Welcome to our once-a-year blog post. It’s with a twinge of guilt I use that term. First off, it means we rarely post, obviously. And secondly, this is now basically our Christmas card to you since we gave up sending cards a couple years ago. The guilt comes from that fact that so many of you continue to send to us anyway. Bless you for that. This is the place to get a quick glimpse of our year in review, if you’re into stuff like that. If not, no pressure from us, by any means.
January:
–Dori and Hope sold beeswax candles under the label “Wild Bumble.”
–There was homeschool co-op once a week.
–There was a lot of basketball.
–Hope began her internship in English as a Second Language (ESL) at Sparta High School.
–There were birthdays.
February:
–Waylen Vern was baptized.
–There was more basketball.
–Ingrid Evangeline Sawatsky (grandbaby #19) was born to Gretchen and Ryan.
–We partied for the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, and more birthdays.
March:
–Ingrid Evangeline was baptized.
–We went to the National Homeschool Basketball Championships in Springfield, MO.
–While we were gone, Zofie met up with a deer while driving our van.
–Hope wrapped up her internship.
–Delphine Zuzu was dedicated.
–And there were birthdays.
April:
–Finn, Bronwyn, and Hope tagged along with Jonathan on his biannual trip to Uganda for his work with Hope Centers for Children of Africa (HCCA). Uncle Joel and Auntie Gina joined us there.
–Dori and Hope got new bees. Emma began her first year of beekeeping.
–And the birthdays kept coming.
May:
–We discovered morel mushrooms in our yard.
–Hope graduated from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, with a master’s degree in ESL.
–Jonathan put new nesting boxes in the coop.
–Zofie took a trip to Thailand.
–We went to Hannah Bauer’s graduation in Stover, MO.
–Jonathan and Hope were gifted tickets to the Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, MO, and saw “Queen Esther.”
–Jonathan bought a bunch of baby chicks at the Stover Hatchery as his “souvenir” of MO.
–Anders went skydiving for the first time.
–We planted a wildflower garden.
–We had a visit from Isabel, a friend from Brazil.
–There was only one birthday.
June:
–Bronwyn got her lifeguarding certification, and she and Zofie started working at the Sparta pool.
–We took our annual family vacation to a cabin on Eagle Lake in northern MN.
–The strawberries came in.
–Hope and her sisters had a girls weekend at their mom’s and attended an all-school reunion in Middle River, MN.
–Victor Joseph Haagenson (grandbaby #20) was born to Analaya and Tim.
–There were more birthdays.
July:
–Finn got his lifeguarding certification.
–Zofie ran with the bulls in Spain.
–And on her way home from the airport, she and Ben McPherson went skydiving.
–We hosted an outdoor church service for our church, Christ is Lord Free Lutheran.
–A few of the older grandkids painted the playground fence.
–A bunch of us took a trip to MO and stayed in the Bauers’ cabin on Lake of the Ozarks for a couple days.
–We celebrated the 4th of July, attended several weddings, and partied down at a couple birthdays.
August:
–We took a family trip (with those still living at home) to the Guthrie Theater to see “Little Shop of Horrors.”
–Hope spoke at the La Crosse Area Homeschoolers conference.
–Grandma and Grandpa Wik held their first Christmas-in-the-Summer (a switch from doing it in December and having to juggle holiday schedules, potentially icy roads, and the usual bouts of Christmastime stomach flu).
–We finally got sick of all the repairs and replaced the old junky hot tub.
–Grandma Dyrud came for a visit.
–We had a visit from our Ugandan friend, Pastor Wilson Bugembe.
–We hosted a “Speak Truth in Your Heart” girls conference at our house.
–Finn joined the Sparta High School football team.
–Our grape vines produced abundantly, so we made lots of grape jelly.
–Hope got hired to teach ESL at Sparta High School.
–A bunch of us traveled to Minneapolis for Victor’s baptism.
–Jonathan was on a panel at the Consumer Credit Counseling Services annual convention in Washington D. C.
–We went to the annual Labor Day Retreat.
–Birthdays happened.
September:
–There were many first days of school: Finn started 11th grade, Bronwyn started 10th grade, Zofeyah started nursing school at Western Technical College, Berit went back at her job as kindergarten assistant at Coulee Christian School, Hope went back to high school, and eight grandkids started homeschool. (Finn and Bronwyn are doing homeschool at Gretchen’s house.)
–Dori, Emma, and Hope harvested honey.
–Jonathan shot his first bear.
–Berit painted Leif and Dori’s house.
–A bunch of us took a trip to Dubuque, IA, to see Hannah play college volleyball.
–We went to lots of football games to watch Finn.
–It was our biggest birthday month yet.
October:
–Jonathan’s plans to go to Lebanon got cancelled, but he was able to make it on the second half of the trip which was to Egypt to visit Lighthouse Arab World Egypt and attend “The Chosen” event. He spent lots of time with the actor who plays “Little James” and got to see pyramids for the first time.
–We got more chickens, a duck, and two turkeys from someone who was moving and needed to rehome her flock.
–Basketball practice started up again for Finn and Bronwyn.
–Some of us attended a Civil War Reenactment.
–As a basketball fundraiser, the Monroe County Warriors varsity teams helped cook and serve a dinner at Le Chateau French Restaurant.
–We celebrated Reformation Day and a bunch of birthdays.
November:
–Britton and Cassie announced that baby #4 is on the way.
–Cassie’s dad unexpectedly passed away.
–Both Anders and Zofeyah purchased new-to-them vehicles.
–There were basketball games.
–Bronwyn finished driver’s ed. and got her driving permit.
–We packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child with our church.
–In an attempt to keep the bees alive this winter, Hope made candy boards for the first time (basically huge sugar blocks to put in the hives to absorb moisture and provide extra food).
–Jonathan and a friend from church went on the biannual trip to Uganda and D. R. Congo.
–We celebrated Thanksgiving at Uncle Joel and Auntie Gina’s.
–We got our biggest Christmas tree yet–10.5 feet tall and 6 feet wide.
–There is only one family birthday in November. Crazy.
December:
–Jonathan got to speak to a group of over 20,000 at an all-night worship service in Kampala, Uganda.
–There was the annual school field trip to “The Nutcracker.”
–December ranks as our second biggest birthday month, so we get to eat lots of cake along with all the Christmas goodies.
And we are thankful for YOU! Thankful for the part you play in our lives. So, this season it is our sincerest desire that you would recognize the baby in the manger for who He is: the bringer of joy, the provider of peace, the one who gives meaning to life, the Savior of the world!
