Christmas 2023 Blog

We normally do a quarter by quarter highlights reel- but we are too tired from 2023.   Most days we worked hard, did our best as parents and tried to get a little sleep.

Leslie has been enjoying playing field hockey as a goalie and working on a play at school.

Blake found a love of running and even got to compete at the state and national level.

Krista continues to pour herself in leading the UHC Community Plan of Kentucky and sneaking in as many spin classes as she can.

Drew has reinvigorated the local Cub Scout pack and taken on some volunteer leadership at the district scouting level.

We got away a few times this year too- we headed to ski at Keystone for Winter Break, did a tour of Texas for Spring Break, had a blissful week of summer in Minnesota and drove to the Florida Panhandle for Fall Break.  

We also had a chance to explore Kentucky.   Mammoth Cave might have been our favorite so far.  Drew and Krista made a day of it at Thurby.   We hope to get down to the Corvette Museum soon.

We are living the "days are long but the years are short" phase of life and trying to take the moments to appreciate all the joy amidst what often feels like controlled chaos.

Christmas 2022 Blog

 We've moved to Kentucky!

Our new home is about 4 miles from Krista's parents and Drew's mom moved about 2 miles from us.      2022 went by in a blink.   Drew held down the fort in Minnesota most weeks while Krista traveled to Kentucky.   We found our new home in January and closed on it in March- so everyone got to spend some time exploring it over spring break.    Here are some highlights (and mostly edited out low-lights) of the crazy year!

Q1

We enjoyed a long weekend skiing up on the North Shore of Lake Superior at Lutsen with friends.   January in Northern Minnesota with outdoor sports means you embrace sub-zero temperatures.   No worries, there was plenty of wine to warm us up too!   Just to really test the Minnesotan in her before the move Krista participated in "dipping" in Lake Harriet.   A hole is cut in the ice and you submerge for a few minutes.   It is supposed to have great health benefits but there's not interest in adding this to a winter routine, once was plenty.

Drew and the kids enjoyed skiing most Saturdays in another year of skijammers and most of those days Krista prepped the house for sale.   The kids got to have a little fun with that too- since we decided to replace the rug runner on the stairs we figured why not let the kids color on them as a grand sendoff!

Winter sports activities also included basketball and we relied on family and friends to navigate all of the practices and games since there were often conflicting schedules with the kids during the week when Krista was already in Kentucky.

We celebrated Blake and Leslie's last single digit birthday with bowling and laser tag fun.

The real winner this winter was Drew who finally got his new Bronco after nearly two years of patiently waiting.   While Krista was initially resistant it has turned out to be a great family car.

Q2

As the Spring began the activity seemed to really ramp up the pace with the move quickly approaching.   In the midst of it all we managed the following notable activities

- Krista caught up with friends at a Kellogg reunion

- We went to see Star Wars at the MN Orchestra- so cool to watch the movie while the orchestra played the soundtrack

- The kids took some horseback riding lessons and even learned to muck a barn

- We had a great weekend campout with the Edina Normandale pack in Southern MN- it was definitely one of the many bittersweet moments of the Spring

- Pinewood Derby was held outdoors again, and it was unusually chilly even for MN

- But quickly things heated up and the kids enjoyed the fun at "Big Bounce America" in record heat

- Both kids played soccer

- Blake got his braces off (mere days before the move!)

- We did our annual trip to Breezy Point and Krista's childhood BFF and her son joined us for the week (we were all Brave as it was the week before the moving truck arrived!)

In Q2 we closed on a new house, sold our MN house, got a contract on a patio home for Sally (Drew's mom) and got the condo in MN on the market.   This validated we don't have interest in being real estate barons anytime soon- what a rollercoaster!

All in all the move went smooth as any move likely could, but it was still full of stress, tearful goodbyes and lots of adjustment to a new home and state. 

Q3

We didn't last long before driving back up to MN.   The kids spent time at Trout Lake Sleep Away Camp, Drew and Krista caught up with colleagues and friends in the twin cities and then had an awesome weekend at Grandview Lodge before making an extraordinarily long journey back to KY with less than 48 hours before school started!

The kids jumped right into a variety of activities- Blake discovered he's awesome at cross- country, Leslie is involved in the Children's Theater and true leader of the Cheerleading squad.   They got to be on the same soccer team that came in 2nd in the league and both developed great skills.   Leslie also played Field Hockey for the first time- I'm glad she had a great time and to be honest we still don’t entirely understand the game.

Drew jumped right into re-launching the Anchorage Cub Scout pack.

