Manafossen and Dalsnuten

Hey Everyone!

I know you are anxiously awaiting my blogs about our Poland vacation...I promise, they are coming!  If you are on Facebook, I have posted albums there already :)  But first, at the end of my last edition, I promised pictures from our hike to Manafossen we took on March 24.  Here are just a few of the dozens I took!  We hiked around to the back side and sort of weaved our way around to get right up by the waterfall.  The weather was spectacular and the hike was the perfect way to spend our afternoon - a wonderful distraction and another beautiful piece of Norway scenery and nature!

Cutie Patootie Kyla

Just love this view

Looking down onto the waterfall

Lunch break...Brendan's favorite time!  He is a hungry boy!

Me and all my jackets and hoodies...just in case

Spencer enjoying the little pond just before the waterfall

Yesterday was the school's big fundraiser for the year - the International Festival.  We love this because parents from various countries get together and have food booths with treats from their countries...we ate our way through :)  I helped out at the USA booth for an hour or so, the kids put lots of tickets in the many raffle baskets (no wins this year...) and Kyla had her face painted.  Here is a picture - it looked so good!

This weekend we were blessed once again with that bright, shiny thing in the sky...think it is called the sun...although there was a pretty cold wind blowing, we took off for Dalsnuten.  We hiked there once before, but it has been a while.  Here are a few shots from today.  Oh, and  I have to mention...the perfect example of crazy Norwegian weather: we set off in the sunshine, had a large cloud some over us and drop a few tiny snowflakes/sleet that only lasted a couple minutes.  Then, sun again while we were at the top.  On our way down, we had a harder snow shower, but it was bright and sunny again by the time we made it to the car...all in a span of an hour.  Now how do you plan for that?

Still can't believe I live here with all this beauty!

Can see the snow on the mountains in the distance

Here I have zoomed in on Ullandhaug Tower.  This is pretty close to our apartment

Kyla

Brendan

Shauna standing on a rock...I feel so tall!

Can you see the snow?

Back at the car park where the sun has returned

So, a busy weekend for the Beards after vacation and a 4-day school/work week.  Next blog, I promise, will be the start of our Poland vacation memories!

March Disappeared...

It is the eve of our next vacation adventure and I realized I have not written a thing in over a month!  To be perfectly honest, March just passed us right by.  It was a very busy and very emotional month for the Beard family.

At the tail end of February, we knew things were declining pretty rapidly for Spencer's mom, so we started the month with lots of worries and many decisions and plans to be made to get everyone to Mississippi.  I had booked a trip to Vienna with the COP spouses group months earlier, so it was decided I should, indeed take the weekend trip and then immediately upon my return, Spencer would head to the states, so that is what we did.

Despite the other stresses, the ladies trip to Vienna was absolutely fantastic - well planned, great group of ladies (15 total,) and lots to see and do!  We also scored big with amazing weather - lots of sun and mild temperatures!  The organizer arranged for our group to have private tours with an excellent guide named Lisa.  She took us on a couple walking tours and also spent a morning at Schonbrunn Palace.  Among the many places we visited, some of the highlights for me were St. Stephens Cathedral, Schonnbrun Palace, Spanish Riding School (home of the famous Lippizaner stallions,) and of course, any restaurant serving schnitzel!!!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Inside the Franciscan Church

The large pedestrian mall area - tons of shopping!

This old carriage was in one of the small courtyards our guide led us through

Statue in the palace area downtown

View in Heroes Square

This statue was built as a memorial to those who lost their lives during the plague

And that was just the first afternoon!  We also visited Mozart's home, enjoyed a lovely concert of classical pieces from famous composers of Vienna, and many other things over the weekend.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Albertina Square

Inside the Anglican Church  - loved this one!

Crown jewels in the Treasury Museum

Just thought this one was absolutely fantastic - all those big stones!

Some of the ladies shared my love of schnitzel...yes, we shared - they were huge and best I have ever had!

My fellow horse rider and I toured the Spanish Riding School.  This is the tack room.

This is where they perform daily.  Unfortunately, we could not see the show, but the tour was very interesting!

The organ in St. Stephen's

The following day we spent the morning at Schonbrunn Palace and then had the afternoon to wander.  I spent this afternoon with Celine where we hit the famous Saturday market and then took the subway over to the famous ferris wheel in Prater.  And, yes, we rode it too!

Schonnbrun Palace - the royal summer home

The view from the back of the palace - gardens and the huge memorial in the distance

The Wiener Riesenrad

In the ferris wheel car

One view from up high.  It was a bit hazy, but lovely view

The view of the rest of the amusement park

Street performers were all along the pedestrian mall

So, the trip was wonderful...

