Happy Holidays from the Johnson Ensemble

When I sat down to review 2021, I could not believe all of it happened in one calendar year. Some running themes from the beginning of the year: we ate a lot of brussels sprouts, turned our house into a board game village, and played in the snow. Heading into spring, we watched the boys’ baseball games, worked on house improvements, and cuddled baby goats. The summer was a whirlwind of RV-ing from WA to VA with a few stops in between, and the fall brought us new EVERYTHING—new state, new house, new jobs, new schools, new teams, new friends.

Some individual updates:

Scott is halfway through his time at the Eisenhower School. He’s studying a lot of big words like strategy and defense. Based on the papers I’ve been editing for him, I’m glad they keep putting him in charge of stuff. Scott discovered how old he was this fall when he played indoor soccer with some of his classmates. He learned recently that he will take a position at the Pentagon when this school year ends. We’re so glad because this means we’ll stay in VA long enough for Will to finish high school.

Speaking of Will, he has jumped right into the theater department at Hayfield Secondary. After playing Mal Beineke in “The Addams Family” this fall, he is now preparing for his role as Nelson Muntz in “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play” in February. Academically and socially, he’s found his groove. After the last year and a half of hanging out with us at home, it’s nice to see him going to dances, dressing up for ridiculous theme days, and hanging out with his friends at diners late at night. By all appearances, he’s playing the role of American teenager well.

Our newest teenager, Ben, has found his way as well. He also attends Hayfield Secondary, where he’s thriving academically. Ben played fall ball with a team that Scott ended up accidentally coaching. When baseball ended, Ben surprised us by saying he wanted to try wrestling, and we look forward to watching his first tournament in the coming weeks. (If practices are any indication, I am going to spend the entire day downing Tums and pacing.) Ben has also enjoyed confirmation classes at St. Mark’s Lutheran where we’ve found a lovely community of kind people.

Relatedly, Bea continues to spread kindness to everyone she meets as a kindergartener at Lorton Station Elementary. She has a tremendous, award-winning teaching team and loves music, PE, and art. She has started bringing books home to read with us and cannot wait to earn her first personal pan pizza. She’s been taking ballet and jazz and will have her VA dance debut in January. Bea spends all of her downtime telling Alexa to play music, so she can practice singing, which will eventually be part of her act as a trapeze artist.

And last but not least, our prolific little artist, Case, keeps us moving as she creates masterpieces on canvas and paper and sometimes the walls and carpet. Case is not yet convinced that preschool is necessary, but her teachers at Epiphany Weekday School are warm, loving, and willing to work with me as we find the right rhythm for her. I’ve enjoyed the extra one-on-one time with her, as she makes an excellent helper even if she demands payment in the form of teriyaki chicken from “Panda Spress.”

And that leaves me—the one who brings order and meaning to the pandemonium, and what a gift that continues to be. This year, I’ve steadily worked as a freelance editor for some really fun clients. I love that I can take the work with me whether I’m living in a pandemic house with my spouse, children, and parents, in an RV across multiple states, or in a home full of boxes that need to be unpacked. I spend most of my days picking up and dropping off kids in various places. The constant limbo time has afforded me a year of reading the most books I’ve ever read and breaking personal records on all my favorite phone games. After a time of rest in WA, I’m looking forward to plugging into the foster care community here in VA in the coming year.

While no one would say this year was easy, we would all agree with Marcel the Shell to say that it was worth it. We are incredibly grateful for the life we’ve created. Happy holidays to anyone who took the time to check in with us here!

P. S. Please enjoy some random pictures of our year if you’re into that sort of thing. :)