The Great Frozen North

We got home from our trip to Quebec after supper Saturday evening, May 8th. We were tired, but we’d planned ourselves a fairly busy weekend! Sunday was Mother’s Day and also baby dedication Sunday at our home church. Our youngest son, Joel, is already two years old, but since he was born during our first term in Burkina Faso, we’d not yet had a chance to dedicate him to the Lord (they don’t practice this tradition in our local African church). We were reminded of the baby dedication service we’d taken part in 4 years earlier when we had our older son, Caleb, dedicated at our home church. He was only 3 months old at the time, and made quite a scene screaming his lungs out the whole time we were up front. Fortunately, our experience with Joel went much more smoothly and uneventfully. We enjoyed having our immediate family on both sides over for lunch and some visiting after church, and Caleb & Joel enjoyed hanging out with their cousins later in the afternoon. Monday we finally got a full day to rest (unless you count doing laundry as non-restful) and Tuesday morning we were ready to go at it again, this time headed for Ontario!

First stop on our trip to Ontario was in Fonda, NY, not too far from Albany. Dale’s cousin David Patterson and his wife, Karen and sons Daniel and Andrew live there and they welcomed us warmly. As children, Dale never really got the chance to get to know his Patterson cousins quite as well as his Johnsons cousins, so we really enjoyed this opportunity to get to know David and his family a little better. Dale commented later that it was fun to see that he and his cousin likely have a similar sense of humor and disposition.:) And we are so grateful for these faithful prayer partners! Caleb & Joel loved playing with Daniel and Andrew’s toys…plenty of cars and other boy toys here! And then Caleb discovered the battery-powered Gator and 4-wheeler and he was in heaven, blissfully driving round and round in circles in their front driveway, while Joel dug holes in the sandbox in their backyard.

Our next stop was in Ithaca, NY to visit college friends Phil and Angela Sorensen. What a beautiful area! If I would have realized what a pretty area it was, I think we might have planned a longer stop! Instead, we enjoyed some great fellowship with Phil and Angela, a walk around the Cornell University Arboretum, a scrumptious breakfast made by Angela, and a beautiful drive through some of the nearby state parks as we headed to our next destination the next morning.

Thursday’s final destination was Burlington, Ontario, but we planned a short stop at Niagara Falls so that Caleb & Joel could see them. The weather wasn’t really cooperating. It was a bit cool and rainy, so we weren’t sure that we’d get to do much at the falls. When we arrived in the Niagara Falls area, we tried to find a McDonald’s with a PlayPlace for the boys to unwind a little. We were running late, though, so rather than wander around looking for said place, we opted to just eat at the first place we found. Thinking we knew where we were, we picked our own way towards the falls after our meal, but after 15-20 minutes of driving around, realized we’d been driving in the wrong direction and were almost in Buffalo. Oops! ‘Til we got ourselves turned around and headed in the correct direction, we’d lost a lot of time and ended up arriving at the falls around 4 in the afternoon. It was easy to feel frustrated, but we chose to look on the bright side: Joel got an afternoon nap in (which he needed) while we were driving around, and by the time we actually parked, the rain had finally stopped. So we enjoyed a short 1.5 hour “tour” of the falls, which gave us just enough time to ride the Maid of the Mist. So we didn’t get the family outing we had been hoping for, but the boys really enjoyed their quick visit of Niagara Falls nonetheless.

Our late tour of the waterfalls meant we were also late arriving in Burlington, Ontario to visit friends Danny Dartnell, Christine Braun and Kristin (DeBoer) Miedema – all friends we made while serving together in Burkina Faso. We were given an extra special treat when Danny’s mother, Leanne, was also able to join us as she happened to be spending that week in Canada visiting her ailing father. It was like being with family again. There’s nothing in the world like getting together with fellow missionaries who have served alongside you. As much as we love our friends and family here in the US and are grateful for their encouragement and support, nothing can substitute for “having been there”. It is why we always encourage you to come for a visit…we want so much to share this part of our lives with you! So we had a wonderful time catching up and swapping stories with our extended missionary family. The evening was too short and we had to part way too soon, but it was SO worth the drive to Canada to spend those few hours of fellowship.

