I wish I had Asked, I wish I had listened

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For me, one of the hardest things to do in life is to find the positive in the negative things that happen in our lives. I will never forget the phone call I got in Subic Bay, Philippines when Bobbie called to tell me that Dad had died. On the long trip home across the Pacific, between the tears of self pity and remorse, I thought about how little I really knew about Dad and the earlier years. As I worried about Mom and how she would do without having Dad around to do the things for her that he had always done. I was really glad that she would be there to tell me more about Dad and his earlier years.

Nine years later when Mom died, I found myself driving back to Iowa after her funeral not knowing much more about Dad than I did on that trip across the Pacific and I was in the same situation with Mom. Sometimes that first blow with the two-by-four doesn’t work and now I had lost some opportunities forever. One other thing that I remember from that trip home for the funeral was how impressed I was with our family. As we sat around the room and selected the things we wanted of Mom & Dad’s, It seemed that we were more concerned about what others wanted than we were about what we wanted. I was obviously proud of my own children but I was also very proud of all of the nieces and nephews. They were all different but they were all such good people. Now I was worried that without Mom or Dad around, I would lose touch with them and I didn’t know how to change that. This is where the newsletter idea got started.

It took me a while but after conversations with several siblings, in September of 1985, I sent off the letter to my siblings suggesting “The Jacobs’ Newsletter”. When I go back and look at the first newsletter I am a little embarrassed but I am also pleased with how far we have come. In the beginning, I would receive a letter from each of the siblings who chose to participate in that issue and I would type them all in and send out the newsletter. Originally, we sent out the newsletter at the end of each calendar quarter but in October, 1989 we went to 3 issues per year.

In January 1989 we came up with letterhead for the newsletter but the biggest advancement in the newsletter came when my son, Ryan, put it on the web at https://thejacobsfamily.org/. This allows us to do so much more than we were ever able to do before and has made my job as editor so much easier when we use the web tools that are provided. There are always tradeoffs because Ryan does have more work and his job is so much easier when the articles are in on time.

It seems that all good things have extra benefits that we never consider when we first start them and in the case of our newsletter, that is definitely the case. I started the newsletter out of a selfish fear that I was going to lose touch with some very wonderful people: brothers, sisters, and their families. Although the newsletter is not a replacement for one-on-one communication, I think that it has provided an avenue of communication that did not exist for us before. But the extra benefits definitely deserve some attention. What are they?

-We have increased the communication with others on both sides of the family because we send newsletters to some of our Aunts and Uncles.

-We have become international by sending copies of the newsletter to our relatives in Holland and they are now reading it on the web.

-We have nieces and nephews who are getting information about their family that they would not get without the newsletter.

-We now have a family log of events that never existed before. There is a great deal of detail missing but it is the start of a historical record.

-From a selfish perspective, this newsletter has involved my children with my family history more than anything that I could have imagined.

– …and this list goes on and on!

Why is the newsletter on the web so important? “The Jacobs’ Newsletter” is a not for profit deal and the editor is not independently wealthy so the distribution of the publication was limited to siblings and a few selected others. Now everyone with a computer in whatever country they live in can see it on the web. I have heard from relatives that I have never met because of the web page and I expect that will continue as more relatives become familiar with it and word-of-mouth is the only thing we have used to make people aware of it.

So where does it go from here? I don’t know the answer to that question. I would have never guessed that we would have accomplished the things we have when I first suggested this newsletter in 1985. I am very proud of what we have but I think it can improve so much and the improvements that have been made over the years were suggestions from people who are involved.

What can each of you do to improve what we have today?

-Be sure to tell your children and other family acquaintances about the family web page.

-Be sure that you are submitting your articles each and every time they are due because some of the value of the newsletter is lost each time you miss.

-Share your ideas on what we can do to improve our web page and newsletter with others.

-Find a way for you and others in your family to get more involved with our newsletter.

