There was an addition to our extended family Tuesday night. Triona and Jonathan added to their family with a little girl. They have named her Nara!
Congratulations to you all, you look great. You can read more and likely frequent updates on their blog.
Shown below are few nice pictures that we took at Kristina's wedding on Saturday. It always helps when the weather is behaving!
I have not said much over the last two weeks about Lynne's mothers visit. Pat is helping round the house with many things from preparing lunch to dinner and from baby sitting to cooking up some freezer food for the kids. It's always nice to have her visit. She has one more week before she makes her way back to London.
Not much else happening really. It was a busy weekend as normal, trying to get everything done and a few extras. I managed a 6 mile run and a 23 mile bike ride on Sunday with Kevin so that was nice! Lynne spent a few hours in the garden which is her equivalent. Breakfast at Randy and Lorraines and a shopping trip to the mall rounded out the activities.
Last night we decided our holiday schedule, first and third weeks of July for some R&R in a log cabin somewhere!!
After many months of preparation, Kristina and Shaun had their big day yesterday. The weather was perfect, Shaun looked great but Kristina looked stunning! It was a simple but immensely elegant wedding service which was held in The Old Church in Attica.
They both looked so happy. We all wish them a long, happy, healthy and loving life together from the very bottom of our hearts.
A few photos are shown below but a larger number are posted to the albums page.
Today Lynne turned over another year. As the picture demonstrates, she's still young at heart.
We started the day off with all four of us in bed from 6.30am (this is normal). Lynne received some presents and then the day resumed as any other Friday. We did have dinner out at a local Italian restaurant tonight which was nice, if not a little rushed. Isabel needed her bed.
Happy Birthday Love.
Below are a few photos taken by the Indianapolis Mini Marathon event photographers. You can see how my expression changed over the course of the race. The picture with me looking up (looking silly with fingers in the air) is from the famous starting line of bricks across the track at the famous Brickyard. This is the motor speedway where the Indianapolis 500 takes place.
Take note of how one looks after running 13.1 miles, the last 3 in pain!!
Have some cool pictures from last Sunday. The pinks and purples were out in full. That's what it's like round here at the moment, Anja, Isabel and Lynne quite often are decked out in Pink or Purple.
Anja has claimed exclusive rights to pink, she has given purple to Lynne and Isabel and I've been given blue as my favourite (we're not big fans of stereotypes as you will notice:))
Lynne's mother, Pat, arrived for a three week stay yesterday evening. Perfect timing since Lynne is going away on a business trip to Madison, Wisconsin for a few days this afternoon. Not much else happening round here. It's shaping up for a nice day so probably time to get out and about.
Today I ran the annual Indianapolis Mini Marathon (half marathon, 13.1 miles) and tonight I'm riding on some post race euphoria.
I completed the race with a personal record (PR) time of 1:40:38 for a half marathon. This works out to be just over 7.30 min/mile pace. I beat my old PR of 1:44:14 which I set almost 10 years ago in Sweden. Out of a field of 35,000 participants, I finished 1799nth overall and 262nd in my age group. Life in these aging legs yet!!
This evening I'm enjoying a few bottles of the very drinkable Celis Belgian White!!
This picture is from last year so the bib number is incorrect, (I was 26165 this year). I'll place a photo from today when they become available.
Last weekend we visited with Steef, Ginette and Marissa who was 11 days old (of course she's over two weeks now). She is really cute. She was awake when we arrived but was soon fast asleep when Lynne settled in to a familiar cuddling position. It was scary to see how Lynne enjoyed holding a newborn again.....
They have a blog of course but be warned it's in Dutch, they are from The Netherlands. I just love the last photo on this page. That pretty much sums up how it feels to have a new born!
Congratulations Steef & Ginette
Yesterday we celebrated Anjas 3rd birthday. We had some friends over and I think a good day was had by all. For six hours we had people coming and going, taking kids to other events etc, leaving early, coming late, it all worked out well. I think most people got some food, had a few drinks and said hello to everybody.
She was looking her very best yesterday courtesy of Granny Owens who sent the dress from Ireland. This has become a tradition although not planned that way. Granny Owens sent her the dresses she wore when she turned one and again when she turned two. Incidently she also sent the dress that Isabel wore yesterday.
