Johnson Family Memorial Vacation Colorado Leg Continued

We really enjoyed our time in the Silverthorne/Breckenridge area. It was topped off by a trip to the local LDS Church to attend Sunday services. The church was located a couple of miles from where we were staying and so we packed up the hotel, got dressed, and headed there. It is located in a beautiful area of town right next to a heavily flowing creek and at the foot of an impressive mountain. I have included pictures below.

After church we left the town we had been staying in and headed for the town of Fraser just outside of Winter Park. We passed by another of my company's mines, the Henderson Mine, and stopped to take a look. While there the rain that we had been getting turned to snow. Then as we headed out and over the Berthoud pass the snow became very heavy. It was wonderful to drive in the snow in June. There were also hundreds of cyclists in some kind of race over the blizzardy pass. This was even crazier considering that the pass took them to about 11,300 feet.

We arrived in Fraser in the late afternoon and settled into the condo that we will be stating at for the next couple of days. It is a beautiful little town situated at about 8,500 feet and the condo is fantastic! It belongs to a friend from work that was very kind to offer to let us stay here. She has furnished it and rents it out during the winter. We have really enjoyed stretching out and relaxing here. I have taken a couple of walks in the hills around the condo already.

We did head out this morning to meet with my friend Brandon short and his family in Estes Park, Colorado. It was about a 2 hour drive through the entirety of the Rocky Mountain National Park. The drive was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to take in the grandeur of the Rockies. As we came in to the park all of the signs said "road closed ahead" so we were starting to worry. However, a park ranger at the entrance told us that she had just heard on her radio that it was being opened. We drove up and over the mountains, which took us quite a bit above the timberline. There was a large section of tundra, which I had never seen before. We made the drive again on our way home and snapped some picture. Once home we looked up the road on the internet and found that this section of Highway 34 is the highest continuously paved road in the US at 12,183 feet.

We met up with the Shorts and had a great time with them. We ate lunch in Estes Park and spent a perfect afternoon at Sprague Lake. Our kids enjoyed playing with theirs as we hiked around the lake. It was good to see friends and to experience new placed. Enjoy the photos:

The church parking lot mountain and creek (2nd picture).

Will and a statue in the park in Frisco.

Will, Ethan, and Andrew going out on a log.

Most of the Johnson kids and Short kids.

All of the Johnsons and the Shorts.

Brandon and me at the lake.

All of us trying to breath at the top of the Rocky Mountain Nation Park Highway.

Some serious snow just off of the highway.

The Johnson family at the lake, and Lund is deep in thought.

The headwaters of the Colorado River.

Christa Johnson Memorial Family Vacation - Colorado Leg

As you likely already know, after a four and a half year struggle with breast cancer Christa has completed her journey here below and is on to new adventures on the other side of the veil. The Johnson Family will have to continue on without her physically by our side. However, will live on with her in our hearts and always near in spirit, and with faith in a joyful reunion at the end of our earthly lives. Her life of courage, faithfulness, optimism, courage, and love has shown us all how to live and be happy whatever may come. In her final months, and even in her final words spoken in life, she wanted us to know that "I love you all!"Her obituary can be found at: http://www.bunkerfuneral.com/obituaries/Christa-Johnson/.

In memory of her and to create new family memories, we are currently traveling as a family to sites that she and I knew and loved. We carry a picture of her, tell stories about her, and feel her close to us as we travel. We are currently in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, but will fly home next week and from there we will head out on a road trip to Idaho. Destinations in Idaho include Yellowstone, Rexburg, Pocatello, and Boise. She taught us to love traveling and seeing new places. It is not the same traveling without her by our side, but like a thousand other things we will do without her, we pray that this will keep us close to her and will bring us closer to each other.

Below are some pictures from our trip so far:

Here we are in the exact spot where I took one of my favorite pictures of Christa from our trip there. 

Here the kids are looking down at the very full Bluewater River in Silverthorne, Colordao. 

The kids in Breckenridge and playing in some snow we found outside of Breckenridge.  

Eating our Subway lunch at the still frozen Clinton Gorge Dam Reservior. It was cold and beautiful.

Cass and Lund at the same.

All of us.

Sarah hanging out on a washed out stump.

Sarah and Will crossing through a melting drift of snow and ice.

