Merry Christmas 2020--A year we'll always remember

A lot of people may remember this as the worst year ever, but a lot of good things happened too:

We had two graduations, and even though the commencement ceremonies were non-traditional, they were well-done and very memorable. Callie is now teaching special education part time in Lehi. Her husband Mac is working and going to school. Laura is attending BYU, and is pretty sure she's decided to major in elementary education.

Amy loves playing in the high school marching band. They missed a couple of competitions, because of quarantines,but still managed to place 5th at the state competition.

Alex's big adventure this year has been tricks on the tramp and creating videos of the experience.(See him in action by clicking on his picture at the right). This year has given us much cause for reflection. We are grateful for all that we have and all that we are learning. Our hope will forever remain in our Savior. With His help, we know that we can get through anything.

Wishing you joy and peace in 2021

Merry Christmas 2019

This is a landmark year for our family. Alex started junior high; Amy moved up to the high school; Laura began her last year of high school, and Callie began her last year of college. We know what this means--Leigh and Deborah are getting very old. For about 350 days of the year, we mostly did the usual stuff: Paid bills, cleaned toilets, mowed lawns, argued about how much screen time the kids were using, and nagged them to do homework....And the kids would tell you that we never do anything fun.

But we did have a couple of family adventures. Over Spring Break, we drove to Tijuana, Mexico to join with Spark of Hope Foundation to help construct a home for a young family whose 2-room basement house filled with mud every time it rained. Being there was a great reminder of how many blessings we take for granted every day. .

In July, Deborah's mom joined us on a trip to Missouri, Nebraska and Illinois to visit some Church History sites. It won't surprise you to learn that not everyone thought that was a very good idea for a vacation. Through Airbnb, we got to stay in the very charming Secret Service House right across the street from the home of Harry Truman. We hadn't known much about President Truman, but our experiences led us to be more interested--well, at least some of us.

And after our adventures, we went back to doing the same old, same old. And with both the work and the play and the usual routine and the adventures, it was a pretty great year. We hope your new year will be full of joy. With love, from the Johnsons

Merry Christmas 2018

This year we had a large wildfire just a couple of miles from our home. We were personally never in any danger, and our whole community was very blessed not to suffer the loss of life or property. But when we considered the possibility that we may have to evacuate, and we wondered what we would take with us, we realized there was very little we couldn't live without. We are grateful to have our family, our testimonies of our Savior and His gospel, wonderful friends, and lots of memories. All in all, it's been a pretty great year! There's been chess, engineering, the viola and piano for Alex. Amy has joined FFA, raised a pig, sung with the choir, and marched with the high school band. For Laura it's been a first date, driver's license, soccer, clubs, and choir. Callie and Mac have been working, going to school and enjoying their first year of marriage. The family said goodbye to Leigh's mother, six weeks after her 90th birthday (what a long, full life). We took a trip to Florida to experience Harry Potter World, met up with the Schumacher family who traveled to China with us at Christmas 2004. We got chickens. We washed a lot of dishes, paid a lot of bills, cleaned lots of toilets, mowed the lawn many times. We fought, we laughed, we cried. Just your average year! Here are a few of the highlights:

Merry Christmas 2017

Here's a run down of our year: Callie came home from her mission to Spain.

Laura tried her hand at being a thespian in the school production of "Guys and Dolls" Alex joined the robotics club and Chess club.

We moved Amy into a room downstairs and painted her old bedroom so Leigh's mom could move in with us.

We said our last earthly goodbyes to Deborah's dad. We are grateful for our knowledge that through the Plan of Salvation and our Savior's sacrifice, we will see him again. We went on a trip New York -- saw the Statue of Liberty, reunited with Laura's China "Sisters" (the girls from our 1st adoption group), saw Niagara Falls, visited many amazing Church history sites, and just had an amazing journey.

Girls Camp, soccer, FFA...just a few of the things to keep us hopping.

A Wedding

We have enjoyed doing our small part to #LighttheWorld

It has been a busy year. We have truly been blessed by the Lord in 2017. We wish you much joy in the coming year.