CHRISTMAS 2013

Last years picture, but a favourite one of my four in Norsk sweaters

It's Sunday afternoon and I have a lot of "catching up" to do on my blog.  Where to start?  I guess I'll start with today and work backwards.  It was good to sing more Christmas carols at morning service on this first Sunday after Christmas, or this fifth day of Christmas.  It was my turn to serve lunch so I brought Norwegian baking.  We had Julebrod with cheese, flatbread, lefse, Hardanger lefse, sandbakkels, krumkake as well as oatmeal cookies with date filling.  They may not be Norwegian but the recipe is in the Lutheran cookbook so that's close enough!  Laurel had brought søt suppe (sweet soup) but I didn't have any cream on hand so I served it the way Greg likes it - as a topping for ice cream.

When I came home, I had a visit with Todd on Facetime, via my new iPad Air, a gift from my four "kids".  I'm loving it.  Now I can even sit in my recliner by the fireplace and play Scrabble with friends in Regina, Oxbow, Pierson or wherever a fellow Scrabble player might be located.  I can work on my family tree on Ancestry.com, read daily devotions from Our Daily Bread (odb.org) and keep track of friends on Facebook just to name a few. (I didn't even mention shopping online did I?)  At the time Todd called me I had just received a friend request from Ellen, a second cousin in Norway whom I have yet to meet.  She is fluent in English so I look forward to getting acquainted with her.

Yesterday there was a drastic change in the weather from above normal temperatures on Friday to much below on Saturday along with COLD north west winds and snow.  Conditions improved as the storm system moved quickly out of the province but the cold weather will be around for a few days.

On Christmas Day I played for service, along with Vickie, then went home to await the arrival of Laurel's , Clare's and Kirk's.  We opened gifts in the afternoon so Todd and Kristy could take part via Facetime before they went to bed.  They are seven hours ahead of us. Nora had Ashley's name to they could see her open her new dress and model it for them.   The next morning we watched Nora open her package from Jamie and wear her new sweater and toque.  She didn't put the new bib on but it's a neat one that slips over her legs to completely cover clothing, perfect for those "I can do it by myself" feedings!  When Todd called today, he said that Nora can say her name now and says it "the Norsk way" as that's what she hears at Barnehage and from "Grandma Gunn".  Here are some pictures of the gift opening.

In the evening the kids had a great time playing in the snow - hide and seek, kick the can, touch football, with the aid of flood lights that Clare had in the shop.  The three guys even had some outdoor fun too - target shooting.  Greg was the best marksman!

That about covers our Christmas.  I'll leave Carter's birthday celebrations for another day.  It was wonderful to have 14 of us together, but the time went by all too quickly.  Now I am back to "normal" again and have the whole house to myself.  In fact it's now a "new normal" as Jeff, the boarder who has been with me for the past six months, is back with his family in Ontario.  He has a job with Toyota until there is an opening at a port of entry near St. Thomas.  I do not mind being alone but maybe someone else will come along who needs a place to stay.  I'll leave that in God's hands.

Grandma serving hot "pons"
a hot punch - grape juice, water, cinnamon sticks, sugar, lemon juice