Jeff & Erin's Blog

Guatemala

2011-10-16T17:42:00.011-06:00

So we finally did something internet worthy. We just got back form Guatemala a week ago. My friend and his wife work down there with the Peace Corps (the "p" and "s" are silent, fyi). So me, Erin, my friend Scott, my friend Scott's girlfriend Katy, my friend Scott's sister Maria and my friend Scott's niece Mikayla went there. We went down there and met Kyle and Liz (our Peace Corps friends) and then started our adventure. Here's some pics:

Boat ride to our first hotel, Iguana Perdida on lake Atitlan.

A waterfall on our canopy tour

Some kid selling stuff to Maria. Poor Maria. She would have bought an empty soda can if these kids asked her to.
Our volcano guide, Victor, roasting marshmallows in a hot spot on the volcano Pacaya
This is an important part of our trip. We did a lot of driving. There is not fast way to get around guatemala so we were in the car quite a bit. Notice that Kyle has an extra ear. Weird.

Cave tour by candlelight at Semuc Champey

Semuc Champey

We did lots of other stuff as well like stayed at the Earth Lodge but I didn't have any interesting pictures of that. It was a fun trip. Thanks, Kyle and Liz for showing us around.

Draper Days!!!

2011-07-25T19:02:00.007-06:00

Draper days was last Saturday, the 16th of July. For those of you who don't know what Draper Days is, I say, what you live under a rock? It's only the biggest event to hit Draper every year. We used to go every year and watch the parade but a few years ago they changed the parade route from 13th east to fort street so we quit going. This

year Ginger actually enjoyed it. Last year we put her on a pony ride and she got scared and wanted to get down. But this year she really liked it. while there we watched the miniature horse show where the horses play soccer and sit on furniture, so as you can imagine it was hilarious. Afterwards they let the kids get pictures with the horses. They said Ginger could sit on that guy in the picture above, but I was worried he might fold in half. That's Miss Rodeo Draper in the picture as if you didn't already know. There was a lot of royalty at Draper Days this year. Miss Teen Draper and her attendants were handing out information about their cause, Tourette Syndrome, and encouraging people to visit a website.

But Draper Days wasn't the same ol' stuff this year. There was a new attraction. This:

I've always wanted to walk around in a giant hamster ball, so I thought this looked pretty fun and so did Ginger. She insisted that she wanted to do it. I was certain that she would wimp out, but when her turn came, she climbed right in:

So she just floated around in it. She didn't try to walk or do anything, but she enjoyed it so it was good she did it.

After all that fun we watched fireworks at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Erin and I went biking and Erin was convinced I was trying to kill her, so we all had a good laugh about that.

Loa

2011-07-18T07:30:00.005-06:00

For my parents 40th anniversary, they wanted to do something really special with all their kids. My dad used to regal all the kids with tales of his summers spent as a director of a summer camp: rafting, camping, canoeing, fishing, playing battleship with radios... Sadly, once he came out west his outdoor gear was exchanged for a suit to practice law in and he rarely got to the great outdoors that made up so much of his earlier years. So, for years he has promised us a fishing trip. And this year he delivered...at least the best you can deliver when 9 of the 22 family members are little kids.

Loa is in the middle of Utah, near Capitol Reef, past Gunnison (if you have any idea where Gunnison is). So, "what does one do in Loa?" you may be asking yourself? You go fishing, you go paddle boating, you eat good food, you sleep in a big barn, you play with little cousins/nieces/nephews you haven't seen for a long time, you go hiking, you feed baby cows, you learn the difference between dairy cows and cows raised for meat, and you may go horseback riding (only if the rancher who is taking care of you doesn't have to go up the mountain to save a bunch of cows who strayed into a place with no water).

This little lake was down the road from the barn we were staying in. We spent a morning fishing there and an afternoon doing paddle boats. Charlotte caught a fish within the first 10 minutes. Then Connor caught a second fish much later.

Cows, cows, cows. We got to give milk to the baby cows one morning. The kids all loved seeing the cows gulp down the bottles.

Tractor ride. This pic is of Ginger, Macey, and the rancher. Blake seemed to be in heaven riding on the tractor--this was part of his birthday celebration.

Fun inside the barn

It's still far away

2011-05-01T16:32:00.003-06:00

In answer to the question posed at the beginning of the previous blog post I say yes. Yes it can. Yesterday I woke up and saw about 4 inches of snow in my yard and I thought to myself, "well I guess I better go skiing." Whatever other option did I have? So my brother and I went up to Brighton and skinned up to the top of the Millicent lift (Brighton closed a few weeks ago) then we had to boot pack it up to the peak. On the way up we noticed this sign so Chris stood next to it for a picture.

That sign is usually over six feet off the snow and as you can see, it's about waist high now. Chris told me that this is a record year for snowbird with over 700 inches of snowfall.

So anyways, we went up to the peak and skied down the main chute on the front side of Millicent. It was amazing snow. It wasn't wet and heavy like to would expect the snow to be on the last day of April. I think what was best about it was that we had the mountain to ourselves and didn't have to worry about anyone else being up there. Fun day all and all

When winter comes can spring be far away?

