Hello!
Another year has gone by, and we are
again writing to wish you a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year. 2019 was the year in which we had four
teenagers at once for a few months, and with that came busyness, change and a
lot of joy.
Having said that, our year started
on a somber note as Ken’s dad Terry passed away suddenly on Christmas Eve. The first part of January brought the
memorial service and a houseful of family here for a few days. We loved the
time with family but miss Dad and Grandad very much.
After Terry’s passing, Ken’s mom decided
to sell her house and build a house on the lot across the road from us. Construction
is almost done, and she is living in it now, after staying most of the summer
and fall at our place. It is a blessing to have her nearby.
Mara (20) had the biggest change
this year. She became engaged to Thomas on New Year’s Day, and they tied
the knot on May 18th. Our house was abuzz with preparations as the
day approached, from making of dresses, bow ties and vests, to bringing the
woods into the church building for decoration.
The newlyweds are living in Topeka,
Kansas while Thomas finishes his final year at Washburn University. Mara has spent her time in such enjoyable
activities as foraging for wild foods (amazing what you can find in the city)
and volunteering in a greenhouse near their apartment. Over the summer, Thomas
had an internship with a railroad company and is now tutoring during the school
year.
Jonathan (18) is in his senior year
and has been working at starting a videography business. He is focusing
primarily on weddings for now, with hopes to expand further later on. Jonathan
leads our home school co-op’s high schoolers film-making project last year. They
had such a blast that they are working on a new film this year, with Jonathan
heading things up once again.
At the suggestion of Ken as well as
his boss, Jonathan applied for and received a scholarship to Camp RYLA this
year. Although he wasn’t sure what to expect, he really enjoyed RYLA and found
it very useful in building leadership skills.
Aaron (16) continues to be our active,
outdoor child. As this letter was typed, he was busy outside the window
building and trying out a snowboarding terrain course. This summer, he built a
huge mountain bike jump and, after an upgrade, proudly called us out to witness
his first run, which unfortunately ended in a mighty crash and a broken collar
bone!
Aaron followed in the footsteps of
his older siblings this summer by going to work at Big River Scoop, our local
ice cream shop. This enabled him to save
up money to buy two mountain bikes and a guitar. (Mountain biking is definitely his favorite
hobby, and has learned to play guitar quite well.) He and Jonathan went to teen weeks at Flaming
Pine Youth Camp and enjoyed it a lot.
Megan (13) reads a lot, finds most
of her schoolwork easy and is incredibly creative. She continues to draw almost
every day. She loves to sew and has made
many of her clothes. This year she began remaking clothes and came up with some
pretty cool creations. She also made a fancy old fashioned dress for herself,
using a pattern she designed just by studying a doll dress.
Just recently, Megan made a doll, a
bunch of doll clothes and a wooden dollhouse for a cousin’s third birthday.
Megan enjoys children and has taught a Sunday school class for younger kids at
church. It is fun to watch her prepare and come up with creative ways to teach
them a Bible story.
Ken stays very busy with Pine
Country Insurance but has also been working on development of an online app for
insurance agencies, in collaboration with his younger brother Daniel.
Abbi’s wedding floral business is
still going well. Homeschooling has become a breeze, as the kids do much on
their own – except the rare times they ask for her help with an Algebra problem
that she doesn’t remember how to do.
One of the highlights of Abbi’s
year was a summer program that put on at church called Heroes in Hebrews. She
had a blast planning for it with a small group, working on it with the whole
congregation and then teaching all the kids who turned out.
Aaron insists that we tell about
Kitchi. His highlights: hunting rabbits and having Nana here.
Ken and Abbi celebrated their
twentieth Anniversary by going to the US Virgin Islands in January. Leaving behind minus forty temps, they
enjoyed absolutely beautiful weather and warm water. Their AirBnB perched near
the top of the mountain had a magnificent view of the cityscape and blue-green
waters far below.
Shortly after Mara’s wedding, the
other five of us flew to Washington DC in June and enjoyed touring the town. We
were able to tour the White House, sit in the Senate Chambers while in session
and watch a play at Ford’s Theater. Mt Vernon, riding rental bikes around town,
seeing the Davidsons and a trip to the Atlantic Ocean were some other
highlights of the trip.
On Labor Day weekend, we traveled
to northeastern Iowa and met up with Mara and Thomas, where we explored Pike’s
Peak and the historic little town of McGregor along the Mississippi River. We
also enjoyed exploring the ice caves in nearby Decorah.
Ken and Abbi discovered the joy of night-canoeing
this fall. With the busyness of life and the shorter autumn days, they were
having trouble getting out in the water very often. So they tried canoeing
after dark and found they loved the peaceful water, night sounds and view of
the stars.
Theater has been another fun
activity involving most of the family. Mara, Megan and Aaron acted in The Reluctant Dragon in April. Last
month, Aaron, Megan and Abbi were in the Broadway musical Annie. Jonathan ran the sound booth for both shows, plus a third
during the summer. The Bemidji Community Theater is a vibrant and fun
community. We truly enjoyed our time spent in it and appreciate the friends we
have made.
We are grateful for so many
things this year. Having you in our lives in certainly high on the list!
