The Stingeries

Monday, March 28, 2016

Easter 2016

We arrived back in Norway after our Berlin trip on Easter morning. Once all three girls were down for a nap we got their Easter gifts ready. Thankfully my mom brought stuff from the US and I had extra goodies downstairs and a couple small things I picked up in Berlin for Madi. And let's be real - the twins' eggs are empty because, well - they are 8 months old and I'm a lazy parent. This backfired only slightly when Madi wanted to help them open their eggs. Whoops.

Madi didn't quite know what to make of the Pez dispenser, but she was thrilled to see Minnie Mouse make an appearance!

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!! :-)

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Jason's Birthday!

Jason turned 31 last week and we celebrated with a very low-key evening (minus some screaming at cake time). I picked Madi up from barnehage early and she helped me make a cake for Daddy. The only candles they had at the store were pink or purple... so I opted to try the sparkler candle thinking it would be fun. Wrong. Olivia started crying and Madi had no idea what to think of it so I'll spare you the video that we took and just show you this screenshot from it. Bahahaha.

I also had time to make a collage of some photos of us while the twins were sleeping. I can't believe how young we look in some of the pictures, but mostly I can't believe this guy has stuck around with me for so long. ;-)

Jason - you are the most amazing guy that I know. You are incredibly hard-working, selfless, and patient. You challenge me to be a better person and are always there to support me. You never complain and you always help me with the girls and around the house without me having to ask. It's wonderful to watch you interact with your three precious girls. My love for you has grown deeper every year we've been together and I am blessed to be your wife.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Site Visit to Baku

In case you missed the news, we found out that we are moving to Baku, Azerbaijan! We found out towards the end of February that they needed to get Jason out to Baku for a site visit and handover before the local holiday of Novruz starting just before Easter. That didn't leave much time for planning! Fortunately my mom was able to take the time off and so we got to making all of the arrangements for me to accompany Jason on the trip.

Unfortunately it's not super easy to get a visa to enter the country. Our options were to visit the Azerbaijan embassy in Sweden (where the turnaround time was ~3 weeks) or the embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia (where the turnaround time was ~3 days, or so we were told). We arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia late Sunday night and ended up staying there until Friday afternoon. (You can read about our time there here.)

After we arrived Friday night, we had dinner with the family who Jason will be are replacing. They are a lovely family and have been amazing at answering emails with lots of questions about Baku for both of us. We saw their house and compound and got to know more about the city we will soon be calling home.

Saturday morning we met them for breakfast and they showed us around the grocery store and some of the city. Afterwards we met up with the relocation people to go house hunting. As expats, we will need to live on a secured compound. There are two main compounds in the city - Stonepay and Green City. We saw houses at both and were able to fit a great fit for our family at the second compound, Green City. I'm excited about the house and can't wait to share pictures once we get settled!

That afternoon we had a half day orientation around the city. Most of the time was driving, but we did get out and walk part of the Old City and see the Maiden's Tower. The buildings all around the city were absolutely gorgeous and unique. Jason was thrilled to see a freshly paved road and signs of the upcoming Formula One race being held there this June. ;-)

We had dinner with Jason's boss and his wife Saturday night in one of the three flame towers (picture below). Friday night when we arrived they were lit up to look like fire with the lights dancing on them. We had delicious steak and a wonderful time hearing about the places they've lived and what they've enjoyed about being in Baku.

I flew back early the next morning after being gone an entire week. I missed my girls and needed to get home for my mom to fly back to the US. Jason stayed a couple more days to see the office, visit the school options for Madi, and start some handover.

We didn't get a ton of pictures since we were in the car most of the time, but we did capture a few during our orientation. Overall, it's going to be a drastic change living in a third world country and a significantly larger city than we are used to from Norway, but we are excited about the upcoming move in the next couple of months!