2011-03-01T20:26:00.002-07:00

I must have heard my mom say that phrase 100 times while I grew up. And this month I have said it 100 times--I honestly am so ready for warm weather. I don't seem to get anything done when it is cold. In fact, the only thing that keeps me sane in the winter is the fact that Jeff likes the snow so much. He is like a kid on Christmas every morning when it has snowed. It is hard to complain when it makes him so happy.

Winter

2010-12-21T10:21:00.004-07:00

Our wonderful neighbors gave us some cookies that you can draw on with food markers. Don't they look delicious?!
Sledding up at Scott's cabin (we spent the night with Jeff's friends when everyone was in town for Thanksgiving). It was so fun to see all of them. We missed Liz and Kyle who are in Guatemala with Peace Corps.
Ginger's second birthday! She's loving the cake!

Building a snowman after the first snowfall

Cruise

2010-12-21T10:10:00.004-07:00

My mom and her sisters let us join them on their sister cruise. It was so much fun. Luckily Ginger did very well and didn't get sea sick once.

Barcelona at the Park Guell designed by Gaudi (famous for his Art Nouveau style)

Rome, the Colosseum
Sicily
Sicily, Greek Theatre
Sicily
Malta
Cathedral in Malta
Malta
Tunisia
Tunisia (Janie and Becky rode the camel, but Ginger was too spooked)

Baby's car

2010-12-21T10:08:00.002-07:00

Rarely have I seen such joy on Ginger's face as when she saw that they had 'baby cars' in Portugal. Actually, in Portugal, I think you can drive these cars without a license

Portugal

2010-12-21T09:56:00.004-07:00

just looking at the pictures from Portugal makes me breathe easier. It is such a beautiful place. I love the scenery, but even more, I LOVE the people. It was so wonderful to see my friends and catch up with them.

At the beach with the Cruz family near Setubal.
Ginger is holding Ema Cruz--ginger loved playing with the kids in this family!!
Catia, my mission companion, and her husband

Waiting for the bus with Rogerio--one of the nicest people ever. He was one of the only members in Cartaxo where I served for 9 months of my mission and was an amazing member missionary.
At the park in Santarem with Nanashara (a former mission companion) and her two girls.

My turn

2010-12-21T09:40:00.005-07:00

This is Erin. I suppose it is my turn to post something since I've been holding all the good pictures of our trip hostage :)

Interlaken, Switzerland

Appenzell, Switzerland

Ginger is watching as Jeff's plane takes him back to America (Ginger and I went to Portugal and then to Barcelona and the Mediterranean).
Jeff is eating delicious fondue in Interlaken
On a drive up to Grindelwald, Switzerland
Luzern, Switzerland
Neuschwanstein Castle near Fussen, Germany

The title of the blog is also apt because lately Ginger's been saying it is "baby's turn" to do everything. She is quite independent and likes to try and do things on her own. She often says it is "baby's turn" to buckle her seat belt, but after a minute if we ask her if she needs help, she will concede and let us help her. She is also insistent to have her fair share of turns saying prayers these days. It is so adorable because her prayers usually consist of "Fodder...tankyou...food...Christ. Amen". But occasionally she will throw in a random thought like "puppy" or "baby Jesus".

Switzerland and Bavaria

2010-10-14T19:56:00.015-06:00

We went to Switzerland and Bavaria for vacation. I had to come home to work and Erin and Ginger stayed to have fun. They're still there actually (Europe, I mean). They are on a Mediterranean Cruise with Erin's mom and a couple of her aunts. Here's some of the pictures I took. We flew to Zurich then rented a car and drove to Bavaria to see Neuschwanstein. After that we drove back to Switzerland and stopped in Lucern. Then Interlaken, then Gevena, then I flew home while Erin and Ginger flew to Portugal to visit friends. Erin stayed in Portugal for about five days then went to Barcelona for the Cruise which is where she is now. Anyways, here are some of my pictures:

JFK airport

Hohenschwangau Castle

Erin thought it would be fun for Ginger to dress like a princess while went to the castles. Funny enough, she wasn't the only little girl dressed like one.

Neuschwanstein

Erin and Ginger pose with a duck in Lucern

Ginger and me next to a really old bridge in Lucern

The Eiger

Bern (now with Bears!)

Gevena

The world's largest fountain in Gevena

Picture Button

2010-10-12T21:10:00.006-06:00

For those who have a blog on blogspot, you'll know that to put a picture in the blog, you just click on the picture icon in the tool bar. Well a few months ago I tried to post pictures of our new house, but the icon was no longer there. So I gave up and never posted any pictures. I finally decided that I would figure out a way to post pictures without the icon, but now as I am writing this I see the icon has returned. It really did disappear, I promise. Why would I make that up? I don't appreciate your tone and what it implies. Anyways, here's some house pictures:

This is what it looks like when you stand in front of it

The deck

And here's an old picture of Ginger with her hand on Erin's leg

Hernia Surgery!!!

