Best Christmas ever!

This holiday season was the best one ever! I was done with Christmas gifts pretty early and decided not to stress over anything, but just do whatever I have time for. That was a great plan cuz it actually worked. I didn't get as much baking done as I would've liked, and I didn't get to visit as many people during the holidays as I had hoped, but, it was the most relaxing Christmas I have ever experienced!

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house, along with my parents, Marianne and Anniken.

Walking into their house brings you complete Christmas spirit, including the dinner table that my mom had decorated and ready to go for us. Beautiful, as always!

My mom and dad made the dinner together. My mom is an amazing cook and my dad does an excellent job with grilling, so together, they're the perfect combination for holiday meals.

It was so nice to be together with my whole family again. Since Anniken has been spending the last semester studying in the States and Marianne is a busy-bee, we don't get the chance to get together as often as we used to. I miss it! It was so much fun sitting around the table chatting and laughing like the good ol' days.

Aiden got a fever on Christmas Eve and wasn't feeling that well, which means he takes advantage of having his aunties around and spends a lot of time in their arms. ;)

Elliot got a head start with gift-opening while we relaxed around the table a bit longer. He was SO appreciative of all of his gifts, especially the Legos!

More auntie-cuddle time for our little Aiden-bear. Poor guy, I felt so bad for him! Luckily, the medicine worked quickly so he was able to enjoy the evening with us before a good night of sleep.

You can't have Christmas with JULENISSEN! Aiden was a bit sceptical to this guy in red with a big white beard, but did laugh at him several times. Our julenisse was really silly and funny this year... it must have been THE REAL ONE, don't ya think? Elliot was super excited and had a lot of questions to ask. He did make sure to tell him which of his friends' houses he must remember to visit after he left ours. Always concerned about others - that's my boy!

We were missing Mike in our family picture and told him to jump in while Aiden was still letting us be that close to Julenissen, so Mike jumped in... onto Nissen's lap.

It was such a great Christmas. I hope everyone else had a good one as well!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FOLKS!

Pre-Christmas fun

Every year, Mike and I try to go as many Christmas event as possible. We LOVE Christmas and go anywhere we can soak up more Christmas spirit than we already have. This year was so crazy busy that we, unfortunately, didn't get to do as much as we had hoped. Last year we went to a farm where they had horses (wearing Santa hats, let me add) that were giving horse-back-rides to the kids, horse-and-sleigh rides, dog-sledding, and much more. It was a blast!

We weren't able to go to that farm this year, but we did make it to the downtown "julemarked" (Christmas market) at least :) My mom and dad were meeting us there, and Anniken and Marianne showed up as well, so my whole family got to spend the day together!

They had set up art and craft projects for the kids. Aiden made a little Christmas tree that he was SO extremely proud of. He walked around and showed it off to everyone. He even went up to a journalist and showed it to her, so she asked if she could take a picture for her article.
Too cute!

Elliot carved a little 'nisse' (Santa) out of wood and painted it. Mike sat with him incase he wanted help, but Elliot ended up doing most of it himself. I was so impressed! The little 'nisse' was REALLY cute!!!

Elliot loves theater so he was quite excited when my mom told him they were having an outdoor play there. They had blankets set out on the benches so Elliot got to cuddle in with my mom and dad to watch the play.

The first thing Aiden noticed when we got there was the horse, so Mike asked if he wanted to go on a horse-and-sleigh ride with him. Aiden was so excited! He waited patiently in line with Mike and had the biggest smile on his face when it was his turn! I tried to get a picture but people kept going in front of me, so I'll have to put in one of them feeding the horse afterwards instead. ;)

All in all, it was a really good day! It was cold but we managed to stay warm and had a ton of fun!

Aiden is now TWO years old!

My baby boy just turned 2 years old last week. I still can't believe that he was this little just 24 months ago... Aiden has brought so much happiness into our family. He's such a silly and active little guy, but he couldn't be any more loving.

From very early on, Aiden was extremely smiley. He loved attention, but was fine just playing on his own as well. Although his favorite has always been getting attention from his big brother. Elliot and Aiden get along so well; it's so cute to watch them together.

This little guy warms our hearts so incredibly much. We can get the worse news, but looking at Aiden's shiney smile always manages to get rid of our worries.

Elliot has always been the sweet and quiet kid, and although Aiden is sweet as well, he's definitely not quiet. He's a little dare-devil who we have to watch closely. Before he knew how to walk, he was climbing up stairs and on top of tables. He's a sneaky little guy and his adventures never make it boring around this household.

Our little 2-year-old is a big fan of the outdoors. It doesn't matter what the weather is, he wants to be outside at all times... especially if Elliot is out there.