It was all a bit too much for Anja really. She had been so excited about having this party for weeks and yesterday she seemed to hide in her shell, despite literally knowing almost everybody there all her life. This climaxed at cake time when she could not build enough courage to blow out the candles. She was fine later in the evening when most went home.
I have posted almost 100 pictures of the day to our web album space but a few select shots are shown below. I like the picture of Anja with the three girls that love Anja almost as much as we do; Michelle our first nanny who looked after her for six months. Then Lindsay of course who was with us for almost two years and now Kristina.
Once again, we must say a huge thank you to all who gave so many presents. There were so many - Thank you!
We added another bike to our household collection this evening (this brings our total into double digit territory!). Anja got her first real bike for her upcoming birthday. She was out this evening for a short ride but was very hesitant at first. She soon got into the swing of things!!
Reasonably typical weekend passing. Chores are almost complete, we are about to visit Brad & Lisa (her birthday), we had breakfast with Randy & Lorraine yesterday, weather has been OK but not spectacular, I went for a walk with Isabel this morning while Lynne and Anja went shopping, I managed to get an 11 mile run in yesterday, Davey and Sam called for a chat yesterday evening, Lynnes spoke with Jo, her school friend yesterday (Hi Jo) then her Mum called this morning, we then had a nice relaxing family dinner and after baths and some adult relaxing we all hit the bed reasonably early. All in all a very typical weekend, of course as noted Isabel has started crawling in earnest!
Next weekend promises a little more excitement. Most of our friends will walk in our annual March of Dimes walk and we will host a small party for Anja's third birthday afterward. Should be fun, no doubt I will have an update next week.
A few pictures below from the action packed week with Kristina. It was a beautiful week and they spent lots of time outside. Kristina also went out and bought lots of crafts, the finger paint was a hit (see the red bird house which Anja painted in the background).
Have a good week everybody!
It has taken her a few weeks to perfect the art but Isabel is now fully mobile. She started crawling in earnest this weekend. I have posted a short video below, now that I have figured the simplest way to post video, I fixed the post below. Now that she is crawling she has a tendency to see the world in three dimensions. Her crawling is a means to get from one pull-up station to the next. Time to lock everything down.....again.......!
Our world here in West Lafayette got a little exciting this morning at 6.39am and again at about 11.15am. We had an earthquake. It was actually quite a few miles away but the house was shaking quite a bit and for quite a few seconds. It was unmistakeably something different. You can read what The New York Times had to say about it:
The weather has put a damper on our weekend plans. It was to be spent in the garden and lots of other fun outdoor activities. Not so......too cold!!
We did spend a few enjoyable hours over at Reina's party (shown here last year with her family). She celebrated turning four!!
Other than this not much else to report. Today Isabel was sporting her Irish Rugby top that Mum sent over. She looked very cute, her Daddy was very proud of her!!
More later!!
I'm more of a visual person in that I prefer pictures than videos. Consequently, I have not posted many videos to this blog. I guess the question I have is the following: Should I post more video? Send me an email or leave a comment. I'm fine either way, I'm just curious to know what people think! See a video below which we took tonight of Isabel. Nothing spectacular, but it's pretty cute! It's about one minute so be warned!!!!
I'm edititing this again. I have now posted this clip to YouTube and hope to post it into here. hopefully this will work.
Spring may well have finally arrived. It was beautiful today, 60F and sunny. We kicked it off with some baking, I made a few scones and Lynne made some bean muffins for a picnic. After about an hour raking leaves and getting started on the garden it was time for a bike ride.
Kaisa and Kevin came over and we all went on our first bike ride for the year and with both girls ever. We packed a picnic and hit the road. we didn't go that far this first time but it went smoothly and was a lot of fun. 7 mile round trip, lots of play and a picnic along the way. All four girls really enjoyed the spin and we adults were finally glad to be out and about after a long winter. I have posted a few additional pictures on the albums page.
