Our 2006 New Year's letter is in the works! Check back for details soon...
Happy New Year 2005!
Our 2005 New Year's letter provided a glimpse into 2004. Here you can
read all the details from Lisa's point of view; some gory, some funny, and all
really happened!
Our home in San Andreas, was one huge remodeling project. After purchasing
it in 2002, we discovered mold and water damage and we fixed all of before moving in in 2003 (fixed as in gutted two bathrooms, tore out walls, replaced sheet rock, painted every surface and tore up and replaced all the floor coverings.) After moving in in 2003, we had the roof replaced, all new windows installed, the horrid fireplace removed, and new siding put on the entire house. During 2004, we remodeled the master bath, tore out some of the changes we'd previously made to the master bedroom, built a fabulous library, and finished the kitchen in the cottage. Great timing has never been our strong point; we tore up the master bath just a week before Jack was born (I begged Eric to leave the toilet in!) and had our favorite contractor there to start rebuilding it when Jack was just two days old!
Nicholas, Kate, and Stephen all played basketball in 2004 in a great community league that both practiced and played just on Saturdays. Eric coached Stephen's team and Nicholas and Kate were on the same team. The younger boys and I loved watching the games from the stands and cheering on our new players!
Kate began back to gymnastics early in the year and was later joined in her class by Nick, Stephen, and Matthew. Each of the kid's has their favorite apparatus and it's amazing to watch them move their bodies in ways I never could!
In early 2004, my beloved paternal grandfather, died from complications of the lung cancer he'd been fighting. We were so thankful to have him living nearby us in the last years of his life and were especially thankful for a wonderful, lucid day when all of the children were able to say goodbye. Gramp's predicted that the baby I was carrying was boy number 5 and he was right! I miss Gramp's deeply; especially when baking his favorite peanut butter cookies.
On Leap Year Day, Thomas Jackson Kjeldgaard (named for the great general, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson) was born out in our little cottage. The Lord provided a wonderful, godly midwife who took wonderful care of me and our wee son. I LOVED being able to labor at home, walking outside with the children and my mom. Stephen was nervous and offered me his protection, riding his bike alongside me with his bb gun across his back. Later after being summoned by Eric, Stephen ran in to cut the cord of his newest brother. The water birth was amazing and Jack's birth was without a doubt the easiest and most peaceful birth ever. If you're having a baby, I highly recommend buying a kiddie swimming pool for the birth!
The children (and I!) continued our Latin studies this year and are loving our new curriculum, Latin for Children. After our first week Katy said, "I can't get this Latin out of my head!" Now there's a great curriculum recommendation!
Our San Andreas home sat on 10 acres with quite a downward slope (okay, some actually called it a cliff!). We had an empty 500 gallon water tank on the property that the children discovered made a great object to roll down the hills in. Unbeknownst to us, the kids had ranked the, "runs" by levels of difficulty and Nick and Kate sent Stephen and Matthew down, "dead man's pass" resulting in a greenstick fracture to Matthew's clavicle! When the orthopedic surgeon we saw released Matt from his care he shook my hand and said, "You have five sons? We'll be seeing a lot of each other!"
Our trip to Maui was a definite highlight of the year. My parents were already there when we flew to the island and we enjoyed a couple of days with my dad before he had to come home ("someone in this family has to work!") My mom stayed for the week and graciously watched kids while Eric and I took each child on a fun date. We got to zip line through the rain forest with Nick, shop with Kate, kayak with Stephen, ride the train with Matt, and see the Koi fish with Chris. After a wonderful week, my mom was the hands-down-winner of the, "Nana of the Year Award" and flew back home with all five of our oldest children who she and my dad then watched for a week while Eric, Jack, and I stayed behind. After a couple of alone days we were joined by our dear friends the Fletchers with baby Annesley in tow. What a trip!
Because I'm such a selfless wife, (or at least trying to be one!) I surprised Eric for his birthday by arranging a trip for he and Nicholas to join our friends the De Rosa's for another dinosaur dig, this time in South Dakota. They were gone for a week and loved digging in sand as opposed to the sandstone of Colorado. Nicholas was especially amazed at the vast amount of skin impressions they found and he even uncovered garfish scales on his own!
2004 saw some huge changes in our place of worship. The before mentioned, "dear friends" started a new church and then, long story short, stole our pastor! Thankfully we believe strongly in the providential hand of God and therefore we can remain great friends. Not desiring to lose the teaching we so appreciate from our pastor, we followed and Eric is now serving as an elder at Central Valley Evangelical Reformed Church in Ceres. Commuting over an hour to church has brought its challenges but we are immensely thankful for the community there.
The evening before Camp Kissikutu began, the children were all playing outside the Fletcher home with the dads while the mom's did some last minute shopping. While wadding in the flooded orchard, Stephen (7) jammed his toe into a piece of wood and got a 2 inch splinter under his big toe nail. With all the urgent cares closed, Dr. Fletcher took the matter into his own hands, literally! Our favorite dentist took Stephen (and Eric) down to his office where he numbed the toe and used his tools to remove the HUGE splinter! We have photos if you're interested!
