Kavalier
Holiday Card
December 2004
Seasons Greetings!
Another year is almost gone. It has been said that holiday letters are becoming as much of a decorating
project as putting up lights and other seasonal adornments!
They are a wonderful and fun way to keep in touch and let family and
friends know of happy and sad times that happened throughout the year.
A poet once said of holiday letters, “Its real message lives under
the language . . . . "I am alive, been busy, have not forgotten you, and
care about you." We look
forward to holiday letters – both writing them and receiving them.
We’ve had some major changes
for the Kavalier family this past year. Photos include those from our daughter, Dawn’s wedding.
Isn’t technology wonderful!
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Family picture at Dawn’s
wedding - October 2004. Pictured
left to right: Krystal,
Brooke, Amber, Francie, Harold, Dawn, and Buddy
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The Four Kavalier Girls
Top to bottom:
Krystal, Amber, Dawn &
Brooke
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Buddy’s exciting year involved trips to Paris. With his new promotion at John Deere as Divisional Infrastructure
Manager, he will make at least two trips per year to both France and
Mexico and also to three sites in the states.
He will remain housed at the Engine Works in Waterloo.
He and his wife, Sarah, are working on purchasing an acreage near
Gilbertville and if all works out, will be building a home there at
sometime in the future.
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Krystal, her husband, Mark,
and their two little ones, Silver and Stone, are enjoying their home in
LaPorte City. Mark is doing
very well in his job. Krystal
is still the “Scrapbook Queen” and loves to make family picture
books when she is not working at Great America.
Krystal was working out of her home until two months ago, when
the company required employees to work in the office again.
She realizes how fortunate she was during that time period to be
able to work from home and save not only gas and wear on the SUV, but
also the precious time that she had extra to spend with her little ones.
Silver attends pre-school twice a week and is in wrestling.
Little Stone is walking and starting to talk.
Of course, everyone enjoys “Baby Stone” so much. Babies are so much fun!
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Amber had some excitement in
May. McLeod in Cedar Rapids,
where Amber worked for seven years, laid off 200 people and unfortunately,
Amber was 1 of the 200. She had
quite a week: She lost her job on
May 3, turned 26 on May 4, and was to close on her first home on May 6. Needless to say, losing her job sort of threw things off
balance, but she was able to close on her house anyway.
It’s a three-bedroom ranch, complete with a big back yard for her two
little ones. Within 30 days and
still time left on her severance package, she found a wonderful job (thanks to
Krystal’s husband, Mark). It is
the ideal job for her, especially being a single mom – she works out of her
home, doing the same thing she was doing at McLeod for nearly the same pay as
she was getting. She saves on
gas, wear on her car, and childcare - although she does take the kids to the
sitter for a couple of hours each day after school, since her job requires a
lot of concentration and she puts in a lot of hours.
Hunter is in Kindergarten this year and Hailey is in Pre-Kindergarten
and both go to school all day. They
were ring bearer and flower girl at Dawn’s wedding.
They both love the Internet, and they spend a lot of time on the
educational sites. They have a
website that “Grandma” created for them with lots of links that have fun
and educational web pages that they enjoy:
http://www.hunterandhaileyswebpage.freeservers.com
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Dawn and Russell’s wedding
was October 9. Their
pictures turned out beautifully. The
day was perfect and everything went very well.
Buddy’s wife, Sarah, made the flowers for their wedding, and
they were gorgeous. Russell
and Dawn went to Vegas for their honeymoon, and they now reside in
Petersburg, near Dyersville.
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Pictured is Brooke reading
the Pooh bear book to Hunter and Hailey at Grandma & Grandpa’s.
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Youngest daughter, Brooke,
will graduate from the University of Northern Iowa in May.
She recently changed jobs and is at CBE, the same company where
Dawn works. She is enjoying
the office environment, which is quite a change from what she was used
to while working at the truck stop.
Although she had her clientele built up and made very good tips,
she knows she will be better off with some office experience on her
resume. She is currently
negotiating wages for working as a realtor, which was her goal all
along. The offer came
quicker than she thought, as she has not yet graduated.
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Harold continues to stay busy
with his job at United Concrete and doing a few farm toy shows each
year. He is also on the
city council here in town. He
is very respected by all of the neighbors, who love to request his
expertise as the “lawn expert” in town.
In the wintertime, he keeps busy cleaning out the neighbor’s
driveways when it snows. With
the purchase of his 1975 Chevrolet convertible, I’m sure he will be
taking in a few more car shows in the summer months.
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I keep busy between working
full-time at Hawkeye Community College and part-time on weekends and
holidays at the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
My
30th class reunion was in July and had several phases to it. There were many unique touches, including a dinner, party
wagon, parade, and fireworks. I was the chairman for the
committee, and our entire group had wonderful ideas and everything
worked out so well and was so much fun.
All of the events turned out to be a blast! I even created
a 30th Class Reunion Website, complete with a photo gallery: http://www.donbosco74.freeservers.com/
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The month of October had some
very happy times and some very sad times.
My mother passed away the week after Dawn’s wedding and is missed by
all. But we know her pain is
gone, and she is watching over all of us.
Our precious memories of her and her love for children, especially her
grandchildren and great grandchildren, will forever remain in our hearts.
We wish you and your family a
new year filled with all of the things you love!
Happy Holidays!
Harold & Francie Kavalier
Here is a link to our 2003 Holiday Card:
http://kavalierf.freeservers.com/index4.htm
Here is a link to our 2002 Holiday Card http://kavalierf.freeservers.com/index3.htm
A Tribute to Our Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother
Frances T. Even
February 25, 1912 – October 16, 2004
THE DASH
I
read
of a man who stood to speak
at
the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning...to the end.
He
noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years
For
that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved herknow what that little line is worth.
For
it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash...
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.
Grandchild
Krystal Schmitz summed it up well for all the grandchildren when she said, “If
you think about all the things that you would say would make a wonderful
grandma, our Grandmother was all that and much, much more!”
The love she has shown will
live on in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. One thing is for certain, Frances had a great time as
she spent her little dash – that had so much meaning.
Two special grandchildren, Donny and Thomas, can now enjoy the
special grandmother that the grandchildren all enjoyed for so many years.
My
First Christmas in Heaven
I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,
With tiny lights like heaven's stars reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear
For I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear
But earthly music can't compare with the Heaven’s choir up here.
I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring
For it's beyond description to hear the angels sing.
I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart.
But I am not so far away, we really not apart.
I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory of my undying love.
After all, “love” is a gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.
Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do,
for I can’t count the blessings or the love he has for you.
 So be happy for me dear ones. You
know I hold you dear,
And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.
I can't tell you of the splendor or the peace here in this place.
Can you imagine Christmas with our Savior, face to face?
May
God uplift your spirit as I tell Him of your love
Then pray for one another as you lift your eyes above.
So have a Merry Christmas, and wipe away that tear,
For I'm spending Christmas in Heaven with Jesus Christ this year!
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 Web Site Created by
Grandma
Francie
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