It was Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy and published in The Works of Benjamin Franklin, who uttered the now famous phrase:
"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Well tonight we completed our 2007 returns. Gathering the years receipts, salary details, mortgage information, expenses, deductions, investment details and lots more is a well established tradition for all (well most) who live in the US. We ended up having to write checks once again, one to Uncle Sam and one to the State of Indiana. This is always painful but we are glad it's all complete for another year!!
To more cheery notes, see this great picture from the weekend of Isabel and Frida!!
Kristina took this picture last week which exemplifies the tough nature of life living in our house.
A couple of pictures from this week. Isabel in her now customary position of scooting along the floor and Anja in her customary outfit. She spends many hours each day in her tutu!
Just watched an hour of football, Premier League and Scottish Premier league highlights, in what could best be described as Match of the Day. Yesterday I signed up for a monthly subscription to Setanta Sports, primarily to watch a rugby league game. With a subscription, however, you get all sorts of rugby league, rugby union, football, GAA, Aussie rules and lots more, both live and archived. Now all I need to do is find the time.
Tonight we had Matt and Laura over for dinner. It was fun, lots of great debate, wine, food and beer.
So, always one to try something new, I took Davey's advice and checked out Windows Live Writer. I'm actually using it now. I'm reserving judgement for now but first impressions are not that impressive. It does not offer that much over what I have already with Blogger.
Finally, managed to get out for a run today. Medium length 8 miles in just over an hour. Weather was perfect, really enjoyed it!!
I managed to get out on the bike for the first time this week. It was a little warmer on Wednesday and the wind was low so I thought I'd give it a blast. 
Managed to get through 20 odd miles but my legs were really weak. At least the biking season has started, now I just have to find the time and my old stamina!
Ok, this is obviously not me but I often feel like Lance when I'm thundering through the countryside.
To finish off our Easter Sunday activities, we took ourselves over to Randy and Lorraine's house for a great dinner. As always, we stayed most of the day chatting, sitting, drinking wine and coffee.......I have also posted some additional photos on the web album page.
So, as you will see, we had quite the active Easter weekend. It was great meeting everybody! We also managed to spend most of Saturday visiting friends, Lisa and Brad at their farm! Brad and I went for our weekend long run (10 miles) in preparation for the Indy half marathon.
phew...we're all glad to be back at work for some rest!
Kaisa and Kevin hosted an Easter egg hunt Sunday morning for friends and neighbours. It was a lot of fun. We found some eggs, well Anja and the other small people did, we had some great coffee, bread, cheese, cake, sweets, lots of sweets....you get the picture!! Also got to meet some new neighbours, Jackie, Joe and their daughter Ani!
I've posted some extra pictures on our album space (be warned there are quite a few)!
Yes I think it's finally here, Spring that is, and just in time for Easter. Today was beautiful. Clear blue skies with the sun out in all its glory. It was still a little chilly but it didn't dampen the spirits. It has been a long winter.
The girls spent a lot of time outside today with Kristina and Emma who was over for most of the day.
We are very pleased with how Kristina has adopted to helping us with the girls and they certainly seem to really like her. She is busy at the moment getting ready for her wedding in May. She bought a dress this week. Shaun, her fiancé, also had a big week. He turned 21 on Monday and his mother was here from California to celebrate with him and the rest of his friends and family. Sounded like they had fun!
Isabel has started talking. Of course it's still totally gibberish but she is extremely pleased with her ba, ba, ba, ba, since it normally evokes a response from us. Language acquisition has started, it's amazing!!
To all of you out there, Irish or not, Happy St Patrick's Day.
We're not doing anything that special for the day/evening. I know many will be out there painting the town and bars green, have a great evening.
Anja was sporting some green today and a few items that my Mum sent over. Thanks for everything you sent Mum, the Irish Rugby Jersey's are really cute!!
We had some fun with Isabel today. I was trying to feed her some lunch and she was simply not having it!!
The sun was out today and this inspired Lynne to venture out into the garden with the camera and catch some Spring images!! The snowdrops look great and she could not resist Daisy in her pose!
