A long day....

It´s been one long day! I`m feeling so exhausted right now. I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday and an easy day at work. School stops tomorrow so there is a special programme planned for the day. Then I have only 1 week left before I stop for 4½ weeks! 


So the reason I am feeling so tired this evening is because I haven´t stopped all afternoon. After work it was home to clear up, shop and get ready for Sara´s class to come and visit. This is a Danish tradition. A few days after they graduate, they go out driving in a special lorry and visit each others home. Sara`s class had 27 homes to visit today and they were due to come to us at 7pm. 


I made a load of sandwiches, had loads of fruit and also crisps and peanuts. There was loads of water and soda. I made a welcome drink of pear cider with a strawberry and blackberry. I was so worried that there would not be enough food for 27 young people. 

So we waited and waited for the lorry to arrive. 7pm came and went! Leah decided to use the time to take some photos.

 Finally at 8pm the lorry arrived....

 We all gathered on the grass area outside our apartment.

 Sara enjoyed her sandwich.

 After 15 minutes they all left again. They still had 6 more houses to visit and I had a pile of sandwiches and fruit that hadn´t been touched. They hardly ate or drank anything.  So when they were gone we invited our neighbours out to help us eat some of the food. We had such a cosy evening together with them so it was acutally great that the food didn´t all get eaten!

Sara´s graduation....

Today Sara graduated. After 3 years of study she graduated in a Higher Handels Exam which is an exam in sales and marketing.

Over the last few weeks Sara had 4 written exams  and 6 oral exams. Today was the last oral exam. While she was inside at the exam, we were waiting outside. It´s the tradition in Denmark that if the student passes then the family are waiting to put the graduation hat on his or her head. So Kristian, Andrew, Leah and I were waiting anxiously outside with her hat. Kristian´s mum came along too.

 Once the exam was finished she came out smiling. That was the give away that things had gone well, and they had. She had passed her last exam, she was graduating! 

Her class mates were waiting on her with some roses.

 

 

 Kristian´s mum got the honour of putting her graduation hat on her head. Then there were more roses and flowers for her.

 

 For the next week or so, young people run around with these hats on their heads. Sara was so happy to finally have hers. I on the other hand am so happy that it is not me who has to run around for the next week or so with this on my head.....it´s really not a pretty sight! haha

 After all the excitement at the school we headed into Copenhagen to a lovely Italian restaurant for lunch.

Our niece Sigrid also graduated today, so after being in Copenhagen we headed down to visit her. She was having a reception for friends and family. So the rest of the day was spent there eating loads of food! 


Over the next few days the celebrations continue. This is really a big thing here in Denmark. So I have a few busy days ahead. 


Sara did so well in her exams and we are so proud of her. Now she is taking a year off from the studies. She is trying to find a job so she can earn a little money in the hope that she can move into Copenhagen very soon.

Summer has gone.....

Friday we woke up to rain. It rained all day and felt very much like Autumn. While I was at work I planned our evening as a family. I decided that we would rent a good film, curl up on the sofa with our duvets, light some candles and eat some junk food. (I was hoping the rest of the family would like this idea too!)  I could hardly wait to get home from work. I left work and dropped by the supermarket on the way home to do some food shopping, I was still sooo looking forward to the evening ahead. However, when I came out of the supermarket the gray clouds had disappeared, there were blue skies and sunshine and I was just soooo disappointed. The weather had turned lovely and all my plans for a lovely cosy evening by candle light were gone. The atmosphere was just not there anymore!

Since Friday evening turned out gorgeous we decided we would head out again as a family. So we went to explore some of the towns close by. We had a lovely evening together - Andrew, Leah, Kristian and me. (Sara, as usual was not home!) We drove out to another lake - the views were wonderful. Unfortunately we have no photos of the evening.:-( (I can´t find my camera! It is somewhere in this house, I just don´t know where!! Maybe it´s time to clear up a bit!)

Saturday morning was spent cleaning and the afternoon spent preparing Sunday School. Then at 4.30pm my friend Anne came by. We girls were having a girly night out. We headed to Copenhagen. We usually eat locally (we like to support our local cafe)  but Saturday evening we had tickets for a cinema in Copenhagen so dinner had to also be in Copenhagen.

We had a delicious meal at a Turkish/Greek restaurant. We talked non-stop for 4½ hours and we didn´t even realise the time going by. There were soooo many things we didn´t get to talk about. Suddenly it was 9.15pm and we had to be at the cinema for 9.30pm. We were going to see Westlife´s farewell concert which was being transmitted LIVE to cinemas around Europe from Croke Park in Dublin. I was sooo excited. I have loved Westlife from the start so I was totally on a high to be going to see them live. It was a brilliant concert and what a great idea to show it LIVE. It was really special seeing it on a huge screen and I sung my wee heart out, waved my arms about like a nutter and a few times was up dancing and clapping! Now I can´t wait for the DVD to come out. 

A quick question...

Do I eat too fast or does Anne just talk a lot??? (Answer: Anne talks A LOT!!!! hihi)

So we got home at 1am and we were feeling it! We could hardly keep our eyes open. Not as young as we like to think that we are! We had had a great evening out. (Thanks Anne)

After church on Sunday we spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Just what I needed.

Now a busy week has begun again. A lot is happening this week, but more about that at a later date.

Now I need to get to bed. 

Summer has come....

...at least for today!


While at work today, I decided that for dinner I would buy some delicious sandwiches and we, as a family, would head out to the lake and eat dinner. That´s what we did.

