Three!

I called Cole today to tell him happy birthday, and he said, "Happy birthday to you!" He is such a smart, articulate, funny little three year old. When we were in McCall last month, he and I were playing with Legos and he wanted to build "two towers behind a river." So, of course, he got his own little set of Legos for his birthday.

I totally stole this picture from Shaanti's blog because I love it--and Cole--so much.

Also, a shout-out to my Grandad, who turned 90 today. I think he is amazing, and we are really looking forward to celebrating with him this weekend!

September

It has been a week of fall loveliness. In my head I know that it is way too early to get completely sucked in by autumn, that September is actually not the beginning of fall in DC (mmm, October), and that I will regret it if I, say, put away my shorts and start pulling out sweaters and long sleeves.

But oh, I want to.

For most of the past two weeks we've had perfect weather--first, the temp is hovering right around 75, and for days the sun has been shining in a brilliant blue sky; second, there have been a couple of nice blustery, rainy days that called for my psychadelic wellies and candles in the fireplace and, of course, afternoon tea.

Isn't it amazing how much we all love fall? In September I always look back to April with disbelief that the coming of spring could have been anywhere near as fantastic as the coming of fall. Even when it's been such a remarkably nice summer, too, broken foot and all. There are just so many things to love about autumn, like:

* watching You've Got Mail, which Dawn and I did, babies on laps, last weekend. Love of this movie is on my list of things that I look for in a friend. We ate oatmeal cookies and talked between bouts of quoting the movie to each other--"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies." Ah, for a bouquet of sharpened pencils.

* football season, which officially started Sunday with a sermon which leaned heavily on Redskins analogies and then a terrible (and probably all-to-common) loss by said Redskins. Erg. The basement remodel seems to be getting bigger every day (Jason spent the weekend putting in new light fixtures and I spent it trying to convince myself that I do not hate the paint color I picked), but we totally got the TV on the wall and the system set up in time for the afternoon game.

* squash, especially that amazing squash-and-sage pasta recipe from last fall. I've been waiting all summer to make it again, and it's finally on the menu for this week! Yay! Also, soup. And roasting things. Mmm... We bought squash and sugar pumpkins at the farmers' market on Saturday, even though there are still tomatoes and raspberries spilling out all over the place.

* running outside again. In spite of the fact that I frequently mention going running on this blog, I am by no means a Runner. It is not in my blood--the only Johnson who likes to run is my sister-in-law Kim. I can't run fast or far, and I hate every step I take. That said, I do go running a lot, and it is infinitely more tolerable when the humidity disappears and the amber colored leaves start rustling on the path by our house.

* looking forward to finding out if our next niece or nephew is a niece or a nephew. I can't believe I haven't linked to Jenny's annoucement yet, but Troy is going to be a big brother in March (which, by the way, is the absolute best time to be born, if I do say so myself). Obviously, we couldn't be more thrilled, seeing as we have sort of a soft spot for those nephews of ours. It simply amazes me how much I adore them.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tomorrow is the last day of August recess. I know we are officially supposed to call it "August District Work Period" for all those morons out there who think Members of Congress are "taking a vacation" (and yes, if you think that, you ARE a moron), but "recess" sounds sooooooo much better. I honestly don't know how I am going to survive a whole 'nother 11 months until next August recess. Everyone (and by "everyone" I mean "all five congressional staffers who are not on vacation right now) is walking around in their jeans and flip-flips looking restful and suspiciously bag-less under their eyes. Going to work is absolutely fabulous during recess--it is seriously almost as good as going on vacation. Traffic is practically non-existent, and when I get there it's quiet and calm, my mail is caught up, my desk is so clean, and my coworker Nate and I have taken to having afternoon tea/coffee.

In the meantime, our district staffers are sounding more frazzled each day, and I think they are all ready to send the boss back to us. Poor Mike, he's the only one who doesn't actually get a recess.