The weather was still very wintry yesterday so we took ourselves off for a morning activity at this place in town call All Fired Up! Essentially you purchase one or more pottery pieces from a vast collection. You then let your artistic side wild and free and paint the item. They will then glaze and fire it and you collect it one week later. We had fun. Anja did a bowl for herself, Lynne helped Anja of course, did a bowl for Isabel and I got to paint my very own daddy coffee mug! It was something very enjoyable to do for a few hours on a cold dark Saturday morning!!
We made a huge mess, which I think is the whole point (particularly if you can simply stand up, declare that you are sorry for the mess and then walk away - cool)!
Looking back over the last week or so, I realized that we were devoid of any pictures. Sorry about that!
Shown below are few which we took of the girls this weekend. All are growing up. Anja is firmly holding her Easter egg, her first ever I think, that arrived all the way from Ireland yesterday. She was very excited, not sure how we are going to keep her out of it this week.
Hard to believe it really but this day 10 years ago Lynne and I got married in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Time certainly passes by so quickly, seems like yesterday but yet so much has happened in such a short time. We dug out the wedding album this evening. Anja really enjoyed seeing her Mummy in her princess dress. Daddy was the prince!
At that time we were so excited about moving to Sweden and starting our married life. Those five years were a great part of our life, great work experiences and life-long friends. Now we have been here in the US for over five years and this phase of life has been focused on having our two very happy girls. I'm sure our next ten years will be greatly dominated by their upbringing and also back to more travel as they get older.
Tonight we got to steal away for a while for dinner, Kristina was kind enough to stay for a few hours (Thanks).
Got back from New Orleans late on Tuesday night. Took me two and half hours to get from Indy in the snow. Frustrating after a day of travel. I'm sorry that I have no pictures. Typical really, I got the battery all charged up but left the camera behind.
It was an interesting visit. I got there late Saturday night and took a walk through the French quarter, down the famous Bourbon St. What a party place. Not much fun I can tell you if one in on your own and sober. I had to give a presentation Sunday so I was keeping a low profile. I actually got to see a lot more of the city when I went for a long run early Sunday morning (9 miles). New Orleans early on a Sunday morning is not pretty and smells even worse. They actually spray the streets with disinfectant. I ran along the river, through the French quarter and north toward Lake Pontchartrain. I did get see some of the devastation, a few FEMA trailers, it was not pretty.
I did get to sample some of the party atmosphere Monday and Tuesday with some Lilly colleagues. Had some great Creole and Cajun food. Lots of sea food smothered in spicy hot buttery sauces. I'm avoiding the scales for a while. It was fun, the conference was OK.
I'd recommend New Orleans for a long weekend, I'd go back!
I'm off to New Orleans this afternoon for a few days to attend a work conference so there will be no weekend update. I'm really looking forward to visiting that city and curious to see what devastation is still evident from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Lots I'm sure, I'm planning on taking some photos.
Not much to report really. Still cold and white outside here. We are now showing signs of cabin fever.
Hope you are all doing well, I'll post a New Orleans update on Wednesday.
Had a reasonably active weekend in addition to all the usual chores. I did my first reasonably long run yesterday in preparation for the Indy half marathon. I had an hour open up in the day and grabbed it. Managed to get though 7.2 miles and although there was snow on the ground, most of the paths and roads were cleared. I really enjoyed it.
Today Anja and I went swimming and later in the day Isabel and I went for a really long walk. Gave Lynne some time to herself. It felt good and great to get out. I'm ready for Spring, how about you?
Had the Mauers over for dinner Friday evening which is always fun, although I believe Anja and Reina get a lot more enjoyment from it.
I was browsing pictures to add a good one from the weekend but none jumped out at me. So I pulled one from the past, here is Sam and Anja from about one year ago during our visit to Ireland and England. Have a great week everybody.
Isabel now wriggles and moves around as if on some high energy drink. Constantly on the move, desperately trying to crawl. I captured her a few times this morning while she was still stationary but she did have her customary smile and snotty nose. This has been her look since the day she was born.
Incredible to think that Anja literally did not have one sniffle until she was about 1 year old. Isabel has had about one week where she did not either have a snotty nose, cough or some other ailment. Generally healthy but constantly fighting off some bug!
I will not gloat over Ireland's win today !!
