July 2011 Recap

In a nutshell...

We had a great 4th of July weekend, enjoyed telling lots of family and friends about baby Johnson, had my first Dr. appointment and heard baby Johnson's heartbeat, very much enjoyed catching up with old college friends, got my first pedicure, and spent a LOT of time at the lake. I wasn't feeling the most awesome most days because of the whole 1st Trimester fatigue and nausea, but was nearing the end of the 1st Trimester, which was exciting. I took LOTS of naps and Mark played a little softball (although half his games were either rained out, or postponed due to excessive heat).

4th of July Weekend (July 2-4)

Lounging Friday night

We had every intention of spending Friday through Sunday camping down at the campground in Okoboji, Iowa across from the Emporium, but work commitments and such rained on our parade, and we knew at that point there was no hope to actually get a site. Since I wasn't feeling the best Friday night, and we had both had very long days at work, we decided to just have a night in, have pizza and watch a movie.

Okoboji Saturday

Saturday morning we slept in a bit, then hooked up the jet ski and headed down to Okoboji for the day. We had lunch at Taco House, which was good food, but way too much of it! After lunch, we waddled on over to the beach to lay out for a while and let our food digest. It wasn't really overall that hot of a day, but laying in the direct sun for longer than 10 minutes was a bad idea. I ended up feeling pretty run down the rest of the day, but we managed to wander through the Emporium shops before deciding to go put the jet ski in the water.

While Mark was getting it ready, the DNR lady told him he had to go power wash it ahead of time, so we just decided to pass on going out on SUPER busy Okoboji, and just head home early to go out on Cottonwood Lake again. We were really glad to be on a much quieter lake, and ended up lounging in the water for a good hour or so, which felt really good! Throughout this pregnancy, one of the most comfortable places for me has been out on the water - whether on the jet ski, tubing, swimming, or just hanging out in the lake. I end up with no nausea, no fatigue, I just feel "normal" again, which is nice!

Lounging Sunday

With myself feeling SO run down on Saturday, I didn't fare too well on Sunday. After church, we enjoyed a really fun church picnic and visited with friends there for a while. We were able to share the big news with our friends the Schroeders at the picnic, but I started feeling more run down, so we didn't stick around too long. The rest of the day we basically just laid around like bums, unfortunately.

4th of July party Monday

Monday we enjoyed visiting with the whole clan of Johnsons at Dean and Barb's home in Worthington.



For a full recap, click here.

1st Doctor's Appointment (July 7)

I went to my first Dr. appointment with Dr. Taber in Windom the Thursday after the 4th of July. It went really well! Of course, there was the normal poking and prodding, and apart from them being total vampires about my blood, the highlight was hearing a nice, strong heartbeat at 160bpm :)

If you want to read all about my adventures in pregnancy, I've started a separate blog all about it: babyinhumdawgsoven.blogspot.com But I promise not to infiltrate this blog with too much :)

Pedis and Lunch with Rach (July 9)

I was able to meet up with my good friend from college, Rach for pedicures and lunch in Worthington this Saturday. It was so great catching up :)


For a full recap, click here.

Hot Summer Days at Clear Lake (July 16-17)

For a full recap, click here.

Dinner in Westbrook with Mandy (July 27)

I joined my old college roommate, Mandy at her home in Westbrook for dinner on this Wednesday evening. It was great to catch up with her a reminisce over college years and to talk about all the changes taking place in our lives.

In this picture, Amanda is 35 weeks to my 13! She's due August 31, and I'm due January 29.

For a full recap, click here.

Supper with Mandy (July 27)

I had completely forgotten Mandy's birthday present when we met for dinner for her birthday in June. I also hadn't been able to make it to her baby shower in June. So we decided to make dinner plans so we could get together and I could get this woman her gifts :)

Mandy made a yummy chicken/rice/veggie bake and I brought supplies for a strawberries and spinach salad with a vinaigrette dressing.

