Well, another year has come and gone, and while 2007 has proved to be a very trying year for Mark and I with the tragic loss of my father in June, it has also been such a great year, filled with many blessings. We thank the Lord every day for the blessings he has bestowed upon us.
This past year, we have reached some major milestones! For one, I learned to ski this past January, in preparation for a ski trip we took to the Black Hills of South Dakota in February. I think I can speak for everyone on that trip that I may need a little more practice before trying to tackle the big slopes again :)
Mark went on a snowmobile trip to the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming with 3 other guys from church in March, and had a wonderful time, albeit a patience-trying bout with two bad belts on his sled. While Mark was on his trip, I was on a trip to Detroit for some training for work.
Mark’s brother, Daniel came to visit around Easter, and we had fun visiting with him! Over Easter weekend, we traveled down to Humboldt to spend a few days with the Ropte’s, and then made it back up to Worthington for Easter Sunday services and lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson’s. We also went to see the Shrine Circus with Jamie and Heather in April, although we didn’t ride the elephants or donkeys. (Perhaps something to try a few years down the road when we have little ones in tow) :)
My baby brother, Jason graduated from Humboldt High School in May, so we took another trip down to visit the Ropte’s in Iowa for a couple days helping to prepare for his graduation open house. It was a fun time to visit with so much of the extended Ropte family we don’t see on a regular basis.
On May 30th, we closed on our investment property on Eleanor Street. This was the beginning of the summer of home renovation. As such, June began in a huge whirlwind! We started right away on the house - 2 weeks straight, working our full-timejobs and then going straight to the house and working until 10 or 11pm every night. We were both completely exhausted, but Mark and I worked well together. However, we sure enjoyed the break when Mark’s sister, Sarah came home for a few days!
On the morning of June 15, we found out that my dad was hit and killed by a drunk driver while on his way home from the Badger grain elevator on his antique tractor the night before. While you can’t ever prepare for this kind of tragedy, it is absolutely astounding how many people have reached out to us in our time of need. The Lord knew at just what point in my life I could handle my Dad’s passing, and he has provided me with such a wonderful and loving husband to help me get through it all. I know there will still be so many questions, but to know that I have such wonderful and supporting family and friends, somehow it helps. But I am still looking forward to the day when we will be reunited in Heaven together!
With all the heartache and insane amounts of hard work on the Eleanor house in June, Mark and I decided to make a getaway for the 4th of July and headed up to the North Shore for a few days. I’ll tell ya one thing I absolutely love about my husband - he sure knows how torelax! We had such a great time just getting away, being on our own schedule, seeing what we wanted to see, and getting lots of great pictures! We spent a day in Duluth at Canal Park, and then the next on a cruise around Lake Superior. The last day, we went further up the shore to Splitrock Lighthouse, and then made our way back down the shore to Gooseberry Falls and Two Harbors. We’re definitely looking forward to returning there again in the near future!
August started out with a bang on Mark’s birthday! He got all sorts of NASCAR parafanelia and some Twins’ tickets, and we had his mom over for a spaghetti supper and movie. This is one birthday he’ll likely never forget, as August 1 was also the day the 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis.
The first weekend in August, we headed to Indiana to spend some time with the Ropte’s visiting Dan, Sarah, little Jacob, and their new little Hannah Joy :) Aunt Victoria and cousin Jordan also joined us there, and we had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. We were able to celebrate Hannah’s baby shower while we were there, and share the joys of the Indianapolis Zoo with the family!
Upon our return to Windom, my friend and bridesmaid in our wedding, Steff came for a visit with her boyfriend. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and it was so good to see Steff again!
August 18 marked the final wedding of the summer for us! We attended 4 weddings throughout the summer, including two for Amy’s friends from NWC, one couple from church in Windom, and one couple from church in Worthington.
September started out with a fun Labor Day weekend trip to Valley Fair with some of our friends. After Valley Fair Mark and I and a couple of friends drove to the cities, about 15 miles away, and stayed the night there in preparation for the Twins' game the next day with the tickets Mark got for his birthday. The Twins' didn't do so hot (0-5), but we still had fun!
One thing I haven’t mentioned until this point is one HUGE accomplishment for me this past year! I had been working very hard throughout the summer on turning my diet around, and I lost 30 pounds while training for yet another HUGE accomplishment for me this past September - the Turkey Day 10K race! The second weekend in September, I ran 6.2 miles around Lake Okabena, and met my 2 major goals - to run the entire way, and to have an average time of 10 minute miles.
Shortly after the 10K race, we took off for Minneapolis to catch a flight to Las Vegas to spend afew days on a very short-notice week-long trip to visit with Mark's brother, Daniel. Daniel tends to plan things pretty last-minute, so within a week of hearing about the trip, we were there relaxing and enjoying the time together and the sun! We stayed with Daniel in the 2-bedroom condo timeshare he owned there for the week. I got to see the Hoover Dam for the first time, and we also spent a night down on Fremont Street, as well as "The Strip" (a.k.a Las Vegas Blvd.), and Red Rock Canyon.
In October, I went down to Orange City to have lunch and spend the afternoon with some of my old roommates and friends from college at Northwestern. We had a great time visiting, and it was fun to see the girls again! Not to mention what a shock it was to see how different things were around campus!
I also went on a week-long business trip to Georgia for an ag tradeshow in October. I got home from Georgia on a Thursday night, and then turned around and headed down to Humboldt Friday night for a short stopover on my way down to Des Moines for the weekend to visit with some of my friends from high school and college. Needless to say, October was a crazy month!
The second weekend in November we went down to Humboldt again to visit the Ropte farm for a "pre-Thanksgiving" visit, as the Ropte's were headed out to Indiana to spend Thanksgiving with Dan, Sarah, Jacob and Hannah, while Mark and I stayed back in Minnesota. I was able to spend a wonderful day visiting and shopping with my Mom, and visiting with Amanda, Josh, and Jason. I finally made my first visit to Vinny's BBQ and also got to see Josh's new guitar store - Rock Stop Guitars - for the first time! It's odd to say that my little brother owns his own business!
Daniel and Sarah were both home for Thanksgiving in Minnesota, in which we were able to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's 60th wedding anniversary with them! We had a smaller dinner with Mark's mom and us kids on the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day, we went down to Worthington around noon for the big hoo-rah at the church. To say this day was jam-packed is an understatement! It was nonstop craziness and fun from noon until 11:30pm! We had a great time visiting with all the extended relatives, of whom we were only missing 3! We took way too many pictures, played some basketball (at which I totally schooled those old fogeys...or not?!), ate...ate somemore...and somemore...and a few of us stragglers stayed behind to "experience" the game that is "Loaded Questions". It was a very long day, but SO much fun!
As though I haven't said enough yet, this year has been incredibly busy and crazy, and yet we've made it through...again :) And this year, although there are certainly things we wish would be different, we know the Lord is sovereign, and we continue to count his blessings!
May the Lord richly bless each and every one of you throughout the coming year!
Mark and Amy Johnson