Besides jumping on the trampoline with Elliot and his friends, Aiden's favorite thing to do is to help his Pappa work. Mike bought a little toolbelt for both of his boys so that they could be his helpers, and they're surprisingly really good too. Maybe it's a boy thing?!

Two years later and our boy is just as sweet and smiley. We're so lucky to have this little guy in our family! Elliot hugs him all the time, and we can't help but to squish him any time we get the chance to. So to our little bear, we love you so much and can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the years to come. Happy birthday, Aiden :)

Christmas cookies

The kids and I LOVE to bake, so this is something we ALL look forward to every year. Aiden and Elliot's favorite is always gingerbread cookies so that's where we started this year. We started in the morning so that's why our little Aiden-bear is still in his pj's ;)

Elliot is amazing when it comes to both cooking and baking. He rarely asks for help and always does a really good job. He knows how to make his mommy proud, that's for sure!


Aiden started out by eating the decorations, but once I showed him how to put frosting on the cookies, he actually got so into it that he forgot about eating the chocolate :-p

Elliot took this decorating this quite serious. It was super cute!

It's times like this that Mike and I just stand back and look at our boys, then look at each other with a big smile. We are so blessed to have such sweet kids!

I'm baaaaaack!

I'm not sure what the point of me starting this blog was when I barely ever write... BUT, I'm gonna try again.

Here's the deal:
I've been 'away' for a couple months cuz my life has been hectic and I've simply forgotten to blog. Aiden got sick this fall and has pretty much been sick ever since. He's had a few healthy days in between, but there sure haven't been many! :( He started out with a cold, then a fever, which we didn't think much of. Only, a week later, he still had the fever! We went to this stupid doctor who thought I was hysterical because it's common to have colds in the fall. A couple days went by and Aiden and I are back at the doctor's office. His cold had become an eye infection and the fever was still there. Again, I get told that it's common with the little ones since they catch it all from daycare. To make a loooong story short, I was at the doctor 4 or 5 times in 2 weeks. Aiden was getting worse and worse, and I was getting more and more frustrated. At this point, my little boy was sleeping way more than usual, his face was pretty pale, and he was incredibly week. Mike and I had to carry him everywhere because he could only walk for a few minutes before he'd wanna lay down on the floor.

One Wednesday morning, I brought Aiden to my mom's to ask her advice. She told me to go to the doctor and not leave until I get answers. So I did! It turns out he was really iron deficient, which makes me understand why he couldn't get rid of his poor cold and fever. His body was simply to weak. We started giving our little guy iron immediately, and it did wonders! Aiden was starting to become the active, daring kid he had always been. It was so nice to see. We were suppose to give him iron for a month and that's it. Well, a month went and our family was back to normal.

The first week without iron passed and you can probably guess what happened? Yup, Aiden got sick again! So now we've been back to the doctor with him for more tests and meanwhile, we're giving him iron to give him some energy while we wait for the test results. At this point, I don't care what the results are... just that we figure out what's wrong with my poor little guy. It hurts to see him like this! Believe it or not, we miss chasing him around while he does his crazy stunts and stopping him from jumping off all of our furniture. ;) Let's just hope the doctors have some answers for us next week.

In addition to that, my parents have both had a rough time. My dad's cancer has expanded in one of the three spots, so he's back to chemo again. My mom... well, she's kinda been through everything lately, poor lady. Without a full (loooong) explanation, she was suppose to get results yesterday. Instead she came back with, "we didn't find anything yet, but don't give up." Ya gotta love when that's the only result the dr. can give ya! So now we're waiting once again... now for the test results of her heart, which she should be getting in a couple of weeks.

SOOooooo, that's a little bit of what's been keeping me busy. Between home with sick kids, work, doctors, hospitals, home with sick kids, work, and more doctors... well, I pretty much forgot to blog :/

Love at first sight

It's been seven years since the day that changed my life:  The day I met the love of my life!

It was Thanksgiving Day.  My family had moved back to Norway three years earlier, so I had been invited to spend this holiday with my friend Lori and her family.  Lori's high school had their annual reunion this evening at a local bar.  Although I wouldn't know any one, she convinced me to come along.  We were going to meet a few of her friends who had gone to the same high school and then drive to the bar together.

In the door walks this cute guy I had noticed at a karaoke bar a couple weeks ago!!!  I was SO excited!  It didn't take long before we got into a conversation.  His name was Mike and he had moved to Minnesota from California.  He was two years older than me and working as the manager of a country club (where I had been with my roommate because she wanted to apply for a job there).  His dad actually grew up in Minneapolis just a few blocks away from where I used to live, and his twin sister studied in the same program as me at the same college!

