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Sorry for the lack of updates! Lots to report on since our last past, most notably the birth of Dylan Thomas Johnson. Michele and Tom welcomed their son into the world on 12/06/2007. Dylan was a healthy 8 pounds 4 ounces and we are so excited for Michele and Tom to enjoy the wonderful world of parenthood. We made the trip to the Cities last weekend to introduce Brooks to his new little cousin. Wow, it's hard to believe that Brooks was ever that small! He's only nine months old, but Brooks looks like a giant compared to baby Dylan.

We had a great visit! In addition to seeing Michele, Tom, and Dylan, we got to spend some time with my mom and dad. We went out to dinner and for the first time ever we ordered restaurant food for Brooks. He's a good little eater and quickly devoured his macaroni and cheese. Our stay at the hotel was good too. Heather was initially disappointed to learn that the fitness room didn't open until 9:00 a.m. (she likes to get her workouts in first thing in the morning) so she improvised and got in a killer workout by utilizing the stairwell. For forty-five minutes she ran up and down the stairs. She could barely walk the next couple of days! After the workout, we decided to put the hotel pool to good use. Brooks is definitely a water baby! We had a lot of fun playing in the pool before we packed up to visit Michele's new family one last time before heading back home.

Babies, babies, everwhere! There must be something in the water because it seems like everyone we know has just had or is expecting a baby. Our friends Joel and Dawn had a baby boy the day after Dylan was born, Chris and Jayme are expecting in the next month or so, and Chris and Amy are also expecting in just over a month. Life is good and we eagerly await these new arrivals!

Switching from babies to toddlers, we celebrated our niece Maggie's 3rd birthday last weekend. Time sure flies, I can't believe that it's been three years already. Each year Keven and Steph give their girls a theme for their birthday parties. This year, Maggie's theme was candy. A very fitting theme for little Maggie Jo-Jo! She even had a pretty special birthday cake that was decorated to resemble the Candyland board game. It's fun watching Keven and Steph's girls grow up. Maggie had a fun day and seemed to enjoy all of her presents. Heather and I gave her an old-school, non-wireless, push-button phone (that's what she wanted). Maggie called us later in the day with her new phone which was a good sign that our gift was a hit.

The last of the big news this past week involves Heather's sister Laura. Laura had been attending the Focus in the Family institute in Colorado Springs for the past few months. We got to welcome her home this week but not before a big scare involving the shootings at the New Life church. Laura not only attended this chuch, she was in the parking lot just minutes before the shootings occurred. We thank God that Laura is safe and pray for the friends and families who have been affected by this senseless tragedy.

That's all for now. We'll try not to go so long before our next post!