Christmas Letter 2016

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

All right friends and extended family, here’s our year on one side of one sheet of paper!

How many people do you know who went to college, changed majors about halfway through, and graduated early anyway? Well, prior to collecting this news recently from Adrienne, I personally didn’t know any. She walks on December 17, but will remain in Eau Claire through the spring term to work, study for the GRE exam, and evaluate grad school options. More work ahead for this young lady, but she has worked ferociously in her time at Eau Claire, and this is a big milestone.

So with one kid 99 miles away and Collin living just one suburb over from us, you’d think we’d see him more often, but work keeps him pretty busy, and our weekly meals together are more like once or twice a month these days. He did call his mom today looking for a recipe for sausage gravy, which she got a kick out of. Earlier this year, he and girlfriend Cede spent a week in Hawaii to help her mom celebrate her 50th birthday, so he doesn’t let a lot of grass grow under those size 12s.

Back in August, Connie started a new job as the Building Receptionist at Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park. She has worked at schools in the SLP district since 2002, always in a part-time / substitute capacity, performing a wide variety of work. For those of you who appreciate baseball metaphors, I affectionately refer to her as the school’s “utility infielder”. With the kids grown up and out of the house, she jumped at the chance for full time work at the school she’s known and loved for years, and she is really enjoying the work.

For the 6th consecutive summer, we made it up to Lake Owen in northern Wisconsin for a week with the extended family. There were 13 Woods and Reyersons there in total, and it was a magnificent week: 3 pontoon boat trips to the Lake Owen Sand Bar, terrific fishing, 7 days of awesome weather, barely enough rain to slow us down. We slept like rocks and ate like kings. Lake Owen is my favorite place on earth.

As for me, I’m approaching my 3-year anniversary at Supervalu in Eden Prairie, working on a small team performing marketing analytics for Cub Foods and a handful of other regional grocery chains. The people there are very nice, and I get to mess around on Microsoft Excel almost all the time, so it’s a good job for me. I have very little to complain about.

The kids are crazy busy in the weeks directly ahead, so we spent Thanksgiving right here in St. Louis Park, and we plan to do the same for Christmas. The folks are just a phone call away, and Connie and I will sneak down there a bit later this winter for a long weekend. In the meantime, I look forward to enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the holidays (and maybe even a big Iowa Hawkeye bowl game) right here at home.

Well, that’s about it from here! 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 extend warmest wishes for a happy, safe and very restful holiday.

Warren, Connie, Collin & Adrienne

Christmas Letter 2015

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

Good heavens, what a year!  Don’t know where to begin, but here goes.

If you can believe this, Adrienne is over halfway done with her undergrad work at Eau Claire.  Her major course of study this semester will shift to Behavior Analysis with an emphasis in Psychology, and 3 years of graduate school will follow before she can begin her career as a school psychologist.  She’s renting a house near campus with four other girls, and her trips back to the Twin Cities are less frequent than before, although she and her boyfriend Greg still managed to sneak in a couple of weekends this semester.

Collin hit the pause button on college and is plenty busy making and selling pizzas as he contemplates the next chapter of his life.  He and his girlfriend Mercedes (Cede for short, pronounced “Sadie”) got an apartment closer to us in St. Louis Park, right about the time they adopted a puppy.  “Spyro” is a miniature dachshund and was about the size of a Chipotle burrito the day they brought him home.  He is insanely cute and the whole family is in love with him.

My very busy wife of 25 years just got busier:  Connie accepted a full time position at one of the elementary schools in St. Louis Park, and is enjoying the work a lot.  She has a new story every night about something funny a kid said to her, and the teachers and staff there don’t complain a lick about the tasty goodies she brings in there most every Monday.  Connie’s theory is these poor folks need a treat on Monday more than any other day, and who can argue with that logic?

There has been a lot of highway time for Connie and me in 2015:  our next trip to Iowa will be our 10th since last Christmas.  We lost Connie’s dad Rex, who had battled cancer for 4 years, on Memorial Day.  My folks moved to a smaller place back in October and we were down to help them move.  Throw in a wedding in Iowa City, a football game in Cedar Falls and a trip to Fayette to meet Baby Kyle, the cutest and newest member of our extended family.  I don’t have the first idea how we snuck in a week at Lake Owen, but we did and I have pictures to prove it!

My favorite trip to Iowa was in September:  55 years after their incredible 1960 season, Dad’s college football team received the honor of induction into the UNI Athletic Hall of Fame. The 1960 ISTC Panthers played 9 regular season games and won them all, allowing only 17 points in 6 North Central Conference games and earning the school’s first ever berth in a bowl game.  Dad wore #83 and scored 7 touchdowns for that great team, and we spent the weekend in Cedar Falls helping him celebrate and meeting some of his teammates and their families.  I was very proud to watch him walk onto the UNI-Dome field with some 20 teammates to a thunderous ovation at halftime.

The holidays are a good time to take inventory of all the blessings in your life.  Next August will mark 20 years for us at this address.   It was the 3rd house we looked at, so I guess we picked out a pretty good one.  We’re very comfortable and happy, and have made some mighty good friends over our years in the Twin Cities.  We’re also grateful to be just a short car ride away from all of our family and friends back in Iowa.

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper!  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, safe and very restful holiday.

Warren, Connie, Collin & Adrienne  

Christmas Letter 2014

Warm Holiday Greetings from the Reyersons!

All right, time to take inventory on 2014.  We were busy, I can tell you that much.  Let’s see if there’s enough material for an interesting letter this year!

Start with the kids.  Adrienne is in her second year at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, and is thoroughly enjoying it.  She has changed her major course of study to Educational Psychology, and is already shopping for grad schools, as the career she envisions for herself requires a Master’s Degree.  In the meantime, she’s got one more semester in the dorm before renting a house near campus next fall with four other girls.  She’s spent a lot of time on I-94 between Eau Claire and the Twin Cities this fall.  Her boyfriend Greg goes to the University of Minnesota and she appears to be getting quite attached to him.

Not long after you received last year’s letter in the mail, Collin revealed that he was not going back for the spring semester.   We were blown away, but it’s a lesson that lots of parents learn:  college immediately after high school isn’t the only path for a bright young kid, and it isn’t always the best one either.  Since leaving Eau Claire, Collin has been making pizzas full time and running some shifts at Davanni’s as he sorts out just what he wants to do with his life.  He shares an apartment a couple of suburbs away with his very sweet girlfriend Mercedes and they’re over every week for supper.