Friday was our last day on the road for this trip. It was an ambitious day of travel. We left Ontario later than we’d meant to, as usual, and got hung up at the border crossing, so our original plan of being in Warren, Pa by lunchtime was not feasible. But we couldn’t miss out on the chance to see our friend Linn Murray and to meet her husband, John. The boys enjoyed the chance to run around the park where we had a picnic lunch. Caleb managed to fall into the creek at the park, and then thought it was funny to run around the park streaking. Oh, well. I guess we left our impression on that part of the world.

A two-hour stop is way too short, but we’d made plans to visit Tara Alberth, who lived about an hour away, and we couldn’t miss out on that visit! Tara graciously adjusted her plans as we were running two hours behind schedule. We were glad to have the chance to meet her husband David, and then just spend some time catching up after 10 years! We were appalled that it had been so long and ashamed that we’d allow that to happen! Just before we left, Tara took us down the road to a look farm that had llamas, billy goats, and a donkey. Caleb and Joel LOVED seeing the animals. What a peaceful, gorgeous area…

We got home late Friday night, but we felt good about the people we were able to reconnect with. I have to echo my sentiment from the last post: the Lord has really blessed us with some great friendships in our lifetime. We’ve all had different paths, struggles, joys, blessings, etc, but He is faithful! We care about you all and pray for you!

Where in the World are the Johnsons?

So, I think we must be some of the world's worst bloggers, considering we only update this place every couple of weeks. I always have better intentions than that, but lately life just seems to be spinning by in a blur and it's all I can do to keep my two feet on the ground! Anyway, I do apologize for the lack of communication of late. I think we're about two months behind sending out a prayer letter and also a bit late with our usual quarterly newsletter. We will catch you up soon, we promise!

On the plus side, we have been enjoying catching you up by visiting many of you over the last several months. The months of March and April were some of our busiest for visiting our partner churches and meeting with many of our prayer partners, supporters and friends. This month, May, is our most travel-intensive month during our 8-month home assignment. We spent the first two weeks taking two one-week trips to Canada: one up through New England to Quebec, and one up through New York to Ontario. Now we are in the beginning stages of a 4-week roundabout trip to Colorado and back. If you're shaking your head and muttering to yourself that we must be crazy doing all this travelling with two little boys, well, all I can say is: you should've already know that! If we were crazy enough to get on an airplane and move to Africa in the first place...:)

We had fun updating you with pictures and stories about the different places we visited when we were in Europe, so I think I will try and do the same now as we travel around the US. We are making many more stops, though, so our opportunities to hop online are a little more limited and our schedule a little more intense. I should have really started writing about the travels two weeks ago when they started, but I didn't think of it then. So, I'll take this occasion to bring you up to speed.

After a very intense, but encouraging week-long missions festival at Church of the Open Door in York, Pa, we had a week off to gear ourselves up for all of our travels. We spent a lot of time cleaning house that week (because that's what you do before you travel, right?) and then stayed up late packing Saturday night, May 1st (because you always wait 'til the last minute to pack, right?), and finally, Sunday morning, May 2nd started our big adventure. We drove to the Evangelical Free Church of Hershey (about 30 minutes from our house) to participate in a Missions Sunday, enjoyed a nice luncheon after church, and then hit the highway, headed for Brooklyn, New York where Dale's cousin, Ryan, his wife Andrea, and their son Caden live. It was so fun to catch up with them again after all these years and to meet their little guy...the last time we visited them in Brooklyn, Caleb was still in the womb!

Our visit in Brooklyn was way too short, but, alas, our itinerary was set and so we had to move on. Too many good people to see, too little time! We ended up driving through the city on our way up to Peabody, Ma to visit college friends Matt & Becky Brown. Not the easiest route to take, but Caleb LOVED seeing all the bridges (and wanted us to go over every single one of them, of course!). I was a bit awed to realize again exactly how large this city is. After being in Paris last winter and seeing that grand city, it gave me a new perspective looking at this city that I've often taken for granted, having lived close enough to it, visited it several times before, and realizing it's rank as one of the larger and most famous cities in the world. Many places we go now, we can't help but think, "what would our Burkinabe friends think of this?"

