{"id":34672,"date":"2022-12-24T11:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T11:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/?p=34672"},"modified":"2023-08-01T12:50:55","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T12:50:55","slug":"2022-yule-annas-19th-birthday-ginger-bread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/2022-yule-annas-19th-birthday-ginger-bread\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 Yule, Anna’s 19th Birthday & Ginger-Bread"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[Photos taken 24 – 30 December 2022, posted online 01 August 2023. Just drove one brother & family to the airport, they’re moving to Sweden!<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With my iffy health, we had to cancel having mom and brother over for Christmas Eve dinner and present openings. Instead, I lay in bed for most of the day, but then rallied and spent the evening downstairs, tucked away in the corner, as far away from everyone as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day after, it was Anna’s 19th birthday. She spent the morning making desserts, and we had a present opening ceremony before Finnur took the kiddos to the annual Christmas Day feast at his parents’ place, while I returned to being mostly horizontal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second day of Christmas was suitably low energy. Much to my consternation, I was still vertically challenged the following day, and Finnur’s youngest sister went with the gang to a year-end comedy show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after a week of barely staying vertical, I got better, and walked outside for the first time in forever. I went into work for one day, then took another one off and we finally made a ginger bread house. Which brought us to the last day of the year…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday 24 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Tidy children in front of a tidy tree hiding a treasure trove of gifts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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It was a snowy day, but I did manage to feed the birds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The wait for 6 pm on yule-eve is always the hardest wait.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bedridden and useless at 3 pm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The weather calmed down by 4 pm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma got one more use out of this dress, it’s too small now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Waiting for dinner to begin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All the ceremonial stuff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The heroic chef, about to sugarcoat potatoes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Passing time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Let there be eating! On a table-cloth!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Finnur’s decided fancy ice cream is plenty for dessert, but I insisted on creamy melted Toblerone chocolate sauce… mmmm!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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After we cleaned up in the kitchen, I hid in the chair in the far corner, as the package opening got going.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Oooh, a big one!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Of course the was a fire burning… on the tv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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All my wishes fulfilled! (Aside from better health.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sunday 25 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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No more presents left under the tree.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Anna, the birthday girl, made dessert cakes for the party at her grandparents’ place, as is now customary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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She’s an adventurous baker!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Opening her presents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Party time!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Proof that I was alive, and capable of standing upright for about 10 minutes at a time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Birthday girl with the cake she made.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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My festive food: reheated goulash soup, and avocado & salmon toast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The view from the sofa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It’s impossible to take photos of our tv, but in my boredom I bought the game Hoa<\/a>, and played while everyone was away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Later, when Anna came home, I played Chicor<\/a>y<\/a>:<\/a> <\/a>A<\/a> <\/a>c<\/a>o<\/a>l<\/a>o<\/a>r<\/a>f<\/a>u<\/a>l<\/a> <\/a>t<\/a>a<\/a>l<\/a>e<\/a> with her. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Once us girls were done playing, the boys played some FIFA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Monday 26 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Birds waiting for their breakfast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma was bored, so she opened the chemistry set she got for Christmas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Anna was her guide, as I was still having trouble with energy levels. For this experiment, Emma added just enough salt (I think) to make the egg neutrally boyant!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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On to the next task.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Mixing stuff to get red goo! That was all the action Anna had patience for, and so we packed the kit up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bjarki trying out various positions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Towards the end of the afternoon I got a rush of energy, and was inspired to push a bit of snow around, to keep the parking lots clear of snow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Hmmm, still not all the way to ok.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tuesday 27 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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New day, more snow!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Yes, yes birdies, I’m coming!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Once it stopped snowing, I somehow convinced the girls to go outside to push snow around, before more cars arrived to crush down the snow, making it very hard to move it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Almost time to go to a comedy show!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma (too young) and I (too unwell) stayed home while the other ones went to laugh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Wednesday 28 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Finally, finally (!!) I felt mostly ok, and decided to go out for a walk, as I was fed up with being stuck inside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The town was doing a good job in keeping walking paths cleared of snow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Proof it was me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Snow piles, everywhere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The sun just barely clearing the horizon at 2 pm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This raven was circling around the church, in between hanging out on its roof.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Holiday cards have fallen out of favor in Iceland as most people just post holiday photos and greetings on Facebook. The only holiday cards we got were from abroad!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thursday 29 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
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I showed up to work, along with a handful of souls. The lunch food delivery usually has 6-8 boxes…!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Aurora visible from our bedroom window.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Friday 30 December 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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I took the Friday off from work, as they kindly gave us two extra days, since the holidays mostly happened on the weekends. It was super cold outside!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Moooore bird-food! Fatty balls, a bucket of chopped sunflower seeds, and peanuts (that I would end up needing to chop, as they clogged the feeder otherwise).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Late Christmas present! Much used!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was now or never! Time to build a ginger-bread house! Hand for scale!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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My helpers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Emma was most excited to make the royal icing!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A pile of cookies forming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Using super sugary royal icing to glue the house together.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Anna called dibs on being main decorator, doing the outsides at 10 pm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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We decided to continue the following day, it was late! On towards the last day of the year!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Photos taken 24 – 30 December 2022, posted online 01 August 2023. Just drove one brother & family to the airport, they’re moving to Sweden!<\/em>]<\/p>\n

With my iffy health, we had to cancel having mom and brother over for Christmas Eve dinner and present openings. Instead, I lay in bed for most of the day, but then rallied and spent the evening downstairs, tucked away in the corner, as far away from everyone as possible.<\/p>\n

The day after, it was Anna’s 19th birthday. She spent the morning making desserts, and we had a present opening ceremony before Finnur took the kiddos to the annual Christmas Day feast at his parents’ place, while I returned to being mostly horizontal.<\/p>\n

The second day of Christmas was suitably low energy. Much to my consternation, I was still vertically challenged the following day, and Finnur’s youngest sister went with the gang to a year-end comedy show. <\/p>\n

Finally, after a week of barely staying vertical, I got better, and walked outside for the first time in forever. I went into work for one day, then took another one off and we finally made a ginger bread house. Which brought us to the last day of the year…<\/p>\n

Saturday 24 December 2022<\/h2>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Tidy children in front of a tidy tree hiding a treasure trove of gifts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-us","post-container col-md-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34733,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34672\/revisions\/34733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrefna.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}