Christmas Letter 2004

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

Another year drawing to a close. This one really raced by, but I'll try to get it all down on one sheet of paper.

Now 4th graders, Collin and Adrienne are attending Cedar Manor School. Next stop is (get ready for this) St. Louis Park Junior High in 2007. The teachers tell us they're both performing really well; Collin is all over Math and Science, Adrienne likes to write and draw, and both kids are avid readers.

Outside of school, both kids keep us moving. Collin made his debut on the mound about a third of the way through the baseball season. Upon recording his first strikeout, he spun around and threw his arms in the air for all his teammates to see. Then, after striking out the next batter to end the inning, Collin celebrated with a windmill fist pump reminiscent of Tiger Woods on 18 at Augusta. The crowd loved it, but the coach wisely admonished him to tone it down a notch. He didn't break any records for velocity, but he kept tossing strikes, something you don't always see out of a 9 year old pitcher. So the coach kept using him just about every game for an inning or so at a time. It was a lot of fun watching him work on the mound. Collin also suited up for the SLP 4th Grade football team this fall (a 76 pound defensive lineman?), and has taken up the viola. Does this kid have range or what?

Adrienne dealt us all a shock when she joined the soccer team this summer, and she was a solid performer in her first season and showed improvement all summer. The highlight of her season was an unassisted goal that helped her team win that night. She was careful not to show the other team up with excess celebration, but her mom could tell by her body language that she was thrilled with her accomplishment. She is also showing interest in music, singing in the choir and playing a guitar that was a gift from her Grandma Lil.

Now officially unable to run from the "soccer-mom" label, Connie is still the "super-sub" at Aquila school in St. Louis Park, filling in at a variety of positions and picking up some dough for our household. Her favorite room to sub in is #105, where the developmentally disabled kids are. She loves those kids and they are quite fond of her. We are reminded just how lucky we are every time Connie steps into that room. Connie also served as "designated baker" for Adrienne's Girl Scout troop as well as the soccer team this year.

Last year I told you about how the Reyersons and Woods hooked up for a week of fishing in Wisconsin. We we did it again in August, this time on Lake Owen, the lake we fished when I was a kid. Lake Owen is about 20 miles north of Hayward in northern Wisconsin. It's a long, skinny lake, probably 7 or 8 miles long, and full of walleyes, bluegills and northern pike. The weather was unseasonably cool, and the fish were pretty finicky, but we managed to catch enough to eat. Collin took the trophy for the biggest fish for the second consecutive year, and Adrienne learned how to knit under the watchful eye of cousin Alyssa. No phones, no alarm clocks, no worries. My kind of vacation.

One of the first things Connie ever told me when we met 16 years ago is that she always wanted to visit Disney World, and this past October, we made it happen. We wanted to wait until the kids were old enough to remember it, but young enough to be really dazzled by it, so this year seemed just right. We traveled to Orlando with the Nelsons, a family from right across the street who has a timeshare minutes from the park. We did 2 of the 4 theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot) and spent a day at Typhoon Lagoon water park, and I even snuck in some golf. With temperatures in the high 80's, it really felt like we "stole" an extra week of summer while the rest of Minnesota was getting ready for winter. And while I flew down there swearing I'd only do it once, I flew back wondering when we might go again.

Vacations are fun, but then there's the matter of paying for them. Pesky little detail. I marked my 15 years anniversary at Best Buy in June, 9 of them at the office up here in the Twin Cities. I'm not a real big city guy, but the Twin Cities have been good to us. We're comfortable in St. Louis Park, lots of young familes with kids, good public schools, minutes from just about everything. A good place to raise a family.

And now, let's throw it over to the sports desk. What a year to be a fan of Hawkeye football! It was starting to look like a rebuilding year after a 2-2 start, but then the Black and Gold ground out 7 straight wins and now are shooting for only their third January win since 1959. If you've watched this year, you know their doing it with a suffocating defense and some real good special teams play. And can you believe that we had to "settle" for Coach Ferentz when Bob Stoops opted for Oklahoma? When you win close game after close game, you're either incredibly lucky or you have a guy who knows how to coach. And this guy can flat out coach.

Well that's just about it from here. If your travels ever bring you to the Twin Cities, please be sure to give us a call. St. Louis Park is a stone's throw from downtown Minneapolis, and we love to have visitors. Until then, warmest wishes for a safe, happy holiday from our home to yours,

Warren, Connie, Collin & Adrienne