Connie and I laugh that every dollar she makes now is a dollar I won’t have to earn in my 60’s, which are (gulp) barely 10 years away.  She’s been working at the elementary schools in SLP for years and years, and this fall accepted a contract assignment to work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week through January.  The money’s OK, she doesn’t mind the work, and she still keeps the house neat as a pin.  There is nobody like her in the whole world.

For me, it’s been a little bumpy after I left Best Buy not quite 2 years ago.  I switched jobs again last February and I now work at Supervalu, for a small agency embedded there.  We have a team of 15 that performs the basic marketing functions including producing the weekly ads and signage, and I work on a small team that performs the analytic work.  I‘ve always liked crunching numbers, so the work doesn‘t bother me, and I thoroughly enjoy the people I come to work with.  Lot of folks I know can’t say that about their jobs, but I am pleased to report that I am happier now than the day before I got the bad news at Best Buy. 

By late June, I hadn't built up a lot of time off at the new job, but we managed to sneak away for a long weekend at Lake Owen.  It was fun catching up with our Lake Owen family, but I learned that 3 days at my favorite place on earth is not enough.  We’re going to stretch it out to a full week this June, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 25 years of marriage, which is what Connie and I will be doing this summer!

For us, the holidays usually mean at least one trip to Iowa, but we’re hanging back this year, as the kids’ schedules won’t allow 4 or 5 days on the road.  It will be only our second Christmas away from Oelwein and Webster, but we plan to make the very best of it.  The folks are just a phone call away, and we’ll have an extra week to enjoy all of Connie’s decorating.  Seriously, it takes her almost an entire day to put all the stuff out.

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper!  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, safe and very restful holiday.

Warren, Connie, Collin & Adrienne

Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

Well, our tree is up and I am halfway through Connie’s first batch of Chex Mix, so that means it’s time for me to get this letter in the mail and catch you all up on the news of the year.  So without further delay….

Our house instantly got bigger and more quiet one hot afternoon back in August, when we dropped Collin & Adrienne off at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, where they are just about to wrap their first semester.  By all accounts, they’re adjusting to campus life very nicely and enjoying the freedom that only being 18 years old and 99 miles away from Mom and Dad can bring.  We hear a lot more from Adrienne, who came home to visit a bit more often and communicates with us daily, than we do from Collin, but it’s clear to us that they’re both enjoying themselves and making good choices, and we’re thrilled that they chose the same school to start their college careers.

It’s no small task to round up a family when they’re scattered over 3 time zones, but the kids’ Graduation Party back in June drew a pretty nice crowd.  Family members traveled in from California, Colorado, and of course Iowa, and Mother Nature gave us a beautiful Saturday afternoon to have the party in the back yard.  Some of our friends here in town stopped by and met members of our family, which was so fun to watch.  It was a wonderful day, one of my very best ever, and a reminder that gatherings to celebrate a happy occasion don’t happen nearly often enough.

It’s different without the kids in the house, but Connie’s routine has continued without interruption, and that includes her work at St. Louis Park Schools.   There are four K-5 schools here in town, and Connie works at three of them throughout the school year.  She likes the work and she LOVES the kids.  With Christmas directly ahead, however, she has a few days blocked off to prepare her annual mountain of sweet Christmas treats.

It was a crazy summer getting the kids ready for Eau Claire, but right in the middle of all that, we got a phone call from Mike that  Dad had suffered a heart attack.  That was on July 20.  Four days later, open heart surgery at Mayo, where surgeons performed 5 bypasses (didn’t know you could even do 5).  Two weeks later, an ablation procedure at Allen memorial in Waterloo.  Months of cardiac rehab after that.  It has been a long road back for Dad, who’ll turn 75 in January, but he’s feeling a lot better, and our hearts were all warmed by the flood of cards, gifts, visitors, phone calls and food sent to the house after Dad got home.  I’m not sure of a lot, but I’m sure of this:  small town folks are made of the best stuff there is.  Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words.

Further proof that literally nothing lasts forever:  my 23-year run at Best Buy ended on March 1.  New leadership at the tip top of the organization drove out a lot of changes, and I was one of literally hundreds laid off earlier this year.  In fact, I am told that the headcount at the office has dropped by nearly 1,000 in the last 12 months.  The news isn’t all bad:  I landed a position 8 weeks later with a service provider for whom Best Buy is a client, and if you can believe this, I have a desk at the Best Buy office just like I always did.  So I still work AT Best Buy, just not FOR Best Buy.  Bottom line is I am happy to be working.  Lot of folks out there (including a few I know) are not as lucky.

With Thanksgiving falling so late in November and the kids’ break so short, everybody stayed put for Turkey Day this year, but our Christmas plans are to spend 4 nights in Iowa (2 in Oelwein, 2 with Connie’s folks in Webster).  It will be wonderful to punctuate a wild year with a nice quiet Christmas in Iowa with our families and a few dear friends.

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper!  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 & Adrienne

Christmas Letter 2012

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

The holidays are a crazy time, so if you’re too busy to read our letter right now, no hard feelings, here’s the short version: we’re fine, we went fishing this summer, the kids will be in college next fall and there’s a new patio in our back yard. But if you have a few minutes to spare, the long version is below:

Collin and Adrienne are now seniors at St. Louis Park High School, and the countdown is on. They both have a short list of schools to which they will apply after the 1st of the year. Adrienne is perhaps closer to choosing than Collin after visiting the very impressive campus of the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. Collin visited the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology out in Rapid City earlier this fall. He might wind up there, but he’s still evaluating options closer to home. Connie and I have made peace with the idea that both kids are going to start at a 4-year school as opposed to living at home and collecting their freshman Gen Ed credits at a nearby community college. Thirty years ago, I was at mile marker #18 and itching to get out there on my own, so we’ll support them no matter what they choose, simple as that.

In the past, the sum total of Connie’s Holiday baking has exceeded the Gross Domestic Product of most third world nations, but she throttled back on production this year, electing to prepare fudge, cookies, peanut butter balls and her world famous popcorn cake for friends and relatives only. She MIGHT switch it up next year and whip up a few holiday baskets to sell, but she wants to see how THIS year feels first! This fall, she began her 11th year working for the St. Louis Park School District, subbing in 2 of the 4 K-5 schools here in town. She loves those little kids, and she always has a funny story about what happened that day when we go out for our walk.

