Day #1 in St. Brieuc – Martin Beach in Plérin
[Photos taken on Sunday 09 July 2017, posted online on 02 November 2017. Back from the UK!]
As the first real dip below freezing point is about to hit us here in Iceland, it must be a good time to post photos from this past summer!?!
This was our first full day in France. I think Finnur ventured out to buy milk at a small store that was open until noon on a Sunday, and then we visited a nearby beach with Holla and Óli. (29 images total)
Our airbnb backyard in St. Brieuc, France.
Bjarki’s 10th Birthday Celebration
[Photos taken on 02 July 2017, posted online on 17 October 2017. The days are getting noticeably shorter.]
We’ve come a long way from the Night of Extreme Drama, some 10 years ago. Yes, that means, Bjarki’s now 10 years old!
To celebrate, we held a customary birthday bash for family and friends. Just to see how it would go, we sourced almost all the food at Costco, which went fairly well.
On to the photos (18 images total)!
The birthday cake. We got it at Costco, and Anna added the personal touch.
The Groundhog Days of June 2017
[Photos taken on 06 June 2017 to 01 July 2017, posted online on 14 October 2017. Fall colors everywhere!]
In retrospect, we spent June in large part waiting for July to begin, with its summer vacation. To pass the time, the big kids went to horse camp, while Emma continued on in daycare, and the adults kept showing up for work.
Aside from meeting friends and family, and Finnur breaking his collar bone, it was all a bit Groundhog Day-y! (111 images total!!!!)
Tuesday 06 June 2017
The hot tub being put to good use, as we said farewell to my brother Pétur, and his son Fannar, who were about to move to the UK to rejoin Signý. The get-together also nearly coincided with my brother Bjarni’s birthday.
Work-Trip to Spain and Ireland
[Photos taken on 22 May to 31 May 2017, posted online on 4 October 2017. So. Far. Behind. Myself.]
I decided to combine two work-trips into one. I began by flying to Madid, Spain, and working there few days with a colleague, after which I flew straight to Dublin, Ireland, and worked a few days there with another colleague (98 images total!!!).
Monday 22 May 2017
Goodbye Iceland, for now!
May 2017 Runs On
[Photos taken on 15 May to 20 May 2017, posted online 14 23 September. Spent a long weekend on a work-trip in N-Ireland! (Now two weeks ago!)]
The Ingress game (close cousin to Pokemon Go, played by going to certain locations with your phone) posted a challenge, which involved hunting down about 400 locations in two weeks (before 21 May), and leave markers behind.
Something about that sounded like a good idea, so Finnur and I found ourselves in random locations either after the kids had gone to bed, or taking “the long way home” after work. Very little else got done during those two weeks, and yes, blog posts were put on hold.
Photos got taken, and of course life continued on as usual. Bjarki played his guitar at a spring concert, I tried going out on jogs again (only to hurt my Achilles tendon even more), there was reading, we got visitors, and I even went to a party! (40 images total and 1 video)
Monday 15 May 2017
The view while out on a lunch time jog.
Many May 2017 Missives
[Photos taken on 02 May to 12 May 2017, posted online 23 24 August 2017. School began today yesterday!]
The month of May brought with it good company, surprisingly warm days, endless sunsets, painting of walls, chasing down certain GPS locations for an Ingress game challenge, parties, spring cleanings, and a few jogs/walks as I tried to fix my deteriorating Achilles tendon (injured while jumping up stairs on that foot when the ankle broke on the other side a year and a half ago)!
Not much luck on the Achilles tendon, but Finnur and I both completed the Ingress challenge. Yay! (71 images total)
Tuesday 02 May 2017
Way behind schedule, I finally managed to host a sewing club for the ex-California ladies. It was a lovely evening!
Anna Sólrún’s Confirmation & Party
[Photos taken on 23 April 2017, posted online 30 July 2017. Since the last post we’ve spent 10 days in France, and a week at a summer house!]
Anna’s civil confirmation day was a beautiful one.
The civil confirmation, held by Siðmennt, the secular ethical humanist organization of Iceland, is a version of the religious confirmation/Bar & Bat Mitzvah/Rite of passage concept, and consist of a 12 week course where various topics are covered, while encouraging critical and philosophical thinking.
At the end of the course there is a ceremony where some of the kids perform, a speaker holds forth, and the kids get certificates for completing the course.
Afterwards there is traditionally a celebratory party! (A large majority of kids in Iceland still get religiously confirmed, but the secular group keeps growing every year.) For the kids, it’s all about the gifts, but for the parents it’s a chance to show off their awesome kids, surrounded by friends and family.
Here are 66 photos from the day. Click here to see ALL the 124 photos!
The proud parents outside Salurinn, the auditorium where the ceremony was held. It was the third and last such civil ceremony of the day.
Walks, Visits, and a Rock Opera
[Photos taken 04 – 15 April 2017, posted online 01 July 2017. I sure hope the next update isn’t in August!]
The first half of April included Hrefna (me) taking lots of walks, Pétur and Fannar visiting, seeing a rock opera, visiting Finnur’s parents’ summer house, and going swimming, while trying not to freak out about organizing the upcoming confirmation party for Anna. (55 images total )
Tuesday 04 April 2017
Pétur and Fannar came over for dinner and a soak. Fannar turned out to have a small infection by one of his fingernails. so we tried to protect it with a plastic bag. Aaaalmost succeeded!
Baldur’s Confirmation
[Photos taken on 02 April 2017, posted online on 01 July 2017. Maybe.]
Baldur, the middle child of our good friends Guðrún and Snorri, got civilly confirmed on this rather rainy Sunday. I had agreed to serve as photographer, so his dad brought him over to our house for a 30 minute photo session in our living room, and then I shot photos at the party after the ceremony. (27 images total)
Mr. Baldur, about to be civilly confirmed.
Fundraising Choir and Dinner with Friends
[Photos from 01 April 2017, posted online 01 JULY 2017. Three months behind now. Is catching up even doable?!]
Bjarki’s been singing with the school choir this year, mostly because the practices happen to fall on school time, and one of his bests friends is in it too.
For the past three years the choir has joined with other choirs, conducted by the same conductor, to perform as one to fund a charity.
This year the charity concert was held in a church in the Grafarvogur suburb of Reykjavík, and it was very nice.
After the concert, Bjarki and I visited a new coffee house, and then we all drove to our friends Ragnar and Agnes where we ate dinner. (17 images and 1 video total)
Looking at the combined choir, and a small portion of the audience.