Regrets are an unfortunate part of everyone’s life. I regret not having spent more time with Mom & Dad just to get to know and understand them better. I regret not taking the opportunity to have said some of the things I know I should have said to them. I regret not having thanked them for all of the things they did for me over the years including the siblings that I have to share this newsletter with. One regret that I hope I never have is that for whatever reason, this newsletter should some day cease to exist. Now is the time for us to involve the next generation and my family wants to involve whoever wants to participate.

MaryAnn November 2022

08 Thursday Dec 2022

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Linda

Ida

Rod and I have slowed down some, we are just enjoying our time at home. Rod has finished with the lawns we take care of. He hasn’t started any projects in his workshop. He did make a few trips to Bismarck to watch Nic’s football games and we did make it to a few of Jaxon’s football games and one of Emma’s soccer games. I continue to go to work at Head Start.

Erica is staying busy at school with her third graders. Eric has to drive to Robison Lake one day for work and otherwise he works from home. Aidan is a sophomore at Century and then also works at Cashwise grocery. Nic is a 7th grader at Horizon and stays real busy with hockey, he has also started reffing the younger hockey games.

Jon and Amanda have finally moved into their new home.  They were very excited to finally move out of the two bedroom apartment. Jon is a co-facilitator at the day school and Amanda is enjoying her elementary principal job in Mandan.  Jon also stays busy reffing, he just finished with football and will soon start girls and boys basketball. Jaxon is in the fifth grade and Emma is a second grader at Solheim Elementary. Jaxon is busy with basketball this time of year and Emma is taking piano lessons.

He hope everyone has a happy and blessed holiday season.  Love you all!

Wayne

Joan

HAPPY THANKS GIVING

We have many things to be thankful for. 

2 BEAUTIFUL GIFTS that I am most thankful for I received from Mom and Dad.  One my FAITH and the other my SIBLINGS.  I can not imagine life without them.  These 2 gifts I have needed this last year more than a person can imagine.  

Family is top of my list.  I don’t know where I would be without my 3 beautiful daughters and 5 busy grandsons and of course my cute little granddaughter.

Charity’s family has been busy with sports.  I have enjoyed watching Hudson and Hunter play baseball this summer on to football this fall and now into wrestling for Hunter and basketball for Hudson.  I try to make most of their games which is a lot of time on the road to Bismarck, but what more do I have.  Charity is staying busy at the Cancer Center and Justin working for the State of ND Highway Dept.

Nicole is busy with her Job at Bone & Joint and Jordan at Timec in Mandan.  The kids are keeping them on their toes.  Otto just finished soccer which he seems to have enjoyed and enjoyable to watch when it wasn’t TOO COLD.  Otto is in Pre-K and seems to be enjoying School a little more.  Oliver is in the Kids program so gets to ride a BUS 2 days a week to school and Nora is just Nora….goes to Miss Jo’s everyday(day care).  In October Nicole was added to the Marauder’s Hall of Fame at the University of Mary with her 2004 basketball team.  It was a great weekend for her to enjoy time with her teammates that she spent A LOT of hours with during college 

Sarah seems to be liking her new Job.  I like the fact that she is home at night and she is able to get Camden to School and pick him Up.  For Camden I feel the Job change has been good.  Hopefully he will be getting into wrestling this winter.  He enjoys the neighbor friends and is always in a hurry to get outside to Play but without recent snow he just has to shovel Oma’s driveway….

I am very fortunate to have a neighbor that has a Bobcat to move snow.  Last Spring he came over and had the snow moved in NO TIME at all.  He told me that Delmar used to bring in the big loaders from work that made his Bobcat look like a Tonka Toy.  Well our first snowfall he was again moving my snow

My FAITH is also on the top of my list, without it I am not sure where I would be.  This year has been difficult at Work for Fisher Industries, in the Accounting Department.  In July one of my co-workers with 5 young kids was diagnosed with Cancer, she is putting up a great fight and has 4 more treatments of Chemo left.  In September the Head of the AP was diagnosed with Cancer and also and has just began her treatments. And recently my Boss’s foster Son was just in a horrible accident in MT and they are considering him a possible vegetable, so she has a lot of decisions to help make.  Where do people go without faith and prayer.  Both women with Cancer were given one of the special Prayer Shawls that were made by special people….My AUNTS.

