Summer?

I see that they're predicting summer temperatures this weekend. Please, please.

For those of you who have been waiting in suspense...

We had a very nice weekend...



We made it to the top of Jomfruslettfjellet. All together we were on a 5 hour hike on Sunday. We brought along our little camp stove and made soup on the top of the mountain.


And we made it back in time to go to a Lyn game on Monday. It was a really exciting game, and they won, 4-3!!

Looooong Weeeekend

We're having another long weekend - Monday is a holiday here. I don't even remember which holiday it is. But a day off is a day off.

We decided at the last minute to go up to the cabin this weekend. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow at 10:00, so they're going to pick me up after that, and then we're off. Hopefully the weather will be okay.

I can hardly wait for summer vacation. I will be very happy to be done with my last final on June 5th. When I started really looking into it, I realized that it's going to be really hard, so I've started actively studying for it. The system with finals here is so annoying. Our whole grade is more or less based on this one final....

Pictures from the 17th of May

Hurra for Norge!

Tomorrow is the 17th of May - Norway's national holiday. It's officially called Constitution Day, but everyone just refers to it as the 17th of May.

Hipp hurra for Norge!

Soap Box Derby

On Sunday, the annual Nordberg Grand Prix, a soap box derby, was held. Our kids were there, of course, for this big event in our neighborhood. Anders and Johan had a car that they had worked on with Gaute, and Espen and two of his friends, Herman and Andreas, had a car that they had built. None of them were fastest, but everyone gets a prize for this race - a bag filled with lots of cool stuff, like a hat and a t-shirt, water bottle and lots of candy! All together, there were about 60 cars in the race. It's a pretty big event around here - and lots of fun. Unfortunately, Anders and Johan's car rolled over right after they went over the finish line. Just a few scratches, but kind of scary. They're over it, though, and are already talking about the improvements they'll make to the car before the race next year!

Espen - he's pretty American

You Are 67% American

Most times you are proud to be an American. Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home. You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you!

How American Are You?

What would we do without our trampoline?

Anders in action

Typical Espen

I am a rock, I am an island

Your Birthdate: August 7
You are an island. You don't need anyone else to make you happy.
And though you see yourself as a loner, people are drawn to you.
Deep and sensitive, you tend to impress others with your insights.
You also tend to be psychic - so listen to that inner voice!

Your strength: Your self sufficiency

Your weakness: You despise authority

Your power color: Maroon

Your power symbol: Hammer

Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

New favorite podcast

I have a new favorite podcast. Bill Maher's show, Real Time, is available as a podcast, and I love it.

For those of you who don't know what a podcast is (Mom), is a digital file of a radio (or TV) show which you can listen to on your computer or Ipod - whenever you want to!! I'm telling you, the wonders of modern technology.

I use my Ipod all of the time these days. Chores and walking are things I look forward to now, because that is when I listen to my podcasts. Oh, yeah....

Saturday

Our warm spring weather is gone - it's windy and cold today, and it sucks! I want more sun.

Done studying for the day

I have spent most of the last few days studying (except for the 2 hours I spent in line on Wednesday waiting to get a stamp in my passport - but that's another story). The weather has been so nice - 60-70 degrees and sunny - and I am so sick and tired of sitting in front of the computer.

Now I'm going to go get Anders at school and then go do some errands. Everything sounds so nice compared to studying!!!

Summer vacation

I have a final in one week and have been home all day. Did I study? No. I spent the entire day (plus several hours last night) searching for good hotels/good deals for our summer vacation. I might fail my final - but at least we have some places to stay while we're on vacation.

We fly into Seattle on June 14th, and that night we're staying close to the airport at the Days Inn. The next morning we will check out the Space Needle before driving to Spokane, where we will be staying at the Quality Inn. From there, we will be driving to West Yellowstone the next day. I've reserved a room at the Comfort Inn there for 3 nights. After checking out Yellowstone, we're driving to Ketchum, where we have rented a condo at the Krystal Villa for 3 nights. And from there we're driving to Foresthill. So, what do you thnk?

Sunday

Not much to say today, but it's been a while since I've written anything, and I don't want my readers to feel slighted...

It's a four day weekend here. May 1st is Labor Day in Norway, and since it is on a Tuesday this year, then Monday is a holiday, too. It's nice with a long weekend, but I have a final on May 7th, so I have to force myself to do some studying.

Last night the boys slept over at Kari and Grim's house, so Gaute and I decided to go out. We went downtown and had a couple of beers - nothing special - but it was really nice. It's been a long time since we have gone out by ourselves.

Lyn game tomorrow - I'll keep you posted...

Checkup

Just got back from the hospital with Espen. He had a checkup after his operation - and they confirmed what we were afraid of. His eyes are the same/slightly worse than they were before the operation. He is seeing double to the same degree as before, and his left eye is wandering a bit more than before. They still don't know what is causing this and it seems like his brain is pulling the muscles out of whack no matter what they do. I mentioned today that we were going to the states this summer, and the orthoptist thought we should get a second opinion there, something we were thinking about doing regardless. The opthamology department at the hospital here is the biggest and best in Norway, but they admit that they don't understand what's going on. Espen is nervous now, though, because he - understandably - doesn't want to spend his summer vacation at the hospital.

We have a new appointment at the hospital on May 8th, and several doctors will be examining Espen. Hopefully they can give a referral to UC Davis Medical so we don't have to pay for any appointments there. We'll see what happens, though.

Poor Espen - what is going on with him??

Baby Johan

I found this picture of Johan when he was a baby - wasn't he the sweetest little baby?

Football...and a bit more...

On Sunday, Lyn (aka the best football team) played Odd-Grenland. The boys are members of the Lyn's supporter club for kids, and on Sunday all of the Lynus-klubben members got free tickets to the game and got to go out on the field as the players were introduced. We had 3 pretty excited boys...AND - Lyn won 3-1!

It seems like Espen's surgery didn't go so well after all. He says that his vision is back to the way it was before they operated last week. And Gaute and I can see that his left eye is really wandering - it seems like even more than before his surgery...He has an appointment at the hospital tomorrow - we'll see what they have to say.

Spring has sprung

And we are celebrating with our new bbq...