When we got to the bar, everyone ran off greeting and hugging friends they hadn't seen in a long time.  Mike, on the other hand, went up to the bar and bought me a drink (a Smirnoff Ice - my favorite at the time)!  What  a gentleman :)  After hours of conversation, I had already developed a huge crush on him.  He was simply amazing!  He was so easy to talk to, and such a funny guy!  At the end of the night, he told me that he had actually seen me at the karaoke bar a couple weeks ago and had asked a friend about me. hihi :)  Too cute!  To skip all of the cheesy details, it was the best evening of my life.  We stayed up late talking and listening to music, and I couldn't wait to see him again!

I knew it was meant to be!  There had been so many events in the past that we had both been at plus we had so much in common, so if it hadn't happened this Thanksgiving, I believe it would've happened anyway!

The following days were so exciting!  We were both falling very deeply and very fast!  Less than a month after we met, I was going to Norway to spend Christmas with my family.  Mike got his passport and came to visit me while I was there.  He met my family, they got along immediately, and... well, the rest is history! :)

HaLLoWeEn

I'm really posting this a month and a half after the actual holiday, but wanted to add some pictures so I'm posting it under Oct.31st anyway ;)

For the past few years, we've had a tradition with some good friends of us to spend this day together with good food, fun for the kids, and of course a round of trick-or-treating. Aiden was pretty exhausted from being sick so long, but company of good friends only helped him out. He ran around for a whole week after this saying, "fin jente! fin jente!" Apparently, he thought his little friend Amalie was pretty cute ;)

It's snowing!

It's only the beginning of October and we got SNOW today! I love it :) I don't know if I'm ready for it, but I'm still excited about it.

I'm heading to bed but wanted to post some pictures from today as proof... hehe ;)

Enjoy the fall cuz before you know it, Christmas will be here!!! <3

More in love than ever

I am in love. Truly in love! I have been for years now, but recently, I'm more in love than I think I've ever been.

Something just hit me. Mike makes me so incredibly proud and I am so lucky to have him in my life.

I still can't believe he chose ME! I mean, this is the sweetest, nicest, and most caring guy ever. A guy that every girl dreams of. And he chose ME!

I'm writing this blog for my own use. I want to write it to remind myself how lucky I am, and that if there's ever a little petty thing that I'm upset about or complain about, then I can look at this blog and remember why I have no reason not to be happy.

Of course life has it's ups and downs, but you can't see the ups if you don't have the downs.

So friends, remember that life doesn't come in reruns, so lets live and love to the fullest while we still can! <3

My 'other' family

After living in the States for 9 years, my family decided it was time for them to move back home to Norway. Originally, we had only planned to stay in the U.S. for a year or two, so this desire to move back didn't come as a surprise.

I, however, was not ready! I had just finished my first year of college and loved it so far. I loved my school, my program, and especially, all of my new friends. I had really gotten comfortable there and did not want to start all over at a new college. So I made the decision to stay in the U.S. alone. This was a huge deal for me, as I had always lived close to my family, but it was the right decision!

When my parents and sisters moved to Norway, I leaned on my best friend, Nicole. She invited me into her home and let me live with her and her family in the summers when my college campus was closed.
Nicole and her family invited me to all of their holiday celebrations. They even made a bedroom in their house for me! They became my security and comfort to help me survive living on the other side of the ocean from my family.


I have tried to thank Nicole and her parents many, many times, but really, how do you thank someone who has done this much for you? How do you pay back someone who has offered you their home, their family time, and their love? I wish there was more I could do to let them know how much they've impacted my life and how thankful I am to them.

They are truly amazing people!!!

Another successful family reunion

We just spent this past weekend with 31 relatives in celebration of my grandparents who both turned 80 years old. We hadn't seen my cousins in a year and many of them have little babies now so there were a lot of little ones running around.

The hotel we stayed at was located up in the mountains so we were surrounded by beautiful nature. Although we had somewhat of a program with the relatives, we spent a lot of time just enjoying the outdoors.
They had a mini-golf course that the kids found a lot of fun, plus we ran into a herd of sheep one afternoon. The sheep came right up to us and let us pet them. They were so cute! Aiden said they felt like a blanket! ;)
Elliot's favorite part of the weekend must have been the pool (or getting to stay up late). My dad asked if Elliot wanted to go along on his morning swims, which Elliot was so proud to do! So every morning, Elliot woke up in a good mood and was ready to walk down the hallway to get his grandpa "Boff" so they could go swimming together!

