2013 in review

Happy New Year, everyone! 2013 was an exciting year for the Johnson Family.
Let's look back at some of the highlights.

• In January, Hannah met the Duweling family in Lincoln and said goodbye to Lisa's mom. We also hosted our bi-annual cheese party and had our annual sushi date.
• In February, we celebrated Mike Duweling's 50th birthday, watched the Superbowl, went on stage with 88 Improv, had a Murder Mystery party at church, made meatballs with Phil and Jen, and watched the Oscars with Bente and friends.
• In March, we went fish-frying, visited Harold Lloyd's house with my brother Jonathan, had a St. Patrick's Day ingredient party, and took Hannah on her first Easter Egg hunt.
• In April, I saw graphic design hot-shot Aaron Draplin. We also took Vivian's co-workers swing dancing, helped Tamra move, and got Hannah her very own swing.
• In May, I attended a workshop with Christian and Jenny. We also cracked open a piñata, celebrated Mother's Day, took Hannah to Gifford Farm, attended a Friendship Program prom, saw John Stamos and the Beach Boys, had a reunion with Vivian's youth group, and saw a movie at the Sumtur.
• In June, Amber and Cliff got married, we had Father's Day, Vivian and I went camping, we saw Pat Benatar and Loverboy at Memorial Park, and then saw Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare on the Green.
• In July, we shot off some fireworks, saw Twelfth Night at Shakespeare on the Green, watched the Stormchasers as Hannah rode a merry-go-round, and celebrated an anniversary with a drive-thru safari, swimming, and lobster. Mike and Merinda got married, and Hannah got to see clouds. Matt also appeared in a book by Clark Howard.
• In August, Vivian and her mom did some painting, Tamra and her dad celebrated a birthday and a retirement, and the Jitterbugs danced at Friendship Program. We rode on an air boat, we had Lindy in the Park with live music, and I celebrated my birthday with burgers and hot, hot dancing.
• In September, we said goodbye to Jessica, and Hannah got her first haircut. We also took Hannah apple-picking in Nebraska City, entered a corn-eating contest (with Hannah), and got to see Johnny Boyd and his band at Cowtown. Vivian also had a sushi-licious birthday.
• In October, I took Vivian to see Les Mis and we took Hannah back to Gifford Farm. PK got married, we visited Vala's with friends, got some pumpkins, and went hayrack-riding with our church. We also had Halloween with friends, more friends, the YMCA, and the mall. We also learned that we had a member of the family on the way!
• In November, we took Hannah to a park or two and hung out with the Lenart family. Mom and dad came to visit and stayed for Thanksgiving dinner. Hannah turned two years old and had a party with a bounce-house and a bunch of her friends. We also took Hannah to see Santa at the Durham Museum and watched the tree-lighting.
• In December, we decorated for Christmas, rang a few bells, and visited the zoo with friends. We attended a work Christmas Party, hosted one at our house with a roaring fire, and celebrated seven first dates. Hannah went on stage for Christmas Eve and we opened presents with family before celebrating the New Year with our friends at Twin Valley Church.

So what awaits us in 2014? Well, a new child for one thing, and we can't wait to see what other surprises the new year has in store for us.

Our home for the holidays

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Vivian and I just wrapped up a busy couple of weeks playing host to my parents visiting from North Carolina. During the day, they went with Vivian and Hannah to all their fun, weekly activities, such as attending Mud Pies at the Fontenelle Forest and Storytime with Mrs. B at the Bellevue Public Library. We also spent a couple evening catching up with them, playing a few games, and watching some of our favorite shows together. We also went out to Stella's for some of their classic burgers-on-a-napkin.

I also managed to get some much-needed work on the house done with the help of my dad. Among other things, we got a new flagpole mounted on the front of the house, which had been a gift from my in-laws on my birthday this year. It was a great chance to try out my new drill with some screwdriver bits. Nothing more father-and-sonly than that. Jonathan came down a little later as we all had a fairly standard Thanksgiving meal together: turkey, stuffing with gravy, poppy-seed biscuits, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, potatoes, pearl onions, Taber salad, sweet pickles, green olives, and grape Martinelli's. It was the first time I'd had Thanksgiving with my parents since they moved to North Carolina over ten years ago.

The next day, mom and dad left for North Carolina, and Vivian, Jonathan, Hannah, and I enjoyed some fairly quiet Black Friday shopping. One advantage to all the stores moving their sales up to Thursday is that the stores are relatively quiet on Black Friday, with plenty of deals still waiting for us on their respective palettes. That evening, Vivian and I took Hannah to the Durham Museum once again for the annual Christmas Tree lighting. Grammy and Papa were at their stations once again at the cookie decorating booth, and Vivian and I took turns with Hannah as she went to see Santa and then made a candy cane out of pipe cleaners and beads. "Vintage vocalist" Michael Walker was on-hand again to channel Frank Sinatra in the minutes before the main event, and Omaha's New Mayor Jean Stothert joined David Mangelsen and a few other keynote speakers on stage to count down the tree-lighting once 6:30 rolled around. People then rushed the stage for some yule-tide photo opportunities before heading home.

Vivian and I spent most of Saturday recovering from our Thanksgiving activities. On Sunday, we had a Soup Potluck at Twin Valley Church, immediately followed by some decorating for Christmas. Vivian and I took turns watching Hannah inside and out while putting up some garland and getting other ornamentation in place with the rest of the church. The day wound down fairly quickly as we continued to dig through all our leftovers from our four or five days of feasting, and we easily managed to pack away enough food for leftovers for the next week (or two). It'll be nice not to have to cook for a while!