Far as vacations go, a lot of people I know like to do something completely different every year. I am not one of these people. This year, we rented the same cabin on the same lake, fished the same spots, drank the same brand of beer, played the same card games and told the same dumb jokes. And it was AWESOME. There were 21 of us up there altogether, including my cousin Wendi and her boyfriend Dan, who announced their engagement about halfway through the week. The weather was spectacular, Lake Owen was beautiful, I slept like a rock. DREAM VACATION!

Back in September, Dad finally sought a surgical solution to the back and leg pain that has been getting more severe the past few years. He jacked his back up back in 1960 (not a typo) playing football, and finally got around to doing something about it half a century later. Doesn’t like to be rushed I guess. At any rate, he’s feeling a lot better and is already talking about getting his golf clubs out next spring, and I have volunteered to serve as his first playing partner.

The holidays are a good time to take inventory of all the blessings in your life. This summer my golf buddy Reid finally talked me into putting a patio in the backyard. He helped us plan it, which was nice, but then showed up early one Saturday morning for the HARD part: helping me dig, scoop gravel and sand, and place the stones. By 4:00 pm we were enjoying ice cold beer on the new patio with Justo and Full Nelson. Turns out that Reid is good for something else besides outdriving me by 70 yards on the golf course. Connie and I have a lot of friends, but none that are any better than Reid. His name comes up just about every time we sit out there.

I don’t spend a lot of time talking about work when I’m not AT work, but I will tell you that I’m still at Best Buy and these last 12 months have been pretty wild. Lots of shake-ups at the tip top of the organization made for some interesting newspaper articles, but the work that I perform continued uninterrupted and during times like these, I feel mighty lucky to have a paycheck that takes care of all the bills.

This is our 17th year in St. Louis Park, and looking back, I think Connie and I picked out a pretty good place to put down roots. The kids have never known a house as home other than this one, we have good friends and neighbors here, and we’re just a short car ride away from home in Iowa. PRETTY GOOD GIG.

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper! 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

Christmas Letter 2011

Going through our Christmas letters for the past several years, I have truly come to appreciate how fast the time goes. It could not possibly be 11 years ago when I sat in this very spot to tell you all about Collin & Adrienne’s first day of Kindergarten, but here we are just the same. A blink of the eye later, our babies are driving cars and looking at colleges. A word of advice to all our friends with kids younger than ours: enjoy every minute you get with them.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, Collin got his drivers license in April and has been on the go ever since. He is somewhat more “adventuresome” behind the wheel than his kid sister (who got her license in September). We have not yet found a highway (not even up here) that he’s scared to drive on, so driving to nearby Edina to his job at the pizza place is no big deal. He has begun looking over schools that offer a strong Engineering program, and oddly enough, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the proximity of the school to our home and Collin’s perceived quality of it.

Ever since learning to knit at the age of 9, Adrienne has really developed An uncanny knack for creating something out of nothing, whether with knitting or crocheting needles, or the sewing machine she bought at a garage sale this year. She joined the Theater group last year at school and has become a very valuable member of that team in the preparation of all the costumes. She is a very talented young lady, and she’s thinking about a career in teaching, which I think would be right up her alley.

A moment ago, Connie came in with a grocery bag chock full of marshmallows, and from this I can conclude that (1) there was a big sale on marshmallows at Cub Foods, and (2) it’s almost time for her to make her world famous popcorn cake, just one of the many sweet treats she whips up this time of year. The 2011-12 school year is her 10th at St. Louis Park Schools, but she always takes a little time off between Thanksgiving and Christmas to whip up treats for family, friends and co-workers: cookies, peanut butter balls, fudge and 9 or 10 popcorn cakes. And what a treat it is for me to come home after a long day, walk inside to see the tree lit up, hear Christmas music playing, and smell all that!

After a 4-year break, we rounded up the gang in late June and headed back to Lake Owen in northern Wisconsin. There were 16 Woods and Reyersons altogether, ranging in age from 8 to 71. The fishing was good, the weather was incredible, the Leinenkugels were ice cold, and my phone didn’t work up there at all, so it was a “dream vacation” no matter how you look at it. In my opinion, there is nothing better in this world - and I mean NOTHING - than a week at the lake.

Sort of an up & down ride for the Iowa Hawkeyes this fall, including an embarrassing 22-21 loss to Minnesota where they coughed up an 11-point lead in the last 8 minutes. My cousin Joe and his 11-year old boy Brady came to town and saw the game with me and my crazy Colombian neighbor Justo, who has adopted the Hawks as his favorite American football team. We walked out of that stadium with the rest of the Hawkeye fans shaking our heads in disbelief, but we had a good time just the same, and Joe & Brady got a big kick out of Justo.

We always come to Iowa for Christmas, but at Thanksgiving, Iowa comes to US! Nobody likes to cook for a crowd quite as much as Connie, and my folks are all too willing to let her scratch that itch every November, and it is always fun having them up for a few nights. As for our Christmas plans, we don’t get to Iowa as often as we should, so we plan to make the very most of this trip: 3 nights in Oelwein (starting 12/22), to Webster on Christmas Day and 3 nights down there before heading back home to ring in the New Year here in town. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper! 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 & Adrienne

Christmas Letter 2010

Alright, here we are…Christmas 2010 is just around the corner. You know, years that end with a “0” are a pretty big deal in our family. More on that a little later in the letter. In the meantime, our year on one sheet of paper:

The kids are sophomores at St. Louis Park High school. Academically, the deal we make with both of them is if it’s all As and Bs, and more As than Bs, they won’t get any trouble from us, and on the most part, they hold up their end of the deal. It is also my duty to inform all of our readers that by the time you read next year’s letter, both kids will be licensed drivers. YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WARNED.

Collin took a year of baseball off to rest a sore arm and basically see what summer is like when you back out 40 games and 40-50 practices. He will never admit this, but I think he found it uncommonly boring, so he plans to be out there on the diamond next spring. Oh, and remember my prediction that he would be 6 feet tall by Christmas? He was there by Easter, and he’s only about an inch shorter than I am! Adrienne, on the other hand, filled many of her summer evenings up polishing her babysitting skills, mostly with two cute little girls who live down the street. She really has a soft spot for little kids.

