mike and Bobbi Nessen (who we met through Shaun and Kara) have been life savers on the babysitting front, as well as in many other instances... always willing to help us out when we need it; no matter what it is! We are blessed to have met them. 

And my friends from Cedar, Aimee Sanders and Marissa Wade live in St. George, also, and have been willing to take Aurora if needed. 

Plus, Dan's Grandma and Grandpa Rigby live practically down the street from us and are always so good to us in any way we may need them.

We have truly been blessed and felt the love of friends who have become like family and grandparents who we have grown closer to as we have lived here. 

Also, our ward is basically awesome! We have loved going to church and felt extremely welcomed! 

(Sorry, I think I have rambled a bit... haha)

BUT the last bit of news is BY FAR the most exciting!

WE NOW HAVE A CRAWLING BABY ON OUR HANDS WHO WILL PULL HERSELF UP ONTO ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!! 

Look out, world! We love it! ♥♥♥

4 Days, 1 Post

This week has been a whirlwind! It's gone by so SO fast! But it's been oh so fun!

Monday, Dan was off work so we slept in (glorious!) and then headed to St. George so that Dan could help our friend, Shaun, build a shed for their stuff. Aurora and I kinda bummed it on their couch and watched Will & Grace reruns while they worked, BUT THEN we all went to Fiesta Fun!

We played the arcade and played mini golf and rode bumper boats and drove the go-carts. It was a blast! And the weather was perfect. Hot and breezy. We love St. George!

When we returned to Cedar, we attended Collette's very last choir concert and hung out with my family! Which, of course, included spying on Collette and her boyfriend, Kurtis, out the front window after their post-concert ice cream date... hahahaha

Tuesday, Dan worked the morning shift at Ernie's and I did laundry (and maybe played on the floor a bit with Aurora... something involving a diaper on her head... haha) but when he got home, we played pool in the garage. Oh! We got a pool table for $100 dolla dolla bills! So yeah, that was tons of fun. Although, Dan kicked my butt multiple times... and then he was supposed to go fishing with my dad but my dad had a crappy/long work day, so plans got rescheduled. Instead, Dan, Aurora, and I packed up to go to St. George again. This time, to spend the night and pay the car payment.

Speaking of cars... before we left to St. George, we sold our red Taurus! Woohoo! Then we put the money toward our car payment on the Neon. Perfect.

We stayed that night in St. George at Grandma Rigby's house then got up the next morning and had breakfast with Grandma before going shopping and to pay the car payment. Dan got to spin the car payment wheel of fortune and won us a free oil change! Then we bought me a cute new pink swimming suit at Ross and we got Aurora a cute CUTE swimming suit at Target all thanks to her Great Grandma Claire (Thank you Thank you!).

After that, we went on a mini date to get ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and we checked out this cool candy and soda shop called Rocket Fizz. They had some cool old candies there that you can't get anywhere else AND some crazy sodas! Some were flavored like ranch dressing or peanut butter and jelly... haha silly!

When we finished, we went out to dinner at Mongolian BBQ with Shaun, Kara, and Shaun's brother, Brad. It was so fun to see them! And the lady at the cash register there when we were leaving even gave us all origami hearts she'd made from coupon pamphlets haha and told Brad he needed to get a girlfriend and bring her there to propose using an origami heart... she was funny.

We meant to go swimming at Grandma's house after dinner but someone was using the clubhouse there so we rescheduled the swimming adventure. No worries! I'll be sure to post when we actually do take Aurora swimming for the first time! I'm so excited to see how she likes it.

We got home from St. George on Wednesday night around 11pm and headed straight over to Jeremy and Kaela's to watch Walking Dead with them, Cody, and Ryan. Lucky for us, we had a very yummy cherry pie to share with everyone from Grandma's house! (How's that for great zombie-watching-food? haha)

Thursday, Dan worked the morning shift at Ernie's again and Aurora and I slept til noon! Ahh! haha We DID wake up and go straight to work on cleaning the house, though, so that makes up for the late wake time, right?? After the house was semi-clean, I hurried and got us both ready to go to Collette's high school graduation.

