Merry Christmas!

Hello all! Yes, it has been a long time. I haven't been a very good blogger this year. Only my second, as a matter of fact, the last one? January! I'll try to be a little better in 2013. In the meantime, I will inflict another Christmas letter on you. Have a great 2013!

Merry Christmas everyone! Didn't we just do this? Seems the years continue to go by faster and faster. We hope this season finds you all healthy and happy.
We are all still employed in the same vocations as the last time we talked. Mark's place of employment recently went through a rebranding, with the name of the company changing from enXco to EDF Renewable Services. The bad news, however, is that his office is getting moved from Chandler to San Diego. Since we don't really have any desire to be Californians, he will be looking for a job at some point next year. Scary stuff for a 40-year-old, so you would have to assume a soon-to-be 55-year-old is shaking in his size 13 boots.

On a happier note, Lindsay got great news on the work front. After a couple of years of working at Miller Legal Strategic Planning Centers in Tyler, last week she accepted an offer to work at Aerotek in Bloomington. We are very happy for her. We'll be very happy for US when she can afford a big enough home to store all of her clothes. We'll have enough room that we could maybe have a couple more kids.
Some of our highlights this year included a couple of family weddings. Kathy's nephew Ben married Amanda in May in New Ulm, and Mark's nephew Ryan married Emily in June in Cloquet. Both were beautiful and memorable weddings! Congratulations to both couples.
Kathy and Lindsay each were off to Lake Michigan in June for a mandatory "team building" fishing trip. They each had the pleasure of experiencing bumpy boat rides while reeling in their catches. Lindsay earned the nickname "Pail Burper" on the trip. Um...you'll have to ask her about it.
Mark spent more time at the Lake Benton Opera House, directing three shows. He took the fall play off this year for the first time in years. It was a nice respite. Kathy joined him in April as she appeared in "Sylvia," and both Kathy and Lindsay appeared with Mark in the Opera House Christmas Show in December.
Another highlight for Kathy was trading in her dinosaur...I mean collector vehicle for a relatively new Chevy Cruze. The Grand Am had nearly every inch of life squeezed out of it before she finally found a car that she liked!
Oh yeah, and she also got to see her first Twins game at Target Field this summer, leaving Mark as the only member of the family who hasn't been there yet. Maybe 2013?
'Til next year, may your bells be jingling and your pudding be figgy!
All our best!

Mark,
Kathy
and
Lindsay...

Our 2012 Highlights
January
Kathy attends TwinsFest with the Denney's.
March
Mark's family meets at Clay and Linda's home in New Hope for the
21st Annual Wilmes Family Board Game Weekend.
April
Kathy acted in and Mark directed "Sylvia" at the
Lake Benton Opera House.
May
Kathy and the "Thomsen Women" spent
their traditional Mother's Day Weekend Getaway
in Rochester visiting wineries and brunching with relatives.
Lindsay travels to Arkansas to participate in

Torii checks out the birds during our first snowstorm!

her friend Jessie's wedding.
June
Kathy and Lindsay are off on an MLSPC "team building" fishing
retreat to Algoma, Wisconsin.
Mark and Kathy make their first trip to Grandview Valley Winery near Belview. The owners are friends of the family. It was our first of several trips.
July
Mark, Kathy and Lindsay participate in Lincoln County
Relay For Life in Ivanhoe.
Aebleskiver Days in Tyler, as well as Tyler's 125th celebration.
Kathy attends her 35th Class Reunion and Lindsay gets to spend some time in Tyler with her dad and Jensen relatives.
July-August
Mark directs "Seussical" at the Lake Benton Opera House.
August
Kathy travels to see "Fiddler on the Roof" in Brookings with the Denney's
Kathy takes in a weekend pool party with her sisters in New Ulm.
Kathy attends the annual "Princess Weekend" with the Wilmes
women at a Maple Lake cabin.
Lindsay spends a long weekend camping with friends
and relatives at the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior.
Kathy and Mark make trips to see our friend Jeff Downs with the Johnny Holm Band in August and September.
September
Kathy attends her first Twins game at Target Field
Lindsay hits the Renaissance Festival and a Twins game with friends.
October
Kathy and Lindsay make a trip to see Dave and Karen and attend
Middle Eastern Night as well as do some Halloween partying.
Lindsay participates in her first Zombie Pub Crawl in the Twin Cities.
November
Celebrate Thanksgiving with the Wilmes family the weekend before and on the day of at Kathy's brother Mike and Jennifer's home in Lynd, after which Kathy and Lindsay headed to Mankato for Black Friday shopping.
December
Mark, Kathy and Lindsay participate in the Opera House Christmas Show.
Lindsay fights off the season's first blizzard to spend time with friends in Rochester and the Twin Cities and take in a Vikings win over the
Bears at the Metrodome.
Lindsay accepts a job offer from Aerotek in Bloomington.

