Hockey

The kids LOVED playing boot hockey on Forest Lake the day after Thanksgiving. They were outside for hours on the ice. Their uncles and cousin joined in on the fun! The kids are now hoping for some hockey sticks for Christmas! :)

Getting the Krasean Christmas Tree

We spent the day on Friday in Forest Lake. We had a great morning hunting for the perfect tree. It was cold, but the kids had a great time running around the tree farm. Anja needed to be carried much of the time, but it is fun to see the bigger cousins being silly and having fun outdoors.

i heart faces - week 48: Scenic B&W

We had a wonderful and fluffy snow a few weeks ago. I took this picture of my son enjoying the snowflakes and frosty trees. It is sometimes difficult to get a genuine smile from this four year old, so I really love this picture for that reason. Also, I don't have any mountains or oceans here in Minnesota for scenery, so the snow will have to do! :)

Head on over to www.iheartfaces.com to see more B&W scenic portraits!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had fun making these edible turkeys on Thanksgiving day before heading to my parent's house for our Thanksgiving dinner. Gus had made them at school and he really wanted Johan and Anja to be able to try the "recipe."

We had a great day relaxing and spending time with our family and extended family as well. We are thankful for so much this year - good health, loving family and friends, great school for Gus, terrific neighbors and a loving church family. Gus told us he was thankful for fruits, vegetables, mom and dad. Johan was thankful for many named family members (the list was quite long). Anja was thankful for Elsa and Addy! We are blessed! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well!

Ice Skating

We've been taking ice skating lessons for the past few Saturdays. It has been a great time and I can't believe how much the boys have learned (never skated before these lessons). As you can see, it hasn't been without some frustration, but it has been fun overall. The kids have some friends from school there as well. Here Gus is pictured with his friend, Sophia.

i heart faces - week 46: silhouettes

I took this picture of my son last week when we were having warm November weather for Minnesota standards. (We got 7 inches of snow yesterday, which you can see here.) Anyway, he was swinging and singing at the top of his lungs, "Oh, the blood of Jesus," which is a song from our church children's choir. It was beautiful outside and the setting was so peaceful - hard to believe this photo was taken about 2 miles from downtown Minneapolis!

The First Snow of the Season

We really got to enjoy the first snow today. Lots of playing outside and the kids built a snowman with a little help from Kip. They wanted a banana for the mouth (smile), so I just went with it!

Halloween

We had a great time on Halloween this year. The day was filled with friends, fun and lots of candy! We headed to the Janzen house for a party where we saw lots of great costumes including Jack the little tiger to match Gus. Sammy the police man was also there. Doesn't he look official!

We visited Mor Mor and Papa who were generously giving out full size treats! I can still remember the houses that gave our full candy bars when I was young.

Next stop was Heather's house where we bumped into all of the cousins.

Finally, trick or treating in the neighborhood. We started at Jolynn's house.

Next, we toured the neighborhood with the Tripp boys! It was a great day for all of us.

Boys will be boys

Here is Johan charging down the cabin driveway with his "sword" and "shield." Gus is not very far behind taking his four-wheeler driving very seriously. I love my boys!

i heart faces - week 45: orange

The theme this week is orange and I thought of this picture of my niece. I actually bought a two-liter of Orange Crush pop to try and get a photo for this theme. But in the end, I ran out of time to take a picture and I didn't really want my kids to drink it anyway. It will be fun to see what other people come up with this week because orange is a more difficult theme (at least for me).

For other orange photos, go to www.iheartfaces.com

Four Wheeler Fun!

It was the Wednesday of MEA weekend and we headed down the alley on our daily walk to the bus stop. Johan, Anja and I spotted a four wheeler that was set out for the garbage. The sign on it read, "I work. Need batteries." I figured the batteries for this thing would be expensive, but I was imagining the kids riding it at the cabin, so we brought it home to ask dad! Anyway, we brought it to the cabin and got it running. As you can see from the pictures, it was worth the battery splurge!