We had a nice 3 course dinner for my grandparents on Saturday evening. My grandpa stood up while we waited for dessert to say a few words. His words were so extremely touching - it was a a moment I will never forget. Later that night, a few of my uncles and cousins brought out gitars and played some tunes while the rest of us sang along.

Around 1am, a lot of people started turning in. That's when one of my cousins found a piano and brought out his hidden talents - he could play the piano like I've never heard before! He played for two hours straight without a single stop to think about what song he would play next. The 10 of us who were still awake stood gathered around the piano with wine in one hand while we were bursting out songs. We even squeezed in some line-dancing at one point. It was a blast!

On top of it all, it was especially good to have a weekend away from home with Mike. We've both worked a lot of overtime lately so it was really nice to be together the entire weekend for a change. I loved waking up next to him (usually he's left for work before I wake up). I loved having meals served and then we could run straight outside to play without having to clean up.

Simply, I loved having a weekend away with my family and all of my relatives. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again! :)

It's "Fårikål" season!

Norwegians are all about their traditions, especially when it comes to food. Last week, the season for Fårikål started. Fårikål is a meal which consists of lamb and cabbage. It sounds plain and simple, but it's absolutely delicious!



So thanks to my mom, tonight's dinner was Fårikål! Mike was called in to work (again) so my mom invited me and the boys over. Mike is not a big fan of lamb so this is not a meal I would've made at home, so it worked out perfect that she was having it tonight so that I could have a taste too!


Here's the recipe incase anyone is interested in looking into it:

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1452/f-rik-l.aspx

Packing our bags

We're going out of town tomorrow so I'm spending the evening doing laundry and packing our bags. My grandparents both turned 80 years old so my mom and her siblings decided to plan something special that would create a memory for everyone!

They found a hotel up in the mountains and invited four generations of family to spend the weekend with them.

I can't wait to just get away, have a relaxing weekend with my family, and to see all of my relatives again!!!

Everyone deserves a ME day once in a while

Being a mother of two with a full-time job and a house to take care of, I don't get a lot of time to take care of myself. Now that I finally had some time off with no kids to take care of (they were at daycare), I decided to head downtown for the day.

I called a friend of mine (Stine - the nicest, funniest girl you'll ever come across) so we decided to meet up for lunch. She brought me to a sandwich shop similar to Big Bite and Subway, only I guess it's run by students. As soon as you walked into this cute little place, you could smell the delicious bread they had. They had a bar with tons of different spreads, meats and veggies to choose from. It may not sound that exciting, but I tell ya, it was delicious! I couldn't resist but to get a coffee as well. It wasn't Starbucks or Caribou, but it hit the spot anyway.

After that, it was shopping time! Mike had given me a rule before I left home about this: I was to shop for myself and only myself. No kids' clothes. No gifts. No surprises for him. Just stuff for myself!

My mom sent me a message after I had already shopped for a couple of hours. She was in the same area so she met up with me for more shopping.

Needless to say, it was pretty nice to have a day to just focus on me for a change! But now, I miss my boys so I'm heading to daycare to see if they're ready to come home :)

Baking day with the boys

Elliot and I love to bake and usually try to bake something every Sunday together. Well, since I have some days off work, I decided to have a fun day and bake with Aiden and Elliot today.

The kids were so excited. They ran up to the sink to wash their hands, then got out the recipe book to decide what we should make. Our final choice ended up being cinnamon rolls :)

We made WAY too many, which was perfect because then I had enough to freeze some. Mike was so excited when he came home from a long day of work to a warm house filled with a yummy cinnamon scent.

The boys got to make their own of course so we had all sorts of shapes of rolls. We had some normal round ones, some cute heart rolls (Elliot's excellent idea), and Aiden's creative shapes. hehe ;) It was really fun and they ended up tasting delicious too! :)

P.S. I didn't have the digital camera near by so I took some pictures with my phone but they didn't really turn out. I had a picture of the finished product but that one I can't find. Sry!

Hunting week

Elliot's daycare is really good about having different themes and trying out new activities. This week they've decided to have a "Hunting Week." Since we don't hunt, I think it's great that Elliot gets to learn about it from someone with experience.

The staff put a lot of focus on hunting being a form of gathering food and that it doesn't have to include weapons. However, you know boys and weapons... They could've easily done without the blueberry picking and chit-chat about what a hunter is, etc. Their favorite parts were definitely when they got to hold the weapons and try out shooting with a bow and arrow (at balloons which were hanging from the trees).

They made a lot of good food this week, which Elliot really appreciated. Some of their lunches include salmon, veggie pitas, and moose meat in a stew.

