A Very Merry Christmas!

Anja in her Christmas dress, I mean "THE dress" from Hanna Andersson. This one was hard to get our hands on!

We've had a week filled with Christmas and holiday get-togethers; it's been great to celebrate with many family members and friends throughout the past few days. We have to say, that with such a packed week, we are looking forward to a bit more relaxation in the coming week, with a trip to Bayfield, WI (sans Anja who is staying with her Nana and G'pa Paul) and other than that, not too many other places to go!

Here are a few pictures from the past couple of days. We'll add more later!

Hmmmm . . . what is this all about?!
(Thanks, Nathan and Krista for the fleece PJs. She LOVES them!)

Hey! This gets more fun by the present!


Anja in her very own kitchen . . . she's a great short order cook!

A Delicious (and easy!) Recipe . . .

We had some browning bananas sitting around the other day, so I Google searched "Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins" and found this delicious recipe, courtesy of the "Curious Foodie" on-line (looks like CF has other delicious recipes I'll be trying as well). Anja and I finally got around to making them this chilly morning and were pleased with our results. My late "Grandma" Litka used to send Banana Chocolate Chip bread, amongst other goodies in a large box each Christmas season, so these bring back good memories of those treats. We hope you like these muffins as much as we did!

Oh Christmas Tree . . .

Anja puts the *star* up!

We had a great time with friends last weekend cutting down our Christmas trees. Unlike last year, it only took us a day to get the tree decorated. (YAY!) Here are a few shots we took last Monday.

Lights up and on! She was obviously super excited!

The final product . . . Anja making sure Snoopy was doing okay on the tree.

Master of Arts

While I had already "officially" completed my Master's, I attended the graduate commencement ceremony at the University of Minnesota yesterday. I have always appreciated such ceremonies and I have to admit, it felt good to take some time to reflect upon and recognize the past two years of work. I guess this means I am officially a Master, whatever that means.
Yesterday also marked the one year anniversary of my grandfather's death. It felt good to think about him watching down on us as we celebrated. It is odd to think how often the closing of one chapter coincides with the beginning of another. Of how often grief and sorrow is followed by joy and hope. This is, I think, one of the beautiful ironies of life.

Raku!

Over the past few weeks I've built a raku kiln at City Academy. I was pretty proud today - for someone with little to no ceramic experience, I was able to build a kiln (with assembly help from my students) and have a successful raku firing at school today. Fellow staff members Oscar and Mem gave some great help and it was a very cool process - we learned a lot. I'm already excited about a few tweaks and our next firing - probably in January, but who knows... could be sooner. I'll try to post some photos of some of the pieces we made. We had some mixed success with our glazes. Some of them turned out excellent, while others did not. Oh well, all part of the process.

It's Another Girl!

For those of you curious folks, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound today and found out we will be having another baby girl in April! We're very excited, and Anja is as well, although she wants to be the "little sister" and not the "big sister." We've got a few months to work on her yet, so we're not too worried. Anyone care to guess or suggest some names? (Please note: they must be Scandinavian.) We've got a few we're deciding between, but we're not telling!

Happy St. Nick's Day!

Anticipating St. Nick's arrival, Anja puts her boots out by her door.

Today Anja woke up to find a gift from St. Nicholas in her boots. She's been jumping around talking about "Nick" all morning. At this point in her young life, "Nick" is all about presents. In a few years, we'll actually be able to tell her about St. Nick and what he did for those in need. For those of you curious blog readers, here's more about the Saint from the St. Nicholas Center:

The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave. This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, St. Nicholas Day.

Anja finds and opens her gift from St. Nick.

This year, St. Nick brought Anja Tomie dePaola's The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas Carol.

It's Time for Christmas Lights!

Anja has been eyeing the lights across the street, so we decided to start our holiday decorating early (okay so it's not so early for everyone else, but for us it is!). She was a great helper, checking the lights, "They work!" and helping string them around the railings. Next decorating task: getting our tree at the Erickson Bros. Tree Farm on Sunday with friends.