One of Adrienne’s babysitting adventures on a Saturday back in June had a strange but fun ending. Our friends Reid and Ally dropped their little guy off with Adrienne to run an afternoon’s worth of errands, and we planned to have them stay for supper that evening. Meanwhile, I’m somewhere in South Minneapolis watching the USA vs. Ghana soccer match with Collin, Justo (my crazy Colombian neighbor) and many of his crazy Colombian friends. After the match, it was back to the house to get ready for supper. There had been a storm the night before and power had not been restored, so Reid and I were sitting in the front yard when Justo strolled up the sidewalk with a 12-pack of beer. Moments later, Justo’s friend Jose showed up with a case. Then another friend of Justo’s. Then some kids. Then neighbors Robyn and Full Nelson wandered over to see what was going on. Connie’s not seeing any of this because she’s out back grilling, but she wondered who could possibly be consuming all the beer she saw me hauling into the front yard. A moment later she looked out the kitchen window to a yard full of people tossing back beers waiting for the lights to come back on. Just like that, dinner for 7 became dinner for 20. Without hesitation, she cut all the ribs and chicken into little pieces, tossed the skillet beans and some chips out there and yelled “Come and get it!”. We ate, drank, and laughed the evening away. Never did run out of food. Great little impromptu party. WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!

Back on June 23, Connie and I marked our 20 year anniversary and celebrated by spending a couple of nights in Red Wing, MN. Red Wing is just 60 miles down the road, and the kids jumped at the chance to have the house to themselves. We stayed at the historic St. James Hotel, ate a couple of nice meals, hiked Barn Bluff, took a riverboat ride, and walked all over the place. A nice weekend getaway.

About 7 weeks later, Mom & Dad celebrated their 50th anniversary, so Mike, Paula, Connie and I treated them to dinner at the White House in St. Lucas, IA. Not to be confused in any way with The White House in Washington DC, but a very nice meal just the same, and Mom & Dad had a mighty good time.

And just a few weeks after that, we all went to Cedar Falls to help Dad celebrate the 50th anniversary of the great 1960 Panther football season. The 1960 Panthers rode a balanced offense and thoroughly suffocating defense to a 9-0 start, a feat that would not be repeated by a Panther team for 47 seasons. They allowed only 2 touchdowns and a field goal in 6 conference games, and earned a bowl berth for the first time in school history. Dad wore #83 and scored 7 touchdowns in 1960, his senior season. In all, 22 teammates, 2 widows and an assistant coach came to town for the gathering, not bad for a team of 39 guys a half century after their last game together. The university invited them onto the field before the North Dakota State game, and showed them a great time all weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and talking football with all of Dad’s teammates who made the trip, and Dad had a blast.

So while we spent the better part of the summer celebrating some milestones, we close out the year in a familiar way: Thanksgiving at home, Christmas in Iowa if the weather doesn’t stop us. They’re saying it’s going to be a colder, snowier winter, so keep your fingers crossed for us!
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

Christmas Letter 2009

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

You know, I think I can almost still taste the stamps I licked for LAST year’s Christmas cards, so to say that this year went by in a hurry is an incredible understatement. Truth is, I don’t know where the year went.

Kids are doing great. They are just finishing up their first semester of 9th grade at St. Louis Park Senior High. Connie and I are both amazed at the SIZE of this place, but for 1,100 kids, you NEED a place that big I guess. Last time Connie checked grades, it was all As and Bs for both of them, so no complaints there. Collin opted for the Honors course load right away, and Adrienne will move into Honors English and maybe 1 or 2 others next year. I must also warn our readers that Collin began Driver’s Ed this semester and Adrienne is next.

Collin landed his first job this summer, as a caddy at the golf course here in town. He liked the work, but he often showed up but then would get sent home right away because nobody was asking for a caddy, so he’ll be looking for steadier work next summer. Collin also got in another season of baseball (team finished 18-17), and he found some time to volunteer at the Westwood Hills Nature Center between games and practices. Busy kid, and as you can see in the enclosed picture, he is growing like crazy. Grew 6 inches this year alone, and his feet are now bigger than mine! I predict he will be 6 feet tall by next Christmas.

At the tender age of 14, Adrienne doesn’t reveal a lot of information to her pop, so I struggle to come up with things to write about her. She just goes about her business at school and hangs out with her friends. Ridgedale Mall is one of her favorite places, which is what you might expect from the typical American teenage girl. She doesn’t fancy herself much of an athlete, but she ran the 200 meter on the track team this spring and WON a couple of heats. And when she’s not knitting baby blankets or the red scarf I have been asking her for years, she’s either texting or Facebooking somebody.

As the days grow shorter and colder, Connie is preparing for her favorite time of year in a familiar way: putting the holiday decorations on display, wrapping and hiding presents, and cranking up the goody machine. This time of year, when I get home, there‘s always Christmas music playing and the house smells great. Cookies, fudge, peanut butter balls, popcorn cake, Connie does it all. She’s been at the elementary school for 8 years now, helping out wherever she’s needed, and a lot of the ladies there buy goody baskets from her this time of year, which means (you guessed it) even MORE baking. She tried to talk me into a second oven when we remodeled a few years back and I just laughed. Now I’m starting to get her point.

What a season for the Iowa Hawkeyes! 9 straight wins to start the season, including wins at Penn State, Wisconsin, that heart-stopper in East Lansing, and a berth in a January bowl game. They are not the most talented Iowa team ever, but they fought through injuries, ground out 10 wins, and earned everything they got. What an EASY team to root for! I must say that a win in January would be a great way to not only kick off 2010, but also to take the sting out of what promises to be a pretty bad season of Iowa basketball this winter.

Mom and Dad came up from Oelwein for Thanksgiving and spent 3 nights. We’ve done that for 6 years now, and Connie likes to put out a big spread, and it‘s so fun to have folks up. As for our Christmas plans, it looks like 5 nights on the road: 3 in Oelwein, then off to Webster on Christmas Day for 2 nights with Connie’s side of the family. It is such a treat to have a few days off around Christmas to really enjoy friends and family, and it’s a shame we can’t get together more often.

Well, I‘m out of paper, so I‘d better wrap 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.

