Christmas in North Cotes

How wonderful to have Craig, Claire, Ellie, Bekah and Lydia join us for a week at Christmas!

  Ragnar helping to paint our Christmas cookies.

 Ellie decorating our tree. 

 Enjoying our traditional Christmas breakfast - Maple Coffee Twist. 

 Watching the girls open their gifts is always so much fun.

 Were those gifts really meant for the girls?

  Abbi with his new sweater.

 Everyone knows that Omma loves candles!

  We had lots of plans and ideas of things to do, but Christmas Season seems to go hand in hand with the flu, so most of our ideas had to be put on the shelf.  Poor Claire spent most of the week in bed and the girls took turns feeling poorly - so lots of extra naps.  The other 3 of us waited until the next week to get it. 

Lydia showing us the cookies she had just decorated.

  

Ragnar cooked us a yummy Duck Meal on Christmas Eve, and a mouth watering Roast Lamb on Boxing Day, while Craig made us a delicious Turkey Dinner on Christmas Day.  Yeah for good cooks, so Omma has time for more hugs!!   

 One of Claire's friends sent along a traditional Christmas pudding.

And one of my friends made a special gluten free one for me.

The day before Craig, Claire and family left to go back to Birmingham, Ragnar left for a 3 week trip to the Philippines.

The house sure was quiet those first few days!!  But Ellie's note to me in our Guest Book kept my spirits up - she left me a kiss that would last for many, many days!!  Aren't grandkids the best?!?!

Marzipan Trial

Claire loves marzipan desserts.  Marzipan cookies are quite common in the Faroes, so each time we are there, I try and get some and hopefully surprise her with them before they dry out.

Just before Christmas I was surprised myself when I saw the pans on sale for baking the cake.  I knew I should get them and try making her a cake as her Christmas gift.  (It is known as a Norwegian wedding cake.  I have been told the newlyweds lift the top layer together - the number of layers that come off with the top layer is the number of children they will have.)

 I waited to make it until the day before she came so it would still be fresh.  

When I checked the recipe to see if I had the ingredients on hand (which turned out to be only 3) I didn't bother to read the instructions, where I would have noticed the dough needed to be refrigerated overnight. 

Oh well, Ellie and I came up with a plan to keep her mom out of the kitchen while we experimented with the cake.  I'm sure Ellie's tale of us making a cabbage pie helped keep her in other rooms too. 

 - Ellie helping to form the top layers

- putting the layers together

- Ellie helping with the final decorations

 - Surprise!!

Church Program

We usually think of them as our Daughter in law, our Bundle of Joy, our Living Doll and our Little Sunshine, but this week-end our 4 Birmingham girls were a Shepherd with his sheep, an angel and Mary, the mother of Jesus.  

How great to be in the audience and see them take part in this great story.  Of course we thought they were the best!

Claire's parents and brother were also there and we were all able to have a few hours together at the Botanical Gardens before heading back up north. 

Guess it isn't only the little kids that have fun.

National Nature Reserve

Hundreds of seals come up on the beach quite near us this time of the year.  They give birth to their pups near the sand dunes.  It is quite a tourist attraction with hundreds of people walking the beach on week ends in November and December.

Most of the students go down to observe this sight each year.  I have always wanted to join them, but invariably seemed to be involved in something else those available week ends.  Since they always came back excited about their adventure I would always tell myself that I would do it next year. 

Soon it was that time of the year again.  This time I had to be stern with myself - the Christmas cards would still be on the table when I returned.  I hoped in the car and made my way to Donna Nook. 

 I'm glad I did - although I have seen plenty of seals before, now I know what everyone has been talking about - countless seals on the beach with hundreds of people observing them, cameras clicking away, kids jumping up and down, people selling souvenirs etc. 

Fischer Hansen

It was with very sad hearts that we made our way to the Faroe Islands once again earlier this week.  We received word on Friday evening that Ragnar's sister's husband, Fischer Hansen, had suddenly passed away.  He was in a pasture near his summer home, doing what he loved to do - checking on his sheep - when his time here on this earth all of a sudden came to an end.  

Ragnar had just gone to the Philippines earlier in the week, and I was at our home in England.  Lots of phone calls, emails and texts went back and forth with family over the next few hours, until Ragnar made the decision to come home to the Faroes to be with his sister, parents and other family members.  While Ragnar was boarding an airplane in Manila, I was getting on a train in England.  All the many details went so smoothly and many hours later we met  at the Copenhagen airport, and continued on to the Faroe Islands together.  (In Manila, Ragnar was able to change the date and destination of his flight, free of charge - yea KLM!!) 

It has been good to be surrounded by family during this discomforting journey.  We sure are thankful for many wonderful memories.  Not only was Fischer our brother in law, but he was also a dear friend.  His constant smile and helping hand will certainly be missed by many. 

By God's grace Ragnar's sister and parents are holding up extremely well.  We know though that there will be countless lonely times in the coming days and weeks.  Praise Him for His constant love and assurance in I Thess. 4:13 that we sorrow not as those who have no hope.  What a special comfort to his wife, children and grandchildren.

Enjoying New Year's Eve snacks with his son-in-law and Ragnar.

In our home in the Philippines.

In our home in England.  

Last Euro Meeting

What had become Ragnar's annual trip to Spain for Euro meetings has come to an end. He recently joined the leaders from our European Sending Countries for the last time. In some ways that is hard to believe. He has enjoyed organizing this annual event and the week of meetings each year. It really doesn't seem that long ago that they were welcoming us aboard, but this was our 6th time (including the one in Italy in 2006.)

 We were with Craig, Claire and family the week-end before Ragnar flew south, plus I stayed on for a few more days. 

It was 4 against 1 in this game - in the end Ellie had more than the other 4 altogether.

Omma 'helping' Lydia put this puzzle together while the others played at the table.

On that Sunday afternoon, Claire arranged for a Filipino couple to come to their home for a cup of tea. We enjoyed a nice chat with them - so interesting to learn that they also are involved with Mother Tongue translators in the Philippines.



Helping to make Christmas Cards.

Ellie writing a note to Abbi.



Modeling sweaters Omma made for them a couple years ago!



Thinking about driving home alone on those busy highways did not excite me, but once the wheels were turning, I began to relax and 3 hr. later was turning into our driveway - safely home.

Lots of Fish

A few months ago one of the largest fishing vessels from the Faroe Islands came into port in Grimsby. (This just happens to be the town where Ragnar's Dad sold his fish for many years!) Since he knew many men on the boat, Ragnar went to visit the crew and get a little powwow in Faroese. As he was leaving the ship, he was generously given lots and lots of fish for our freezer - cod filet, cod cheeks and 2 large blocks of ground cod. We are so thankful for it and have felt blessed to be able to share it with many students, staff and members of our church.

Ragnar dividing up the fish.

This was a first time for us to have ground fish. So we have been experimenting with different dishes. Lots and lots of people have been brave enough to try this unique dish for the first time. I usually forget to take a picture of the brave folks, but here are a few.

As you might notice, they were always taken post fish tasting. They have all been good sports though!!