Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014: The year in review

It has been a crazy, busy, fun, frustrating, exciting, exhausting, energizing, and all around interesting year.

Here are just a few highlights from our year.










































Wednesday, December 24, 2014

God Jul fra Sandefjord / Merry Christmas from Sandefjord!

Merry Christmas
from the Dove family!


Luke 2:8-20
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Christmas Cheer (part 18): quick and easy craft

We recently attended a Christmas craft evening at one of the churches in our city. It was a lot of fun, making things nr singing songs together, and just generally getting into the Christmas spirit.

My favorite project of the night is one you could probably do today, without even making a trip to the store.

All you need is:
One empty and cleaned glass jar (we used jars from jam and from pickles)
One egg white
Granulated sugar (we tried regular and coarse sugar, but you could probably used other types like raw)
Random decorative items (ribbon, stickers, pine twigs)

Make sure the jar is clean and dry. Crack the egg into a clean glass. Discard the yolk. Coat the inside of your jar with the egg white, then pour it back into the glass (you can use it for multiple jars).
Now pour some sugar in the jar. Roll it around to coat it well, then dump the excess.
Decorate the outside however you'd like, and add a tea light or other small candle.

A quick and easy craft, and when you're tired of it, just wash it out!

We also made these cute tea light covers, using napkins and laminating sheets.


Christmas Cheer (part 17): A bit more of Oslo

We spent a few hours in Oslo this past week. I always love Oslo. But at Christmas time, and in the evening? Yeah, it's pretty awesome.