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

Living in Santa Clarita, Calif.

While Grandma and Grandpa Bignell took care of you from December 2007-September 2008, I moved from Eureka to Santa Clarita, Calif. While the job I took at the Santa Clarita newspaper wasn't any different than - I was still the copy desk chief - Santa Clairta offered some great opportunities. I was tasked with redesigning the newspaper and with setting up new software for reporters and editors to work on. In addition, it was in sunny Southern California, where I longed to live!

In September 2008, you returned to live with me in Santa Clarita. I met you at the airport in Minneapolis, and we drove cross country through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California! I remember the first time you saw the mountains - you were so impressed with how they soared so high. You'd tap me and point at them!

I was so happy to finally be reunited with you. Though I'd missed seeing you learn how to walk, what began was three years of wonderful time spent together!

Unfortunately, the economy crashed in autumn 2008. I was laid off at the newspaper in November 2008. On the plus side, I was able to dedicate all of my time to you as a stay-at-home father!

My brief job in Eureka, Calif.

In July 2007, I unfortnately was laid off at the Crescent City newspaper. The newspaper industry was rapidly shrinking thanks to competition from the Internet and the rising cost of raw materials, especially paper. When the economy got rough in any way, newspapers cut back on their expenses somehow...including getting rid of people.

Fortunately, I was able to find employment as the copy desk chief at the Times-Standard, the newspaper in Eureka - the town in which you were born! While I liked many of the people there, it was a real step back in my career, as I was doing the same job I had in manitowoc six years before. Still, I was determined to work hard and regain my footing in what had become a declining industry.

On Dec. 11, 2007, we parted ways for a few months, Your mother decided to move back to Wisconsin and live with my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Bignell. It was a very sad several months for me while you were away, but it was not my choice. I will explain more to you about the truth of what happened when you are older and can better understand it.

Pics at Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's

Today I'm posting several pictures from winter 2007-2008 when you stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Bignell. You turned one years old that February (2008). I hope you enjoy them!

You and your cousin Rebekah Bignell.

Rebekah, Grandpa Bignell, you and Bryan Bignell.

You and Grandpa Bignell.

You with Rebekah and Bryan Bignell in background
and Grandpa Bignell in chair.

You in Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's kitchen.

Where I went to kindergarten

Do you know where I went to kindergarten? When I was a little boy your age, my family lived on a small farm, and I went to kindergarten in Elmwood, Wis.!

Kindergarten was only a half-day, and I went in the morning. We had a class of 25 children, and there were two teachers. My best friend, Ronald Wolfe, who lived next to me, walso went to school there. Unfortunatley, I don't remember the name of my kindergarten teachers (Though I think my teacher was Mrs. Thompson.)! That's pretty bad, isn't it?!

I do remember my first grade teacher's name, though. It was Mrs. Rheil.

I liked going to school in Elmwood. My dad took me to lots of high school basketball games there. We had a very good team that won a lot of games. Our team name was the Raiders, and our school colors were red and white.

In second grade during March, my family moved to a new farm, outside of Knapp, Wis. (Grandma and Grandpa Bignell still live there!). At that time, I stopped going to Elmwood Elementary School and went to Knapp Elementary School!

At Grandma and Grandpa's

Here's a picture I found of you at Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's! It was taken when you were about  a year old (winter of 2007-08) and were just starting to walk around. It looks like you are in their living room. They've since replaced the carpet with a wooden floor and rugs. I'm not quite sure what you're putting on your head, but it sure look like you're having fun doing it!

Places you've lived

Although you're only five years old, you've lived lots of places!

Here's a list of them:
g Crescent City, Calif. (birth to Sept. 2007)
g Eureka, Calif. (Sept.-Dec. 2007)
g Knapp, Wis. with Grandma and Grandpa Bignell (Dec. 2007-Sept. 2008)
g Santa Clarita, Calif. (Sept. 2008-Feb. 2009)
g Lancaster, Calif. (the "green house") (March 2009-March 2011)
g Palmdale, Calif. (April 2011-May 2012)
g Plymouth, Minn. (May 2012-current)

Where will you live next?