A Year End Wrap Up and Christmas Letter 2009
Introductions and Apologies
This web site started as replacement for our annual Christmas letter. I thought it would be easier to maintain on a year round basis. In general I was right especially before I discovered Facebook. This was a great way to share pictures and just let people know what we were up to. The same kinds of things I do on Facebook now. It is actually easier to share the pictures on Facebook than to post them here. There are some changes to the site though that may make sharing pictures almost as easy on here.
After May of 2009
I’ll pick up after May of 2009, since that is where I quit making entries. Part of that was because we got busy with Ren Faires and that takes us into May.
We did two Ren Faires in Omaha on 3 weekends in May and then made our annual trip to Sioux Falls for the faire there, the first weekend of June. Sioux Falls was COLD! The sun did not shine while we were there but it did come out as we were pulling out of the parking lot. We towed the camper there this year. That worked really well. Kathy, Susan (Kathy’s sister), Lee and I went to the faire. Will stayed in Grand Island with Chad’s parents and started his first boy scout summer camp before we got home. He spent a week at summer camp out at Camp Augustine south of Grand Island. It was cold and damp but not too much rain at any given time.
We had to have our cat Hazel put to sleep. She was in kidney failure. She was 12 years old. Kathy got her in Lincoln as a rescue cat from Pitts Veterinary Hospital right before we moved to Norfolk.
Star Trek played at the Grand Theater in Grand Island. The Grand is a community run theater that brings in second run movies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is a wonderful old theater. Tickets are a whopping $3.50 for adults and I can get popcorn and drinks for all 4 of us for $10. They offered a promotion giving a free popcorn and drink to anyone that would show up in costume. Kathy heard about it on the radio and on Facebook on Thursday. We had decent looking costumes for the 4 of us by Saturday night. The shirts Kathy and Chad wore were purchase from Skagway for about $1.50 each. We were the only ones to show up in costume.
Father’s day weekend we camped out at Kathy’s Dad’s farm with her family. We picked lots of nanking cherries and made syrup from them. We ate pancakes with fresh cherry syrup for breakfast.
July
Will turned 11 on the 4th of July. We had lots of family at the house and shot off a bunch of fireworks. We drove down to Animal Medical Clinic and watched the fireworks at Fonner Park from there. We also shot off fireworks in the parking lot. We launched a sky lantern that was really cool. It glowed as it flew off into the night.
Chad and Lee spent 4 days out at Camp Augustine for Webelos Camp. It was a hot few days in July but we had a really good time. Two of the other Webelos from Lee’s den (Jaden and Jr.) were also on the camp out with us. Lee earned 4 Webelos pins including Aquanuat (the only Webelos pin that Will did not earn).
Chad left Webelos camp and flew from Kearney to Bozeman Montana for a weekend. He was appointed to the Chapter Presidents’ Council as Liaison to the Divisions Council for the American Planning Association. The executive board met in Bozeman, the home town of the CPC President Andy Epple. While there Chad bought an autographed copy of Three Cups of Tea, at the suggestion of another planner on the executive board. The author of the book lives in Bozeman. This is a great book if you haven’t read it. A very good look at a part of the world and culture that American’s do not understand well.
We spent a couple of weekends camping at Chad’s Dad’s farm. One weekend was perfect and the other was Africa hot. The generator and air conditioner made the Africa hot weekend bearable.
Kathy did not go to the Stampin’ Up convention this year but is still an active demonstrator. She has at least one show a month for people at work.
August
August started with the 2nd annual Overland Trails Council Merit Badge University. Almost 90 different merit badges were offered in 2 days out at Stuhr Museum and around town. Chad got volunteered to be merit badge councilor for Archeology. He managed to recruit a real archeologist, John Heaston, to help teach the class and it went really well. Kathy helped with the veterinary medicine badge and Will earned Citizenship in the World, Geology and most of Family Life. It was a fun weekend. Next year Kathy wants to be councilor for textiles and Chad will be the transportation coordinator.
