Happy New Year!

Kaleb woke up this morning not feeling too well so we weren’t sure if any of our plans for today were going to happen. But we prayed for him and let him lay on the couch all morning to see how things would go. Kory climbed under the houses to take his month end measurements (the ground is still sinking), and I watched some home videos of when Kaleb was between two and five years old. What a hoot that was. Tobias came over this afternoon and it turns out he had the same symptoms as Kaleb this morning – hot and cold – queasy stomach – not hungry – but by late this afternoon they were both doing fine so we didn’t have to cancel anything.

Norwegians have certain traditions around New Year’s Eve as much as they do around Christmas, as we found out today. For one thing, they serve the exact same food for dinner on New Year’s Eve as they do on Christmas Eve. It’s food that is only available for purchase this time of year, so they eat it when they can and they can’t think of anything they like better. Too funny. It’s also another day to dress formally, even if they are just sitting at home. Dead loved ones are also remembered on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as the tradition is to visit the cemetery and place candles on their graves that burn all night long (there are special candles made just for this tradition). It's cool to drive by the cemetery this time of year as it's all lit up! And if anyone is having a party, they also light special outdoor candles and set them by the doorstep or driveway to light the way for their guests. (Stores and restaurants also do this all winter, which makes it very easy to see which businesses are open and which aren’t.) The King gives a speech on New Year’s Eve and everyone watches it on TV. And tomorrow, the Prime Minister delivers a speech. I guess not as many people watch that one so they have now started to allow gambling to make the speech a little more interesting. There is a website set up where anyone can go and place any amount of wager they want on exactly which words may be included in tomorrow’s speech. Some obvious words like “crisis” or “America” might have very low odds, but some out of the blue words, if used in the speech, could pay a huge dividend. I guess that’s one way to get people to listen more closely to the politicians. They all love their King, but they aren’t all that thrilled with the Prime Minister. Again, too funny.

But the most well-loved tradition for today is that fireworks are allowed. It’s the only day all year they can be used. When Kory and I were here on New Year’s Eve 18 years ago (and got engaged), the only thing we saw in the sky were flares. All over the city, people shot up red flares and they would take the longest time coming down out of the sky so it made for quite an alien scene. But things have progressed over the years and now fireworks have become legal on New Year's Eve so all day long they have been blasting around the neighborhood. And it’s pitch black by 4pm so there’s been a steady stream of them going off, much to the dismay of the neighborhood cats and dogs, but to the delight of all the children.

We were invited to Odd and Turid’s for dinner tonight so we had a nice time at their house this evening eating the traditional food (which Kory absolutely loves, I avoid, and Kaleb is working on aquiring a taste for) and then at ten o’clock we left there to go to another cousin’s house for a real fireworks display at midnight. Axel and Kari’s son-in-law got special permission to shoot off the kind of fireworks that explode way up in the sky (see photo and video). Last weekend he drove to Oslo (8 hours each way) to make his own fireworks with a friend that works in the business. He was pretty excited to put on a show for his family and friends – to the tune of $5,000 for about four minutes of action (which he paid for.) Unbelievable. My brain is so geared to seeing those kinds of fireworks on a warm summer evening, cuddled under a blanket on the shores of Big Lake with watermelon and bar-b-qued salmon still in my gut, so it was a little bit of a shock to be standing out by the edge of the fjord, in the freezing snow, at midnight, watching both the snow fall and the fireworks explode at the same time. In a way, it was very cool, literally, but also a little strange. I loved the snow and the fireworks and that it’s a New Year – it’s just weird they all came at the same time. (We finally got more snow today – three inches and counting – woo hoo!)

I’m writing this at 4am as we just got home from that party. These Norwegians can stay up all night and just talk and eat. We were the first ones to leave. One of Kory’s bosses was at the party and he said he’s very excited to be able to buy The Sinking Houses. I think they are going to set up a business partnership, and we will become one of the partners because they want to include Kory in this deal . Talk about the perfect scenario – we get a piece of the action, but don’t have to do any of the grunt work. I like that set up much better than owning them just by ourselves. So this New Year should be quite interesting as there is much on the horizon and where God leads, we will follow.

First Ski Day in Norway

I think all of us would have slept half the day away if we didn’t have to get up so Kory and Kaleb could so skiing today. But fortunately, the ski slope is nearby and the days are short so there is still time tonight to catch up on lost sleep. Kaleb used ski poles for the first time today and Kory said he did very well. He doesn’t like to tack back and forth going down any hill – he prefers the fastest, straightest method down, so I’m glad he wears a helmet and I’m not there to watch him. (In the photo, he is on the left, Tobias is on the right.) One of Tobias’ twin brothers decided to stay home today so Kory just got to ski on his own all day while his cousin, Bjørn, taught the other twin the fine art of alpine skiing. Kory took a few video clips of the boys coming down the mountain so that was fun for me to see when they got home. All in all, it was a pleasant day for them as the weather was just fine and the ski slope wasn’t very crowded.

I spent the day doing almost nothing. I cleaned up a little and put away stuff from our trip. We got a few packages from home yesterday so I went through the mail, paid bills and read the news from the local LaConner paper. I also sat and tried to figure out how we might be able to get access to some money in our American bank account if Kory’s bosses need some help coming up with the down payment to buy The Sinking Houses. Kory wouldn’t mind being a silent partner in the deal so he wants to be sure we have money available if the opportunity presents itself. But with all the new banking rules that came into play since 9/11 it is impossible to transfer money out of America unless we go into the bank directly. We can’t request money be sent to us here, in other words, unless we fly home first and sign on the dotted line. I think that’s insane, but it is what it is. I can only pull $500 a day from the bank machine and it gets so old to get all the money we need every month in those increments, but it’s the only option available. We were even limited on how much cash we could bring into Norway, so having our main source of income outside this country and needing access to it every month has proven to be the biggest hassle in living here. At least we DO have money to pay the bills and buy groceries though so I’m thankful for that.

I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of the year already. My girlfriends back home have been e-mailing me with their New Year’s resolutions and I nearly forgot about that tradition as my mind has been on other things. I have no idea what the New Year will bring. There are so many gloom and doom predictions for the future of America that we hear about in the news over here, that I don’t even want to think about the future. I just want to live each day as it comes. Our plans are still to be home sometime in September and we expect to be leaving Norway by early July to travel around Europe before heading home, but we are up for whatever God has in mind so our plans could change at any time.

Cousin Turid called me today to tell me about a “situation.” She didn’t ask for prayer directly, but she thought it was a good idea when I offered to pray about it. Her good friend (who now lives in Oslo) just came into port in Miami yesterday from a week long Caribbean cruise with her husband and two teenage children. They were all lying around the pool at a hotel in Miami when their 14 year old son said he was going back to the room. When they went to the room, he was gone. He had taken his passport and cash and they had no idea where he was. He had been talking about his dream which was to go to Los Angeles and try his hand at being an actor so his parents were worried sick that he took off in pursuit of that – not fully understanding how far California is away from Florida. Needless to say, Miami is no place for a 14 year old Norwegian boy to be roaming about. They filed a missing person’s report and it was on the evening news in Miami last night, as well as on the news here in Norway. I prayed all afternoon for that boy and finally, several hours later, Turid called to say someone had spotted him and called the police – so he got reunited with his parents and he was in good shape. I was so thankful for that answered prayer and Turid said she nearly shouted “Hallelujah” too, but she is a Norwegian, after all. And I had one more occasion to shout Hallelujah today, as my classmate Sandra, sent me a text message on my cell phone to let me know that she is pregnant! I’ve been praying for her since September and it’s finally happened, so now we trust God to see her through this pregnancy. It’s her own Christmas miracle as she flew to Latvia just a few days before Christmas for in-vitro. (We dog sat her dog while she was gone.) What incredible news that is. So even though it was an at-home day for me, it was still full of thrills and chills. Hallelujah!

A Scenic Drive

I can’t believe our “luck” in the timing of this road trip. Most of the roads we traveled on today are either closed in winter or require chains (which we don’t have). But the last storm was more than a week ago and all the roads were in pretty good shape so we were able to drive for nine hours without any problems. I’m so thankful for that and I don’t believe for a minute it was luck. God is good - all the time.

