A Special day for Andrrew

In Denmark it is a big thing to be confirmed when you are about 14 years old.When you are a member of the state church you are baptised as a baby and then at 14 years old you get confirmed. The Danes throw a huge party for their kids with lots of guests and lots of presents (sometimes a little over the top - in my meaning).

Well this was Andrew´s turn to be confirmed. Usually the whole class in school do it together, but since we dont belong to the state church Andrew wasn´t part of it.

Well our church thought that they would do something special for these young people who don´t get to experience a confirmation. So from February they had special teaching classes for them each Wednesday were they were taught Bible doctrine.Then today in church they held a "Bless the Youth" service in church, with the goal to present the young people with a Bible.

The young people stood at the front and the minister asked them questions on the things they had learnt. Andrew got a question on prayer, like what is prayer - who can pray, - when can we pray...etc. Then each of them was presented with a Bible with a special Bible verse chosen for them.


Here is Andrew (below) answering his question on prayer.

Then the elders and the teenage workers in the church were asked to come up and stand behind each young person and pray for them and their future. It was a really lovely service.

As I said the Danes usually hold a huge party...but we are not the typical Danish family. (but we wanted Andrew to remember the day as something special.)

We had invited Kristians mum and dad to come to church with us, then we came home to a lovely lunch. Andrew wasn´t expecting anything, so it was nice to surprise him with a small party. I wrote a song for Andrew last night (this is a very danish thing to do at confirmations...in fact at any party, to have a song about the person.) So I wrote a song for him in English. I gave a little speech and sang the song (sounded terrible) but it was fun. Then we gave him a small gift. New headphones for his computer. He really enjoyed it as he wasn´t expecting anything like this.

Andrew and me with his new Bible.

The special verse Andrew was given was from Jermiah 1 : 5-10. The funny thing is that after church Kristians mum told us that she was given that very same verse from her dad the day she left home. It was a special verse for her and Andrew got the same one.

Nothing exciting to report

This picture of the kids is taken on holiday in Holland in 2007

The Rasmussen household has settled down into every day life after our building project. I really love my new "wee" room. It is so cosy and I spend many hours in there reading, or listening to teaching (via the internet) on my laptop. Must admit, at times I fall asleep while listening or reading. Maybe it´s not such a good idea to lie down on the bed!!

The kids are all well and busy at school. Tonight at dinner we were just talking about education and their future plans. Sara already finished school last year. However she took 10th class, which gave her an extra year to think about what she wanted to do. She is now getting ready to start college after summer. She wants to take a degree in sales and marketing. Her dream at the moment is to manage her own racing team, so I´m sure sales and marketing will come in handy at some point.

Andrew on the other hand is not at all interested in going to college or university. His dream is to finish school and become a bin man - yes!! a bin man and he is really serious about this!!! He even, in all seriousness, told his careers teacher his plans. When he finishes school he wants to get a job in the local supermarket. Here he can earn money so he can go to the fitness centre and build up his muscles. Then in two years time he wants to move down to the south of Denmark because the houses are cheap. There he will become a bin man!!( He reckons there will be work for him because everyone needs a bin man!) Ah well let us see what happens. He has a year left before finishing school... a lot can happen in a year - can´t it?!!

Leah on the other hand wants to be a hairdresser. So I hope she follows that dream! We could do with a hairdresser in the family!! Save a lot of money on hairdressing bills.

Still no jobs for Kristian. He sent 6 job applications away today. He really hopes to hear from one of the companies. Time is running out!! We are trying not to panic!! We are trying to trust God and we keep reminding ourselves that He has control of everything. He is working everything out for our good! Amen!!

Our little cat friend came by today. He really feels at home here. (see the picture!) I contacted the cat home and found out who the owner is. The owner lives close to our apartment, so at least it has a home. It´s nice that it comes by from time to time to say hello.

Familiy Picnic

Every year the whole Rasmussen family go out for a day together. We take it in turns to arrange the day and this year it was Kristian´s sister Signe who was arranging it.We started the day at Signe and Kims house were we had coffee, tea, juice and snacks. Then we headed out into the country-side.

We were going to a park that was laid out as a playground. It was a sort of museum for the history of sports and ancient games. You could play many different games that dated back many years. It was really interesting and fun.So the day was spent talking together, walking, playing games and eating. The weather had turned cold so we had to pile on some coats and huddle under some blankets. But I think a great day was had by all. I certainly enjoyed being with the family and being out in the nature.

