Sunday, January 20, 2013

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Rise Up!

We are big Atlanta Falcons fans. Zack and I both grew up cheering for them (particularly in the era of Steve Bartkowski!).

We just had to find a place to watch their playoff game last Sunday. But we've discovered this to be a tough thing to do here when you have kids in tow - restaurants here that have bars don't usually allow kids. But after a bit of wandering, we found a place downtown to watch.

A 1:00 east coast start means a 10:00 brunch for us! We enjoyed a nice meal while watching with lots of Seattle fans. Thankfully, our team came out on top! (Despite almost giving it away in the second half!)

We are looking forward to another game - and win - this weekend!



Vancouver for a bit longer

We won't be leaving for Norway on January 26 like we had originally thought. We are still waiting for our immigration approval and it looks like it could still be a little while.

So we are going to be spending a bit more time in Vancouver. Not what we expected, but also not a surprise to God! We look forward to seeing what He has in store as we wait on next steps.

Here are some recent photos...





























Monday, January 14, 2013

Christmas was great - sorry we're late!

I always have the best intentions, and then I get behind on things. I can't believe it is almost the middle of January and I haven't even posted about Christmas!

This was our first Christmas away from extended family. It was weird, of course. Most of our normal routines and traditions were replaced with new ones. But it was also sweet and simple and full of great memories.

We went to a Norwegian church service a couple of days before Christmas. We picked up a few words here and there. And we followed the main stuff. How sweet it was to hear the beautiful language and pray that we will be able to understand even more by next Christmas!
Ready for the Norwegian Christmas service
On Christmas Eve, we made the trek to Grouse Mountain to enjoy their Christmas festivities. The boys had fun ice skating. We went on a sleigh ride, had lunch, explored a bit in the snow, and watched some Christmas cartoons.

That evening, we opened a few packages we had received in the mail, and opened gifts via FaceTime with some of our family. Then we had dinner at our local Indian restaurant - delicious!
Taste of Punjab
Christmas morning was filled with gifts, the reading of the Christmas story, FaceTime & Skype calls with family, and a big breakfast.
The boys gave Zack a new scarf
Breakfast!
Big hugs for thoughtful gifts - sweet brothers!

We hosted 8 others in our home for a big Christmas lunch. It was a wonderful time of food and friends: a great way to spend our first non-US Christmas Day!