Merry Christmas 2011

God Jul og et Godt Nytt år

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We’d like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our family and friends.  We’ve had a wonderful year in Oslo, traveling and enjoying our many visitors.  

Oslo continues to be a wonderful place for us to live.  Despite our best efforts, the Norwegian lessons haven’t caught on and we still use English almost exclusively. Our English church and the well-educated Norwegian public make it a non-issue. Jean has gotten involved in the expat community and has made good friends while playing Mahjong, knitting, and sewing.  Lucas continues to enjoy his work and co-workers. We started cross country skiing in January; and though Lucas takes to it more than Jean, we both hope to ski more this winter.

The rest of our free time we spend exploring Oslo and planning our travels.  We’ve been blessed to have many visitors this year, most of which we’ve been able show Oslo to before travelling on to other European locations with them. We started off the New Year in Spain with Lucas’ sister Erica and her husband Jud.  Then Jean went to Paris with a friend from Houston before we joined Lucas’ brother Matt and his wife Renee in Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro.

We then took an early anniversary trip to Greece over Easter which included a cruise through the Greek isles with a stop in Turkey. Afterward, Jean’s sister Sarah came to Norway and then they meet up with a friend of Sarah’s in Prague and Vienna before meeting Lucas in Budapest.   We spent much of the summer traveling around Norway with Jean’s aunts and uncle and other friends / visitors. Jean’s parent came in June and she joined them in London before we all toured Scotland together.

We finished up the summer taking weekend trips to each of the Scandinavian capitals before joining Lucas’ parent for a trip to Russia. It was a whirlwind year of travel and to top it off we took a weeklong trip to Kenya in November where we took a safari.

As the year comes to a close, we can’t help but reflect on how blessed we are to have had such opportunities.  The project Lucas is working on is moving along and he plans to see it finished sometime after we return to Houston on March 1^st. We look forward to the chance to reconnect with our all friends and get Peanut back.  If you’d like to see more pictures or hear more about our travels you can go to our blog at: http://ljhilliard.blogspot.com/. 

God’s Blessings and Merry Christmas!

Lucas and Jean Hilliard

MESSEPROMENADEN 7

Flat H0902

0279 Oslo, Norway

On our return to Houston in March:

3306 Garden Crest Ln

Houston, TX 77018

Copenhagen

Oct 21 we took a night boat to Copenhagen. On arrival we wandered all around the city, saw the little mermaid and had an amazing dinner.  The next day we visited two castles and some museums before boarding the boat to return.

Fredrikstad and Sweedish Shopping October 8

On October 8th we drove to the old fortress town of Fredrikstad about an hour south of Oslo. It was a fun little town but quite breezy.  Afterward we drove across the boarder to Nordby shopping center.  Nordby was like Sam's club for Norwegians who cross the boarder for relatively cheaper products.  The oversized chocolate was the most notable item for sale.

Russia September 24 - October 2

On September 24 we left Oslo with Lucas' parents for Russia.  Getting visas was a pain but once there we had a wonderful trip in Moscow, the Golden Ring, and St Petersburg.  Jean loved St. Basil's and we had a great guide in Moscow. The old churches on the Golden Ring were interesting.  The Hermitage was one of the best museum's we've ever seen and Peterhof was lots of fun but Jean enjoyed the Ballet the most.  St. Petersburg in general was more touristy then the rest of the trip but all of it was great.  For more details check out our trip advisor review

Lucas' Parents Visit September 16-24

Lucas' parents visited Norway on September 16th after spending a week in Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. On the day the arrived Oslo had all of its museum's open late and for free.  We took advantage by seeing the sites with them.  The next day we watch the Gator's beat Tennessee along with a fellow expat Rett.  Then then went off on a Norway in a Nutshell tour before return to Oslo for more site seeing.

Jean's Birthday (Sept 10)

The day before Jean's Birthday we enjoyed a nice day at home. Lucas brought some amazing desserts from home for a local bakery and we grilled some steaks and white asparagus with a bottle of champagne.  They were some of the best steaks we've had since moving to Norway.

On Jean's birthday we went to see the Opera "The Magic Flute" by Mozart.  It was well done but the story was worse than we expected.  It was very chauvinistic ("A woman's doesn't have a purpose in life without a man"). From there we went have dinner at the Grand Cafe.  It was a nice meal with a great view but we both felt that the food the previous night was just as good.

Cousin Visit

Jean's cousin Jay came to visit the first week of Sept.  We had a good time showing him Oslo and he also got to take a Norway in a Nutshell tour.  Jay was one of the more adventurous eaters we've had visit.  he bought lots of fish and caviar while visiting.  Jay had lived in St. Petersburg, Russia and was able to give us advice for our trip to Russia.

1 Year in Norway

Today marks our 1 year anniversary of living in Norway.  Its been a wonderful year but we certainly miss the USA as well. Our chief regret has been not bringing our dog Peanut with us. Lucas has enjoyed his work and Jean has made friends in an Oslo expat group and has enjoyed all the travelling.

Helsinki and Tallinn August 19-21, 2011

This last weekend we took a trip to Finland and Estonia. We arrived in Helsinki late on Friday and despite our early start Saturday we missed our first ferry to Tallinn Saturday.  It worked out well though because we were able to a few of the sights in Helsinki before our afternoon ferry.  Tallinn was very pretty and we enjoyed our Rick Steve's walking tour before stopping for drinks and a wonderful meal.  The way back from Tallinn was interesting because the ferry was filled with Finns carrying / carting as much beer as they could back to Helsinki. 

The next day we visited the Finnish National museum, the Lutheran Cathedral, the Finnish Orthodox Church, and Market Square in Helsinki.  We then took a ferry out to Suomenlinna fortress for a walk and a museum visit.  It was another successful whirlwind weekend.

Overlooking Tallinn

Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki

Jean's New Visa

When we first arrived in Norway, Lucas was granted a 2 yr visa while Jean was granted a 1 yr visa.  So, she had to go get it renewed.  It was a long process with lots of paperwork and waiting but after 2 months it is finally in her passport.