Our trek through the Big Apple left us running quite late to see the Browns and so our stop to see them was quite short. We only ended up being able to spend a little over an hour with them. But how fun to see them healthy, smiling, and with two beautiful children. The visit may have been short, but meeting up with friends we've lost touch with over the years and seeing them with their families and in their normal home lives reminds us again of how we are alike: we may live in two different continents, but we, too, have two young, energetic children...we laugh at similar things and worry about making dinner...we find meaning in service and are committed to the church...and we love and serve the same God!

[caption id="attachment_587" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="We stopped at a McDonalds near Hartford, Ct on our way to see the Browns in Ma. Too many McDonalds lunches of late!!!"][/caption]

We left Peabody in haste, knowing we were keeping our hosts in Derry, NH waiting. Matt and Amy Morrison had put together a barbecue, where we were surprised to find friends Ryan & Katie Keith (Forgotten Voices International) and Laurel Cacace! A reminder again of the Lord's goodness to us in bringing such great people into our lives...they'd driven 45 minutes - 1.5 hours to come join us. How sweet! Our boys really enjoyed hanging out at the Morrison household...their boys are nearly the same age as ours and they've got a lot of great boy toys and a nice playground. It was hard to pull the boys away from all the fun the next morning as we took our last leg north for this particular trip: Quebec City, Canada.

[caption id="attachment_589" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Josh & Jake Morrisson and Joel & Caleb Johnson"][/caption]

You may remember that we spent our first 6 months as missionaries living in the province of Quebec, learning the French language before we headed to Burkina Faso for our first overseas term. During our time at language school, we were taken on a field trip to Quebec City to learn a little bit about the history and culture of the region. I'm sure it would have been a very interesting visit, but all we could remember was that it was COLD! It was early February and the temperatures the day of our trip were somewhere near -30 degrees Farenheit! A few pictures we managed to snap with the camera told us that the city was probably worth seeing again someday, but we vowed we'd not do it again until we had a chance to do so in warmer weather! Well, we had our chance now, and the weather cooperated so that we could truly enjoying seeing Quebec City again, one of the oldest cities in the new World. Located on the St Laurence River, the old city still has many buildings that have been restored from the original 1600 structures. The highlight for the boys was the ferry boat ride we took to cross the river and back. We even got to see a big freighter boat, newly arrived from Europe (Greece, possibly?) being pushed up the river by a tugboat.

Of course, sightseeing and history were not the only or even first reason we chose to visit Quebec City. My cousin, Cindy Heiner and her husband Jonathan are living there, with their baby son Daniel. What a treat to spend two days with this, the closest of my cousins throughout my childhood, and to meet her little guy. What a health (read "chubby") and happy little guy. Even Caleb couldn't help but be charmed by him, talking often of his "baby cousin" even after we had to leave them.

Our return trip saw us stopping in Sherbrooke, Quebec for a night. This was the town where we did language school three years ago at a Word of Life school that also runs a language school specifically for missionaries. It was fun to see the school again and to catch up with the Normandin family, members of the church we attended while in language school who were very welcoming and helpful during those 6 months. I also had a wonderful tete-a-tete with my Bible reading partner, Izabelle Perrier. What potential this young woman has and I'm so grateful that she still calls me friend after all these years! I do hope that we get to see her in Burkina some day, even if it's only for a visit! Before leaving Sherbrooke we couldn't help but stop at our two favorite bookstores to stock up on more Christian and children's books in French and a few CDs, too! It'll be really fun to have these materials when we get back to Burkina in a few months.

Our final stop on our way home was in Connecticut. We spent a night with college friends Brad and Sarah Field and enjoyed meeting and getting to know their two adorable daughters. Caleb and Joel didn't even mind playing with all the girl toys, jumping right in to the princess dress-up play, "glass slippers", princess skirts, aprons and all! We also enjoyed lunch with Kelly Keiper the following day, getting a chance to catch up on the last few years of her life and meet her beau.

We finally returned home physically tired, but emotionally charged up after so many fun encounters with people who have meant so much to us over the years. The Lord be praised for His goodness to us. It is hard to say goodbye, but we can't complain to much...we are rich to know and have known so many quality people! And to have this opportunity to go back and make contact with some of them again, even if it's just a short "hello" is a real treasure. Thank you all for the important roles you play in our lives! We love you all!

It's late and this is long. I'll try and write up a summary of our trip to Ontario tomorrow.:)