As you can see my man is back! He had a great time at Le Mans. It was an amazing experience for him, a dream come true.  I don´t think it will be the last time he does that. 

It was a really beautiful evening and we had such a cosy time together. After a couple of hours at the lake we  took the scenic route home. All in all a very enjoyable and beautiful evening.


The weather forecast does not look promising for tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday.....rain, rain and more rain!

Happy Father´s day Dad!

Earlier today I discovered it was Father´s day! Better late than never! So this afternoon I decided to make a special video for Dad. I had it all made and was ready to upload it when it just disappeared. (I know I did a stupid thing, I decided to publish it before I got around to saving it!) Even though I searched everywhere on my computer I just couldn´t find it. It was gone, so I had to start all over again. 


So finally the video is ready for you dad. 


Thanks for being a great dad. I remember as a wee girl I thought there was no other dad as good as you, and I still think that! 


You have been such a good dad. I remember so many good times with you. Let me share some of them with you.


 I remember....
....the wee red organ you made me when I was about 4 years old. 
....thinking nothing was impossible for you do, make or fix.
.....feeling safe when you were around.
.....sitting on your knee while you read stories to me.
.....the times you took me to Macdonalds in May Street for a burger.
.....the times you collected me from school.
......going out with our cameras.
......visiting bookshops together
......watching the God channel together and having great discussions.
.....reading the same books and sharing our thoughts on them.
......going for fish and chips.
.......going for our Ulster Fry in the wee cafe round the corner.

The list could go on, but I better stop. Dad, watch the video, it is made with lots of love from me to you. Thanks for all the love you give me and all the lovely memories we have made together. I love you.

Happy Father`s Day

Memories

I love making memories! The last few evenings I have spent in front of the computer putting together a couple of films of our trip to Paris. I have been wanting to do this ever since we came back a month ago,  but just have not had the time before now.


While sitting down to make these Paris videos, I found some old home movies. One of them was from 2004 when we went camping  in France. The kids were so young and so cute. It really is great to be able to capture memories on film this way.There were things on those films that I had forgotten all about. (I must post some of them sometime so I have them on the web, just in case our computer goes dead!)


So for anyone interested here are a couple of videos from our trip to Paris.


Thursday and Friday below.....

Saturday below....

A Grass Widow

Kristian is away for the week and so I am, what the Danes call, a grass widow!

Kristian is living out one of his dreams! He unexpectantly got the opportunity to go to LeMans and be an official at the race! The trip itself would be paid for, he would just have to buy some food for himself. He has always dreamed of going to Le Mans and to get to be an official, that is just an extra bonus.  He is together with 6 other guys that he knows from his go-kart world. They left early Monday morning, 7 guys in two cars and they all arrived safely at Le Mans Tuesday morning. 

 He is just loving this. Last night he walked the 13km track, it took him 3 hours! I think the only thing he probably won´t be loving about this trip, is having to sleep in a tent at the racing grounds. There is no luxury there, everything is very simple and basis! Ah well the things you do for the love of racing!

Meanwhile I am at home holding the fort. Yesterday (Tuesday) I was visiting my old lady friend. Then from there I went off to play Granny. It was Jette and Filip´s wedding anniversary and so I was looking after their two kids so they could go on a date. I had a blast! They are just so funny, lovable, talkative and cute. I had such a great evening with them.

I have also had the opportunity to sit out on our balcony. The weather has been lovely and I have actually had some time to sit and relax out there. I organised the balcony a few weeks back but haven´t had the opportunity to use it. Either the weather was bad or I was too busy to sit and relax out there. So I have really enjoyed having some time to hang out there with one of my books! I can´t believe my plants are still alive, I think that must be a record!! 

 Shadow just loves the balcony with all its plants and flowers.

Such fun....

Yesterday, (Saturday) we attended The Walsøe Family day. Kristian´s mum´s maiden name was Walsøe and so she, her brother and sister, along with their cousins arranged a Walsøe day for the whole family. All the children and grandchildren to these Walsøes were invited along. We were many!! 

The afternoon started with cake and coffee. Then it was play time in the gym. What fun we had.

Leah had no problem rolling around in this.....

Mother on the other hand had a lot of problems....

The pictures speak for themselves.....

Tanja, Signe and I enjoyed running up to jump unto the big soft, spongy mat at the end....

Only one problem - once we were in the big soft, spongy mat, we couldn´t get out of it:-) 

Next challenge was this. It couldn´t be that hard to do, could it? 

Ok let´s try again....

IT WAS TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME!! 

 I needed the help of 4!!! But what a laugh we had! 

It´s been years since I played basketball. Had a good game with Andrew, my niece and my mother-in-law`s cousin who I kept calling Flemming but found out later that that was not his name! haha 

 After we had all the exercise we could cope with we gathered together to hear old stories from days gone by. We looked at our family tree and heard stories about the different people who got us to where we are today. It was really interesting.

Then we ate a delicious dinner. Everything prepared and served for us. After dinner Kristian, his sister Signe and his brother Søren performed a few songs for us. 

My hubby blew his wee heart out on his sax. It sounded brilliant! He and Signe played a song that he wrote for our nephew`s baptism. 

Then there was a surprise. Simone came to sing a few songs for us. Now who is Simone? When she was about 11 years old she won a talent contest on Danish TV. Way back then Signe was her singing teacher and as she has gotten older her singing has just gotten better and better. She has made 4 CD´s here in Denmark and is pretty well known here. Signe usually goes with her when she performs and plays piano! 

 So last night we got to mingle with the rich and famous! haha  

Keep an eye out for Simone, one of these days she might  just make it big internationally!