So, apart from gliding around the office, talking about how much I love recess (seriously), in the past few weeks we have been:

• Obsessed with turning the blog into a book, thanks to http://www.blurb.com/. Okay, I have been obsessed, to the point where Jason recently told me I was not allowed to play the game "Civilization," because I would never be able to quit.
• Coaxing zucchinis to life. While the rest of the world is tying bags of unwanted zucchini on neighbors' doors and running, I am out in my garden every morning, assisting with some strange form of plant sex by transfering pollen from the male flowers to the female ones (I know, ew!). Apparently that whole "the world is running out of bees" thing is real--because our zucchini plant is not being pollinated adequately, the little buggers keep dying when they get about three inches long (same thing happened last year). I can't tell you how annoyed I am to be buying zucchini at the grocery store.
• Driving again. That would be Jason driving again, and we are both really happy about it. In fact, today he went to the doctor and can now get around with only an ankle brace on. Even though the first couple of weeks seemed to last forever, I really can't believe how quickly his ankle has healed. But seriously, I'd like to reiterate how great it is for him to be walking again!
• Not watching TV. It was a relatively TV-free summer, until we got back from Kenya and sitting in front of the TV was the only thing we could do to keep ourselves from going to bed at 7:30. But now that the family room remodel is definitely, definitely underway, we're having to come up with other ways to entertain ourselves in the evenings. Like blogging.

Unfortunately, in addition to recess coming to an end, school started tonight. Sigh. For the past three years, I've been carpooling with this fabulous girl, Becky, but she had to go and finish her class requirements, like, a year ahead of me, so tonight I had to head to GMU all alone for the first time. I missed her a lot. Plus, I felt really old. Not only were they celebrating the incoming class of 2013 (2013?!? that means I started college...12 years ago?!?), but my class is full of 23 year-olds. I'm probably ready to be done with school for a while again.

Basement Renovation, Part Three

My dad (George) came out last weekend to help finish the basement renovation project we started last summer. We moved heating pipes, hooked up a new baseboard heater in the family room, and prayed for no leaks (none so far!). We finished framing out the new wall, finished some electrical work, and put up drywall. We got it all ready for a professional drywall guy to come in to tape, mud, prime, and paint the walls. Thanks dad!

A completely renovated family room is right around the corner. Photos to come soon ....

The Loose Ends of Kenya

(Apparently this vacation warrants four separate posts before I can get back to writing about mundane and uninteresting tidbits of our lives.)

Africa has an unexpectedly surprising place in our hearts. I don't generally associate "Africa" with "us," but in spite of all the weird looks we got from people, it was pretty easy for us to decide to take our vacation this year in Kenya. Jason has spent weeks at a time in Kenya, and, as many of you know, he will go back to the Africa Bureau at the State Department in January. We sponsor a child through Compassion who lives in, surprise surprise, Kenya. And, after all, we have so many trinkets from all of Jason's and my mom's trips there that our entire basement is outfitted in African garb.

Overlooking the Rift Valley

It was a little enlightening to me to be in Africa with Jason, meeting his friends and watching him interact with the Kenyan people. One afternoon on safari I came back from the gift shop to find him deep in conversation with a staff member there about the political situation following the 2007 elections. At the market where we bought a few things to add to our collection, I found myself just laughing with enjoyment as I watched him barter with those selling things, claiming that he should get a discount for being disabled or claiming "Yes We Can" in Swahili when someone would tell him they couldn't sell for such a low price or declaring that some trinket he didn't want must have been made in Sudan. And he almost cajoled the Kenya Airways representatives into letting us take our slightly-overweight on as hand luggage.

This year he has come to better understand and appreciate what I do at work every day, and in the week we were there, I felt like I was better able to understand what he does. I learned more about work in the Sudan Programs Group in one week than I did in the six years he worked there, and I listened with interest while he and U.S. Ambassador Ranneberger, who is Jason's former boss, discussed the reforms that must be made in Kenyan government to avoid the kind of disaster that happened in 2007. For these things alone our trip was more than worthwhile.

