95 Days till Christmas!
95 Days till CHRISTMAS! We only have one date left open till ALL our Saturdays and Sundays are filled up! Schedule now! Bookings available for Monday - Friday concerts as well.
Day at Disney
A little sparkle glittered throughout and graced our day at Magic Kingdom! I must say, the Disney effect was pretty spectacular! Even intermittent downpours possibly caused by the approach of Hurricane Hermine couldn't spoil our day together.
Touring the "metropolis". We put many miles on those shoes of ours!
The majestic center of the park. If you look closely, you can see the zip line from which Tinkerbell "flew" during the fireworks finale!
Ladies in ballgowns galore swirled and stepped throughout the festival parade!
The fireworks show was a perfect last hurrah to the day!
Dolphins and Seashores
During our last evening vacationing in Florida, we visited Sunset Beach at well, sunset! Laura couldn't let her professional photographer skills go unchallenged on such a beautiful evening. Though I did my best to capture the beauty of the ocean waves, my phone camera doesn't do it justice! Perhaps soon I can post Laura's favorite image of the sunset.
While Laura experimented with apertures and f-stops and all that jazz, the rest of us enjoyed shelling on the sandy beach and wetting our feet in the oncoming waves. Luke even found a couple of shells with living occupants!
Though this final picture was taken at a harbor in St. Petersburg, the two dolphins that showed up to play were such a wonderful surprise!
The College Grind!
Seth has begun the college grind and we're finally back from a wonderful Florida vacation! Earlier this week, we snapped this family photo before hitting the road for home...only 17 + hrs away!
We teamed up with the Sommer family to move both Jared Sommer and Seth into their new dorm at Pensacola Christian College. We're excited Seth's good friend can be his roommate and mechanical engineering study partner!
South Dakota Trip!
Great Faces, Great Places...and SO MUCH MORE! Even though we didn't capture everything in pictures, here's a taste of our time in South Dakota. 😊 We had fantastic concerts, great fellowship, many wonderful conversations, and were completely spoiled by our hosts during our time on the Quarter Circle D Ranch....Thanks to everyone who helped make our stay relaxing and refreshing!
Ruthie took Silas (the rest us tagged along!) to the Shakespear gardens in Wessington Springs to see the thatched roof on the cottage. If you ask him, thatch is about the best roof you can ask for. 😊
Getting ready for an opera house performance...
While we were in South Dakota, we were thrilled to be able to spend some time with our good friends, Dale and Ruth! They graciously invited us out to their farm, and we had a blast learning about real ranch life on the most beautiful spread west of the Mississipi!
We all enjoyed some roping lessons from old hands at the craft, and caught lots of five gallon buckets! Hint: never call a rope a lasso or you'll get labled a greenhorn...
Wait a minute, boomerangs in South Dakota? That's one of the last places we expected to get to throw them, but the wide open spaces on the plains work great! Dale was an amazing teacher, and really let 'em rip. If you haven't had the opportunity to throw one, you are missing out. 😊
Four wheeling was a highlight for us - even though we live in the country, we do not have four wheelers and had not had the chance to go together.
We're Shrinking!
And then there were four...(plus the parents 😉). Seth has not been feeling well, so we were minus two people for tonight's performance! (Karen's away at an intensive music camp.)
Performing Without Karen!
For the FIRST time in nearly 10 years of performing as The Johnson Strings, we just had our first two concerts WITHOUT Karen! While she is away at an intensive summer music camp, we've had fun switching up our performance and "stealing" her solos and re-distributing them for several performances... :)
Seth's Graduation & Open House!
And...We're back! We have been non-stop busy for the last two months - thus the lack of posting! We will try to bring you all the way up to date soon!
We had a wonderful time at Seth's high school graduation and open house party - some of our good friends were able to drive down to help us get ready and serve all the food at the party!
Getting ready....
As with most of our events, they include a last-minute construction project - our staircase up to our stage now has a custom railing made from Iowa barn beams!
Seth will be attending Pensacola Christian College this fall! He is excited to be following in Dad's footsteps, pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Seth picked out all the food (it mirrors his personality well!) - mom made almost 1,000 meatballs!
Visiting with guests...
A word from Seth during our performance...
We are sad to be "losing" Seth to college in Florida (no more concerts with us!), but he's still performing through the end of the summer. :)
Seth also performed two solo works - Zarabanda and Flamenca by Rogelio Huguet Y Tagell, and Allegro Appassionato by Camille Saint-Saëns.
What's better than relaxing with friends late at night after the party's over and eating some of the extra ice cream? :)
Special thanks to Hannah S. for taking these pictures for us!
You Are Invited!
You are invited! Come out to our farm and help us celebrate Seth's graduation from high school!
Seth's open house is Friday, May 13, from 5:30 to 8:30 pm. We will be performing a short concert at 6:00 pm.
Our address:
11389 T Ave
New Hartford, IA 50660
We'd love to see you there!
Irish Legend and We Three Kings Given Two Gold WorldFest Houston Awards!
Gold Remi Winners at World Fest Houston 2016, music video divisions Instrumental (Irish Legend) and Stage/Concert Performance (We Three Kings)! We're thrilled! We wish we could have attended the fest to say thanks in person. Help us CELEBRATE by watching them at our channel on YouTube! goo.gl/QABQK1
We also want to thank and acknowledge our fabulous editor, John Clay Burnett, for his collaboration on these projects.
National Siblings Day!
Happy National Siblings Day to all of you brothers and sisters out there!
#NationalSiblingsDay
Happy Birthday, Seth!
Happy 18th Birthday, Seth! Even though we're celebrating a few weeks late, we couldn't be happier for you!
S – Seriously good at mathematics (and cello!)
E – Eager for a challenge (physical and mental)
T – The most appreciative eater of ice cream in the family (but not by much...)
H – Heart for God's Word (and family)
We love you!
Irish Legend and We Three Kings Win Film Festival Awards!
ANNOUNCEMENT!
We are thrilled to announce that our music videos, Irish Legend and We Three Kings took 1st and 2nd place in the Pro-Am Freestyle category at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, taking the GOLD and SILVER Awards! If you haven't seen them, check them out at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=skgYzHqNSYE (Irish Legend) and www.youtube.com/watch?v=7URsGRcD0Eo (We Three Kings). A big thank-you to festival director Scott Chrisman for this opportunity!
Meet our Bus!
Last year we purchased a small bus from Ford, since our Mercedes Benz Sprinter wasn't working well. Fortunately, we have had NO breakdowns in our new bus, and we love it! Granted, it is small for long trips, but the size makes it all the better for fun family conversations as we travel down the road. We don't think we've ever shared pictures...so enjoy!