Nate and Bethany Johnson - Serving in Austria: July 2021

Sunday, July 25, 2021

July Highlights

After our family reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN, we had the chance to visit some friends in the Nashville area and then Nate's grandma in northern Wisconsin, all on our way up to Minnesota. Here are a few recent highlights from those weeks!

Canoeing fun in TN!

Enjoying time with our TN friends

Milwaukee Children's Museum

Fishing at Grandma's house with Uncle Evan

Swimming with cousin Rosie and Uncle Neil

Cousin snuggles!

Fireworks on the 4th

Posing with Nana

Sparklers before the big fireworks show

Fun in MN, back at the Mall of America

Mini-golf with Rosie

Play date with MN friends

Home Assignment Debrief Week at WorldVenture Headquarters in CO

Our awesome debrief group

Receiving a certificate for reaching 10 years with the mission

Group photo of all the missionaries at the home office

The WorldVenture kids program! A huge blessing for the girls last week. They made pillow cases with various fabrics to remind them of special places and memories in their life.

2021 Veerman Family Reunion in Pigeon Forge

Every few years, the Veerman family gathers somewhere for a family reunion. This is a reunion of my dad (Paul) and his siblings, their spouses, their kids (my cousins) and all of our spouses and kids. This year was our biggest one yet, with 49 people together in one house! The "palace" in Pigeon Forge was great for our group, because staying all together in one house meant lots of chances for fun, memories and conversations. We played games, did outings in the local area, ate great food and made memories together. It was so fun and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a great family. I was also, however, relieved for it to wrap up, because our family played a key role in planning the event! But it meant a lot to have helped make it all possible.

Here are a few photo highlights!

Group Photo

Enjoying the swimming pool

Ellie and Maya performing a karaoke song from Trolls

The "Wisest" Generation!

Watching and cheering for the pool tournament

Enjoying a day at Dollywood

Playing group games (this is called "flip the bottle tic tac toe")

Horseback Riding

Group Games - view from the upper level

Late night cigars

Leading worship on Sunday morning

Hiking

Whitewater rafting

Making announcement (something I did a lot!)

Celebrating 50 Years

After we wrapped up our time in the Chicago area, we drove down to Asheville, NC to spend 3 days with my family and celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. A lot of what we planned for those days was a surprise to them, and it was a really special time together. Their legacy of faith and love for each other is inspiring to all of us, and we're so thankful we could celebrate all in person together!

We invited a professional photographer to come and do a photo shoot. It was really special to have all of these great pictures taken of our family. It was the first time we were all together (with all of the grandkids)!

The original 5

Ellie & Maya with Grammy and Grampy

The Whole Group

All of the Cousins with Grammy and Grampy

Celebrating our two high school grads the first night

Fun in the hot tub

The photo shoot in action

John giving a toast to kick off the anniversary party

The special couple enjoys a special meal

Mom and Dad posing with their hand-painted family tree

Checking out the photo book we made for them with notes and pictures from friends and family

Busy Travels - Chicago, Texas & WI

So much has happened since our last post from Ohio! After we wrapped up our time there, we headed west to the Chicago area. We had a great time connecting with friends there, as well as our home church in Glen Ellen, IL, Parkview Community Church. During our time in Chicago, we also flew to Houston, TX to visit Real Hope Community Church.