Deck the halls...

Well the run up to Christmas is well underway and I've been pretty busy all week. It was Heather's last day of school last Friday and to make things even more festive, we had a raging blizzard! Sounds very nice but not when I had to battle through the snow to get the bus there and back with Hamish in the buggy! Anyway Michelle asked if Heather wanted to go back with her to play with Mathias and Emma for the afternoon. She ended up sleeping over!

Jamie, Michelle and I went into town on Friday night late night shopping to get some last minute gifts. It was nice because the snow made it all Christmassy. After the shopping we headed to one of Bergen's few Indian restaurants for a quick bite to eat. Our quick bite to eat ended at 1am!!! The beer was soooooo cheap there so we had to stay longer!

Had a really busy day on Saturday. Went food shopping for the party on Sunday then headed back to cook and clean the house. Phew!

On Sunday we had a Christmas party in the house for my friends and the kids. Ziela didn't come as Nadja was sick but everyone else came: Michelle and Jørgen with Mathias and Sanne. Jamie and Torbjørn with Emma, Daniel and Amanda. I made a festive buffet of turkey, ham, pasta salad, cranberry sauce, mini roast potatoes, chips, dips and artichoke dip (from Jamie). I then followed it with home made trifle, mince pies and almond cookies from Michelle. All very yummy and washed down with some gløgg made with red wine. It's a bit like mulled wine but much sweeter and more aromatic. We all opened presents and had fun.

Monday and Tuesday were quite, just pottering around the house tidying etc.

Yesterday was my birthday and was woken at 6.30am to open my presents before Alan went to work. I got a DVD, CD, watch and jewellery. At lunchtime, Ziela picked us up and went to Michelle's where she had a small party for me. We had ris-grøtt for lunch (norwegian festive porridge with sugar and cinnamon) then we had a very lovely chocolate and marshmallow cake that Jamie made for me. They gave me a book on shoes and a popcorn maker (VERY COOL). Later Alan and the kids took me out for dinner to a local Italian pizzeria.

I haven't taken any pictures for ages but I think Michelle has so I'll try and get some and post them soon.