Lauren, Ian and food

This is what happens when Zelia does not nap at school...poor girl and now poor Ima who has to wake her up! It is never easy waking from a late nap.
We just love that she still prefers to sleep outside if possible. Yesterday she and Lazer slept together in their stroller happily.
Danielle came for a visit and goodbye before returning to the US in 2 weeks. They are making kibbe for kibbe hamdah soup. I loved this soup when they served it in school in Panama and would have it at Shabbat dinner at Aliza's house...lemony and delicious.
here are Lauren, Ian and Lazer in our favorite hot pot Grettislaug. Every once in a while strong gusts of wind would smack us....getting dressed and undressed was probably a site to behold! The weather during their visit was not great, super mild and rainy and the snow was gone. but we did make it here to actually share some of the wonderful parts of this country. It was a lovely visit, always feels short and they looked fabulous! So freakin' cute together. We miss them both terribly and hadn't realized how much until they came here. Zelia fell in love with her Aunt Lauren and quickly had uncle Ian reading her stories and building things together.
Oh the oranges have been SOOOOOOO good and juicy.


Days before uncle Ian and Aunt Lauren arrived, Lazer had his first taste of food. A few weeks before his 6 month birthday which we were waiting for he just erupted in wanting something more....so of course we sat there eating delicious vichyssoise and he had a bite and LOVED it. the next day when I gave him spelt cereal I am sure he wondered where is that really good stuff.

Rick and Anthony

Our friends, Rick and Anthony came for a fabulous visit. After a week of wild, crazy weather, snow and winds of 70 mi/hour, I told them "pack your ski goggles if you have them!" Luckily, for all of us, they arrived for the most beautiful weather yet!!!! Calm winds, if any, beautiful snow and mild temperatures.

They landed on Friday morning and had a nice drive north and even stopped at Bónus for us! Jacob had prepared an Icelandic meal for Shabbat...well except for the hallah and salad:) there were boiled potatoes, boiled salted lamb with white sauce, and Skyr cake for dessert.

On Saturday morning, after sour dough pancakes we headed to Tindastóll, the ski area on the way to Saudarkrókur. Here is Zelia getting her first real taste of some skiing. She was pretty excited especially when she saw big kids skiing and likes the idea of the t-bar heading up the mountain.

All geared up with helmet and ski goggles.

After the ski we headed to Hofsos for an AMAZING swim. The pool was gorgeous with a view of the ocean, really spectacular. the building was also really nice, all cement construction and reminded us of the hot water beach in Reykjavik...wonder if it is the same architect. they had one large pool and one hot pot that was split into two temps...it was really spectacular. We will be making that long drive again!

As we headed back through Saudarkrókur we were all pretty hungry so we stopped at Olafshús for dinner, salads, soup, chicken pita sandwich and arctic char, oh yes and french fries!

Sunday was absolutely amazing, the stillest day we have had here yet, seriously NO wind. the ski was blue and we headed out for a nice walk which ended up at Samkaup for some svið, lambs' heads. We had a some lunch with rye bread and then heade to Olafia´s house for ponnukokur and hot chocolate.

It was a wonderful visit with friends and we hope they come back!

Lazerman

Was I under the impression that it was over?

Hanging out eating snow.

Main road into town, cleared...well yesterday anyway.
That's the driveway of that house!

Can you see the road continue after the drift? hard to get depth in all that white, but that drift is at least 5 feet high.

On Friday that snow was up to the porch

This is the street in front of us....impassible!

Apparently this was just a lull...I wrapped Lazer and walked into town with the mail. It was beautiful, snow was falling without any wind, everything was white. By the time we got to the post office, both Lazer and I had bright red lovely cheeks. There was time until pick-up so we walked to NES to say hello and chatted and walked some more with Olafia. Then I went in to get Zelia. Sesi was already getting her ready and as usual these days she did not want to go. We got outside and the beautiful snow called to Zelia to roll and eat. So we walked slowly home with the stroller. A little less than half way there the wind started to pick up and Zelia went inside the stroller....5 minutes later the wind was gusting and I turned my head into it...a few minutes later it was becoming a more constant wind and it was hard to see, I kept being thankful when I got in front of a house. By the time I got to the corner the wind was driving and I was HOPING Jacob would see me from his office window. When I turned the corner we were walking straight into the wind. The kids were both fine, Zelia in the stroller covered by the plastic and Lazer on me all bundled and sleeping. It was my face that was hurting. I was pushing the stroller on several inches of snow, into the wind taking very small steps, but we made it. I was exhausted.

The wind outside was howling and before long I got a chat from Jacob saying no gym today. what???? I have been dying to go. why??? he wrote Bjarni just left, Halldor is bringing me home. The wind in Skagastrond was blowing at 31meters/second, about 70 mi/hr! This continued that hard until the night and hasn't stopped yet...although I don't think it is as hard. Jacob moved the car to the field where it wouldn't get snowed in.