Christmas Letter 2008

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

ANOTHER year almost in the books. The kids are doing great, bringing home mostly A’s on their report cards, are about to trade their braces for retainers and are both as tall as Mom. Adrienne may be done growing, we’re not sure, but Collin is just getting warmed up. He is eating literally everything.

Last Spring, Collin was one of 16 recipients of the St. Louis Park Caring Youth Award. His Language Arts teacher Mr. Pollack nominated him for his work planting milkweed to preserve the monarch butterfly habitat on school grounds, and we were invited to City Hall to watch Collin receive a certificate signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty. No football this year, but he’s still a baseball player and had a fine summer at the plate to go with his very reliable glove. He’s also playing basketball this winter and we like watching him battle out there. I am also pleased to inform you that Ozzie the Lizard is still on top of Collin’s dresser basking under a heat lamp. 2 years and counting.

Connie and I have both observed that Adrienne is a 50/50 blend of our DNA: she looks mostly like Mom and acts mostly like her pop. A few months shy of her 14th birthday, Adrienne just adores babies, and got a few chances to perform some babysitting this year. She’s a natural, and watching her with young kids, I see a future pre-school teacher, although she’ll tell you that she wants to be a fiction writer. We’re just impressed that she’s thinking about that stuff…a lot of girls her age are far more fixated on the opposite sex. While boys are on Adrienne’s radar, she’s not going out of her way to capture their attention. Still plenty of time for all that nonsense.

What a year it’s been for Connie. Back in January, she was selected for jury duty. A bit apprehensive about driving and parking downtown, she took the bus back and forth and made her way around the big town quite nicely, finding the Hennepin County Courthouse with little trouble. Not bad for a gal who grew up in a town of 100. She served on a jury and had quite an experience. Connie still fills in at the elementary school here in St. Louis Park, and for a 7 week stretch this fall, she worked every day in Room #105, where the developmentally disabled kids are. And now with Christmas coming, she has transformed into a baking machine. Big shock, right?

For the second consecutive summer, we did not get in a week of fishing up north, but we did get on the road to connect with family. We spent a couple of nights in Davenport with Uncle Kurt and Aunt Jenifer, who moved to the Quad Cities not quite 2 years ago after 20 years in the Twin Cities area. Mom and Dad came down from Oelwein, as did Scott and April from Iowa City. The boys golfed, the girls shopped and we all went to the ballpark for a Quad City River Bandits game, which is not a bad way to spend a beautiful summer evening.

On the gridiron, my beloved Iowa Hawkeyes have had a roller coaster season, defeating Iowa State to go 3-0, dropping a few close games, then galloping into November with a full head of steam, shocking #3 Penn State at Kinnick Stadium. Was really something to watch the students flood the field after the game winning kick. Back on November 22, Collin and I had front row seats right behind the Iowa bench (about 20 feet away from Floyd of Rosedale), and cheered the Black & Gold to a good old-fashioned butt-whooping of border rival Minnesota, 55 - 0. We stayed around after the game, high-fived the guys, sang the fight song. Collin even got to touch Floyd! I can’t think of 2 or 3 sporting events where I had a better time.

Is there anybody besides me who is happy to see this election cycle end? What a filthy business politics is! There are so many crooks, it’s almost impossible to spot the few true public servants employed in Washington. I don’t trust any of them anymore, and while I’m thrilled we live in a country where the choice is ours, I’m not crazy about a lot of the choices. And don’t get me started on the collapsing journalistic standards of the news media. Regardless of which candidate you supported, if you watch much news, I’m sure you’ll agree that this last two years has been little more than an infomercial for Barack Obama. I didn’t vote for our President-Elect, but with the shape this country’s in, I’m sure as heck pulling for him now.

As far as holiday travel plans go, we have settled into a comfortable routine. We go to Iowa for Christmas (3 nights in Oelwein, 3 in Webster), and “Iowa comes to us” for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad came up for their 5th consecutive Thanksgiving feast in St. Louis Park, staying for 3 nights, and weather permitting, we’ll be on the road to Iowa on December 22 to have Christmas with the whole family.

After moving 7 times in our first 8 years together, Connie and I have no regrets settling in St. Louis Park, buying the 3rd house we looked at, 12 years ago. Over the years, my job has taken me to a lot of big cities, but I still haven’t found one that I would pick over the Twin Cities area. Years from now, I envision a little house with a big porch in a little town, but for now, it’s a little house with no porch in St. Louis Park and we couldn’t be happier or more thankful.

Well, that‘s our year on one sheet of paper! 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 & Adrienne

Christmas Letter 1999

Seasons Greeting from the Reyersons!

I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s been another year. Seems like it was a few weeks ago that I sat here wondering how to sum up 1998 in a few paragraphs. A wise man told me once that the years really start to hurry once you have kids, and I cannot dispute that one bit.

As for this year, it was fun and challenging at the same time. It’s been fun watching the kids grow up a little, become more independent, start preschool and make new friends. It’s been a challenge to deal with the things that most folks don’t like about the average 4 year old. I’ll let you fill in the blanks. With that said, however, I’ll stack our kids up against anybody’s. They’re great kids, and we’re lucky as can be to have them.

The preschool teachers tell us that Collin is somewhat of a “leader”. Seems that a lot of the other kids want to play with him and sit by him at lunchtime. His hand shoots up every time the teacher asks for a volunteer, no matter what the task. I plan to use that piece of information to my advantage a few times in the next ten years or so. Collin also mastered the art of riding a bike like a big boy this year, and you should see him throw a football. I was also shocked to come home one day to see Collin at the table writing his name like he’d been doing it for years. He’s a tremendously fast learner.

Adrienne is more reserved than Collin at preschool, but has made friends with a couple little girls more shy than she is. The teachers tell us that these friendships help build Adrienne’s confidence, and that she has made big steps since school began back in September. At home, she acts out what she learns in school, reading stories to her dolls and stuffed animals. Lately she has been working on writing her own name in an effort to keep up with big brother. Folks keep telling us that she looks like Connie now more that ever. I know my DNA is in there somewhere, just don’t ask me where it is.

Connie is enjoying the newfound freedom that the 3.5 hour preschool sessions bring 3 times a week. She actually gets to “think” when she shops now, something most folks take for granted. We’re also getting a little time together away from the kids. We have neighbors across the street with two boys ages 7 and 5. Twice this fall, we dropped off the kids and went out for a little fun, dinner one night, a movie the other.