We all had an incredibly good night’s sleep and after a top notch breakfast (all hotels in Norway provide a free buffet breakfast in the morning), we set out just after daylight to head home. We were able to cut about an hour off our time because Kory stopped and asked about the condition of a certain short-cut road we were afraid to take on the way down because it was dark and we didn’t know if chains were required. The road was solid ice, but it had been sanded so we didn’t have any trouble with our winter tires, and it provided some beautiful scenery along the way . Of course, there wasn’t a single bad spot for scenery today (except in the tunnels) and I’m sure I took a few hundred photos (see above of Kory standing on the edge of an incredibly still fjord). The sun is so low this time of year, even when it was “up” it only touched the very tops of all the mountains around us and never once reached down in any of the valleys. It made for some incredible “lighting” shots. We even stopped and got a close up view of the Borgund Stave Church, built in 1180. It’s so hard to imagine a wood structure that could last over eight hundred years, but a few years ago we found how that is possible. A year before any timber is cut down to build anything, the bark is completely stripped off the tree. The tree, in an effort to save itself, emits a type of pitch that acts as the perfect wood preservative and neither insect nor rot can harm it. I’m not sure if it’s just a type of tree found only here in Norway or if all trees would do that, but it’s pretty incredible nonetheless. And, over the years, a type of tar is added to the wood to help keep it preserved, but it’s pretty mind boggling to stand in a structure that is so incredibly old – and beautiful (see photo). I’ve also heard that wood structures near the coast of Norway only last about a hundred years because of the harshness of the weather – but buildings more in the center of Norway, even though the winters are super cold, they don’t get the battering storms the coast gets so all the oldest buildings in Norway will be found there.

We went through dozens of tunnels today and took four ferries to get home (to the tune of $150 in tolls and fees). I used those “downtimes” to read “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” It’s a favorite book of ours and we usually read it Christmas Eve morning, but we forgot this year. (Our friend, Bev Mohr, turned us on to this tradition and it’s a keeper!) Kaleb protested when he realized it was another missed tradition, so I brought it along and read it in bits and pieces with flashlight in hand as a way to pass the time in the tunnels. We all laugh out loud every time we read it.

It’s still Christmas around here. Even in the SAS Hotel where we stayed they had up a schedule yesterday for “The Fourth Day of Christmas” – as the celebration goes right on for the full Twelve Days of Christmas. All the Christmas lights are still shining brightly and the festivities linger. Most businesses are closed or only working half days and all the churches were closed yesterday because even the staff deserves time to visit their loved ones this time of year. I love that – spreading out the season so long – then there is no “next day” depression that it’s all over for another year. By the time they are done celebrating Christmas around here – it’s already a few days into the New Year and minds are set on what is to come.

We were happy to get home tonight before 7pm since both Kory and Kaleb have to get up early tomorrow morning to go skiing with Tobias and Kory’s second cousin, Bjørn (who is Tobias’ mom’s “samboer” – that’s the word they use to describe a committed couple that is living together but haven’t gotten legally married.) Tobias’ mom (Inger) and Bjørn have 5 year old twin boys together and the boys got their first pair of alpine skis for Christmas. Inger doesn’t ski, so Bjørn thought Kory could go along and help teach one of the twins how to ski, he could teach the other one, and Kaleb and Tobias could ski together for the day. It should be an interesting time for all of them and I’ll just be glad to be home alone for a change. As much fun as it is to go on road trips, it’s always best to come home. I just wish our house would have been a little warmer when we got here as Kory forgot and left the wall vents open (they are like little windows) so it was 46 degrees in the house and 37 degrees outside. I’ve had enough cold to last me a while so a hot bath is in my foreseeable future. Brrrr.

A Dream Come True

Today reminded me of the Bible verse that says something like “Crying may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” What an incredible day today was! It nearly erased the brutality of last night as today was beyond all expectations FANTASTIC!

Niklas, our host, brought us warm oatmeal and hot water for coco so at least we were able to warm ourselves from the inside out this morning. The day started out well. Just at the crack of dawn (8:30am) Niklas uncaged the dogs and let them run around their penned in area near our tent and just be dogs for about an hour. They romped and rolled in the snow, they squabbled and chased each other around, they came over to us for some lovin’, they peed on everything they could lift their leg on… it was quite fun to watch 29 dogs having a good time. Then about ten o’clock some other tourists showed up and we got the low-down on how to hook the dogs up to their harnesses, how to brake the dogs and what to do if the sled rolls over. Niklas drove the lead team of nine dogs because he had two adults on his sled. The other three sleds had only five dogs pulling them because we each just had one person down in the sled (zipped up nice and cozy warm with reindeer hides to sit on) and one person driving the dogs. A Norwegian couple was in the second sled, Kory and Kaleb were in third place and I got to ride in the last sled while another Norwegian guy drove our team. I was a little nervous at first after the safety lesson of all the things to do if something goes wrong, but once we got going, it was a comfortable pace and all my fears dissolved.

The dogs so love to pull the sleds that they began barking and howling at the first sight of the sleds being prepared. There is a huge snow anchor that keeps them still until it’s time to go, as their only instinct is to go full speed ahead, all the time, and to try to get in front of the pack of dogs in the lead. (It was a little scary to think about losing the driver, as the dogs would just go all day with no way to stop them.) It’s hard to believe those skinny dogs with a not very thick coat, love the snow like they do and can handle the extreme cold they live in, but it was easy to see how much fun they have when they are out in it. Even while we were on the tour, they would sink their head in a pile of fresh snow just so they could shake it off themselves, or they would take a bite to get a drink of water as they were running full speed ahead. Several of them had to poop while they were running, and a few made the whole team stop for them but most of them just kept right on running, like horses do. It was pretty funny.

The weather today was absolutely perfect and the scenery where we were was breathtaking. There is no way words could describe how we all felt as we were gliding along the frozen lake with the sunshine hitting the mountaintops around us, the dogs not making a peep and just the sound of the runners under us sliding on the frozen ice. It was magical. And it seemed, as I was watching from the back, that I was in a National Geographic special on Alaska because I had seen that scene many times before, but only on TV. I had the dogs right in front of me, the other sleds in the distance ahead of me and just this drop dead gorgeous winterscape all around me. I took as many photos and video shots as I could but I also wanted to enjoy the moment and just take it all in. The funniest part was when Niklas took us on a fairly short loop trail so we could see each other coming from the other direction as each team looped back– and it was there I was hoping to get photos of the front of Kory and Kaleb as they looped around, but the last two teams of dogs (mine and Kory and Kaleb’s) saw this as an opportunity to become the lead pack so they made a cut right through the middle of the loop and tried to get ahead of Niklas and his team as they turned the corner. Not only did they get off the trail and dive into a lot of fresh snow powder, but they got their ropes all tangled up in the process. It was quite the effort to get them untangled and heading down the path again, but it gave us all a good laugh just the same.

It really was something to have that experience today. Kaleb has decided everyone needs to do that sometime in their life and Kory and I thanked Kaleb over and over because if it weren’t for him, we certainly wouldn’t have made the effort to come here and do this. So it was a day to remember, for as long as we all shall live.

And, not wanting to put any damper on the day, I insisted we go into town and see if there was any hotel rooms available for the night, as I just couldn’t stand the thought of one more night in that tent (see photo), especially since tonight was supposed to be colder than last night! Both Kory and Kaleb protested, but I insisted that we’d all be happier tomorrow (since we have such a long drive home), if we get a good night’s sleep. I won because I said I’d only check one hotel and if they had a room and it was less than $300 a night (a bargain here), we’d stay. They agreed, thinking that would be impossible, but we have a God who can do the impossible and we found a room for $295! Hallelujah! We went out for a nice warm dinner, we all had a good hot shower, and now we are ready to sleep in a clean, warm bed. God is good.

Going To The Dogs

What a day. In terms of daylight - it was short. In terms of driving distance - it was long. In terms of sleep -it was a nightmare. But I’m not complaining as we made it safe and sound to our destination and ready for a new day. (I’m actually writing this the next morning.)

We were apparently up too late Friday night cleaning and packing because we slept right through the alarm, or it just didn’t go off (not sure which since it was a new alarm clock.) Kaleb finally woke us up at 8:23am, and our intentions were to be up at 6:30 and out the door by eight -so much for making use of the little daylight that’s available this time of year. We had several ferries to catch and a long drive ahead so we flew around the house gathering things and getting dressed. The first ferry we needed to take runs every half hour and we just pulled up as they closed access to get on so we had to waste a half hour of daylight sitting at the dock. At least Kory got to eat breakfast without having to drive at the same time.

We had beautiful weather the entire drive, but it turned out to take a little longer than we expected as going over some of the mountain passes the driving was very slow. On good roads, the highest speed we can go is 70 kilometers an hour (not quite 45mph) but in many places we could only go about 25 or 30 mph safely. It was OK with me when it was light out because I was able to take dozens of absolutely gorgeous landscape photos out the window (see photo!), but once the darkness settled in about 4pm, it wasn’t quite so pleasant. I was very thankful for all the tunnels we went through in the mountains because then the roads were dry and bare and when we came out of them, it was like entering a different country. Most of them were 6-7 kilometers long and the scenery and weather and road conditions were constantly changing so it was like getting a surprise at the end of each one as we never knew what to expect.

Kaleb entertained himself in the backseat with his Nintendo and a DVD player so we didn’t hear a peep out of him the entire day. Kory did all the driving and I insisted we stop around 5:30 to eat some dinner and give him a break, so we didn’t get to our final destination until nearly 8pm.

Beitostølen is truly a winter wonderland – surrounded by mountains and ski resorts, it’s shaped like a huge bowl with a large lake at the bottom, which is always frozen over in the winter. When we arrived, all we saw was snow piled high on everything around us, that wonderful fluffy dry powdery snow that sparkled in the headlights and made it seem like there were diamonds lying by the roadside everywhere we went. The stars were as bright as I’ve ever seen and the air was beyond crisp.