When Jacob woke this morning he walked to the car and came back to report that there was a 20 ft high snow drift in the road....he couldn't get Zelia to leikskoli. He walked to work and Zelia slept in until 8:15. We hung out in bed together for about an hour playing and talking. When we finally got up I had a new chat from Jacob...does Zelia want to go to leikskoli???? silly, of course she does, get her ready! I bundled her up in.....underwear, undershirt, pants, turtleneck, fleece sweatshirt, cotton socks and wool socks, her one piece red snow suit, snow boots, balaklava, 66north hat, mittens and goggles. Jacob took her in his arms bundled in a blanket and walked down the street to the work truck.

It was a successful drop off, although Jacob said our car would not have made it through the snow. We are guessing that the plow is not coming to our street today so I am stuck! When Jacob goes to get Zelia he will go to the market and fill us up with food.

In 1995 this weather continued for 6 weeks, on and off....the rescue team will bring food if you run out and of course bring you home if you are stuck or need medical attention. There was a woman in 1995 out in the country who was in labor, they picked her up in a snow cat and were trying to get her to Blonduos where they used to deliver....but before the bridge they realized they weren't going to make it, so into the nearest farm they went and delivered a healthy baby:) Love stories like that!

brother and Sister

Oh yes, Now this is a blizzard

New Years 2011

Matt and Lazer hanging out, New Year's Eve!

Zelia and Stephanie playing
check out the feast

Stephanie getting the fondu ready
Zelia's french braids...she kept them in for 3 days! She said they are like Lucy's.

Of course Jack was enjoying the festivities.
Uma and Zelia, a sweet sweet friendship
Melody is back with her friend Joan
Roland, Elinborg and Stefan


I get the feeling that ALL kids LOVE Stephanie
Here is the little man who was not interested in sleeping with all the excitement.



It was the best new years yet, seriously, I am not the biggest fan of the evening, but this one was great.

On Thursday night, Stephanie and Matt arrived, on their way back from France to the US, just before 10pm. Zelia was so excited for their visit that she couldn't sleep. We were able to give them some good dinner and we all headed to bed. On Friday morning, bot Zelia and Jacob were home and we began to get ready for the evening. We were having 15 people and lots of delicious food. Plus it was Shabbat, so besides the English muffins and sour dough there was hallah to make. We also made it out for a nice walk in the VERY cold wind and tucked in the stroller both Lazer and Zelia fell fast asleep.

By 6:30 some people were beginning to arrive...the menu: cheese, crackers salami, smoked goose - which was delicious, wild game pate, cheese fondu with sour dough and fruit, herring, hard boiled eggs, rye bread, raisin and pine nut saltfish, salads, roasted potatoes, nut pate with curry sauce....it was a feast.
At about 9pm Zelia came to Jacob and me and said, "Daddy there are lights in the sky and they are sprinkling!" the town bonfire had been lit and the fireworks display had begun. It was really a good one and the kids LOVED them. We kneeled on Zelia's bed and others gathered in the kitchen to watch. At different times some people walked down to see the fire and then returned. When everyone came back we had ponche crema (Panamanian eggnog), and dessert including plum pudding, pineapple fromage (Icelandic dessert with pineapple, whipped cream and some gelatin) apple crisp, and little squares with chocolate.
Olafia, who often thinks of everything, brought sparklers AND safety goggles for the girls. You can see just how much they love her!
We had the computer open to a skycam of Reykjavik and waitedd for the midnight fireworks to begin. All of a sudden people came out of their houses and began shooting the fireworks that they had bought that week. A fireworks store opened in town and the search and Rescue teams run the whole operation. Apparently it is their biggest fundraiser all year! No joke the fireworks people were setting off were are as big and grand as the ones the town had set off. Most of the guests began their walk ohme to enjoy the show, the kids were asleep and we watched outside and from the kitchen window and cleaned up.

The next morning we all slept late, even Zelia until about 10. At 11 Uma, Shiloh and Roland came back and we had a feast of homemade eggs florentine and potatoes. While cleaning up we thought to go to the pool which was closed so we piled into the cars and headed to Grettislaug...our favorite hot pot about an hour away. We packed some cookies, fruit and mulled wine and headed out. Lazer ended up sleeping for most and then woke just in time for a dip and nurse and a return home. It was beautiful outside and mild, lots of browns on the mountains, Jacob, Shiloh, Matt and Stephanie all took a polar plunge in the North Sea!

We returned home, ate left overs and made a whale steak for Stephanie and Matt to try. We all slept well!

After a good breakfast Matt and Stephanie began their drive south to eat some sheep's head and then head to the airport.

Happy 2011 everyone!