2010-07-10T13:03:00.003-06:00

So I just had surgery for a hernia I've had for about 5 years, and I'm trying to stay positive, thus all the exclamation points. But why would you wait 5 years to fix this? you may be wondering. Well, it's because I got a bad diagnosis from an ER doctor. When I noticed the hernia about 5 years ago I thought, 'dang, another hernia.' I had already had a hernia is a different place. This hernia was different though because it would hurt sometimes. One day it hurt really bad so I looked on the internet to figure out why a hernia would be painful. I result I kept coming up with was that is was probably strangulated. If that was the case, then the hernia could kill me, so erin and I went to the ER. I had to wait about an hour to talk to a doctor when I got there. When I did, I told him that I had a hernia and that I was worried it was strangulated because it hurt so bad. the doctor agreed it was a hernia and then said he would be back. A new doctor came and I and told him the same thing, he then got another doctor to figure out what to do. They were planning to pop it back in, but then another doctor said," that's not a strangulated hernia because it doesn't hurt enough. It's probably a cyst. Get it checked out by a specialist." then they kicked me to the curb (after I had been there about 5 hours).
So I kind of forgot about it until it started hurting real bad a couple of months ago and erin convinced me to do something about it. I saw a general practitioner and he told me it was a hernia. So I went to see a surgeon who confirmed it and I just got surgery on thrusday. So that's a long answer as to why I waited 5 years to do anything about it.
One thing I learned is that you should take your pain killers even if you don't think you need to. It's not fun when the pain comes back to get you. I was thinking I would post some before and after pics, but I decided against it because I figure you can already find something like that on the internet elsewhere, and this is not one of those websites.
I'll try and post some pics of our new house as soon as I am physically able to move again.

Price Canyon Recreation... something something

2010-06-20T21:32:00.007-06:00

What's up fans? I'm sorry to keep you all waiting for news from the Johnson family, but things have been so crazy. And by crazy I mean a regular amount of busy as opposed to the leisurely schedule I am accustomed to as a stay at home dad.
This weekend we went camping at the price canyon something something. It was really fun. We were invited by my pledge brother, Rylan Hayes. He planned the trip and invited a whole lot of people, including Josh Sato a.k.a domo arigato, Mr. Josh Sato, a.k.a. Joshua Prime, leader of the Sato-bots.
There was something like 15 people who went. We didn't know many of them, but it turned out okay because everyone was nice. I felt pretty old even though I'm not older than any of them, especially Sato. I felt that way because while most the people on the trip brought a significant other, I brought a baby too. Everyone rode down to the camp site in the "Dream Catcher," an RV that Rylan and Max bought together. Everyone except us. We drove down separate because we had Ginger. We got to the camp ground earlier than the dream catcher and set up our tent. Ginger had fallen asleep and we tried to move her to the tent without waking her but with poor results. The dream catcher showed up shortly after we did. I found a can of gas that someone had left at the camp and started a very impressive camp fire. We stayed up late (late for me anyways) talking and instructing Sato in the correct methods of making a smore. He surprised us all with his curiously effective smore making procedure.
The next day we had to come home while the dream catcher stayed to have fun. We had to come home to get the keys to our new house. It's pretty exciting to finally get the keys and start moving in. I'll put pictures of it up someday. Anyways, here's some pictures of the camping trip.

Campfire time!

Sato teaching Ginger the ways of the ninja

Family portrait

new job, new house

2010-05-08T15:22:00.003-06:00

Hey everybuddy. I've been really busy lately because I got a job. I am working for a company called Nammo Composite Solutions. There we mostly make composite tubing for a variety of applications. They are really busy and I was surprised how busy I've stayed these past two weeks.
Erin and I also are under contract to buy a house. I am excited about it and Erin is way scared. I joke. Erin has often second guessed whether or not we should buy this house, so I have to remind her that it's a great house and it's in a great location and we like it. The house is around 10th east and 4555 south. So in short, we have been staying quite busy.
Ginger is doing well. She stays busy pulling everything out while I put it away. She is 18 months on the 14th of this month. I think that is next Friday, but I am not near a calender so I'm not sure.
In other news I went biking today. I started at home (5th east and south temple), rode up through the aves, up to city creek, and up the dirt trail on the right side of the little pond there. I had seen the trail often, but today was the first time I tried it. First I was surprised how steep it was, or how out of shape I am. I stopped a lot. I got passed a lot. I hate getting passed. I would usually think bad thoughts about those passing me. I would get passed and think, "I started in downtown. That guy probably drove up to the mouth of city creek. I'm so hard." Telling myself this made me feel less embarrassed about how much I was getting passed. That worked okay until some guy ran passed me. Luckily, shortly after that there was a downhill section and I got to pass him (yes! Take that, runner guy!). I stopped a while later and he passed me again. Luckily though he stopped at one point to rest then turn around (I win in the end, run-man).
As you can see, riding uphill makes me kind of cranky, and I should probably stop caring if I get passed.
Anyways, that's all for us.

nap

2010-04-21T08:50:00.002-06:00

Ginger was very tired yesterday. She slept like this for over an hour.

Easter

2010-04-12T10:52:00.006-06:00

Happy Easter everybuddy! Here's pictures of Ginger's Easter egg hunt. At first she didn't understand why we wanted her to pick up an egg sitting on the ground, but by the third egg, she no longer needed coaxing.

