Our set of 101 cookie cutters

Do you remember our set of 101 cookie cutters? They were plastic, and we picked them up at Walmart then used them to make sugar cookies for just about every holiday and season!

Christmas by far was the most popular time, with us usually making a couple of different batches during the holidays. Our cookie cutters included Christmas trees, gingerbread men, bells, candy canes, snowmen and stockings.

We also made cookies at Halloween (ghost, haunted house, bat, black cat, pumpkins), Easter (duckies, cross, Easter bunny, Easter egg), and Valentine's Day (three sets of hearts). Letters also came with the set so I could spell out our names!

I usually mixed and match them for different seasons; for example we the footprint, the moon (for the sun) and the fish for going to the beach! I love you and miss making cookies with you!

Celebrating Easter one year ago today

Although this year we celebrated Easter on March 31, last year (in 2012) we celebrated the holiday on April 8 (which is one year ago today!).

We were living in the condo in Palmdale, and we had spent all day Saturday together. When you woke up Sunday morning, I mentioned that the Easter Bunny had left something for you at the front door! The Easter basket was a good mix of toys, candies and clothes that Jane and me had picked up for you just the week before on our drive from Wisconsin to California.

After a little breakfast, we went to the Easter Egg hunt and festivities at City Park in Lancaster, Calif. Following the egg hunt, one child had very few Easter eggs in his basket and was afraid that he wouldn't receive a reward for turning in the eggs (All the children received some candy and a little toy for turning in the eggs), so all on your own you offered to share some of your eggs with him! Jane and I was so very proud of you for being so generous.

Here's a whole bunch of photos from Easter 2012!

My email to you for April 6, 2013

Here is my email for you, sent April 6, 2013, just in case you don’t receive it:

Dear Kieran,

How are you doing? I am doing fine, with the exception that I miss you very much. I have great news, though: We get to see one another a couple of times this month! We will be getting together the afternoons of April 12 and April 26. That’s next Friday (April 12) and then just two weeks after that! I can’t wait to see you again!

The snow is beginning to melt and the weather to warm up, so I think I am done snowshoeing for the year. But that means I’ll soon be able to start hiking again! I always enjoyed the great hikes we took to the tops of mountains, through desert canyons, and to cool places like Vasquez Rocks (You always called them the “Kirk Rocks”!).

Speaking of the Kirk Rocks, did you know that there is a new “Star Trek” movie coming out? It will be released in May, and you even can see it in 3D at IMAX theaters. I can’t wait! In the meantime, I’ve been reading lots of “Star Trek” books to satisfy my hunger for Captain Kirk’s adventures.

How are your reading classes going in school? You must have gotten through most of the alphabet by now. Have you read any interesting stories? I always liked reading to you when you were a preschooler. You’d curl up on my lap in the comfy living room recliner, and I’d read to you a whole bunch of books we got at the library and a few that we purchased at the book store. Some books you liked so much that you wanted me to read them over and over! You always enjoyed flap books, too.

Grandma and Grandpa Bignell say “Hi”, and so do Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie. They all have some Easter gifts that I had planned to give you March 29 when we were to last get together. But since the date for Easter changes every year, what’s the difference if you get them on April 12 instead? J They all are looking very forward to finally being able to meet you in person and enjoy looking at old pictures I have of you.

On Easter, Grandma Bignell gave me a whole bunch of old pictures she had of you when you stayed with them in 2008 and of when you were a baby. I’d never seen most of the pictures before! I’ve scanned them all into my computer and will have to show them to you sometime.

I recently read a very good book that had a lot of very pretty pictures in it. It was called “Bear Wants More,” by Karma Wilson. One day Bear wakes up and realizes that he slept all through winter and that it’s now spring! And you know what a bear who has slept all winter is when he wakes up? He’s HUNGRY! So all of the animals of the forest try to help Bear find enough food to eat so he won’t be hungry anymore. Do you know how they do that? You will have to read the book and find out! Maybe you can find the book at your school library or at the city library when you mom takes you there.

That is all for now. I miss and love you very much and can’t wait to see you next Friday!

