Recipes for Living Kurt and Deleth Halvorsen

Our story will surely seem boring compared to others. For the twenty-first century, we are as near a "Leave it to Beaver" family as I know. I am the oldest of three daughters born to Don and Gloria McClure, who will have been married 40 years this November 2001. My sister, Dyan, is six years younger than I, and Dana is two years older than she. Both are married and both have two daughters. Dana and Matt Roemer live in Van Wert and have daughters Samantha and Sara. Dyan and Brad Holterhaus live in Urbandale and their daughters are Tara and Taylor.

Dad was a blue collar worker, employed by John Deere in Ankeny, Iowa for 30 years before he retired. Mom didn't work outside the home until I was in junior high school. We girls were born and raised in Van Wert, Iowa. I attended elementary school in Weldon, then Clarke Community Junior High in Osceola. I graduated from high school in 1981, and from Upper Iowa University in Fayette in 1993. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting with a minor in financial management.

Kurt was the youngest of three children born to Sam and Mary Ann Halvorsen of Osceola, Iowa. His dad operated one of biggest farms in Clarke County in the early 1980's. He had thousands of acres of beans and com and raised hogs and cattle. When I met Kurt, they farmed 24/7-that is, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it involved the entire family. His older sister, Marcia, lives in Urbandale, Iowa. Kurt's brother, Scott, and wife Vicky live in Osceola, Iowa. They have three children-Blake, Lance, and Brooke.

Kurt and I always knew one another because we were in school together, and yet we didn't really know each other. We didn't start dating until after we graduated from high school. We were married June 29, 1984 and have two children. Alisha (Ali) was born February 6, 1986 and is now 15 1/2. Tanner was born November 9, 1987 and is almost 14.

After Kurt graduated from high school in 1980, he worked on the pipeline for a year or so and came back to the family farm. Kurt's true love will always be farming but about the time Alisha was born, farming changed and he took a job at the Jimmy Dean plant in Osceola. He hated not being able to farm full time, but he faced the fact that farming doesn't provide the way it used to. Beans were selling at the same price as in the Depression, and the profit margin was much narrower. It is too bad that the business of farming is so desperate because Kurt is a good farmer, one of best at raising livestock and crops. Kurt is also a realist. Everybody looks toward retirement, and realistically it is necessary to work off the farm to pay for the farm. His taking an outside job allowed us to save money to buy our own farm.

At the present time, Kurt farms, although not in the traditional way. We have a 30 head cow/calf operation. He also works as the refrigeration engineer with Osceola Foods, where he programs computers and trouble-shoots to keep the place cold. He has gained his computer knowledge through company seminars, experience in trouble-shooting, and many hours of trial and error! He keeps my computers going as well as those of my business clients and the factory.

We bought our farm of 160 acres in December 1989. We are 4 1/2 miles east of Osceola just off Highway 34. It is our little piece of paradise. I remember my father-in-law telling me that land is a commodity you can't replace and we regard our property in just that way. Ours is definitely family participation. We started raising hogs but that didn't work because I was scared to death of sows. I could never get them back in their crates. Because our hands were too big, Ali was pulling piglets when she was four years old. My dad says I am the only person he knows who will give mouth to mouth resuscitation to keep a calf alive, but to me it is just plain dollars and cents.

I began an accounting practice in our home after graduation from college in 1993. Our two-car garage became my reception area and office. I started with an Osceola practice, then bought a business from a retiring accountant in Lenox. I have never had to advertise a lot because most of my business has come from referrals. It has now grown to the size that I prepare approximately 250 tax returns a year between December and April. I usually start farm estimates in December and I have until April 15 to conclude. My sister, Dana, helps part-time from February until April. Last year I only had five extensions. We arrange the farm work accordingly and don't turn the bull out at a time that would produce calves in February, because the tax deadline date for farmers is February 28. When I'm trying to put out that many returns, I don't have time to check the cows like I should if we have calves hitting the ground.

Year-round I have a dozen monthly accounting business clients and at the end of last year I became a licensed registered representative. The investment business is a nice fit to my accounting practice. I am very fortunate because I love what I do and have the advantage of having my practice in my home.

Through the years, Kurt and I have really had to pick up a lot of each other's slack. There was a time when I was going to school and working. Kurt worked nights for nine years after Ali was born. He watched the kids during the day and I chored at night. Since they have been old enough, the kids participate in all aspects of farming. They really like the farm and are a lot of help. They definitely put in their share. They have their chores and they help with the cows. They like having 4-wheelers to make chores a bit easier. Ali is a cat lover so she has several kittens, and Tanner just plain likes the outdoors.

Ali is a sophomore in high school, Tanner in an eighth grader-in junior high. Both are in numerous activities. Ali's favorite sport is softball. She is a pitcher. She and her dad have practiced pitching just about every day since she was in seventh grade. Golf doesn't appeal to her just now because it is too slow, but it is becoming Tanner's favorite sport. He and his dad took up the sport this year. A year ago in June, Tanner earned his black belt in Taekwondo. He was enrolled in Team Kick for which his dad has taken him to Des Moines twice a week since he was eight years old. Ali has her purple belt. Both of our kids have competed in national tournaments. Tanner really likes skate boarding. In elementary school, Tanner broke his arm. In seventh grade, he broke it again in a basketball game. He now has two metal plates in his forearm but it doesn’t slow him down a bit.

Ali completed drivers’ education class in June of this year, so she has just gotten a car and her school permit to drive. She has been driving for about six weeks, and during the first couple of weeks I was chewing my nails. I'm getting used to it and admit that it helps so much. I could make 10 trips to town in a day to chauffeur them to and from their activities.