POV update

2010-03-28T09:37:00.005-06:00

So I was able to get out and use my new toy yesterday. One big problem I discovered is that when I put the camera in the harness, the wheel on top of the camera that changes the camera from video to still shots will turn, so I have a lot of 1 second videos where I start the video, put the camera in the harness, and that will turn the wheel and stop the video. I was able to get two videos though. On is skiing and one is biking. The skiing takes place on the back side of Brighton, and the biking is the rhythm section at the I street jumps.
After I watched the videos, I realized I had a runny nose, so I sniff a lot in the videos. I apologize for the excessive sniffing. I can see that I need to take tissues with me when I bike and ski. The videos are a little shaky, so if you get nauseous easily, don't watch cuz I don't want puke all over my blog.

If you thought that last one was too shaky, well this one is worse.

So as you can see from the second video, I need to change the camera angle for biking because no one wants to stare at the handle bars.

POV camera

2010-03-26T15:59:00.003-06:00

I've started biking more since I am unemployed. And often while I'm riding I think to myself, "Why isn't someone chronicling my awesome biking skills with a camera?" I can't figure this out, but I've come to the conclusion that if no one wants to film me, I'll just have to do it myself. That's why I need a POV camera (Point Of View). The problem I can't buy one cuz I don't have a jorb (ironic how it all ties together). So I've had to make my own.
This is what I have come up with:

It's three straps I bought at recreation outlet, and a piece of cardboard. I wear it like a baby bjorn. It looks pretty dumb, but I think it works well. Judge for yourself:

Now I will regularly update you on my amazing biking.

DDR

2010-03-26T15:48:00.002-06:00

Erin and Ginger have devoted a corner of our apartment to DDR. This is how they start the morning on any given day.

St. Patrick's Day Update

2010-03-17T13:35:00.003-06:00

It's a St. Patrick's Day miracle! Erin recently went to the store and bought Ginger some yogurt. So This is what Ginger ate most of yesterday:

When baby eats something with this much blue food coloring in it, guess what color it is when baby is done with it? That's right, shamrock green.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T12:26:00.004-06:00

We went to Discovery Gateway in the morning as a family because admission is free today. It was pretty packed when we got there (at 10:00) and it was really packed when we were leaving. Ginger it was okay. Everything there was meant for kids a little bit older than her. So most of the displays are about 5 inches too high for her. The display she liked most was the car.

While the car was her favorite display there, the most interesting thing for Ginger was when she saw a bird outside by the helicopter.
On the way home we stopped at the taco stand on the corner of Abravenel Hall. Of all the taco stands that I have frequented in the Salt Lake area, I think these are the best. I would highly recommend stopping here for tacos.

playing

2010-03-11T10:20:00.003-07:00

Ginger has started feeding her toys and other inanimate objects that look like animals. She offers them food and drinks from her sippy cup.

You can't tell but she's giving her dog a piece of banana.

This is our neighbor's ceramic cat.

St. George Bike Trip

2010-03-08T11:04:00.004-07:00

This past weekend I went on a bike trip without the girls. The trip was organized by a guy who grew up in across the street from my family in Draper. It was a was interesting group because it was a 16 people in total and not many knew each other before the trip. We all came together because someone invited a friend, who then invited another friend.
We arrived in St. George Thursday night. We stayed at a condo in the Green Valley area. The first day (Friday) we rode the Barrel trail, and the Bear Claw Poppy trail twice.

Barrel trail and Bear Claw Poppy trailhead

Saturday we rode Gooseberry Mesa. Gooseberry is an interesting place because it's covered in a network of different trails. I don't know for sure where we went. I do know we did the Hidden Canyon and the North Rim out to the point where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch, the car that I was riding with decided we needed to head straight back to the car and head home. two of the guys in the car live in Idaho and they wanted to get back at a decent hour. the rest of the group rode on the south rim. It was funny when we took the jeep trail back to the car because it only took us about 20-30 minutes. It took us about 3 hours to get to the point. That may not be surprising to anyone who is familiar with Gooseberry Mesa. We took our time and often tried different climbs over and over.
Anyways, I got home Saturday night around 9pm. I had been feeling a little sick most of the day but started to feel really sick when I got home.

bike rides

2010-03-01T10:26:00.004-07:00

First I want to answer the question that anyone who reads this blog might have. Why do I have so much free time to write blog posts? Well, this is what you do when your a stay at home mom, I mean, dad. I finished school with my master's degree in December, and now I look for work and watch my daughter. I do a little more of the latter than the former though.
Anyways, on with today's post.
Ginger and I often go for bike rides up memory grove then city creek canyon. When I say we go on bike rides, I mean I tow her in the baby trailer. It's good exercise for me, and she enjoys it more each time we go. Today when I had gone as far as my little legs could take us, I tried to take her out so she could run around. She shook her head and pointed up the trail, indicating she wanted to keep going. When I told her I was too tired, she offered me her water.

I gladly took a drink. I then did some stretches on the pavement. Ginger is at an age where she copies everything we do. I mean quite literally everything. If I hug Erin, then Ginger wraps her arms around Erin's leg. If I am typing on the computer, she does the same. So when I sit down on the ground to stretch, she wants to do the same. I often spit while I'm biking, and so Ginger does too.

