Hurray, hurray, America is coming my way!

Summer vacation for us has been filled with work, work and more work. Granted, I have been on sick leave but Kjetil has worked his little bum into the ground and he is currently working his last shift before "vacation" starts for us.

First up on the Olsen Family Vacation Plan is Carrie Fox! That's right, Fox. F-O-X, Fox. (Name that movie?!?)

Her and I didn't serve "together" but we both served here in Norway; she came just after me and was here when I moved back to date Kjetil. She took to calling me Grandma because I had trained her trainer and the nickname stuck. She even started calling Kjetil Grandpa once we got engaged. She is coming with her younger sister, Ali, to visit Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They are staying the first few days with us and then we will all head to the YSA conference in Denmark together. I am so excited too see her again!

And...the best part...she lives in Washington for the time being and happened to be close enough to my parents to exchange a few nice words and a whole SUITCASE full of goodies for me! :) As if it isn't good enough to have her here, she has to go and bring me a suitcase full of my life from America. Have I mentioned that I am excited to see her? And, as if that isn't enough, in the suitcase there will be two of my scrapbooks. My life, in pictures. I can honestly say that I am most excited about the pictures. I don't have many pictures with me and that has been harder than I imagined. I can't wait to see the books again and bathe myself in "my former life"! :)

Oh, I am so excited!!!

Is she here yet??????

Another wonderful wedding!

Hmm...another wedding! Kjetil's got his game face on! ;)Kjetil has been working quite a bit the last few weeks and we don't get much time together. I was so glad for the opportunity we had to go on our "date" this week.
Apparently, the romance of the wedding just wasn't doing it for Kjetil! What a beautiful shot, aye?
This is Benjamin Weggersen and he married a great girl named Ane Benedicte Andersen. My pictures lack an element of quality because I was sentence to my chair. (due to the knee injury)
I thought they put a fun spin on the traditional line at a wedding. Instead, they pranced around and twisted in and out of all the guests.
Yet again, Kjetil is ready and excited! And I caught Terjei picking his nose?!?! Haha. (I put that up for you Miles!)I took a video of the line twisting and turning. I found it funny that Ane is being twisted in what appears to be a rather painful way. And in a wedding dress, that can't be easy.

The cake cutting was normal though! :)

It was a blast to be at their wedding. They are moving to Bergen, on the other side of Norway, in just a few weeks. We have really enjoyed becoming friends with them and I am going to miss having them here in Drammen. It just gives us another reason to take a trip to Bergen!

This is mostly for the benefit of anyone that knows the Weggersen family. The Weggersens have 13 children, Benjamin is #3. All of his siblings participated in the wedding with songs, kind words and activities. Levi is 5 and he is adorable but a little shy. He loved the European Song competition that I wrote about before and has memorized the winning song, all in English. He was so adorable and we made sure he got the praise he deserved. He even did the dance but you can't really see it from my position. So cute!

Don't get up!

Since I have been on sick leave, I have been trying to find things to do with my time. I have been wanting to make Lemon Poppyseed Muffins for a long time so tonight I looked up a recipe and tried them out.

Don't they look yummy?!?!?! Haha!!! This was the last tray and I have been sitting for awhile because my knee was a little sore after baking for an hour. I kept thinking that I forgot to turn the oven off but apparently I forgot more than just that! I forgot the muffins too! At least it was only 6 and not all of the muffins.

I thought it was beginning to smell a little strange in here. :)

Dreams really do come true!

Yesterday, we got a surprise visit from some of our good friends from Stavanger. The Gulbrandsen family had taken a trip to Germany and were driving through Drammen on the way home so they called us up and we spent the afternoon together.

The Gulbrandsens have a daughter with downs syndrome named Miriam. Her and I have always had a special friendship, ever since I was a missionary. She loves to play with hair and would often sit with me at church and play with my hair. This picture is from when I was serving in Stavanger.

When we met up yesterday, Miriam came running and was saying "CarrieAnne, CarrieAnne, CarrieAnne" over and over again. It brought tears to my eyes. I love this little girl and its always a joy to spend some time with her.

We played at the park, or rather they played, I watched from a bench because of my knee. Then we headed down to the city to wait for Kjetil's train to come in.