The biggest news however was Bowie dog joined our family.   We had promised to get a new dog once we moved and while we were starting to look a stray dog was found on the local tennis courts.   We said we'd foster until his family was found.   He wasn't chipped and despite all efforts a family wasn’t found.   In the meantime, he melded right into our family and ultimately, we failed at fostering and adopted him.    He went on to win the rescue category at the Anchorage Dog Show- he had some good PR as the tennis court dog that the community had heard all about. 

Q4

The kids have a full week for Spring Break here - so we did a road trip down to Gatlinburg.   We explored the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and a day at Dollywood.   Basketball season kicked off- and Kentucky sure is a basketball state!   Krista went electric and got a Mustang Mach-e after an almost year wait.   

Unbelievably we've had snow already here in Kentucky.  We're pretty sure folks think we packed it with us from MN, but I promise you we did not.   Despite the reduced skiing, I think most of the Hensels will enjoy what is hopefully a milder winter!

I'd like to say we're settled, but the reality is we are all still adjusting.   It takes a while to find your groove I guess.   It has been nice to be close to family, the school is great, work is hard but good and we know soon it will really feel like home.   For now we are still the newbies, experiencing a lot of firsts.

If you find yourself with a reason to be visiting Kentucky- look us up!   We'd love to host guests.

2021 Christmas Letter Blog

 

Q1

 

We kicked off the year determined to make the most of these times and Minnesota winters.   We went on a ski trip to Lutsen on the North Shore of Minnesota with dear friends.   We got in lots of snow shoeing too.   The kids enjoyed participating in the Skijammers program where they skii with friends every Saturday at a different Minnesota area ski hill.  (yes, there are several within 90 minutes of the twin cities).    Krista also signed up and participated in a "Frosty Fat" charity bike ride.  It turned out to be one of the coldest days of the year at 22 below zero windchills.  

Spring Break took us to Kentucky where we did a day trip from Louisville over to Cumberland Falls and Natural Arch Scenic Park.

Drew loved introducing the twins to the amazing milkshakes he discovered during his Appalachian Service Project at the Dairy Bar in Whitely City.

Q2

Like many we raced for COVID-19 vaccines as they became available.  Spring was incredibly busy as outdoor activities commenced, cub scouts activities in particular.   We had the Pinewood Derby, where the kids discovered a baby turtle they named "Shell-y".   Shelly lived on our front porch for a couple of months before she escaped back to nature.     We also had a cub scout camping trip to Whitewater State park, it was a beautiful part of the state down near Rochester we hadn't spent much time in. 

We had to say goodbye to our amazing dog Libby in early May.  She was a great running partner in her youth, a great doggy mama to the twins and a great eater of all crumbs that hit the floor. She had a great almost 16 years and while we remain dogless for now, that likely won't last for long.  Both kids have been bringing home books like "worlds cutest puppies" home from library day at school almost weekly.

We kept up our family camping with a memorial day weekend trip to Jay Cooke State Park up near Duluth, Minnesota.  We ended up getting flooded out our last night of camping when a series of thunderstorms rolled through and we discovered we had some small holes in the tent.  

We rounded out June with our annual week at Breezy Point and another cub scout camping weekend over near Stillwater, Minnesota.

Q3

We had a fantastic summer!   Once again it was full of outdoor time- bike rides, hikes and summer soccer.   We trekked out to some beautiful sunflower fields and the kids went to sleep-away camp for almost a week, so we got in some great date nights.  We spent the day we picked them up on a pontoon boat in Pelican Lake with our friends- it definitely felt like a Minnesota summer, jumping into the lake off of the boat.   Blake got braces in August and is making great progress, which is good because he's missing chewing gum and popcorn a lot!  

Labor day weekend we did another family camping trip to Flandreau State Park in New Ulm, MN.   Luckily Drew had repaired the tent because we did get rain on the first night, but we stayed nice and dry. 

Krista checked off a bucket list item in September with a girls weekend in Chicago seeing Ani DiFranco and The Indigo Girls live at Ravinia.   After mothering in a pandemic and working full time it was an amazing weekend of connection with friends - including cruising Lake Shore Drive in a Mustang convertible.   

Q4

Its been a beautiful Fall in Minnesota.  We took advantage of a teacher in service day in September and packed a lot in- the morning at the zoo and the afternoon at a local orchard. 

Fall Soccer for both kiddos took up Saturdays, and swim lessons too.  Cub scouts kept them busy preparing for the Egg Drop, Rocket Day, selling and delivering Christmas Wreaths.  On Thanksgiving day a cold front came through and despite the 14 degree temps we participated in a Turkey Trot as a family.  By far the most exciting part of fall has been the kids getting their COVID vaccines and mom and dad getting boosted!