Ginger stretching and spitting

I guess this means that we have to be on our best behavior from now on.

The nadir of fast food

2010-02-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

So Ginger and I went to the local park to enjoy the slide and the tire swing. On the way home we went by McDonald's, and this caught my eye:

Seriously? Am I expected to find this appetizing, or is McDonald's just trying to push the limits of what Americans are willing to consume? Maybe McDonald's execs are trying to cut the cost on expensive buns, or maybe it's just a prank. I doubt it's a prank though. After all, this is the same company that manufactures the McRibwich:

It's ground-up animal parts, pressed into the shape of ribs, and covered in barbecue sauce.

On another note, here's a picture of the most interesting person in the family.

2010-02-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

So everyone here went on a trip this week. I had an interview at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, and Erin had a conference to attend in Bethesda (she took Ginger with her). She just got on the plane and is her way home now. I returned last night.
Albuquerque is nice. It's climate and geography remind of central Utah. It's smaller than Salt Lake, but not much. Next to Albuquerque are the Sandia mountains, which should be good for biking, and there is a small ski resort, but nothing like what we are familiar with here in the Wasatch.
I really liked Sandia National Laboratories. Everyone there really likes what they do, and everyone was quite likeable. They showed some of their test facilities. They have some pretty amazing stuff out there, like the rocket sled track and ballistics testing. They didn't do any demonstrations though due to the fact that most everything they work on is classified.
Today I had no baby to take care of so I went skiing. The snow was pretty good. Brighton goat about 6-9 inches. I didn't stay long. I get bored skiing by myself, and I usually go on a whim, so it doesn't work out well. Also, the best skiing at Brighton is the side country which shouldn't be done alone. I didn't take any pics of Albuquerque or skiing, so here's an archive photo of me skiing:

Yes, I was in some french movie devoted to monoskiing. Pierre Raisson is my stage name.

I'm in charge now

2010-02-20T17:25:00.001-07:00

I'm taking over this blog now. I actually took over a long time ago, but I haven't had anything to say. Until this point, I haven't felt like I had anything of value to put on the blog. All that has changed because Erin gave me a camera. Now I can put pictures up, which is what people are really interested in when reading blogs. I would like to show you my new camera, but how do you take a picture of a camera? Use a mirror, dummy!

Figure 1: A self-portrait of the camera

It's a pretty good camera. Nothing to fancy, but it does do one really cool thing (at least I think). It can stitch together three photos to make a panoramic picture. Is that a pretty normal thing for cameras? I dunno. Here's an example:

Figure 2: Man's greatest dream: three pairs of feet

It also does video. Here's a video of Ginger. She can say a few words, but one word is her favorite. Maybe you can tell from the way she says them which one is her favorite.

crawling

2009-10-16T17:47:00.000-06:00

Katie told me she wanted to see Ginger crawling...this was the best video we have right now. It was from the beginning of October. She has been crawling since Henry's visit in September.

A Good Laugh

2009-10-16T17:35:00.000-06:00

It's not every day that you laugh hard enough to knock yourself over.

Henry and Ginger

2009-09-25T12:13:00.001-06:00

"Do they both go to the same barber?" -Grandpa Badger

The wave

2009-09-05T08:56:00.000-06:00

Summer Trips: Jackson and San Diego

2009-09-05T08:47:00.001-06:00

Frisbee Golf

Chuckwagon Dinner

San Diego

Day at the beach

At the bay (after looking at the Aircraft Carriers)

2009-09-05T08:43:00.000-06:00

This is what Ginger does with Grandma during the day while I'm at work.

Baby in a basket

Pictures

2009-08-14T20:38:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa with Ginger at the 24th of July play.

Ginger and Zoey at the 24th of July neighborhood breakfast

Evening at the Red Butte Garden

Ginger with her aunt Katie and uncle Connor

Aunt Jane teaching Ginger how to drink from a cup

Catching up

2009-08-14T20:28:00.000-06:00

Ok. I admit it has been awhile. I didn't realize quite how much time had passed since I last entered the blog world until yesterday when I saw my friend, Missy, and found out she is seven months pregnant! I recently resolved to post more blogs because Katie and Connor moved to DC and I knew I would need to show them frequent updates of Ginger. So, the two events combined to make one blog post (at least) with the ambition to do a better job at consistent posting in the future. If any of you have blogs and are not listed to the left, will you give me your blog address so that I can add it! Thanks. This movie is of Ginger and her aunt Katie before Katie moved. Katie would take Ginger marching around the house every day.

