First lake skate!

Katy was very excited to try out her very own pair of pink ice skates.  She'd been ice skating twice at the rink where Uncle Bert and Auntie Pinky live, but it was definitely more thrilling and more fun to go skating right in front of Nana and Papa's cabin, especially on a beautiful, crisp, clear, windless, Winter day!  

She's certainly not a daredevil, but she was pretty keen to have a go, holding tight onto the plastic chair we had instead of a penguin (which is what you get at the Hong Kong rink).

Holding onto Dada's hand was really reassuring too!

What I love about outdoor Winter activities is that Katy still looks like a toddler when she's all bundled up!

You Can't Catch Me!

Katy kept asking and asking to make Gingerbread Men.  Baking with Nana is of course already a favourite activity.  Cookie cutouts are another favourite.  Put the two together...

...and you get lots of sticky sticky mess!

 Katy doing a Papa impersonation to show her opinion of sticky hands!

 

Seriously though, one or two of Katy's expressions and gestures are exact copies of her Dada and/or Papa!  She sure is a Krauel!

Go Vikings!

Greg Hiniker, our realtor, very generously gave us a pair of Vikings tickets.  It was our first time to see a live NFL game.  Dada was very excited.

The Vikings Stadium is right in the middle of Downtown, so very very convenient.

Mama enjoyed the game, but really enjoyed the cheerleaders and entertainment even more.  We both loved the family atmosphere and resolved to bring Katy to a game.  She would love those cheerleaders!

Dada was surprised at how well he could watch the game.  He expected it would be all atmosphere and not as good as TV as far as play analysis goes. 

 But he loved the perspective it gives you to be there with the whole field in front of you and to see the strategy big picture.

Mama and Dada of course enjoyed the game food and beers!

All in all, it was a wonderful "date" for Mama and Dada.  We loved it so much, we bought season tickets even before we knew we would move to Minnesota later in 2012! We can't wait to take Katy to the games, and to have Dada bring Katy to the game with Papa and other family!

(Of course, being the Lai Krauels, there's always also an angle, and we're hoping the tickets will both appreciate in value with the new stadium and also give us priority for selecting better seats in future!)

Ella and Me

Katy was so excited when she finally got to see her cousins again, especially Ella.  We met at Anton's for dinner.

Elf Mischief

This little elf is fascinated by the hydraulic chair lift in Great Edna's armchair, and she loves to play with it all day long.

What a naughty little elf with a mischievous little face!

Trimming the Tree Attempt Number 2

Boy did we have an awesome Christmas tree last year.  Not only was it the finest specimen in living Krauel memory, but it was also well nigh indestructible.  The day after we first trimmed the tree, we all heard a whoosh in the living room.  The tree had keeled over!

So we had to start again with the tree trimming.  Well, Katy thought that was awesome fun.

Our favourite part of hanging the Christmas tree decorations is to hear Papa explain the provenance of each ornament.  Katy loves to hear stories of her Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Dada, Uncle and Aunts making or buying or gifting or receiving the many ornaments that have been in the Krauel family for years.

Nana and Papa - can you please remind Mama where the strawberry and the knit cross ornaments came from?

Elf Parade

Christmas Elves were spotted on the streets of Long Prairie delivering Christmas Cookies to house-bound parishioners of St Mary of Mt Carmel.

Included in the delivery loop was the old farmhouse where Great Grandma Edna grew up - as a Motzko!

 

The Hong Kong Krauels do love to dress up, and any excuse will do!

 Some of the elves were caught absconding with cookies after the delivery jobs were done!  

All in the name of quality control and taste testing of course!