Love,

Dad

Memories of our Easter 2013 together

A short entry today, but one I want to share with you - photos of our Easter 2013 together. The basket included: a stuffie bunny rabbit with a soccer ball that you named "Ken"; a bag of Army soldiers; a Jake and the Neverland Pirates book; a Batman puzzle; Cars bubble solution and wands; and several pieces of candy, including Peeps and Cadbury carmel eggs and Tic-Tacs!

Remembering Easters past

 You ate the ears off your chocolate
bunny first at Easter 2010!

Happy Easter, Kieran! I hope you are enjoying the day. Today I've included some pictures of past Easters we've spent together.

I remember our first Easter very well. It was in 2007, and we were living in Crescent City, Calif., where I was the newspaper's managing editor. You were just a wee baby of only two months! Still, we got you a  Easter basket that included a baby's book about Peter Cottaintail and a stuffie bunny rabbit.

In 2011, you and I made Easter sugar cookies together! You helped me roll out the dough, stamp the shapes, and frost the cookies! One of the cookies that you really liked was of a baby duck, which we frosted yellow (except for the bill, which we frosted orange) and gave a dollop of black for its eye.

Here's are a whole bunch of pictures from Easter 2010, which was on April 4 that year!

My email to you for March 30, 2013

Your Easter basket, 2012

Here is my email to you sent on March 30, 2012, in case you don’t receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I love and miss you very much. I am not certain why our visit planned for yesterday was cancelled, but I want you to know that I had nothing to do with it. I wanted to spend time with you because you are the most important person in the world to me. You always have been and always will be. Hopefully our cancelled visit soon will be rescheduled.

Tomorrow is Easter, so I thought I would share a few memories I have of the holiday with you.

Our very first Easter was in 2007! You received a small basket with a tiny stuffie bunny rabbit and a little book about Peter Cottontail. We lived in Crescent City, Calif., at the time, and though the weather there usually was rainy, that Easter was nicely sunny. We went out to eat for Easter dinner, and you sat in your child carrier on the table and you slept through the whole meal! A lot of people stopped by to look at you because you were so darn cute!

In 2010, when you were three years old, you didn’t get an Easter basket. You got an Easter bucket! It was a Star Wars sandbox pail that we filled with all kinds of goodies. One of the items was a chocolate bunny rabbit. You ate the bunny rabbit’s ears first!

In 2011, when you were four years old, you and I made Easter sugar cookies together! You helped me roll out the dough, stamp the shapes, and frost the cookies! One of the cookies that you really liked was of a baby duck, which we frosted yellow (except for the bill, which we frosted orange) and gave a dollop of black for its eye. We also went to the Easter Egg hunt at Lancaster, Calif., City Park.

Last year, when you were five years old, we were living in the condo in Palmdale, Calif., and we had spent all day Saturday together. When you woke up Sunday morning, I mentioned that the Easter Bunny had left something for you at the front door! The Easter basket was a good mix of toys, candies and clothes I had picked up for you just the week before on our drive from Wisconsin to California.

After a little breakfast, we went to the Easter Egg hunt and festivities at City Park in Lancaster. At the end of the egg hunt, one child had just a couple of Easter eggs in his basket and was afraid that he wouldn't receive a reward for turning in the eggs (All the children received some candy and a little toy for turning in the eggs.), so all on your own you offered to share some of your eggs with him! I was so very proud of you for being so kind and generous.

I will miss you tomorrow during Easter. I hope you have a good day, though, and that the Easter Beagle brings you everything you wish for! We are next scheduled to get together on April 26, but hopefully we will see one another once before that date as well.

Love,

Dad

My email to you for March 23, 2013

Here is my email from March 23, 2013, just in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran!

How are you today? I love and miss and very much. The good news is we get to see one another again in just six days on March 29! I can’t wait. Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie have some Easter presents for you, and of course I’ll be bringing some surprises, too!

Did you have Spring Break this past week or do you go on it next week? Your cousins Bryan and Rebekah were on Spring Break this past week. While getting a week off of school was nice when I was a boy, it also got boring real fast for me! I always missed my friends and learning about new stuff. Before going home on Spring Break, I always made sure I brought home lots of books from the library!

Do you get to go to the library and check out books? I miss not being able to go to the library with you. When we were together in Lancaster, we went to storytimes at the library and always checked out books to read at home. Some days we read 10 books! Some days you liked a book so much that we read just that book 10 times!