2020 Holiday Letter Blog

 Holiday Letter 2020

 

We debated whether it was worth summarizing 2020 in our annual Holiday Blog, but decided to forge ahead.  Despite the highly unusual year, we’ve made the most of it and its worth reflecting back on the highlights as a bit of self-therapy going into a holiday season defined by more “safe at home” time.   We hope that all of you have stayed well, you and your loved ones are healthy.

 

Q1

Blissful ignorance of what was to come, January and February were the standard hectic lives of two working parents with young children.  Blake and Leslie did a series of ski hills.  We are lucky to have a small ski hill about 10 minutes from our home, so Sundays we’d race from church, grab a quick lunch and get them out on the hill!  Leslie had a dance performance at MN Timberwolves game, we hosted the Kids 7^th birthday- jump roping style, and we hosted a 2^nd grade Mom’s night out fundraiser at our house in early February.  We participated in another school fundraiser that was a snow shoeing adventure and local ice harvest festival.  In the “adulting” category of activity we spent most of  January/February signing up for summer camps, mapping out week by week kids activities at MN Zoo, Church, sleep-away camp, YMCA day camp, I refuse to tally the amount of time in online waiting rooms for these registrations.    In the midst of it all we got away for a date night in January, seeing Ben Folds @ MN Orchestra.

As stay at home orders began we decided we’d likely be doing a lot of biking so Drew and the Kids got new bikes! And we’ve put quite a few miles on them so far.

Q2

Many of you likely saw the daily whiteboard in Q2, striving for any sense of control and structure in days that tended to blend together with us all at home.  Like many households there was a lot of stress and a little sleep trying to balance work and childcare.  I’m sure appliances like the dishwasher also noticed the drastic change to family routine.  We managed to keep our sense of humor through it all, likely because we discovered an amazing new barista-style coffee maker.   Home haircuts were a grand experiment.   (We are all grateful that since June salons have been continuously open)

May brought a new element of fear as riots broker out through Minneapolis and got too close for comfort.  Some neighbors decided to head for their cabins.  We held tight at home but took precautions like having a friend about 30 minutes west prepared to welcome us, backing our cars in the garage and having “go bags”.  It was a new level of sleep deprivation as we all piled into one bed for a few nights too. 

June was a turning point.  Stay at Home orders began to lift and we decided to go ahead with our annual week up at Breezy Point up at Pelican Lake.  Of course that was modified too- We now own two units next to each other and while we’d planned on having out of state friends join us, we decided to defer that for another year.  The good news is we had a family from the kids school willing to join us spur of the moment and it was awesome!  The kids had built in playmates.  We got in lots of playground and beach time and it felt amazing to be starting at something other than the four walls of our house.  It was good for the soul.  It also gave us some confidence that we could find ways to be safe while travelling. 

We also Discovered the small joys right around us- including wading in Minnehaha creek less than a mile away.

Q3

We tried to re-imagine summer.  It was chaotic at times with most of the kids camps cancelled.  We were grateful their first year of sleep-away camp was not cancelled.  We got so much done the week they were gone including stripping and restraining both the deck and their playset.  We also did quite a bit of camping.  Yes, Krista doesn’t camp, but with COVID this year her dislike of sleeping in a tent was outweighed by COVID risk.   In July we survived cub scout family camp, even a rough night of thunderstorms.  That encouraged us that we could camp on our own and we did a long weekend trip to Mount Rushmore, or as Blake and Leslie call it “The Four Heads”.  

We snuck in a visit to Kentucky and participated in the Norton Commons golf cart parade and got some pool time.

Summer faded gently into fall with a delayed start to the school year in late September.  We were able to get the kids in school Mondays and Tuesdays, then had other childcare options Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays.  We appreciated every second of kids experiencing in person learning again.  We have a huge appreciation for teachers and recognize that’s not been our calling. 

 

Q4

The highlights of Q4 so far see to revolve around cub scouts.  Blake and Leslie built contraptions to keep eggs safe enough to survive a toss off of Edina Fire Department’s tallest extension ladder.  We had several iterations and at home practice and…. Both eggs survived!   They also build rockets to blast off in the neighborhood park for rocket day.   And of course, many of you reading this supported the annual wreath sales.  The weekend before thanksgiving we dressed up the van as a reindeer, piled in and spent the day delivering our orders. 

As we look to round out the year, the schools are once again closed to in person learning, we are all at home working/learning and we are navigating ways to live a meaningful life during a pandemic.  Like many, we are full of gratitude for our health, friends/family and all of our blessings.   The news of vaccines give us hope for 2021.  In the meantime we will enjoy the extra family time.  Wishing you and your loved ones a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.