My 11th year at Best Buy is perhaps my busiest ever. It ranks right up there with the 3 years I spent at the store in Des Moines. I’m working essentially the same number of hours, but they’re the “right” hours (no evenings, just a few weekends). No matter how busy I get, I have the opportunity to do something I hardly ever got to do working shifts in Des Moines: eat lunch. Funny how quick you can put on a few pounds once you get 3 squares a day.

For all the Hawkeye fans out there, I must say I was sorry to see the Hayden Fry era end, but was even sorrier to watch the 1999 Hawks stumble through the worst season in the past quarter century. They looked like a fraternity football team on its third keg of beer. Yuck. I am, however, looking forward to the basketball season, where Mr. Alford and all the new faces may sneak up on a few teams writing off the Hawks as an easy win. Go Black and Gold!

Well, that’s just about it from here. Be sure to stop by if your travels bring you to the Twin Cities. Our house is just a few minutes from downtown Minneapolis and we’d love to see you. 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

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

Christmas Letter 2001

Warm Holiday Greetings from the Reyersons!

Well, let’s get right to it. The year 2001 “by the numbers”:

$7.50: Amount paid out to Collin and Adrienne (50 cents at a time) by the tooth fairy this calendar year. The pictures enclosed pretty much tell the story for the year: both kids were spitting out teeth faster than Bob Hope one-liners. I am told my many. however, that the tooth fairy has been mysteriously shorting our kids, as the neighbor girl across the street has been getting a whole dollar for one of her teeth. Therefore Connie and I plan to renegotiate a deal with the tooth fairy so our kids can get a dollar too...only fair, right?

850: Miles covered on the 2001 Reyerson Family Summer Vacation. We made several stops on our 8 day, 7 night odyssey criss-crossing Iowa, starting with Connie’s 15 year class reunion. We dropped the kids off with Connie’s folks in Webster and rented a hotel room in Williamsburg, up the road about 25 miles, for 3 nights. Then the 4 of us were off to Ida Grove in western Iowa, for a couple days to visit some friends who’d had their first baby a few months earlier. After successfully peeling Adrienne off the baby (a bit of a chore), it was off to Oelwein to spend a couple days with my folks in their new house. They moved into Oelwein after 32 years in the house I grew up in north of town. The new house is a bit smaller, but plenty big for all of us when we come to visit, and it’s as cozy as it can be, just perfect for Mom and Dad. Weather permitting, we plan to be in Oelwein for the first Christmas at 518 East Charles.

1,000,000: Approximate number of new blades of grass in our front yard. Much to the consternation of Collin, who argues that we have done an egregious disservice to the St. Louis Park squirrel and chipmunk community, we took a big soft maple tree out of our front yard this last winter. It had grown too big, too close to the house, and it just killed our grass year after year. After the snow melted, we put down some black dirt and reseeded the entire front yard. Sounds like a bigger job than it really is...our front yard measures 40’ X 50’, or roughly the same dimensions as Bill Gates’ master bedroom. Still, the yard has never looked better, and we really are proud of it.

3: Brand new dents in my car. A few months after we took the soft maple down, pieces of our hard maple, also in the front yard but closer to the street, mysteriously started falling to the ground. One fell right on my ‘91 Pontiac, smashing the windshield and totaling the car. The insurance guy said he’d either give me $2900 and take the car or give me $2500 and let me keep the car. Hmmm. I landed on option B like a sumo wrestler, pounded out the aforementioned dents, dropped in a new windshield, and put about $2000 in the bank. I mean when you drive to work in the dark and drive home in the dark, who cares what the car looks like?

35: Number of hours per week Connie has to herself when the kids are in school. Connie is still the classic “stay at home mom”. She really enjoys it and it’s what we both truly want for the kids. And while she’s not working outside the home, Connie’s been working to get a small “cookies, bars and brownies” business off the ground right out of the house here. She loves to bake, and is always looking for an excuse to do it (half of what she bakes goes to the office with me and is devoured by my co-workers), so she might as well make a few bucks doing it I guess. Business cards currently in design will read “Cookies by Connie”, a simple but snappy name coined by the kids’ preschool teacher a while back.

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

Christmas Letter 2002

So, here we are again! Another whirlwind year drawing to a close, and time now to catch you up on the comings and goings of the Reyerson Family.

After talking about it for a few years, I finally bought a shed for the back yard and built it with an assist from neighbors Terry and Kenny. In fact, had I not come home early one day, they may have finished it without me. Terry and I spent the majority of a Saturday levelling out the ground and assembling the structure. We quit when it got dark, and the weather kept us inside the next day. I came home on Monday to the sound of Kenny and Terry hammering tarpaper and shingles onto the roof! We finished the job together later that day. A few weeks later, Terry bought the same exact shed and we did it all over again. Connie and I have a lot of things to be thankful for, and we would count our good neighbors among them.

For the first time in 7 years, we'll be stapling two W-2 forms to our tax return this April. That's right, Connie has joined the work force, taking a part-time job with St. Louis Park schools as an on-call substitute for school employees. She has no official title, but for all you baseball fans out there, I call her St. Louis Park's "utility infielder". At any rate, she loves the kids, the hours and the flexibility the job brings. The money doesn't hurt either. "Cookies by Connie" continues on as a non-profit venture, as Connie bakes for the Cub Scouts, the Girl Scouts, friends, family and neighbors when she can find the time.

After two years of tee ball, Collin graduated to the ranks of "machine-pitch" baseball. His team, the Chuck's Grinding "Little Grinders", finished with a record of 10 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Collin's skills improved quite a bit over the summer, and he played every position on the diamond, although he got a bit bored in the outfield and was frequently spotted playing with his protective cup. Like most 7 year old boys, Collin's competitive juices are just starting to flow; he was far more concerned with the post-game treat than he was with the score.

Both kids, now in the second grade, are doing quite well in school, but based on my observations, I would say that Adrienne may enjoy it a little more. She spends a lot of her free time at home at the table writing and illustrating stories, and playing "school" with her friends, her dolls and her friends' dolls. She's a very creative player and learner, but we were surprised to find out that she had joined Collin in the advanced math class this year! Collin would also want you to know that he has not missed a single word on the spelling tests he's taken every Thursday this fall. We're so proud of both kids.

