Still travelling

We left Førde to come to Mariannes brothers house at Karmøy. It is windy here. I know Yinchuan is windy to, but here the wind is beating on the wall (and Steinar has been taking a boat) so we feel it in a different way. The travel to the east of Norway will be interesting for Marianne and Rebekka, as we are flying. Steinar has to go to Førde to pick up the car that "broke" on the way to the west of Norway. The mechanics has really taken their time, and we still don't know if they even know what the problem is. At least in China it seems that they fix things fast.

Rebekka on the swing.

Rebekka loves to find places to sit.

Rebekka is really enjoying spending time with her cousins, and it seems like they enjoy her to. The weather in Norway is very different from Yinchuan, so we do dress Rebekka differently. It is harder for Marianne, who is still growing, the jackets don't really fit all the time, so she has to let fashion be fashion and just dress in what ever makes sense according to the weather.

It is colder, and definitely more wet.

Rebekka is borrowing her cousins Grandmother for a bedtime story.

We are still eating a lot, hopefully we will stop that soon. Yesterday we met some friends, had homemade lasagna, and chocolate mousse + extra chocolate... We were so stuffed when we went to bed, it was almost hard to fall asleep.

Baking with uncle.

And the video is of Rebekka and her dad playing one of Rebekkas favorite games.

Rebekka has fallen in love

With a swing. She loves being outside, well, that's not exactly news, but every time we are outside, she has to go on the swing. Saturday she stayed on for 45 min, the only reason she got off was that some cats came by and needed to be looked at. She has also found a substitute for her rocking horse.

This is some of our last days with Steinar's family. It has been great weather (thankfully) so we have been able to be outside most days. We do have clothes for Rebekka, but us parents don't have clothes for sideways rain. Yesterday we were inside almost the whole day, and that was a trial. Last week Rebekka's cousins were off school, so they were really good taking her outside to play.

Rebekka and her big playmate.

Making buns.

I am almost as fond of traditions as Gail, so we were thinking of starting a Jessie tree. So we had to bring out our creative sides and make a tree with leaves (For you who don't know what it is, it can be googled). I think it will turn out very nice.

Our Jessie tree.

Rebekka and Steinar in folk costumes, at the wedding.

Steinar's brother and his beautiful wife.

Most people, when they return to their home countries, miss a lot of the food. It has been really nice to drink tap-water and to eat Norwegian bread, chocolate, jam and so on. But we are missing the feeling of not being stuffed. We eat so much and we eat all the time, because in Norway we have at least 4 meals a day, and coffee with something good in between. So we might be fat when we return:)

May I please have some chocolate?

Nationalism

Being in China have made us realize that we are quite nationalistic. Coming back to Norway we can see why. The first week has been filled with beautiful weather, a lovely fall with all the colors that follow. A wedding and then a trip to the west of Norway to see mountains raising from the fjords, waterfalls, snow and rain. Yes we did get some rain in Yinchuan in the end, but nothing like this:) We do like to have some rain. The only downside is that Rebekka has no clothes for weather like this, so it gets a little expensive.

Snow, mountains, sun and fog. 

Rebekka has now met all but one cousin. She loves playing with them and they like playing with her too, so that is nice for us grownups. Rebekka did very well on our drive yesterday it took about 8 hours in the car and 12 in total. We needed some good brakes to just walk and enjoy the snow on the mountains. We are so surprised over how well Rebekka is doing with all the new people and places. She is also over her jet-lag (we think) and slept until 7.30 today, with only one wakening at about 6'ish.

Rebekka playing with stones.

People living in the middle of nowhere. 

The wedding was also beautiful, in Norway weddings lasts about 12 hours from the ceremony starts until the guests and couple live. Steinar said some words on behalf of the family and he did very well. dinner lasted about 3 1/2 hours so that was not to long either. We had a great time. (Maybe pictures might come later).

A Norwegian fjord.

Time is however more stressful in Norway so far. We have been traveling a lot and met so many people, so settling here for a while will be nice.

Snow is interesting.

Traveling Home

It has been an interesting week. We left Yinchuan last Sunday and went to Beijing to get visas to go to Mongolia. That was easy. In August Steinar tried to get visas and stood in line for hours without getting one. This time it was no problem, and when we landed in Ulaanbataar we realized that Norwegians usually can apply for visas at the airport, no problem!

Welcomed by a Mongolian celebrity.

In Beijing we enjoyed a good cup of coffee, a last goodbye to Deborah and her mom and texts from two coming parents who were counting contractions and therefore could not meet us for lunch, very understandable.

Mongolian scenery.

Wednesday the trip went from lovely 20oC in Beijing to very cold 0oC and snow in Ulaanbataar. Marianne did not have clothes for that, but Rebekka did, so that was fine. And we spent most of our time indoors (in non-heated buildings at first) so we managed in a way. We all have runny noses now, but besides from that we are fine. We did get to see some nature and sights so that was fantastic.

Rebekka and a Mongolian girl playing outside.

Yesterday was a long day. We started from Mongolia at 4 in the morning to catch our plane that left 7.30-ish, and after an hour stop in Moscow (where we had time to go from one plane to the next) we landed in Norway 12.05 (it took about 9.30 hours in the air). And Rebekka did marvelously well, thank you for remembering us up in the air! She only had one cry because we had to sit still in our seats, landing in Moscow.

Ulaanbataar, a city about the same size as Yinchuan. 

This morning Rebekka got up at 3 in the morning (Norwegian time, which is 9 China time). So at 7 we went for a walk, and I got to see a beautiful fall sunrise. Now I am enjoying my cup of coffee and Rebekka is sleeping outside on the porch. We miss China, but it is nice to be able to drink tap-water.

The house of Marianne's parents, if you follow the fence with your eyes, you can see the red stroller where Rebekka is sleeping. 

The view from the kitchen window.