Emilie~ A Fun Babysitter!

Mike and I went to Seattle last night to see A Celtic Christmas concert at the Benaroya Hall. Fabulous! We had such a great time. I LOVE downtowns, especially at Christmas. We shopped, (I shopped; Mike found a coffee shop and read a newspaper he bought from a new homeless friend, see picture).

Ms. Claws (aka Sabina) entertaining us with her new hair-do.

Jule Fest in Poulsbo

Okay, so I'm the one who had the best time. What's new? I drug the kids (and Mike) to Poulsbo on Saturday for the JuleFest (Norwegian Christmas Festival). The best part was the traditional dancing around the Christmas tree singing Norwegian carols. They wove in the Swedish celebration of St. Lucia riding in on a boat and being escorted to the bonfire by Viking men with huge torches. St. Lucia was a Christian who was martyred. After the head Viking made a declaration, the bonfire was lit.
It's great to have this little bit of Norwegian fun this close to home!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving brought many new friends for dinner and more for dessert. As usual, the Karaoke Queens stole the show.

Amy Grant

Wow! Talk about feeling old. My son turns 19 this week and Mike and I went to an Amy Grant concert last week that was her 20year reunion tour of Lead Me On. And yes, we were there 20 years ago at the original Lead Me On Tour! I know her name brings up exciting discussions but she still has an amazing voice and you have to believe in God's grace... Oh but for the grace of God go I.

Spent the weekend with my friend, Kim, in Vancouver, BC. We met in Norway and never thought we'd be living this close to each other~ what a gift!
The boxes are slowly being unpacked and at least we now have the living/dining area painted and the furniture in its' place. We bought an electric fireplace to somehow make up for the ones we left in Ohio!