Merry Christmas from the Dalkes
November 10, 2007
We have seen the first snow of the year (granted it was in northern Minnesota). However, the first snow is one of the typical indicators to get started on Christmas letters. It seems strange to work on the letter prior to Thanksgiving. However, so much has happened in the last 365, we are anxious to put it on paper.
You may recall our last Christmas letter was sent out about the time we moved to our new house. Additionally, we assisted other couples from our church and Shae’s sister who also had the ambition to move at the end of 2006. Since Shae’s sister moved at the exact time we moved we thought it would be fascinating to see how many people we could pack into our interim two-bedroom apartment while our house was completed. Regardless of the wisdom, I am happy to say that 9 people fit (4 under 3 years old). Though everyone appreciated the spaciousness of the new house, the adults were probably the most grateful. The new house is gradually becoming a home. Although it has received paint in a few rooms; most of the available project time and dollars for the year went into three newly planted trees and a beautiful fence so the kids can have dominion over the back yard.
As Christmas 2006 came to a close, Shae’s foreign exchange student/brother, Sebastian, swung by from Germany for a quick visit. A few days after Sebastian’s visit, we flew to Cancun with the boys and Shae’s parents. We had purchased the airline tickets in the summer of 2006 before we’d ever decided to build a house. We had saved our vacation budget for years to make the trip happen. The pictures from our trip to Mexico included daily sand castles and some good footage of Xcaret (an ecological theme park). Shae and I made little use of the pallapas on the beach or the lounge chairs they shaded. However, Shae’s folks did watch the boys for a day allowing us to travel to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and to swim in the beautiful Il Kil Cenote (underground water filled sink hole) nearby. Additionally, we had the freedom to celebrate our anniversary and Shae’s birthday one evening at a nice restaurant overlooking the lagoon in Cancun. We agreed that it was a wonderfully fun trip, but maybe not the relaxing one we’d envisioned. I wonder if having the boys along had anything to do with that? (Hee hee) Our other trips this year included a great time with Mike’s family in South Dakota this summer. We also made our annual trip to the “Lincoln Log Cabin” near Des Moines.
Our write-up of life change continues with Mike. He accepted a position within his company to manage the Omaha UNIX System Administrators (SAs). The team functions as one with the Denver office thus he will be called on to function as an assistant manager to the Denver UNIX SAs and contribute in a technical capacity as well. Mike took his first trip to the Denver office in October. The trip was packed. However, he was able to meet up with his Dalke Grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin. Mike was blessed by harvesting a wild turkey this spring. However, fall hunting has not started yet. Since time is at a premium, no doubt, Mike will take filling his tag(s) seriously.
Shae is enjoying the plethora of practices that accompanies our church’s Broadway style musical. She still holds her position as CHO (Chief Home Officer) of Ethan and Eric Industries, LLC. Thankfully she has not had to fight so hard to keep her job this year. The boys have turned their fighting efforts on each other in effort to establish their own pecking order.
Ethan is four and loves attending pre-school at Trinity Christian School. Ethan enjoys reading, playing Candyland and Go-Fish, and outdoor activities with Dad. He has become quite the fisherman and helped his cousins Ben and Andrew lead the charge on their second annual backpacking campout at Indian Caves State Park. Uncle Dave and Mike just tagged along carrying trivial things like food, tents, tools, etc.
As of November 3rd Eric finally grew into his two-year-old disposition. He is learning many words in addition to the good-old standby “NO.” We were chagrined to note that his latest word is “Why?” I’m sure this is a year earlier than expected. Great! Second child syndrome. Eric too loves camping (in the yard for now). He’s an active and tough little climber and jumper. Leave it to Eric to discover that a 50-pound Samoyed (Dasha, our dog) makes a perfect horse for a boy his size. In typical fashion, his favorite game currently is Hungry Hippos. He really loves his choo-choos and anything his brother is into.
Baby number three we pray is doing fine. Our big announcement for the year is that we are adopting from Vietnam. The adoption world refers to our condition as paper pregnant. If all goes well, we may be traveling to Vietnam to meet our new family member as early as Spring 2008. There is a whole lot more detail on this topic on the enclosure we are sending with our Christmas letter. Please pray fervently that all goes well.
Last of all and in a category of her own, Dasha is still at her post. She is approaching 9 years young and required an emergency surgery last year before she could move to our new home. She is doing much better now that time has passed since the move and the surgery. Although slower now, she still perks right up when you pick up her leash or her toys.
Just over a year after Mike’s Grandpa Sandland received his picturesque autumn funeral we returned to Northern Minnesota the beginning of November. This time we went to honor Mike’s Grandma Sandland. God decorated Grandma Sandland’s farewell with a light dusting of snow. We rejoice that it wasn’t truly farewell, but that we’ll see both Grandpa and Grandma Sandland in heaven someday. This Christmas our prayer would be that we all remember to leave Christ in our Christmas celebrations.
Sincerely,
Michael, Shae, Ethan, & Eric Dalke
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