We left our SOWERs project on the weekend and traveled to the Northeast corner of Colorado – arriving in Fort Morgan to celebrate Mom Johnson’s 95th Birthday!

On Sunday, we attended Trinity Lutheran Church services – it was a great day with a special message and was honoring to Mom’s 95 years of abundant life! Jesus Said, I have come to give life and life more abundant! ( John 10:10) Mom’s joy was radiant in her smile and love for people, family and the Lord!

We enjoyed delicious Cabbage Pockets, Butterballs & Noodles, Sausage, and all the fixin’s!

It was a great day of celebration and honor to Mom! Family& friends included Kay, Dennis & Lorree, Gary (from home) & Wanda, Jon & Becki & kids, Ben & Heather and kids, Marcia & Grayson Fritzler, and more via zoom, cards, letters and prayers!

We all enjoyed the many many stories that Mom shared that day. So much fun and encouragement in living the love of Christ in this crazy world. Mom’s many years of studying the scriptures, journaling, and fervent prayers have been the source of blessing for for all of us! Thank you Mom for living a Godly life “out loud” and in front of the world to see – YOU are our blessing – praying for many more years to come!

We’re headed out to see our nearby families and spend some precious time together!

Yikes! We’re leaving balmy Guffey to Fort Morgan, Rocky Ford, and then Laramie. Grab those coats and turn up the heater!! But it is beautiful out there – we love the landscape!

We’re looking forward to visiting our family and friends during this Christmas season. We really like the advice on the upper left, good things to always do! And the reminder above (Is 9:6) is the reason we can celebrate and live joyous lives – Forgiven! Joy to the World!

First Stop: Fort Morgan, Colorado

We enjoyed a day of stories, laughter, and of course some great homecooked food. It’s always a joy to spend time with Mom, Kay, Gary and Wanda. We are blessed with their love.

Dennis made some gifts out of some “Selah resources”. Hand painted scriptures with branches and pine cones. We are thankful that God’s Word is always an encouragement!

2nd Stop: Rocky Ford, Colorado

Wow, the changes in Colorado weather as we traveled South. We left Fort Morgan below 0 and by the time we were near Rocky Ford it was 48. We were loving the sunshine!

We joined Ben, Heather, Josh, Jeremy, and Jayden at their Christmas Eve Candle Light service. It was full of great songs and scripture and then we experienced sharing the Light!

Ben & Heather invited anyone who wanted to come over for a Christmas Open House Party.

So many goodies! The gals set the tables while Josh and Papa did the taste testing.

There was a great crowd – it was fun for us to visit, share stories, and get caught up with so many old friends from when we attended the RF Church. Good times for sure!

We woke up to a bright Christmas morning – with coffee and presents!

Carl, Beth, and Anya came down from Colorado Springs to join us for Christmas dinner and a fun afternoon. It was a very nice day, talking, laughing, and learning what everyone is currently doing. We also connected with Nick & Rachel, Jon & Becki, Tate & Kimberly, and Ray & Sarah – sharing pictures!

It was a great Christmas Weekend – we love our family. We are so proud of the way they all seek to honor and glorify God with their lives – and for passing on the heritage we received from our parents and grandparents to our grandchildren. What a great godly legacy to have.

3rd Stop: Laramie, Wyoming

We can’t remember the last time we traveled north! Lots of prairie and wide open spaces in Wyoming! We brought a surprise with us – Jayden! The girls didn’t know until we got there – they had a great time together over the next three days! How fun!

Whew! the time went so fast. We opened presents, ate great food, played a lot of games, had some terrific conversations, & learned all about Jon & Valerie’s trip to Israel – they even cooked and fed us some authentic Jewish food they had while they were there. Their sharing brought back great memories to us as we relived the time we traveled to Israel in 2018.

Heading home we talked and relived some of our fun & close times with our family. It’s been wonderful to share Christmas with our friends, our church, and especially our family this year. We’ve decided that we will stay at the cabin for one more month (January) before headed out to work more SOWER Projects. So – are there more adventures in store as we enter the new year?

Beautiful – CRAZY beautiful landscapes as we enjoy the drive back to Selah Acres!

2023 HERE WE COME!

We’ve been plotting and planning this for pretty close to a year. Reservations made, travel plans, meals, and fun times all on the calendar. …and here we are in Branson, MO!

We reserved 3 four bedroom houses oops, er… I mean “lodge units” to hold all of us! Such a beautiful setting on Tablerock Lake! It worked out perfect for all 27 us. (only Nick’s family and Beth could not attend). Our four day adventure is ON! Being Thanksgiving week, we seemed to have the place all to ourselves and the kiddos could run free with no worries!