Anja also had her two year check-up today. She's a healthy 2-year-old! Her measurements put her in the 95th percentile in height (37"), weight (34 lbs.) and head circumference (20"). The only negatives of the morning were the immunizations and the milking of her finger for the lead test. Lots of tears! But, as you can see above, she made it through just fine. (She even took a nap for me this afternoon---those are hard to come by these days!)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year. We got to see lots of family and friends and we had a few adventures along the way. Here is a slide show of some of the weekend's activities. The new snow today was a highlight. Anja loved it! I even got to go out for an afternoon ski at Elm Creek - fun to be on skis for the first time this year.

The only bummer of the weekend was not being able to get together with Sarah, Joe and their two little girls Maya and Elliot who we hope are feeling much better by now! We're looking forward to a rain check on our brunch - I always need a bit of an excuse to bake pain au chocolat (and for Shana and me to really get the house clean)!

Stay tuned for some more pics from Holidazzle and other events from the weekend.

Ron and Linda went to Italy and all I got was this apron!

David I am not, but with the help of this apron I am one step closer. Ron and Linda went on a month long trip to Turkey, Greece, and Italy and they brought back some very nice goodies for us, including this apron. I think it's a riot and have enjoyed using it over the past few days. Our annual Thanksgiving party at City Academy is next Tuesday. The staff prepares the majority of the meal. I've cooked a turkey for the past 4 years, but decided to opt out on the bird this time. Instead, chef David will be baking 2 cranberry tarts along with a pair of pies for this year's feast. Shana also likes the new look and says the baking isn't bad either.

Note: While chef David will be preparing the baked goods, he will not be attending the school Thanksgiving party - unfortunately, Michelangelo is probably still better known as the nun-chuck wielding ninja turtle, a.k.a. the one with the orange head band.

Best Book Title Ever

Now that the elections are over, my masters is finished, and Anja's birthday has passed I have a little bit of time to catch up on some random web surfing. Believe it or not, this is a published book which you can purchase on Amazon. It is also a classic example of trying way too hard to reach a teen audience - I can't help but laugh every time I read "but awesome takes practice." Thus, as comic book guy might say, it is indeed "the best book title ever."

Anja Turns Two!

Good morning! I'm two today!

Anja celebrated her second birthday today with parents, Grandparents, and cousins. We kept up with tradition by starting the day with Norwegian waffles for breakfast and our ever-favorite chocolate ganache cake from the Franklin Street Bakery for her birthday celebration. We ended the day by reading On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier.

Anja is definitely two . . . full of boundless energy, spunk and ever-present curiosity. We certainly wouldn't want it any other way.

The 2nd annual chocolate ganache cake.


Once she got started, Anja had a ball opening her presents. Here she is excited to see two Charlie Brown DVDs.


Thank you Huerta family for the great new bilingual doll!


Papa helped Anja blow out her candle this year . . . three times.


Yummy! Cake before lunch today!


One of her presents was a Crocodile Creek ABC memory game . . . we played a few rounds after presents were opened and cake was eaten.

The Change We Need . . . Is Here!

History was made last night, and we elected Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United States. What a relief it is to know that although he's got a lot of work to do, we have a capable, intelligent, insightful, thoughtful, and above all, respected leader headed to the White House in January. I look forward to seeing change being made in America.

In case you missed it, here's Obama's Speech from Grant Park. Wow, he's good.

Go VOTE, People!

So, there's a little bit of imprinting going on here . . . Anja can pick Obama out in pictures and can read "Obama" too. What a clever little girl we have!

Regardless of who you are voting for, it's going to be an historic day for every person who takes part. Be a part of the masses and go to your polling place tomorrow. If you don't know where your polling place is, just enter your address on this Google site and GO VOTE!

Note: All times are EST.

Happy Halloween from our Little Lady!

Anja is getting lots of use out of her ladybug costume, at last count probably 2 1/2 days' worth . . . now that's money well spent!

Blinke, Blinke Stjernelill . . .

Anja has been singing up a storm lately, so we decided to capture a little on film tonight. For those of you who don't know the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in Norwegian, here they are so you can sing along!

