Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year from the Bremer's.

(Our son Michael is the author of this year's holiday letter.)

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a…. WAIT A MINUTE. Did you seriously think I was going to start the Bremer Family Christmas Letter with this lame starting line?!  And before I go any further, Christmas is over, so technically this is our “Bremer Family New Year’s Letter.” With that being said, let us now go through the Bremer dynasty and see what kind of incredible accomplishments we have achieved in 2017.

Janet at the MN State Fair chaperoning the dairy princesses.

Janet has all the free time in the world these days now that she is retired from her Title 1 position at Pinecrest… Oh wait! She’s now somehow MORE busy after retirement! Janet has kept herself more than busy in 2017.  Starting with her successful blog, My Barnyard View. If you’ve been living in a cave and are not familiar with it, it features her thoughts and stories about life on, and off the farm. Check it out at mybarnyardview.blogspot.com. She has also occupied much of her time with her position as the Minnesota Dairy Princess Coordinator through Midwest Dairy. Janet is like the mother hen (Oops, wrong animal industry!) for all of the Dairy Princess finalists at the State Fair. She also works hand in hand with the Dairy Princess all year long. That’s not the only feat Janet has accomplished... Speaking of feet, on day 1 of the State Fair Janet broke her foot! Luckily, Sara came to the rescue to help oversee the Dairy Princesses the first few days at the fair. In other news, it has felt like Janet has been on the TV show “This Old House” this past year as she has been fully engrossed in preparing Grandma and Grandpa Brown’s houses for sale. We popped the champagne in 2017 as the childhood house she grew up in was successfully sold!

TLC from Farmer John.

John, the don, considers 2017 a success. When I asked him what he wanted in the letter about him, he shrugged and smiled. John is a man of few words, so I consider that a success! John was delighted by some dandy purchases on the farm this year: a new drag, a sprayer, a silage bagger, AND a round baler! These pieces of machinery make life on the farm smoother, and a heck of a lot more fun! There has also been some primping to our parlor recently, as we updated the milking parlor’s ceiling, and lights. Now we can see better while we milk cows, and more effectively put on tours (like the tour we did last summer to a group of over 100 German students!). Serving as Trustee on the St. John’s Church Council, and being the Chairman of the Nininger Planning Commission keeps dad more than busy!

Sara hosts "Aprons Optional."

As most people were counting down the 12 days of Christmas, Sara has been counting her 12 YEARS of teaching at the Hastings Middle School! Nouns, verbs, adjectives… Sara teaches it all (and is a pro at Mad Libs because of it!). Always pushing the envelope, Sara is now in charge of the Fuel Up To Play 60 club after school. This program educates students on the importance of fueling up with dairy, and getting 60 minutes of physical activity each and every day. It’s never a problem for Sara getting 60 minutes of go-time a day, as she milks cows every evening. She also has been walking countless miles this winter setting up her enormous Christmas light display! Sara’s light display was so good this year, she was able to convince Santa and Mrs. Claus to come out for a fundraiser that collected food for Hastings Family Service and monetary donations for The Great American Milk Drive. We were thrilled to have over 400 people attend our Santa on the Farm event this year! If Sara’s plate wasn’t full enough, she has also literally had her plate full with her cooking TV show, “Aprons Optional.” Check out all her delicious episodes by searching for it on YouTube and Facebook!

Michael is a national winner!

And then there’s me, “Take a Hike, Mike!” also known as Michael. My TV show has had a gangbuster year! My show was nominated again this year for a NATOA award in the humor category. This pitted me against other TV stations across the country. I was able to impress the judges enough to bring home the bacon as I came in FIRST place in the country! I got to spend a week in Seattle for a video conference and the awards ceremony. You can search for my show on Facebook and YouTube! Along with my TV show, I have been engrossed with many other things at Hastings Community TV. I have been directing weekly live sporting events, and filming countless other shows. I also get to play teacher as I am the Technical Advisor for the Broadcast Journalism Class (The Ekko) at  the Hastings High School. Though I love my full time job at HCTV, I refuse to miss out on the fun at home on the farm. Milking cows, cleaning the cowyard with the Bobcat, and working in the field are all part of my repertoire. The sky was the limit for me this year as I jumped out of a plane 13,000 feet in the air and underwent a 60 second freefall! That’s right, I was nutty enough to go skydiving!

Cheering the Minnesota Vikings on to victory. 

Other Bremer bulletin board worthy mentions include going to cheer on the Vikings at US Bank stadium as a family, and living out our rockstar dreams at the Guns N’ Roses concert! We also have been playing Extreme Makeover Home Edition as we have remodeled our kitchen, and downstairs bathroom. We’re excited for you to try them out! While you’re here, stay for a bonfire at our new fire pit while you observe the fact that we recently removed several of our massive trees!

Like every year, 2017 has had its ups and downs. But to quote the 90’s one hit wonder band, Chumbawumba in their song Tubthumping: “I get knocked down, I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down!” From our family to yours, Merry Christmas! ...Oops! I already forgot Christmas is over! Happy New Year!

-Michael & the Bremer Family