Upon my return, Spencer got on a plane the following morning to be with his family.  The kids and I held out for most of the week waiting to see what we needed to do and ended up flying out on Friday morning.  Mom/MawMaw was waiting for us and once she had her entire family there with her, she said her goodbyes and passed away early Wednesday morning.  We are so blessed that we could be there with her and Dad/Pop.  It was a very difficult couple weeks for everyone...The visitation was on Thursday and so many people came by to express their condolences.  Joyce was a very special lady and loved by many.  We celebrated her life on Friday and laid her to rest at Harmony Cemetery near her parents.

We then made our trek back to Stavanger and tried to get back to the business of life here.  Spencer headed back to work, Kyla to school, and Brendan...well, sweet Brendan was quickly re-packed and sent off on his week-long 5th grade trip to Gullingen in the mountains.  There, he was introduced to cross-country skiing and had plenty to distract him, which was a good thing for him.  As much as he wasn't so sure about going, he ended up having a great time.  I spent the week trying to get back into the swing of things too!

We ended up having some wonderful weather last weekend and hiked up Manafossen all the way to the waterfall this time.  I will have to post some pictures of that next time around...but let me say, breathtaking!

Now, it is the end of March and we are off to Poland tomorrow for our much anticipated Easter vacation.  I am sure I will have much to blog about from our trip, so hopefully I will be a little better about my blogging next month. :)  We can always hope anyway...!

Headed into Spring!

So, an update since my last monologue...

We finally (after much pestering from me...) purchased a newer used car!  It is a Subaru Forester and most importantly...drum roll please...automatic transmission!  In saying that, I am so, so glad I know how to drive manual and I am also glad I have my license to drive a manual here, but I do love automatic!  Plus, it is much more my style - a little more small SUVish and I like that too!

So, we had the Ford Focus all cleaned up and are in the process of trying to sell it.  We definitely don't need two cars and we really need to find it a good home and recoup our funds ;)

Last Sunday, the weather was cold, but sunny, so we headed over to Sola Stranden for a walk on the beach.  Despite the chilly temps, it was beautiful.  

We also stopped and took a picture of Three Swords from the opposite side...I have only ever taken pictures from one direction and realized how beautiful it was from the other side.  So, here it is...

Otherwise, it has been more of the usual around here.  The kids had their winter break last week and I have to say, the week flew by!  We actually had 3 gorgeous days (which were not in the forecast!)  So, we certainly made use of those days by getting out and going for walks and bike rides :)  

We also managed to organize and pull of a VERY successful 11th birthday party for Brendan!!!  I was a little concerned about the turnout since it was planned for the end of the break, but as it happened, 7 out of 8 boys were able to come!  Brendan really wanted a party at home, so the plan was movie, legos, Wii, pizza, etc., since you absolutely can't count on the weather here; we TOTALLY lucked out and had one of the warmest, sunniest days yet for this time of year!  So, 8 energetic boys got some serious outside playtime with nerf guns, play swords, and lots of running!  That made this momma super happy!  They also had a great time battling on Guitar Hero!  Now, I just have to get past the fact I have an 11 year old...geez, seems like yesterday that little bitty baby was in the NICU with a little feeding tube...now we can hardly seem to fill up that tummy of his!

Planning their attacks...

Trevor, Jaap, and Vidar enjoying the Wii

Jaap, Struan, Kai, Jakub, Vidar, and Matteo watching Brendan open his presents.

The whole gang - lft to rt - Kai, Matteo, Trevor, Kyla, Jaap, Struan, Vidar, Jakub, and Brendan

We let him open one gift from us before the party...a 2nd Wii guitar and boy did it come in handy!  The rest we saved for today.  He was quite pleased with all his goodies :)  

So, birthday parties are done for a while and I have to say, both went off without a hitch this go round!  

Spencer has been pretty busy with work lately and is back to the weekly day trips to Oslo.  As most of you certainly know, his mom is very ill, so that has been weighing heavily on our minds as well.  

As for upcoming events...I am off to Vienna on Thursday with the COP spouses for our yearly trip!  Spencer will be on daddy duty...and you can be sure I have left plenty of notes and instructions :)  LOL!  Our next family vacation will be over the Easter break where we will be visiting Krakow and Warsaw, Poland!  Once again, our vacation planner extraordinaire has prepared an amazing itinerary for us (thank you, Barbara!)  Then...in May...Spencer and I are going on a cruise sans kids!  I know!!! We will be joining the Meadows for a RCL Eastern Mediterranean cruise and also celebrate our 15th anniversary (just a month late!)  So many holidays to look forward to!!!

So, I think that is all for now!  Stay tuned, as the next blog will be about my Vienna trip with lots of pictures :)