28 weeks!

On Sunday, July 13th I had some maternity photos taken at 28.5 weeks. An MA teacher friend of ours is in a mothers group and heard through another member in the group that a friend of hers is a professional photographer and was looking to practice taking maternity photos. So our friend passed along the info, and I was more than willing to try it out! Here are a few of the photos taken that day. Thank you to Mandy of Glimpses of Soul Photography for this fun photo shoot and awesome pictures. These are memories that we will keep forever of our precious little girl. For more info on Mandy and her photography you can visit http://glimpsesofsoul.com/

Happy 4th of July!

Matt and I spent the 4th of July weekend and that next week at the Johnson's cabin in Barnes, WI, near Hayward. On Saturday the 5th we drove to Radisson, WI to attend a family wedding shower for Matt's cousin Soren and his fiance Liz. The shower was at Soren's parents Warren and Rose Anderson's beautiful cabin on the Chippewa River. Here are some pictures from that fun weekend.

Here are a few pictures of our sweet niece, Gwen. Gwen turned two in May and is the lucky daughter of Matt's brother Cam and his wife Linnea. They are also due with a little girl 3 weeks after us - so fun! For the 4th of July, we went to see a small town parade in downtown Barnes, WI. It was a sunny and very hot day. Gwen had fun watching the floats drive by, waving at the floats, and catching the candy that was being thrown by the people on the floats. We also went to fireworks in Barnes that night, which was fun. I think it got a little late and a bit loud for Gwen, but she seemed to like watching the light show and different colors. We love you Gwen!

Here are some pictures from Soren and Liz's shower on July 5th. We had such a wonderful time with family catching up, playing outdoor games, and having a yummy BBQ meal. Nemo even saw a black bear in the woods and chased it away with her barking - what an intimidating dog she is!
Liz & Soren - the happy couple!

Matt's mom Karen and Matt's cousin Nate's wife Kristen playing "Corn Hole" - a game of trying to toss beanbags several feet into a hole in a wooden box, similar to a game of Horseshoes. Fun to play and to watch!

Gwen, Nemo and I in a tight squeeze. Whenever we see Gwen she really seems to enjoy spending time with her pal Nemo. :)

Later that week we hung out with Matt's parents Craig and Karen at the cabin. At the cabin we relaxed, went out in the boat, did some fishing and played games. We also went on some fun outings, including going into the cute downtown Hayward area, taking a nice hike through a peaceful forest to a beautiful waterfall, and having lunch at an authentic 1940s-style American diner in Delta, WI, near Iron River.

Craig, Karen, Matt and I hiked through the Chequamegon National Forest in Park Falls, WI to Morgan Falls, a beautiful waterfall that suddenly appears unexpectedly after hiking through the peaceful woods.

After the hike, we went to eat lunch at the Delta Diner. It was so fun to sit and eat in such an authentic old diner, it almost felt like we were in a movie. We had onion rings, sandwiches, soup, and of course, malts. Yummy!

Trip to Japan

We took seven high school students from the school that we both teach at, Minnehaha Academy, to visit one of MA’s sister-schools in Japan. Honjo High School is located in Akita, which is a one hour flight north of Tokyo. One week prior to our trip the region was hit with a powerful earthquake, but thankfully the areas that we were traveling in were not majorly affected by the quake. We were blessed with a wonderful time in Japan – the country is beautiful, the people are very kind, the food was great, the weather was nice, and everyone stayed healthy and feeling well throughout the entire trip.

We all had the opportunity to stay in a Japanese host home during the trip, and it was such an authentic experience to live and learn in that way. I think most importantly, our group learned and got to experience more about God’s amazing creation abroad and how we can learn, grow, and make friends with others that are both different yet very similar to us in many ways. The trip definitely broadened our cultural horizons and gave us a wonderful immersion experience like none other. We hope to go back again sometime in the future.

Julie turns the BIG 3-0!

June 15, 2008 was the date of my big 30th birthday. No, I'm not freaking out, and no, I really don't feel older. I know this year is going to bring many new and awesome blessings, so I welcome it with open arms. Several friends got together for dinner at Bonfire in Savage, one of our favorite places to eat out in the area, and then came back to our house for drinks and games. Thanks so much to Matt, Liz, Karna, Dan, Abby, Greg, and Kari for making this a special night, and thanks to my wonderful husband for putting this together for me. June 15th was also Father's Day - Happy Father's Day to all of the awesome Dads out there, thanks for all of the love you give everday!

Memorial Day Weekend 2008

I fondly refer to this group of wonderful friends as my "Bethel Roomies" - we spent four fun years in college together at Bethel. Three of us still live in the Twin Cities, and the other three live farther away, including Wisconsin and Colorado. We have seen each other through our undergrad days, graduate school, career transitions, relationships, marriage, and children, and we'll continue to be there for each other for years to come. We were fortunate to coordinate our busy schedules to get together over Memorial Day weekend this year at the beautiful Bergstrom family cabin in Brainerd, MN. All six of us made it for a fun girls weekend, and we even had the pleasure of meeting the two newest members of our group, Katrina and Janine's new baby boys. To be honest, I think the cute little guys stole the show! Lots of laughing, eating, catching up, playing games, fun on the lake, and relaxing - just what we needed for a nice weekend of reconnecting. I love these girls!

It's a...

Julie is pregnant! This is a picture of Julie's 19-week ultrasound (5/7/08), and we found out that it's a... girl! The baby is due on October 2, 2008. This is especially exciting news because we had two miscarriages in 2007. We feel incredibly blessed.

Our first blog posting!!

Well, I guess it's about time that we started a blog... so here it is. Julie and I will both be updating this as much as possible, and are excited to finally get it going - we've been talking about starting a blog for a long time now! This is a great way to share some stories and pictures from our life with family and friends. We hope you enjoy this little peek into our lives.
The picture above is of Julie and I when we were in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in early January 2008 over our Christmas break from school. Julie's sister Kristi was with us on the trip, and we had an awesome time together. For us, nothing beats sun, the beach, and the beautiful ocean. We will be going back to Cabo next June of 2009 with both sides of our family. We can't wait!