Amazing...

Its been a wonderful weekend. For the first time in a looooooooooooong time we have ALL been home for a weekend. Usually Sara is away at go-kart, and if she is home she usually has 2 or 3 friends staying over. On the weekends that she is home Andrew sometimes is gone. But for this weekend Sara had nothing on and Andrew had nothing on. It was just great to be only us 5, all together!



Now it wasnt like we were "together" the whole time. We were all just under the one roof, everyone doing his or her own thing. Everyone chatting back and forward. It was wondeful!



Saturday evening we had a cosy time. We ate our dinner in the living room, - something we never do when we are all home! While we ate we watched a funny film "Ghost Town" - really enjoyed it.




Today after church Andrew was going to a birthday party for one of the girls from church, so Sara, Leah, Kristian and I were trying to decide what we should do for the afternoon. The girls decided they just wanted to stay at home and sunbathe out on the balcony - the weather here is fantastic!!




Kristian had heard about a car show in a town nearby, so we decided to take a trip up north to check it out. On the way Kristians sister Hanne phoned to see if we wanted to meet up with them, they were on their way up north, and wondered if we wanted to join them for a walk. We told them about the show and decided to meet up.





There was only 1 hour left of the show when we arrived, but we decided to go in anyway. They had all sorts of American cars and trucks, old tractors, old cars, army vechiles....you name it and they had it.

The boys thought they had died and gone to heaven!! Us girls on the other hand found it all VERY boring!!

Amazing how long an hour can feel when you are bored!! haha The men didnt seem to notice - they talked none stop about - guess what? - CARS!!

Finally they announced that the show was closing so off we went to Heather Hill for an ice cream.....

and a walk up the hills to burn off all the ice cream we ate!

We invited Hanne and Flemming home to dinner. Their daughter Christine was at our house already. They had dropped her off to sunbathe with Leah and Sara. We picked Andrew up on the way home. We all had a lovely dinner together. Amazingly there was enough food for all!!(I hadnt planned on having guests for dinner but somehow the dinner stretched to meet the need!!) It really is nice to be spontanous and have people over for dinner without planning it.

Now its late and I should be getting to bed. However its Pentecost weekend - that means holiday over here!! So we have tomorrow off work and school. Can life get much better?!!! So I think, even though I´m tired, I will stay up a little while longer!!

Oh the joy...

the joy of having my computer again!! Yes its fixed and I am on top of the world!! (On top of that, Kristian was able to recover all the things from my old hard drive that I thought I had lost!!) Yes life sure is good once again!! haha

Its been another busy week. Kristian has had long days at work with courses and team days, so we havent seen too much of each other. But thats ok, I have been kept busy with the kids.

On Tuesday Leah was interviewed for a survey about Danish Children/Young Peoples views on different things. She was asked questions about all sorts of things - from family life, to free time interests and even about health issues. They will then come back in 4 years time and interview her again and see if any of her views have changed.

Leah also spent a bit of time this week drawing. She got a book that teaches you step by step how to draw different things. I think she did well at her first two attempts.

Tomorrow is Andrews last day at school. He is in 9th grade and tomorrow they end their time at school by dresssing up, eating breakfast together, before going to the school and throwing sweets all around for the younger kids to catch and eat. Then its time for some entertainment. They do competitions, funny sketches, and dances for the whole school and have some fun with the teachers. Finally they have a water fight and shaving foam fight on the football pitch.

Andrew is really looking forward to this - especially since it is ending his time at school, well ending his time at the school he has gone to for the last 10 years.

This afternoon was spent getting his wardrobe ready for tomorrow.

Then it was off to my friend Jettes. Her husband was out this evening and so while she got the youngest baby ready for bed I took her oldest - Jonathan out to play. We had a great time out on the slide and going walks. He really is a great kid.