Spring

2009-05-10T18:55:00.000-06:00

It's been a while, so here is a little update. Jeff is still working on his master's project on mechanical engineering composite materials, Erin is still working at the health dept part-time, and Ginger is still working on growing her two little teeth. Due to swine flu (or Influenza A H1N1) we've canceled our Johnson family trip to Mazatlan :( . So we will be around all month.
Despite Erin's many attempts at Wicked tickets, we've finally accepted the fact that Erin will never see the play...yeah right! like I would give up so easily! We actually figured out it was cheaper (or nearly as cheap) to fly to San Fran to see Wicked there (where you can get tickets ANY night--why is it that they always schedule Utah Broadway tours short? don't they realize how many people enjoy the theatre here? it took 4 hours to sell out here...i know because i stood in line, in the snow, with a 3 week old, until i was told the tickets were sold out). My parents are coming with us to watch Ginger while we are at the play.
Ginger is a great baby. She is almost 6 months and can say phrases like "a nap would be great"...just kidding, she can't say anything and, if she could, she would say "i'll only nap if you promise to hold me in this exact position for the next hour and don't say anything and don't move or i'll wake up". :) She's just too cuddly to refuse. I am reading a book (loaned to me by Jane--thanks!) that is sure to help her have better sleeping habits. I'll let you know :)
Hope all of you are well!
Erin and Jeff

I'm not sure when a bunny with eggs came into the picture...

2009-04-12T20:18:00.000-06:00

I just began realizing that the two holidays that celebrate Christ now have a secondary figure trying to take the stage; that's right, I'm talking about Santa and the Easter Bunny. These two tricksters have been sidling their way into pop culture year after year until finally the symbol of Easter in America is a basket with a chocolate bunny and colorful eggs! Where did we go wrong? Or is it wrong? Honestly, bunnies and chicks are cute and I have no problem with the family getting together for egg-dyeing and hunting.

At church today, the lady who spoke told about how she spent Easter in Crete. She observed the entire town gathered for Good Friday to do a mock funeral for Christ. Then on Sunday, they each brought a candle to the church and when the pastor announced that "Christ was Risen!" they all exclaimed "Truly Risen!" and lit the candles (to symbolize the light of Christ entering their lives). (I think this was Greek Orthodox)

Now that we have a family, I want to make sure that Ginger knows how amazing it is that Christ was resurrected and that we will be resurrected because of Him...I don't think the Bunny is a bad guy, but I just don't want to lose the meaning of this celebration.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T20:14:00.000-06:00

Pirates

2009-03-27T17:29:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I didn't get into either of the out-of-state schools I applied to for PhDs, but there are clearly more important things in life...(watch the above).

Ginger's new cousin

2009-03-08T19:55:00.000-06:00

We were so excited when we got a call Monday afternoon to inform us of the arrival of Ginger's newest cousin (three weeks early!). Lily Elizabeth Johnson and Ginger will be in the same grade in school. Ginger is so lucky to have cousins close to her age on both sides of the family (little Macey and Henry on the McKeown side and Lily on the Johnson side). Lily is such a beautiful baby! She is so serene.

Looking at Lily, it is amazing to think of just how much Ginger has grown in four months!

Art

2009-03-08T19:44:00.000-06:00

Mary, Jeff's sister, took these pics. She's studying art at the University of Utah.

The beauty of this pic is the little dribble of drool coming down her chin...priceless!

singing along

2009-02-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Ginger loves to be talked to. She usually talks back if you give her enough reason to respond. Lately she's even more excited about singing. Here is a little duet that she and Jeff put together.

2009-02-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Joy!

2008-12-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

The word "Joy" is frequently used to describe this season: the joy of the news of the Savior's birth and the joy of knowing that God sent His Son to fulfill His plan so that we can not only be saved from sin (if we continually repent) but also be resurrected to be able to live with God and our families forever.

This year, the word "Joy" has a whole new meaning to me. Being a mother to such a sweet little girl has brought me so much joy. I literally have woken myself up because I was laughing in my sleep. And every time I wake up and see this little angel in my arms (she usually sleeps on my stomach or in my arms these days) I can not believe how lucky Jeff and I are to have her. It's so weird to me because I was so happy before her; I have the best husband ever and we have so much fun together...I never thought I could be happier. But Ginger has proved me wrong and I feel like happiness is just radiating from me. I know Jeff feels the same. When he is watching Ginger, I hear him just laughing the whole time. What a privilege it is to be her parents.

McKeown family (the ones Ginger has met)

2008-12-07T11:45:00.001-07:00

Johnson family

2008-12-07T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ginger

2008-12-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Life has been pretty good these first few weeks.
I've gained a whole pound already.
I spend most of the day eating.
I only like to sleep when I'm in someone's arms--or at night on my mom or dad's stomach.
I do not like baths!! and, although at first I was hesitant, I'm getting used to the carseat.

Here is the first time I met my Grandpa McKeown.

I have a mom and dad that love me a lot.

The Baby!!!... IS here!

