ROAD TRIP!!

Now a vacation would not be a "Johnson Vacation" without a rediculously long road trip. And that's exactly what Ryan & I did after Urbana. After the conference was over Ryan & I decided to stay around another day to save $$ on our plane ticket. To fill this free day we decided to travel down to NW Arkansas to visit our friend Megan....

Not the best picture of us...but it's us with Megan this summer at TMI commissioning

I didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. We drove 5 hrs to Springdale, AR & had a delightful time visiting her family & enjoying some good home-cooking. If you've ever had the privilege of going on a team with Megan she is an AMAZING cook (I know my husband would defiantly agree...although he knows what happens if he criticizes me food ;-)

On our way back to St. Louis we took two seperate detours. The first was to visit the "Walmart Museum" in Bentonville, AR. You've got it right...this was the first store that Sam Walton opened that held his name & began his Walmart franchise. It was interesting to just explore these rural AR towns.


The second stop we took was at the George Washington Carver National Monument for those of you who know Ryan, this was a special stop for him. He has always held a special fondness for George Washington Carver after he studied him in school. Although our visit was quick we did have the opportunity to see the property where he grew up & watch a short video.

We enjoyed this little "jaunt" and our time with Megan and her family. Although we were anxious to get home to see Micah...who greeted us with a huge smile when we returned to Portland.

Urbana

Now for the post I've been working towards all day...our time at Urbana. I know that this has very little to do with Micah, other than to mention that he definatly enjoyed his time alone with his two grandmas. As many of you know, Ryan and I took a week off and headed out to St. Louis to attend the Urbana missions conference. This is a conference that is held every three years. Ryan and I have both attended the past four conferences. This year was our second year representing Teen Missions at this conference. We had an amazing time!! This year the conference was moved to St. Louis. The new venue was awesome!! We stayed much warmer since the convention center & assembly hall were connected (no more cold days trudging across campus).

We left Tuesday morning, December 26th, to head out to St. Louis. We spent the first evening with Paul & Kathryn Dixon (they are long time friends of my family). We had an awesome time visiting & catching up. We then spent Dec. 27-31st at the conference. Our mornings were spent listing to an amazing speaker offer an expository look at the book of Ephesians. Our afternoons were spent at our booth talking with individuals who were interested in Teen Missions. We were amazed at how many Former Team Members stopped by our both. We counted over 100 FTM's. We had an FTM reunion one afternoon. I was responsible for the no-bake cookies & lukewarm koolaid (you would probably only appreciate this if you've gone on a team). After the first day I decided to make this poster for the FTM's to sign.

We had a great young team of volunteers working the booth. Two staff members were there, Stephen & Trish Taylor, plus another volunteer leader, Ann.

We were touched by the youth who attended this conference. It seemed apparent to us that they were very missions & ministry focused. We continue to pray that the Lord will guide & direct their decisions for the future.

A highlight of our time was the opportunity to hear Rick Warren speak. I was afraid that what he was going to share would be a lot like his book. But I was very plesantly surprised when he began to dig deep and confront everyone there on their committment to serving the Lord. Ryan and I both noted his comment encouraging the youth to serve God, "Wherever, Whenever & Whatever!!" It was great.

Ryan and I really enjoyed our time in St. Louis. We were pleased when our housing options fell through & we had the opportunity to spend the whole week with Paul & Kathryn. We also enjoyed our morning exploring Downtown St. Louis & visiting with missionary friends which we haven't caught up with in a while. We missed not having Micah with us...although we were so busy it wasn't that bad :-) We would really encourage any of you to consider attending the next Urbana conference (in 2009) it will definatly challenge you!!

Here are some cool pics from our sightseeing trip:

Christmas Day

Every year we get to spend Christmas Day with my Dad's family. It's always a good chance to catch up with the cousins & meet the latest additions...we seem to be multiplying :-)


Micah takes part in a Johnson family tradition...spending the entire afternoon playing games (either football or soccer) outside, even if it's raining.


The three men in my life play with Micah's "big boy" toys

Christmas Morning

Well Christmas Morning was spent with Ryan's family. We got up early and had breakfast with Sharon, a family friend, at Elmers. Then we returned to Ryan's Parent's to open presents. By the time we got around to opening gifts it was nearly 10:30 am & time for Micah's nap. Again, he barely was able to make it through a couple gifts. We decided to skip the usual family tradition of taking turns opening presents and just let Micah open his gifts. Then he promptly went to take a nap while we opened the rest of our gifts. Here are some shots from that morning:


This year Micah had his first chance to enjoy a Johnson family tradition of a Kinder Egg (a German hallow chocolate egg with a toy inside) in his stocking.



Micah wasn't too sure about the taste after taking a big bite of the egg. He did enjoy the toy inside, though.


Micah opens his gift from the Lees. It was a cool wooden train with blocks he can stack on top of it.


Micah opens his gift from us...

a basketball hoop! He played with this for hours.

although he did discover that not all balls fit inside the hoop.



Micah opens the rest of his construction toys from Daddy.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's family. We had a great time getting together and watching the kids open presents. As you can probably guess, Micah & Ella were bombarded with presents. The only problem was....it was 7:30 pm when we started opening them. I think each of them got through opening about two presents before they made it VERY clear to Mommy & Daddy that they were DONE!!! It's not that they didn't want the toys...they had just had enough people taking pictures & looking at them. Here are a couple shots of our evening.


Ryan & Aliya have a pillow fight before we start opening presents


Uncle Isaiah shows Micah what the world looks like upside down


Daddy bought Micah some big Tonka trucks to use on the job-site


Ella relaxes in the new chair from Uncle Jon & Christina (the elephant slippers she's sporting are from Micah - he got a matching pair, too)


It has become apparent to Mommy that Micah LOVES to splash in mud puddles. Since we don't have too many in CA I didn't have to worry. But then we went home to Grandma & Grandpa's. This year Micah & Ella each got their own pair of rubber boots to help keep Mommy sane (and avoid changing pants a couple times a day).


Grandma Johnson helps Micah open his gift from Ella. It was a REALLY cool picture book that spelled out his name.


Christina shows off the coat Jonathan got her & the hat I picked up for her from the Skate Shop.




In an effort to convert Ryan to the Dark Side...I went together with my family to purchase Ryan his own set of ridding gear. Now he can join the family on our motorcycle runs!!

Been way too long...

So I was downloading some of my pictures from my camera today and I realized it's been way too long since I posted on here last. I always bug other people about how dead their blog has gotten, but mine doesn't look much better. So hopefully these next few posts can catch you up on what's been going on lately....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day was spent with my mom's cousin's family down in Seaside. It was a typical Seaside day....beach rain! But we had fun.

Day after Thanksgiving was spent up at Ryan's sister's house in Redmond. We had a blast hanging out with the family & eating lots of pie :-)


Micah "hangs out" with cousin Heidi


Horse play with Daddy

Skate Shop

We continue to help out at the Skate Shop here in town. Micah made a lot of sales this Christmas season by his good looks & charm.


Micah tries to convince customers to buy the plastic toy skate boards.