The funny thing is the name Jette is teaching Jonathan to call me - its granny. (When Jette was a young teenager she was always hanging out at our house....we became like a second family to her and so when she was younger we called her our eldest daughter. She always said her kids would call me and Krisitan granny and grandad, the actual English word for Granny and Granny not the Danish word - and she has kept her word!) Jonathan is learning to call us Granny and Grandad.

As I was walking along with Jonathan tonight I was saying in Danish - "Do you want to go and see GRANNY´s car" - but I said GRANNY in english. Or "Do you want to hold Grannys hand" or " Thats Grannys shoe" Suddenly I was standing chuckling to myself as I thought "Here I am 40 and a GRANNY!" I could feel the midlife crisis setting in again!! hahaha

A 24 hour holiday

Friday afternoon Kristian and I headed off for a 24 hour holiday, alone - without any kids.

Sara was left in charge of Leah while Andrew was off staying at his friends. The girls were looking forward to an evening alone and so were Kristian and I.

We left home around 12.30pm and drove to our hotel. When we arrived we were shown to our room and we were not disappointed. It was soooo lovely. Well have a look for yourselves....

It was then down to the hotels restaurant for coffee/tea and cake. The cake was to die for!! It was soooo delicious and just what we needed at that time of the day.

Kristian enjoying his cake

It was then out and about to see what there was in the area.

We had dinner Friday evening in the restaurant and it was soooo good. A three course meal and by the end Kristian and I were stuffed.

Around 2pm Saturday we headed for home. It was a brilliant 24 hours. (Pity we had to come back to reality again!! haha)

You know this is something all couples should do at least once a year! Even though it was only 24 hours, it felt like we had been gone for ages!! So go get your calendars people, book a weekend and enjoy a 24 hour holiday together!!

A quick update....

Have had 2 days free from work, - yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday). It´s holiday time again over here!!

Yesterday was spent cleaning up the house. We did a bit of a spring clean, moving furniture out and cleaning under and behind everything. It sure felt good to get it done.

On Monday something terrible happened!!! My computer broke. I was getting ready to go to our aerobics class down at church. (I take my computer and play the dvd from that unto the projector, well my computer just would not start.) My friend Rhona had a laptop so she saved the day by bringing hers along.

It turns out the hard disc has gone so the computer company is sending me a new one. This however takes about a week, and since its holiday here they will first order it on Monday. Its awful not having my laptop. Saras computer is broke too and Leahs is not working very well, so we are all fighting over Kristians computer!!

Leah has had 2 friends from her class staying here last night. They had such a cosy time together. I got up early today and made a lovely breakfast of bacon and eggs for us all!!
Now the girls have left, Kristian is driving Sara over to get her mobile that she forgot at her friends and then Kristian and I are heading out to our over night stay at the hotel he booked. I cant wait. We hope to visit an art gallery this afternoon, then check out the wee town and maybe do some shopping....so I will let you know how it all goes.

Better go and pack our over night bag. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Cant beat them - join them

This afternoon we decided to go a drive down to the south of Denmark. There was a go-kart race and even though Sara wasnt racing, she was down watching. Kristian was also dying to go and watch the action and somehow he talked me and Leah into going with him.

The drive down was beautiful, even though it turned very gray and began to rain.

We arrived at the track about 3pm - the weather was awful. It was cold, windy and rainy. Sara was happy to see us all.

After watching about 5 minutes of a race I had had enough. The noise of the carts, the smell of petrol and the cold weather made me wish I had stayed at home. It is really so boring watching carts drive around the same track for like 15 minutes at a time.

Leah and I decided to take a walk down to the water. We didnt stay long there - it was freezing!! We headed back to the car and spent the rest of the afternoon in there, at least it was dry and warm.

We amused ourselves for about 2½ hours in the car!!! We played Pictionary, each taking turns to draw.

We took all sorts of silly pictures of ourselves.

We had such a silly afternoon. Before long 2 ½hours had gone by. The race was finally over and Kristian & Sara arrived back at the car - we were ready to head home.

The big treat was on the way home - we got to stop at burger king!!

