Wow!

So - I know you are all thinking what a slacker I am not having time to post in over 2 months! Wow! Well, you are all right - I am a slacker. ;) I have just been enjoying summer nights too much and been so busy! Greg and I celebrated our 5-yr anniversary on July 15th, so for the 4th of July, we took off for a week of camping. We went to one of our favorites, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We had the BEST time! It was so nice to just relax together and have no agenda or timeframes - in fact, we didn't even make any plans - and the biggest suprise of all - Greg didn't even bring his laptop and even managed to turn off his cell phone for part of the time - Wow!!! We went to dinner and a play in West Yellowstone one night, kayaking at Hebgen Lake one day, we rented a boat on Yellowstone Lake another day, went hiking in the Tetons and even had time to eat dinner at the Yellowstone Lodge that we have always wanted to (as well as roasting marshmallows and hanging out at the campfire)! If you know me at all, you know that I am horrible with taking pictures, in fact if it weren't for Greg, I wouldn't even take a camera anywhere - I think I might be the least girl-like of any girl I know (mostly when it comes to pictures)! But I did manage to take a couple, so here they are (looking as staged as ever...;)):

(the only picture of the two of us - seriously we are horrible at pictures) - this was in the boat on Yellowstone Lake.

This was also in the boat - when Greg nearly flipped me out of the boat. If you can see, I am pointing to myself since I am soaked clear through all my clothes - He hit a big wave and the boat flipped really fast somehow and the whole side of me went into the lake and Greg pulled me back in by my one foot - it was great fun, but SO cold on the way back into shore.

Fantastically cheesy picture - the best kind!

So this is a Grizzly Bear right off the side of the road. See where the pavement ends and the flowers are? - That is where we were standing a couple minutes before (with a group - we weren't the only crazies) - but a ranger came and yelled at us since clearly that is a bit close to a freakin' Grizzly bear!

Other than that, just regular life in the summer: working and then doing stuff outside after work to enjoy all that sun. Greg is really busy at work right now, so he is working around the clock with that and school. I am busy trying to put my house back together after our remodel - I know, it has been forever! I will have to take pictures of the remodel that we did and put them up - maybe that will be one of the next blogs I do, once I finish putting my furniture back in it!

See y'all later! I hope everyone is in good health and doing well...

Introducing Gianna Grace LaVanway!

Gianna Grace LaVanway was born on June 2, 2008 at 9:05 PM and was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5" long. She is extremely healthy and beautiful and a perfect shade of pink (according to the nurse!). Not surprisingly, she has lots of that hair we all have been waiting for! Here are some pics of her first night here: (JaNeal is doing fantastic as well, she only pushed for 10 minutes, so she is faring much better than when she had Jamison and pushed for 2.5 hours!)

I love her already!!!

Baby Gianna Grace LaVanway!!!

All righty everyone - I have another new niece to meet!!! Technically, I don't know too much right now, but I wanted to post on my website before I went to see Janeal and Jay in the hospital. Here is everything I do know as of 9:11 PM on Monday, June 2:

Janeal was up all night last night with slightly painful contractions, but they were about 20 minutes apart, and they stopped this morning, so she didn't take any action. However, about halfway through the day they came back stronger, but still very irregular. So she called her doctor and after talking to the nurse this afternoon, she was told that it could be false labor and to get in a warm bath and drink a big glass of water and if the contractions are still there and painful - then come on to the hospital. She got in the bath about 5:00 tonight (with Jamison running around the house!) and my mom got there at 5:30 to check on her. My mom found her in a lot of pain and with contractions closer to 3 to 5 minutes apart. So - my mom hurried her onto the hospital where Jay met her there straight from work.

At the hospital, she was admitted and checked and she was already dialated to a 7!!! (I know - my sister is stronger than I thought!) So, in the knick of time, she was able to get an epidural (apparently it was a debate on whether or not she could have one - a debate that Janeal was NOT happy about). But, she got one, she is much happier and at about 7:30-8:00 tonight, she was dialated to an 8 1/2. Gianna apparently wasn't down as far as they wanted her though, so they were hoping to wait for a little bit (now that Janeal wasn't in as much pain) and see if she would drop.

So now it is 9:15, and that was the last update I had gotten, so there is a very good chance little Gianna is here already and I just don't know yet! My mom had to bring Jamison home and she just put him to bed, so she is on her way over here and she and I are heading up there. I will bring my camera and get a couple pictures of a little Gianna with a lot of hair! :)

Stay tuned..... updates to come shortly........

More Avery Grace Johnson!

Okay - here are some pictures of the newest member of the Johnson clan - my niece!

Announcing Avery Grace Johnson... (i think).

I should get actual pictures of my little niece tonight, but this is one from the hospital. Her name is Avery Grace Johnson and she was born on Mother's Day and she was 6 pounds, 11 ounces. She looks pretty dang cute and I am very excited to go see her in Idaho in the next couple of weeks!

Yay for the Cure and Baby Avery!

What a fun-filled weekend - as most people know, Saturday was the Race for the Cure. Well, all the girls (and Pat!) ran it and I am happy to report that Mickele and I ran together and got our best times ever - somewhere between 28.06 and 28.25 minutes (my clock timed it longer than an actual 5k, so we are somewhere in that range) - Yay! Considering the first couple minutes were weaving in and out of the 16,000+ people there to race, that is pretty dang good! (and the fact that is 3 minutes better than my previously fastest time) - Thank you Mickele for kicking my butt and making me go fast and Thank you Jasmine for all the work-outs that make us want to die - but help us out later on! :) It was also very nice to run in celebration of my mother-in-law who is almost a full-year breast cancer survivor and going strong - Yay Carrie! See the picture below...

In other news, baby Avery Grace Johnson was born on Sunday afternoon up in Idaho. She appears to be beautiful and healthy and right now is MUCH calmer than her older brother Hunter ever was. Ryan and Amanda are very happy about that and while I have not seen her yet - I am very excited about my new baby niece! Pictures to come!

Another Adventure.

So Greg and I went down to St George/Zion on a whim this weekend. Well - we went two weekends ago on a whim, then we purchased a trailer down there and had to leave our 4-wheeler and trailer in my aunt's yard so we could pull the new trailer home - a whole other story... So, we had to go down to St George and pick up our 4-wheeler this weekend. After running my best time at the Salt Lake Marathon 5k (YAY!) Sat morning, we took off. We had a great, even though it was quick, time and even had time for a good hike today and a couple small 4-wheeler rides Sat night and Sun morning. Although - we did have a hiccup since the campground at Zion was full, so we had to pitch a tent on the side of the road in the dry-camp areas. That was interesting, yet very fun - changing clothes on the side of the truck with virtually anyone who wanted a show able to watch - good times. Anywho - here are a couple pics from the hike today and the 4-wheeler rides. (Excuse the lovely hair-do's here - this was day 2 and remember where we stayed - definitely no bathrooms or showers!) One last note - there is a new art gallery down there with a fantastic photographer - one of the best I've seen for this type. Check his stuff out: www.davidjwest.com.