Our accommodations last night were primitive and genuine. We slept in a Sami tent called a Lawo (pronounced Lah-vo) right next to the dog kennel (Kaleb’s favorite part). It’s just a large tee-pee if you ask me, with a woodstove in the center that gives one the sense it might actually be warm inside, but nothing could be further from the truth. It hit about 16 below zero last night where we were (about zero degrees Fahrenheit). Chunks of ice were hanging off the inside of our tent. There was a blazing fire in the furnace all night, as Kory set his cell phone alarm to go off every 75 minutes so he was sure to keep the home fires burning, but it seemed to me it was all in vain. No heat from that stove made it more than about three inches away from it, so unless we were practically touching it, there seemed to be no warming effect. I had a cup of water about 5 inches from it and it froze in less than an hour. My face formed ice crystals in the night as I was breathing in and out. It was as cold as I’ve ever experienced cold. Before we decided to go to bed, we all bundled up in our sleeping bags and tried to watch a movie I downloaded on my computer, but the volume wasn’t loud enough for Kory to hear so we just bagged it and went to bed early. (Kory claims his hearing is just fine and it’s only the particular pitch that my voice makes that he is unable to hear, but clearly he was proven wrong last night as Kaleb and I both could hear the sound track just fine.) So we slept on cots inside Norwegian military issued mummy bags with two reindeer hides under, one over and our own wool blankets and sleeping bags on top of that. We were in full wool long underwear and clothes, including wool sweaters and hats… and we were STILL cold! About 2am, when we were all still wide awake because we were so cold (we went to bed at 9pm) Kaleb started crying that he just wanted to go home. Kory let him crawl into his mummy bag to get warm and he finally fell asleep. I’m sure I didn’t sleep before 3am and the only time I really felt warm was when I was blessed with a hot flash. I will remind Kaleb of this night should he ever question if there were ever any sacrifices I made for him. And tonight it’s supposed to be colder, and we have booked this tent for two nights. I am the best Mama in the whole world.

Merry 2nd Day of Christmas

A few weeks ago, cousin Odd came over for dinner. He told us that Turid wanted to invite us over to their house for dinner on Christmas Day, and Turid wanted to come to our house for dinner the day after – and she wanted turkey. So that’s how it was today. I made a turkey, and Odd and Turid and Hege came over to eat it. I also invited my pal Vestina, from school, and her boyfriend Minde (both are from Lithuania – see photo). We all had a great time and a lot of laughs and now Kory is cleaning up the mess. Minde is a wanna-be professional photographer, and he brought all his photo equipment along so he could take photos. He said he needs more practice but he is already very good and he got some great shots – especially of Odd. It was fun to pose for the camera, even though we weren’t dressed for such a thing. It felt like the meal was going to end up in a magazine article or something, as we were sitting around drinking wine, then coffee, talking, laughing and trying to look “natural.” What fun. I can’t wait to get copies of those photos.

Everything in Norway is closed on the 2nd day of Christmas – it’s considered a holiday right along with Christmas Day. It works well to have so many days of Christmas because families have loved ones in more than one household, and this way, they can bounce back and forth eating and visiting with no pressure to go back to work. Family and food is what Christmas is all about here. So we were happy to host tonight’s event and the food even tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself. But it was way more American than Norwegian (although I did make mashed rutabagas – a Norsk favorite this time of year.)

We spent all morning packing food and winter wear for our big trip tomorrow. We need to leave early to catch the ferry and get to our final destination before it gets too dark. It will be at least a seven hour drive and we are dealing with just a few hours of daylight now so we need to use the twilight hours as well. Norwegian roads are hard enough to drive on when it’s daylight, but given darkness and slush or ice, they are just downright suicidal. So our focus was torn today between getting dinner on the table and getting everything ready for this insane trip we are taking so Kaleb can experience a dog sled ride. At least there are no storms forecast for this weekend so all the roads will be open and we should have sunny days and minus ten degrees for a high once we get there. At night we’ll have minus 16 degrees celcius (3 degrees Fahrenheit) and I just pray the reindeer hides we will be sleeping under in the tent, will keep us plenty warm. (And I hope somewhere in that town I can get internet access so I can post my blog!)

I realize now we didn’t even get out of the house once today, as we were so busy. It was a beautiful day too and we watched a parade of families taking leisurely walks down our street, some with dogs, some not. A friend from church stopped by about 9:30 tonight as he was out walking his dog (“lufte hunden” as they say – which literally translates means, “airing out the dog.”) He is also Kaleb’s religion teacher at school and one of his afterschool program leaders. He’s getting ready to move to Australia in a few weeks to go to Hillsong Bible School so he wanted to stop by and take a picture of us to take with him. It’s so funny here in Norway that people drop in or call up until about 11pm, then after that it’s considered too late. Back home I would never call anyone after 9pm, thinking THAT was too late – but they are on a different time schedule here. I think it could come from the fact that no one has a very long commute to work, and no one starts work before 7am so everyone is pretty much on the same schedule.

Kaleb spent the day with Tobias and Sabina – bouncing back and forth between all the houses. Tobias’ parents stopped by when they were out for a walk around the neighborhood and we asked if Tobias could stay for dinner. He discovered at Thanksgiving that he really likes turkey and it’s not a common food served here. His mother said she was going to have to start giving us his “barnetryg” because he eats here so often. (That’s the “child support” money the government pays for every child to help with expenses in raising them.) I thought that was pretty funny. But we love having him here – he’s such a good influence on Kaleb as he is very calm and tolerant and gently corrects Kaleb when he’s being obnoxious. How those two are such good friends is beyond me – they are nothing alike and they don’t really have many common interests, but somehow it works - and for that – I’m thankful. (I guess when I think about it - they are a little like Kory and I, but I won't say which one of us is the obnoxious one.)

Hallelujah! Jesus is Born!

The celebration continues. We had our genuine American Christmas morning today when we all woke up at 10:30 (Kory and I were up until 2:30 last night so we were happy to sleep in.) Kaleb was chomping at the bit to open the presents under the tree and he wasn’t the least bit disappointed. We got him a few books and science kits, a few games and movies, but the best gift of all was a new laptop. I can’t believe it myself, but I have had it in the closet for months now as it was a FREE gift to us when we signed up for internet service here. The internet provider had a special promotion for first time subscribers, and since it was “back to school” time they offered this amazing laptop, complete with Norwegian keyboard, for FREE. I could hardly contain myself as Kaleb is so often wanting to use my computer to go to his favorite game websites, but he’s hard pressed to get me off mine. So now, we will have dueling computers and poor Kory will just have to sit and listen to the silence. Kaleb said more than once today that this was the most incredible month of his life, since he got a Nintendo for his birthday and a computer for Christmas, a dog to dog-sit and on Saturday we’re going on a dog sled ride. It just doesn’t get any better. So we have one very happy little boy and that was good enough for both of us. Kory and I gave to charities for our gifts to each other, but he also framed one of his drawings for me so I could hang it on the wall and I gave him a picture book of the buildings in downtown Aalesund so he could draw more pictures of them. At least we were on the same page. We had a late breakfast then Sabina came over for a while and Kaleb showed her all his stuff. He so wanted Tobias to come over too but he had to wait until later in the day for that to happen.

It was nearly a blue sky day today and we were all sad that our hometown got more snow overnight and had a genuine White Christmas, and we didn’t. We spent time looking at all the photos our friends have posted on Facebook and oohing and aahing over the snow forts and igloos and Winter Wonderland shots. It’s a good thing we love it here so much or we might just be wishing we were back home again.

Around here they have “Christmas” on Christmas Eve; the FIRST day of Christmas on the 25th and the Second day of Christmas, will be tomorrow. These three days of Christmas all come with their own traditions, so when in Norway, do as the Norwegians do. Often, on the First day of Christmas, people eat leftovers from the big dinner the night before and “slappe av” (relax). Everyone I talked to thinks everything tastes better the second day. So this afternoon we headed over to Odd and Turids for another grand eating extravaganza. All of Odd and Turid’s grown children were there, as well as both of their mother’s and us, so they had a house full. Odd was so proud of the free tree he got from some guy’s farm this year (he got permission), that I had to take a photo of him standing next to it (see photo). I told him it was a genuine “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree and within minutes one kid had Googled it and another had a photo of it on their cell phone, as they all wanted to know what I was talking about. I told him it had a lot of character. When they saw the picture of Charlie Brown’s tree, then they knew. Apparently, Odd is more like Kory than I realized, as he put up that tree about ten minutes before we got there, just to get a reaction out of us. He let me go on for quite some time before he revealed that it really hadn’t been their Christmas tree – just a joke. Ha ha, he got me good. (The real tree was tossed over the balcony to get rid of the evidence.)