As these Newsletters come to an end I want to THANK EVERYONE for all the time and effort put into it.  Tony and Ryan and all who submitted letters.  I have to say it was a challenge some days what I was going to add.  For when Mom was alive she would bug us for info and then as our families grew it is hard to remember what was new.

I do have to say that I always knew I had the BEST FAMILY AROUND and what I and my Girls have dealt with in the last 15 months with all the LOVE and SUPPORT only puts the Topping on the Cake.  Not all have had to process this but the day will come and you can be reassured the JACOBS/KREBS FAMILY will be there for LOVE and SUPPORT.  Thank you.

Love you, Joan

Jim

Greetings Family from my house to yours.

Hello everyone from the Krebs Farm here in New England, North Dakota. Greetings!!

All of you know it’s been a very trying year for me. You are all aware that we had a farm sale in May. Which went very well. With that, comes living by myself which has its benefits but more sadness. I’ve been struggling emotionally. Surely we can all acknowledge that in our own daily lives. With that, I’ve been going to a grief/loss retreat at our church. Also the weekend of November 18th-20th I’m going to another grief retreat. My God, surely he’ll help me get thru this! I no longer work at the school. Superintendent issues. Not working in those conditions.  Time to take care of myself. With that said, in December I’m having my left knee replaced. After that comes my hip. They have both been bothering me for quite some time. Too many feed pails/milk/cement in my days.

We made some beautiful Christmas cards in honor of our beloved Jim. So when you get this card. Look closely at the big red barn. The sun rays but also the Bird flying in our mist. So our sign from above.  Also “Cheers to you Jim” Hope you all love them as much as we do. My girls have been very supportive of me, also my son-in-laws, God gave them to me and I’m taking full advantage of them. So thank you.

We have some Great news to spread. Our Chris and Nikki are having baby #6 in March. Maybe that boy is in our grabs! Or maybe not. But, I’ll take what the Good Lord brings me. With that said, Chris retired from Berger Electric last July. He is a full-time farmer with his Dad. Enjoying all the ups and downs of farming. He already figured out you need two of everything. Just in case. The kiddos are getting so big. Kendra is 14, Breanna is 13, Bristol 8, Ella is 5, and Annika is 2 1/2. New baby in March. Love it!

Teresa & Trevor are busy as always. Teresa went back to school to be an RN plus working part-time. Trevor is at Drolc Electric. Kylee is 10, Eli is 9, Nina is 4, and Ian is 2 1/2. Believe me when I say noise. It’s Noise!!

Dani & Jon, have been busy with their activities as well. From soccer to horse riding to baseball. Miles is 13, Harper is 9, and Jalenis 4. Jon is a captain at Alaska airlines and Dani is a stay-at-home Mom. God is so Good. 

With all said and done, I’m in survivor mode. Winter’s coming and I already have the skid steer jelled up. Blah… I rely on my girls and the noise of grandbabies to survive. Enjoying the noise when I can. God is Good what else can I say.

 So in closing, enjoy your Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas from my house to yours. Love you all! What an amazing family we have. Pauly Krebs’ family loves all of you!

Leonard

Happy Holidays to all from our house to yours. We spent thanksgiving with Kristi’s  entire family, only missing 1 nephew, so to say the least we had a houseful,  33 plates counting kids.

But being brought up by MaryAnn,  yes we still had leftovers.

On Saturday night we baptized little Brynlee Lorainne, (Ryan & Ashley’s) which I had the Honor of administrating.

Jacob,Kaylee and Crosby were home and spent the weekend with us, time always goes way too fast when they are home. Jacob and Kaylee are still both teaching and Crosby stays busy with Daycare,  He’s learning to talk quite well and is starting to work on Potty training.