I predict you will want a pet!

I have two orders of business to conduct in the blog you are about to read (or not read). The first involves my encouragement to all to go out and adopt a pet now that the hustle/bustle of the holidays is over. I admit to being totally manipulated by the ASPCA commercials featuring Sarah McLachlan urging us to rescue a cute, furry animal. It makes me realize that it is probably good I’m not a billionaire, because I would blow all my money on dogs and kitties. 

I'm Spook, I'm 2 years old,
I'm neutered, and I'm waiting for you!

While purebread animals are adorable and photogenic, I encourage you to go to one of the local animal shelters and rescue an animal that has been abandoned and needs a home. For a small fee, you can bring home a small friend who will love you unconditionally for as long as they live. I still miss my late friend Joe, who left us way too early in his life. Now I have Torii, who does some serious bonding with me every morning before I go to work, and most days when I return. The purr-fests have gotten to the point where I have adjusted my morning alarm from 5:45 to 5:30 so I don’t have to peel her off my chest in order to get to work on time.
I wouldn’t want to imagine my life without her.
I’m sure there are many area organizations that have pets available. The two I know of are the Tracy Area Animal Rescue (according to Facebook, the contact info is: email arvizu@iw.net, phone 507-828-8029). We met Torii at the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society, back when her name was Carmel and she looked so sad lying in that cage… If you go to http://www.sfhumanesociety.com/ you can see many of their current residents that are up for adoption, with pictures and a short description of many. Are you a fan of cats? They have over 100 on hand right now.
Tell them I sent you!
My second order of business…you know you’ve been waiting for it…is my fearless predictions for the New Year. Remember you heard it here first:
I present to you my Top Ten Predictions for 2012:
10. Trouble will erupt in Hell when Osama bin Laden finds out his new roomie, Gadhafi, wants to watch nothing but reruns of “Dancing with the Stars.”
9. About the second week of June somebody will break down and finally have to say, “I guess it will have to be you,” to Mitt Romney.
8. Kim Kardashian will start putting the shattered remains of her life back together by getting engaged to a hockey player and booking some TV time for the wedding.
7. Anthony Weiner will appear before the Board of Review hoping for reinstatement, but the Board Chairman (his wife) will inform him he will still be sleeping on (and tweeting from) the couch.
6. The Twins will rebound from The Season Of Which We Shall No Longer Speak to win the World Series as Joe Mauer catches 150 games, Francisco Liriano wins 25 and Tsuyoshi Nishioka wins the Gold Glove. In other news…Charlie Sheen will take a vow of chastity and Donald Trump will shave his head.
5. At some point during 2012 I will get to a point when I can picture in my head which actor is Dylan McDermott and which actor is Dermot Mulroney. (I have simple goals in life…next year I will work on sorting out actresses Mary Louise Parker, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.)
4. My extreme denial and incredulity will persist throughout the year as my ego continues to take a beating over the fact that I can’t beat Paula Dovre in Words With Friends (Facebook Scrabble).
3. Residents of northwestern Lincoln County will gain regional attention with “Occupy Hendricks,” a grass roots attempt at bringing attention to the lack of cell phone coverage in the city. It will fizzle when out-of-town protesters find out they can’t send a tweet unless they drive to the cemetery south of town and stand under the tree while holding a wire coat hanger.
2. The Mayans will be proven right when the world ends on December 21^st, three days after Minnesota lawmakers approve a stadium plan for the Vikings.
And my number one Top Ten Prediction for 2012:
1. When my driver’s license gets renewed on January 26^th, I will be able to extend my streak of 10 consecutive license photos in which I resemble serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
Happy New Year!