Almost Christmas :)

With Christmas approaching, these are exciting times in Norway.  Although there is no snow where we live on the island of Karmøy, the Christmas spirit is live and well.  A few photos about Christmas will be on the "post Christmas" blog. I left those out purposely to be explained after Christmas.  And!  The Packers are playing really well and ranked #1 in the league so it doesn't get much better :) 

                                         Enjoy...

I was hoping this wouldn't end up being the first picture.

Unfortunately when I upload photos to this blog, they 

appear in random order.  This may seem like 4 used tires

and hub caps.  But really, it was a great day for me when

Bjørn put the new tires on the Focus.  I cannot stand

hub caps.  I was soooo pleased when the new tires with alloy 

rims were put on the car.

See? Much better! 

Hurray!!! My visa was accepted. This

document was mailed to me a while

 back confirming that I am able to stay

 here until next November 27th.  Obviously

 I would then reapply but reapplying

is much simpler than applying for residency  in

the first place.  

As a nice gift in celebration of the visa

application being accepted, Bjørn brought

over these flowers.  

And a scratch lottery Christmas calendar.

I have a good feeling about this...

When Kristine bakes, she sometimes goes all out.

These are "a few" of the gingerbread cookies she 

made one evening.  I eat many of these each day

and I love them.  They're great, but I have a feeling

that once they're all gone and I've eaten 100 of them,

I'll be able to wait until next Christmas for more.  

 Last summer (2013) I visited an area in Norway
in which was occupied by the Germans during
WWII.  These next few photos were taken in
another area of similarity.  Located on the southern
part of Karmøy.  

This whole area is called Syreneset Fort.  

There are some great view points of the north sea.

During WWII a cannon would have been placed

here.   

This is a distant look at one of the bunkers.

For more information, visit this website:

http://visitkarmoy.no/syrenese-fort

Sølvi and I took a hiking trip to this fort.  It's fun taking

a trip to areas such as this.  In this photo, we're currently

in a lookout building/fort.   

I wonder how many forts/bunkers we walked past

not evening knowing they were there.  Some of them 

are hidden really well.  I spose that was the point.

That small window square is actually a small

square window.  We believe they used it for

seeing people before they entered the fort.  

Last weekend, Blake, Kristine, and I 

took a trip to her parents cabin in the

mountains.  2 hours NE from where we

live.  Blake has his area where he's allowed

and waits patiently until our next adventure.

Kristine's sister Anna, brother Eivind, and 

father Bjørn were also there.

Driving 2 hours NE of Karmøy makes a huge 

difference in terms of snow accumulation.  There is

not one trace of snow at our home but the cabin

sure has a bunch.  This is Bjørn and Sølvi's cabin.

These are cabins nearby.  

My first skiing trip was last weekend.  It went 

better than I thought although I have much to 

improve upon.  I focused so much on skiing properly

that I hardly got the chance to appreciate the nature

around me.  Eivind was also with us on this trip

but unfortunately someone needs to take the picture.  

When we got back from the cabin, we has some hail.

Actually, it's been hailing off and on this past week.  

Considering we live on a farm, it's nice to utilize

the space.  Blake and I are playing fetch in this photo

in the sheep field.  This picture gives a better look

of the property than pictures from other blog posts.  

After my last blog post, someone mentioned to me

that I take a lot of photos with Blake in them.  My 

response is this..."Blake often times gets in the pictures

because he's running around and happens to be in them,

and also, all pictures look better with a Dalmatian in them.

Blake is quite photogenic if you ask me.  

Kristine's cousin and my friend Daniel had a rehearsal

and setup before his concert.  I agreed to make pulled

pork for him and his band..  It turns out 

that on that very day, we had a storm come

through the area and the power went out.  The pork

was supposed to slow cook for 8-9 hours.  Unfortunately

it wasn't as good as I had hoped, but for next time Daniel,

it will be much better :)

This photo was taken of Daniel and his band "Tiny

Path" at last nights concert.  They perform Christian 

rock music.  

Behind the property we live at, there are a few hiking

trails.  People have clearly built up this area in the

woods.    

A camp fire area as well as an obstacle course. 

And fort.

And firewood protector.