This is NOT his train but when Miriam saw it, she wanted to take a ride. "CarrieAnne, CarrieAnne" she said, pointing and pulling me towards the train. You can't say no to that! Especially when you have secretly wanted to ride on that exact train every since you were a wee little missionary in Drammen! This train toots its way around the city shopping area each summer. It is called Tøffetoget and the same old man has been giving rides for years. I remember Kristin Miles and I joking about taking a ride on that train when our days of contacting got boring. And my day had finally come to take my first ride!
Miriam was rather pleased to have a ride as well. We payed our fee and took our seats and then the ride began. We waved to anyone and anything that came along our path and Miriam laughed the whole time. Edel Marie and Emil Andre loved the ride as well. What a great way for my hidden dream to come true! :)

Bachelorette party!

This is Tone (Toe-na) and she is marrying our good friend Kim Engstrøm. Kjetil and Kim have become great friends, they even work together at Rema 1000 and Tone and I have become good friends as well. She has been living in Oslo so there hasn't been much time together but I am so excited for her to finally move here. Kim and Tone get married tomorrow so this past weekend we had her utdrikkningslag or bachelorette party here in Drammen. Unfortunately, almost everyone was on vacation so I was the only one that came other than her sister Unni and her sister-in-law Claudia.

Since Unni has been living in Denmark, she needed help planning because we had the party here in Drammen. I have lots of extra time since I am still on sick leave with this silly knee of mine so I planned a little walk through the city... :)

Here is Tone waiting patiently for us to beginning. It is common that the bride-to-be has no clue as to what she will be doing, what she will be wearing, where she is and who will be attending.Unni and Claudia brought a Santa suit for Tone to wear. She has no clue what she has on right now! It was funny to see her expression when we took the blindfold off. Once she was dressed, we started on our walk. Along the way she had to answer questions about Kim and she did really good. For each one she got wrong, she had to chew on some bubble gum. Kim's favorite animal is a turtle so while we walked, she had to get the passer-byers to kiss a little fake turtle. If they did, she had to dance a dance and sing a song.

Another question, another piece of gum!
Kim's first job was delivering ad's, just like delivering newspapers. So, Tone got to pass out some ads to people walking by. We had written all over them; things like I love Kim, Kim is the best, Tone and Kim = true love! When Tone passed them out she had to yell "Jeg elsker Kim" (I love Kim). It was one of the funnier parts of the day. People looked so shocked when she jumped up beside them in the Santa suit and yelled that.

Then when we got to the city, she had to sell Kim's favorite type of ice cream. It was surprisingly difficult. No one wanted it. These are the only two men we got to buy some.

It was only 5 kroner or an exchange of hula-hooping! We ended up passing them out for free and still they were hard to get rid of.

No party is complete without the Elders! We saw them on the bridge, yelled out to them and they hurried in the other direction. :) Then Tone ran after them and they realized we were members. I mean really, who runs away from Santa Claus?Her last challenge was to swim out in the river after a bottle that had a prize in it.

The tides and the winds worked in her favor though. The prize was going out to see Kim at work! Together they got to pass out candy to the customers and when someone took a piece of candy, they did a little dance.

We then had dinner together, played some more games and the last part of the day was a surprise trip to a spa. Tone has really wanted that and she thought it would happen first but we saved it for last. She was thoroughly surprised and very grateful. She got a full deal too, massage, chocolate peal, eyebrow waxing and much more. It was a really fun day!

More birthday?!?!

So, I forgot to blog about the REST of my birthday! Haha!!!

No, really though. I had a rather "boring" beginning to my birthday, hence all the other posts but when Kjetil got home and convinced me to be in a better mood, the day got a lot better. I hobbled out to the car and sat on benches while he ran some errands and then we rented a movie and came back home.

He bought me some beautiful white roses, a sweet card and that was enough for me!

This is me blowing out my one big candle. We didn't have any birthday candles for the cheesecake but the big one worked. :)
With a face like that, who couldn't enjoy being the birthday girl! :)
I am still waiting for my birthday package to show up from Jamie and for my birthday SUITCASE to arrive from my parents. One of my friends, Carrie Fox is coming to visit and she is bringing me a whole suitcase of goodies. I love birthdays!

