New Years Eve

 

We headed to Grand Rapids to bring in the New Year at the cabin.  Our typical wintertime activity up there is sledding, but there wasn't much snow.  Anja and Elsa still made their way down the grass/snow mix and loved it!  We also cleared a rink and the kids all had a great time on skates.  

A Merry, Merry Christmas to You

From all of the members of Team Krasean, we wish you a happy Christmas and restful New Year!  We are thankful for all of your readers who take an interest in our lives.

Star of the Week

Gus is Star of the Week at school this week.  He had to complete a poster all about himself and here is what he wrote (fill in the blank):

• I am 7 years old.
• My favorite color is light blue.
• My favorite animal is polar bear.
• My favorite food is pizza.
• Ponsford is my favorite place.
• When I grow up, I want to be a baseball player.
• My favorite thing to do is play baseball.
• If I had one wish, I would wish for a dog.

He brought home a special backpack with a {not-so} scary monster, a book, an estimation jar to fill, and a journal to write about his adventures with the {not-so} scary monster.  It will be a fun week for Gus at school! 

Disco Mania

Check out this video of the kids.  It makes me laugh every time I see it.  The giggling you hear is Anja as she watched it.  You can create videos like these on the Jib-Jab site.

Christmas Tree

We headed back to the Richfield Farmer's Market this year to pick out a Christmas tree.  It didn't take long for us all to agree on the perfect tree.  Christmas traditions are fun!

 

Pastor Johan

Who knows what Johan will be when he grows up?  We shall see, but he does seem to think about spiritual things much of the time.  Here are a few cute things the has said lately.


He prayed the other night and said, "Thank you for the sun.  Not for the sun in the sky, but for the Son the Father gave."


This morning, Anja asked Johan, "Is Baby Jesus a town?"  Johan replied, "No, He is the Way."

I am thankful for our all of his teachers (pre-school, BSF, Sunday School, and  family) that are helping him learn about God.  We'll see if he follows his uncle's path of pastor someday!  Who knows?  :)

Krasean Christmas Tree

We headed to the Stacy Tree Farm to get the Krasean Christmas Tree.  It was a lovely day and we all had fun walking around the farm.  The kids even got to pet some animals and have a chat with Santa.

The Zipline

Kip has been working hard to build this zipline at his Ponford hunting property.  The kids had a great time experiencing it this past weekend.  Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Fall Weekend at the Cabin

I'm finally posting to the blog again - it has been a long time!  We had a great fall weekend at the cabin.  The kids helped MorMor rake, watched Papa work on projects and played outside a ton.  I even caught a picture of the sunrise - thanks to my early bird, Gus! 

Garden Vegetables

I've been so busy lately that I neglected to check the garden on a regular basis. Today, I was amazed at the bounty of food we have growing in our garden.  Dinner was great - fresh green beans, zuchinni on the grill, and salad with tomatoes (steak not pictured).  I still have to figure out what to do with all of these tomatoes! Salsa and sauce will need to be made tomorrow.

Happy 5th Birthday, Jo-Mauer!

 

Happy Birthday to a very sweet 5 year old boy.  His name is Johan, but his obsession with wanting to be a catcher has helped us to create his nickname of Jo-Mauer (Yo-Mauer would probably be the better way to spell it, I suppose).  For his birthday, he received the full set of catcher's gear and he LOVES it!  He told his Gramma that he never really believed he would get the set.  You can see him in action in the photos below.  We are so thankful for this little guy who is growing up so quickly.  It is hard to believe he is already 5!

P.S.  The set is for ages 8-14, so it should last him a little while.

Coming Soon! Yellow House for Sale!

Next Monday, we are putting our house on the market.  Yikes!  We have loved our house so much these last 9 years!  It is a great house and we have so many wonderful memories here, but as many of you know, it has just 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.  And, although the kids love sharing a bedroom now, there may come a time where they want a bit more space.  There have also been a few times where an extra toilet would have come in handy!  It is a bit of a leap of faith because we don't have a new house picked out yet.  Will we find a different house that we love as much?  We really hope so!  By the way, if you know anyone who wants a great house in the Bancroft neighborhood of Minneapolis, send them our way!

A great last day

Today was the last day of summer break and we had a great day.  After breakfast, Kip and I played one last game of summertime cards at the table.  Then, we all headed out for a hike at Minnehaha Park.  We hiked to the Mississippi, stopping first to wade in the creek for a bit.  We hung out at home during the afternoon and got some work done on the house while the kids built a house for their stuffed animals out of wood.  To end the day, Kip and Johan headed downtown for the Twins game.  Gus, Anja, and I went out for a long bike ride.  We made it to the Ramgren house, but they were at Lars' t-ball game.  On the way home, we stopped for ice cream at the Grand Old Creamery.  Gus did great on the bike and Anja tolerated the Burley for the most part.  It was a great day to end a fabulous summer.  Tomorrow, it is back to work!

 

T.C. Bear plays T-ball

Gus and Johan had a great season of t-ball and 4-pitch this summer.  The second to the last week of games, Longfellow park held its annual corn feed during the games.  There was a lot of action at the park, including T.C. Bear!  T.C. came around and played with the kids.  He gave Johan some special attention.  T.C. was fielding when Johan hit the ball off of the tee straight into T.C.'s mouth (pictured above).  Later, when Johan made it around the bases, T.C. tried to tag Johan out at home.  Johan told me several times that night that his was "SAFE" at home despite T.C.'s efforts!  :)  T.C. came back later during Gus's game and he pitched to Gus who got a hit off of his pitch.  The whole night was great fun and the kids loved it!