We wanted to share a few of our pictures from the trip to see Erik in October.

We went tide pooling the first night.  This was at 10:00 pm their time so about 1:00 am our time.! I almost said go without me but so glad I didn't.  I didn't know sea stars came in so many colors.  We saw the sea urchin, and several other creatures as well.

Next day we had a tour of the Salmon hatchery where he works.  Here are LOTS of fish just starting to grow.

We also walked out on the docks around the harbor below his apartment.  

One day we drove away from the city.  "Out the road" is the terminology.  We stopped at St Therese Cathedral.  The moss is amazing and beautiful.  Below is the view.  This road is also where he will do the IRONMAN running segment.

Another day we road a tram to the top of a mountain right out side of the city.   Below is the view from there.

Alaska is a beautiful place and we were sad to leave him.  We had one more treat coming home.  The Northern lights were right outside the plane window.

After Thanksgiving, we visited Hannah, James and Spencer for a couple of days.  My he has grown!  I guess it just seems so quick when a person is not there everyday:)

Here are pictures from that visit.

One more piece of news- Samuel's composition entry in to MTNA has won at the state level, the district level and the division level.  He will hear if it wins the national level in January.

Merry Christmas to all of you.  Best wishes for the New Year.

Love Tim, Vicki, and Samuel

2021 with the young Johnston family

It's always so fun to recap our year for the blog! 

Right before Christmas last year, our chicken coop caught on fire! It was only by God's grace that nothing else burned and the chickens stayed safe. (You can see how close it was to our house!) They moved into some temporary "high rise" housing for a while (our tree house) until we could get them a new space. They have since been upgraded to basically a three story chicken mansion and they quit laying eggs for a bit, so they are living a good life! 😆

In February we took a family vacation to Disney World. We were still homeschooling, so we just worked ahead for a couple of weeks to be all caught up and ready to go. The weather was a bit finicky, so we spent a small fortune on Mickey/Minnie themed jackets at the parks and wore them everyday! 

Ava turned 8 in March and had a Stitch party! She also worked hard and earned her purple karate belt! 

In March, my friend Alice moved in with us. Her lease was up on her apartment and she was going to marry Brady in July. We cleaned out the playroom and it became her bedroom. We really enjoyed having her as our roommate! I was a bridesmaid in their wedding and Ollie was the ringbearer. 

She took a job as the Children's Pastor at McPherson Free Methodist Church. We needed to step away from our church for a while and attending with her seemed like the best option. Now we are committed! Dave is running sound, I'm singing, and Adelynn volunteers in Sunday School. After the first Sunday Dave ran sound by himself, the associate pastor came to him and asked him to train someone! We are really fitting in there and it's nice to be appreciated again. 

In April, Ollie turned 5 and Adelynn turned 11. We finished homeschool at the end of April - and that gave us an extended length summer! It was busy and wonderful. In addition to Alice and Brady's wedding, the girls did several camps, Ollie got to go to Zoo Camp for the first time, I hosted the Turquoise Table most Fridays, Ava had a couple of theatre productions, we celebrated 13 years of marriage, Dave went back to the actual office after working in the basement for over a year and we took a trip to KC that coincided with the Rivers' vacation also. Whew!

Reenrolling the kids at Central was bittersweet. We love the school and we loved homeschool. Adelynn is in 5th (her last year of grade school!), Ava is in 2nd (her first year of full day school!) and Ollie is in Pre-K. (His first year of school in a typical setting). 

They are all doing so well. Adelynn is playing the flute in her school band. They have friends, they love learning, and it's very normal to look around the house and see everyone with a book in hand. (We are regulars at the public library on weekends).

Adelynn earned a role in the Prairie Nutcracker! It is December 10-12 at the Fox if you want to watch her! We know a few other people in the show as well. 

Dave has been busy with projects all Fall. My dad and brother helped him create a firepit southwest of our house. He designed and furnished a great arcade lounge at the office, (actually I got to decorate that one!) he has been putting a permanent light set on Pam and Randy's house, plus all of the usual work of maintaining two acres and chickens. (He's been borrowing Pam and Randy's tractor for concrete work, so we just call him "Farmer Dave".) He's now working with my dad and brother on replacing our deck. I stepped through the deck and we knew it was time to be torn down! It's a big project, but it will be wonderful to have it come Spring.

I'm finding ways to stay busy with the kids all in school. I pick up Ollie at 11:00 everyday, so I don't have as much time as it seems like I should have to accomplish things. Pet care actually takes a lot of time. I have been able to do some volunteer work for the church and school while I successfully avoid putting our basement back together after Alice moved out. 😉

Being busy made it extra great to have a break to go back to Disney - with the Rivers family this time. We just got home Tuesday. It's one of those things where once you get home you just want to go back! 

Wishing you all the very best in 2022! 

Happy Halloween!

Spencer Ray has, of course, been the center of our world these last four plus months (five months on November 3!). He melts our hearts daily with his smiles, squeals, and coos. Every day seems to bring a new skill, sound, or movement. He's rolling over and swimming on his tummy (building core muscles for sitting up), bouncing around in his activity center, and helping me water the plants from his Ergobaby carrier. 

James is back to work and slowly getting back to running as he waits for his appendix surgery. We're so thankful his body protected him from his ruptured appendix and that he was able to fight the infection with antibiotics. Currently, his surgery is scheduled for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

It seems I am in a crash course on priorities. Juggling chores around the house with a full time job, being mom and wife and conducting the Central Texas Philharmonic Youth Symphony creates a very long to do list with only enough time to get a few things done each day. So many of you already know what that is like and I have even more admiration and respect for you now :)! There are so many amazing parents in our family. You are all true inspirations.

Now for some Spencer pictures! Lots of love from Austin. Hope to see you all in December!

Hannah (James, and Spencer)

Happy Baby pose

Laughing with Daddy

Enjoying his new activity center!

In his Longhorn onesie

A picture from daycare

This is how we water the plants :).

Uncle Andy, Aunt Katie, cousins Theo and Natalie were here for Labor Day Weekend!

Our drool monster

Josh came to visit!

 

New Hobbies:

Hello from the Givan’s at 408 E 13^th.  I thought I would share some pictures of some new and expanded old hobbies.

First, Tim.  He is really getting into his woodworking.  He has been gradually setting up his workshop in the basement where the temps are much more regulated than in the garage.  Here he is hard at work!  Kate and I gave him a hard time because we never see the top of his head and didn’t realize what was going on up thereJ

 

I’m really enjoying my house plants.  The weirder the better actually.  I’m convinced that they grow much better with company but I’m also sure the boss won’t let me work from home just to keep my plants company.  Here are succulents in their ‘home”

And now for some favorites…

       

This one grows very fast.

My first hydroponic one.

 

A favorite but I have no idea what it is.

 

 

12 year old Bonsi plant that is actually Kate's

My largest aloe vera.

We are continuing our puppet hobby as well.  For about 18 months, we recorded weekly chapels for Sunday School.  When Sunday School went back to in person, we took a break.  Now we have started to do shows at the Early Education Center once a month.  It’s great fun and a good stress reliever.  Here are our three main characters.

Oral played by yours truly, Granny Feathers played by Charles and Elcee played by Aunt Pam.

Have a happy Fall and a good holiday season.