2008-11-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Ginger Marie Johnson was born Friday November 14th, 2008, 11:17pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 2.8 oz at birth, and was 21 inches from head-to-toe. you can see here a picture of Erin the day before the birth (Thursday). As you can see, she is was not happy about the baby being late. That night, Erin did not sleep much because she was having contractions all night. She also felt her water break around 2 am. She had an appointment with here midwife at 11:00 am on Friday and when we got there, the midwife said she was dilated to 4 cm and told us to go straight over to the the hospital. Erin had contractions until about 4:00pm when her midwife came over and checked to see how dilated she was. After 5 more hours, she was only at 4.5 cm, so the midwife broke the bag of water that was below the baby's head and then contractions came a little quicker. At that point, Erin decided that this natural birth idea wasn't as cool as she had thought. So she got the epidural. At that point, there was no more moving around, and Erin was wired to every machine in the room. Here's a picture of Erin with her machines.
With the epidural in, Erin was able to relax and conserve her energy for the pushing. which was good, because she was able to push the baby out in just 30 minutes, which is pretty quick for a first baby.
As a side note here, I'd like to say that, despite the fact that I had felt our baby kick thousands of times, and despite the fact that I knew perfectly well that there was a baby in Erin, it was an amazing experience to actually see a baby come out of my wife. It's a hard thing for me to explain. I suppose that in my mind I had kind of thought of Ginger as this thing that was just a bump in my wife's belly that often kicked and squirmed, and when her head and her body came out she had just become a human being, and she had just come out of my wife. I suppose that that is what is meant by the miracle of child birth. Anyone reading this at this moment might think that what I just explained is strange or silly, but prior to Friday night, I had never seen a person be born before.
Anyways, enough of that. Here are some pictures of Ginger. Her with Erin right after birth, her on the scale just seconds after she was born, her with her Great-Grandma and Grandpa Badger, and then the most recent picture I took of her about an hour ago with her mohawk.

The Baby!!!....isn't here :(

2008-11-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

In other news, there are no babies born yet (today is Saturday, Nov 8th). This makes the baby overdue. As you can all see from the floating fetus, baby is due today. Here is a picture of a ridiculously large belly.

The greatest bike race in the history of ever

2008-11-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

So the Draper Boys Downhill Invitational Annual race was held on Oct. 18th. This is a bike race as old as many of the bikes ridden in the race, namely Tyler's old Cannondale with the head shock. I almost won, but I had a bolt come loose on the rear triangle of my bike that got jammed in my gears behind the crank, so I gracefully bowed out, and allowed Tyler to win. Here in the picture to the right, you can see two of the more attractive racers with their trophy wives. Also, Luna came to offer moral support and to eat cow turds.

Our little artist

2008-10-05T09:50:00.000-06:00

Jeff titled this work "Self-Portrait"

Six Months

2008-09-03T21:32:00.000-06:00

I haven't been good at taking photos to show the progress of baby. This may have to do with the fact that I haven't had energy to really get ready for a day during the past seven months (which, considering I've had to appear on Good Things Utah and Fox 13 News, is pretty pathetic). One day before church I was feeling pretty good, so I not only did my hair, I also took this picture (self-timed 'cause Jeff was already at a meeting). The baby rides pretty low, so it looks smaller than it really is. This pic was taken at 6 months. Now I am 7 months and if there is another day when I have energy, I will get ready, take a picture, AND post a blog of it. Believe me, baby has done A LOT of growing during this past month. And, according to 'the books' she's still got 25% more growing to do--which should be about 7 more lbs. I have no idea where she is going to put that 7 lbs because she's basically used up every square inch of space (even the space that my inny belly button was occupying).

Part VI: Low Iron/Anemia

2008-09-03T21:16:00.000-06:00

Man, I can't tell you how awesome it is to have low iron. Not only does it guarantee you one of those fun finger-stabbings every time you visit the doctor, but it also generally means another supplement--yippee!
The great thing about the iron supplement is that it causes constipation and nausea--and to make things interesting it shouldn't be taken with calcium (because it will bind to the calcium and then not get absorbed by your body).
If, hypothetically, the finger prick and extra supplement aren't your idea of a good time, well, no one is forcing you to do them; you are welcome to just suffer the exhaustion and complete draining of energy that accompanies low iron.
Now, imagine the best of both worlds--taking the supplement, eating all sorts of foods that are high in iron, suffering the constipation and nausea, making sure that you eat your servings of calcium at a different time than taking the pill, STILL suffering intense bouts of energy loss, and then getting your pricked a month later only to find out that your iron count has dropped.
Do you:
a) stop taking the supplement because it obviously doesn't do any good
b) try to figure out if there might be something else you are doing that inhibits absorption
c) take a finger-pricker thing and stab it into the nurse saying "see how you like it?"

Part V: Breathing

2008-09-03T21:10:00.000-06:00

Do you remember Adam Sandler's "Fatty McGee" skit? I honestly have to take a break half-way up the 20 stairs that get me to the second floor of the Cannon building where I work.
But aside from struggling during aerobic movement, about a month ago I began having movements where I wasn't doing anything labor intensive at all and I would become short of breath. Now, originally, my thought was that I was suffocating and that the baby wouldn't be able to get the oxygen it needed, so I would become panicked which would only exacerbate the problem. Then I read in a book that it was normal to have trouble breathing during the late months of pregnancy--after all your lungs are quite crunched for space. Just reading that (and realizing I wasn't the only one) alleviated the problem quite a bit--at least now I can go on with what I'm doing without worrying that the baby is at risk.

