Through the year with the Petersens
January brought happy news of new babies. Our niece Signe Marta Hefta was born to Kaj’s sister Sonja and her husband Arlen. Also that month Kaj’s cousin Maia and her husband Eric were blessed with the birth of Astrid Ardis. This is a great way to kick off a new year.
During this month our family met the Bill Petersens for a weekend in Duluth, MN. This may seem like a strange place to visit in January, but it is approximately half way between our homes. We stayed in a beautiful three-bedroom hotel suite with a full kitchen, living and dining room, hot tub and two bathrooms. We had a great time together and are planning on meeting again in January 2002 with Marlene and hopefully, the Heftas.
Now for the bad news. In January we also found out that Kaj’s father had cancer.
In February, Trinity Rose turned six years old. At church we found ourselves without a Pastor again, so Kaj joined a group of dedicated volunteers who have been taking turns leading Thursday night worship services. He has delivered some awesome sermons and seems to be taking after his Dad in spite of himself.
Stephanie turned seven in March and shortly after in April Kimberly turned eleven. In May Stephanie started taking piano lessons like her big sister. Even Mike is learning to play a few tunes on our keyboard.
June was a busy month. Mike had his 13th birthday. We have a teenager in our household! (Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing we’ll leave to your judgment.) We were happy to host a sort of Garret family reunion between ourselves, Loralee’s parents and brother Bob, and Aunt LeeAnn (Curt’s sister) and Uncle Bob. We had a very fun weekend together. On Saturday we watched Stephanie’s last soccer game of the season in the morning and headed up to Door County in the afternoon. After browsing through the Egg Harbor sidewalk sales we had supper at the Shipwreck Restaurant and Brewery.
School also ended in June. The kids soon became busy in summer activities. Stephanie and Kimberly attended some fun summer school classes like cooking and model rocket building. Trinity took therapeutic horseback riding lessons and swimming lessons. Mike decided to take up tennis. Mike and Kim were busy with the Teen Advisory Board (TAB) at the library.
In July we did Bible Camp and not much else. We attended Waypost camp, near Wausau, WI. Mike went first, to a two week Music and Theatre Camp. The group spent the first week learning skits and songs. The second week was spent performing at area Bible camps and churches. This was a great experience for Mike. The whole family went to Family First weekend. It was probably the hottest weekend of the whole summer, but we managed to survive it and still have a lot of fun. Trinity would have spent the entire weekend in the lake if she were allowed. We adults felt it was unfair that the kids got to spend their bible study time in the lake. They learned about John the Baptist.
We left Kim at camp at the end of the weekend. Kim spent a week there making some great friends and (we hope) learning about God. During that same week Stevie came back for an overnight stay with the Beginner’s Camp.
In August came Vacation Bible School. Loralee was a teacher and Mike helped with the games. The girls were students of course.
Trinity had eye surgery to correct her crossed eyes. She no longer wears glasses and is seeing great. We are very pleased with her progress since this surgery. Stephanie got braces in August and is wearing lots of colorful rubber bands on them.
Mike and Kim spent a week with their Grandma and Grandpa Moyer and got to enjoy farm life. We were also pleased to receive a visit from the Bill Petersen family in August. It was the first time they had visited Two Rivers, but we hope not the last.
We added another member to our extended family in August. Isaac was born to Kaj’s cousin Karla and her husband Clint.
As usual, September meant the beginning of school. Trinity returned to her same kindergarten class, where she is happy to show the younger kids the routine this year. Stephanie advanced to 2nd grade and is doing super this year. Kim made the big leap to middle school (6th grade). She is playing trumpet in the band and still taking piano lessons. Mike is in 8th grade this year and getting ready to move up to the new high school next year. He is playing trombone and baritone in the band. Mike is also stage manager for a middle school musical.
October 11, one month after national tragedy at the hands of terrorists, our family experienced it’s own tragedy. Paul Petersen, Kaj’s father, passed away from cancer. Everyone is doing well, in spite of the grief we all feel. Paul requested that all money given in sympathy cards or as memorials was to be donated to Lutheran World Hunger Relief. Because of his caring and generosity, over $2,000 was donated.
Now we are in November and doing all the usual things to get ready for the holidays, including writing this letter to our many friends and family members. We are so thankful for all of you. We are glad for those we were able to see and visit with this year and we look forward to seeing more of you in 2002.