The last few years have been a whirlwind of ups and downs, new beginnings, and growth.
All four of us are in school in different capacities. We boys are
at Brightwater Montessori School; Nils is in Kindergarten, Anders is
a third year, and I work in a 4-6th grade classroom. We
all enjoy reading and art, and Nils seems to also have an anomalous
fondness for math. Beth is in her second year as a graduate student
at the University of Minnesota where she is pursuing a doctorate in
soil science. Her research takes her to her fieldwork site in
Pennsylvania a few times a year as well as to various conferences and
meetings. She's being recognized as an up-and-coming scientist in the
field. We're proud of her.We try and spend time in the outdoors when we can (though sometimes we have to pull the boys away from Legos and drawing, and who-are-we-kidding… things with screens!). Beth and I were able to take a canoe trip into the Boundary Waters while the boys went to Farfar and Farmor's farm. We all enjoyed a few camping trips to Minnesota State Parks as well as the annual Wenell family camping weekend. Beth decided to become a runner in the middle of last winter, and she very much prefers doing this outside (she thinks anyone can do it).
While Beth was out east doing research over the summer, I took the
boys to Pana, Illinois, for the annual Trumper family reunion. After
water fights, pea shooters, playing at the lake, and having fun with
cousins of all ages, we took a short road trip on the way home. While
doing some camping throughout Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, we saw
Lincoln's New Salem as well as the Mark Twain Cave. We all hiked in
the fall and went sledding in the winter. Anders and Nils got their
first exposure to downhill skiing while visiting Grandma in Wisconsin
as well as cross-country skiing while our family was taking a retreat
at Covenant Pines Bible Camp. Would you ever guess that they
preferred cross-country?Anders was signed up to go to Covenant Pines last summer with a few friends from church, but a lot of rains up north meant eight additional feet of water above lake level, so the camp was canceled. He's hoping it doesn't happen this year since he finally gets to go for a whole week. Nils is disappointed he has to wait a whole year before he can go on his own. As usual we were there at family camp on Memorial Day Weekend with our church family.
Although I would not consider myself a city person we seem to find many things to enjoy around the Twin Cities: biking along the Mississippi, going to the art museum, visiting the zoo and conservatory, listening to outdoor concerts at the lake, picnicking at Minnehaha falls, swimming in the lakes, and whatever else we can find to do.
I had the exciting and arduous adventure of publishing my first book this winter. Cultural Enslavement is a journey of seeking to live more abundantly in life.
We wish you all a happy and joyous Easter. He is risen!
Love,
David, Beth, Anders and Nils
