A "Haertl'y Christmas GreetingGreetings friends and
family! We hope that the season finds you well and feeling
blessed. It has been a busy year for all of us with family
trips to the Bahamas, New Hampshire, and many trips to
Wisconsin as Dan's mom went to dance with the angels in
October. In addition, Mikaela, my dad, and my aunt Sandy
and I went to family camp again this year, and dad and I
had the blessing of a European trip in November. Mikaela moved
out with her girlfriend Sarah, and Dan and I are parents
to 3 cats (Mittens, Jack and Dragon) and a black &
white rat, Rue. You may ask how we started our own little
zoo; 2 of the pets (Dragon and Rue) we inherited from
Mikaela!
Dan- Dan continues to coach
high school tennis at Maple Grove (girls) and Centennial
(boys) and teaches tennis at the University of Minnesota. In
addition, he has been busy teaching kids at the U of Mn
Baseline Tennis Center and coaches summer camps. His band "Sticks and Tones" is going strong and played at venues in
various community summer festivals (e.g., music in the
park). Highlights for Dan include our family trips, going to
church with his mom just prior to her death, and going to
state again with one of his talented players on the
Centennial team. He also had a blast singing at Maple Grove
at their Community Concert series as 500 people danced, sang
and cheered along. We too enjoyed seeing family members at
his mom's funeral. Too often it is the weddings and funerals
at which we see family from afar. Perhaps we should all
consider additional ways to maintain those valuable
connections.
On October 24th 2013 Dan's mom
went to dance with the angels at the age of 93.
She is pictured on the left with us at Thanksgiving
(2012) and on the right with her husband Mel who died
on August 9th of 2005. We will miss her.
One of Dan's Tennis Classes at the University of Minnesota
Had some Great Family Trips this year including this one
to the White Mountains of New Hampshire-- Left, Franconia
Gorge; Right, Cannon Mountain
Kristi- I continue as a professor at St. Kates and too, just finished my 30th year of teaching early morning 5:45am aerobics! (Can you believe it?)! I feel so blessed having had the chance to take another sabbatical to work on a book project. Sabbatical offered time for many scholarly projects, presentations at various conferences and venues, travels, and time with dearly loved friends and family. Adventures included professional, family and personal trips to Europe, Bahamas, Massachusetts., New Hampshire, California, DC/ Maryland, Kentucky, and much more. I would highlight the entire year as beautiful; from captaining our 18th annual MS 150 bike team; to a trip to Lutsen skiing with my friend Catherine, to travels with family and personal travels to see friends, to ziplining in the underground caves of Louisville, to sharing Europe with dad and friends (including my high school friend Carol in Spain); to sharing many bike trails, dinners, movies, talks, walks, and life aspirations…I thank God daily for the precious journey.…
With my friends the MS 150 Purple
Pumpers XVIII!!!
Dad and Me in front of the walled city of Avila
(Spain)
And now onto Mikaela who has
written her own section again this year :) .. oh and yes, “rents” means
parents)
Mikaela- continues to work with
crazy, wonderful, challenging, amazing middle schoolers as
a Special Education Assistant at an all-girls charter
school in St. Paul. She is so fortunate and grateful
for the opportunity to educate youth in the fields of
literacy and social studies, focusing on topics such as
racism, women's studies, gender identity and social
justice. Talk about a rad(ical) curriculum for 12 year
olds! One of Mikaela's highest highlights of the year was
moving into a condo in NE Minneapolis with her
stllar-beautiful-intelligent-woah girlfriend Sarah, and
their loner gerbil, John-Locke. She does, however, really
miss her kitten Dragon, that she spontaneously bought in
the spring (her parents are gosh-darn lucky). Other
highlights of the year include: spending time with Sarah,
best friend Jodes, and her rents; family camp; New
Hampshire; playing guitar/singing with her dad at events;
leading PRIDE for her kids; being in a singing flash mob
of "Seasons of Love" at PRIDE; playing on a rugby team in
the spring; a trip to Duluth with Sarah; laying in the
sun; missing her mohawk; being a social bug and dancing
like a fool. She hopes you are all doing super stellar and
wishes you wonderful holiday celebrations!
Up at Family Camp- Left with
aunt Sandy on the bike trails/ Right- With
Mikaela's friend Heather
Left--- Mikaela drums alongside her Laura Jaffrey
Academy students in the Pride parade... (right)
Adorable Mikaela and Sarah!!
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Years from the
Haertl Family!... Continue for more pictures!!
Additional
Photos of My Friends, Family, and Life's Precious
Journey 
Left- Family Camp- Northern
Pines
Right- Capitol
Beauty
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