Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2013

Merry Christmas from the Wunrow's

As I sit down to write this years letter, the tree is up, the outdoor lights are up, there is snow and the ground and its -10F outside! I’m so grateful for a my nice warm house, cozy by the fire and a hot mug of coffee in my hand. I love this time of year, a time to reflect back on the family and friends that make our world and our lives meaningful. As my mentor Harry Quadracci used to say, “The only constant in life is change”. I am grateful for the change that keeps our lives interesting, challenging and rewarding.

This month, after living with us for over a year, Chris’ mom, Olga, will be moving into her own apartment in Chanhassen. After selling her home in Milwaukee in June, she has been on a waiting list for a Senior Apartment. She finally got the exciting news that there is an opening at a beautiful senior housing complex just a few minutes from us. What a blessing for her to have her own space again, while still being close to us so we can help. She is now all moved in with her own furniture again. She is already making friends during the daily breakfast gathering for all the residents. I can honestly say, I've never seen her as happy as she is now. It was worth all the effort and heart ache to get to this point!

Our daughter Catie is having a milestone year. She turned 18 in May, graduated from Minnetonka High School in June. Click here to view the graduation tribute video we did for her. She started College in September. She is attending St Paul College in St Paul MN studying American Sign Language to be a translator/interpreter. After spending the first semester commuting while living at home, she will be moving into student housing at the nearby University of Minnesota’s University Village, where she will share an apartment with three other girls. She is hoping to continue working for Jimmy Johns sandwich shop, transferring to a shop close to campus. Needless to say she is very excited to start this new chapter of her life.

Alex is 22 and really established at the University of Nebraska, where he is double majoring in Marketing and Public Relations. He lives in a small one bedroom apartment off campus, just a few blocks from the state capitol in Lincoln. Besides carrying a full course load, Alex also has a paid internship at the University of Nebraska Press, in their marketing department, focusing on social media. He also is the Editor in Chief for the campus satirical newspaper, The DailyER Nebraskan. This is his fourth and final year on the paper and in his new role he is really focused on setting the paper up to be financially viable for years to come.

Nik is now 24 and living with us in our Excelsior home. He is still the sponge of all knowledge, soaking up facts interesting tidbits of data from all electronic media. I love talking with him, I always learn something new! He is totally self sufficient, doing his own laundry, buying his clothes and food. He loves to cook his own meals. Also, he is often seen checking in around town on Foursquare as he drives the streets of the west metro eating at local restaurants and running his shopping errands.  He’s a happy guy that loves living life.

My wife Christina, well she’s ageless. Every day I look in the mirror and well, I look my age. My wife on the other hand just keeps getting better looking as the days and years pass. Lucky for me! She is still working for Blanchard Catering and really loves it. She is now the owners right hand person, running entire events when they have multiple events the same night. Having her Mom live with us has also kept her very busy as the the primary caregiver and transportation director for all her Moms many needs.

As for me, I’m older than I feel so that’s a good thing. I’m still blessed to work for the best printing company on the planet, in the digital media side of the business that fits well with my love of technology. I’m now in my second year as a home brewer and I really enjoy it.  I have produced 8 batches to date, all of them different for a total of 16 cases. Interestingly I only drink a small percentage myself, the rest I end up giving to family and friends. You can follow my brewing exploits on my Wunrow Brew Haus Facebook page. On the Geocaching front, I haven’t done much but I did manage to get finds in two more state, bringing my total of states with at least one find to 47!  All I need now are Maine, Alaska and Hawaii. After years of talking about it, Catie and I finally took sailing lessons together at the Minnetonka Yacht Club. It was really fun to experience it together.

Our bonus daughters are doing well too. Dasha is now in her first year at the Ukraine National University in Kiev. She is getting all her generals out of the way while she figures out what she wants to major in. She wants to do something to help her country progress into a more democratic society. Only time will tell, but she is very committed to making her country a better place for future generations of Ukrainians. Thanks to Skype, we are able to keep in touch with Dasha regularly.

Vanessa is in her first year of College. In fact, she is also going to St Paul College, the same school Cate is attending. She is living with her uncle, who is only a mile or so away from campus. She is taking generals in preparation for transferring to St. Catherine University to get a degree in Radiography.  Whenever possible she comes and visits us on the weekend. It’s nice to still be able to spend time with her. Click here to view the graduation tribute video we prepared for Vanessa.

As many of you know, our family loves to travel and explore new

places. This past spring we were fortunate to be able to spend a week in the Florida Keys. Chris, Nik, Catie, Vanessa and I were all able to go. We spend Spend 5 days in Key Largo, lounging on the beautiful white sand beaches, total relaxation! We also had a chance to snorkel on a coral reef, stand up paddle board, Kayak through Everglades National Park and the girls had a chance to swim with Dolphins. The last two days we spent in Miami with the highlight of  spending the day South Beach. The girls visited the Dash boutique owned by the Kardashian sisters. It was a really nice escape from the long Minnesota Winter.

As I conclude this years letter, I want to wish all our Family and Friends a warm, happy and blessed Christmas season and a New Year filled with the Lord’s blessings.  We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible this month. and those of you we don’t see, you will be in our thoughts. Merry Christmas and God bless you!

The Wunrows

Jeff, Christina, Nik, Alex, Catie, Olga, Dasha, Vanessa, Cookie, our kitty and our little dog, Lola.

Click here to view our year in pictures slide show