Alisha is very driven at everything she does. She isn’t satisfied doing things at 100%, she does 110%. She is very compassionate and loves animals. She would rather be out helping her dad with the cows than indoors cleaning. Her goal is to become a veterinarian. Tanner would like to be an attorney, but is also thinking about the Air Force. Tanner is always reminded to put forth 110%, but sports seem to come easier for him than his sister.

Our Leave-it-to-Beaver mentality is challenged by today's culture. As I was growing up dinner was promptly at 5:00 every night, we had the blessing, and family conversation. After dinner everybody helped clear the table and do dishes, then we have family time. All of those activities seemed to be conducive to talking about our lives and sharing what had happened through the day. Nowadays our schedule revolves around ball practices, games, and work. Jobs aren't nine to five and our lives become a juggling act. I am truly the "Queen" of juggle.

Our kids see what is going on around them and it is scary. My dad used to say that before you can teach the kids something, you would have to take the parents for a couple weeks and teach them, because behavior is learned. There are lots of social pressures. Ours is a compatible, two-parent family, which puts us in the minority among our children's associates. We can't ignore this or expect our children to do so. It’s a fast-paced, roller-coaster ride of a society, but it is how our world is and we have to learn to live within it. I have to admit that, occasionally, I’d like the roller-coaster to slow down a bit.

Kurt and I are doing what we believe is important. We enjoy each day and urge our children to do so. Every day life makes you push things, but we never stop counting our blessings. Presently we are focused on sports and school. Ali dates, but not seriously. Tanner has a girl friend, but we point out that this is not a girl-friend but a girl who is a friend. Both our kids have great relationships because they are involved with so many people and there are several advantages to that. For one, when you are exposed to a number of different people and groups, you learn to be more confident and accepting. You also come to realize that your opinion is not the only opinion. If we were all alike, what a boring world this would be!

Kurt and I love sports, drama, and all the activities our children are involved in, so we are at all the events. If our kids are in something, we are there. We think it is great that the kids have so many opportunities. When we were young, we wouldn't have had the confidence to do what they do - act a part in a play or speak in front of a crowd- so we try to support that confidence.

Our children have had the support of the extended family. When Ali was born, my sisters were still single, so they look at Ali as their daughter or little sister. They are probably more protective of our kids than Kurt and I are. Whenever our family has a special event, the "whole" family attends. When Ali got her car we celebrated with a family barbeque.

We stay very close to our parents. Dad retired when Tanner was two years old. I talk to Dad on the phone just about every morning. It may just be to say, "Hey, Pops, did you see that it is raining outside?" It wouldn't feel like the day was complete if I'd not done that. Mom has worked as cage cashier at the Lakeside riverboat since it started operation. She loves it! She handles money, cashing in tokens and chips and doing pay-outs. She works five days a week from 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. This allows her and Dad to have the rest of the afternoons to putter. Having been more of a stay-at-home Mom, this is a new opportunity to be out where there are people and excitement.

Mom collects Precious Moments and has hundreds of pieces. She has passed this hobby on to the rest of us. Once in awhile she and Ali get together at our house and look up different pieces on the internet. Of course, Mom and Dad give all of us Precious Moment gifts that fit what we do. One year at tax time they got me one that was a little girl with a lap top computer and Kurt one with a John Deere tractor. They found one for Ali that was a left handed softball player, which fit because Ali pitches left-handed. Tanner gets ones of a golfer. Our family went with Mom and Dad to the Precious Moment's chapel in Missouri. That is such a lovely place!

Our whole family enjoys music-everything from pop to rock to gospel to Beethoven. I, personally, don't care for rap. When Kurt and I were dating and after we were first married, we used to dance every Friday and Saturday night. We still love to dance but now we turn on the stereo and dance in the middle of living room floor. Our kids know how to two-step and swing dance. When I was growing up, Dad played drums in a country western band on weekends, so we grew up with music and dancing. That was when square dancing was cool. Now it has become more of a performance than entertainment.

I notice that as I get older, I think differently about some things. Everything changes. There was a time not long ago when I knew everyone I met on the street. Now there are many I do not know. At this time in our lives, everything we do revolves around kids and family, but there will be a time when our kids are gone from home and families will change. When I was 15 my maternal grandma passed away with cancer. Medically they didn't have the advance treatment they do today. I watched her go through a lot. I think that has kind of molded me in the way I look at life. I think of her often. She reminds me that life is very unpredictable. I truly believe Grandma has been my guidance and angel at difficult times.

We are all getting older. Kurt and I have lost grandparents but we've not lost any members of our immediate families, and we're not looking forward to that at all. I think people are foolish not to realize that we might have to be there for our parents as they get older. It is hard for the elderly who are on fixed incomes. They don't have the ability to compensate for increased costs of living. Health insurance and medication costs are staggering. As young people, we were trying to make enough to live comfortably when we were old. Now we are older, and wonder how we got here! Kurt and I are always planning for the future. We don't know what is ahead, but we appreciate and spend the time we have with our families. We try not to take too much for granted.

I appreciate Kurt so much. I can fall on my face and he will pick me up, brush me off, and say, "Go, try again." With that kind of support, why not keep trying? I tell people we are a little weird in a good weird sort of way. I think I am his best friend, and I know he is mine.

I'm sure my family gets a little tired of hearing it, but I'm always telling them our family motto: "Life’s a dance, and you better get in there and boogie!"