Liverpool FC Supporters!!

I have a few Liverpool Football Club supporters in my household, and the past month or so has been the Champions League tournament (Leif says, think SuperBowl, but 100 times bigger....ok). So today - ok, last night by Athens time, Liverpool played Milan for the championship. I know the results of the game as I ended up watching the last part this afternoon and really got into it - but Leif has yet to watch the recorded game; therefore, I can not - at this time - post the results. So let's just say "Go Liverpool!"

Small Town

So I was checking out my sister's blog this morning.... looking for something funny to pick me up and I read her post about life in a small town. I thought I might copy some of the questions to my blog, and then realized that I would be answering all the questions in the exact same way as she did. I doubt plagiarism is monitored on blogger, but I will just direct you to her site anyway.

If you would like to know what life for me in a small town in the middle of nowhere South Dakota was like - just read "I was Born in a Small Town" - it might just make you want to raise your kids there!! :-)

But just one change: I graduated with 12 kids.

Just photos of the past few weeks

Hurray for the 17th of May!

Today marks Norways Constitution Day so we went to Ballard to the Sytennde Mai (17th of May) parade. There were many people wearing bunads, including my family - aren't they a handsome group?!? Leif is wearing his new bunad for the first time. Very sharp!

Campbelle borrowed a bunad from Leif's cousin Vibeke. It was made by Leif's grandmother (or Mormor, mother's mother) from the left over material that was used to make her own many years ago. Liv now wears that bunad from Erna. It was a very special dress, with lots of memories ... thank you Vibeke for sharing it with us for today.
Who's the odd person out in this group? The poor girl with only a German/Russian heritage (just kidding, see Tammy's post on why being Irish is so much cooler than German!! haha)

Christian was crazy for the parade, especially all the police motorcycles, waving the flags, and eating loads of candy! He went to bed tonight hoping he could go to another parade tomorrow... only in a perfect world of a 2 1/2 year old.

Hip hip horray for the 17th of May!

Day #11

Day #11 of the house construction. Everything is coming along really well. It has been so much fun to watch all the progress that is made each day. And more great news... our old house is sold! Hurray!

Campbelle's 4 year pictures

Is she a little doll face or what?? Here are some of Campbelle's 4th pictures. They turned out pretty good. Some look like she is about 16 ... YIKES!! Although some days with all the attitude, drama and flare - I feel like I'm already dealing with a teenager!

House - Day #2

Here is the end of the second day of construction at the new place. Now let's just hope we get our current place sold soon!!

Victoria BC

We had a nice little holiday to Victoria BC this past week with Leif's parents. Victoria is the capital of British Columbia and is located on Vancouver Island. We took a ferry ride (probably the hightlight of Christian's trip) over to the island on Tuesday and returned on Thursday.

These are views from our hotel suite. We stayed right on the marina - the kids loved watching for the sea planes to land.

This is the Capitol building. The city is a nice, romantic little town - very European in feel; much like being in the English country side. We toured it via a double decker bus (another big hightlight for Christian).

We also took a tour of the Craigdarroch Castle... Campbelle was so excited to visiting her first castle (it is where she wants to live someday, you know) and from the outside was very much impressed. The inside, however, was a little less pink, princessey and frilly than what she was anticipating. I'm sure her castle will be decorated very differently!

The trip was fantastic - a great little getaway only a few hours from home.

Butchart Gardens

A trip to Victoria would not be complete without a trip to the Butchart Gardens. What a spectacular garden that started as a hobby for Mrs Butchart 100 years ago. The above picture is the Sunken Garden - which was created from an old rock quarry (the Butchart family made their money from cement... his wife turned an old mined quarry into something spectacular). It was absolutly breathtaking.

The kids had so much fun as well. There was tons to look at and lots of paths to run. We made sure to tell the kids up front that the flowers are not for picking... only Christian didn't follow the rules, but luckily it was a small flower to picked!

The totem poles were very interesting here at the gardens and all over Vancover Island. The stories behind them and the Salish Coastal indians are really very impressive.

Have you ever.....

Place an X by all the things you've done, and remove the X from the ones you have not done. This is for your entire life!

Have you ever:
(X ) Smoked a cigarette? Dumb college days
( )Crashed a friend's car?
( ) Stolen a car?
(X) Been in love?
(X) Been dumped?
(X )Been laid off/fired? Not technically fired, but pretty much asked to quit… that was my 1 day radio gig where I got confused about my first day of work and showed up on the wrong day… plus I was terrible at announcing the weather and baseball game!!
(X) Quit your job? Never on bad terms
( ) Been in a fist fight?
( ) Snuck out of your parent's house? Too chicken...didn't want to get caught. Plus, my mom was pretty sharp...
(X) Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back?
( ) Been arrested?
(X)Gone on a blind date?
(X) Skipped school? Mostly college… but Amy Albrecht and I did skip out on our lunch hour in HS our senior year and got in trouble!!
(X) Seen someone die?
(X) Been to Canada? Just got back yesterday – I really like that country
( ) Been to Mexico?
(X) Been on a plane?
(X) Been lost physically and/or mentally? Quite sure both… and often
(X) Been on the opposite side of the country?
(X) Gone to Washington, DC?
(X) Swam in the ocean? Atlantic, Pacific and the Gulf
(X) Felt like dying?
(X) Cried yourself to sleep?
(X) Played cops and robbers/Cowboys & Indians?
(X) Recently colored with crayons? All the time
(X) Sang karaoke? More times then I ever should have
(X) Paid for a meal with only coins? I love to get rid of coins every chance I get.
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't do?
(X ) Made prank phone calls? Tons of times from Mike Goerhings house- in the days prior to caller ID
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose?
( X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue?
(X) Danced in the rain?
(X) Written a letter to Santa? Yes… I remember asking for a plastic horse for my sister Tammy – what a kind sister
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe? Every year.
(X) Watched a sunrise or sunset with someone you care about or love? Best sunrise ever was with my sister Tammy in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor, Maine. Many sunsets
(X) Blown bubbles? All the time
(X ) Made a bonfire on the beach
(X) Crashed a Party? When you're a freshman in college, do you ever really know any of the people having the parties?
(X) Gone roller-skating? Too many years ago to even remember…Herried, SD
(X) Gone ice-skating?