Bridal Shower Games?

I have been asked to help out with a bridal shower tomorrow...and I am suppose to have to a game with me. Does anyone have a fabulous bridal shower game that I can "take" with me? :) Americans are known for good games, don't let me down! Haha!

Did I mention its my birthday?

Okay, okay, I know this is the third post about my birthday but I love my birthday. And since it is my birthday and I am confined to the house for the time being I thought I could write down so birthday memories. So, if you don't feel like being smothered in birthday gush, skip to the next post. :)

Since my birthday is in the summer time, it typically begins in June and ends in August. Really it does. I get cards in June and sometimes am still getting presents in August. I spent a lot of birthdays on vacation. The last few years that my Grandma Sue was alive, I spend them up at her house in the woods. We would eat whatever we wanted, usually really good veggies, fruits and salmon and we would watch lots of old movies.

Another year, we took a trip over to Portland on my birthday. I got to open one present each hour and it was exciting but torture at the same time!

Another year, we were in New Mexico with my Aunt Tamie and Uncle Tim. We went to a Dude Ranch and did lots of fun things.

Another year, when I turned 12, it was the scheduled temple trip for the youth and it fell right on my birthday. I went to the temple for the first time on my birthday and I was actually baptized on my birthday as well.

Another year, I took a trip to California to visit my friend Amanda and then we drove to Idaho to visit some more friends. I celebrated my 21st birthday on that trip.

My dad has always made my birthday special. I loved to write my birthday list early, REAL early. I knew if I got it out early, I had better chances of getting LOTS of presents. :) Over the years, it has become our little game. My lists have gotten more and more detailed and his adventures have gotten more and more elaborate. This year, I am getting a suitcase of things from them when my friend Carrie comes at the end of July. I am excited to see what goodies make it into the bag!

He was always really good at telling everyone that it was my birthday. And when I say everyone, I am not exaggerating. He'd pull in to get gas and tell the guy behind the counter "I filled up on #5 and it is my daughter's birthday" or order our tickets for the movie and say "We'd like two tickets to ________ because it is her birthday today" or if we ate out, the waiter, the person that brings the menus and every other person at the restaurant was informed that it was indeed my birthday. It made me feel special. Sometimes, it made me roll my eyes but it was always funny to see how he could work that statement into any sentence! And, I have missed that today.

These are my sisters-in-law. When I was living at home, they both lived near and were always ready and willing to celebrate with me. If it was swimming, a trip to Target or Kohl's or just eating cake and ice cream, they were in. They are two amazing sisters! :)

My siblings have always made my birthdays fun too. One year, I remember Eric coming home from an extended time away on my birthday. It was so nice to have him home again. Jill always gets a card out to me, hers was the first to come this year. No ever turned down a good ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and when it was time to sing...boy oh boy did we get some good birthday songs!

A lot of my birthdays were spent with good friends. Kaylene, my best friend from high school, knew how to throw a party and usually was at the lead when my birthday came around. I remember the first year I lived in Richland, she threw me a party. I didn't know very many people that came but she invited everyone, just so that we could celebrate.

I think a lot of my birthdays, I have spent a good amount of time with my mom. Once, when I was little, she woke me up early on my birthday and took me shopping but I was had to promise that I won't tell anyone that I picked everything out. The years that she had to work, we would leave early together and get breakfast and maybe stop in at a store for something new or we would get a pedicure together. One year, we even had ice cream for breakfast.

I always felt so lucky that I got to have one on one time with her. It made me feel special, especially when she had to work so much. She'd take the time to start her day early with me just because it was my birthday. I missed that today when I woke up.

We always got to pick out a special cereal for breakfast, there was always the birthday tablecloth on the table and we got a special dinner. I usually picked the same: corn on the cob, BBQ chicken with pineapple rings and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. That was what I loved.

I remember that my Grandma Marj usually sent me flowers and that I got pretty jewelry from her and Grandpa Bob and my Aunts and Uncles would send fun gifts or just money.

My family has always been central on my birthday and I miss them so much today. As I gift to myself, I am going to call all of them. It is expensive, so I don't call as often as I would like but today is a day that I would like to hear their voices.

