But more shocking than that is the fact I’ve been a mother that long too! And we’re both still alive to talk about it. I still think I should be the one getting a party on Kaleb’s birthday, as I’m the one that deserves it… but such is the life of a mother.
Kaleb had another great day today. He got his favorite breakfast in bed (Dutch babies and bacon) then Tobias came over and went to church with us (his first time ever to go). I felt so emotional about the day that I cried like a baby during worship. I was so thankful to God for all He’s done for us and continues to do, and this one song we sang has a line that says, “All the things that have been done and all the things still to be done in this city” and it just gets me choked up every time. I truly am in awe of God and how my life has turned out. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined I’d be a mother, let alone the mother of such an incredible kid, and living with such a nice guy in such an amazing place. God is soooo good because I know I didn’t do a thing to make any of this happen (well, except I did have sex that one time…)
Anyway, after church today we rushed home to get the house ready for Kaleb’s family party tonight. We only had an hour to prepare then we had to leave to go to Kory’s company Christmas party. His two bosses (who are young enough to be his grandsons), took all their employees out to a special dinner in downtown Aalesund (see photo). The only problem was that all the other employees were sick today except us, so we got to enjoy a nice Christmas meal with them by ourselves. We went to a restaurant that had a Christmas buffet featuring the traditional foods only made this time of year (and some other foods too) so Kaleb was in heaven as there’s nothing he likes more than a buffet. Kory was in heaven because he loves that food (but shouldn’t eat it) and I was in heaven because they all understood English and I didn’t have to speak Norwegian (but I should). Kory gave them my blog address a while ago so I can’t ever write anything bad about them because they read the blog and find out all kinds of personal things about Kory. I couldn’t write anything bad about them anyway because they are really nice guys and Kory likes to work for them. They both have nice wives, little kids and are Christian guys with their fingers in a lot of pies, as we say. Kory sees himself in them thirty or forty years ago – ambitious guys figuring out how to make a living. It was nice to be invited out, even if it did have to be sandwiched between things today, as we had to rush home and set out all the food for the relatives that came tonight for Kaleb’s second birthday party!
We had a house full as the cousins and aunts came in full force to wish Kaleb a happy tenth birthday. I had enough food to feed the neighborhood but I didn’t want anyone to go away hungry. I made Kaleb’s favorite meal – Enchilada Soup and I had other munchies and many desserts and cakes. Kaleb got some nice gifts and more money which he was happy for because he’s been wanting to save up enough to buy a Ninetendo DS (some hand held video game all the kids have here.) The photo of us was taken when he was still in shock over getting it from us as a gift. He couldn’t have been happier. Now his biggest problem is to figure out what to spend his 1600 kroner birthday money on (over $200). Saving it doesn’t appear to be much of an option. All the excitement he has had in the past for saving and investing in the stock market has sort of gone astray now that he’s lost the bulk of his assets like many other Americans. I told him he could invest in the Norwegian stock market and he asked how they have been doing. I told him it’s gone down more than the American stock market so he dismissed that option. All the relatives were encouraging him to spend every kroner on himself but he did say he would tithe his ten percent to God. I told him he needed to set something aside for his future and he responded with, “God will provide.” It's hard to argue with that because He most certainly has.
Kaleb had another great day today. He got his favorite breakfast in bed (Dutch babies and bacon) then Tobias came over and went to church with us (his first time ever to go). I felt so emotional about the day that I cried like a baby during worship. I was so thankful to God for all He’s done for us and continues to do, and this one song we sang has a line that says, “All the things that have been done and all the things still to be done in this city” and it just gets me choked up every time. I truly am in awe of God and how my life has turned out. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined I’d be a mother, let alone the mother of such an incredible kid, and living with such a nice guy in such an amazing place. God is soooo good because I know I didn’t do a thing to make any of this happen (well, except I did have sex that one time…)
Anyway, after church today we rushed home to get the house ready for Kaleb’s family party tonight. We only had an hour to prepare then we had to leave to go to Kory’s company Christmas party. His two bosses (who are young enough to be his grandsons), took all their employees out to a special dinner in downtown Aalesund (see photo). The only problem was that all the other employees were sick today except us, so we got to enjoy a nice Christmas meal with them by ourselves. We went to a restaurant that had a Christmas buffet featuring the traditional foods only made this time of year (and some other foods too) so Kaleb was in heaven as there’s nothing he likes more than a buffet. Kory was in heaven because he loves that food (but shouldn’t eat it) and I was in heaven because they all understood English and I didn’t have to speak Norwegian (but I should). Kory gave them my blog address a while ago so I can’t ever write anything bad about them because they read the blog and find out all kinds of personal things about Kory. I couldn’t write anything bad about them anyway because they are really nice guys and Kory likes to work for them. They both have nice wives, little kids and are Christian guys with their fingers in a lot of pies, as we say. Kory sees himself in them thirty or forty years ago – ambitious guys figuring out how to make a living. It was nice to be invited out, even if it did have to be sandwiched between things today, as we had to rush home and set out all the food for the relatives that came tonight for Kaleb’s second birthday party!
We had a house full as the cousins and aunts came in full force to wish Kaleb a happy tenth birthday. I had enough food to feed the neighborhood but I didn’t want anyone to go away hungry. I made Kaleb’s favorite meal – Enchilada Soup and I had other munchies and many desserts and cakes. Kaleb got some nice gifts and more money which he was happy for because he’s been wanting to save up enough to buy a Ninetendo DS (some hand held video game all the kids have here.) The photo of us was taken when he was still in shock over getting it from us as a gift. He couldn’t have been happier. Now his biggest problem is to figure out what to spend his 1600 kroner birthday money on (over $200). Saving it doesn’t appear to be much of an option. All the excitement he has had in the past for saving and investing in the stock market has sort of gone astray now that he’s lost the bulk of his assets like many other Americans. I told him he could invest in the Norwegian stock market and he asked how they have been doing. I told him it’s gone down more than the American stock market so he dismissed that option. All the relatives were encouraging him to spend every kroner on himself but he did say he would tithe his ten percent to God. I told him he needed to set something aside for his future and he responded with, “God will provide.” It's hard to argue with that because He most certainly has.
