January 2017

The day before New Year's Eve we found out that Castles n' Coasters was no longer going to be honoring the POGO pass after the new year.  We were so sad about that.  Ever since we were there in October Camille had been asking when we could go back so she could ride the "America coaster."  We didn't want to miss it so Marty took the day off and we went!  

I knew she was going to do it this time!!

We had another FUN experience!

We rode this one a bunch of times.  I was so proud of her!

It rained on us for a good portion of the evening, but rain never bothered the Johnson family at amusement parks!!  We like a good storm because then people leave and that means fewer lines - even if the lines are COLD!

I love this picture.  Camille is wondering how to eat that huge hot dog, Bryce is being silly, Gabe is sulking about something, and Brynn is spacing out.  Perfect.

Gotta have something to do while you wait for the bigger siblings to ride Desert Storm (can't wait until she can ride it!).

This is one of our favorites.  You get to drive the bumper boats and the course is charming.  Bonding is crashing into your family members.

On New Year's Eve our stake rented out Schnepf Farms.  This is another favorite place for our family.  We usually don't pay to ride the rides or do any of the festivals.  Generally we mill around and pick peaches.  It is peaceful and has the biggest trees anywhere around us.  Seriously, WHERE are all the trees in San Tan Valley?  One of the drawbacks to living in a newer city I guess.

We had tons of fun, but it was kind of hard.  We had Clara with us, and she's a good baby but our arms got pretty tired lugging her around all night (the stroller would have been hard with the rugged terrain and big crowds).  The other problem we had was that we had gotten back late from Castles n' Coasters the night before and we were all still tired (have I mentioned our intensity level at amusement parks?) and sick of waiting in lines.  I was really grateful to the stake for putting it on though, what a great event.

Photo shoot!  I took these when I could see her top two teeth coming in.  I just wanted a few last pictures of that adorable grin.

If you aren't the parent, all of these pictures look the same. But because I'm her mom I know every single expression and I love that!  I never want to forget her smiles.

Marty finally moved into his seminary!!!  He is the principle at ALA seminary and has a pretty sweet office haha!  My mom is the master at arranging bookshelves so I texted her this picture to get some advice.  She ended up going over one day to help.

I can't believe it actually happened!  It's too bad they couldn't move in over Christmas break, they just barely missed it.  Of course it came right as Marty had just been called as bishop and was trying to staff the whole ward, do tithing settlements, and everything else that needs to be done during the holiday season.  I don't know how he pulled it all off.  It was especially impressive that he remained the same funny, energetic, down-to-earth and supportive guy he always was!

(These pictures aren't the finished product, by the way.)

I would say this scooter from G&G was the highlight of her Christmas, but it's probably more like the highlight of her life.  She lives on this thing and is GOOD at it!  I can't believe how she can fly on that thing.

Hm.  Do we love this baby?  I love this picture.  I love it when she falls asleep in my arms in that rocking chair every day.  I love that chair and I love the nursery.  During this time of day it feels like I'm the luckiest lady in the world and that life couldn't get any better.  Don't worry, I come back to real life at some point during the day!

Gabe turned five and started piano lessons!  He is a darling and sweet student who gives me hugs every couple of minutes.  One funny thing is that he gets so attached to the songs he has played and gets kind of upset when we leave those songs behind.  "But what about Hot Cross Buns!?!"

Sad, sick baby.

Some of the contents of a "box of sunshine" that I mailed to someone.  I had to capture the fact I'm capable of doing something pinterest-worthy haha!

Bryce fell off his little friend's trampoline one Friday.  He came in with this serious and scary cry.  His whole body was shaking and I knew he was in shock.  I tried to calm him down but an hour later he was still shaking and still saying he couldn't breath.  That started to scare me enough I figured we'd better get him to urgent care for an x-ray. 

It was "just" bruised ribs.  Apparently I've never had bruised ribs because I had no idea what a painful nuisance they can be. He was in such horrible pain for so long, especially when he woke up, that I finally wound up taking him to the peds a week later just to be sure that everything was ok internally.  It took about a month and a half for him to finally feel better.