After dinner we had the big contest that Kory set up many months ago. He told both Kaleb and I that whoever spoke the best Norwegian by Christmas would get a thousand kroner (about $150-$200 depending on the exchange rate). I knew I’d win, but he took all the words for the test out of Kaleb’s homework books, not mine, so I didn’t know many of them. I knew the test would be rigged in one way or another and I am competitive enough that it ticked me off. Kory didn’t have the scoring system figured out too well and here we were with about ten judges in front of us and none of them understood fully what the “deal” was. We had to translate words from Norwegian to English, we had to read text to see how our pronunciation was and then we had to answer a question about what we do on a normal day. When Kory gave me the words to translate, he gave me no reference for them so I failed that section miserably. But when he gave the words to Kaleb, he gave them to him in a sentence, so whether Kaleb knew the word or not, it was very easy to just guess what it was from the context. That ticked me off but good as I am all about playing fair. But, after all the judges tallied all their points (we had points taken off if we mispronounced words when we were reading, so this is where I gained some momentum), I WON! It was pretty close, or so said the judges, but I was clearly the winner and gladly accepted my thousand kroner prize. Then Kory gave Kaleb an envelope for the second place prize and he too got a thousand kroner. That is SO Norwegian like – to make everyone the winner. I’ve got just enough “American” in me to think that wasn’t a good idea, but Kaleb sure enjoyed it, even though he said he doesn’t know what to do with the money since he has everything he wants. That’s my boy! I’m going to spend my money on a massage. The stress of it all was just too much.

GOD JUL!

Vi hadde en kjempe fin dag i dag…. I mean, we had a really great day today. We slept too long and then got quite busy with the last minute details as there were packages to wrap and clothes to iron. It also dawned on me that I hadn’t sent out any cards to the Norwegian cousins, so I whipped some up on the computer, printed them out, addressed them and ran to the post office just before they closed. Nothing like a little last minute stress to make the holiday feel right. I’m so off my mark this year. I need my own traditions to keep me on task. Oi! (The new way Norwegians say “uff da.”)

The Norwegian Christmas Eve is well scripted and I dare say there are not many variations on the theme. In this part of Norway anyway, I’d bet that the morning of Christmas Eve every house is as clean as it will be the entire year. All the finest clothes one has will be neatly pressed and ready for wear as everyone dresses to the hilt. Men wear suits and ties, women wear their finest, fanciest dresses, little girls wear the cutest little frilly things and many boys even have on a suit and tie or at least a vest and dress shirt. This day is the height of formality and most adults wear black. It would be a serious sign of disrespect to be in anything but your finest threads today.

Every church has a Christmas service, sometime between one and three in the afternoon. All the stores are closed by one o’clock so as not to compete with church attendance. Before we went to the three o’clock service at Filadelfia Church, we stopped by for a visit with Tante Ruth. She could not be convinced to come join any of the festivities today as she just wanted to be alone. She had a stash of gifts from all the nieces and nephews displayed in the living room, waiting to be opened sometime this evening after she had eaten the traditional Christmas Eve meal. She gave me a quick cooking lesson on how to make the food, since she had it all prepared and sitting in pans on the stove. All that was required was the twist of a knob and dinner would soon be ready. In one pan were peeled potatoes, carrots and rutabagas, which would be boiled, drained and then mashed all together. In another pan sat pieces of dried lamb ribs that had been rehydrated yesterday (soaked in water for two days). They were sitting in a steamer, as no water should touch them when they cook. Some of the water from that lamb steaming can be added to the potato mixture to give it more flavor, and she licked her lips when she was telling me that hot tip. In another pan sat some pieces of sausage that needed to be boiled, and a foil package that contained boiled cabbage cooked with sugar and caraway seeds (a little like sauerkraut). There wasn’t a green thing in the meal. All she needed to do was start the burners and she’d have herself the finest Christmas meal there is to be had in Sunnmøre. I’m positive that every person in this entire region ate that meal tonight. I guess this is some kind of bonding moment for the Norsk population around here – that they all eat the same food about the same time on Christmas Eve. (Dinner is served promptly after the church service finishes, which always leaves at least one person per household home to heat things up.)

After our cozy little visit with Tante Ruth (where she gave us all exceedingly long hugs and thank yous for all we have done for her), we went to church for an hour, then off to cousin Axel and Kari’s house just down the street from where we live. And sure enough, Kari served exactly what Aunt Ruth was having for dinner, except Kari also served a special type of pork that is also common to have with the lamb if there is a large gathering for dinner. Which reminds me of something funny they say here: Kari had 14 for dinner (her and Axel and 12 guests). In English we would use the words “guests” or “people” to talk about how many are coming for dinner. They have those words here too, (gjester, mennesker), but when talking about how many they are having over for dinner, they say 14 “stykker,” which means “pieces.” The word stykker is the word used for puzzle pieces, or pieces of wood, or pieces of anything, so I find it most amusing that they use that word when referring to how many people they are feeding. I can only imagine it came from counting how many pieces of meat they needed for the meal, or something like that, but it’s an old expression and everyone uses it without even giving it any thought, but it cracks me up every time I hear it. (“I have 14 pieces coming for dinner.”)

So we ate the traditional meal (I passed on the “little lamb” again but the pork was great). Immediately afterwards we were served rice pudding. In the bowl of pudding was an almond and whoever got the almond in their bowl, got a special prize (a marzipan candy pig). That tradition also goes way back. So after the table was cleared, the gifts started flowing. I can’t get over the fact they open every single gift on Christmas Eve. There is a bit of a mad dash in the daytime to drop off all the gifts to everyone’s house before dinnertime and NO ONE opens ANY gifts from ANYONE before dinner. It’s so weird they don’t open the gift in front of the person who gave it to them, like we do in America. If friends exchange gifts they often open them then and there, but that’s NOT how they do it here. You must hold all your gifts and open them only on Christmas Eve after dinner. And everyone just gives ONE gift to each person – even parents to children – they just give ONE gift on Christmas Eve. I’m sure the Christmas police will show up at our house tomorrow morning as we held back the bulk of our gifts for our traditional American Christmas morning. (At last count I think Kaleb had ten gifts under the tree, which is only excusable because we ARE American, I’m sure, as they expect we are full of excessive indulgences.) So tonight, everyone watched as each gift was opened and after about two hours, we took a break for coffee and dessert (cakes, cookies, fruit and vanilla sauce and lots of candy), then went back to it. At some point, Jule Nisse came knocking on the door with a bag of goodies for everyone (another standard Norsk tradition). Kaleb gave me the evil eye as he is still wanting to believe in Santa, but there was no doubt this one was a fake since his pillow was spilling out of his robe and the mask that all Norwegians Santas wear was far from believable (see photo). I had no answers for his thousand questions. We went back to opening gifts and by 11:00 we were done. I’m sure the celebration will go until the wee hours of the morning, but when Kaleb started to fall asleep on the couch by 11:45, we had to leave since he’s getting too big to carry.

The newspaper this week asked a bunch of people what their favorite part of Christmas was and almost everyone said “the food.” But I’m sure if they thought about that a bit more they’d agree with a quote from W.S. Gilbert that says, “It’s not so much what’s on the table that matters, as what’s on the chairs.” As being with such a wonderful family makes any day a great day. God Jul til alle….

Finally, A TREE!

It never gets old to say that “God works in mysterious ways.” One of Kory’s bosses, Jonathan, came over this morning to drop off a little Christmas bonus. To say his bosses are “nice” is an understatement. Kory has tremendous respect for them and thinks they are both fantastic young men with a heart for God and he very much likes working for them and getting to know them. Well, Kory told Jonathan all about how God closed the door on us buying The Sinking Houses but how it’s just killing him because he knows it’s a gold mine for someone, just not us. And only then did Jonathan tell Kory that both he and his partner, Espen, really wanted to put in a bid to buy the houses as well, but they didn’t want to keep Kory from getting them because they knew how excited he was about them. What a surprise it was to hear that one. So Kory showed him all the numbers we ran on the costs and told him all we found out in the process of investigating it and now it seems, they will be buying them for the price we bid, instead of us! What a miracle that is for all of us. And the neighborhood will still be thrilled that the Kommune isn’t going to buy them. (We were kind of sweating that one because we knew we were letting people down.) So Kory will be both working for, and renting from Jonathan and Espen. It harkens back to the days of the “company store” but as long as they don’t buy out the local grocer, we should be OK. This whole thing couldn’t have a happier ending. Hallelujah!

