My best friends in elementary school

One of the best things about going to school is that we get to make new friends. Often when before going to kindergarten, we don't have many friends at all, maybe just the next-door neighbor child, as we typically spend most of our time around our parents.

My best friend in Elmwood was Ronald Wolfe. He lived next door to me, and we were in the same grade. In first grade, we weren't in the same classroom (We had two first grade classrooms in my school), so we couldn't wait to see each other at recess and lunch time!

After moving to Knapp, my best friend for a couple of years was Marc Livermore. We played lots of games together at recess, and he introduced me to "The Six Million Dollar Man."

Marc and his family moved, though, and Jim Falkofske became my best friend in fourth grade. We both loved "Star Trek" and got to sleep over at each other's houses. But he was a year younger than me, so we didn't go to junior high together when I entered seventh grade. More on that in an upcoming entry!

Who are your best friends? What kinds of fun things do you like to do together?

Happy Thanksgiving, Kieran!

Happy Thanksgiving, Kieran! I hope you're enjoying the holiday with a big turkey dinner.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful holiday in our house when we were together. We usually spent the morning putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. You always loved to help. Usually the Disney parade and then the football game played on the television in the background.

One year you discovered a bunch of little snowmen ornaments that we had for a small Christmas tree that we no longer out up. You started to play with them, and as they didn't have any hooks on them, I just let you keep them in your toy box.

The highlight always was when tuned on the Christmas tree lights. You always were so impressed by them and would gaze in awe at them forever.

We also always went out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. Making a meal for just us - though I did it one year - was just too much work with a lot of wasted food.

I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with you again in the years ahead!

What are the best movies ever?

Tonight I went to see the James Bond movie "Skyfall" at the movie theater. It was a lot of fun to watch, and because it was the 50th anniversary of James Bond movies, the film made a lot of references to past Bond flicks.

The James Bond movies certainly are among my favorite movies (I especially like "For Your Eyes Only"). So , of course, are the "Star Trek" movies and because of all the times we watched the "Star Wars" films together, so were they.

Last winter we started seeing a lot of fun movies together, going to see "The Phantom Menace 3D" and "Journey 2 the Mysterious Island" together. You really liked "The Lost Island", and we even played it and made up stories about it afterward!

What movies are your favorites? I can't wait to find out and to take you to tons of them in the years ahead!

Our elementary school basketball team

Do you like to play sports? When I was a boy, I did. In fact, I even went out for basketball in elementary school.

Actually, I got our school to start a basketball team! The girls in our school had a team but the boys didn't. So I convinced a bunch of boys to promise they would go out for the team and to speak to the principal with me about starting one! I was in sixth grade.

As most of the boys on the team were only in fifth grade, we had to play in the fifth grade league. Grandpa Bignell helped coach the team. Our nickname was the "Cardinals."

We were lousy! We won only one game all season out of the six or seven games we played. But boy did ever we celebrate when we won! And we still had lots of fun and made some great memories along the way!

Going to a new school in Knapp, Wis.

Just as you had to switch schools from California to Minnesota, when a little boy I also had to switch schools! When I was in second grade many years ago, my parents bought a new farm outside of Knapp, Wis. We moved there from Elmwood in March 1974.

Switching schools was very difficult. Not only did I leave all of my friends behind and not know anyone in my new school, but it also was very small. There were only 10 or so kids in my class at Knapp by more than 25 in my Elmwood class! The teacher at Knapp also was teaching different things than I was learning in Elmwood.

The Knapp school building was very old while the Elmwood school was brand new or only a few years old. To reach my classroom, I had to go up a long flight of stairs to the second floor. The Knapp school I attended isn't there anymore, as it was replaced by a new building.

But I made new friends and figured out all of my lessons, and it all worked out!

Moving from Elmwood to Knapp, Wis.

In March 1974, my parents moved from Elmwood, Wis., to a new farm outside of Knapp, Wis. Grandma and Grandpa Bignell still live there today!

They moved because the farm was much larger and could better support us. While I was little anxious about going to a new school, I was excited because I got my own room in the farmhouse we lived in (Though during winters I had to move back in to the room with my brother because it was better insulated and so warmer).

The farm was very large with a road running through it, so the barn and farm buildings were on one side while the house was on the other. It also was surrounded by woods, which were very fun to explore.

I do not have many pictures of the farm because our farm house burned down in 1985. But here's one for you of my brother (your Uncle Chris) and me (I'm on the left) sitting on the front lawn with the camera looking roughly northwest; the girl in the middle was a neighbor's daughter, and her name was Missy.

My email sent to you on Nov. 17, 2012

Here is my weekly email sent on Nov. 17, 2012, to you, in case you do not receive it:

Hi Kieran,

Hope you had a good week. I miss you very much and think about you every day. I did not receive your email response to my Saturday, Nov. 10 email. Perhaps you could ask you mommy to resend it. In addition, your mommy hasn't sent the responses to a number of my previous emails - perhaps you could ask her again to resend those emails, too.

How are the guinea pigs doing in school? What do they eat? I bet you have some funny stories to tell about them!

What new things are you learning in school? Have you learned any new things about space? Right now you can see the planet Venus in the morning. It is the brightest light in the sky (other than the moon), and you might spot it on the way to school.

I had lots of fun building Bioncles and taking them on adventures with you when we got together last week. Have you taken them on some new adventures? I would love to hear about them!

There is a new movie called in the theaters called "Lincoln." It is about Abraham Lincoln, who was a very important president a long time ago. He helped free slaves and keep our country together when it looked like it might fall apart. Maybe you read about him in your presidents book?

Have you read any good books lately? I just read “This is the Turkey” by Abby Levine. It is about a little boy named Max and his family as they prepare a Thanksgiving meal. Dad stirs the cranberries, Max plays with his cousins, and guests bring all sorts of good food to eat.

You have a fun Thanksgiving on Thursday. I love and miss you!

Love,

Dad