We made our 4th trip to Hastings for Kool Aid Days. The boys raced boats in the Jammers Race again. Lee won best design for his boat and got to ride in the Parade on Saturday morning. We actually took him back to Hastings so he could ride in the parade. This is a great event if you haven’t ever been there. And to think that Kool-Aid was invented in Nebraska.
School started in mid-August. Will started middle school at Walnut. Chad took some pictures of Will going into school but did not embarass him by getting out of the truck. We had to change our entire routine. Kathy drops Lee off on her way to work and Chad drops Will off and then drives back across town to work. Kathy usually picks Will up from school. Lee walks home.
We started working on a tree house in our back yard. This is a project that has been planned since the Grand Island Utilities Department cut back the old silver maple in the back yard last year. The project evolved from being built in the tree to being built around the tree about 7 feet off of the ground. This project was one that Will used for his Family Life merit badge since it was a family project. The boys even helped mix the concrete for the footings.
Our first fall season faire was the Kings Crossing Faire in Iowa at a vineyard south of Council Bluffs the weekend before Labor Day. Will and Lee both started running high fevers about the time we got to Sue and Mark’s house. Kathy and Sue went to the faire and Chad stayed at Sue and Mark’s with sick boys. There were more vendors than patrons at the faire so it was not a big success. We took the boys to the Dr. on Sunday when we got back in Grand Island and they tested positive for the Flu. The diagnosis was H1N1 since that is what was going around at the time. They got to spend most of the week at home but recovered well.
September
Chad’s Mom turned 70 this September. All of the kids and grandkids were home over Labor Day weekend to celebrate. A good time was had by all.
We had been keeping our eyes open for a new camper all summer but good used campers were really hard to find this year. Kathy’s dad found one in Milford though and thought we ought to drive up and take a look at it. We bought it that day. We moved from a 1980 camper that was showing a lot of wear to a 1996 model that is in very good shape. Chad sold the old one on Craig’s List.
Chad and Will went to Mt. Rushmore with Troop 114 again this year. This time Will was going as a boy scout and member of the troop instead of as a guest. We had to take a nebulizer for Will though as he still was not recovered from his bout of H1N1. It rained all weekend and was really cold. Both times we were in South Dakota this year it was cold. Chad and Will did not make it through the whole 10 mile hike this year. They quit at the 1/2 way point. Will tried really hard but just wasn’t able to breathe and walk. One of the boys on the trip had a fever of about 101. He didn’t start showing signs of being sick until we got to South Dakota.
We did our first western faire. “How the West was Fun” at the Bellevue Berry Farm. It was a fun event and it is amazing how many Ren related craft items can be repurposed for the wild west. The product line crosses over very well. Western costumes weren’t too tough either. Kathy even sewed herself a dress for the event.
Chad’s planning professor Brito, sent them tickets for a game again this year. He sent them the tickets for the 300th sellout game. It was a gorgeous night, a fun game and nice to take part in a bit of Husker History.
October
The first weekend of October Chad and Kathy went to Washington DC. Chad had board meetings in DC for the American Planning Association. Kathy was able to go with him. Part of the meetings included the opening of the United Nations Housing Conference and Awards. Jon Bon Jovi was one of the speakers at the awards ceremony. Amazingly enough he has done some pretty cool housing related projects. We did not go to the ren faire in Sioux City since we were in DC.
The second weekend of October was supposed to be the Pirate Festival at the Bellevue Berry Farm (Omaha). The event was canceled though due to snow and freezing weather. I think the promoter made the right decision. It was too early for that kind of weather and there would not have been any patrons. That was the end of our faire season. Not the best year we have had but it was fun.
The middle of October brought scout popcorn sales. Both boys wanted to sell at least $1500 worth of popcorn. Lee did not have school the Friday after sales started. I took the afternoon off and we went to City Hall so he could sell popcorn. He filled up an and entire sheet and sold almost $500 worth of popcorn that afternoon. The boys continued to sell popcorn through the middle of November. Lee ended up selling over $1800 and Will sold over $1500. That will pay for camp for both of them next year. They also earned a trip to Lincoln in December to tour Memorial Stadium and go to a Cornhusker Basketball game.
