At the Concordia College Christmas Concert

Here's the Letnes family with Emma at the far right,  the foreign exchange student from Barcelona being hosted by Shana and Erik. She's 16, speaks English fluently, takes senior classes at Spring Lake Park High School. She won the Most Valuable Player award in soccer this fall. She came last August and will leave in July. "She is very much part of the Erickson/Letnes family," Linda writes, "as we see a lot of her and we will certainly miss her when her year is over. She's lovely in every way."

Stan's sister Linda reports that the annual Concordia College Christmas Concert at Orchestra Hall continues to be a stellar performance.  
The choir is known for its precision and exquisite timing and discipline. The loyal audience knows this and anticipates it and is a model of self-discipline.
Linda writes: "The audience knows you don't clap until the end, no one makes a sound (even the only five year old in attendance). No one knows how many tiny cameras and videos are operating. No one got taken out, but then Ron left his equipment at home."

That last comment is a reference to the oft-told tale of a long-ago performance when her husband Ron lugged a bulky video recorder to this event. . . and was asked to stop recording, didn't, and was ultimately taken to see the head usher for disciplinary action. :) It all makes for a great Christmas story.

(Legal photo of choir from Minnesota Public Radio archive.)