I used to be pretty good at this blog and have fell out of practice. With this new year, Becky and I have a renewed interest in journal writing, and this is as close as I had for a time. Perhaps a weekly blog will help jumpstart my journaling.
Since Becky did such a great job with a recent family Christmas letter, I'll simply add hers as this week's entry and back it up with photos as appropriate. I will try to be better in the future...
December 2010
Greetings! Because we have not been diligent in sending Christmas cards and newsy letters in the last couple of years, it is our desire this Christmas to rectify our negligent ways. We hereby present The Rosenlund Review – 2010 Edition!
A main catchphrase for much of the last two years has been “Road Trip”. Our family has spent a lot of time traveling in our trusty 2002 Dodge Caravan (and wishing we had upgraded to the roomier “Grand Caravan”). Between late June 2009 and early August 2010, we went on six trips to Utah (four weddings, one funeral, one temple sealing); a trip to Idaho (Rexburg & Meridian); a trip to California for a wedding (but we added visits to Arches, Bryce and Zion Nat’l Parks in Utah, and our first ever trip to Disneyland!); and our favorite destination: Florida, where we spent about four days in beautiful Ft. Myers Beach and a day at Sea World in Orlando. On our way to and from Florida, we drove through as many states as we could and saw many wonderful sites, including the Oklahoma City Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, Church History sites near Independence, Missouri, and many temples.
During a less than 14-month period, we traveled nearly 20,000 miles through 22 states (NE, WY, CO, UT, NV, AZ, CA, ID, KS, OK, TX, AR, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, TN, KY, IL, MO, IA … do you know your abbreviations?). We have literally been from “Sea to Shining Sea” in about a 7-week period, wading in the Pacific Ocean (Venice Beach, CA) in mid-November 2009 and the Atlantic Ocean in early January 2010 (Canaveral National Seashore, FL). We’re tired of driving and plan to stay put for awhile, but have loved traveling through much of this beautiful country and we’re grateful that here in Nebraska, we are really only a two-day drive from anywhere. Strangely enough, we spend a lot of time during our long drives talking about other great trips we’d like to take and have big road trip plans for our future! We still have so many more states to visit …
This year, another keyword for our family is “School”. Daina thought she’d start school the day she turned 5 (in Nov. ‘09) and loves finally being in all-day kindergarten (though it was a big adjustment for mom and especially Matthew this fall). Jared is in 4th grade and likes being the oldest Rosenlund at the elementary school. He is taking his role as big brother/protector very seriously and takes good care of Daina when they walk or ride bikes to school. Christopher is in 6th grade and though he was nervous about starting middle school, he is having a great year. He is particularly excited about participating in Jazz Band, even with early morning rehearsals twice a week. Meile is in 8th grade, but takes two classes at the high school (Honors English & Spanish). She enjoys participating in choir and orchestra and as a student ambassador. This is Matthew’s first year at home all by himself with Mom and he is sometimes lonely for “the guys”. He is a huge fan of Thomas the train and enjoys playing with his train tracks undisturbed, but the best part of his day is always when everyone gets home from school.
Another important keyword in our home is “Music”. The chaos of a recent afternoon was accompanied by the sounds of music with Meile practicing the violin upstairs, Christopher downstairs playing his trumpet, Jared working on the recorder in the dining room and Daina plunking out a tune on the piano. It is music to our hearts (if not always to our ears!). We’re grateful for wonderful school music programs that provide our children with opportunities to develop their talents in this area, and even though Becky is a mediocre teacher at best, we’re glad that she can at least give the children a start on the piano (and at a low cost, too!). We’re determined that they all will learn to play many of the hymns on the piano, if for no other reason than to give their mother a break once in a while at church. One of the things we’ve learned in our small (but wonderful!) ward here in Grand Island is that we need more church members who can play the piano!
“Scouts” is another buzzword you’ll hear at our house a lot. Jon is the Scoutmaster in our ward and has particularly enjoyed having Christopher (who recently turned 12 and was ordained a deacon!) join his Troop. They are looking forward to attending Scout Camp together next summer. Becky is still the Cub Scout leader as part of her responsibilities in the Primary Presidency and runs a pack with about a dozen boys from 4 units in our stake (den meetings at our house tend to be a little noisy!). It has been fun for her to participate in scout activities with Jared (a Bear) and Christopher (who, as Den Chief, is Becky’s right-hand man). One of the highlights of our summer was when we attended “Family Camp” at our local Boy Scout Camp. We enjoyed camping as a family for the first time in several years and participated in a fun-filled Saturday of swimming, hiking, canoeing, ropes course, archery, bb-gun and rifle shooting and other activities. We had such a great adventure and can’t wait to do it again next summer!
A new keyword for this year is “Run”. Jon decided this year to become a runner. His motivation has inspired all of us and we competed in 3 “Fun Runs” as a family, including a half-marathon for Jon in September (the rest of us ran much shorter distances). The next step is a full marathon in 2011! His new habit of waking up extra early to go running proved to be a blessing this fall when he was called to be an early morning on-line seminary teacher in our stake. He conducts his class through video-conferencing and has about a dozen students from all over rural Nebraska and even two in Kansas. He’s had to make some adjustments in his exercise schedule, but wants to continue running, with a goal of 1,000 miles in 2011 (almost double his 2010 total of 550)!
Jon isn’t the only Rosenlund Runner: Meile enjoyed participating in Track and Cross Country at the middle school, and Christopher and Jared both did lots of running on the basketball court, baseball diamond and soccer and football fields in community sports leagues. In her first official 1-mile kids’ race in September, Daina placed 1st in her age group and crossed the finish line with a big smile on her face. She also enjoyed her first tumbling class and soccer season this year. Although Matthew wasn’t an official participant in any of these activities, he embodies the word “Run” more than anyone we know and spends a lot of time in a full-out sprint … and is the reason Becky has to do a lot more running than she likes.
Our most important keyword is, of course, “THE WORD” (John 1:1). We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and are so happy to celebrate his birth and life and Atonement during this special time of the year. As we reflect on our many blessings, we express gratitude for all of you, our wonderful family and friends, both near and far (sadly, mostly far!). As we prepare to begin a new year, we wish you peace, health, happiness and wonderful experiences with your families (maybe a trip to Nebraska…)!
Love,
The Rosenlund family
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