Immediately it was noisy…a BEAUTIFUL noise!! Everyone was getting caught up with each other as we polished off 12 large pizza’s and the fix’ns!

The next day we explored the facilities and all of the amenities they offered. Check out the 18 hole mini golf course – very nice!

We all played a round or two after the sun came up. I can’t remember how many of us got a Hole-in-One – but quite a few! Pretty amazing. It was very much “all ours” so the kiddos came back here several times during the days ahead.

Of course we enjoyed plenty of snacks and more conversations, hugs, and laughs. It was relaxing and full of activity at the same time!

Then there was the infinity pool….heated to 80 degrees! …and the hot tub (even hotter)!

We talked about how this would be so much different if there were crowds of people. God set us up at the perfect time for a classic reunion (who knew?!) Thank you God!

Our 50th Wedding Celebration!

The kids came up with cake and ice cream. We had to re-live the cutting and feeding each other that we did at our wedding. So much fun and great memories!

Our 50 year adventure – still loving each other more everyday!

Some candid shots of the kiddos. We are SO BLESSED!

The kids/grandkids spent Wednesday at Silver Dollar City riding roller coasters and the “frogs”. They had a great time while we enjoyed our “R&R” and got re-invigorated! 🙂

Then it was Turkey Time!

Ray brought his turkey fryer and a couple of large birds for the family thanksgiving feast. The guys received permission to do the turkey fry out on a back parking lot. So, in the rain, we fried up some delicious turkeys…

…while the gals cooked up all the go-togethers inside!

“Thank you Lord for this bountiful feast, for our amazing family, and for your faithful love to all of us!” It was a very blessed day!

…and we ATE.IT.ALL! Where’s the leftovers????

Ah Oh! Looks like the “after-turkey-dinner-naps” are creeping in on all of us…we better get some family photos! (are we having fun yet !?!)

Again…we are so blessed to have such a godly loving family! These are a variety of pictures of the “Johnson’s” including current pictures those who were not able to be with us. We don’t take it for granted that God has protected and built this family over the years. We are thankful for the generations of godly grandparents an parents that have influenced our family to be who we are today. We pray that this heritage will continue to impact the future ahead of us!

Lorree and I shared a video of our 50 years of life from falling in love to today! We are constantly amazed at how God brought us from high school sweethearts and created the family we have today. Although not everyone was into our “home movies” there is now a recorded documentary of the adventures God brought to us!

Our 50 years – to God be the glory! “Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” Psalm 71:17‐18

If you want to view the videos we shared, here’s the link PART ONE (33 minutes):

https://youtu.be/vPlI10V9fCs

If you want to view the videos we shared, here’s the link PART TWO: (23 minutes):

https://youtu.be/Va39bTJ1Ne4

(NOTICE: Part two will be updated in the near future. Thanks!)

Thanks for watching/enjoying our adventures!

50 YEARS of love and God’s amazing adventures!

Lets go for more! – Colorado Selah Acres – here we come!

The sendoff….

At Tate & Kimberly’s house we enjoyed an evening with their small group. We had a campfire in their driveway and we introduced them to “woof ‘ums”! They all seemed to like the variety – we had meat dishes and desert dishes all from the tail gate of Tate’s truck!

Ready for a road trip?

Emilee and Jessica said YES! Kimberly dropped them off at our rig and we hit the road!

We had three days of travel through four states to get to Branson, MO for our reunion.

After a long ride, it was good to park and get outside to move around and stretch our legs!

We fit very well in our rig! We had enough space to play games, watch movies, make pizza’s, read, share stories, and eventually turn in for the night. Pretty cozy and fun!

We arrived in Branson and parked our rig at Branson City RV Park for the next four nights. We just needed a place to park and unhook – we stayed with the family at the Bluegreen Cliff’s House Lodge. The rest of the family will be meeting us there later today.

Let’s get this amazing family adventure started!

We found this great little camp to stay at just about 10 miles away from Nick & Rachel’s new home in Pennsylvania. It was an easy drive from Miracle Mountain Ranch, we just relaxed by the lake our first night.

Saturday morning we arrived at Nick & Rachels new home – lots of big rooms, very nice! First things first…while Lorree played with baby Mary, Nick was busy getting her new computer up and running. Seemed like a good trade off, she got the best of both! LOL!

Today was Kaylee’s special day – a celebration of her baptismal name “Hope” (her middle name). It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one’s baptismal name, which is normatively that of a biblical character or other saint.

…and Kaylee wanted to go fishing! There was this beautiful pond just a few minutes away.