Also, we got to stay at the Ambassador's Residence, which was unbelievably sweet. Not surprisingly, we fell in love with the Kenyan tradition of afternoon tea. When served with chocolate cake on ambassadorial china, pretty much everything was right with our little world.

Ndunberi

In Swahili, the word "safari" means a trip, so to take a safari could mean anything from a big game drive to a visit to the store down the street. We had another "safari" while we were in Kenya, this time a visit to the medical clinic that my aunt helped establish and build and which she and my mom have visited on mission trips over the last few years. It was great to see in person what we have only seen in pictures and to understand the history of this clinic and the amazing work they are doing in the community of Ndunberi.

Missy and Edith

The clinic is sponsored by a local church, where our friends Edith and Haran attend. They saw that many of the children in the church were not getting the care they needed and started a child development center. They quickly realized that while the need in the church was great, the need across the community was even greater. They work with Compassion International to provide for the educational, social, and spiritual needs of these children. In order to meet their health needs, they started the clinic. It is incredible to see how God has expanded their vision and continues to meet their needs, providing land, medical equipment, and staff!

At the Child Development Center

After our time at the clinic, we drove through the Central Provence and the Rift Valley up to a national forest, where a group of people who were pushed off their land during the political turmoil of the 1992 elections have been living in "temporary" shacks. Edith and Haran's church had planned to do similar work with the children in the local community there as they were doing in Ndunberi, but they quickly realized that they had to first address the basic needs of this group of IDPs (internally displaced persons). These people literally have nothing. Each extended family only has a 13X13 bamboo shack with no windows and no ventilation. They struggle to find or grow enough food in the forest. It was also freezing cold there, and they are dependent on clothes and blankets donated by charity and NGO groups. Their children suffer from sickness, hunger, and lack of nurturing.

Huts at the IDP Camp

My parents' church has been working with Edith and Haran to provide both immediate relief to these people and to find a long-term solution to their plight so that they can own land again. In fact, only two weeks before we were there, Mom and my Auntie Fay had been part of a team that provides medical care and works with the children at the camp. We were glad to see what they have been doing and how we can both pray for these people and try to help them.

It was also great to meet Edith, who spent the day with us as we headed up to the forest and back to the clinic. We have heard lots and lots about her (and, apparently, she about us), and it was wonderful to get to know her. Having her perspective--and history--on the clinic and the work with the IDP camp helps us better understand what Mom and Auntie Fay have been doing there and will hopefully allow us more opportunities to address their needs.

Simba, Pumba, Etc.

Did I mention we took over 800 pictures? One post is just not enough. Here are a few more...

Cheetah Stalking Wildabeest (look closely).

Giraffes in a Row

Very Nice.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Morning on the Mara

Afternoon

Away from the Lions

Tasty.

Hey!

The Big Five

We are long overdue for a post on our trip to Kenya, but I tell you what, it has taken me all of the last three days just to weed through our 800+ pictures to find the best ones (and eliminate the really not-good ones)! Plus, I'm not sure how to turn Kenya into a blog post. The consensus around here was that it was the best trip we've ever taken together--a perfect mix of resting and seeing things, being together and visiting friends. Plus, it was the ideal place to go when you have a broken ankle and don't want to walk much. All in all, two thumbs way, way up.

We spent two nights and two full days in the Maasai Mara National Park, together with the lions, elephants, and hippos (only we were safe and snug in a fancy tented camp, guarded by electric fences and Maasai warriors). We got up before the crack of dawn to go on game drives and were able to see the sunrise over the Mara each morning, then went out again in the late afternoon, just as the animals were getting restless and hungry.