Blinke, blinke stjernelill
undres hvor du holder til.
Høyt der oppe i det blå
skinner du for alle små.
Blinke, blinke stjernelill
undres hvor du holder til.

Taking Good Care . . .

Anja puts some "buns" on Baby Stella.

The "Nuk Fairy" brought Baby Stella to Anja last summer when she donated her Nuks to all of the babies who needed them. Baby Stella comes with a Nuk of her own, so we thought it was appropriate. (She's a cute baby too, as opposed to those scary looking ones we all see in the stores!) She liked Baby Stella, slept with Baby Stella, but never really got into taking care of Baby Stella.

Last night was different. Anja went upstairs by herself, looking for a book or something, and ended up needing to change Stella's diaper, again and again. "She pooped! Gotta change her diaper!" Then it was time for Stella to go to bed, so Anja tucked her in and read a few books to her. (She does a mean Brown Bear, Brown Bear, almost verbatim.) Then it was time for Anja to get Stella up, change her diaper, and to find an outfit that suited her best. We both loved seeing this, as it gives us confidence that Anja will be a great BIG sister in the spring. She was very maternal, giving cuddles and kisses and lots of care.

Changing Stella's diaper.

Tucking Stella in.

Reading The Mixed-Up Chameleon to Stella (who's under the blanket).

. . . and one more will make FOUR!

Some of you already know, but we wanted to share the good news with all of our blog readers that we are expecting another baby in late April. The ultrasounds look good and the baby is measuring up just where s/he should be. Anja is already talking to my belly, "Hello . . . how are you . . . good!"

A Beautiful Day at the Apple Orchard

Today we ventured out with some friends to Pleasant Valley Apple Orchard near Taylor's Falls. We had a great time . . . we picked our own apples, enjoyed a hayride, played in a "cornbox" (think sandbox), fed the goats and chickens, had a picnic (with the bees!), walked their trails, picked some pumpkins, and enjoyed being outside in the gorgeous sunshine.

I'd definitely recommend this apple orchard. It's family run, busy, but not too busy (it's outside of the Cities so that helps), and provides a fun experience for the little ones. They are also good about giving people free reign over the land--there are acres and acres to just explore! Check it out!

Time for a Toddler "Tent"!

"It's time to sleep in my tent!"

We measured Anja today, and she's a whopping 38 inches tall, which means 3T when you're talking clothes, and >97th percentile for height. This also means that her wonderful Stokke crib was getting too small for her. We thought we could make it to 2 years, but decided since we were in the area dropping my parents off for their 32 day trip "over the pond" that it was time for us to take a trip to Ikea!

Anja's first (and final) stop was to the bed with the "blue tent" over it. The others were nice, but clearly, we would be leaving with the blue tent. A few hours later, she was all set, ready to sleep in her new tent. :) Something must have worked, because she actually slept until 7:09 this morning . . . hooray!

Adventure Day

I'd love to take credit for the idea of an adventure day (good 'ol family fun we're talking about here), but I can't. A few weeks ago I reconnected with my good friend Sarah with whom I spent a semester in Crete while at Concordia. We realized we don't live too far from each other and we got to meet her two daughters and their chickens! (Check out their blog "Growing!" in the link to the right). In any case, it's been fun reading about their adventure days and a recent trip of theirs to Tamarack Nature Center, one of my favorites, inspired us to get out this past Saturday and go on an adventure of our own.

Despite a little rain, Anja loved it. We went on about an hour hike through the park and Anja walked nearly the entire way! Here are some photos from our day.

Speaking of Anja . . .

Here's our cutie tonight, pushing around a
half eaten banana in her car. Love it!

Blog going political?!?

Oh the joys of the political season - with the last two posts taking a stab at politics this blog seems to be losing its focus. Thus, Erik has decided to take a stab at a political blog and get the Adventures of Erik, Shana, and Anja back to what it does best: cute pictures of Anja.

http://folkelighed.blogspot.com/

A closer look at snide, sarcastic Sarah Palin . . .

