HAPPY 40TH TODD!

(With an update on April 24)

 You are far away in Germany so we can't celebrate this milestone with you but it's fun to look back on the special days we have shared. Thanks for all the wonderful memories and we look forward to sharing many more of them.

A proud big sister

Todd and Grandpa Horace Johnson

Baptism at Trinity with Pastor Hedlin

Kiss Me.  I am Norwegian
Was that button a foretelling?

I need my blanket!

Sipping cousins

Sunday School program at Trinity

Our family is complete

First day of school

Kindergarten Grad

Disneyland in 1983

Track and Field day

"Girl in red" at Skating carnival

Hockey day

First wheels!

 Another first wheels

Two wheels

Torquay Friends

A guitar player

Stretching up!

Supper in the field

My intentions of adding more pictures has been revised!  I decided to leave this blog post of pictures "as is" as it seems like an overwhelming task to chronicle Todd's life in pictures once he left home.  That happened when he went to high school at LCBI, Outlook, SK at the age of 16.  After his grade 12 grad, he spent six months at a Bible school in Sweden, visited Norway with Josh Hagen on their Christmas break. That visit gave him a taste of life in Norway, and he wanted more!

  He played professional volleyball in Norway in three different places, one of which was above the Arctic circle!  He came back to Canada in the summers and worked at Bible Camps , then back to school at Briercrest Bible College at Caronport, SK where he completed work on a B.A. in youth ministry. 

 He met Kristy Ledene from Brooks, AB when both were at a camp training session for staff at Lutheran Bible camps in Alberta. They were married on Sept. 27th, 2003 at Salem Lutheran Church in Scandia, AB and flew to Norway a few days later.  They thought they'd give it a try for a year or two.  That will soon be 14 years ago and they are still there, having since moved from Kristiansund where he worked for an oil company, Squire, for several years inspecting containers that went to offshore drilling rigs.  Now he is coaching volleyball as well as teaching classes at a Christian Folk School in Førde.  He is making use of his training in youth ministry at Briercrest.

He and Kristy have two girls, Nora who will be five on Sept. 7, and Elly Clara who will celebrate her first birthday on July 6 when they are back in Canada this summer.  It is special to have granddaughers who are becoming bilingual at such a young age.  They speak English at home and Norwegian at the Barnehage.  Nora can switch easily from one language to the other!  My mother would have been so thrilled to have great grandchildren who are fluent in Norsk!  She didn't get to know any of her 29 great grandchildren but would have been thrilled with each one of them, Norsk or not!

Tomorrow, April 24th, marks the day when Mom and Dad's 25th greatgrandchild, Blaine Martin Sanford, joined them in heaven at the young age of six years.  It was such a tragedy to lose dear little Blaine, but of some comfort to know he has greatgrandparents there to welcome him. Blaine lived his short life to the fullest, was such a "people person" and left a great example for the rest of us.  Perhaps his work on earth was done and he has earned his reward far sooner than the rest of us, much like our nephew Tommy Erickson who died in an accident just days after his 18th birthday in 1986.  Both of you were so loved and are so missed.

Well, I didn't intend to give you Todd's life story when I sat down at the computer but when you blog, you never know what comes out!  It's a brief update but I think it would take a book to get it all in and I'm not about to tackle that!  

I always dreamed of visiting Norway and thanks to Todd living there I have now been there seven times! Four of those trips were with Howard, one with my sister Sandra, one with my daughter Laurel and the last with my husband Alan Lutz. Seven is said to be a perfect number so I will be content if that one is my final trip, as long as Todd's are able to come to Canada every summer!  We look forward to seeing you in June!! 

 I am glad you got to have a very special 40th - celebrating along with Kristy's parents at a 70th anniversary party for Helga's aunt and uncle near Berlin, Germany.  Fireworks ended the day and the 92 year old uncle rode home on his bike after the celebration!