And today we said goodbye to George, the loveable pup we got “for Christmas.” It was good to be with a dog again but I won’t miss the dog hair or early morning walks. Kaleb was so funny when figuring out how much to charge for his services. The first time he dog sat back home he told the woman how much it was and then he said, “But really, I should be paying you,” because he loves to be with dogs so much. At home it’s about twenty bucks a day for a kennel, so Kaleb charges a dollar a day to ensure he gets a lot of business (and he does – sometimes we have up to four dogs at a time.) Well, with today’s exchange rate he would charge seven kroner a day, if he were to stick to the ole’ dollar a day rate, but you most certainly CANNOT buy anything for seven kroner here in Norway so Kaleb had some tough calculations to figure out about what a dollar equivalent was in purchasing power, not just conversion rate. He finally came up with 15-20 kroner a day as his dog-sitting fee and when he told George’s owner they owed him 75 kroner, he was more than a little shocked when they gave him 250 kroner instead. (Typical kennel rates here in Norway are 200 kroner a day.) So Kaleb was floating only temporarily until he remembered he has to put it all in savings because it was really Kory and I that did the work – he just slept with the dog. But as a result of Kaleb’s latest dog-sitting experience, he did come up with some pretty funny inventions, which he wrote about today in the upcoming edition of The Weakly Puppy. We worked on that this morning so it would be a “wrap” before the holidays kick in as it gets published on Friday. Kaleb told me that he really feels he “doesn’t have time” anymore to continue doing the publication but he just can’t bring himself to stopping it because so many people enjoy getting it and he doesn’t want to let them down. He says he will NEVER stop writing it. It will soon be two years since he started it and it still makes me laugh out loud. Funny boy.

Well this afternoon we had a little cabin fever so we set out for the mall. Kaleb really wanted a book that Tobias told him was available in English at a store at the mall, so he was chomping at the bit to buy it with his birthday money. (I’m sure glad I didn’t get it for him already for a Christmas gift.) We came home, made tacos for dinner, heated up some glogg and started decorating the tree! (Kory went and “got” one last night – somewhere.) Our tradition back home always takes an entire day to get the tree as we drive up to the Mt. Baker National Forest and get our $10 permit and cut down a fresh one. But they don’t really allow that kind of thing here, so one just magically showed up at our house and I’m not asking any questions. (Trees cost about a hundred bucks and I don’t want to know the details around this one.) We shipped over some favorite tree decorations and we bought some here and we now have the finest looking tree in the neighborhood. Well, I guess that’s because it’s the ONLY tree in the neighborhood at this point – no one puts them up until tomorrow – but I couldn’t wait one more day. (I hope the Christmas police don’t come arrest me or something as the number of offenses I’ve committed against these precious Norwegian traditions are mounting.) We did buy the lights that look like candles, and I like them a lot. When Kory was a kid they lit real candles on the tree and danced around it. The cords attached to our lights prohibit any kind of dancing, so we just sat in front of it and drank more glogg. Then we popped popcorn and watched another Christmas movie (Home Alone 2) I downloaded from some European internet site that is probably illegal and will now go on my “naughty” list for the year. I’m anticipating a lump of coal anyway because I couldn’t think of anything to buy myself for Christmas.

A Closed Door

God leads through opening and closing doors, and today he closed a big one. At this point, unless something huge changes, we are NOT buying The Sinking Houses. I’m so relieved. Even Kory admits it would have been a headache, but it does have the potential to be a huge money maker. My feeling is we don’t need any more money since we already have enough to get by and there’s no reason at this stage of our lives to be in pursuit of the almighty buck. We will just sit back and see what happens now. Whoever buys them will certainly want renters so even if we have to start paying rent, it’s no problem. The fact we’ve lived this long for free is still a miracle in my book. I was worried if Ålesund Kommune buys them for low income housing they would kick us out, but the cousins assure us that they have an obligation to let us continue to live here until the school year is out because we have a child going to school. So, that worry is over. Hallelujah.

I realized part of my depression yesterday is that I don’t have enough to do. I like to be busy and there really isn’t much going on right now that takes up my time. We are invited out for so many meals this week for all the different days of Christmas, I don’t even have to meal plan or make a grocery list. The house takes one hour to clean from top to bottom as it’s so small, and all my Christmas cards went out electronically this year so I don’t even have a stamp to lick. I’m so used to running myself ragged that I can’t even enjoy a little peace and quiet. But now I am. Kory is over visiting Aunt Ruth, Kaleb is over playing with Tobias and I’m at home with the dog.

Earlier today Kory and Kaleb took George (the dog) for a two hour walk and I made banana bread and did laundry. (I really needed to do laundry yesterday but I couldn’t because it’s against the law to do it on a Sunday - how funny is that?) George is a sweet pup with a strong desire to be a lap dog (see photo). I am such a “dog” person I forgot how much I love to nuzzle up to that soft spot behind every dog’s ear and whisper sweet nothings to them. But I think Kaleb sealed his fate today in never getting a dog when he wouldn’t scoop the poop while they were out for a walk. Kory ended up picking it up with a plastic bag and then Kaleb wouldn’t even carry the bag to the nearest garbage can! Kory wasn’t too happy with him since Kaleb is the one making money on this dog sitting deal, but we’ve already warned him it’s all going into savings and he won’t touch a single kroner. Then he argued and said he should get at least one kroner because of the one time he did walk him (but he got loose). That kid can negotiate me into a frazzle.

Kaleb was disappointed in me today that I didn’t mention in my blog yesterday something he thought was very funny. I was wearing headphones at Philadelphia Church so I could hear the sermon translated to English. I do OK without them but it always seems I miss some key point, so it’s better safe than sorry for me. Anyway, the translator wasn’t one of the better ones I’ve heard and when she said, “They took the baby Jesus and laid him in a crab,” I thought Kaleb was going to bust a gut. He thought that was the funniest thing because she obviously was supposed to say “laid him in a crib.” Ha ha. He must have laughed for 30 minutes when I told him about it. It is funny sometimes though to listen to people translate. Probably not as funny as listening to me talk Norwegian, however, and who knows how many laughs have been at my expense behind my back. (Kory just says the way I talk is “cute” but that’s because he’s being polite and he wants to stay married to me.)

Our friends the Merediths “Skyped” us today and we must have talked an hour via the computer. It was just like they stopped in for a visit since their faces were in our living room and we chatted on about all kinds of things. (It’s good to have friends to grow old with so we have SOMEONE to talk to about our medical history.) If I could have reached into my computer screen and pulled them through it like some sci-fi movie, I would have. It kills me to not be sharing this beautiful place with people I love!

Tomorrow the dog leaves and the tree goes up! Hallelujah!

The Shortest Day of the Year

I haven’t really had a bad day since landing in Norway, but today came close. I didn’t sleep well last night with all the thoughts running through my head on the “what ifs” if we buy the houses, and also if we don’t. I also feel such a burden for so many I love back home that are going through incredibly hard times right now, and if I didn’t have faith, I’d think the situations were all hopeless. One thought after another just starting piling up and next thing I know, I’m in tears having my own little pity party. I don’t like to feel this way, so I tried to focus on the positive, but for some reason, for the bulk of today anyway, that was impossible.

And to make matters worse, Kaleb has become incredibly disrespectful and disobedient ever since we gave him the Nintendo for his birthday. Whenever we ask him to do something, he takes at least 10 minutes before he responds as he insists he must “save” the game first, which often requires playing it just a little bit more. When we need to talk to him about something and ask him to put it on pause, he sits like a drug addict waiting for his next hit, pestering us as to just how many more minutes it will be before he can get back to his game. He’s completely glued to that thing and today we told him he could play it for only one hour a day from now on and never on Sundays. We tried for a week to get him to self-regulate and we gave him several warnings that he needs to be more respectful to us while he’s playing it, but he didn’t rise to the challenge. So today was the day to set him free from his addiction, and just like any “withdrawl,” it wasn’t pretty. This didn’t help my own situation one little bit and only led me into a deeper depression thinking I’ll have a son who hates me for life. Some days this parenting thing really bites.

We went to Agape Church this morning and put the word out that we are looking for possible renters if we buy the houses. I’m sure, given a few week’s time span, we could fill these houses up, but we had to set criteria that would classify as a miracle, otherwise it can’t be accredited to God’s leading. So, at this point, we don’t have a single person who would rent at the price we set, and the deadline is tomorrow morning (well, technically, it’s “morning” until noon). Only God can make this happen and if He doesn’t, I’ll be so relieved. Kory goes back and forth on it, so we really have no idea how this will play out.

I began a downward spiral in my thoughts today. This Christmas season just doesn’t feel right because all the traditions here are different and we don’t even have the tree up, which has bummed me out more than it should. I always look forward to Christmas carols during the Sundays in December, and we’ve yet to sing one at church. I was feeling like an outsider and not fitting in anywhere and also like I am letting God down by not being used more in some type of ministry. I just sat in church this morning crying and telling God he really needs to help me out of this pit because this isn’t anyplace I want to linger.

After church we came home and while Kaleb was reading a book and Kory was going around talking to neighbors, I laid in bed and felt sorry for myself. That might have been a first, but it was also the first time I experienced a day with less than three hours of daylight. But today is the day for turning corners, as tomorrow will be lighter longer than today and tomorrow is Monday, my favorite day of the week.