Part IV: Back-->ab-->back pain

2008-09-03T21:00:00.000-06:00

If you had a time-lapse video recorder focused on my desk at work, you would see me start the day sitting on my chair. After about an hour, the chair would be pushed back and I would continue working at the computer standing and occasionally arching and flexing my back. I would then proceed to a squatting position--still typing--until my legs became numb and I would take a lap around my desk to loosen up before returning to the chair. This cycle would continue throughout the day except that I am usually obliged to attend one or two meetings where the majority of attendees think it appropriate to sit down for consecutive amounts of time. In these situations, you will see me scooting to the front of my chair on occasion and arching my back as imperceptibly as possible.
The trouble with all this back arching is that inevitably by the end of the day I have gone to such lengths to relieve the stress on my back, that I have strained my ab muscles in the process. Now I am forced to switch between the pain in my back to the pain in my abs or to try to find the exact position which puts no pressure on either. This has become the main activity that fills my evenings: finding a position that eases the pain until I can manage to go to sleep. Sometime during the course of the evening, I also need to get up to eat something, but I have already written about the difficulty of that duty.

Part III: Speaking of food

2008-09-03T20:53:00.000-06:00

On the subject of food, you may have the experience of never wanting anything to eat. Nothing ever sounds good and nothing ever seems worth the effort of having to cook. The only factor that motivates you to eat is that you know that biologically speaking food is important to the growth of baby. Now, if your husband makes food and is eating it, you will want some of what he has on his plate. If, on the other hand, he makes food specifically for you, it will probably not sound appetizing. It will be impossible for you to come up with a food that sounds good on your own--you will need to coach your husband into being able to generate a long list of fast options of food that are also healthy. Since it is practically an oxymoron to have fast food that is healthy, you will end up eating quesadillas with cheese and beans for every meal. You will question whether it is this specific meal that is making your stomach so upset...

Part II: Deciphering hunger

2008-09-03T20:47:00.000-06:00

You will be told to eat a healthy diet. You believe that a healthy diet is important and you will probably do your best to consume the best of foods so that baby gets all the nutrition it needs. This is easy until about 6 months. At some point, your stomach has been squished so far into the crevice between your ribs and the rest of your organs that it has become impossible to discern whether it is completely empty or completely full. You may eat something in the morning and then feel sick. This may lead you to believe that you have over-eaten, thus, you wait longer than usual before you eat again. You have now begun down a slippery slope of trying to figure out whether it is indeed hunger pains or stuffed pains that you are feeling. The bad news is, this doesn't seem to go away or get any clearer with time--you will simply go on feeling sick every single time that you eat something and you will never be quite sure whether it was because you waited too long or ate too soon.

Part I: Quadruple-Leg cramps

2008-09-03T20:34:00.000-06:00

You may have heard about these...they are pretty common. What you may not be aware of is that it is possible for a single leg cramp to last 4 minutes and actually move from muscle to muscle in your lower leg like some sort of anaconda. You may have a wonderful husband who tries to stop your screaming by saying calming things like "it's almost over" and helping you to flex your foot--which generally can stop a cramp in its tracks--but nothing can stop this force of nature. You may be crippled for several days, needing a hand-rail or shoulder to lean on in order to descend stairs. Everyone will have a confused look on their face when they ask you what happened and you say "Leg cramp" so it is better to say something like "polio" or "leishmaniasis"--which has nothing to do with loss of control of your limb, but at least no one will know what you are talking about.

Happy to be of service

2008-09-03T20:26:00.000-06:00

So, while wide awake at 2:00am the other night, I realized that I am doing a great disservice to all the mothers-to-be by limiting all my complaining about the woes of pregnancy to only my husband (mostly). Why should he bear the burden of all my suffering when I could share it with expecting mom's who may actually find comfort in my discomfort? So, I've decided to write about some of the most recent developments in my world of being pregnant. I'll fast-forward the first 5 months (4.5 of which were spent hovering over a garbage can) to the present.

The most hap-happiest time of the year...

2008-09-03T20:09:00.001-06:00

Jeff's birthday. July 31st. Which this year meant celebrating at Boondocks. Aside from mini-golf and go-carts, we got a bunch of tokens. Jeff won the cash-cow of tickets on Deal or No Deal. (in the pictures: Mary, Steve, and Jeff. Jeff and Erin. Katie and Connor--we had unlimited mini-golf passes so we played late into the night. Mary with Jeff right behind crashing into her and Kater and Connie in the car to the right--Steve is also back in the row somewhere. Jeff and Erin cashing in all the hard-earned winnings.)

DC/NYC for July 4th

2008-09-03T19:54:00.000-06:00

Jeff and I went to DC to visit my parents for the fourth of July. On the 5th we took a bus up to NYC and saw a performance called Cirque Dreams. Here are a few pics of us in Central Park and Manhatten.

Arts Festival

2008-06-29T00:18:00.000-06:00

This weekend was the arts festival in Salt Lake City. The bands were awesome, the friends were awesome, the art was awesome...but the best thing about any festival in Utah is when you come across crazy characters like the one in this video below (to be attached later because it isn't working right now for some reason.)

Sailing and such

2008-06-25T13:18:00.000-06:00

We spent Saturday up at Rock Port Lake with some friends. Jeff and I got stuck on the sailboat in the middle of the lake without wind for about 20 minutes--you never know what nature will give you. We also had some kayaking time---so fun!

Announcing...a baby for Jeff and Erin

2008-06-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

So... there's a little secret we've been keeping for the past few months :)...a secret I've been keeping in my belly.
We are expecting our little one in November. We won't know the sex until end of July and we'll let you know once we do.