After a short walk, we set up to do some fish’n! Unfortunately no one caught any fish – but we sure tried! It was a beautiful day at a beautiful setting with beautiful kids! We had a great time!

Back at home we played with the neighbors and had bike rides. We found and studied a praying mantid. Just looked this up: praying mantids have long necks topped by a triangular head. They can turn their heads 180 degrees—an entire half circle! They’re as agile as a cat, can see in 3D and are well-camouflaged, adapting colors that help them blend with plants. Some also have amazing body shapes that make them look like leaves or branches.

Sunday we attended the services at St. Tikhon’s orthodox monastery with Nick, Rachel, and the kids. It was a beautiful service, lots of liturgy (reading and singing the psalms) together with affirmations of the Gospel and a relevant teaching from God’s Word. At one part, the outdoor bells were played during the service – they sounded heavenly! We enjoyed a brief walk on the campus where Nick will be attending seminary.

After a great lunch at an outdoor cookout restaurant, Nana & Papa played lots of games with Isaac and Kaylee while Nick, Rachel & Mary went out for an afternoon date. We had so much fun!

Our time went too fast – all of a sudden we were set to leave again. We’re so thankful for the time we had with Nick, Rachel, Isaac, Kaylee, and Mary. We’re also thankful for the commitment that Nick & Rachel have made to move and resettle in Pennsylvania so that Nick can attend seminary here. We’ll be back for sure to learn more about this new adventure in their lives!

We traveled South to Maryland to our next “Happy” Campsite! Sometimes our Garmin or Google Maps takes us down some pretty narrow, crazy country roads – but this one was legit! We stayed here a couple of nights and did some exploring nearby.

What a beautiful hike! We found the C&O Canal Towpath close to our campground and explored what we could. Such a peaceful setting! Here’s a bit of info one the Canal: The C&O Canal began as a dream of passage to Western wealth. Operating for nearly 100 years the canal was a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber, and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Rising and falling over an elevation change of 605 feet (184 meters), it required the construction of 74 canal locks, 11 aqueducts to cross major streams, more than 240 culverts to cross smaller streams After much discussion of the dangers of early steamboats, the company provided a towpath so that the mules could pull the boats through the “slackwaters”.

Barge on the canal showing the towpath alongside.

The canal stretched from Georgetown (near Washington DC) to Cumberland, MD. The railroads quickly came into the picture and put the canal system out of commission within a few years.

Later, we visited Prospect Peak. From this view we could see West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. There we saw panoramic views of the Potomac valley!

We found a covered bridge to explore, Jackson’s Mill Bridge. Built in 1889 and it’s still in use today! Yikes, we had to get out of the way for a car that was passing through (they should’ve been fined that $5.00)!!!

The Bridge was adjacent to the Jackson’s Mill. The actual mill wheel was inside the structure which was turned by letting the river flow through it. It’s not a working mill, but seeing it (only from the outside) allowed us a glimpse into a bit of history.

Built in 1839, this 2 1/2 story mill is currently being restored by the current land owners.

It’s been a fun adventure this past week! We’re loving taking some time to just travel and explore and store up some amazing memories! What adventures are next ?

Cabin, Church, Family, and Chores.

Headed home to our favorite spot – Selah Acres! (Yes, Lorree’s driving the rig – you go girl!) Our little cabin in the Colorado mountains is always so welcoming – we love it! We’re going to have four weeks to enjoy the quiet, the wildlife, the beauty, and all the adventure to go with it. We’ve had so much anticipation for this moment… Welcome Home Johnsons!

This is going to be a very busy four weeks! Hang on here we go…..

We didn’t stay home for long – on the road again! We travel a lot of miles while at home lol!

Lorree met up with our friend Ruth Cozad in Colorado Springs to help with a JP Salad-in-a-jar party. While she was there Dennis was able to bring our flat trailer up to Nick & Rachel’s to load some stuff going to the cabin and got a warm welcome from Mary – so sweet! A few days later we had our “new” truck in for it’s 60K mile servicing. So.Many.Wonderful.Miles!

Meanwhile back at the ranch….CHORES! Lorree grabbed the John Deere and tackled mowing the road, the backyard, side yard, front yard, any yard she could find – she had FUN! (I’ll probably never get to mow again!) We worked together and walked the 25 acre fence line repairing broken fence wire and replacing a few posts. We really do kinda like this life!

July 4th get together with the Colorado Families! So good to give and get our hugs!

Grandkids – are so much fun! We ran them ragged this time! (I think…?) It seems that while at the cabin… at Selah Acres – everyone just lets their spirits soar and finds peace at the same time. God is here for sure!