Easter is coming up soon. What do you plan to do for the Easter holiday? I think I mentioned in my last email that you I was eating at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, where Uncle Chris, Aunt Susie, your cousins Bryan and Rebekah, and Aunt Susie and Uncle Mark will be getting together for Easter dinner and the afternoon. We are having ham and prime rib for dinner. Yummy!

I don’t believe you’ve ever met Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mark (If you did, you were just a baby at the time). Aunt Sandy is Grandma’s sister. They are very nice and have a big house in Stillwater. They also have a dog, a very old black and white border collie. They have seen pictures of you, I’ve told them lots of great stories about you, and they can’t wait to meet you!

In addition to editing and writing books, I have taken up snowshoeing! As you know, I like to hike, yet hiking in the snow is too difficult – but it’s not if you have snowshoes! You then can walk almost anywhere. Snowshoeing does take a lot of energy at first, though, but seeing new things outdoors is a lot of fun – and so is the steaming cup of hot chocolate you enjoy afterwards when you go back inside! Would you like to go snowshoeing one day?

Have you read any good books lately? I have. It was called “Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie,” by Laura Rankin. It was about a little girl name Ruthie who finds a teeny tiny toy on the school playground. Even though it’s not her toy, she tells everyone it is and then tells more lies so she can keep it for herself! Will she get caught lying? You will have to read the book and find out! I bet you can find it at your school or city library.

Well, that is all for now. You have a good week, and I will see you Friday afternoon!

Love,

Dad

My email to you for March 16, 2013

Here is my email to you for March 16, 2013, just in case you don’t receive it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you today? I hope you’re doing well. I’d doing fine, though I miss you very much.

How is school going? I did not receive your email to me last week, so I did not get to hear from you how you are doing in kindergarten. Please have your mother resend the email to me so I can catch up on your schooling.

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 17), you will have to make sure you wear green. Why? Because it’s St. Patrick’s Day! It is a very important day for people who are Irish. Though we’re not Irish, we still celebrate the holiday out of respect to those who are and because it’s a lot of fun!

Do you get spring break at your school? The school where your cousins Rebekah and Bryan go has spring break in just another week. During spring break, they get the whole week off from school! Schools often have spring break so that parents can take their children on vacation, and then the kids don’t have to miss any school.

If you could go on vacation, where would you go? Some people travel to lots of fun places like Disneyworld in Florida (We used to go to Disneyland in California.). Other families travel to scenic or historical places where they can enjoy nature or learn about our past. Places like that include a national park, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, or Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital. Other families don’t travel at all but spend their vacation in their own house, enjoying their time together playing games and watching movies and maybe going to fun places that are nearby, like a mall.

After St. Patrick’s Day and spring break comes Easter on March 31. Do you have big plans for Easter, like going to an egg hunt or maybe out to eat for Easter dinner? I am going to Grandma and Grandpa Bignell’s for Easter. Your Uncle Chris, Aunt Suzie, cousins Bryan and Rebekah, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mark all will be there. We are having ham and prime rib for dinner. All of us wish you could be there with us for Easter sinenr.

There sure is a lot of snow on the ground – much more than we had in California! Do you like playing in the snow? Have you made a snowman or snow angels yet? Have you gone sledding? When I was a little boy your age, I always liked to go sledding down snow-covered hills and then have hot chocolate afterward. You might remember that we went up into the mountains near our house in Lancaster and went sledding and had hot chocolate afterward – it was the first time you ever had hot chocolate, and you loved it! You had so much fun going up and down and down the hills and drank so much hot chocolate that you slept the whole drive back to our house.

Once the snow starts to melt in a couple of weeks, the wind will start to pick up as spring arrives. That makes for great kite-flying weather. Would you like to fly a kite?

Well, that is all for now. I love and miss you very much and can’t wait to see you again on March 29!

Love,

Dad

My email to you sent on March 2, 2013

Here’s a copy of weekly email sent to you on March 2, 2013, in case you don’t receive it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing today? I’m doing fine, though I miss you like crazy! I had so much fun with you get together you could bring the Batman puzzle that was in it, and we could make it together. I’m also glad you enjoyed the candy. Grandma wasn’t feeling well on Friday, so she didn’t have a chance to make her Easter cupcakes for you, but she promised to do so for the next time we get together, which is in four weeks on March 29.

I’m also very happy that you liked the dragon Hot Wheels set and the cool cars to play with it. That was neat how the cars would go down the ramp on only one set of wheels where the dragon had “bitten out” the roadway! I shall have to look at the toy store for a race track like the center has.

What adventures are you taking your toy archer and ninja on today? I bet they will battle a very dangerous dragon. Make sure to feed the dragon whole wheat so that it can’t breathe fire – then you’ll be able to capture it for the zoo!

This week may be the last you’ll be able to make snowmen this winter. The weather is supposed to get very warm this week – warm enough to make the snow melt. When spring and the snow melt came while I was in school and about your age (well, a little older), we used to make dams out of the runoff and the remaining snow. Here’s a newspaper column I once wrote about it.

Making the eggs in school with the balloons and plaster of Paris sounds like fun. Do you next get to paint the eggs?

Have you read any good books lately? I have. I recently read “Bunny’s Easter Egg” by Anne Mortimer. It’s about a bunny rabbit who looks a lot like your new stuffie, Soccer. After a long night of hiding Easter eggs, the bunny rabbit can’t find a comfortable place to sleep. Will Bunny be able to go to sleep? You’ll have to find out be reading the book. I bet it’s in your school or city library.

Before I go, I just want you to know that I have not received your emails for the past eight weeks or your report card (via email or by giving me a copy on Friday as requested in last week’s email). Please have your mother resend your emails and your report card.

I love and miss you very much! I look forward to reading all of your resent emails, as well as your response to this one, and to seeing you again no later than March 29.

Love,

Dad

 

My first email to you

I finally received your email address from your mother and sent ny first email to you. Just in case in don't receive the email, I've included it here for you to read.

Dear Kieran,

I am so glad that we finally are able to talk with one another. First, I want you to know that I love you more than anything in the whole world, that I have always loved you, and that I always will, no matter what. Next, I also want you to know that I miss you very much and think about you every day and all the time. I never wanted us to be apart and cannot wait to see you again. And lastly, that is the good news – we should be able to spend time together very soon, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

The picture I included with the email.

Since we last saw one another four months ago, I have moved out of our condo in Palmdale to Wisconsin. You might remember when we used to go to the library together and looked at the globe of how I would point out where England and California was. I also always pointed out where Minnesota and Wisconsin were, noting that is where your mommy and I grew up. I live very close to you in Wisconsin so we can get together as much as possible.

In a few months, I hope to take you to the farm where I grew up in Wisconsin so you can meet your Grandma and Grandpa, who you used to talk to on the phone. They haven’t seen you since you were a little baby and can’t wait to have fun with you again. Your cousins Bryan and Rebekah and your Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie also can’t wait to see you again. Rebekah is in kindergarten, just like you.

I want you to know that I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see you off on your first day to kindergarten or to find out at the end of the day your thoughts and feelings about this first big day in your new school. You’ll learn a lot in kindergarten, and it’ll be a lot of fun for you, of that I’m sure. You’ll have the opportunity to make new friends, some of whom may last a lifetime. Be sure to get lots of sleep and to always eat a good breakfast before heading off to school – that’ll always make the day go better!

I would love for you to show me your kindergarten classroom and introduce me to your teacher and all of friends soon. There are so many things I can’t wait to talk to you about, fun places I can’t wait to take you, great games I can’t wait to play with you, and great books I can’t wait to read to you.

So tell me a little about your life these past few months. What is your bedroom and house like where you live? What are your new favorite toys to play with? What TV shows do you now like to watch? What is your teacher’s name and the names of your friends? What do you and your friends like to do together for fun? What is your favorite part of kindergarten? What kinds of things are you learning in school? What exciting places have you been to since moving to Minnesota? What would you like to do again when we get together?

I’ve included a picture of us together so that you have a photo of me. It was taken last Easter in Lancaster at the Easter Egg Hunt. I’ll always remember how you offered to share your Easter eggs with another little boy who was only able to pick up a couple of them. I was very proud of you!

I miss you so much, Kieran, and can’t wait to see you again. Hopefully, that will be in just a couple of weeks. When we do get together, I promise we’ll have lots of fun, just we always do whenever we spend together. I can’t wait to hear from you, so write back soon!

Love,

Daddy