Tonight we went to Philadelphia Church’s special Christmas service and God was surely there. Someone we know invited us over for dinner this week, so then my pity-party feelings of not being included suddenly disappeared. During the service, we sang two Christmas songs I know – of course the words were in Norwegian but the melody was the old familiar tunes and that cheered me up immensely. Then after the service, a woman on staff asked if after the first of the year, I would be willing to lead a Bible study/home fellowship group for those who attend the church that only speak English. Hot dog! That was the ticket. God certainly heard my cry today and took care of all that ailed me in short order. Hallelujah! And I even noticed, by day’s end, that Kaleb was easier to be around. Sometimes I embarrass myself with how I behave and the things I think about. And I’m always in awe of how much God loves me and how meticulously he answers my prayers and hears my heart’s desires. Now if we can just get a Christmas tree up, life would be grand.

Questions, Lots of Questions

Today we spent the day trying to figure out the details around buying The Sinking Houses. We must have asked a thousand questions in our effort to understand how Norwegian businesses run, taxes get paid and just what the costs will be to own these houses. At this point, we are completely on the line and don’t know one way or another how this will play out but we are both at peace with whatever happens.

We found out that small businesses use accountants and auditors that work for the bank. These bank employees keep the books and file the taxes and are just there, available for the business customer's use. That’s different. We also found out that it’s not very expensive or time consuming to set up something similar to a limited partnership business, but they do require 100,000 kroner deposit with the bank (about $15,000) that is held as security for some time period until after the business folds to be sure that all the final bills get paid. (But then the money is refundable.) And owning a small business is a much better way to go as the profits are never taxed until they are withdrawn for personal use. So in that regard, Norwegian tax laws would work well for us. Norway taxes individual earnings upwards of 50%, so it’s much better to have rental income run through a business than taken personally, especially since we’d need to build up a pile of cash for any major work that may be required in the future. The only drawback to having the business is that the interest rate on the mortgage is going to be much higher (and that's a BIG drawback).

We checked one of our three requirements off the list today and tomorrow we’ll see about the other two. The one criteria that is already met is the caretaker job. We have a few relatives that can fix anything, like Kory, and both of them said they would be available for any handy-man work that’s required if we aren’t here to do it. One even said he’d be the overall caretaker as he lives very close to us and has a vested interest in who moves into these houses. Tobias (who is soon 13) said he’d be happy to keep the grass cut in the summer months, so that problem is solved.

We drove around today getting prices on things and Kory figured out the costs to build porches and to bring in loads of gravel and put stove tops in a few units and repair some sewer lines to make these places livable. It seems right now, those costs will be under ten grand, but we still have a few expenses we don’t know about so that’s a partial open door. And as for potential renters, we called two people today we knew were interested and one said it was too far out of the city and the other said it was too much money to pay, so that door partially closed. We have two more potential renters we will talk to tomorrow but we need four lined up, or that will be the door slamming firmly shut and the whole deal with be a no-go. What a ride.

Kaleb spent most of the day with Tobias, either at his house while we were running around town, or here at home. He also took the daring step of walking George by himself, the dog we are dog sitting. On the first walk, they barely got out the door when George pulled so hard on the leash Kaleb got pulled through the middle of a huge mud puddle, slipped and landed smack dab in it. Then on the second attempt George got wrapped around some bushes and managed to pull out of his collar so that gave Kaleb a terrible fright. Fortunately it all happened in front of our house and Kory saw the dog running down the street with Kaleb in hot pursuit so we came to the rescue. Kaleb is beginning to understand the full responsibility in owning a dog and he’s not liking it so much. Hallelujah! His interest in dogs seems to be taming just a bit so I’m hoping by the time we get home he will not be asking for a dog of his own. But then, when we get home, there aren’t kids to play with like there is here, so then the dogs take on a greater significance. Uff da.

I have been glued to the internet reading up on all the stories and watching video clips and live news feeds of the big snow storms hitting the Pacific Northwest this week. I can’t believe we are here when record snow and cold hit there! We’ve certainly had our share of cold and below zero temperatures, but it’s not the same because here it’s normal. So many times at home we’ve waited for those winter days when we would be snowed in, and now they’ve come and we missed them. I’m a little sad about that, especially if Washington finally gets a White Christmas! We had Odd and Turid and Hege here for dinner tonight and they assured us we’d have a wet, windy Christmas, as they always do, with a chance of slush, just to make it interesting. I think I’ll just listen to Elvis and have a blue, blue, blue Christmas.

Well...

The other bidder wouldn’t make a counter offer, so ours was the highest bid and it looks like we MIGHT be the new owners of The Sinking Houses. But let’s just say there are a lot of IFS right now as we are just beginning to understand the incredible number of differences between buying something in Norway and buying in the U.S.

If we buy the houses in our name, the taxes we’d have to pay every month would put us in the red as they only allow a tax deduction of 30% of the interest paid to the bank. It’s one thing to pay taxes on money we make, but it takes on a whole new feel when we pay taxes on money we LOSE every month. We heard from cousins that if we set up a sort of limited partnership first, and buy the houses through the business, then we can deduct 100% of the interest paid AND we pay zero taxes on any money we make until the time comes that we take cash out of the business for personal use. So, that was the route we were planning to go with this. But then when we called the banker and talked to him in greater detail about our plans, things started getting blurry.

It seems if we take out a personal loan to buy the houses, we can get a rate of 4.35% but if we have a loan through a business, we will pay 7% interest. So that changes the monthly payment significantly and pretty much busted Kory’s bubble and his desire to buy these places. But my take on it is, when God opens a door, we always walk through it to its logical conclusion. The door didn’t slam shut in our face today, as it could have if another bid came in, so it’s still open. I would very much like it to close, but more than anything, I want to do what God wants us to do. We have yet been involved in a real estate transaction that we have felt good about, but in every case, God opened the doors and it was a good thing he did. When our house in Mount Vernon “came” to us, Kory was adamantly against buying it because it was “a can of worms” and needed so much repair, but we let God open or close doors accordingly. No one was more surprised than we were when all the doors kept opening and we bought it. And it’s been a huge blessing to us and many others the last ten years. And buying our condo in Norway was a total fiasco and neither one of us wanted to buy it, we couldn’t afford it and we knew we were in over our head, but we prayed and asked God what we should do. Basically he “forced” us into buying it since it was going to be for Aunt Ruth, but He has provided every penny we’ve needed to keep it for her these last ten years as well. So we’ve learned the lesson well that we don’t react to what we FEEL about something like this, instead we pray specific prayers for God to guide us through the process. So we have prayed that if God wants us to buy these places that by Monday morning we will have verbal commitments from four people to rent from us, that the estimated up-front costs to fix the houses up would be under ten thousand dollars and that we would line up a property manager and fix-it guy for when we are not here. Nothing is impossible for God. We shall see.

Legally, we are not bound to buy these houses. They have a completely different system here. Our offer was accepted but we still have the right to walk away and they still have the right to sell to someone else. It’s a bit strange, but it is what it is. So we have two more days of watching and waiting to see what God will do.

And on another front - we had a Christmas party for our last day of school today. The entire school was invited. The school I attend is the largest one in the area as it caters to a variety of students. The largest portion of the student body is foreigners trying to learn how to speak Norwegian, but the school also has a department for disabled Norwegian adults and one department that helps adults to get a degree similar to America’s G.E.D. (a high school diploma). So we were all together today under one roof having a very international party. The party was basically a type of talent show in that any student that wanted could perform something for the other students. Our class had five students read poetry in their native tongue. I prayed a lot before I read the words to “Mary Did You Know.” Afterwards, many people came up to me and said how beautiful that poem was. A woman in my class (that is a Jew) said everyone felt “strong emotions” when I was reading it, so I say my prayers were heartily answered as that’s just what I was praying for. Hallelujah. Some of the other performances were pretty funny as one oriental woman sang Silent Night in English and somehow, it just didn’t sound right. Another woman from the Ukraine did a very sleezy dance that was more suitable for a nightclub than a party at 10am but the guys really liked how revealing her outfit was. There was a beautiful dance by two women from Thailand and they even had the traditional costumes to go with it. One guy from Burma sang “Feliz Navidad” and it was anything but “feliz,” as the beat was very slow. I thought the whole thing was a blast and made for great ending to our semester. Kaleb on the other hand, spent his last day of school in church, and I can’t think of a better place to be right now but I’m so tired, I’m just going to go to bed. My brain hurts.

(The photo today is Kory’s drawing of a photo I took that I posted on Dec. 12th.)

One More Chance

Another bid to buy The Sinking Houses came in today that was higher than ours (we don’t know from who). We countered with a hundred thousand dollars more than our original offer. At this point, it would still pencil out even if just half the houses were occupied, but that’s our final offer. If another higher bid comes in tomorrow, then we consider it a closed door and we will not buy the houses. With the price we offered today we would pay 600,000 kroner per house which at today’s exchange rate is less than $100,000 each. Most houses around here sell for well over $400,000 so that shows just how worthless these houses are considered. As rental property though, they have the possibility to be a gold mine, but the long term costs of owning them as the ground continues to sink, is quite uncertain, so that’s the risk. (Kory looks at it like “nature” has already created half a basement.) I’m glad God knows the future because we completely trust Him to guide us through opening or closing these doors. We will know for sure tomorrow. Kory spoke today to both the attorney and a banker (who is a friend of ours) and at this point, it seems there is a pretty good chance we will get them, but you never know. Kory is so excited he’s nearly floating. I’m a bit more neutral and will be relieved if we get them, but also if we don’t.

