Week of January 31st

Monday morning and the temple is closed for two weeks for cleaning and updating. At 8:00am we put our luggage in the car and headed to Norway with President and Sister Evensen. The roads were good and the sky partly cloudy so the ride was very nice. We stopped at the last town before the border to get some groceries because Sweden is less expensive than Norway. In the same mall as the Maxi grocery store were two candy stores. They sold nothing but candy. I have never seen anything like this and they laughed at me when I took pictures. Judge for yourself!

Norway land is different than Sweden’s. The forests are not as thick and there is more open farmland. The mountains are rock and we traveled through many tunnels and passed by a few of the beautiful fjords. It took us almost 10 hours to arrive in Drammen, including our stop at the mall.
Tuesday Marit fixed a typical Norwegian breakfast of sliced meat, sliced cucumbers, sliced red peppers, hard boiled eggs, different kinds of yummy breads and hot cocoa. Then they had several errands to run so we saw the city of Drammen. It is a nice city with several shopping areas. It has a river running through it and sits at the end of the Drammen Fjord. After dinner Marit’s daughter Janett picked us up and we went to the church for a Zumba dance/exercise class. I learned a lot of moves but definitely learned how old I am!
One day we drove up this spiral tunnel to the top of the mountain and saw a wonderful view of the Drammen Fjord and city. I tried to walk over the top of the snow to stand on this bench to take a picture and went through the snow up to my knees. We all laughed. The Fjord is frozen so it is hard to see the edges but your imagination lets you know how beautiful it really is.

One day we drove into Oslo and went to two war time museums located at the Akershus Fortress that was built in 1300. It was built for defense and also to protect the royalty of Norway. It was very cold and icy but an enjoyable day. It now serves as a military base and they have banquets and big events in some of these beautiful old buildings.

One day we drove to Jevnaker to see the Hadeland Glassverk. This is a glass blowing factory and it was so interesting to watch them blow and make goblets and beautiful vases. We walked through the little shops and really enjoyed ourselves. Marit bought a vase made for tulips that is so nice and the tulips she bought today look beautiful in it.
We went to watch Evensen’s family ski (cross country) and it brought back so many memories of our family skiing together. Except for one thing, all their kids loved being bundled up and skiing. This same day we went to dinner at the Pedersen’s home. We met them at the
temple and they have a daughter that lives in the 5th ward. He has just been called to be a counselor in the Mission Presidency and she is working in the office and as the mission Relief Society President. They are wonderful people and the food and evening were delightful.
Sunday after our church meetings 18 members of the Evensen’s family came to dinner. It was a fun evening with the grandkids playing hide and go seek and the adults just sitting around and talking. It was fun to be around a family again but also made us homesick for ours.
Pres Evensen, Chuck and I stayed up to watch the Super Bowl which started at 12:30am. This is the first year for them to receive the Super Bowl live in Norway. This subject will be talked about next week!
We had a great Skype time with the Packer family and it was nice to see and talk to everyone. We have received many emails and a few IM’s this week and that is wonderful. I got to talk to Carol Fisher on her birthday and that was nice. We appreciate your support and prayers in our behalf. We love you and pray for your peace and happiness in your homes and lives. Love ya,