Blake, Tiffanie, Emery, Everett, and Delaney: Christmas Letter 2018

Merry Christmas from the Johnson family!

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world.

If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness,

because you will have the light that leads to life." John 8:12

In January, Blake was offered a job at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. And (on our 11th anniversary to be exact) we decided to take it! That meant moving across the country with a new baby (4.5 months when we arrived) and an almost-6-year-old. But we made it. Now Blake's folks, brother, and some aunts, uncles, and cousins live only a few hours away.

We decided after years of renting, we'd like to buy a home and settle in. We found a ranch-style house with an addition on the back that has lots of bedrooms (the extras of which we use for a play room, home office, and guest room/storage room) and plenty of living space and storage space. Overall the house is modest, but certainly much bigger than any condo or townhome we've ever lived in. We are enjoying our new home and our new town!

Front of the house

Back of the house

Emery's room

Laramie is a small college town at 7,220 ft elevation. We can see mountains to our west and hills to the east. The shopping is certainly more limited than it was in northern Virginia, but there is never any traffic in this 4-mile wide town and the people are friendly and not in a hurry. Our first Sunday in town, we started attending a great church only 1 mile away and we've loved it ever since! We've met so many incredible new friends through a weekly small group, a moms Bible study, MOPS (Mothers of preschoolers), and through Blake's job.

Emery turned 6 a few days after we arrived in town. Before we left Virginia, we had a gymnastics birthday party with her friends from school, church, and her former preschool. When we arrived in Laramie, Emery transferred to a kindergarten class at Indian Paintbrush Elementary School. Her teacher said Emery transitioned well and was already ahead of the class.

Emery's 6th birthday party

The birthday girl

In March, we attended a UWyo women's basketball game in the first round of their tournament. It happened to snow about 8 inches that day, but we made it to the arena - it's only about a mile away.

UWyo women's basketball tournament

For Easter, Blake's folks came to visit. We have enjoyed having them come over several times this year!

In April, Everett and Tiffanie traveled to Indiana to visit some college friends while Blake and Emery took a trip to the mountains.The following week, we had carpet installed in nearly every room of the house. This is one of the only major house projects we've done so far; the rest have been mostly small projects.

For Memorial Day weekend, we drove to visit Blake's family and introduce Everett to the most important family member... their dog, Jaxsyn.

At the beginning of June, just shy of 8 months old, Everett started crawling and within a month, he was cruising the furniture! He also had his first trip to the ER for an eye infection :( And his first tooth!

At the end of June, I resigned from my job at NOVA (I'd been working full-time remotely since we moved). I will start back at that job part-time in January 2019. In July, my folks came to visit us in Laramie.

With Grandpa & Gramma at the park

In August, Emery got to go on her first sleepover! Jo and Alan came down to pick her up and take her back to Gillette for 3 days! They had fun at the fair.

Jo & Emery at the fair

Emery at the fair

Emery & Uncle Brandon posing on a tractor

At the end of August, Emery started 1st grade at Indian Paintbrush Elementary School. She is in advanced reading and math groups. Her teacher says she's very cooperative and attentive in class. Her class plays outside 4 times a day, and she enjoys art and music classes too. At home, she is over the moon for her baby brother, and she likes to draw, play Wheel of Fortune (hangman), make up stories, and play pretend with her dolls.

First day of 1st grade

Emery & Everett at her school

Emery's 1st grade school picture

In September, we drove to Vedauwoo, a park about 18 miles outside of town. It was a beautiful day to hike and explore. Emery wished she could play in the mountains every day!

On October 10, our baby turned 1! We celebrated with a birthday party with Jo, Alan, and Brandon! Everett enjoys playing with cell phones, remotes, and all sorts of gadgets he isn't supposed to have. He likes books and throwing balls. He loves to climb up on the couch and over any barricade we set up for him. He loves his big sister, Emery, whom he calls "Ada." Since his birthday, Everett has learned to say several words, including: no, bye-bye, hi, tee-too (thank you), mama, dada, all done, mum mum (yum yum), mo (more), doh (throw), bah (ball), ba-doo (balloon), da-deh (jaxsyn), dih-dah (fig bar, a favorite snack), go-gurt (yogurt).

Also in October, we got to go to the UWyo Homecoming football game!

For Halloween, Emery was several characters. She was a butterfly for her school parade, Strawberry Shortcake for our trick-or-treating in downtown Laramie, and Princess Tiana with her Frog Prince for our trick-or-treating on campus.

At Emery's school

Halloween parade at Emery's school

Downtown Laramie

Princess and the frog

Trick-or-treating at UW

In November, Everett took some steps, and in early December, he continues to work on this skill. He can take a few at a time, but goes down to his knees and crawls - it's so much faster! For Thanksgiving, we traveled to Blake's folks' house to spend the holiday with them, his brother, his aunt, uncle, and cousins - 21 people in all (and one dog)!

With cousin Cameron, Elena, & family

We are grateful for our first Christmas in this home, where we have space to decorate. It's the first time ever that we haven't had to move our kitchen table to put up our tree! And our first time ever with a fireplace mantel for stockings!