Christmas 2002

Dear friends,
It is Christmas time again and Barb was just too busy to write her annual Christmas letter, so she has asked me, Snickers, to do it. For those of you who don’t know me, I am the Johnson’s dearly loved (and adorable) dog. If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall at the Johnson’s house, this will be the next best thing. Insider information at its finest. So what do you want to know???

Do Chris & Barb ever stop working on their house?

Actually, yes, the work stops for LONG periods of time quite regularly. Perhaps a better question would be, “Do Chris & Barb ever FINISH working on the house?” The short answer to that is, “No!”

Do they really spend all that time doing church stuff?

Well, why else would the dog be writing their Christmas letter?

How did Evan really break his leg?

Ah, it’s time to separate truth from fiction. Evan did indeed break his leg on the twins’ birthday. He was indeed playing basketball in the driveway with Chris but, despite rumors, Chris did not “take Evan out.” Actually, they keep me locked behind the fence so I didn’t see what happened but I did hear Evan screaming in pain, so I knew it was bad. Evan’s leg also changed colors every few weeks (I think those were his casts.) He is now cast free and sworn off basketball for the rest of his life! Emily likes to play that her dollies or stuffed animals have broken legs now ☺. They broke them playing basketball!

Are Aidan and Emily really that funny all the time?

Well, some might call it funny but I just call it strange. Listen to this interesting conversation I overheard one day in the bathroom.
Emily – “I like Snickers. He’s my best friend!”
Barb – “Emily, Snickers is a girl. She’s a SHE not a HE.”
Aidan, puzzled by Mom’s ignorance – “Snickers is NOT a SHEEP, she’s a Cow!”
I think Barb has her work cut out for her home schooling these two!

What on earth is all that noise coming from their house at ten at night?

Well, you see it’s like this. Barb thinks the house is much to quiet when all the little munchkins are in bed so she has to make a lot of noise by herself.

After a 19-year break, Barb has taken up playing the French horn again. Call it a mid-life crisis or reliving her childhood – who knows. All I know is she’s been playing Christmas music since Halloween to prepare for the big Abts family Christmas concert.

How come we never see the Johnson’s at church in Bloomington anymore?

They have developed this secret drink that makes them invisible and they drink it with their cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning…

Okay, that’s not really what happened to them. As some of you remember, the Johnson’s moved to Minneapolis last year to help start an urban church in the city. That new church, The Urban Refuge, will open its doors on January 12. The Johnson’s decided that waiting until January to switch churches wasn’t exciting enough. They decided to switch to Evergreen’s West Minneapolis location in the meantime, just to really confuse their kids.
Nina – “Is this our new church?”
Dad – “No, this isn’t our new church. Well, it is a new church to us but it’s not THE new church that we moved to Minneapolis to attend.”
Nina- blank stare, no reply

Where did the Johnson’s disappear to in September?

Well, I told you about that secret make-yourself invisible drink, right?
Seriously, we all went on our first-ever family vacation. Actually, Barb called it a weeklong field trip – isn’t home schooling fun! Camping in 102° weather in South Dakota sounds fun, doesn’t it? Actually, we had a great time in the Badlands and the Black Hills of South Dakota. I really liked the part when we were driving to the Badlands and the van started to overheat so Chris turned on the heater to cool the engine down. Did I mention it was 102° outside? Well, it was probably 108° inside the van ☹!

We hear that you, Snickers, have a bad habit of chewing on things, is that true?

Well, look we’re out of space….gotta go…bye. Actually, I get really bored when left all alone so it is so nice of the Johnson’s to leave things out for me to chew on! They are so thoughtful!

Well, here’s something for you to chew on too –
“She gave birth to her first child (Jesus), a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn.”
Luke 2:7

“In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is freed from all guilt and declared right with God – something the Jewish law could never do.” Acts 13:38-39

Merry Christmas on behalf of the Johnson Family!!