Kristian has 3 brothers and 2 sisters. We are 27 adults and children when we all get together. Today however 4 couldn´t make it. (We missed you guys!) The great thing about Kristians family is that we all get on soooo well and really enjoy being together. It is such a blessing to have a family like that.

It´s Friday

My how the week has flown by!! It has been a really good week. The weather has been fantastic. I have been biking to and from work every day - 20km a day (about 12 miles). Today though I used the car. My bike has got a puncture so it´s waiting for Kristian to fix it.

This afternoon Kristian and his three girls - Sara, Leah and me, headed into Copehagen. Sara had got a present from her friend, a new pair of jeans, but they were too small. We decided to head in and exchange them to a bigger size. Andrew didn´t join us. He was visiting a friend and was not interested in going into Copenhagen to do shopping.So it was Kristian and us three girls that had a lovely afternoon walking around Copenhagen.

The girls (excluding me!) were mad about the clothes shops. Kristian and I just tagged along feeling old and out of it. I just can´t believe the price of clothes. We went into this one shop, some designer shop that I can´t remember the name off. Sara dragged me in as she wanted to show me their bags and scarves. One scarf cost 5000,- kr (about £500!!) I nearly had a kitten in the shop.

We ended the afternoon in a small restaurant were we had some lovely food at a very reasonable price! We had taken the camera with us to take some photo´s but forgot it in the car - (old age is really creeping in.) Therefore - no photo´s in this blog entry. Sorry!

Place to Stay

Kristian´s sister Hanne has started her own little bed and breakfast. They have an extra room in their cellar which they have fixed up. So if you are thinking of coming to Denmark it would be a good place to stay, at a reasonable price (well for Denmark). Check out her website(which Kristian made for them!! - I think it looks good!)

www.placetostay.dk

For all you couples out there...this would be a nice place for a romantic weekend away. It´s close to Copenhagen and in a really nice area. Copenhagen is a really beautiful city and Tivoli Gardens, which is right in the city centre, is soooo romantic!! You can get cheap flights from Standsted to Copenhagen with Easyjet, or from Dublin to Copenhagen with Aerlingus.

Do you remember that I told you that Kristian had promised me a trip to a city of my choice in Europe (as a reward for my weight loss.) Well he actually suggested that I pick Copenhagen so that we could book ourselves into Hannes bed and breakfast for a couple of nights, as this was more in line with his budget. Honestly!!!

The website is in Danish and English, so pass it along to anyone you think might be interested in coming to visit Denmark.

Sara´s Race

Sara had a good race at the weekend.

Training on Friday didn´t go too good. She was 2 seconds after the quickest driver - which wasn´t so good. Saturday mornings training went better. She was driving so well that in the end she was only 0.3 of a second from the fastest driver, and ended her training session with the 8th best time. She then had qualifying for the race. Here she ended in 10th place (out of 23). Things were looking good. She would start the first heat of the race in 10th position. (Her dream was to be in the top 10 and it now looked possible.)

Then things started to go wrong. Appartently her kart was making too much noise, 0.1db over what it is allowed so she was punished by being put down to 17th position!!! Even though they complained to the race officals nothing was done. But Sara is a fighter so she started the 1st heat in 17th positon but drove her way up to 13th position!

In her second heat she started 13th position and drove up to an 8th position. Just when things were looking good, her kart failed her, so she had to drive into the pit. The clutch was gone. What a disappointment. She didn´t finish her second heat.

In the final heat she had to start 18th position (as she hadn´t finished her last heat). She was ready to fight but at the first corner she was driven off into the grass. She ended over all 17th out of 23. Even though she was disappointed she was also encouraged. She now had proven to herself that she could drive just as fast as the boys - she had been right up at an 8th position! (If only all the technical things would work as well!!)

Hightlight was that in her class they have something called "A Ladies Cup". The fastest 3 girls in that class get a trophy. Sara came home with a trophy. She came in second place. So overall it was a good weekend.

Who am I

I found this really good song today, sung by a group called Casting Crowns. (Someone on youtube made a video for the song.) The words are fanastic! I have been thinking about them all afternoon.

It´s a song about who we are in the light of who God is. We are nothing - a vapor in the wind, yet the God who made the earth wants a relationship with us and loves us so much more than we can understand! We have nothing to fear in life if we are His. Have a listen, I hope it blesses your heart.

Summer is here

It has been another wonderful day!!

I decided to bike to work again this morning, so once again I was up early. It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed the ride to work. My voice is slowly coming back again (to the disappointment of my work mates!!)I still dont feel 100% better. I have a bit of a sore thoart, a cough and have very little energy.Plan to head into bed early tonight with a warm cup of tea!! Tea -the answer to all of lifes problems!!

