Christmas Letter 2006

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

Connie and I are starting to buy into that “kids grow up fast” saying. It truly is the blink of an eye. It seems as if almost no time has passed since we were cutting coupons for diapers, now here we are, kids will be in junior high next fall. In 7 years they’ll be freshmen in college. In a little over 10 years, Adrienne will be as old as Connie was on our wedding day. Yep, that one freaked me out a little too.

If you‘ve seen a recent picture of either Reyerson kid, you may be wondering when it’s going to be time for braces. Well, your wait is over. Recently, both kids visited the orthodontist and walked out with thousands of dollars in metal bonded to their teeth. For the next 2 years, Adrienne asks that we all to think of her when we eat popcorn. It is one of her favorite foods and with the braces on, she’ll have to do without. Braces or no braces, she is as pretty as a picture and is almost as tall as her mom!

Much to the delight of dear old Dad, Collin continues to spend a lot of his free time throwing, hitting, shooting, dribbling and catching balls of all sizes. This summer he played 5 different positions on the baseball field and helped his team to a 28 win season, nearly doubling last year’s win tally of 15. On the gridiron this fall, he scored his first two career touchdowns, including one on a spectacular bomb from none other than Trevor, his little buddy from across the street. If I live to be 100, I will never, ever forget that play. Collin will also play basketball this winter and likes to get out there and whack it around the golf course with me once in a while.

In a moment of extreme weakness, Connie finally gave in and let Collin bring home a lizard. As you read this letter, there is a lizard basking under a heat lamp in a 20 gallon tank on top of Collin’s dresser. We brought Ozzie (which was also the name of my lizard when I was a kid) home back in August. Ozzie is an Emerald Swift and will be about 10 inches long (most of it tail) when he’s done growing. Per our agreement, Collin assumes 100% responsibility for Ozzie’s care, including the financial burden, and pointed out to me recently that over 20% of his allowance is going to food for Ozzie, who eats crickets and mealworms. I told him to wait until he gets a real job and Uncle Sam starts reaching for his cut.

Well, 2006 was the same old song and dance for Connie, but that’s OK because she’s very good at it and has offered no evidence to suggest that she doesn’t like it. The classic stay at home mom, Connie still fills in when needed at the elementary school, keeps the house in ship shape, and holds all the neighborhood baking records. She just laughs when anybody compares her to June Cleaver or Betty Crocker.

As far as my work goes, we just opened our 800th U.S. Best Buy store, a mind blowing number considering the chain consisted of 48 stores when I started in ‘89. We’ve expanded into Canada, and Puerto Rico and China are next. Nobody ever gets bored working at Best Buy…there’s always something to do.

Another year, another week at the lake. Twenty one members of the extended Reyerson and Wood families descended upon Lake Owen on northern Wisconsin for a week of true relaxation. Collin caught the first fish and the most fish, but Aunt Barb took the title for the biggest fish in 2006, snagging a nice 3 pound smallmouth bass. We played a lot of cards, ate like kings and knocked back a few longnecks. OK, more than a few. There are plenty of fancier vacation options out there, but I always feel like a million bucks after a week up north with the family.

In August we marked our 10 year anniversary in St. Louis Park. It’s a nice suburb with a solid school system and we feel comfortable and safe in our neighborhood, so we have no plans on changing addresses in the foreseeable future.

Well, that pretty much wraps it up. 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