Sun and Smiles

Tomorrow our shipment arrives! Any expat or person who's lived out of a suitcase for awhile knows just how exciting tomorrow is - like Christmas came early!! We were really fortunate and our stuff arrived quicker than expected and cleared Customs in like three days (unheard of, especially given that we didn't have our residence cards quite yet either!) The next few days will be spent unpacking and practicing self-control to not do it all in one day (no promises though ;-). Until then, here's some pictures to capture the past couple of weeks - full of sun and smiles from these three beautiful girls!

1. & 2. These girls seriously wake up so happy! Especially Liv - Evy is a bit of a grouch until she's had her bottle, but then she's just as happy. ;-)
3. Evy loves watching the washer and dryer spin.
4. Liv snuggles.
5. Evy smiles.
6. Liv smiles.
7. & 8. Tons of fun at a school picnic with live music and the girls loving their wagon!
9. Serious Liv!

1. Evening wagon ride with the family!
2. Swinging sisters.
3. A lunch date with Madi where she got an Angry Birds happy meal.
4. And a hot chocolate before grocery shopping!
5. Madi loves putting her fedora hat on Liv. And Liv loves wearing it!
6. Playing in the backyard pool.
7. Pottery Barn Kids - LOVE them!
8. Girls first time swimming at the big outdoor pool.
9. CeCe and Zoey are still alive and doing nothing but sleeping. ;-)

1. Jason let me have some alone time with a pedicure and Starbucks while he took all three girls to the park.
2. & 3. After church smiles and laughs with these girls.
4. Evy playing.
5. Family time at the playground. I'll have to work on the selfies with five people. Or... (gulp)...buy a selfie stick! ;-)
6. Liv laughing.
7. Madi has asked for puddles basically every day. So when we had some rain, this girl was in her boots and out the door in record time. You can take the girl out of Norway... but you can't take the Norway out of the girl!
8. & 9. Happy babies!

1. A lovely girl's dinner with some of the ladies in the compound. Delicious food and fabulous company!
2. & 3. The girls playing in our two smaller backyard mini pools.
4. I have frequented Starbucks...both locations here. And they have yet to re-stock the icon mugs. Fortunately a friend had a brand new one that she sold me - yes!
5. There have actually been quite a few things we were able to get in Norway that we can't get here... one of them being salsa. I've now made a couple batches of this roasted salsa that we are loving. However, we've run out of tortilla chips since those aren't available here either. Yikes!
6. And.... bread. We were spoiled with Norwegian bread and what we've found here hasn't been cutting it. So we bought a bread machine and we've been making our own. First loaf (a 70/30 wheat/white recipe).
7. Madi asked me to paint her toenails and fingernails. First time they've been painted!
8. We had a wonderful pre-birthday celebration for Madi and some of the other kids in playgroup with June birthdays.
9. Babies loving the walker! They have gotten really good at using it and have been standing on their own a little here and there, but no steps yet!

I'm hoping once we get settled to get back to blogging more regularly. Most of our days are spent playing at the park, going for walks, and hanging at the house. We've had a few friends over for playdates and have ventured out some for playgroups and activities, but I still feel like we are trying to find our bearings and get settled. We are all doing really good though and so excited to get our stuff tomorrow! :-)