I honestly dont understand my husband and daughter! I just dont see the fun in this go-cart world. My friend Rhoda wrote to me once that if I couldnt beat them at this go-cart thing, then maybe I should join them. Well I joined them today and it will be a very, very, very long time before I join them again!!! haha I think I will just stay beaten!

Change of plans

So today was supposed to be a cosy Saturday. Kristian, Leah and I had planned to spend the day together. We would go to town and then go and visit some of our friends before heading home to watch some films.

Well as I said, that was the plan.

If you remember last week Kristian was on a further education course with his work. Well even though the course, for that week is over, they still have assignments to do. They have different deadlines for the different assignments.

Kristian thought that the next assignment was due on Wednesday, so he had Monday and Tuesday to work on it all. Well he was wrong! This morning he discovered that the deadline was this evening at 6pm!!!! So that was our plan for a cosy day together, out the window - he would have to stay at home and work. (His poor colleagues were also taken by surprised when he sms´ed them with the news. They had also gotten the date wrong!!)

I really did feel sorry for him as he sat at the kitchen table and worked on these absolutely terrible questions that I would never be able to answer in a million years!!

While Kristian stayed at home, Leah and I headed to town. We had a lovely afternoon walking around shopping. The only thing we bought was a gift for a very special person. Our friends, Jette and Philip, have had an addition to the family - a wee baby girl, so the gift was for her. It took us ages to decide what to buy as there were soooo many beautiful dresses and tops for little girls - and they were all sooooo tiny!!

After shopping it was then home to visit them and meet the new arrival!! We couldnt wait to see her!! She is absolutely beautiful - CONGRATULATIONS!!!


On the way home we decided to buy chinese for dinner. We phoned home and got Andrew and Kristian to get everything ready in the living room. We decided we would watch a film and eat our chinese at the same time, and thats exactly what we did. It was sooo cosy!! The wind was blowing, it was raining (a real winters day) and we sat and enjoyed our chinese while watching Happy Feet. What a funny film with brilliant music!!

Then later on this evening I watched a film called "Nights in Rodanthe". A film I had never heard of, but it was down as a romantic film and you know me, I love a good romance! The reason I actually bought it was because of the old, unusual, but rather beautiful house on the beach. I love films that have a house set on the beach, they usually turn out good. Oh and there was also the small detail that Richard Gere was the leading man!! -(if the film wasnt good at least there was something good to look at! haha) I actually liked it - not one I would see over and over again but I sure did cry my eyes out, so it was a winner in my book!! (Lisa I think this is one for you!!)

Leah waiting on the chinese

All in all it has been a really wonderful Saturday even though it didnt turn out the way we had planned. Kristian got his assignment finished so he too could enjoy a cosy Saturday evening here at home.

Been at it again.....

It was wonderful to wake up early on Friday morning, roll over and go back to sleep. We all had the day off (except poor Kristian, he was still at his course.) The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed having the day at home to relax.

I decided to spend the day painting. Great way to spend a day at home. Below is the results.

Late afternoon Kristian came home. We had a nice Friday evening together as a family.

Sara was racing this weekend. It was at one of the hardest go-kart tracks and she finished 10th. (She was not happy with this as, at one point, she had been up in 5th position...ah well, maybe next time she will hold her position.)

Some bad news for me....over the past week Leah has been talking about stopping horseriding and taking up go-karting. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! (Not 2 girls in the family!!) Her and Sara have talked about it all week and this weekend she went with Sara to the go-kart track and had a blast. (Oh dear - I was hoping she would hate it - anyway lets see what happens, hopefully it is just a phase!!)

40, fat and finished....

....well thats what they say here in Denmark, and I have now offically turned 40!!

I cant get my head around that number - me 40!!! It just cant be right! I decided to check my birth certificate just to make sure....unfortunately it said I was born in 1969 - so according to my calculations that does make me 40! Suppose I will just have to get used to the idea.

So how was my day? Well, it was actually wonderful! (which I actually didnt expect!)