I couldn't believe how many animals we saw! August is usually the Great Migration of the wildebeests and zebras, and in some places they stretched far across the plains. But we also saw herd after herd of giraffes, watched groups of elephants, and followed a bunch of lions (!). We chalked up all the "Big Five"--lions, elephants, water buffalo, rhino, and cheetah, all pictured here. In particular, we really enjoyed watching a cheetah stalk a herd of wildebeests as the sun was going down one evening.

Jason at our "little" tent

In the hours between game drives, we took long naps in our tent and read books, stirring ourselves for afternoon tea before our 4:00 p.m. departure. It was unbelievably awesome. After much hemming and hawing, we decided to get a new camera, something with a bit more zoom and pizzazz, for the trip. Hugely successful idea, as you can see with the pictures here. There are clearly too many for one post, so keep checking... (Or check here.)

Weeding Out

It's possible, just possible, that I may have gotten overzealous when I was picking out books for our trip to Kenya...

Bags zipped and wheels up in T-minus five hours!

4.

We celebrated our fourth anniversary yesterday by eating Chili's take-out at gate B-10 in Chicago, waiting for our eternally delayed flight back to DC. Very romantic.


Happily, I think that if I am going to be stuck in an airport waiting for a flight (we finally got home at 4 this morning), there's no one I'd rather wait with than Jason. I think that's a pretty good sign.

The Rest of Idaho

In spite of being there for nearly two weeks, I had a bit of a whirlwind trip to Idaho--time in the mountains, meetings for work, the infamous swimbikerun, and a few days at the cabin. Honestly, it was a little hard to pack for this one! Casey and Kim came down for the weekend, which was great, and Casey, Jenny, and I went to a late night showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just because, you know, we needed to see it again.
Mason was dedicated on Sunday morning, as well, and we loved being able to be there for the celebration! He has the most contagious smile, and he gives it away for free.

Mom returned from two weeks in Kenya on Sunday afternoon. The four of us kids, complete with spouses (minus Adam) and kids, headed up to the cabin after lunch and basically sat around waiting for Dad and her to arrive. We talked a lot about how much we love the cabin and how awesome Christmas will be and a little about how noisy things suddenly are with three little boys around, and then they finally arrived and there were hugs all around and dinner and a family picture (minus Adam)...and then Casey and Kim had to drive back to Moscow.

Gramps, Dad, Shaanti, Jenny, and the boys in their new Kenyan hats

We just need to paste a picture of Adam here.

Cole and Uncle Chad, looking for deer

Troy Boy, Loving the Swing

We spent the rest of the week eating, hot tubbing, and taking turns opening this "can of nuts" that has a fake snake jump out of it, which Cole thinks is the most awesome thing in the world. As you can tell, our nephews only get cuter (and funnier) with time.

In His Thirties

Jason bravely hopped a flight with his crutches and cast and joined me in Idaho to spend his 30th birthday on Monday at the cabin. It was a nice day, complete with a trip to Ice Cream Alley, a big steak dinner, and a stirring rendition of "Happy Birthday" by the Colester.

In case you haven't noticed, Jason and I have completely different philosophies on birthday celebrations. He prefers them nice and quiet (well, as quiet as they can be with our three favorite nephews around!), while I like them to go on forever. He did get a few more gifts when we got home--in particular, a wok so that he can really master Thai cookingwhen he's able to stand on two feet again. (Although, let's be honest, I think that is as much a gift for me as it is for him!)

Happy birthday, Jason! I'm really looking forward to the next thirty years together!

The Finish Line

It wasn't pretty, but we pulled it off--each one of us crossed the finish line for the Y-Not-Triathlon in one piece! Casey and Kim decided to join us (they were annoyingly in shape, even without weeks of training), and I think Dad and Adam got a kick out of following us all around with the video camera, in spite of the fact that it was only 60 degrees outside and rained the whole time (rain in Boise in August?!?).

