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see our 2003 Holidaze Newsletter
2004 was a fun, yet busy year. Click on the pictures for the full-size version, but be WARNED- some of them are 2Mb (may take a while if your connection is slow).
March:: Randall went to Tokyo, Japan on a business trip for Mercury Marine. Randall does the engineering on engine covers (cowls) and some cowl suppliers are overseas. It was a 10 day trip and since he's not a big fan of sushi- he had to find a place to get a proper meal. "Yakki Niku" is Japanese for Korean Barbecue: there is a gas grill in the center of your table and they bring strips of meat that you grill yourself and eat. He ate there a lot. He was also asked to go to China (Dec.19-24). I don’t think so- he said, but that trip will probably happen in 2005 sometime.
May:: Randall went to Charlotte, NC to present a technical paper on the Verado Cowl Styling. The new six-cylinder engine that Mercury came out with this year. He accepted 4 awards for the company. He almost flew out before the awards ceremony, but someone mentioned that he may want to stay later. Heather became a Creative Memories Consultant. Its a home-business so she sells Scrapbooking supplies, teaches classes on photo organizing and also how-to classes.
June:: We all travelled to Eagle River for a few days of rest and boating. Heather has a friend who's parents own a lakehome there (very nice). The water was still a little cold, but we managed to get in a little skiing. Kyle wasted no time adjusting to the water… he fell off the end of the dock while kicking his feet in the water. Randall grabbed him just as his head went under... Did we mention he can't swim yet?
June:: Randall's sister Renee visited from Carbondale, IL. We took her out on the boat and she tried kneeboarding- which she did fairly well at.
We also went strawberry picking, although it was late in the season and most of the strawberries were past ripe. (you can notice they just got haircuts, too).
July:: It threatened to rain on the 4th and it did early, but it was dry for the fireworks. We usually sit out on a small peninsula, so we can see the fireworks from out in the lake. We got to try out some artsy settings on our new digital camera, too.
August:: We got to see the EAA airshow up close and personal. Several Mercury employees have experimental aircraft and they rent hangars at the EAA. We were invited to a picnic there(Alex loves corn), so we were allowed to watch the air show almost as close as those who paid to get in. Sometimes being cheap pays off….
In late August we started tackling some do-it-yourself house projects, mostly related to painting the house. First, Randall was going to "take a day" to replace some rotted wood around several windows, the front porch roof, etc. Nothing major right? Sure... The rear wall of windows turned into a 4 day project to replace wood and rotted window supports…
The few rotted boards over the front porch revealed rotted wood under the garage roof (so we found out where those few ants in the house were coming from). Randall then took 2 weeks to tear off the garage roof and replace it with rubber sheet (was tar and paper). Randall did this all by himself (with Heather helping carry the big rubber rolls up to the roof, and keep the kids out of the way)- probably saving us $8000. He does not suggest anyone else do this- it was NOT fun. It did help to have a stretch of 10 days without rain.
September:: Kyle started pre-school. He loves it. You can also see our new stained glass front door that we made.
The National Fireworks Association came to town for a week. Every night they would have a private fireworks show for their conference, but of course- anyone can see the fireworks if you're at Lakeside Park. On their last night, it was an official show. That whole week and the last night together put to shame our Forth of July show- just in sheer volume, and we were RIGHT under them. Heather loves that.
October:: We were invited to attend a benefit for the new Children's Museum in Fond du Lac. It was catered and had a 12 piece live Swing band. We were excited and got to show off all our Swing Dancing moves. We even gave some friends lessons the week before the event.
Alex and Kyle had fun carving pumpkins. Kyle is definitely more squeamish. Alex just dove in and started diggin out his pumpkin.
For Halloween, Kyle was Elmo and Alex was Clifford.
Randall got to fly to Pasadena, CA to present again on the Verado Cowl Styling. Such a world traveller.
November: Winter is coming and the leaves are falling. As usual, Alex and Kyle enjoyed playing in the leaves.
December: We are all caught up in the Christmas cheer, spending time with family and celebrating the holidays. We hope this letter finds you and yours happy and healthy!
Merry Christmas everyone !!! Drop us a line, or stop by: 111 Meadowbrook Blvd. Fond du Lac ,Wi. 54935 920 921 2324 email us: heatherandrandall (at) yahoo (dot) com - - - You STILL want more?? Go look at all of Randall's music / skating / etc... |
2004 Holland Holidaze Newsletter