You see Kristian has been away from Monday on a further education course with his work. He would first be home Friday evening, therefore he would be away for my birthday. Thats why I didnt expect anything special to happen. (I myself hadnt planned anything.)

Well on Wednesday evening Leah and I were sitting on the sofa watching TV and eating ice cream. About 9.15pm our front door opened and in walked Kristian. I couldnt believe my eyes. He was able to get away from his course, but had to be back at the course centre by 8am the next morning. It was soooo great to see him again!


Kristian could now be a part of our traditional morning celebrations. Thursday morning at 6am I was woke by him and the kids singing Happy Birthday!

I got some wonderful gifts. Kristians present was a gift card for an overnight stay in an cosy old hotel in a really cosy town. (He has booked the hotel for 22nd May - so I dont have long to wait. I cant wait!) The town is really cosy, (we drove through it once and always talked about going there to explore sometime!) there are many different things to see in the area.

Well after a wonderful morning it was off to work. I hadnt really expected anything else to happen the rest of the day, but I was wrong about that. At work my colleagues had bought presents, left cards, and decorated with flags and banners. It was really good of them - I was sooo touched by their thoughtfulness.

After work I decided to head to town and do a bit of shopping. We needed milk and bread and since Friday is a bank holiday here, all the shops would be closed, I thought I better go and get what was needed.

Well those that know me well know I love to shop, so it wasnt just a quick stop for milk and bread. I wandered around the shops looking for bargins. I was having a great time..little did I know that at home Kristians mum, dad and sister had arrived with cake to surprise me and help me celebrate the day.

In the end Andrew rang me to see where I was. He was wanting to know when I would be home, he let on it was because he was hungry for cornflakes and milk. I told him I would leave town right away and come home. What a shock I had when I came home and there was the family with cake, and more presents.

My friends Laura, Audry and Rhona popped by too with some wonderful presents. Thanks you guys!!

I was so touched that Kristians mum, dad and sister drove up with cake. It was a really wonderful surprise. Thanks for doing that! (I have the best Danish family in the whole world!!)

When everyone headed home again, Sara, Andrew, Leah and me headed out to the local chinese for dinner. (I refused to make dinner on my birthday!!) We had a delicious meal at a very reasonable price.

We then ended the evening at home - just relaxing. It was a wonderful birthday, even though I did miss my hubby. Thanks everyone else who helped to make this day very special for me.

My friend Rhona bought me a very special birthday card, its my all time favourite!!....check it out below

Be Inspired

It doesnt seem like one year ago that I turned 39!! (Please dont remind me that its soon the BIG 40!! some things in life you just want to forget! haha)

Anyway tonight I was just thinking back over the past year....(been having a bit of a middle life crisis!!haha)I was thinking about some of the things that God has been teaching me. One thing in particular about joy.

God has been teaching me about how I need to find my joy in Him and not in my circumstances. (I especially learned about this while Kristian was umemployed!) We all know that our circumstances can be good one day and bad the next. Our emotions can go up and down depending on what our circumstances are. But it doesnt have to be like that. God has been teaching me that in the middle of struggles and trials that I can have joy. I can find my joy in Him. No matter what happens in life I can have real peace and real joy. I can find the strength I need to go and face each day with Him :-)

The other night I was on youtube and I found this video clip (see below.) I got so inspired by this guy. What a testimony he has! I wanted to share it with you all. He really has found the joy of the Lord and is practising what God is teaching me about. I hope you enjoy it. (It is a bit long....but worth sticking it out!)

Grill night

Our good friends Anne and Peter invited us over for a bar-be-que this evening together with our minister, his wife and family.




We had such a great evening together. Great food, great fellowship and great fun. Annelee (our ministers wife) is just as crazy as Anne and me. So we had some fun with her.

Kristian, Anne and Peter looked after the meat.

The kids had their own table.

The boys had there own table too!!

After dinner we moved inside and the rest of the evening was spent talking, laughing and off course playing the Wii machine! It really was a great evening. Thanks Anne for arranging it all!!