The swimming was definitely the worst part, and that actually made the whole thing better--all six of the bike miles and 2 of the run miles I kept thinking, "Hey, the swim is over!" Plus, now we know what to expect for next time. And I suspect there will be a next time, we really did have fun. Maybe next time around Cole will join us--after he had cheered us all across the finish line, he kept asking me if I would cheer for him while he ran around my bike.

The Eastern Shore

My mom and I decided to venture out. Since my cast prevents me from driving, not only has she been my attendant this week, but also my cook and chauffeur. Not a bad way to live ...

Given my mom's interest in historical sites, we visited two on Wednesday. Our first stop was Tudor Place, a historic house and garden a stone's throw from where Missy lived once-upon-a-time in Georgetown. Despite my injury, I was able to astutely wield my crutches around the grounds and up the stairs. We were treated to a virtual personally guided tour of the house -- which housed Martha Washington's granddaughter and stayed in that family until 1983. The rooms in the house reflect various periods throughout that long history.

We then proceeded up the Clara Barton Parkway, along the Potomac in Maryland, to the Clara Barton national historic site. After eating our picnic lunch under a shade tree, a park service tour guide showed us the house, which served as Clara Barton's home (founder of the American Red Cross) and Red Cross Headquarters for many years.

After returning home and tuning the weather channel to see tomorrow's forecast, my mom saw a map of the area and asked if we could go to the Eastern Shore. Why not? We packed up the car and headed across the Bay Bridge to St. Michaels, MD. A couple of years ago, I stayed a night in St. Michaels during a work retreat so I was partially familiar with the area. We found a local crab restaurant and decided to try the special -- steamed Maryland blue crabs sprinkled with bay seasoning. We split a half-dozen crabs between us. While I can't say it was my favorite meal -- a lot of effort for very little meat -- it was a fun lunch!

Into the Wilderness

So what have I been doing while Jason has been hobbling around in a cast? The complete opposite--hiking and camping in the Idaho wilderness. I've spent the past four days with appropriations staffers and my boss in central Idaho, hiking trails with the Forest Service and camping out in the White Clouds.

At Fourth of July Lake

Morning in the Sawtooths

I don't do a lot of outdoorsy stuff these days, and even back when I did I was definitely the least excited about it of anyone in my family. But I am seriously rethinking that lifestyle. The camping and fishing blood runs deep in my veins, and I sufficiently put up my own tent and assembled my own fly rod. And I only had one small moment of panic that a mountain lion would eat me while I was in my sleeping bag.

Snow in August! Go Gortex hiking shoes!

On Railroad Ridge at 9800 feet

We had a great time. The mountains are amazing, and you wouldn't believe how great the air smells after a good rain. It was especially fun to be there with my colleagues who had never been to Idaho before. After working hard for a couple of days, we enjoyed a fun day of hiking, fly-fishing, hanging out in the hot springs, and eating great camp food yesterday. We sat around the campfire until the moon was high in the sky last night while Mike pulled out his iPod and played deejay for hours. It was great.

East Fork of the Salmon River

Fly Fishing

But it is also great to have clean hair now, and I'm looking forward to seeing Cole and Mason, who were on vacation when I arrived on Saturday evening. This is definitely my favorite part of the summer!

No Surgery!

The orthopedist gave me the good news yesterday that my ankle is still aligned so no surgery is needed. I get to keep my cast for another week and then switch to a walking boot. This is a welcome relief! It also means that I won't have a cast during our visit to Kenya -- even though I'll still need crutches to get around. If all goes well, I'll be back on my feet by Labor Day, though some physical therapy might be needed before I'm fully recovered.

Bathroom Update

My dad and two guys from Mount Vernon had great success this weekend in a crash update of our condo bathroom. They re-coated the bathtub, put down a new lineoleum floor, ran a new electric line, installed a new cabinet, sink, countertop, and high-efficiency washer/dryer combo. All of this in about two days. Not to mention patching holes and repainting some of the walls. The end product is beautiful -- and should hopefully attract good tenants. Below is a before and after photo. Way to go Dad!

Before:After: