Greetings from the Kimminau’s! We hope you all had a very joyous Christmas. Once again, we are late—we want to say it’s because we were waiting for all the new addresses to come in—but actually it’s plain busy-ness. Again this year, Trish will have to forego her handwritten notes to each of you. But we both promise to answer any emails or letters. Emails: jakimminau(aatt)aol.com, or (Trish) pjkimminau(aatt)aol.com
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We went on a trip each season, and were visited by grandparents and friends throughout the year! We started by getting caught in the 1999 January blizzard (had great fun stranded in a Radisson hotel in Illinois), went to Raleigh to see Grammy in the spring, visited Cleveland's Sea World and another park with friends in July, and finally had a mini-family reunion in Tucson over Thanksgiving. All of the trips went safely and gave us some great memories. And we loved visits (except Aunt Darcy’s sprained ankle--oops.)
We have a tough time naming what was most fun or our favorite. We're always active and nearly always smiling. We really enjoy personal dates with Daddy and reading fests with Mommy. We also loved Wyandot lake (commercial swimming hole), the zoo, and COSI (kid's science museum.)
Homeschooling is fun. Bekah has finished her first reading lessons, and can now read her own books! Erin is close behind, as she really wants to read too; she is independent and really liked swimming this year--fast becoming a fish. Riley lives up to boyhood in the fullest, running and stomping and shooting and being a general nuisance to his sisters. His favorite achievement is reciting the entire David & Goliath story (a riot!) Bekah is six and a helper to Mom; Erin four, going on six; and Riley two (single-mindedness has a whole new pinnacle of meaning!) but will be three in March.
We don’t know where the time goes anymore. Our fifteenth wedding anniversary is in 2000 (and Jon will have to do something about that lost diamond in the engagement ring)! But we still count our blessings every day. Trish is a 4-time-a-week Bally's aerobics instructor in the dark hours of the morning (0530). She loves it, even if she’s often tired from that, Bible Study Fellowship every week, and homeschooling every day. (Not to mention all the normal housekeeping, and kidkeeping duties like bible club, gymnastics, soccer and swimming.) God has blessed us with a healthy family, with our only roadbumps being three miscarriages and Riley’s sprained ankle. Free time? What is it? Trish probably would name cropping (photo album making) and emailing as her hobbies. She has made some great friends here in the neighborhood, at aerobics and at church. God is working hard in her life!
Jon continues as one of the oldest political science PhD students around. Now about halfway through, classes are winding down and general exams and dissertation writing loom darkly. Actually, things are very smooth--both the daily grind and stress levels are extremely low-intensity. Though he looks forward to returning to real AF duty, and feels isolated here in Columbus, this AF opportunity is probably easier than even retirement will be. That’s another blessing, as it supports some real family-oriented living before the ‘colonel years’ put us on a treadmill and dampen home time. Jon brews beer, golfs with church buddies (occasionally), and reads books (even non-school ones.) Ever the loner, he's probably made more real friends at church than anywhere. Trish would also add computer games to his hobbies (whoops).
Our house and cars seemed to eat up our budget this year, though we obviously had enough to make a couple trips too (see kid's view.) We should add that we have nothing to complain about...heck, the AF pays Jon to be a student.
We’re both very happy with our family-oriented church at Smoky Row Brethren, not far from our house. We’ve developed some great relationships, including a monthly Euchre tournament with 3 other couples. "All is Well!"
