Younger Johnston Family 2020

I wasn't sure where to start on recapping life and discovered it's been a year since we posted, so I'll do my best to condense a whole year into one post.

Our pet situation has even changed since last year which is crazy to think. Last year we had Sundae, Leroy and Stitch. We realized Stitch was feral and was not meant to be a house cat. So she now lives with my brother's girlfriend on a farm. Leroy is still doing great, he's handsome and happy. 

Sundae turned one on our 12th wedding anniversary in June! She is even happier now because she has a little brother named Meatball. He and Sundae share a dad. We have given our pets voices and dialog on a regular basis over the years. To us, Meatball sounds exactly like Eeyore. 

In addition to a new puppy, we filled up our chicken coop with 6 hens. I got a Cricut for my birthday, so I have spent a lot of time creating vinyl decor for the coop. Chickens are an interesting adventure! Their needs and psychology are so different from cats or dogs. They should start laying eggs before the end of the year. Please let us know if you need eggs! They are being fed organic feed from a family I have known and trusted my whole life. The girls are learning business fundamentals from their egg-business-to-be! Adelynn is also taking a 4th grade level business math class this year where she runs a pet store. Grandma helps her with that each week when she comes to help with school.

An update! Today the kids found 3 eggs in the chicken coop! 

Which also means we are homeschooling this year! The back and forth thought of not knowing when we would have in-person school or be online was making me dizzy. So we are homeschooling this year and it is going better than expected! Even with our science curriculum not arriving until September, we will still be done with everything by April or early May. Here's what online school looked like this spring. Ava also managed to graduate Kindergarten without the ceremony this May. 

Here was our first day of school in August. I wrapped the dining room table in wrapping paper so they could open it. They loved that! 

4th, 1st and Preschool

Since Ava is learning to read, it seems I so often see them grouped together and reading.

Holidays and birthdays have looked quite different this year. Ava was able to have her actual family birthday party (she chose an 80's theme) and then a painting party with the girls in her class, right before everything shut down. (She turned 7).

And for her half birthday in September, Ava chose to spend the day at Tanganyika.

Ollie had a birthday parade for his 4th birthday! There was silly string, candy throwing, a banner, and a birthday song accompanied by guitar. 

Adelynn's birthday poster was so convincing, the UPS guy left a package on the sidewalk! (That made me feel great because it took a long time to design and assemble.) She turned 10! 

One fun thing we did with homeschool this year was to create fluffy paint. We are learning astronomy and decided to make some galaxies. The finished products turned out to be a happy reminder of the year, so we framed and hung them in our basement! Right below the galaxy art is our Nugget (gray flexi-couch) which is new and is one of the best investments!! PSA: They are backordered until 2021 right now, but they are worth the wait.

In June, Adelynn had a very well executed, socially distanced, annual dance recital. She did a wonderful job! Unfortunately, this was the first year that there wasn't a father-daughter dance for Dave to participate in. Also unfortunately, her tap teacher and the founder of the studio, Judy Mason, passed away from covid earlier this month. 

A long-time dream came true as we gathered all the cousins and took pictures of them in Christmas jammies! Christmas in July it was! 

We were able to spend decent time in the water this summer. Swimming lessons were completed, lake days with friends were had, and fishing at the pasture was also enjoyed! (No pants needed! They are leg prisons anyway,) 

We did have a gap this summer for about 6 weeks where none of us entered the water because Adelynn broke her arm. She was on the scooter on our driveway and tumbled. It started to swell instantly. Dave took her to the ER on a Wednesday night, they splinted it and we gave her OTC pain meds, but the doctor couldn't see her until Monday. So when he saw her, he said it needed to be set (read: re-broken) and then casted. We knew she had broken both bones in the forearm, but we didn't know it was that serious. The next morning she had her procedure and did an amazing job. They gave her the good pain meds and she only needed them once. We are pretty certain it's because her bones were in the correct place and it felt much better! 

Dave has been working from home since March. He was working in our closet for a while and has moved around some. He has since built himself a desk for the basement and is happily settled in down there. I don't have a picture of his desk, but this is the one he built for me and his is about twice as big. 

Another building project for Dave has been the tree house! It still needs a rope and bucket, and it will get another frame attached for swings. I also have hopes for a slide on the other side. 

A few things 2020 has made more time for:

Chalk art. 

Puzzles completed in record time.

Games like Rhyming Bingo on our weekly sabbath. 

Outdoor activities like P&M and the zoo. 

And the one thing the kids would want me to tell you about was the time we had the fancy dinner at home. They still talk about it! It was just a regular Tuesday, but we didn't know what day it was anyway :) 

The final adventure to share was taking a day to go to The Gathering Place in Tulsa. We went on a Wednesday which meant very few people. Here's a pic from last year and this year. 

Fall in Austin

 

It's hard to believe it is already November 1! Fun fact: it's almost been a full year since I cut my hair! I donated 10 inches at the end of last November and with the excuse of COVID keeping me away from the salon, this is the fastest it's ever grown back 😄! Work is keeping us busy. I'm back at school and have two to four students in my room per class as I teach in-person and online at the same time. Right now the students are only attending their fine arts classes in-person. Starting November 9 the students on campus will begin rotating to all of their classes. James is working from home and frequently has visitors that pop in for a cuddle or a nap. 

October and November in Texas tend to bring beautiful weather, which has made for some beautiful hikes and even a camping trip. If you have been for a visit and hiked up Mt. Bonnell with us, you were on the other side of the Colorado River (pictured behind us in the next picture). James discovered the trails on the other side of the river during one of his long runs and brought me back to see the great views.

James ran a 5-mile run in the Hill Country State Natural Area last weekend, which perfectly coincided with the cool front that brought us into the 40s overnight. It made for a comfortable night of camping, great race weather for James (3rd place!) and a nice hike post race.

Another fun thing about living in Texas this time of year is that we are able to fit in another gardening season! We had more blooming flowers and saw the monarch butterflies make their way back through on their way to Mexico. We have three resident lizards in the backyard gardens and I finally saw the frog that I've heard singing at night.

Plumbago

Gregg's Mistflower

monarch caterpillars on the milkweed

kale

broccoli

chard

We planted a Big Toothed Maple tree in our backyard! The only type of maple tree native to this area. We're crossing our fingers for some colorful fall foliage in our future 🍁.

Lots of love from Austin 💙💚🧡💜💛!

 

Hello Family:

I apologize for my lateness.  COVID time is so weird.  On the one hand it goes slowly and on the other it speeds by and half the time I’m not sure what day it even is.  That being said, when the Givans got the month of September, it was with the thought that I’d have the fair to talk about.  Instead, you shall be bored by just ordinary life.  

As you know, we currently are a household of 3 humans and too many dogs to talk about.  Kate’s dogs like to escape so we have made some dashes around the neighborhood. I’m so sorry I laughed at the Johnston’s when we use to watch you race by chasing Spotty.  It has come back to me.  

I returned to the school building June 1.  Kids arrived August 27 and so far we are all still in the building.  We have had some close calls so I’m sure it is only a matter of time before just essential office staff will be in the building.  

Tim grew a COVID beard.  Labor day weekend he announced if he and I could take a picture looking happy, he would shave it off.  Notice how happy I look!!

  He worked throughout the lock down.  Many of his people were working from home but he stayed.  Maybe that was good since that would have put us home together 24/7.  I do feel like my house plants flourished while I was home.  I just don’t converse with them as much when I work at the school building. 

On Labor Day, several of us made a trek to the Holyrood home land.  We checked out the farm ground where the crops looked good, drove by Great Tillie’s house and our house in Chase.  Each looked smaller than we remembered and closer to the street.

Cemetery where Great Tillie and Grandpa Billie are buried

Great Tillie's house in Holyrood

House in Chase where we grew up

This is Grandma Stratman's House in Holyrood where Great Tillie grew up.

  One of the best things that has come out of this time, is that the Rise and Shine Puppets have been filming weekly puppet shows for Sunday School Chapel.  I hope to make a You Tube channel and then they will be easier to find and watch over and over again.  Granny Feathers and the Chef (both done by Charles)have been a great addition to the troupe.  Clarissa from Calcutta spent some time with us (Mary) and that was neat. Aurora was good support as she usually clapped and shouted A-Men.  Our newest theme is the Lord’s Prayer.  I’m biased I know but think it will be a good one.  Here is part 1.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/14a-3EqrBNNZr5aVZIWcgiKQ4F8dp2lGW/view?usp=sharing   Hope everyone stays safe and healthy.   Love Auntie

Team Givan's Temporary Place

 We've been in Colorado for just over a month now, temporarily living with Theresa's parents. Theresa works weekends, from 7AM-3PM, as a "concierge" at a senior living center. I mark time and apply for jobs. As you might expect, for the museum industry there's not a lot being posted that I could naturally step into and earn enough to survive. Perhaps the most egregious post I've looked at wanted a master's degree-holding educator but would only pay $14 an hour. With little better to do, I've gotten to know a lot of the types of birds around here and have been trying to document some of them:

Say's Phoebe, a fun insect-catcher to watch with some incredible maneuverability

An American Kestrel that visited one evening.

A magpie. I know people think of them as pests but I find them interesting

A broad-tailed hummingbird in an Estes Park parking lot

Unfortunately we packed the tripod in our moving POD so the pictures with the telephoto have a "soft" focus! I also spent some time working on a telescope Theresa's parents have, after we arrived, and the second thing we used it to look at was actually a red-shouldered hawk on someone's house:

Behind Theresa's parents is a house that predates the development which actually has some livestock. Right now there's two horses, some chickens, and pony. Every afternoon I take the pony my leftover applecore and give her a few fistfuls of grass from the "greener side" of the fence. We've nicknamed her Sweetpea and she definitely knows me and waits for me, but has made it very clear that if there's no food, then there's no socializing (she's a bit piggy).

We also bought Theresa a wedding band, because despite our reduced employment, she doesn't like her job so a reward seemed appropriate, and because apparently when she lost hers two years ago I promised I would pick out the new one and then just forgot. It's an antique we found at Estes Park, made sometime between the 30s and 50s probably which puts it close in period to her engagement ring as well.

Finally, it's snowing here today. For the second time since we got here the temperature swung from 90+ one day to winter temps the next. This is the first time there was actual precipitation though.