Proof that me not working at
Motorola is a GOOD thing,
the 2005 Bertelson
Bunch Bulletin is complete IN 2005 !! Newsletter gaggers
may crumple & discard now :P those that enjoy the news (good
& bad!) read on…
Once again we 'brainstormed" about our
2005 photo early on in our
ever present
quest to top the previous years photo & retain our "The
Bertelsons are NUTS" reputation. We all decided
we'd take one in Japan in the summer during our visit to see my brother
Nicholas and his family.....
Well it was a nice idea, had we
TAKEN a photo of all 6 of us in Japan!! Don't get me
wrong we took HUNDREDS and I mean HUNDREDS of
photos between Nils and I, but not ONE of all of
us!!! So this year I decided to create one using what I do have
(which is oodles of digital photos) and take a break from a crazy/out
of the box photo.
I did use a photo take
by Nils in Nicaragua for the background which is cool - So here
is this years
photo of us.
There’s OODLES of photos of us (& even
more of the dogs Twix & Twizzler!) & events that
happened this year on our family web site! –
If you do visit bertelsonfamily.com
Please sign the guestbook so we know
you were there J
The Content
of the Newsletter is below........................
The 2 biggest
events for
the Bertelson family this year has to be getting smacked big-time by
Hurricane Wilma
(while Nils was surfing in Nicaragua no less!) - thankfully we only
sustained outside
damage, the house was spared – Phew! Not so nicely we had to suffer
(again) the experience of no electricity for 11 days after the Hurricane.
We learnt new tips & tricks this year, and were VERY thankful that we followed
through on last year and GOT the Hurricane panels made for
all the windows.
We’d be without a patio/new office room if we had not had them! We are really hoping we don’t have
to endure this in 2006, but will be getting a newer,
bigger easier generator before 
June 1st when the
‘season’ starts up again! Then the other big event was our AMAZING 3 week vacation/holiday in Japan. A first for us all & a great first at that. We were up in the Nagano mountains (far away from noisy crowded Tokyo, although we spent one day/night there & even experienced “capsule hotels” plus other cool ‘totally Tokyo’ stuff.
My brother, his wife & 5 kids were all fantastic hosts to us all & we all LOVED the time we spent there with them. You can see lots of photos we took there & read Nils’ journal of our time there on our family web site bertelsonfamily.com – check 2005 photo page.
the time. I
finally overcame my fear of him behind the wheel of a car & so he’s
been driving me
(& the girls) around for most of the year. He’s actually a good
driver, it’s NOT that part that has stalled
him getting his FULL license, he’s working on the
responsibility & maturing part! He has also worked with our
neighbour James periodically this year which has enabled him to make
GOOD money. He’s also working on
the ‘saving money’ concept !! He’s enjoying school, doing well with
good friends
& entered the ‘dating arena’ this year too. He still loves the guitar
playing with the school band this year. He is still planning on following
Dad’s footsteps with a career as a Firefighter/Paramedic (all the
‘off time’ is appealing to him!) Since he’s already the same
size as Nils, he’s started practicing by wearing Nils’ uniform. This sometimes can make his Dad a little ticked off! I’m Usually the referee!
M&M #2 Melanie or Mel is now 14.5 yrs old & herself now counting the
months till she can legally get her restricted drivers license (15) but
then again that doesn’t mean we (the parents) will actually LET her get it then! Who knows
she (by being a girl & her character) is very mature & shines
(without having to be told over & over!) on her chores &
responsibility. Luckily there’s been FAR less ‘girl drama’ this year at school - her life is her peers & friends of which she has many (girls & boys.) She’s also very smartly decided it’s better to have lots of friends that are boys, rather than have one boyfriend, so she remains unattached (even though she is absolutely gorgeous!) She got glasses this year & looks really lovely in them, quite polar to MY first pair of National Health glasses!! Quite the talented girl she can instant message about 15 people all at once, types like speedy gonzalez & has quite the passion for photography. Soon there will be even more cameras of the digital kind in this house! I LOVE my teenagers a LOT!
seems to be
enjoying this year more. She is our compassionate one, although that is
rarely extended to her younger sister ;) What that means is they still
fight like dogs & puppies (no cats in this house!) although they are
trying to remedy that on a daily basis by being nice to each other. She
seems to think that everything would be fixed if she could just move out
of their joint bedroom & into Matt’s room – too bad for her
Matt still needs his room! Maddie would gladly pack his room up for him
& move him out into the back yard if I would let her. Maddie continues
to be Nils’ sidekick going fishing and surfing with him
whenever she can. She has also started to get interested in make-up &
is now shaving her legs (OY!) which she did NOT get my permission to do so!
She thinks I’m cruel to say she should wait till she is a teenager. (in fact Mel & Kenzie agree with her too. – Mean old Mum!
M&M #4 Mackenzie or Kenzie is now 8.5 yrs old & although she is the
youngest of the kids, she sure is the bossiest, small spitfire in a tiny
package. She too would love to have Maddie move out of their joint room but it ain’t
happening! I DO have a bunch of stuff bought
& stored to do an extreme makeover of their room (complete with the
“Berlin Wall” shelves down the middle of the room to separate them so they don’t have to
even SEE each other!!) The plan of it
can be seen on our family web site.