And today we got a dog, which has Kaleb floating… but we have to give him back on Tuesday. He’s a sweet pup but not neutered, so his hormones are in full control of him right now. We are constantly having to tell him to “sit.” He looks like a black lab mix and he’s only two years old so he has a lot of energy. (See photo of him watching Kory and Kaleb reading Norwegian.) I hope he settles down soon. Tobias and Sabina were here all afternoon and the commotion in the house nearly drove me insane. All three kids were yelling at the dog at the same time they were playing their Nintendogs program on their little handheld Nintendo computers (which responds to voice commands as well). It was chaos. But I do love the fact that our house has become the place to hang out. Even though it’s so small and there isn’t much to do, it’s nice the kids want to be here. But what’s so funny is that their new little computers allow them to go into a “chat room” and as long as they are within a certain distance from each other they can send messages back and forth a little like e-mail. So they all three sit on the couch right next to each other with their Nintendos in hand and do the modern day version of communication – they type up something and hit “send.” It’s a bizarre irony, that’s for sure. But at least when they are doing it, it’s quiet.

Tomorrow is Kaleb and my last day of school for the year. I start a new term in January, but I get over two weeks off for Christmas, as does Kaleb. By law I’m entitled to 3000 hours of Norwegian lessons for free (three school years), but once I am able to pass the Norske Prøve 3 test, the government stops paying for it as that is the level of competency for getting a job. Logically I would no longer need lessons (most people can pass that test in 12-18 months). Once a student has passed the Norsk Prøve 3 test, they get a certificate that needs to be shown when applying for work to “prove” their competency is there, but I’d think just talking to someone would work just the same. It doesn’t take long to realize when someone isn’t getting it. Oh well, they have their rules. We don’t learn just how to speak Norwegian, but to read and write it as well, so the test covers it all. I’ll take the Norske Prøve 2 test in February and I may take the Norske Prøve 3 in June before we leave. If there’s a chance we’re going to stick around a while longer, or we’re coming back again soon, I’ll NOT take it so I can keep getting free lessons. I like going to school not only for what I learn about Norway but we often talk about traditions and cultures and the way life is in our home countries so I’ve learned a lot about many other places as well. I love my teacher and our classroom, but we found out last week we have to move classrooms after the first of the year. I’m not happy about that but our teacher said, “Ikke mas” (no whining), so I must behave. We will be meeting at Nørvøy School where all our administrative offices are located. It’s a more remote location (but still downtown) so I will miss my wonderful walk along the harbor and being right in the heart of things. I guess I should just be thankful I get free lessons (it costs over $4,000 a year if I had to pay, and many students do, so I’m very lucky.) I’m still in awe that we moved here expecting to be so broke and God has provided us with a free place to live, a perfect job for Kory and free Norwegian lessons for me. This year has certainly been incredible. Hallelujah!

And Waiting...

The phone doesn’t stop ringing as the tension begins to build on whether or not we will become the saviors of our neighborhood. We’ve yet to hear a response from our bid to buy The Sinking Houses. Tomorrow is the deadline. I’m not sure why the delay, but God’s timing is perfect. (Maybe it has to do with the fact the Norwegian interest rates dropped today by 1.75%?)

We actually got rain today – something we haven’t seen in ages. It was refreshing! But having cloud cover does make the days darker and seem much shorter. We didn’t get any kind of light in the sky until 10:30 and it was completely black again by about 2:30 so the clear skies help the days seem longer anyway. I guess they put Christmas at the right time of the year as it provides such a good distraction from the shorter days. There is so much to do that being outside really isn’t a priority.

My Norsk class has dwindled quite a bit now that most students are traveling to their home countries for Christmas. Today we just had six in class, which was too bad because we had a little party with some other classes on our floor. We all brought some finger food and played charades. We also had students (including me) read poems in our native tongue. Since I knew most everyone understands English, I wanted to read Luke chapter 2 in the Bible, but my teacher said we had to read a love poem. I found the words to my favorite Christmas song “Mary Did You Know” and read that. It got quite the response. I was a little nervous reading it since half the students at the party were Muslim men, but the ones that weren’t, really liked it. I’m reading it again at the all school party on Friday. I also made fudge to bring, but it didn’t turn out quite right. I can’t get marshmallow creme here so I used marshmallows, but not enough of them so the fudge is crumbly, but it tastes OK. When I set out to do more Christmas baking I also discovered I can’t get molasses or mint extract here. Oh well.

At Kaleb’s school it was “Nisse” day today. All the kids were allowed to dress up like “Nisse” (the Norwegian Santa). They sell little costumes in all the stores for the children, as it’s very popular for the girls to wear little Mrs. Claus dresses and the boys to wear the Santa suit. They come in all sizes. Kaleb just donned a Santa hat (that’s about 5 feet long) and they all ate “Nissegrøt” for lunch. The teachers had made “Risgrøt” and renamed it for the day. (Risgrøt is just Arborio rice cooked in milk to make a rice porridge that all the kids love to eat.) Kaleb ate three bowls full.

Tobias came over tonight after Kaleb finished his homework. They played a while with their Nintendos but fortunately, that got old. We decided to do a taste test for three types of “Jul Brus” (Christmas pop) I bought at the store. Turns out we all liked Tobias’ long-standing favorite brand as well. The number of products available now that are made JUST for Christmastime is overwhelming. Every company that makes any kind of food products here in Norway makes something special just for Christmas. I guess that’s part of why so much emphasis is on the food – because everyone waits all year to get that special thing – whatever it may be. Today at the store I saw all kinds of Jul polses, Jul bread, Jul cookies, Jul jam, Jul beer and Jul nuts. Some of it I wouldn’t taste in a million years, but I’m already hooked on the Jul bread (with cardamon) and we really did like that special Jul pop (but we normally don’t drink pop anyway). I’m currently munching on some yummy Jul cookies I hadn’t tried before and I’ve nearly polished off the whole bag of them. No need for Christmas baking when all these little delicacies come pre-packaged.

I bought a Gingerbread house kit at the store, so Tobias and Kaleb spent the evening decorating it (they aren’t quite done yet). We are so used to the Costco kit that comes with icing and candies, so I was caught off-guard when this kit just included the gingerbread house parts and nothing else. Fortunately we had a few things around that worked as decorations. It turned into more of an engineering project for the yard around the house than a house decorating project, but they had fun. At least that’s one more tradition we have back home that we are able to do here and check off the list.

Kory sat home today waiting by the phone and dreaming of buying these houses. He also worked on a Norwegian test he is going to give Kaleb and I on Christmas Day. We will have a panel of judges and the one who speaks the best Norwegian by then gets 1,000 kroner (less than $200). I’m quite confident I can kick his butt, so no need to do any extra studying, but the deck is stacked against me, so I'm sure I won't win no matter what.

Still Waiting...

We didn’t hear a word today from the attorney on whether we get to buy The Sinking Houses or not. Our offer expires on Thursday so I guess we’ll hear something by then. I’m not the most patient person when it comes to these types of things, but I have no option. Kory had a dream last night we got them. One neighbor and one cousin also said they “feel like” we will get them. I’m letting God decide. The excitement builds with each day and we are getting calls from relatives and neighbors here anxious to know if we are going to buy them. It will be the best Christmas present Kory has ever gotten as he’s the most excited one. If we do get them, I hope I get a massage for Christmas.

We’ve had a heat wave come through last night so all the snow and ice is finally gone and we’re back to being in the 50s after being in the 20s for weeks on end. Ironically, our hometown in Washington is having a cold snap right now after being dumped on with several inches of snow. They may have a white Christmas. I sure hope we do. If not, we’re heading inland two days after Christmas so we’ll get our fill then. I found a place about six hours from here that gives dog sled tours. They even teach people how to drive the team and then they take groups on a twenty kilometer trip which lasts about three and a half hours. It’s not terribly expensive and it’s a dream come true for Kaleb, so I just booked it for the Sunday after Christmas. We also booked two nights in a yurt tent next to the dog kennels. The only thing that would make the trip better is if Kaleb could have a dog or two sleeping with him. But we also, just today, arranged for Kaleb to do his first dog-sitting here in Norway so we have a dog coming Thursday that will stay until Tuesday. Kaleb is downright giddy – whooping and hollering and saying, “This will be the BEST Christmas EVER!” Gotta love that.

Kory worked today and this afternoon one of his boss’s suppliers gave the employees a “julebord” – their term for a Christmas party. Literally translated it means “Christmas table” as everything to do with Christmas here is about the food. At the same party was the brother to the guy that built The Sinking Houses, so Kory talked to him a bit and will get in touch with the builder, should we actually buy them.

