Wyoming

We couldn't resist sneaking away to Pinedale in the middle of our Utah trip. I was itching to see these kids and Regan was itching to drive a car into the middle of nowhere (and to see the kids of course). Win-win. I didn't take any pictures of the huge blue sky and glaring white snow everywhere but it was beautiful. We spent a quick 24 hours inside playing charades and wii and doing puzzles while the kids took care of Gwen. Bill got her laughing like crazy and John was happy to have an actual baby around to prove that he's not one anymore.

2013: Some Goals

Read more: scriptures, magazines, books, all of it
Eat more veggies
Remember birthdays like I used to
Save some money
Go outside more often
Call my friends/family more often
Throw some parties
Reply to emails in a timely fashion
Keep taking good care of this baby gell

That oughtta do it

And There She Goes

I blame the western United States and all their wide open, carpeted spaces for this latest developmental leap. I'm not ready for what this is going to mean for my life. Mostly the sweeping our floor part of it.

Bonus

This is what we see every time we lay her down to change her diaper, or her clothes, or to do anything. It's really fun.

Five Months

 

She's been to 10 states with us already. (not counting the ones we flew over) She was a champ on every flight and only had a few meltdowns in the faces of her relatives. She's basically crawling. She has a raspy laugh/howl thing going. We gave her some real food and she can't get enough of it. She's fun to play with. She spends most of her day being frustrated about something being just out of her grasp. I love watching her focus on something and try to get it/do it/etc.
This girl's the best.

New Year's Eve

Another night of family, food, games, and watching the countdown 2 hours early
(and in Spanish for some reason).
Another night of Gwen trying to stay cool in the middle of it all.
A habit I think will come in handy for many New Year's Eves to come.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was beautifully white with snow. Regan woke up the earliest and couldn't go back to sleep because he was so excited. Now that it's just a memory, I guess that's cute and not annoying. Family was in and out all day so we got to have lots of excited kids around opening presents and rocking new baby dolls and shooting nerf darts at us.

Finally, some baby pictures around here!

Pope Gwen

This bubble gun was the hit of the morning

Costume change

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, everyone came over to the Johnsons for their traditional festivities: dinner, nativity, cookie trains. Unfortunately, Gwen slept through it all. Fortunately, Regan and I did not.

Regan helped his mom paint this when he was young. Adorable, right? 

Actually, I'm glad Gwen wasn't awake to be Baby Jesus because then this picture never would have happened.

Angel Junie

This was the climax of the story, obviously.

It was a long journey.

 

We got a little progressive and made a G subway car for our cookie train.

 

(I can't believe I had 2 back-to-back posts with no Gwennie. Not to fret, so many more bloggins from Gwen's Tour Around the West to come.)

Forever Ago

Way back in December, we left a sleeping Gwen with a friend and went to a fancy-pants tapas party. I don't think these pictures do the wall-to-wall seating justice. It was pretty cool. These people just really know how to put a party together. The food was so so yummy and surprisingly filling for just a bunch of small things. It made me want to throw some parties again (haven't done a single one since our wedding) and also made me wish our baby knew how to drink a bottle so leaving her at home wouldn't be such a foreign concept.