Saturday, October 18, 2008

Norway 2008 - Mandal.

So our time in Bergen/Knarvik is over. We are saing good buy to Mike and his family and heading south to my hometown Mandal.

The plan was to go by boat from Mandal to Stavanger, then the train from Stavanger to Kristiansand and then the bus to Mandal. But it did not go as plan. The train was having problems, so we spent a lot of time on busses.....

But while in Mandal we got to meet up with family and friends. Went to the local zoo, shopping, ate shrimp (fresh) and had a lot of fun.

My mom and Anna on the boat.

Elizabeth on the boat.

Bergen.


Mom and Anna looking at the sea.



Elizabeth.




Two oil platforms beeing reparid





Elizabeth and Grandma both reading books.

Anna finely sleeping on the boat. We could not get Elizabeth to sleep, but thats normal. She don't like to sleep, is afraid she is going to miss something.







A fishingboat outside Haugesund.








If you look closly you can see sheep.









The Norwegian Flag.

Haugesund.

Elizabeth.

Avaldsnes Church. There has been a church on these grounds for over 750 years. One time the stone church was in ruins, they built a wooden church inside. They then restored it into the old stone chruch. During the WW2 they built around it so it looked like a hill - this to prevent the Germans from bombing it. It worked.

Heather plants in all differnt colors.

Feeding the pigons in Stavanger.


The Cathedral in Stavanger.














Anna on the train. This is the only train pictures we have. We were taking the train from Stavanger to Kristiansand, but one hour into the trip we had to transfer to a bus. The powerline was down and the train can't travel without power.

We found a twin/tandem/double shoppingcart in Mandal. But this one was designed for babies, not toddlers.

Holmer Simpson bread!

Anna at my friend Beates House.
Eating dinner at Beate and Erlings.

Beate playing with the girls.

Erling and the girls.

Duck and the ducklings. They were one day old when this picture was taken.

Elizabeth and Anna looking at the ducks.

Bunnies and
pigs.

This is their pet pig.
Beate and the girls.

Johann really liked the John Deer tractor that my grandma gave him. He wore it the next 2 - 3 days.


Anna playing with Beates sleeping bag, walking around like she is at the airport.

Anna and Elizabeth got to meet Beates dog - Lisa.

Now Elizabeth is playing with the sleeping bag.






On friday we went to the local zoo with Hannah Kathrine, my friend Gitte and her kids.

Hannah and I have a tradition that we always go to the zoo.


Anna and the parrot.
Looking at the fishes.
and the turtels.






Gitte and her daugther on a ride. They loved it.

The troll vally.

Hannah and the troll.
My friend Gitte with her son.

Hannah, me and Evelyn.







This year lions were born in the zoo. The kids and the mom's were outside, but the.......


..... dads had to stay inside.

Family friends. They were one of the "American" families we hung out with in Norway. There is only one year between me and Anne Berit. We had a lot of fun as kids.

Mandalitten - perosn from Mandal. It is said he has salmon in is pockets, eggs in his shoes and good breas in his hat.





This is my dad's mother -"farmor" with Anna and Elizabeth. They have now meet all of ther great grand parents.

Elizabeth wanted farmor to help her with her shoe.
Elizabeth wearing Grandma/mormor's shoes.
Playing on the floor.

My good friend Hannah Kathrine and I.
Eating dinner at the appartment that Hannah Kathrines family let us use. THANK YOU!

Mandal Church. This is the church I grew up in.
Mandal Church.

Girls enjoying books during the church service.


Anna discovering Hannah Kathrines playhouse.

They both loved plaing in it.

Hannah Kathrine getting her gifts from America.

Eating a necktarine. We loved it.

Anna.

This lighthouse is called BESTEMOR = GRANDMOTHER. If you look closly you can see her skirt and red hat.


Down town Mandal.
The person that owns this boat, built it and took his family around the world. My brother was lucky and got to go with him to England.
Boats along the Mandal River.
BIKES
A stone.......
..... no mailboxes...
Mandal Church.

Anna at Sjøsanden.
Elizabeth at Sjøsanden.
Beate - one of my best friens. She was my maid of honor at our wedding.....

Me and the girls.
3 generations.
Eating shrimp at Family Westermoens house. They were great to us while we were in Mandal. Made sure we had a place to stay.
Hilda playing with Elizabeth,
Elizabeth sleeping on the plane.

Elizabeth on the plane.
Anna watching the a DVD.


















I took a lot of pictures during my two weeks in Norway. Having a digital camera is nice, but I take way to many pictures!

I am posting some today. The pictues will not be in the right order.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Visiting family in Illlinois - September 2008

Anna with Aunt Linda
Elizabeth and Great Great Uncle Art.
Anna saying good buy to Uncle Art.
Playing with Aunt Linda.
Elizabeth playing in Grandma Shirley's entertainment center.
Anna likes playing in the entertainment center too.
Discovering real chickens.

Anna
Elizabeth and the apple tree.

Picking apples.
Elizabeth enjoying the apple she picked.
Anna with her apple
Jake and Elizabeth at Laura's
Laura getting a hug from Elizabeth.


Anna and Elizabeth playing in the berry basket at IKEA.
Anna and Elizabeth in the shopping cart at IKEA. They could both sit in the car or in the two seats on the shopping cart.
Anna and Elizabeth playing in Jippy's garden.
Elin, Anna, Jippy, Jake and Elizabeth.