Filadelfia Church had a big party day today for all the children. The sermon was a childish drama to emphasis we are all disciples of Christ. Children lead the worship songs and the whole service took half the normal time – talk about kid-friendly. Afterwards there was a big carnival set up in the parking lot complete with bouncy house slide, cotton candy machines, game booths and food stand. Kory said, “Hey, it looks like one of Kaleb’s birthday parties here,” and it sure did. Kaleb was pretty pleased with the whole event since one of his buddies from school was there also and they could run around together. And then tragedy struck. Kaleb was a little hyped up by the whole thing and as usual, wasn’t being as cautious as he should have been. On the last slide down the big inflatable slide, all the kids decided to go down together. Someone stepped on Kaleb’s sock so he wasn’t able to go freely, rather he fell forward and was then pinned under all the kids that ended up piling on top of him on the way down. He was face first and got the skin rubbed raw off his forehead and according to him, he nearly suffocated as he couldn’t breathe all the way down. Oh was he ever devastated, and hurt, by the whole thing. He got what was the equivalent of a rug burn above his eyebrow but he acted like his whole face got ripped off. He’s such a drama king sometimes. So we had to leave church as all the fun was ruined for him. But luckily for us, Tone, Sabina’s mom, sent us a text message that Agape Church was also having a party in a park this afternoon so we decided to go to that because I had so much food left over from yesterday’s Confirmation, I was looking for a way to share it before it went bad.
Tone and Sabina rode with us to the park as it was at a place we had never been to – and it was quite a beautiful beach very close to the city. I love finding out about all the nooks and crannies around here. The sun even peeked out every so often so that made it nice. But most of the time there we were saying our good-byes to people and answering the ever present question of why we can’t stay longer and what will Kaleb do when we get back home. Kaleb was busy trying to learn how to ride a unicycle, climbing on the rocks by the beach and/or playing keep away with the pastor and assistant pastor of the church. At one point Kaleb tried to wrestle the ball away from the pastor and the pastor fell on him, which brought back all the trauma of his earlier experience today so he just lost it and ran off into the woods to cry and console himself. He was gone a long time but I’m glad he worked through whatever he was feeling without being in my face while doing it. There is no consoling that kid when he gets worked up, so he has begun the journey into the “cave” to sort out his problems. He’s soon on his way to becoming a man.
Our neighbor girl, Sabina, really wanted to come over to our house after the beach party to play Golf (a card game) and eat Kettle Corn (popcorn with sugar). Her mom, Tone (pronounced Tone-ah), and Tone’s friend, Tor-Arild, also came over so we spent the entire evening playing cards and snacking. It was, in my estimation, the best way to spend an evening. If I had one night of that per week, I’d feel complete. I love having friends over for just a casual get-together without a lot of preparation or expectation. We all love that card game as it’s easy to learn and it provides enough time to chat as we play, so it makes for a fun evening. Kaleb and Sabina had to take wrestle breaks every now and then because they were all sugared up on the candy Tone brought with her. A few years from now it won’t be quite so entertaining to watch them wrestling on the couch together, but tonight, it was pretty funny. They are a matched set with the same energy and strength level and Sabina is one tough little cookie. And it was fun to have Tone and Tor-Arild here together because I’m sure something is brewing between the two of them (see photo). If something does develop, we can take the credit for it since we arranged their meeting, in a way. We invited Tone to church with us, and then to our Connect Group, and it was there she met Tor-Arild. It’s an interesting match because she’s a Fashion Queen and he’s a Harley Biker dude (you can’t see his long ponytail in the photo) and never in a million years would I have thought they would hit it off, but they sure have. Go figure. Both Tone and Sabina have been a big part of the memories we have made here so we will miss them.
Today we got our “shipment” from the U.S.A. Kory’s second cousin Bjørn was in America last week with our shopping list in hand. We now have good ‘ol American coffee to enjoy again our last few weeks in Norway! Bjørn also brought us some L-Carnitine that Kory takes as part of his heart healthy concoction of vitamins and herbs. For some reason it’s not allowed in Norway, even by prescription, so we had to have it smuggled in. So much for obeying the law of the land. But then, Starburst candies are illegal in Norway too because the #2 yellow die used in them is considered a carcinogenic. Go figure.
Tone and Sabina rode with us to the park as it was at a place we had never been to – and it was quite a beautiful beach very close to the city. I love finding out about all the nooks and crannies around here. The sun even peeked out every so often so that made it nice. But most of the time there we were saying our good-byes to people and answering the ever present question of why we can’t stay longer and what will Kaleb do when we get back home. Kaleb was busy trying to learn how to ride a unicycle, climbing on the rocks by the beach and/or playing keep away with the pastor and assistant pastor of the church. At one point Kaleb tried to wrestle the ball away from the pastor and the pastor fell on him, which brought back all the trauma of his earlier experience today so he just lost it and ran off into the woods to cry and console himself. He was gone a long time but I’m glad he worked through whatever he was feeling without being in my face while doing it. There is no consoling that kid when he gets worked up, so he has begun the journey into the “cave” to sort out his problems. He’s soon on his way to becoming a man.
Our neighbor girl, Sabina, really wanted to come over to our house after the beach party to play Golf (a card game) and eat Kettle Corn (popcorn with sugar). Her mom, Tone (pronounced Tone-ah), and Tone’s friend, Tor-Arild, also came over so we spent the entire evening playing cards and snacking. It was, in my estimation, the best way to spend an evening. If I had one night of that per week, I’d feel complete. I love having friends over for just a casual get-together without a lot of preparation or expectation. We all love that card game as it’s easy to learn and it provides enough time to chat as we play, so it makes for a fun evening. Kaleb and Sabina had to take wrestle breaks every now and then because they were all sugared up on the candy Tone brought with her. A few years from now it won’t be quite so entertaining to watch them wrestling on the couch together, but tonight, it was pretty funny. They are a matched set with the same energy and strength level and Sabina is one tough little cookie. And it was fun to have Tone and Tor-Arild here together because I’m sure something is brewing between the two of them (see photo). If something does develop, we can take the credit for it since we arranged their meeting, in a way. We invited Tone to church with us, and then to our Connect Group, and it was there she met Tor-Arild. It’s an interesting match because she’s a Fashion Queen and he’s a Harley Biker dude (you can’t see his long ponytail in the photo) and never in a million years would I have thought they would hit it off, but they sure have. Go figure. Both Tone and Sabina have been a big part of the memories we have made here so we will miss them.
Today we got our “shipment” from the U.S.A. Kory’s second cousin Bjørn was in America last week with our shopping list in hand. We now have good ‘ol American coffee to enjoy again our last few weeks in Norway! Bjørn also brought us some L-Carnitine that Kory takes as part of his heart healthy concoction of vitamins and herbs. For some reason it’s not allowed in Norway, even by prescription, so we had to have it smuggled in. So much for obeying the law of the land. But then, Starburst candies are illegal in Norway too because the #2 yellow die used in them is considered a carcinogenic. Go figure.
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