Here are 4 words I thought I would never utter: We bought a mini-van. Wait a minute -- is that 5 words? The hyphen thing always mixes me up. Whatever. At any rate, Connie's been on me for years for a mini-van and her father has been singing the praises of Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge products for as long as I've known him. So I satisfied both of them and bought a Dodge mini-van. I never thought I would be a mini-van guy, but I found that it's great for moving kids around, and very comfortable to take on trips. The only regret I have is not having bought it sooner.

Back in June, I marked my 13 year anniversary with Best Buy Company, and this Christmas is my eighth at the Corporate office, which is really hard to believe. It seems like almost no time has passed since we decided to move to Minnesota, but here it is 7 years later. No regrets though...Connie and the kids are happy, we have a nice home, and the folks are just a few hours down the road in Iowa.

Speaking of Iowa, what a season it's been for the Black and Gold! 11 wins, 9 in a row, and a perfect 8-0 record in the Big Ten. It is hard to believe that one bad half against arch-rival Iowa State cost the Hawks a shot at the National Championship. Oh well, spilled milk, right? All I want now is a win on January 2 in the Orange Bowl, and we can call it a fitting end to a true dream season, and the perfect way to kick off the New Year!

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 shout. St. Louis Park is just a stone's throw from downtown Minneapolis, and we love to have visitors. Until then, a safe, happy holiday from our home to yours,

Warren, Connie, Collin and Adrienne

Christmas Letter 2003

Warm Holiday Greetings from the Reyersons!

2003 is almost in the books, and for our family will go down as a year of accomplishments, some good fortune, and lots of quality family time.

They say it's technically not "bragging" when you're bragging on your kids, so here goes. Collin and Adrienne are in the third grade, and academically are at or near the top of the class. Their teachers told us in October that they were reading and writing at a late 3rd grade level shortly after the school year began. Both are thought to be assets to their respective classes, although Collin is somewhat more "aggressive" in class participation (either by invitation or the other kind) than Adrienne, who generally waits to be called upon.
Both kids are in scouting (Collin is currently working toward Bear rank, Adrienne a 3rd year Brownie), and last month Collin shocked the Cub Scout world by coming out of nowhere to win the 2003 Pack 225 Space Derby. 36 Scouts entered a rocket, and Collin has the trophy that proves nobody was faster than he was in 2003.

Connie has been stocking up on sugar, butter, flour and things of that ilk, which can only mean that a period of very intense baking is about to begin. This is easily her favorite time of year. She's got the house decorated, she's playing the holiday music, watching the holiday movies, baking and shopping up a storm, and waiting for the first flakes to fly. In the midst of all this, she still has time to put in anywhere from 5 to 20 hours a week at the elementary school, helping out wherever she's needed.

With the help of our neighbors, we were able to cross a couple of household projects off the list. For starters, we put a brand new white picket fence, complete with a archway and a gate, around Connie's vegetable garden in the back yard. It was a lot of cutting, drilling, hammering and screwing, but it looks a whole lot better than the old wire fence, and is no less effective at keeping the rabbits out. Later in the summer, we replaced about 20 feet of sidewalk in front of the house. It was a very hot and exhausting job (25 bags of concrete X 80 pounds a bag = 1 TON of concrete), but with the help of neighbors Terry and Kenny, we nailed it! Terry and Kenny are the guys I told you about last year who helped me build the shed. They're made of the good stuff as far as neighbors go, and we're lucky to have them.

Back in August we relived what was an annual Wood-Reyerson family tradtition 20 or 30 years ago: we fished in Wisconsin for a week. What a treat that was! The four of us got with my folks and rented a cabin on a lake about 100 miles from the Twin Cities. We fished, golfed, ate and slept to our hearts' content the whole week, and while it was essentially the six of us, we had aunts, uncles and cousins dropping in just about every day, so it really did feel like one of those big trips up north with the whole family there. I was about Collin's age when we started going up north, and I have few childhood memories that are happier than how I remember those vacations. Hopefully years from now, our kids will feel the same way about their time at the lake with the family.

I've been told that it's better to be lucky than smart, and I've spent a lifetime clinging to those words like a piece of driftwood. But in February, I actually proved it by winning a trip to Las Vegas by entering a drawing at the Minneapolis Golf Show. Round trip airfare for two, 4 nights at the Mirage on the Strip, 2 rounds of golf, rental car, the whole nine yards. Since Connie is not a golfer, I had to find a different travel partner. Dad, as most of you know, retired from the creamery back in March after 34 years, but you'd be surprised how much trouble I had convincing a man with nothing but time on his hands to hit Vegas with me. But he finally caved in, so back in early November, Dad and I flew out to Vegas and turned that town upside down, and while Dad didn't set the blackjack tables on fire, he golfed circles around his hack of a son.

June of 2004 will mark my 15 year anniversary with Best Buy Company, and we're coming up on 8 years in the Twin Cities. That's hard to believe considering that Connie and I moved 6 times in the 7 years prior to moving to St. Louis Park. I don't see us moving anytime in the foreseeable future. Connie and I both like the idea of the kids growing up in one place, one house, and always knowing that as home. Years down the road, we'll likely move to a smaller town, but in the meantime, we're very thankful for what we have: a healthy family with a nice home and a couple bucks in the bank. What else is there?

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 just a hop and a skip 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 and Adrienne

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

Christmas Letter 2005

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

Rule of thumb around our house is when weatherman starts talking about the wind chill factor, that’s when we get cracking on our annual letter. So what words most fittingly describe 2005 for our family? Let’s start with shockingly, ridiculously busy.

We can’t blame it all on the kids, but let’s start with them. Collin and Adrienne are in the 5th grade at Cedar Manor School, just down the road from us, and are performing really well. Besides growing a few inches and getting a bit more smart-alecky, neither has changed a great deal in the past year. Collin excels in the math/science curriculum and Adrienne is all over the reading, writing and arts. Both still think the opposite sex is stupid and gross, so we’re still a year or two away from all that nonsense.

A ballplayer just like his pop, Collin was a 3 sport athlete this year, playing 7 different positions for the SLP 10 year old traveling team. The Little Orioles finished the season 15-17. Collin showed patience at the plate, got some good hits, and was excellent with the glove. He also played football this fall with the 5th grade team, which finished 2-6. While he was the 5th or 6th smallest boy on the 19 player roster, he played his muffins clean off and I was so proud of him. Next stop: basketball season.