Lund and Will on an old mining train just outside of our Climax Mine. Notice the elevation of 11,300ft+.

The Johnson men in an old mining shovel bucket.

Cass and Lund fishing chunks of ice out of the reservior.

Christa Medical Update

This is Morgan providing an update on Christa and the family. As I type we are both in our room at a beach rental house in Oceanside. Christa is resting on the bed, and I am sitting the in the recliner we brought from home (to make sure there was a comfortable place for her to rest when we got here). We decided to make a last minute spring break trip to the beach in California with the kids and some extended family. We were originally going to come to the beach in June, but after some disappointing news the last week or so we decided to move the trip up.

Prior to the appointment last week we knew there may be something bad happening. Her body had become progressively weaker and more tired. She had to start using oxygen to supplement her breathing and was experiencing more pain. We were using a wheelchair whenever we had to go anywhere that required walking. We were worried, but hopeful about what we might hear at her upcoming doctor’s appointment.

Basically we were told at the appointment last Wednesday by Christa’s Oncologist that the chemotherapy that she has been taking for the last 9 months or so had stopped working. In addition, it appears that the chemo she was taking since December to specifically fight the cancer in her brain was also not working. We really only had one other chemo option available to us, but we had been putting it off since it is a very harsh medicine compared to what she has been on. Unfortunately her body had become so weak that the doctor felt that this other chemo was not an option either.

We were reeling from this news, especially after some further testing confirmed what the doctor had said. We were told to consider hospice. We came home and talked about how to tell the kids and family what we had learned. We met with them that night and talked them through what had happened. We then invited both sets of grandparents, who we are blessed to be living very close to, to come over and help give blessings to everyone in our family. Hands were laid on heads and blessings of comfort, peace, and faith were given. The spirit was strong in our home, and I was so grateful for the priesthood in our lives.

We decided last week to get away and come to the beach because of all of the great memories we have made here, and because it has always been a place of peace and healing for us. We invited some of our extended family, and through too many miraculous events to talk about here, we have made it to the beach as have many of Christa’s family members. We are joined by both sets of grandparents, Christa’s oldest sister and her kids, and by her brother and his life. We are so blessed to be surrounded to such good people and to be at such a beautiful place.

Her lungs continue to struggle and she is very tired, but she is endlessly graceful and too considerate. We have to keep reminding her that is okay that we need to help her around and that we are just so glad to be here with her. We don’t know what the future holds, but we have faith in blessings to come. Thank you all for the prayers and kind words. They have been felt and appreciated more than you can ever know.  Love – the Johnson’s

My baby turned 8

That’s right, numero cuatro turned ocho!!! My Espanol has improved mucho!!

All right, I will return to the regularly scheduled language.

What a happy day it was! Will had turned 8 just the day prior, and now it was Baptism Day! We had gone over everything with him,

But he still needed a little reassuring from his loving Aunt Alisha. Aren’t aunts great?

After the baptism he was A LOT more sure of everything and picture taking was just fine!

 

Here he is hanging out with cooper and his cousin, Kade.

Kayla, the eldest cousin made her appearance (beautiful once again!) And my boys jumped in as well, even though Lund didn’t know about the photo bomb in progress. 

Grandma Johnson, and even Juliet made her way all the way from Oregon.

The Bishop was there with his wife and grandson.

Missy Hawkins with her newborn daughter.

Pam and Grant Fisher, helping as always.

And that is how it was. A glorious day to watch Will covenant with his Heavenly Father, his very first covenant and now he can sing the song, “I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!

January in the Johnson house, both versions…

The Party Version! 
                                          January started out like a party waiting to be exploded!


And party we did......skiiball betts and bowling dancing.



And it looks like Will grabbed a cigarette and started shooting it up(sucker in mouth?)


Everyone (except Cassidy who was reading)


butterflies and lovely times!awwwwww! how cute!




And then entered the evil January ..................... The stomach flu, not just the regular flu, the one that can devastate a whole household in a few days. I had to run to my parents house and hide for a couple of days till that flu wore off. And then the cough hit the fam.......started as a nice light cough and ended up with pneumonia in mom that has hung around till now....it blew past 2 antibiotics without even a wink.    Can we all say goodbye Janurary!!!!!!!!