This Easter we spent three days at Nerskogen with two of Frida’s grandparents, her aunt , uncle, the uncle’s mom, and Frida’s cousin Nanok, the giant dog. Even though snow was fun, we’re happy spring is here – the sun is warming and the snow is melting! Be aware of reappearing dog poop, though, I fell in some yesterday…
Frida’s walking! For a month or two she’s been courageous enough to take a few steps here and there, but these past couple of days she’s walked long distances – as long as they can get within our living room. You should see the smile on her face when she proudly walks between the two of us, it looks something like the picture below left. The picture on the right shows how much she still concentrates while executing her new skill!
The other member of my family usually prefers sitting to walking. I recently sold my first item on finn.no (a desk), so that we could fit in an enormous chair that I got on sale a few months ago. I love the chair, but E … well, let’s just say that I paid for the chair myself 
That’s why I was so amused when the first one to sit down and enjoy the new part of our living room was him! Looking at the picture below, I’d say he looks quite comfy.
Daddy’s been away on a business trip for almost a week now. Of course we miss him (he reads this…!), but we’re both pleased to have things our way for a while 
As usual, December has been an eventful month. Lots of celebration, joy and happiness, but also room for thought with a death in near family. Very sad, although not unexpected.
Frida has really enjoyed December. It only took her a couple of days of advent calendar to learn how to open presents (almost) on her own!
The first party of the month was at our place, a late 1 year birthday celebration for the 5 other November babies we’ve spent so much time with in 2009. In true Christmas spirit, Frida shared her bread with one of her little friends. (Isn’t that what it looks like on the picture? What actually happened was that she stole the bread that he was eating…)
Daddy’s birthday was celebrated with much enthusiasm – maybe not so much by thebirthday boy, but Frida didn’t even have to be asked to help opening the presents! I suspect she thought it was part of her advent calendar All the attention from four grandparents was just a bonus.
The 13th day of the month is in the name of Saint Lucia, and Frida’s kindergarden did the mandatory celebration. She was of course the most adorable in the crowd, and we all brought our cameras to take her picture.
The kindergarden also hosted a Santa party one of the last days before Christmas. Dress code: red! On the menu: Christmas rice porridge!
Aunt M and uncle Ø weren’t able to be here for Christmas, so they came for a visit the week before. Frida was very happy to see them, but missed her cousin Nanok, the giant dog. Well, to be honest I don’t think she missed him at all, the last time she saw him she started crying whenever he barked…
Aunt S and cousin Stellatronic were here all Christmas, and we got to spend a lot of time with them.
My sister and I had a challenging afternoon trying to take a picture of the two cousins… together…both facing the camera… not crying… You get the picture This is what we ended up using for the month of December in the 2010 calendar we made for our parents:
I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that the new year will bring lots of joy!
I just realized today that July is almost over, here are some highlights.
Frida’s cousin came to town, so we’ve spent some time with her. This means that Frida has had to share her toys, and they seem to get along very well – even though Frida with her 8 months could easily take down 4 months old Stellatronic!
Throwing up on the couch is fun. As long as one gets to look at it for two seconds and then rub both hands in it.
Everyday activities include eating in the high chair and standing up in the couch. By the way, the couch is an excellent place to show off two teeth that are emerging.
We’ve had some great weather: at the veranda, at Bratlia (my parent’s vacation house) and at a local coffee shop…
Frida has learned how to climb. For some reason the dishwasher is one of the most exciting toys at the moment. Of course, all toys have to be tasted!
No, I haven’t abandoned this page, I’ve just been lazy…
Last Friday my uncle, aunt and 2 cousins with their families surprised my mom and dad for their 60th birthday. (My dad’s birthday is this Thursday, while my mom begins a new decade in November.) Espen and I were fortunate enough to be invited for the surprise, and I took some pictures to record their surprised faces. You can see the pictures here.
A couple of years ago I visited my relatives in Vancouver, Canada. Even though I spent less than a week there, I fell in love with the area! No wonder; after a scorching hot summer in Mobile, AL, I flew over the beautiful Rockies into the luscious west part of B.C. with its green mountains and blue waters. I hadn’t seen my relatives for more than 10 years, but they gave me a warm welcome and showed me around.
Back to the present. This week one of my dad’s cousins from Vancouver and her husband came to visit us here in Trondheim. They’d had two weeks of rain in the Baltic sea, Denmark and the southern part of Norway, but were greeted by the sun here in Trondheim. They stayed at my parents house, but I took a couple of days off work so that I could try to return some of the hospitality they had showed me.
E and I prepared dinner for them Tuesday night after my mom and dad had picked them up in Bergen (a two-day drive from here). Wednesday evening we went for dinner at our local tower restaurant with a view of the whole city and the surrounding mountains and fjord. Thursday we had an early lunch at my aunt and uncle’s house, followed by a get-together with several of my cousins, my dad’s cousins and my second cousins. Friday I actually went to work. Today was the last day before the Canadians return home, and we had a dinner at my parents’ house. We even watched 9-milimeter movies from when I was 5 years old – hilarious
The result of this very pleasant visit was that I even more than before would like to go on vacation to the US. And while I’m there, revisit Vancouver. All I have to do now is save up the money 
I have a question for all of you out there: how come it takes 6 weeks (that’s 42 whole days!) to change the address of an internet subscription??? The ISP told me it usually takes 3 weeks, but they were “busy at the time” with new customers. What happened to keeping the customers they already have? If I didn’t get this for free through work I’d have swithed to another company weeks ago…
To sum up: I’m online again
Finally (Doug!!) I have a new home, both online and in the real world. Hmm, is that a coincidence?
My first post is short, but concise. The only thing left to say is welcome to my universe