And, Kjetil has done a great job making my birthday special. Last year, we were on our honeymoon and he surprised me with an iPod. This year, my gift is a trip home. Just six more months before I get to cash in on that! He has sent me messages all day and tonight we are going to have ice cream and cake. And corn on the cob and chicken. :)

Happy birthday! :)

I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!

Happy, happy birthday Carrie dear, may happiness come to you all year! If I had one wish, that wish would be a happy, happy birthday to you from me!

So...because I am on sick leave, I am at home. Alone. On my birthday. Kjetil took the car, mostly because I didn't want to wake up at 6:15 this morning to drive him to the train station. And I am here, "celebrating" my birthday.

I have gotten a few cards in the mail and lots of happy birthday wishes. At my party on Saturday, I got a few gift cards and lotion and such. The most awaited present came from my in-laws and Kjetil.

We got three Greg Olsen paintings from my Aunt and Uncle for our wedding but we haven't been able to frame them. Kjetil and his parents went in together and paid for the framing of all three. As you will see in the pictures that follow, I am thoroughly pleased with how they turned out!

I was impressed that they took the sticker off the back of the picture and attached it again when they were done framing it. The sticker just tells about the picture and such but it was a neat gesture.

I absolutely love them! There is one more that I haven't opened. I want to wait for this evening so I have something to open. For those of you who know me well, you know that I LOVE my birthday. I count down to it, I remind people in May that my birthday is coming and then again in June, just in case they have forgotten. :)

I was also given two Orchid plants. I love them and I hope that I can keep them from dying. Just a little water every week. Not too hard...right?

Its my party and I will go if I want to!

On Friday, I was doing some basic cleaning in our apartment. I bent over, totally normal, no turning, no twisting, just straight down and my knee popped real loud and gave out from under me. It swelled up and was/is about double the size of my other knee. You can see it pushing out from under my pants!

Anyway, I had planned my birthday party for Saturday and I wasn't going to have a trip to the doctor getting in the way of that so I told Kjetil we could go after the party. Sadly though, I was sitting for most of my party which included swimming, volleyball, stick pulling and red rover. I couldn't help but think of the song, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to". I didn't cry though. :)

Since I was sitting most of the time, I forgot to take pictures. Opps.

I did get a few of Red Rover though! This was the cheering section, we were few but we got quite the show.

No one had ever played Red Rover before, expect for the Elders. I don't think I have played since I was a little kid but playing as an adult looked like fun!The fun part for me was hearing how the sentence "Red Rover, Red Rover send_______right over" changed through the course of the game. It evolved to Red Rover send______over. Close enough. :)

After the party we headed to the hospital. I feel like I have been sick a thousand and twenty times this year. Anyway, we got there around 9:30pm and I was sent over to X-Rays. Then, we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.

We didn't get to see a doctor until 1:30am!

I haven't pulled any ligaments and I didn't do anything so major that I need surgery but because of the swelling, they couldn't give me a clear answer as to what has happened. It just happened. I am on sick leave for a week and if it is still swollen, I need to go back and have a CT scan. Happy birthday to me!

And I'm proud to be an American!

Oh how I miss America on such a day as this! I want fireworks, BBQ's, corn on the cob, swimming and more fireworks. I have missed seeing the firework trailers and the American flags and decorations all over the place. I miss the feel of the day and the grateful feeling I have when I remember that I am an American.

On Monday we sang patriotic songs for FHE. I cried through them, could hardly sing. Living in Europe gives me the opportunity to hear differing opinions about America and all of us that live there. And all I have to say is that....I AM PROUD OF MY COUNTY!!!

My birthday is coming up, just two more days. That is another reason that I love the 4th. My birthday was usually connected with the celebrations. I remember as a little girl my Grandpa Bob would tell me that the fireworks were actually for me. That makes me cry to think of it now. I saves some sparklers and I will be using them tonight. We are having a birthday party/4th of July celebration with some members of the ward here. So, I will get my BBQ, a small firework "show" (put on by yours truly) and I might even swim (if it doesn't rain...)

And, I love that the song "I'm Proud to be an American" has this line in it:

And there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA!

Because what good American doesn't say "ain't no doubt" every once and awhile! :)