Norwegian Wedding Reception

This past weekend, we celebrated the Norwegian Wedding Reception.  It was nice, especially for those from Norway who were unable to attend the wedding held in America.  It was a good time and I'm extremely thankful for all those who helped put on this event.  The only way this day could have been better is to have my friends and family from America present.   The following pictures are in no particular order.

                                                       

                                                            Enjoy...

Dinner setting for the reception.  Well done! 

Kristine and I played the "shoe game".  Not

only did we play, but Kristine's parents played

also. 

Fun picture of Karl Newman and myself.  For those of you who

don't know, Karl moved to Norway a few years back

after the discovery of the Amdahl family in Norway.

He's part of the Amdahl relation in America.  It's great

having an American friend in Norway.  

Nice view from shore.  

Another dinner setting pic.  

Everyone was seated for dinner before Kristine and I

were announced for entry into the reception hall.  The 

problem we had, was knowing where to go once we

entered the reception area.  We had never seen the 

room before entering. So Bjørn directed us to our seats. 

A nice picture of Kristine and I with her parents and

grand parents from her fathers side.  

It's common in America for the newlywed couple to 

stand up and kiss while people "cling" their glasses but

in Norway, apparently, if the wedding guests shuffle their

feet, the parents of the wedding couple must stand up and

kiss.  Your lucky mom and dad (meyer) that this isn't an

American tradition.   

A fun picture of Kristine and her friends holding me.

I'm thankful they set down the correct side of me first.

Nice picture of Kristine and her 

sister Anna.  

Kristine and I with her grand parents on her mother's 

side (left), parents, and grand parents on her father's

side (right). 

Everyone having a good time!

Time to set off some Chinese lanterns. 

A few of Kristine's friends. 

Lots of random pictures of Kristine and I. 

Another view of the Chinese lanterns.  Notice the grass

on the roof of the building.  Tradition in Norway.  

All the girls in attendance around our age and younger.  

Bjørn giving a slide-show presentation of the 

wedding activities in America.  He did a great job!

I received a really nice thermos.  Great for bringing along

on hikes and fishing trips.  I desperately needed one.     

Eventually wedding gifts were placed on this table.  

Cousins and grand parents of the Bakkevig side. 

Nice picture of Kristine, her cousin Edel-Merete, and 

sister Anna. 

If I would have thought better in advance,

I would have brought an American flag to 

post in addition to the Norwegian flag.  

Kristine's grand mother is a terrific cake 

decorator.  In fact, almost all her food looks

amazing.  Norwegians call this cake the 

"meter" cake.  

A nice view of the cakes and deserts.  

Kristine and her 1 year old cousin Amalie.  

Bjørn giving the presentation. 

Nice cake made by Kristine's aunt.  

Kristine's uncle Arne caught off guard.  

Kristine's uncle Mads giving a speech.  He was nice 

and spoke in English so I could understand everything 

he said.   

Kristine and a few of her cousins.  

A good picture of Kristine's brother Eivind and cousin

Amalie.  

Arne giving his speech.  

One of many Mackerel fish I've caught over 

the past few weeks.  I've learned a lot over the

past weeks about fishing Mackerel from shore. 

My thermos :) 

This is one of our favorite gifts!  The left side of the heart

is the geographical area where Kristine grew up and the 

right is the north central WI area where I grew up.  

Don't be confused with the date below our names.  

Unlike America, Norwegians say day, month, and then

year.  Apposed to the American system of saying month

THEN the day.  So we didn't actually get married on December

7th, but rather July 12th. I enlarged this photo so it's easier to see.  

One of my favorite spots to fish on shore.  

Blake likes it too! 

About a month later...

About one month into my Norwegian adventure, I am finally "settling in" and living in Norway feels more like a lifestyle rather than a vacation.  I have been trying very hard to learn the language.  At times it feels like it'll never happen, or at least that I should know more than I do.  It's extremely frustrating and perhaps one of the most difficult tasks I'll ever accomplish.  With the exception of music, most academics are difficult for me.   Eventually I will be enrolled in Norwegian classes but until then it's up to me to try my best to learn as much as possible by my own instruction.  I cannot wait until I am fluent in Norwegian.  It'll happen some day!

This is our new car!  For now, we're sharing it.  It's

a 2002 Ford Focus with fairly low mileage considering

how old the car is.  I believe there's less than 100,000

miles on the car.   

The interior is leather which I like because

it's easier to keep clean.  Kristine appreciates

the heated seats.  It's a 5 speed 1.6 liter so it

also gets good gas mileage.  The car came with

8 alloy rims which are currently being stored in

the barn.  I look forward to putting those on.     

The car is also Blake approved!  We needed

a hatchback for Blake to have plenty of space.

We purchased a liner for the back end so his 

shedding doesn't take much to manage.  I 

hope to soon get a bike rack that attaches 

to the trailer hitch so we can drive places far

away and bike.  Possibly around the area of

Kristine's parents cabin.   

One night after a church worship meeting, 

Kristine's cousin Daniel, brother Eivind, and

I went out for a late evening fish.  That night 

I caught a ginormous mackerel.  That'll be hard

to top.   

Last Friday, Bjørn and I went to the HarborFestival in Haugesund.  There were tons of
boats with lots of history behind each one.
Bjørn did his best telling me about someof them so I "think" I know enough to explain
for the purposes of this blog.  

  

This boat is used for transportation of 

passengers up and around and throughout the

fjords.  

This is dried cod.  Typically dried for many

weeks in the north of Norway, this means

of preparing fish goes way back to when

fish was the largest export of Norway.  

Many of the boats at the festival were well

over 100 years old and impressively restored

to look almost new.  

I think this boat was the first boat to ever

go to America with Norwegian immigrants

back in 1825.  

This is an old one cylinder boat engine. 

More old boat engines...

A good example of how well some of these

boats were taken care of. 

Kristine's uncle Charles and aunt Sandra

ask her and I to be God Parents of their 

twins, Erica and Philip. Today we celebrated 

their baptism.  Notice Kristine's traditional

Norwegian outfit.  

Baptism gifts!

Apparently ring cakes aren't only for weddings

which is what I originally thought. 

The birth of Erica and Philip

happened on the 18th of April, 2014

Kristine's cousin loves pushing this 

highchair/kart around.