Greetings
from sunny, warm California! (We say this for the
benefit of our Canadian friends and relatives; those of you who live here or
who have visited know that this part of the state is neither sunny nor warm
this time of year. But we’ll
just keep that between ourselves, shall we?)
We trust that this letter finds you well and completely prepared for
the holiday season.
The last year of the millennium (yes, the last
year—look it up) saw the Kroner family in happy times, deeply sad times, and
even some exciting, adventurous times.
Down
Under
Our first big event of 2000 was a trip to Sydney, Australia.
Ken volunteered to spend a few weeks at his firm’s office there, so
we decided to pull Ryan out of kindergarten and find out first-hand if toilets
really do flush counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (they do).
The 14-hour flight, which could have been, as all of you parents know,
pure, airborne torture, was actually pleasant.
So pleasant, in fact, that the flight attendants congratulated us on
the lovely behavior of our children and gave us a box of chocolates to say “thanks.” This really happened. For
those of you who want to stop reading right now, let me assure you that our
children did the right, normal, healthy thing as soon as we got into the
terminal and melted down loudly and in unison.
Saying
Goodbye We
were able to see family several times this year. We are thankful for the time we spent together, because Ted
Kroner, Ken’s dad, passed away on October 24, of a heart attack.
We are so thankful, first and foremost, that Ted was a believer
in Jesus Christ, so we know that he
is safe and happy and that we will see him again.
We are also thankful that he went Home quickly and without prolonged
illness. We are thankful that his
wife, Irma, was at his side when he died, and that he had just spent two weeks
in Ontario, playing with three of his grandchildren.
But we are so sad for ourselves and for Ken’s mother.
Ken’s father was a remarkable man, and he will be missed—by us for
what we remember and love, and by the children, for what they will not
experience and know first-hand about their grandfather in the years to come.
Life
continues on, though, even in the face of death. We were especially reminded of this at the graveside service:
Amber (who would not stay quietly in our arms) merrily frolicked over
the graves as the pastor spoke about her Grandpa’s life.
Dad, who was a terrific amateur photographer, would have relished the
vivid image of the beautiful little girl, blonde hair shining in the autumn
sun, bursting with life and energy and joy in a place of death.
She and his five other grandkids are a big part of Dad’s legacy.
Ryan,
who
turned six in June, started first grade (“grade one” for the Canadians) in
September, and loves recess, continues to bring wonder and knowledge of all
things reptilian (preferably venomous as well) into our home.
He spent two
hours yesterday writing
and illustrating an 18-page book entitled, Animals of the World. Here’s
an excerpt: “Cobras:
Cobras are hiley venomous snakes.
They can kill you. The
King Cobra is the largest venomous snake in the worold.” And from the T-Rex chapter: “Tyrannosaurus rex lived a long
time ago. How did the famus T-rex
die ot? No one nows for sure.
One of the main theres (theories) is that a hug meteor krasht into the
earth and killed the dinosaurs.”
On
a flight this summer when we passed through the First Class cabin, Ryan said,
“Let’s sit here today.” While the First Class passengers smirked,
Jennifer quietly
informed Ryan that, no, we were not going to be sitting in the front.
As we approached the coach cabin, Ryan said loudly enough for the
passengers in both classes to hear, “Will anyone ever
tell me what happens in the front of the plane?”
Manly beach, near
Sydney
View from our hotel room!
Sammy
is NOT in school, although we were planning for him to be.
Unfortunately, the preschool
we chose (Ryan’s alma mater) has a
strict “no diapers” policy, and our Samuel chose not to comply. For those
of you who are still hurting because of the earlier perfect-children-traveling
story, does this make you feel a bit better? Sammy
is still our lovely little guy, rapidly swinging from cuddle-bug to tiger.
He turned three this summer, and the Pacifier Fairy (I’ll bet that’s
one you didn’t know about) showed up to help mark the transition from baby
to big boy. He speaks amazingly
clearly and sometimes quirkily, referring to his cheeks as his “turkeys,”
and making comments like, “Is this not fun?”
And he has an uncanny ability to mimic sounds; he can do an amazing
impression of a bus applying its brakes.
Amber
is our delicate little girl who can reduce both of her brothers to tears in
short order. She is a fierce
little garden fairy who would spend most of her day outside if she could, rain
or shine. She is talking a fair
amount these
days, with “NOOOOOO” being the preferred word. But she’s so darn CUTE when she says it.
Shortly after Amber learned to walk (just shy of 12 months), we learned
that she has a fear of heights. Whenever she stepped onto any kind of elevated
surface, she would refuse to step down and, thus stranded, would have to be
rescued. So, for a few months,
the boys would simply put Amber on a book if she started to mess up their Lego
or train tracks. Cruel parents
also put Amber on said book a few times as a conversation piece or photo-op.
Ken
traveled a lot this past year, to the point where he attained the most elite
frequent flier status on two airlines. He’s
mastered the art of overseas travel (no more jetlag), but it is very wearing.
One of his goals for the coming year is to delegate more of his travel
responsibilities.
Jennifer
is keeping busy with kids, school, church, etc.
She volunteers in Ryan’s classroom and Sammy’s Sunday School class.
We finished our guest house construction project in the summer, which
was a huge taker of time and giver of stress, but we are getting ready to
tackle another project, namely, putting in a pool.
So that’s most likely what Jennifer will be doing in the New Year.
The
year 2000 will be
remembered in our family as the year Ryan started first grade and the year Ken
lost his father. It is firmly
fixed as a milestone of the happy and the sad.
We’d also like to remember this as the year that we were good
friends, fun, available parents, supportive spouses, friendly neighbors, hard
workers, loving family members, and faithful children of God.
We’d like to. Of course, we do
have a few more days left in the year . . . I suppose we’d better sign off
and get busy.
Much
love from our family to yours,
Ken, Jennifer, Ryan, Sammy & Amber Kroner