Advent, 2024
Dear Family & Friends,
Ours was a year of maintaining our settled retirement routines: We were active at our church, especially in choir. We tried to be diligent about daily exercise. And we volunteered occasionally for Twin Cities PBS and other organizations. Mark continued to be involved in amateur radio and Mary continued with reading, gardening, and being creative in the kitchen.
We had a week of escape to Arizona to get away from winter back in February. Then we did an Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Japan in late April, early May. Summer is a good time to be in Minnesota, so we stayed close to home until October, when we visited the Rhine Valley of France and Germany.
There were also several trips to Kansas City to visit daughter Sarah and family. She and Brandon still have jobs with the Federal Government. Granddaughter Harper is 12 and now in middle school. She is all about volleyball, the cello, and the animals on their acreage – which at this writing include four sheep, three goats, numerous chickens, a rabbit, and the dog, Chappy. Her brother Corbin is 10, a fourth grader who loves Legos, and shows talent for baseball and basketball. Malcolm will be 7 next month and is in first grade and likes soccer and flag football. All three are taking piano lessons.
Closer to us here in the Twin Cities, daughter Katherine continues as a composer, and as co-founder and Artistic Director of Minnesota Winds, a professional symphonic band. Matt continues his career at Graco, Inc. Granddaughter Clara is 6 and a first grader. Her many interests include art projects, soccer, piano, and their new puppy, Timber.
We wish you all a peaceful celebration of the Light that comes into the world this season, as well as a settled and routine year ahead.
Mark & Mary Johns