Some of you may have seen or heard about this letter from a resident of Wasilla, Alaska that has gone "viral" all over the internet. After watching Sarah Palin the other night, I was pleasantly surprised that my first reaction to this VP candidate wasn't far from how others view her as well. I can (very reluctantly) take McCain in the White House, but not this one.

Oh the politics

So . . . Shana and I have been sucked into politics again this year. As Obama, supporters I'm certain we are a bit biased, but we're trying to be as fair as we can. Over the past couple days we watched the Republican convention. I have to admit that I really liked John McCain's speech last night (I know there have been some mixed reviews about this speech). What I thought was most interesting was how his most forward looking ideas, his ideas about working together, taking the best from both parties, and reaching out across the aisle (to anyone for that matter) received the most tepid support from the audience. That speech was the John McCain I would support. However, the rest of his party was, at least from my opinion, utterly divisive. I know this is politics and it doesn't take too long for the gloves to come off, but... so much of this just seemed excessive to me.

Now, perhaps the Democrats are just as bad (I'm not naive). Part of me has been looking for Joe Biden's acceptance speech in order to compare it to Sarah Palin's. I don't doubt there will be a similar amount of attacks. However, I couldn't get past her sarcasm and self-righteous smugness. I have to admit she reminded me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. A women who felt she was standing up for "good" and what was "right," but was so self-righteous and arrogant that the only result was, you guessed it, umbrage!

Perhaps my perception is slanted, but it seems to me the Republicans tend to be far more guilty of this bashing - the loudest cheers at the RNC always came from the biggest attacks and insults (they almost seemed just hungry for blood).

I also can't believe some of the hypocrisy. After getting to the point where it was hard to listen to anymore, some comic relief was sorely needed and the Daily Show came to the rescue.



It always feels a lot better to laugh than to get angry and I can't help but remember Shakespeare's line: "There is much truth in jest."

Back to work

As a teacher I start work in earnest this week. As always, it's a bit bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm excited for a new year and new opportunities. On the other hand, summer is over and it is still work.

This weekend also marked Shana's and my sixth wedding anniversary, along with Ron's birthday. Happy Birthday Ron and Happy Anniversary us! After a relaxing evening with Ron, Linda, Steve, Shana and Anja last night I pulled a Shel Silverstein book off the shelf and found this poem that I thought was fun.

Hurk

I'd rather play tennis than go to the dentist.

I'd rather play soccer than go to the doctor.

I'd rather play Hurk than go to work.

Hurk? Hurk? What is Hurk?

I don't know, but it must be better than work.

- Shel Silverstein: A Light in the Attic

A few more from Seattle . . .

Anja and "Uncle Mark" chat it up on the way back from the hot dog joint. Green Lake is in the background.

We had a great time visiting with many friends in Seattle and the surrounding areas. A BIG THANKS to everyone for being such wonderful hosts throughout our stay. We continue to appreciate the many wonderful characteristics of the Pacific Northwest . . . ocean to mountains within just a few miles, tasty fruits and vegetables, and the warmth of the people. Some say there's lots of rain there but we don't believe them . . . we'll have to visit in a month other than August to catch a glimpse of that! Enjoy a few more photos!

Here I am with Eric Meyer, Tacoma's City Manager (ha ha--well third in command in Tacoma's city offices). He's one of our friends from the Peace Corps. Doesn't he look good in a suit? A far cry from wearing the same clothes day in and day out in Kyrgyzstan!

The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium--a must visit! I'd never been to a zoo and aquarium with such a varied landscape and great view! They had Lemurs too!

Anja loved running with the Beluga whales as they swam by.

BRAVE mama came this close to take a picture, and almost touched it to show Anja how courageous she was. The zoo keeper said that I couldn't touch it---I was sooo disappointed!

The Minnesotans (Mark, his sister Jamie, Erik, Anja and I) went to Zayda Buddy's, a fun restaurant in Seattle that boasts tator tot hot dish! We introduced Adam to it a few days later. As you can see, they even serve Premium Grain Belt beer, a Minnesota favorite.