Merry CHRISTmas Everyone!

We've had a good Christmas.  We got up and took care of some last minute chores and then opened our presents to each other.  Hightlights include: Jean knitted Lucas a scarf, Lucas bought Jean a star ring, and lots of movies and games!  Jud and Erica made it safely to our flat.  We had a quick lunch and then went to Vigelands Parken so they could see it and play in the snow.  Tried unsuccessfully to build a snowman, made snow Angels, and throw lots of snowballs.  We came home to warm up, play games, and go through everything they bought us from the States.  Lucas made a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner of pinnejkøtt (basically salty lamb ribs), mashed rutabaga, boiled potatoes, lefse, and rice pudding with strawberry sauce.  Everything was delicious!

Snowball fight at Vigelands Parken

Christmas dinner

Christmas Eve Fun

We had a great Christmas Eve!  Jean convinced Lucas to take her ice skating.  We decided to grab lunch out, not easy considering most stores were closed or closing at 1pm and we left our flat at 12:30pm.  The first ice skating rink was closed but the one by National Theater was open.  Our new skates were tight but we still had a great time.  After skating we came home and got ready for church.  The service was at 4pm.  It was a nice service and they sang some in Norwegian, which was hard and comical for us to sing.  Afterwards, there was a dinner at church which was nice and they had yummy turkey!  We came home and opened the bottle of champagne we bought back from Italy.  We watched the older Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Charlie Brown's Christmas.  It was a great night!

Pneumonia Again

Jean was walking pneumonia again!  She got it for the first time the day before we moved to Oslo.  Apparently, it has never gone away.  The hospital gave her the wrong medicine the first time, assuming it was a viral infection.  The Doctor now has her on much stronger medicine and after multiple test says that it is a bacterial infection.  Hopefully this will make it go away for good!

We're not that far north...

Today is the shortest day of the year.  Here in Oslo we got almost 6 full hours of glorious light between sunrise and sunset.  The sun doesn't get very high off the horizon but we appreciate the light.  Certainly there are parts of Norway that have complete darkness but it is over 800 miles from Oslo to the arctic circle. So its dark here and certainly cold, but it could be worse.

God Jul og et Godt Nytt år

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.  As most of you know we moved to Oslo, Norway this year so that Lucas can continue his work on a software project for ExxonMobil.  Getting prepared for the move and all of the logistics that followed was a fair amount of effort, but Lucas is enjoying his work and we are happy for the opportunity we have to experience another culture and travel.

We have a wonderful furnished apartment in Oslo and are currently renting out our home in Houston (all of our furniture is in storage).  The high prices in Norway continue to amaze us but with the language lessons we’ve been taking we at least have an idea about what we are purchasing in the grocery store.  Unfortunately, neither of us is a natural at Norwegian and we often struggle with pronunciation.  Fluency seems out of reach but this is okay as the vast majority of Norwegians speak perfect English.  In fact, much of the local TV is broadcast in English with Norwegian subtitles.

We’ve been able to take advantage of our proximity to the rest of Europe and have already traveled to Belgium for Jean’s birthday, Germany for Oktoberfest, Italy for Jean’s graduation this December, and next up is a trip to Spain with Lucas’s sister Erica and her husband Jud over New Year’s. We’ve also enjoyed exploring Oslo and through a random Florida Gator’s connection have met some other ExxonMobil expats in Houston with whom we have quickly become friends.  We’ve also enjoyed getting to know the members of our English speaking church here in Oslo.

As we hinted at above, Jean just graduated with honors from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing.  She had to work very hard all year to take the necessary classes while we still lived in Houston so that she would only need 4 online classes this fall to finish her degree. She hasn’t yet decided whether or not to look for a job while we live in Norway. 

We certainly miss all our family and friends, but most of all we miss our dog Peanut.  We sadly left her in Florida with Lucas’s sister Heather where she is happily terrorized by our nephew Blake. If you’d like to see pictures or hear more about our time in Oslo you can go to our blog at: http://ljhilliard.blogspot.com/.  We are on Skype (search for us under Lucas and Jean Hilliard) often for free phone and video chats with family and friends.  Feel free to drop us a line. 

God’s Blessings and Merry Christmas!

Lucas and Jean Hilliard

MESSEPROMENADEN 7

Flat H0901

0279 Oslo, Norway

Jean's Graduation

After many years of pain, stress, and money, Jean is finally a college graduate!  She graduate cum laude (with honors) from University of Houston (UH) with a bachelors in marketing.  It feels good to be done.  She will try to find work here in Oslo, but it will be hard without knowing the language very well.  Her goal is to find something to do with photography.

Italy Graduation Trip

We went to Italy December 9 thru 14, 2010, to celebrate Jean's graduation from UH.  We had a great time exploring Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, Almafia Coast, Naples, and Rome.  Jean FINALLY got to see the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel.  We discovered limoncello liquor that is made in Capri and then discovered that it is EVERYWHERE, even in Oslo! We came back on the 14th, woke up at 3:45am, and Lucas was able to work a half day.  To see more photos click HERE.

Sistine Chapel

Capri

Pompeii

Almalfi Coast

Eating pizza in Naples

Trevi fountain

Fog on the Fjord and Free Christmas Tree

On Tuesday December 7, 2010, Jean met up with Christine for some exploring.  There was fog on the fjord and it was beautiful.  We wondered around the fort and took some pictures.  Afterwards, we took the bus to the city center.  There was a lot of Christmas trees around.  Curious, we asked around and found out that if you decorate a tree, you can take it home free of charge.  I'm talking tree, stand, lights, ornaments, everything.  So we stood in the freezing cold and decorated a tree for Christine.  She rewarded Jean with hot chocolate, which was more like hot chocolate soup!  We went back to get the tree.  Christine picked it up and walked right on the bus with it.  Jean really liked the ornaments, so Christine split them with her.  We then met up with the boys and some of the people Tyler works with for some thai food.

View from the fortress

Fog on the fjord

With the free Christmas tree

Sipping hot chocolate soup

Our Christmas Decorations

Our Christmas Corner

Christmas Stockings

Charlie Brown Tree

Nativity hand carved in Bethlehem

Christmas Market at the Norsk Folk Museum

On Sunday (12/5/10) we went to the Christmas market at the Norsk Folk Museum.  It was cold but we still had a great time.  They had over 100 different vendors selling food, ornaments, and lots of other different things.  They had different Christmas dinners and scenes set up (hence the picture of the dead birds).  We also got to see the famous Stave Church.  We had some homemade lefse which was delicious and we bought our first manager scene.  It was hand carved in Bethlehem.  They also had a very realistic Santa there.