2005 Brandt Family Letter : 2005-12-29
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We will always look back on 2005 as being a unique year in our family's history. For the first time, someone requested admission to our club. Joshua Van Wynen will marry Heather on July 1, 2006, Lord willing. He came to our big Brandt gathering in Canada (fun despite man-eating mosquitos), so he's already met Randy's relatives. We all love Josh and are excited that he puts up with us. Heather and Josh first met at L'Abri (a Christian retreat) in the Alps of Switzerland during the spring of 2003, but became much better friends at L'Abri in Massachusetts the next fall.
Heather (20) attends college in Denver and works as a nanny to her darling Lilly. She also finds time for Josh periodically.
Erika (18) graduated from high school with honors, and then spent a semester in Indiana. She decided small-town college life was not for her, even though she achieved her childhood goal of being a college cheerleader. She's considering a trip to Europe this winter, and expects to return to college next fall.
Michael (14) was one of the middle school valedictorians in spring, and had a successful start to high school, getting A's in classes like Analytical Geometry and Principles of Engineering. He played only one game for the high school soccer team before breaking his collarbone and ending his season. Michael got his first job in 2005, serving as assistant webmaster on
AlMenconi.com, where he also began his CD reviewing career.
Amelia (11) discovered music, taking up the bass guitar for the school band. She did well academically, and remained active in basketball and Westernaires, the horse and pony riding club she joined a year earlier. It was a thrill to see her riding a pony bareback in the annual show along with hundreds of other students. A highlight for Amelia was hearing Jason from Hawk Nelson dedicate "Every Little Thing" to her from the stage, only hours after she made a free throw in the celebrity basketball game with TobyMac, Kutless, and Audio Adrenaline.
Unlike last year, Matthew (11) wasn't on the Late Show in 2005, but he did make it into the October issue of CCM, the Christian music magazine. He's been focusing on his drumming and does very well, thanks to weekly lessons. He also reprised his Stupid Human Trick (breaking an egg by bending his hand backwards) backstage for Jeremy Camp, The Afters and Bethany Dillon when the Restored Tour was in Colorado. He began collecting autographed drum sticks and currently has sticks from bands including Hawk Nelson, TFK, Sanctus Real, Pillar, Glenn Kaiser Band, Chris Tomlin, The Afters and Jeremy Camp. Matthew has also done very well in school, and plays in the band with Amelia (percussion, naturally).
Joanna (29+) continued teaching first grade and raising the family. She ended 2005 in Washington, visiting her parents near Seattle for their 50th wedding anniversary, 25 years after first bringing Randy home to the folks during college.
Randy (45) continued working as a childcare administrator at "A Child's Touch..." After averaging over 70 hockey games a year for four years, he cut back to playing on one hockey team this winter. Now that he's closer to 90 than to birth, playing mid-week hockey at midnight against guys half his age became less enticing, so he's sticking with weekend games in the Over 40 Competitive league. Randy stays busy as the webmaster for three sites: his own
www.contend4thefaith.org, his job's
www.achildstouch.com and his friend's
almenconi.com.
We're thankful to God for another year of generally good health and the freedom to serve Him without reprisals in our country. Christmas was a special time with all of us together, along with Josh and his roommate (and our good friend) Jordan joining us. We look forward to another busy year in 2006, highlighted by a wedding in July!
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5 comments for 2005 Brandt Family Letter : 2005-12-29
That was fun reading! I was referred to your site by Glen Klassen from our church, whom I think is also distantly related to you. He told me about the egg trick on Letterman and piqued my interest in what you were up to.
As for us, we're living in Winnipeg, I'm the youth pastor at Fort Garry EMC and we're enjoying being Christians in our neighborhood and school, where Tammy substitutes and our 5 children attend. I look forward to reading more of your site (I've just looked at the family stuff so far!).