The nice part about our friendship is that even if we don't see each other as often as we would like, we really don't skip a beat when we see each other again, and we find ourselves talking for hours :)



Mandy is due August 31, and is already very ready to meet her baby girl! I was able to see the adorable nursery and we reminisced a little about the olden days in college :)



Congrats once again, Mandy and Brandon! You'll make terrific parents, and I can't wait to meet your little lady when we get back from Alaska :)

Hot Summer Days at Clear Lake (July 16 & 17)

With the summer days as hot and humid as they have been lately, we've been enjoying lots of days at the lake! Saturday and Sunday afternoons this particular weekend, the lake of choice was Clear Lake, where Jamie's family collectively owns a bit of land.

I sorta failed at picture taking for the most part, but we had a great couple days lounging in the water, jet skiing, and a little tubing. We also had some great food and company as well.


Chris and his Dad, Wendell decided to tackle a big project and built a little cabin building there to make it easy to sit out of bugs or weather or what not and still be able to enjoy our time out there when we're eating. Great job, guys!!



As always, the Minnesota sunsets are pretty incredible - this is what I typically remember when I think of summer here :)

Pedis and Lunch with my Rach :) (July 9)

I met up with my good friend, Rach in Worthington on a nice Saturday morning for (my very first) pedicures and lunch. It's always so great to catch up with her, even if the frequency isn't that regular, and it seems like we always have a lot to catch up on, even if we sometimes feel our lives are monotonous.



Mid-way through the pedis, I told her about the part where I'm having a baby! It has been so nice to be able to tell so many people in person, who I figured I'd have to tell over the phone. The reactions are priceless :)



After our pedis, we enjoyed lunch at Perkins and visited a couple hours before parting ways and going on about our day.



Love you and miss you, Rach! Hope to see you again soon! :)

Independence Day 2011 (July 4)

We spent the 4th of July in Worthington at Dean and Barb's home with a nice-sized gathering of Johnsons! I majorly failed at getting any pictures of the yummy spread, but that's because I was way too busy eating it all and visiting! We had burgers and hot dogs, homemade potato salad, a spinach-strawberry vinagrette salad (my favorite!), watermelon, a large veggie tray, and lots of other stuff to go with it.

Games, Games, Games

While the older men (or at least most of them) were out back playing a little ladder ball, some of the young bucks played bocce ball in the front (and back) yard.

Big Announcement

We wore our shirts once again at this family gathering to announce my pregnancy and they got rave reviews! I was just over 10 weeks at that time.

A Fond Farewell

In sad news, this was a sort of family farewell to Jared and Skyler, who will be moving to West Virginia on August 1st. We'll definitely miss having them so close, but know this is the direction God has planned for their lives.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

We wish you two all the best and are excited to hear about all your new adventures in your new community!

Special Out-of-Towners

It was also such a treat to have Del and Karen in town for the big festivities, as we see them just once or twice a year! These two have still got it after all these years!

The Whole Crew

We had a total of 21 for the big get-together this time around!

A Special Thanks

Kudos to Dean and Barb for hosting such a great family GTG at their home in Worthington! We had a large group this year, and those are always so fun! But along with all the fun comes a lot of preparation and work (as I'm all too familiar with), so while a lot goes unsaid sometimes, THANK YOU!

Dinner and Fireworks

We made a quick stop at Walmart after the festivities and saw we had missed a few calls from Jamie and Heather, so we called them back and all decided to meet up at Ground Round for supper, and then the fireworks. We were able to tell them the good news there as well, and I got to enjoy my favorite Ground Round meal: Baja Fish Tacos!

After dinner, we made our way over to see the fireworks over by the fields where Mark plays flag football in the fall, then headed home.

Happy Independence Day!!

We are so grateful to live in a country where we have so many freedoms, and are so grateful for those who have sacrificed their time, health, energy, family and lives so that we can live so freely and comfortably.