Welcome 2020!
As we welcome in the year 2020, memories of the past year come to mind.
Most of the memories are of our adventures here in Iceland, the visits of two of our children plus spouses and a granddaughter.
The loss of three friends and Cindy's brother are also threads woven into the tapestry of our memories.
As is normal in life, we had moments of happiness and moments of sadness.
Here are a few end of the year pictures.
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| Christmas Eve dinner at the home of the Branch Relief Society President and her family. |
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| Everything was decorated beautifully. |
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| Our second Christmas in Iceland |
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| This cute little "missionary" gingerbread man was made by Sister Jessee who is serving here with her husband as Member Leadership Support missionaries. |
The day after Christmas (Boxing Day) we went to the "Fly Over Iceland" experience.
It was AMAZING!!!
Can't describe this "ride" and do it justice, so I am giving you the address to go see some behind the scenes making of it.
We have tickets to go back one more time before we head home.
Google for: Flyover Iceland Behind the Scenes
(I think there are three chapters you can view)
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| On the Friday after Christmas we went to the National Museum. Thought this was a very interesting piece of art. Shoes, bread and books... A man... Peat moss... Rocks! |
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| This embroidered tapestry was my favorite item in the museum. The detail was remarkable. |
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| This explains how the artist prepared her yarn... |
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| The artist... |
Full view...
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| More details of the tapestry - I was really impressed with how well she did the faces. |
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| This is the Cultural Centre - housed in a building from 1906. I was more excited about the building than what was inside. Nearly the entire building is original and so beautiful. I loved this iron and wood staircase. |
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| View from the archive building to the repository across the parking lot. Most of the books, etc. are housed in the repository. There isn't a tunnel or anything else connecting the two buildings so when anyone needs books that are in the repository, employees have to retrieve them regardless of the weather. |
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| My Icelandic lambs wool sweater... |
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| My friend in the Branch, Thorstina, knitted it for me. I selected the yarn and found some shell buttons that go with it perfectly. I love it and it is very, very warm. However, when I wear it I end up looking like I have been hugging a hairy dog (or lamb) because I shed. AND, anyone else that gets around me looks the same way. Oh, well! I still love it. |
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| The sun is setting on 2019! |
First celebration of the New Year is Allan's birthday!
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| Happy 78th! |
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| Love this description of Iceland's seasons... Reminds me a lot of Alaska's seasons! |
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| A nice wintery view looking out of our flat. We woke up this week to horizontal snow. That is pretty normal for Iceland. The wind was howling! So, I thought I would check the weather on the internet for Reykjavik and surrounding area. What I would have described as "gale force" winds were described as "a fresh breeze"!!!!! The horizontal snow is so common that when a little boy saw the snow falling straight down he told his mother, "Look, mom! The snow's coming from Heaven!" We finally have two missionaries back in Selfoss. Our new missionary is Elder Kenning from Logan, Utah. He looked a wee bit shell shocked today.....he said something about "crazy weather"! It is hard to believe that January is nearly over. We have been very busy with work and finishing off all of our Christmas candy. The only pictures we could share with you for January would be trips to the grocery store and Costco! We have only four months left on our mission. Once the weather improves and we get more daylight our lives should be way more exciting to read about. Until next time!!! |
Fun to see some pictures of your mission!
ReplyDeleteThank you dear Cindy and Al, he's one young looking 78 year old, happy birthday. We are watching a PBS program narrated by Ewan McGregor, a Scot about the early Viking navigators including early exploration and settlements in Iceland. You have been in my heart today. We are both well. 💕
ReplyDeleteAh you both look so wonderful!! The pictures are so beautiful! What amazing experiences!! We miss and love you guys and pray for you continually :)
ReplyDeleteWell, your life is always exciting to read about. And you will always treasure this experience, even that shedding lambs-wool sweater - it is beautiful. You must be burning off all that candy you say you've been finishing off, because you're not wearing it. ;)
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I am sorry for the loss of your brother, Cindy.
Always so excited to get to see your Blog! Wonderful pics. So impressed with the art embrodiery. You can share your shedding with me and my dog! He loses enough fur to make a sweater I promise :-0 4 months and counting! I hope you are home before we leave for Europe on Jun 18.
ReplyDeleteWe love to hear about your mission and your experiences. The art embroidery is very impressive for sure. And your sweater is beautiful. You will be grateful to come back to the sunshine and warmth I think. Thank you for sharing your mission with us.
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