November
Chad ended up making another trip to Washington DC at the beginning of November. He was invited to represent the concerns of local flood plain administrators in FEMA Region VII at a listening session on the National Flood Insurance Program. It was an interesting trip, quick and busy: two nights in DC, 10 hours of meetings, flights between Omaha and DC and the drive between Grand Island and Omaha. He did get to have dinner with an old friend, Jim Benson, while in DC, though. Chad and Jim were roommates back in college and went to high school and jr. high together. One of the great things about DC is the food; there are great restaurants there.
We got the tree house mostly finished on one of the nice weekend. The boys still have to climb the ladder to get into it but they have a nice place to stand. Everyone agrees that it is nice and sturdy.
We followed our annual habits for Thanksgiving. We attended Chad’s Aunt Jean and Uncle Lenny’s big dinner the Saturday before thanksgiving and then hosted a large dinner at our house on Thanksgiving Day. We had 22 people eat at our house that day. (Chad, Kathy, Will, Lee; Keith, Joanne; Mark, Susan, Andrew, David, Katie; Lonnie, Bonnie, Christine; Annette, Richard; Nadine, Bryce, Katie, Kyle, Chris; Ron) Chad and Keith (Kathy’s Dad) did not get up early on Friday to try to get any good deals. There just wasn’t anything interesting enough to get up for.
We got our Christmas tree from Hardin’s in Kearney. It is a very nice BIG real tree. They cut it after we picked it out. Will even helped carry it to the truck this year. It is kind of amazing when they get big enough to be helpful. We had to go buy a different tree stand for this tree and we put a 70lb bag of sand on the back two supports. We are hoping that Suki our cat doesn’t knock it over this year. (She tipped over the tree three times last year.)
December
We went to Kearney for our 3rd trip in 3 years to watch the Tri-City Storm (hockey) play during their Scouting with the Storm promotion. Scouts from all over the Overland Trails Council were at the event. This year was particularly good because the Storm won the game. Lee earned 2 tickets to the game from the Pack for his popcorn sales. 10 boys from the pack went to the game.
Our street put luminaries out again this year. It was just a few days after we got 12 inches of snow so it was very white and bright. It was a cold night but a very successful event. It is nice to live in a neighborhood where people do things together and make and take the time to share experiences.
Will and Lee both sold more than $1500 worth of popcorn so they earned a trip to Lincoln for the Cornhusker Experience. They each got to take a parent (how convenient) to tour Memorial Stadium and then go to a Cornhusker Mens Basketball game. There was a lot of snow on the field at the stadium but they had moved the snow off of the N at the center. One of the tour guides suggested to the boys that they should make snow angels on the field. They didn’t want to but Chad took the opportunity to make a snow angel on the 40 yard line. How many people can say that they made a snow angel on the 40 yard line at Memorial stadium in Lincoln?! We stayed at the Embassy suites again this year–they have a swimming pool, arcade, and huge breakfast buffet–and the boys had a great time.
We broke from our normal Christmas routine and stayed home this year. Chad read at church on Christmas Eve and the boys wanted to open presents at home on Christmas, so we knew we would be here in the morning. The blizzard conditions across the state kept us home though. We hope to get to Kathy’s brother Ron’s house later to celebrate with her family and then will celebrate with Chad’s family on the 2nd at his parent’s house.
Highlights of the Year According to Will and Lee
Chad asked Will and Lee to identify their highlights from the year as he began writing the entry above. Here is what they identified:
Will
I remember lighting fireworks on my birthday.
I remember saving for, buying and opening my Compaq notebook computer.
I remember selling $1,500 of Boy Scout popcorn.
I remember that on Thanksgiving I ate something different than everyone else.
I remember watching the Big 12 football championship.
Lee
Celebrating New Years at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.
Lighting fireworks on the 4th of July.
Selling popcorn at City Hall on October 16th.
Watching the person with the world record spinning a basketball perform on December 19th. (This was the half time show at the basketball game check them out at www.championsforever.com)
Eating omlets and french toast at the Embassy Suites on December 18th and 19th.
