Christmas in Norway!

A lot of people ask me what I miss about Christmas in Norway. And when I started thinking about it, the answer surprised me. It's not family and friends, not the food, not the music, not the rice porage but the peace. Yes you read it right. I still miss all the other Norwegian Christmas stuff. But it is just something about that peace. If you live in Norway you may just take this for granted. But after 6 years in Michigan I wish I had it back. Let me explain....

This is at least how it used to be... Things may have changed. Christmas eve me and my mom would go to the grocery store and pick up the rest of the food we would need over Christmas. And with Mike drinking as much milk as he did, she needed help. But we had to go in the morning, because the grocery store and everything else closed at noon and will not open again till December 27th.

Then I would get ready for church. All dressed up in my Christmas best. Hair and makeup done. And if there were no snow (normal in Mandal) I would put on my heals and my nice winter coat and walk to church. It was a nice walk, a peaceful one. We lived down town, so I had to walk thru the shopping area (a street were no cars are allowed) past the tall Christmas tree in the center of the town, under all the light up garlands that’s hung from store to store. Framing the town in joy.

If I had time I would look in the store windows. And take a good look at the decorations for the millionth time. But this time it was only me and the windows. Some times I would meet somebody that also was on there way to church, and we would walk together. Cars - not a lot of them. I would maybe see two or tree cars on my way to the service. It was peace full.

Mandal Church has two services. I liked going to the last one. Because after being at the church service with about 1200 people singing Christmas carols and listing to the Christmas story, I could walk home listing to the church bells. In Norway every church bell rings from 5pm to 6pm to celebrate the start of Christmas. A nice tradition.

Then the fun began. Usually we would go to my grandparents for Christmas eve, have fresh cod for dinner (the local Christmas meal), then open gift and have a great time with the family.

Next day I would wake up to my American Christmas. With a stocking filled with candy and lots of gift under the tree (from Grandma). I feel like I got the best of both worlds.

The peace - the silent Night of Christmas is lost in most of America. But it lives in my heart..... And I hope that people in Norway will keep it alive in their hometowns. Hope you all had a great Christmas.

Elin

THANKSGIVING 2006

Before the Cowboys and Indians were killing each other, the pilgrims and the Indians celebrated Thanksgiving together. It is nice to know that it all did not start bad.

The pilgrims was original from the Netherlands and came over to America they celebrated the harvest with the Indians. They all came together to share a big meal. The started a new tradition.

In America Thanksgiving is now the biggest family holiday. It tops Christmas.

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's house. It was the first time in a very long time that we all had gathered at the farm. We had a lot of food. We could have feed the family for the next week. Grandma made sure we all had what we love the most......

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great one.

Jake, Verlie and Uncle Art

Diane, Brad and Bryan

Brad, Bryan, Shirley, Laura, Uncle Dan, Aunt Linda and Verlie.

Uncle Dan, Aunt Linda, Elin, Jake and Verlie

Elin

Refleks

(This post is for friends and family in Norway)

Hvor mange ganger har vi hørt hvor viktig det er å bruke refleks når det er mørkt ute. Har hørt det mye i Norge, men ikke i USA. Folk vet hva refleks er, men bruker det ikke. Politi, brann menn og vei arbeidere har refleks sydd å uniformen eller bruker refleks vest. Har spurt kjente om refleks brikker, men de vet ikke hva det er....

Når jeg tenker tilbake på alle refleksene jeg har kastet, så anger jeg på det. Her er en utfording. Hvid du finner en refleks - spar den. Hvis du ikke trenger den, send den til USA. For her i USA trenger jeg dem.....

Husk bruk den brikken. Du er heldig som har tilgang til den...

Elin

Norway - the best place to be a mom.

Today is my day off, and I decided to watch the Oprah show. It was a show about mothers around the world. And there it was - the Kings Castle in Oslo. The show is visiting Norway, and they are saying it is the best place in the world to be a mom. So, I went to Oprah's webpage to see if I could find out more. This is what I found.

"According to the Seventh Annual Mother's Index, Norway is one of the top spots for moms!With free healthcare for children seven and under—and paid maternity leave that lasts a year—this Scandanavian paradise makes sure family comes first."It's a very family oriented society and the family is very important to the government," says Trine Grung, a mother of two, who calls Oslo, Norway, home.Along with extended maternity leave—which can be divided between a husband and wife—moms and dads each get 10 days off with pay to take care of their kids if they get sick! Plus, during the first few years, families can get about $100 a month from the government to help pay nanny costs.If your day care provider falls through? No problem! Trine says it's okay to take the kids to work for a day or two.Norway also encourages moms to breast-feed, and there are even cafés designed for nursing moms. "We don't flash the boob out in the cafe, but you can be discreet. Everybody does it," she says. And Trine means everybody—99 percent of Norwegian moms breast-feed!" (From the Oprah Show Web-page. http://www.oprah.com )

Elin

The Twins!

So here they are! The baby's... We know that they are fraternal twins, that mean they cannot be identical, and we can have a boy and a girl. Only time will tell

Some Pictures from 2006

Our cat - Kit Kat.

Jake with my cousin Suzi.

Kody and Skyler is the son of Jakes other sister Missy.

Jake with our nepew Jonaton.

Jonathon is the son of Jakes sister Tanya.

I also had forgotten how much a 11 year old can eat....

Our friends The Bevans.

Jason, Jennifer and Isaac.

Elin

My first blog!

So here goes nothing - and everything.

I know a lot of people in Norway is woundering how I am doing here in America. Great right now. Got some good news. I am pregnat, and Jake and I are going to be parents this spring to two babies. Yes two. We don't know if it is boys or girls, or both...... We will find out the day they are born...

Elin