Kenzie is also shaving her legs, says she look like a hairy
Sassquatch otherwise but my wisdom of ‘waiting is the wise thing to
do’ is lost on her too. In fact it appears that as far as my 4 kids are
concerned, I’m a just a moron! No biggie, I’m holding on to the fact that
ONE day they will love &
appreciate me !!
Twix &
Twizzler
are our ‘fur babies’ – YES that’s right we’re officially
labeled “dog obsessed” we know it, we embrace it ;) they watch our every move &
follow us everywhere – they adore us, they don’t talk back, they think we’re smart & wise.
Whoever came up with the supposedly negative phrase of “It’s a dog’s
life” sure hasn’t been privy
to the life that these 2 wonder dogs live here! No anniversary Kauai trips this year, although we did get to go for a 4 day W/E to Texas in early Dec 05 to see a good friend of mine & Sylvia our adopted Grandma who moved out there this year. We’d had to postpone the trip due to Hurricane Wilma, but in the end it worked out OK, although I am sure I am going to freeze with my thin Florida blood in Texas temps!
Nils as
usually is super busy with many ventures & side jobs besides the fire
Dept & my Web Design
business is coming along, I LOVE being at home & don’t
miss Motorola one tiny bit! I have had mostly lovely clients this year,
only one nightmare one, but to look at the positive side,
I learnt a lot about what NOT to do in business through
that encounter!
I hope that 2006 will bring more clients that are great fun to do & who pay me for my work
Ok lets see, 2005 – What did I do all year?
To start with I finished my Paramedic training & probation & I am now happily back in my assigned spot on the engine as the firefighter /paramedic so life is good. I got a nice raise but as Alice is no longer working for Motorola & is starting her own web design business we can definitely use the extra income.
I have also taken on a new little side business of fixing surfboards. It is good money & I can do all the work at home. The garage always smells like a surfboard factory now but I like that. Alice on the other hand gets really bad headaches from the smell. Speaking of my wife, we can put 25 years of togetherness in the books & I look forward to the next 25.
My 4 children are all healthy & doing fine.
Matt is almost 17 & we tend to clash a bit but over all I am very proud of him. He still has his mind set on becoming a fireman & that would be pretty cool if he could get hired before I retire. We could both work for the same department & even be on the same shift & do surf trips together.
My oldest daughter Melanie is turning into a beautiful woman & wants to be wither friends most of the time but we manage to go on daddy dates once in a while.
Maddie & Kenzie are growing like weeds & it seems I can’t spend enough time with them but I will keep trying.
The dogs are great & I have taken claim to Twix even though Alice will disagree with me I feel she is my girl. She goes everywhere with me & I mean everywhere. Scooter rides, motorcycle rides, work, home depot, you name it. A lot of my friends think I am weird but maybe I am but I’m happy so it doesn’t really matter. Twizzler is coming along well. She is still a puppy & does not know the ins & outs of being with daddy yet but she is a fast learner.
Ok the house: I have managed to install storm panels this year & that means no more plywood to mess with.
Thank goodness for that. Matt & I custom built a tongue & groove ceiling for our new patio turned office/guest room/playroom.
The room is almost done & then we move on to the next big project which might be the little girls room or new windows or who knows. All I know is I will never run out of honey do’s in this house. We had a completely new A/C system installed & hopefully this will do us a big justice on our electric bill which has been in the 400.00 range for the past several months. We are planning on putting up a carport so I can move my ding repair work to the outside & it will make a nice addition to the front of the house.
My travel for this year was pretty plentiful & it is not over yet. I did a fishing trip to the dry tortugus with a couple friends & we had a really good time. In fact I am planning on another one in the beginning of January. Did the usual long weekend in Daytona for bike week. I took Matt with me on that one & I am sure he will want to go again this year.
July was the big one & that would be JAPAN. You can read my day by day journal on our website. My latest trip was to Nicaragua & the timing was not the best. While I was there Hurricane Wilma hit south Florida & my family had to endure it without me. They survived but I was a mental wreck. I don’t think I will be going on any more surf trips with a hurricane on the warpath for Florida.
On the other side of the coin, Nicaragua was unreal. It is a surfers paradise & I plan on buying a ¼ acre lot within walking distance to the beach & building a getaway house. At this point it is a dream but a very doable one & it could go into play really soon. One of the guys that I went with is very excited to get something going as well. So we are going to go halves on a plan.
Beyond the travels I managed to play a lot of golf this year & hope I can keep that up as well. Rode my bicycles not quite as much this year & I need to get back in the saddle. Fishing & surfing are still hi on the fun priority list.
Crosswaves is still going strong & we have 4 more beach events left & then the 6th annual camping trip ahead of us.
No major injuries to report this year so that is a good thing. Looking forward to another very active fun filled year. The End - Nils
You can see more photos & read more news at our web site bertelsonfamily.com
love Alice, Nils & the 4 M&M’s