Ashley and Ryan are always busy, as there 3 littles keep them on there toes. George is in  PreSchool already and really seems to like numbers. He also has currently learned to snap his fingers so you know when he’s around. Jack is always busy trying to hide the tv remote or the phone, he will be the tech guy of the family. Little Brynlee is just busy being passed around and being held, as a little girl in the house is something new. Ryan and Ash are moving into there busy time getting ready to sell their calves early next year. And then followed by calving shortly after.

Megan is enjoying her 1st year as a school social worker and is hoping to take her state boards in early 2023..She is busy planning her wedding in August so hope to see many of you there.

Kristi followed through with her retirement plans from Daycare, as of Sept. she has been busy trying to find parts of the house that still need cleaning. She is enjoying her time off and her walks with our dog.  I’m still working at Consolidated and will celebrate my 10 year anniversary in Feb.  Time will tell how long I stick with it, but for now I’ll stay out of Kristi’s way.

Here’s hoping all are doing well and have a great new year

Thanks also to all who have kept this family letter going  over the years

Leonard

Krebs Krew

 Deb

Hello from the Franchuks.  It makes me a little sad also to know the family letter in this format is coming to an end and yet I totally understand it.  I was thinking back on things too, and a few things stuck out for me.  When I would print the letter and take it over to Mom and Dad they would get so excited.  Then I think they would proceed to tell everyone what they read!!  When Mom died, I remember Dad looking at us and saying ‘who is going to do the family letter’.  At the time I said don’t worry Dad, it will get done.  We usually did get it sent in, pretty late most of the time but that was Moms way!! I’m becoming as good at procrastinating as she was! 

Mike and the kids went deer hunting again this year, Camden even got to go one day with the guys!!  We had quite a bit of snow in early November, they said the country side was beautiful with all the untouched snow except for animal tracks. It took them all 3 weekends but they did get all three tags filled.  Now we have  to work out plans with Ben for butchering.  

Ben is enjoying his new assignment in Bowman, Rhame and Marmath.  He’s always loved farm work so being in a farming/ranching community is right up his alley.  He’s made it out to the Buchholz ranch to drive some truck and helped a few other farmers too on his days off.  Sounds like he is fitting in well.  Fr Luke, Bens friend from seminary, went to Bowman to do a mission for him.  It was fun for them to reconnect.  

Kayla keeps busy with her job and Zoey. Kayla and I took Zoey for lots of walks in the summer but now with the colder weather and ice we don’t get out as much. Zoey is not impressed!! 

Mike and I keep busy with work.  Mike also spends alot of time in the shop on his woodworking projects.  He had a project for church which has kept him pretty busy. The Covid bug hit our house also.  Fortunately it only hit me, Mike and Kayla didn’t get it to our knowledge.  Kayla would test everyday just to make sure she could continue to work since her job involves going into peoples homes. It took about a week but I finally started feeling better!   

I will miss the family letter but am thankful it has carried on as long as it has.  We love you all!!

Deb

LeAnn

Hi Family,
First of all thank you to Tony and family for taking charge of the family letter for all these years. You did a great job.  I have always enjoyed reading the letters… not so much at contributing my part of the letter.  With that being said I am the reason Mom's letters were usually late.  Seems like we are always busy around here, with most of our work being associated with the buffalo, our way of life.

Conner graduated college last spring so is working full time at home, which is really nice for Wayne to be able to have Conner start making some of the decisions around here.

Jenna is keeping busy at U Mary, still on schedule to finish in spring of 2024. She is looking forward to living off campus after spring semester. They grow up fast.
We enjoy having Fr. Ben being in Bowman. Hope he can stay for a few years. If he’s not busy on his day off he finds his way out to our place, we always have something to do if he wants to help…. Thanks Ben, we appreciate you.

Well that’s about it from here. I remember telling Dad the best gifts him and Mom gave me were my siblings. Thank you Mom for your siblings too…

Love you all, take care!  LeAnn

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