BOTH our siblings graduated from high school today! How crazy is that?? Collette from Cedar High School at 4pm and then Cody from Canyon View High School at 8pm. In between that, we had a celebration for Collette at my parents' house and got to see some of our cousins, Grandpa Smith, Grandma Barclay, and our aunts (love those people!). Then after Cody's graduation, we had a celebration for Cody and his fiancee, Laura, at Dan's mom's house with Dan's family and Laura's family.

What a fun night! We are so proud of them both! They are both on to such great things in the future; a mission for Collette and a wedding and SUU for Cody and Laura!

Cabin Clean Up & Tornado Snow Storms

This weekend, my Grandma Barclay wanted us all to come up for a little cabin spring cleaning in Midway. She had a whole list of stuff to be done and my whole family was going up to join the rest of the Barclay crew in cleaning and fixing stuff up. Well, Dan had to work on Friday and Saturday nights and couldn't get it off, so he suggested that I take Aurora and go up on Friday and come home Saturday (actually, he first suggested that I leave Aurora here with him and I said, "Woah, no! If I go up there without her, I'll never hear the end of it! Too many people need to see her!" haha)

So, on Friday morning, I got my stuff together and before leaving, my mom and I went to say goodbye to my dear friend, Laura and her cute little boy, Kaden. They moved on Saturday to her parents' house in Layton and we are SO sad they had to go! We will miss those two immensely! Guess, we'll have to plan trips to visit and just keep in touch.

After the visit, Erin and I came home to get packed up in the car to go and the ants were at it again! ALL over my kitchen! ALL over my dishes! GAHHHHH!! So after quickly washing all the dishes and spraying the kitchen down with ant killer, we were finally on the road.

It was so fun to have Erin ride up there with me. We jammed out to the radio and to Disney songs on CD all while Aurora slept in the backseat AND we made funny faces at mom and dad as we passed each other back and forth on the freeway. haha Then we stopped to visit the Henrie's in Spanish Fork.

That was going great untilllllll.... Aurora barfed all over my Aunt Lisa! haha That poor lady took it like only a seasoned mother and loving aunt could.

But then it was back to good and all smiles as we chatted and my cousins, Nick and Alex, sang pirate songs to Aurora. We will be so sad to have them move to Elko! We have loved our spur of the moment visitings to Spanish Fork but will try to head that direction whenever possible!

We then left Spanish and headed up the Provo Canyon to meet up with Steph, Becca, and Alex and Mom, Dad, and Collette for a little pizza and movies at the cabin before the early wake up call for the cleaning to begin.

Poor Aurora continued her barfing at the cabin for most of the night and I was worried we'd have to head home in the morning because she just didn't feel good. Luckily, I had MY mom there to take care of THIS stressed and frustrated mom, and my dad there to tell me that it'd all be ok, because we made it through the night and even were able to stay for the clean up!

Aurora got to meet a few of my cousins and we got a lot done while having a good time catching up. It even got a little adventurous when my cousin, Courtney, lost her wedding ring down the sewer pipe while ripping up linoleum in the bathroom... but don't worry! She got it out! haha I can't wait to stay at the cabin this summer with Dan!

I left on Saturday night and I got home just before the most horrible snow storm hit! This morning it was a beast outside! About 10 inches of heavy, wet snow and TONS of mutilated trees. The poor things just couldn't handle the weight of their new leaves and the snow. Cedar looks like a tornado ran through it! We even made the news!

Oh! And P.S. I almost forgot! Dan found a dog in the car when he went to come home after work on Saturday night! I'm guessing it jumped in the window when it started to get rainy and snowy.

We put it in the kitchen with the baby gate up and gave it food and water. It was the best dog! No barking at all AND it even laid down on this little bed we made it on the floor to sleep! We were going to keep it and try to find it's owners through Facebook but it ran away when Dan let it out to go potty. Oh, well. Hopefully it made it home!