Elliot was excited to wake up every morning to get to daycare and he came home every afternoon filled with great stories!

A day off work

I had the day off work today, which I was absolutely STOKED for! I had so many things I wanted to get done, plus this meant more time with my wonderful boys. Elliot really wanted to go to daycare today since they were starting their "Hunting Week," so I decided to send them both for a short day.

It was so nice and relaxing to wake up without an alarm. We sat at the table and enjoyed our breakfast together for such a long time. Elliot told stories and Aiden copied everything his big brother said while laughing. It was precious!

After a couple hours at home, we were ready to head out for the daycare. Since we weren't in a hurry, we decided to walk there. It's not that far away, but usually I drop them off on the way to work since we're often limited on time in the mornings. The walk should've taken us 15 minutes or so... we probably took half an hour! It was so fun though! Aiden kept getting distracted by toys and bikes that people had out in their yard so Elliot and I kept having to chase after him to get him back on the right path. We were laughing so hard!

I only took one picture... I was running and laughing too hard the rest of the time! :p

I can't believe that Elliot starts first grade next year (FYI: we don't have kindergarten here) and will be walking to SCHOOL! I'm sure I'll walk with him and pick him up once in a while, but since we live so close he'll most likely just walk by himself.

I can't wait to look out the window and see my son walking down the street carrying a backpack! Awww! *melt*

Great-grandparents <3

Sunday has always been a day for family and friends for us. We spend every Sunday by going out (hiking, boating, picnic, or whatever)... sometimes it's just the four of us, but most of the time we get together with friends or family.

Ever since Mike has started his new job, our Sundays have changed quite a bit. They have had so much to do that they've asked if people can come in on Sundays to get them ready for a new week. Being that Mike really wants this job and still hasn't been hired permanently, he helps out in any way that he can.

So once again, Mike had to go to work this Sunday. The weather was crappy, which usually doesn't stop us from going outside, but today I was in a mood to just relax inside with good food and warm drinks.

Good food + warm drinks = my grandparents' house <3

My grandparents are always ready for visitors! I don't know how they do it, but they always have food ready incase someone stops by. Elliot was my grandparents first great-grandchild, so they've always had a special connection. They are so proud of him - it's so cute! They tend to go a bit overboard with some of the compliments, but he loves it so it's all good. It didn't take long before Aiden stole the attention away by jumping into his great-grandpa's lap with a book. They sat there reading together for such a long time, while Elliot helped his great-grandma in the kitchen.

Elliot and Aiden are so blessed to have their great-grandparents so involved in their lives! This ended up being the perfect day for a nice, relaxing day indoors.

A productive Saturday

Mike and I were so motivated to get stuff done this weekend. Our to do list was long so it was impossible to get it all done, but we were excited to get going on some of the projects at least.

Coincidently, my mom and dad asked if the boys wanted to come play at their house today. My parents are so good with them and always find fun things to do that would've never even crossed my mind. They let the kids help them with projects, they spend a lot of time outside with them, and they do so many fun things together!

We dropped Aiden and Elliot off at my parents and rushed out on some errands. We got TONS done! I could list it all, but I'm not so sure that actually interests anyone. ;)

When we came back to my parents' house, the kids were having a blast outside and were not ready to go home. Elliot was helping my dad clean out the gutters. It may not sound that exciting, but climbing a long latter all the way up to their roof was quite fun!


My mom and Aiden were looking at the neighbor's pond and fish, which apparently was pretty interesting because Aiden did not have time to give us a hug.


Seriously, I am so thankful for my parents and I'm so happy that my kids are so lucky to be so close to them!

Remembering 9/11

On the morning of September 11th of 2001, I remember being suddenly woken up by my roomie, Erika. She came running upstairs and yelled so loud that all three of us other roomies could hear her. She told us to hurry downstairs to watch the news. She said a lot more, but we were all too tired to realize what had actually happened. We dragged our bodies down the stairs with our eyes still half closed.

My eyes opened wide when I saw the Twin Towers under attack on TV. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was surreal. This couldn't really be happening! A sound wasn't made. Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I heard the details of what was happening in New York City.


I immediately started thinking about all of my friends who lived on the East Coast. I thought about the people who were on board of the airplanes that crashed and their families who were sitting at home watching the news, just as I was.

It's been exactly eight years now since this tragic day. It's beyond words how I feel about what happened that day. I am so proud to be a dual citizen and half American on days like this. I'm proud of how united the citizens stood after this horrific day. I am proud that the citizens stood together - no matter their race, sex, or religious beliefs - to prove to the terrorists that we cannot be broken.


I will always remember the victims and those they left behind on this day eight years ago!