Like mentioned in our New Year's letter, Camp Kissikutu was a favorite part of summer 2004! Great meals by the camp chef, hours of arts, crafts, and games, the camp store, swimming, custom t-shirts, and a cook-out made this one fabulous day to remember!
After 18 months of remodeling our home in San Andreas, you would have thought we'd stay there forever, but not us! After our time in Maui, Eric and I decided to ask my folks if they would consider living in a multi-generational situation with us. The ranch behind my parents home was for sale and within a week of our discussions beginning, we were in escrow. Five weeks later, we moved our Klan into the small home on the property and the plan was for us to build a new home and for my parents to remodel the existing home and join us on the seven acres. Yet, the most consistent thing in our lives is change and we're currently feeling a pull to the Central Valley to be closer to friends and our church. All that to say, we haven't started building our new home and we're exploring options in the Valley and trying to decide where the Lord would have us be. We'd appreciate your prayers as we're anxious to get settled and give up our moving habit!
After Jackson's birth, surviving our remodeling, packing, moving, and unpacking, I really hit rock bottom. I've never before experienced anything close to depression, but I was near there. Thankfully my Lord is faithful and He met me in my deepest time. While reading Psalm 119, He met me and revived me! Praise be to God for his unfailing faithfulness!
Our new home is adjacent to Greenhorn Creek, the golf course community my parents belong to. Each year, they host an amazing week called, "Family Week" with golf, tennis, crafts, swimming, and evening activities. This year was made even better by the addition of the Jung family! My sweet friend from high school, Wendy Rayl Jung, brought her crew of four children out to join us for a great week! Having 10 children, 10 years and younger was busy but tremendously fun!
Nicholas, Kate, and Matthew all began violin lessons with a Suzuki studio that just opened here in Calaveras County. Their instructor is an energetic, godly man who really keeps the children motivated with his group lessons and never ending list of metaphors! If you call our home, chances are high that you'll hear violins in the background. Stephen has zero interest in the violin but is working on getting the guitar mastered! Eric has been playing quite a bit on our piano this year so our home is becoming quite musical. My involvement in the music? I write the checks and deliver children to lessons!
In October we had a fabulous week in Oregon with my parents and loved our first trip to that state. We celebrated Kate's ninth birthday with a fun day in Sister's, Oregon including a tea party and a trip to the famous quilt shop. The children took riding lessons four days during the week and all came home clamoring for a horse!
For Christmas 2003, the children were gifted a quad runner by Grandad and have loved scaring me to death by tearing down the road on it. One day, Nicholas seemed to be going a little to fast for my taste and when I happened to mention this to Eric, he shrugged and told me I needed to read, Future Men, again! (Which, by the way, is our favorite book on raising boys!). After being so corrected by my husband, I went inside only to be LOUDLY summoned to the tune of, "MOM! COME QUICK! NICK FLIPPED THE QUAD!" Thankfully a bruised arm and gashed chin were the only results and a few staples and a sling took care of that. When the doctor took out the staples a week later, she handed me the stapler remover saying, "I'm sure you'll be needing this!" Are you seeing a theme here?
Christopher was invited by Nana to be a student at, "Nana University" this year and had enjoyed many days of, "cool" at Nana's house. He loves showing off his binder of work and loves running down our dirt road to meet Nana for his lessons.
Eric thoughtfully planned to include Jackson and I on a trip to Michigan and I was thrilled to be able to introduce our newest son to my maternal grandmother. She had written such a precious letter to us upon his birth, and mentioned how sad she was that she'd never get to hold him. Our trip was wonderful and included staying at my aunt and uncle's home where Jack loved chasing cheerios with their beagle and a fun dinner with my cousin Aimee and her husband Brian.
While my sewing and scrapbook projects never seem to get completed, 2004 did see me with knitting needles in hand very often. The commute to church has helped and I've had great fun completing some new items this year. Kate has also taken up knitting; how delightful to have a daughter old enough to sit and knit with!
The week before Christmas, we took my dad's RV and headed down to Victorville for a Christmas celebration with Eric's parents. It was our first Christmas together in many years and was a great time. The children loved getting to know their cousins and Eric's parents went all out in making us all feel at home.
December was a busy time with a violin recital and Christmas musical production. Nicholas was cast as Hark, The Herald Angel in a fun play put on by a local church. Christopher even got to join in being a little lamb in the nativity scene carried by Eric as a shepherd.
Christmas this year was a wonderful celebration as we all toned down the gift giving trying hard to limit it to one gift a child. The children's favorite gift was a go-cart which so far, has not resulted in any broken bones or cuts needing staples or stitches! Kate began a soap making business this year, and my gift to her was a web site that isn't quite up and running yet, but will be soon. Check is out at www.bugsoap.com.
I hope the above has giving you more than just a glimpse into our year! We're so thankful for the Lord's work in our lives and look forward to what He has in store for 2005! Happy New Year!
Lisa, for all of us
