2010 Christmas Letter

Greetings from Norway! God Jul to you and your families!

Well, I can honestly say 2010 has been an eventful and life-changing year for the Beard family!

Spencer continues to work for ConocoPhillips...he started the year back in Houston on the project he had originally been hired on with called Yanbu and after a series of unexpected events, namely the project being cancelled, our move to South Korea was no more. After the cancellation of the project, Spencer was sent to Borger, Texas in the panhandle to work on a refinery project temporarily until a permanent position became available. Amazingly, within just a few weeks of being there, we received word that he had been selected for a project in Stavanger, Norway! It all happened very quickly! Yanbu was cancelled in late April, Spencer went to Borger in early May and was there two months, and then we moved to Norway in mid-July! It has really been whirlwind!

We have now been in Stavanger, Norway for over 5 months and I can honestly say the adjustment has been relatively smooth! Certainly, there are some benefits to being in Norway - the big one...many people speak some amount of English, so the language barrier is much less of an issue! Other perks...traveling in Europe is relatively easy! We have made a couple trips so far with more planned in the near future! Our first trip was a long weekend in Bergen, Norway. Then, over the fall break from school we traveled to Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany. This holiday, we are visiting Prague, Czech Republic. We hope to visit Italy in the spring. I also did a girls' trip to London in early December and will be heading to Budapest, Hungary in February with the COP Spouses' Network!

Brendan and Kyla took to their new school with great ease! The International School of Stavanger has been great! It is truly an international school with dozens of countries being represented. They are both in Norsk class and learning the language (and teaching Spencer and I a bit too!) They have wonderful teachers and the curriculum seems to match fairly well with what they would be learning in the US. They have had many neat opportunities to experience new things and meet all kinds of people and that has been such a blessing! I think the biggest highlight for Brendan was the 4-day trip to Leirskole at Gullingen! Kyla has definitely been our "social butterfly" and she has more friends than we can keep track of! Brendan played soccer in the fall and Kyla participated in a dance class at the school and joined the Girl Scout Brownie group.

We had one big scare with Brendan and that resulted in us getting a taste of socialized medicine. He fell and broke his arm at school in early October and spent the night in the hospital and had minor surgery to set it and cast it. Luckily, the cast came off just in time for outdoor school!

We have made many new friends here and are enjoying spending time with their families. Several arrived about the same time we did, so we have a lot in common and can share our successes, frustrations, and helpful hints about things we have stumbled across, good places to find desired items, and just hang out.

I am filling my time with numerous activities and have joined two organizations - People Who Connect (PWC) and the COP Spouses' Group. I also walk with friends once a week, take yoga, volunteer at the school, and find time to enjoy lunch and lots of window shopping around town (too expensive to make too many purchases though!) I am a Room Mom for Brendan's class and help out with numerous activities with Kyla's class. I can definitely say I am not bored and I am still behind on all my hobbies, although I have read quite a few books on my Kindle!

We are currently adjusting to the short days and longer dark periods as well as the cold, ice, and snow. We are getting all the gear figured out and realize that you just can't get by or do without proper winter gear! The ice and snow are definitely new experiences for us Texans!

I guess the latest news is that Spencer has accepted a new position as a Sub-Sea Facilities Manager that will keep us in Norway until at least the end of 2013! We are pleased with the prospect of staying here and are considering whether or not to actively search for a slightly larger furnished apartment or house. We actually love the location we are at now and the convenience it offers being less than 5 minutes from the school, near a shuttle bus stop for Spencer, and walking distance to the grocery store and mall. We all agree it would be hard to give that up!

I guess that about sums up our year! We, unfortunately, are not sending out the traditional photo cards we usually do this year, but I did want to do a Christmas letter. We sincerely hope it finds you all well and ready for a new year to begin!

Here are the ways you can reach us or read about the "adventures" of our family:

Pouch Mail:

ConocoPhillips
Spencer Beard
Stavanger, Norway Pouch
P.O. Box 4569
Houston, TX 77210
(this requires just a regular US stamp, but will only handle flat mail and a smaller size padded envelope, perhaps)

Our apartment:

Spencer and Shauna Beard
Madlastokken 1, Apt. H0701
4042 Hafrsfjord, Norway
(this would be air mail)

Email: srbeard180@gmail.com

Skype: shaunabeard or use my email address to search

Blog: katybeardsadventures.blogspot.com

Facebook: Shauna Beard


I realize I do not have emails for everyone on my usual Christmas card list, so feel free to share my email or blog site if someone asks about us.

Again, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas (God Jul) and a Happy New Year! We hope to hear from you soon!

The Beard Family
Spencer, Shauna, Brendan, and Kyla