Whiteface

Back home for not even 48 hours and the Haney's hit up the hill. Kat took a few runs on her new boards while Gwen and I picked our our season passes - yep our season passes. Thanks Bridget! Gwenny's first season pass is completely awesome. She used it for a gondola ride on Sunday, but opted to ride back down on the gondola too...at least this time.

Lake Louise Sunrise

It's amazing what you can capture on a phone these days.

Lake Louise

Mornings like this are an OK way to start work.

Gwen is on the move!

Suddenly Althea "fat cat" has become quite a bit faster...

Soelden, Austria

It's clear, crisp. My eye caught a meteor before walking into breakfast. A sliver moon is just bright enough to outline the Tyrolean tips. Time for a coffee.

The sun won't be up for another hour. You can already see a snaking band of headlights winding up the glacier. We're rapidly leap frogging the line. New women's Tech Head Coach Roland Pfeifer is driving. Lindsey Vonn wishes us Guten Morgen…her voice on Austria's Hitradio. Seconds later, we pass a barn sized Volkl poster of Julia Mancuso.

Strip away all that is the World Cup and this remains a special valley. Sentinel white peaks bear hug a fertile farming floor split clean by the Otztaler Ache river that can only be described as berg blue. I would love to see it in summer.

The U.S. Ski Team has always felt comfortable here, but never so much as we do this year. For the first time in the 14 years of opening the World Cup season in Soelden, an Austrian is not on the race poster. Bode Miller is. Welcome to the new European home of the U.S. Ski Team.

It's race day in Soelden. I feel it in my stomach.

Gwen gets inverted!

Oh yes, our little one is destined for days of lapping the park and pipe, but will it be on skis or a snowboard. Stay tuned...

7 months

Gwenny hit the 7 month mark last week. I've been very excited about this one because of all the fun fall pics I get to take. We had some fun playing with Gwen in the backyard this week. She loves the leaves!

But before I show you the new photos, an update:

I've been back to work for just about a month now and Gwen has dealt with the transition beautifully. We are having a friend watch her during the day and couldn't be more pleased with how it's been going. Of course we miss her and can't wait to see her after the work day is done, but the smiles we get when we go to pick her up are just so heartwarming.

Gwen is now full into solid foods. She likes most everything we give her, but some specific favorites are peaches and mango. I'm getting the feeling that carrots are topping the list of foods she'd rather we not serve her.

As far as movement, she is desperately wanting to crawl, but can't seem to quite get it. Frustrating for her, sadly, but good for mommy and daddy as it buys us some more time for babyproofing the house!

Looking forward to October and all the wonderful things that it brings: apples, pumpkins, Halloween costumes and fires in the woodstove.

Foreshadowing?

We hope not.

Gwen Camping

This is such a funny photo. Gwen certainly loves her cousins.

6 months!

I cannot believe half of a year has gone by already. But with this milestone also comes the end of my maternity leave. Next week I will going back to school. While I feel incredibly lucky to have had so much time home with our baby, I'm pretty sad. Gwen and I have created our own little world each day and I have been able to see each "new" thing as it comes. But this is what our family needs to do and I am going to try to make the best of it.

Now onto the happy stuff. A list of Gwen's new tricks!

A late 5 month update...

So I know what you are all saying. What happened to the 5 month update? Gwen actually spent her 5 month birthday on the western side of this country during the Haney's first real family vacation. Well the first as a family of 3 anyway.

We started out our trip by flying to Salt Lake City so that Doug could attend some meetings at the offices in Park City. It was Gwenny's first time on an airplane and she did beautifully. We had to chuckle a few times as the seats on the plane filled in around us. We got the same look from most everyone and it pretty plainly said "damn, we're next to an infant". By the end of the flights though we were hearing "Wow, I forgot she was even there" and "I wish my kids had been that good when they were young". Doug and I were pretty proud to say the least.

After a few days in Park City we drove the 7 hours or so to Yellowstone National Park for some car tourism at it's best. We did see wildlife but I just have to say that I love how you can predict the animal you are about to see by the number of cars lined up along the road.

We ended our trip with a very short stop in Jackson, Wyoming to visit our friend Jonathan who took us on a tour of Teton Village. Overall, it was a great trip.


A series we like to call "Who put that baby up there?"











Haney Family Vacation 2011. Next time we should get those matching shirts.

Some scenic shots










Stay tuned for Gwen's 6 month update...

Gwen's First Faceplant

Kalib

Gwen thinks this - her eight-year-old cousin Kalib - is hilarious. Notice his t-shirt says "Why are we here?"

4 months... OK, 4 and 1/2 months

So Gwen turned 4 months about 2 weeks ago, but we've been so busy having fun we haven't had time to write about it. This month we've seen some big changes in our little girl. The biggest development is tummy time. Up until now, every time we've put her on her tummy she's thrown her arms back penguin-style and cry. We've often joked that we could spin her around on her belly button... she's obviously got a promising future in break dancing. She's also started rolling over from front to back which may explain her sudden tolerance of being on her tummy... she knows she can get out of it if she really wants to.

Other new tricks are:

• making raspberry sounds


• keeping head level with body when being pulled to sitting position


• standing on legs while being held steady by us


• taking toys when they are handed to her


• putting her toes in her mouth (ew)

She laughs every day, doles smiles out like it's her job and just generally makes our life better.

Showing off her tummy skills.

Gwen's new favorite toy is a dragonfly given to her by her dear friend Abby.

Who put that baby up there?

Gwen's first camping trip at Follensby Clear Pond. She loves being outdoors!

Water Baby

It's official, Gwen likes the canoe. She loved the waves on the way out to Bluff Island last night and fell asleep for the entire paddle back.