Philip, one of our friends, came by unanounced today. It was so good to see him. He arrived just as we were taking a cake out of the oven, - good timing there!! It´s not very Danish to just pop by someone´s house unexpected. We are forever telling people that they can just come by us if they are in the area. No-one every does, they always ring and plan things first, but Philip took us up on the offer and just came by. It felt a bit like being back in Ireland. We had a nice chat over a cup of coffee and some cake.

This evening we ate out on our balcony for the first time. It was warm and beautiful and the birds were singing. So nice just to sit and relax out there.

Kristian and Sara are busy packing and getting ready for the big race this weekend. They will leave tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. Sara has an english exam and as soon as that is finished they drive to the south of Denmark to a place called Rødby. They will train for a few hours tomorrow evening. They will stay at the go-kart track, camping in a tent. Then Saturday is her first big race of the season. She is nervous and excited at the same time. They will be home again Saturday night, hopefully with a good result.One bit of good news. Sara got a new sponser today. On-side-sport, it´s an energy drink over here and they sponser young people in different types of sports. Kristian had wrote to them about Sara. Well, he got a telephone call from them today, they want to sponser Sara with 5000,- kr (about £500)!!! They want to buy her things like a ribcage protector, a race suit, and parts for the cart. This is such a big help!


Enjoying a beautiful evening out on our balcony

My family getting a bit annoyed at me taking pictures all the time!

The view from our balcony.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Today is my birthday and I am now offically 39!!!

It´s been a really nice day, in every way!. The weather has been beautiful, sunny and warm! I started the day getting up at 5.40am!! I really wanted to bike to work, hence the early wakening. I set off at 6.20 am and actually biked the 10km (about 6 mile) to work! The road to work is between two forests and the nature was fantastic.

When I arrived at work I discovered that I had nearly lost my voice. Since none of my family were up at 5.40am I hadn´t tried to speak to anyone until getting to work. That´s when I discovered I didn´t have any voice. It´s awful not being able to speak!! Although my friends at work thought differently. They thought it was wonderful to have a bit of peace and quiet for a change!

After work I biked it home again! (Aren´t I good?!) When I arrived home Kristian and the kids had the house decorated and presents sitting waiting for me.

Our new bedroom was my birthday present, but Kristian and the kids had also bought me artie stuff, (canvas/paints) so I can sit out on our balcony and paint pictures, looking forward to that. I also wanted a new stand for my knives - I got the one I wanted. (Thanks Krisitan you didn´t need to buy me anything more!! ) My friend Audry bought me a lovely plant for my balcony. I love it. (Thanks Audry)

We actually spent the afternoon sitting out on the balcony enjoying some Coke zero and an ice cream! (Good stuff!) Late afternoon we drove up to the next town were we had arranged to meet with Kristian´s mum and dad. We took a walk around the castle there. They have beautiful gardens and fountains. One of our favourites places, as we used to live very close to these gardens.It was nice being back again.

Kristian had booked a table at one of my favourite restaurants - The Mexican. We had the most delicious food. It was a mexican buffet and I ate sooooo much. We then headed home for cake and coffee/tea. We spent the rest of the evening here at home with Kristians mum and dad.

It´s been a really lovely birthday.

A crazy idea

I´m off work and the kids are off school. It´s holiday both today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday). Nice not to have to get up at 6.00am!! So what have we planned for this loooong weekend. Well we are going to divide one of our bedrooms in two by building a wall.

We live in an apartment with just 3 bedrooms for 5 people. But we also live in one of the dearest parts of Denmark so buying a house with more rooms, is just out of the question. (We can´t move to a bigger apartment as we live in the biggest apartment in our complex.)

So when I can´t afford something I get creative and find ways to make things work...so I came up with a plan to build a wall to divide the biggest bedroom we have (which actually isnt that big) in two so we have two smaller spaces. There is logic in my maddness - somewhere!

For years Leah and Sara shared a room, but with 6 years between them Leah had to go to bed a lot earlier than Sara. It just wasn´t working, so about 2 years ago we moved our bed in with Leah. Not the best solution but it has worked. Now Leah is getting older and also needs her own space....so I came up with this crazy plan and the best thing is my husband is going along with it!!!! (Took a while to convince him, but after hundreds of drawing and explaining he has bought into this insane idea!!) It´s hard to explain here exactly what we will do so you will just have to check in over the next few days and follow the process in picture.

Below you can see Leah´s/our room as it is today. In 3 - 4 days it should look totally different. Will keep you posted.