Being available, helping our kids and walking strong in the Lord with our grandkids is a BIG priority for us. We cherish the times we have to walk and live life together with our family!

One of the highlights of living here for Dennis is attending a men’s Bible study “just-down-the-road”. These men are authentic believers who have studied the Word and live it out day to day. What a blessing and inspiration to have these mentors in his life! We meet just south of Eleven Mile Reservoir at Dave’s original cabin – now converted into a work/Bible shop.

Our new church home, Four Mile Community Church (again…just-down-the-road from us) celebrated July 4th with a festive and spirit filled remembrance and honor to our Christian founding fathers of this great nation. Pastor Steve even dressed up as an original 1776’r. We love our new church family!

And for the actual July 4 weekend, we traveled to Fort Morgan to bring an old fashioned cook-out/BBQ to Mom and Kay. We had a great time visiting, reminiscing, and eating some great burgers with all the fixins’s! Check out them socks on Mom! She’s always celebrating life to the fullest with her Jesus! Amen!

We did spend some days at the cabin getting a bit of rest and work done…. but life calls!

Isaac’s team won! So fun to spend an afternoon watching a great baseball game and to celebrate a great win. Way to go Isaac! So glad we were here to enjoy this.

Our first Papa-Nana Camp with Isaac and Kaylee! 3 days 2 nights of adventures!

First day/evening was a warm up time: hot tub, zip line, tractor, and just talking. Then we went fishing in the morning! Shucks! We caught nothing ‘cept some lake weeds (oh yeah, Kaylee caught a dead fish with a stick and proudly showed it around to everyone LOL!). It was a beautiful day, great fun, and nobody complained.

So many memories! These kids know how to keep us moving! They taught us some new games and we taught them a few. Papa put them to work hauling dead branches with the John Deere, they built a fort in the trees, had a little target practice, more hot tubbing, a pizza with movie night, more talking, and of course s’mores at the campfire! One morning, Isaac even helped cook breakfast for all of us – YUM!

Oh, and Kaylee kept our cabin filled with fresh wild flowers every day!

Is our respite already over?? We’ve had a great few weeks at the cabin and it surely is a Selah Acres Place – to pause, reflect, and consider what’s ahead.

We spent our last few days finalizing our next big trip. Some minor touch ups and repairs inside the RV, two new tires and lastly Dennis repacked/greased the wheel hubs… because we’re headed to Maine!

What adventures lie before us? God is good – all the time! Let’s GO!

One of the things we decided to do in our adventures was to color in each state that we have camped in with our RV. This is our map so far – we got to color in California this trip! We have plans to cross the entire nation this year – we’ll be in the tip of Maine by August, we’re looking forward to all the adventures in between!

We took off one weekend while serving at Ironwood Camp and drove the 3 1/2 hours to Encinitas, CA. First stop was the beach – Dennis said, “it’s been too long!” It was a bit chilly to think about getting wet, but it was refreshing to see and hear the ocean waves crashing on shore. We enjoyed watching a mom teaching her young boy to surf!

Meet Gil & Becky! Gil (Gilbert) is my Dad’s brother – my uncle – and has an amazing story of his life being blind. Becky is legally blind – she can see very close up – thankfully enough to make breakfast for us! What a blessed time to be with them in their home in Encinitas. They share a house with our cousin Chellie (Richelle) and her husband Jamie. It’s been TOO many years since we’ve all had the chance to catch up with each other to share stories and laugh together! We’ll remember this visit for a long time to come!

We showed up on Easter Weekend – Jamie is a “home chef” and loves to cook! He did an amazing job on this turkey. Soooo Good! Chellie made all the “fixin’s”. It was a joy to watch them work and cook together – and we get to enjoy the results!

One of our highlights was just a walk around the neighborhood with Jamie, Chellie, Gil, and Harvey (Gil’s seeing companion dog). We met one of their neighbors and learned that he and Gil had a great relationship since they moved in down the block.

So my blind uncle Gil’s hobby is furniture making! I am SO amazed at his skill and and creativity in making fine furniture for their home, their children (and others!). This is his workshop – he knows exactly where every tool and scrap of wood is. I was introduced to his tools of measuring – he’s had them for years and they are very exact. Consider this: hearing power tools running -buzzing in the night when it’s pitch dark – scary! But it’s a normal day for him. Every piece of furniture is silky smooth and the joints are perfect!

And here is Easter dinner! I don’t have any pictures of the table setting or the overflowing plates of food – but you can imagine the wonderful scene. We are so thankful for the bounty and blessings that God has bestowed on us – we are so glad we made the effort to re-connect with family during this time! Another great adventure!