I had an interesting day at school today as our teacher taught us all the swear words here in Norway. She said the times, they are a changing, as what is considered a swear word now is completely different than what it was when she was a kid, and she’s younger than me. Historically, the most awful words that would never be uttered in anyone’s home have to do with the devil. Either saying his name outright (“he who must not be named”) or calling “on” him. Dastardly words that make even the hearty weak kneed. The Good Teacher Inga even blushed as she wrote them on the board. No respectable person would ever utter such a thing and I couldn’t even find them in the English/Norwegian dictionary (yet I found the American F word there.) But now, the effect of Satan’s name is starting to wear off slightly and even though kids are not allowed to utter it, the new generation has come up with even more repulsive swear words that have to do with “private parts.” Our teacher wouldn’t say them but I’m thinking they are similar to English words. She said it’s good we know some of the words in case we hear our children saying them or if someone tries to teach them to us, so we will know how socially unacceptable they are. Kory laughs about the fact that the swear word that starts with SH in English, is just an ordinary word here. Literally, it means something is soiled or dirty. But it’s also just a common expression that isn’t offensive. He said when his dad moved to America and said it at church, while giving a testimony, he had to educate his dad a little that in America it was a swear word so it shouldn’t be used, especially by Christians. It’s so funny to think of the power of words and how different they are in different cultures. But one thing I do know is that words ARE powerful. The Bible says we have the ability to “bless” or “curse” with just a word. And often what we speak does come to be. It was nearly twenty years ago on December 30, 1988 when I was so angry at my (then) husband, that I jokingly told my cousin, “I think I’ll just run off with Kory and move to Norway.”

The Wait is On

The photo today was taken about 3:30 in the afternoon. It wasn’t completely dark, but very close. The lights of the town across the fjord (Sykkelven) are visible. The brightest lights are those of ferries crossing over to our side. Even in the “night,” it’s beautiful here.

So, the wait is on. I delivered the bid to the attorney this morning for us to buy The Sinking Houses. He seemed a little bit excited we placed a bid and he said he’d call as soon as he heard anything – and that it would be “soon.” We were hoping “soon” meant today, but alas, it did not. We have no idea how this will play out but we are at peace with whatever happens.

The attorney’s eleven year old son sent Kaleb a photo of his dog and wrote up a few lines in English for Kaleb’s dog newspaper. We had given the attorney a copy of The Weakly Puppy a while ago because he has a dog. He showed his son and I asked the attorney today if his son had gotten the copy we sent of the latest issue with their dog in it. He said he had gotten it and it really inspired his son to make his own newspaper. Unfortunately, he said, the content was all about their extended family members and it was too embarrassing to share with anyone because his son wrote about how much each member of their family makes per year. He got all his information off the website here that makes public everyone’s income. As it happens, the attorney’s father is one of the most famous (and richest) artists in Norway so I’m sure that boy had much to say. I just think it’s funny that Kaleb has now inspired two kids here to make newspapers (the other kid did one on parrots).

Kory worked today out in his old hometown of Langevåg. He got to work indoors so he was pretty happy about that. I couldn’t figure out why his paycheck last month was so much bigger than usual, especially since he took a week off for his birthday. Turns out he gets vacation pay! He only works two days a week, and he gets paid for days off. Go figure. And when using vacation pay, the government doesn’t hold out any taxes, so he got way more than we expected. Hallelujah. I guess full time employees get an automatic five weeks of vacation a year, no matter how long they have been with a company, and once they are over sixty years old, they get another week added to that. And vacation time accrues immediately – no waiting for one year to take it. A much better system than we have in the U.S.! “I’m likin’ this life,” as Kaleb would say.

Kaleb spent this evening making Christmas presents. He just sewing closed a stocking that we filled with rice so it’s super easy to do but a very fun gift. The rice bags are so nice in the wintertime. We put them in the microwave for a few minutes and then we set them in our bed down by our feet and off to sleep we go with toasty warm tootsies. Sometimes I drape one behind my neck to relax my muscles a little. Sometimes when I’m cold to the bone I put one on my chest in order to fall asleep, as it’s so cozy warm. (I hope everyone getting one has a microwave.) They are a great gift idea as everyone can use more than one.

Kaleb was anxious to finish up his homework and gift making so he could play his new Nintendogs game he just bought today. I’m not sure it was a good investment however as he’s supposed to train the cyberspace dog by talking to it and he sat for a good 15 minutes yelling at the top of his lungs at this electronic hand-held mini-computer and he couldn’t get the dog to do a thing. He finally just melted in a pool of tears he was so frustrated. I’m thinking they programmed it that way for a reason, and if so, I’m thanking God. Puppies aren’t easy to train. It’s good Kaleb learns that. I like things that emulate real life. Children aren’t easy to train either and I’ve had the same kind of meltdown after yelling at Kaleb repeatedly. But someone is a marketing genius when they can call that a “game” and charge $50 for it.

Christmas Traditions

We tried to have a “traditional” day here in Ålesund like we do every year in Seattle, but it wasn’t quite the same. Normally, one day in December, we go downtown Seattle and vote for our favorite gingerbread house at the Sheraton Hotel, we put our hands on the glass at The Bon (Macys) to make the train move, Kaleb has his photo taken with Santa, we ride the monorail, we see the lights and walk around looking at all the decorations, we ride the carousel and we are inside Pacific Place before 6pm sipping hot cocoa so we can watch the snow come down inside the building that Kory helped build. It’s always the same and we love it every year. Kaleb was moaning and groaning so much that he was going to miss that day, so I assured him we could find new traditions here in Norway that would be just as good, and today was the day for it. Unfortunately, none of it was even close to being the same, but it was still a great day.

Sabina spent the night last night so she was at our breakfast table and went to church with us this morning. Tobias wanted to go to church too so we picked him up and we all headed over to Agape, but they were closed! Somehow we missed out on the tidbit of news that they were NOT having a Sunday morning service because of their special Christmas service tonight, so we high tailed it over to Philadelphia Church just in time. And it’s a good thing we went there too because they asked Kaleb to light all the Advent candles as they sang one of the traditional Advent songs. His timing was perfect and he was proud as a peacock to be up front lighting matches and setting the wicks to flame. Earlier this week he had a total melt down because he was promised a big role in the Christmas show at His Place Church in Burlington this year but our move prohibited that. He so wants to have the starring role in some production as he’s very good at memorizing and he can be pretty dramatic when he wants to be. Agape Church had a great Christmas program tonight and they asked him to be in it – but as one of the lantern carriers (there were no speaking roles for children). He considered it an insult, not an honor and he cried buckets. Being asked to light the candles during the church service this morning at Philadelphia almost made up for his other loss, so Hallelujah!

After church we took Sabina home and kept Tobias with us for the day. We all donned Santa hats and went into the center of town to see what we could do that may rival our Seattle Christmas day. I had heard there were horse and carriage rides, a little Christmas village with arts and crafts and special foods would be sold, and that the two malls downtown would be open from 2-5 today (only open the two Sundays before Christmas and only during the hours when church wouldn’t be happening). So off we went to see the lights and sounds of downtown. I don’t know what happened to the carriage, but they just had a couple horses people could ride around the streets and somehow, the appeal wasn’t there. The special food booths they had included dried reindeer meat and dark goat’s cheese – neither of which appealed to me. So off to the malls we went where Kaleb managed to spend a little of his birthday money on Pokemon cards (a terrible investment, but he was happy.) Kory found some clothes at 70% off so he expanded his wardrobe a little. But there was no Santa, no train, no carousel, no monorail, and minimal amounts of decorations, but we did manage to find hot cocoa and a nice star shining on top of a nearby mountain (we all had a good oooh and aaaah over that one). Oh well, we aren’t in America. We just need to tune in better to what the Norwegians do, I guess.

We headed back to Agape Church for their Christmas program tonight and it was over the top professional and well done. They even had fake snow that almost rivaled the snow at Pacific Place. Kaleb and Sabina carried lanterns and Kaleb didn’t complain a bit. Tobias and his parents, twin brothers and grandparents all came too, so that was a huge added bonus for us. Afterwards we sat around drinking hot glogg and eating pepperkake cookies and had a chance to visit with the family (Tobias’ grandfather is a cousin of Kory’s mom). It was all so “kosleig” as they say here (comfortably cozy). A few people at church said they heard us on the radio yesterday and one woman said it was the most powerful talk she’s ever heard on that show. She said she sat at home with tears streaming down her face, so I guess our message reached across the airwaves as we had hoped. Hallelujah!

Tonight we typed up the bid to buy these houses, which I will take to the attorney tomorrow morning. It’s up to God if we get them, but if it were up to the neighborhood, we would definitely become the new owners. We were told by more than one person there would be a loud protest if the Kommune bought these houses for refugees as the impact to the neighborhood would be severe. I think we will become the neighborhood heroes if we are able to pull this off. It’s a little beyond my comfort level but Kory claims he was born for this kind of stuff. He loves “distressed” properties. I hope he feels the same about a “distressed” wife should we actually buy them.