Adrienne had kind of a tough summer, with her best friend Julie moving to Staples, MN, about 3 hours north and west of the Cities. The good news, however, is that with much of Julie’s extended family here in town, the girls had several opportunities to hook up both here and at Staples, and their friendship is as strong as ever. Adrienne continues to discover her power to create. She probably has a half dozen projects going right now, her latest a scarf and a pair of mittens. On the soccer field, Adrienne tripled her 2004 goal total this summer, booting in 3 altogether, 2 in the same game!

So when she’s not driving to a ball game, ball practice, Staples or the yarn store, Connie does what she’s great at, and that’s keeping this house in apple pie order and making a few apple pies in the process. And even though the kids have been done with Aquila Elementary School for a couple of years now, Connie chooses to keep working there. She always has a story for me about something cute one of those little kids did. I truly think taking that part-time job there was one of the best things Connie ever did.

This year is my 17th year working for Best Buy, and let’s just say I rolled up more frequent flyer miles than usual. I have lost track of all my trips but suffice it to say that I hit all 4 time zones and wore out a cell phone. Lots of my co-workers can’t wait for the next trip, but I’ll admit that I prefer it at home. Everybody’s nicer, the food is better and the bed is more comfortable. Still, I can’t complain one bit about how Best Buy has treated me. It’s hard work sometimes, but that’s why they pay you to do it I guess. My next stop is Minot, ND, but don’t be fooled. Not all my trips are to such glamorous destinations.

I am thankful to report that the Woods and Reyersons fought some health and scheduling challenges and got a week’s worth of fishing in up on Lake Owen. What a week it was! We rented a pontoon boat and spent part of a day beached on a sand bar, swimming and tubing. Just a perfect day and a wonderful memory for the kids. And if you’re scoring at home, Collin caught the biggest fish for the 3rd consecutive year, a nice Northern Pike he snagged while trolling Otter Bay.

We recently marked our 9 year anniversary in this house, by far our longest stay at any address, and we always said we’d remodel the kitchen at some point. Well, once we started, we decided we couldn’t stop, and by the time we were done, about the only thing left over from the start of the project was our stove and fridge. Start to finish, it was 8 weeks of eating supper in the basement, but it’s a huge improvement, and I think it will help sell a 50 year old house when that time comes. Connie and I are mighty proud of our new kitchen.

What better way to break in the new kitchen than with an old fashioned Thanksgiving dinner? In total, there were 10 Reyersons and Woods in here, on Thanksgiving Day, including Mom and Dad, who stayed for a few nights. We filled up on turkey, ham, green bean casserole, cornbread muffins and 3 different kinds of pie. It’s funny how much better food tastes when you’re having it with family and good friends, are we are certainly thankful for all of ours.

Well, that’s about it from here. If you ever wind up in the Twin Cities, be sure to give us a call. St. Louis Park is just a 20 minute drive from the Mall of America, and we love to have visitors. Until then, warmest wishes for a happy, safe holiday from our house to yours,

Warren, Connie, Collin and Adrienne

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

Christmas Letter 2007

Merry Christmas from the Reyersons!

OK, busy year, plenty to talk about. Let’s jump right in:

File this one under Things I Didn’t See Coming: our kids are becoming young adults before our eyes. Adrienne has developed a taste for Caribou Iced Coffee, has been spotted wearing her mom’s jewelry and is impossible to get off the phone. Collin is getting an B in Algebra, asked for books and an electric guitar for Christmas and has admitted that girls don‘t make him sick anymore. They have both devoured all seven books in the Harry Potter series, and were up until 2:30 a.m. one morning this summer waiting in line for the release of #7. Two years from now, you’ll be reading about their first semester in high school. This ride is going way too fast, but you can’t stop it, so you might as well enjoy it, and we are.

What would our Christmas letter be without a brief update from the sports desk? On the diamond, the boys struggled with injuries and stumbled to an 7-23 start, but then won 7 of its last 9, including 5 in a row and a tournament championship, to finish 14-25. Collin got a couple of hits in the tournament final and scored the first run in a 2-0 win over a team from Owatonna. Adrienne played soccer this fall, made some friends and had a good time. There are few things about being a parent that I like better than watching the kids compete. On the field and in the classroom, we are mighty proud of both of our kids.

As the days grow shorter and colder, it should not surprise you that Connie is preparing for her favorite time of year in a familiar way: getting the house all dolled up, procuring, wrapping and hiding presents, and churning out sweet treats at an alarming rate. She’s still working at the elementary school, helping out wherever she’s needed, and has a fresh set of stories about the cute and goofy things the little kids do there. She’s planning a “girls only” trip next April to (are you ready for this?) Las Vegas with a couple of friends from back home. Something to bring up in next year’s letter I suppose.

One of my co-workers at Best Buy found my name on a list of employees listed in chronological order of hire date (mine was 6/12/89). I was shocked to discover that out of Best Buy’s 90,000 employees, there are only 225 people who have worked there longer than I have. I am #226. Best Buy has been awfully good to us, and joining the company half a lifetime ago was one of the 3 or 4 smartest things I’ve ever done.

Three years ago, we went to Orlando to see what all the fuss was about Disney World. Well, we had so much fun, we did it again this past October. This time we brought Adrienne’s friend Julie and the five of us went crazy at Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios and Typhoon Lagoon water park. As far as vacations go, I’ll take fishing up north over just about anything, but in case you were wondering, you can do a whole lot worse than a week in Florida while the rest of Minnesota is tuning up their furnaces.

I usually reserve a paragraph to chat up Iowa Hawkeye football, but this year let’s hear it for the University of Northern Iowa Panthers, who won their first 9 games for the first time since 1960, when a 21 year old, 190 pound flat-top named Mace Reyerson wore number 83 and scored 7 touchdowns for the Purple and Gold. Collin and I joined Dad and Uncle Joe in Cedar Falls for a game back on November 10 and cheered the Panthers to their 10th straight win, a 68-14 dismantling of Indiana State.

Back in July we marked our 11 year anniversary in St. Louis Park. I’m not a real big city guy, but the Twin Cities area has a lot to offer and has proven to be a great place to raise a family. All that and it’s just a short drive back home.

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