Year End Family Letter

Happy New Year!    

We look back at 2012 with grateful hearts for many things, but the past year did have a number of challenges for the Kreutzkamps.

We started the year dealing with 4 medical concerns: Mom was scheduled for surgery to remove cancerous spots from her ovary, Beth needed to have a lesion removed from her esophagus in London, Alison was having a thyroid scan to examine lumps, and in February Dad and Mom had to quickly fly home from Florida because of blockages found in his carotid arteries.

Mom’s surgery was successful and she was declared cancer-free. Dad had more tests and eventually saw a specialist in the summer who recommended surgery. However when he had the operation they discovered that the arteries were completely blocked so they don’t try to fix them then. Fortunately people can live with completely blocked carotid arteries for many years. Alison’s was a longer process as she found out there were some cancerous spots in her thyroid. So she ended up having 2 surgeries this year, as well as a radioactive treatment (pill, then some isolation) in London. Thankfully, everything went well and she is another of our family to have beaten cancer.

On a happier note, we are excited to share (if you haven’t already heard) that  David & Rachel are expecting their first child at the end of February! We’re certainly looking forward to this next stage in our lives - being grandparents. 

The big news for Josh is that he moved out of our house in November, to a townhouse not too far away. He shares it with a friend, Ryan, and it seems that their place has become the hangout for lots of friends. Josh started at yet another new computer programming job this year and this company is in Mississauga so he continues to commute. 

Alison continues to share an apartment in town with her friend Julie. She began teacher’s college (University of Western Ontario, where Terry got his B.Ed. oh so many years ago) in September and commutes to London for classes. She continues to work at the local pool as well.

So Joel is now the only child at home. However he was in Toronto from January to April finishing his culinary program at George Brown college. He wrote (and passed!) his Red Seal exam later in the year. In the fall he took a trip to Berlin before starting his new job as a cook at a new restaurant in Waterloo called Beertown.

After teaching the most challenging group of students in his 25 years (yes, he got a watch!) Terry was assigned a new grade and a new room in the fall of 2012. And so the challenges continue, even as retirement looms on the horizon. Terry didn’t write as regularly this year on his blog but there might be a few things of interest. Check it out at: www.tkreutzkamp.blogspot.com

Beth continues to mostly work as the resource nurse on her floor but there are lots of challenges in that role as well, especially as so many staff are new. She also took on the leadership role of deacon at our church.

Holiday trips this year included:

• a quick trip down to Florida on Family Day weekend in February - the idea was to spend time with Mom & Dad but they had to fly home the week before, so we just hung out at their trailer, enjoyed the warm weather, and used their car.
• spending March break at our first resort experience in Punta Cana with our friends Bruce & Carol. We enjoyed it so much that we took our whole family to a resort in Cozumel, Mexico over Christmas.
• attending the Faith & Writing Festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan in April - lots of interesting speakers and some great music
• a week renting the Wiseman cottage near Huntsville - it’s always relaxing and beautiful, and it was nice that Mom & Dad could join us
• a trip flying out of our local airport to Alberta to visit Beth’s nephew Scott and family in Calgary, then driving up along the Columbia Icefield Parkway to spend time with her niece Kim and Mike in Edmonton.
• family reunions in the summer, along with a few days at our church Camp Kahquah near Magnetewan

We’re glad for the chance to connect in this small way with you at this time of year. And as we said last year: you are in our thoughts and prayers.