Christmas Letter 2000

Happy Holidays from the Reyersons!

The year 2000 was one of many “firsts” in our house, most of them real nice ones.

My 35th Christmas will be the first one when I am not spending all or part of it in Oelwein. It’s kind of weird, but kind of nice too. The kids are 5, and Connie and I want to give them a Christmas here at home so they can do the whole bit: leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, the whole nine yards. I want them both to have the memory of a Christmas at home while the idea of Santa in the very next room putting presents under the tree really jacks them up. We’re all looking forward to a Christmas morning at home, and the folks are just a phone call away.

Connie and I had our first weekend away from the kids back in August. This past June marked our 10th wedding anniversary, and Mom insisted that we drop off the kids and go have some fun. So I followed orders and Connie and I went off to Wisconsin for a couple of nights in a hotel. Ate in some nice places, saw a movie, gambled on Miss Marquette, saw some sights. The nicest part of all, however, was the relief of learning that the kids didn’t wear out their welcome at Grandma’s!

We had our first day of school back in September. Collin and Adrienne are now Kindergartners, so they go to school every day for the morning session. They are in different classes, which was what the school suggested. Appears to be working, both kids love their teachers, and they get to play together a lot just the same, as the classrooms are adjacent to each other.

We also had our first slumber party, our first visit from the tooth fairy (did you know that she comes even if you swallow the tooth?), our first garage sale, our first ride on a roller coaster, our first Little League game, our first parent-teacher conference (here’s hoping they’re all as pleasant as the first one), our first Girl Scout meeting, our first door-to-door school fund raiser, our first trip to the dentist and our first trip to the public library where the kids got their very own library cards.

The “stay at home Mom” experience is one that Connie continues to enjoy. With the kids gone about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, Connie uses that 15 hours to do all the things that are far less fun with kids around, like keeping the house clean and hitting the WalMart/K-Mart/Target circuit. I will also add that seldom a day goes by when she’s not taking something sweet out of the oven, especially this time of year, and you should see how dolled up this house is for Christmas.

This Christmas will be my 12th working for Best Buy Company, and my 6th since moving to the Twin Cities. Our company has grown not quite tenfold since I joined one of our then 47 stores in 1989. Since then I have seen the company do some amazing things, many of which I participated in, and I can’t complain one bit about the way Best Buy has treated me. I’m not a real big city guy, but the move we made to the Twin Cities in 1995 is one we certainly do not regret. Connie will remind me that I said that next time I go up to shovel snow off the roof.

Well, that’s just about all the paper I have. If you’re ever in town, be sure to stop by. Our house is just a few minutes from downtown Minneapolis and we love to have visitors. We hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits, and we wish you all a happy and safe holiday.

Warren, Connie, Collin and Adrienne