The fall came and went...

Marianne:
Can´t believe that it´s been so long since I wrote the last newsletter. These posts on the blog are intended to replace those newsletters.

When I wrote the last time, it was summer - the best summer we have had in Denmark for decades. It was SO nice. The fall has been pretty wet but still mild - and the winter month as well.

To start where I ended last, it was time for a vacation. Denmark was hosting a huge golf tournament, which is not an everyday event. This was Made in Denmark - part of the European Tour.

We went with Jeanette and Ole and together we rented a house close to the golf course. We took the opportunity to play some rounds in the area, which is in the Northers part of the country - not too far from our summerhouse. We had some great days. The house was not really what we had expected, but had a lot of amenities that made the stay extra fun. We played table tennis, pool, Sequence, played with Jeanette and Ole´s dogs and had a lot of visitors.

My parents came for lunch and we went to see the venue where the tournament was to take place. My cousin and her husband stayed for a couple of nights and so did Jeanette and Ole´s son and daughter in law. It was fun to be with all these different wonderful people.

One evening Ole had planned for a whole crowd to come by for BBQ. It was a lot of fun. We did not know very many of these people, they were mostly golfers from the club where our friends play.

Before we left US, we were invited to Ingrid and Dominique´s for Moules et frites (mussels with french fries). We loved how the mussels were prepared and since Danish mussels are very good, we tried to make them ourselves. And boy were they good! I found a recipe with Pernod, which was also an important ingredient in Ingrid´s version. On top of that I added different vegetables - among these fennel, which emphasized the anise taste. I also added a bit of cream for the soup - not a bad move either. (When has cream ever been a bad move?)




One of the great things about being home, is that we are closer to our nephew and niece, Søren and Sisse. We have been babysitting a couple of time - either here or at their´s. It is always great fun. Sometimes we all need to relax - and it is good to watch TV with their beloved uncle Michael Bo. (Michael goes by Michael Bo in my family since my brother is also Michael).

We all went for a long walk in the forest close by. There were a lot of mushrooms. It was the first time I saw these red ones, that almost look artificial. But I can guarantee that they are for real.

On another one of the baby-sittings we went orienteering with the kids. Their parents were running a half marathon - we took the shorter (but far more hilly!) distance.

I decided to attend a 24-hour retreat organized by my union. The title was Mindfulness and we were practicing different methods to get into that special state of mind. We practiced yoga, meditation and walking in the forest in solitude. I would never have thought it was something for me, but I loved every second of it. So relaxing and since there were few sessions with interactions (talking) with the other participants, it was a very special experience for someone like me. I am sure you know what I mean...


The forest was absolutely beautiful and the day after, I convinced Michael to
go there with me, bringing our camera. I LOVE the fall colors!










Copenhagen is less than 30 minutes´ drive away from here. One day I went there for a meeting, but I went early in order to make some photos. Even if the weather was far from perfect, I got some pretty nice pics.

This was late November and Santa was visiting a Christmas Market. I found it interesting that they actually call it Christmas Market and don´t use the Danish word. That is something that has come to our attention since we came back. The Danes seem to be much more anglicized since we first left.

Here is the Danish Parliament Christiansborg in the distance. A very beautiful building.

















I caught the Round Tower, that is an old tower that was finished in 1642.
















I perpetuated the Stork Fountain which was congregated in 1894. It is placed in one of the most spectacular squares in Copenhagen.

I REALLY hope that this has piqued your curiosity so that you want to come see more. There is MUCH more to see!







I know that Movember is a huge phenomena in US - and so it is here. I decided to participate. Who says that it is only something for guys? I must admit that I needed some help. What do you think?

The Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries wanted to know which food the Danes considered their National Dish. We were asked to vote online and the winner ended up being fried pork with parsley sauce and potatoes. We decided to honor this when we arrived at the summerhouse by the end of November. We have to admit that we like it a lot - but it is not a particularly healthy dish. We usually try to make it a little less sinful by adding cauliflower.

It was very strange not to prepare celebration of the first Sunday in advent, which we have celebrated at our house in Bountiful the past 6 years. However we had an amazing day. My parent´s were visiting, so we went to a Christmas Market together and had a cup of gløgg and some æbleskiver there. When we came back home, we lighted the first candle of the ”wreath”. This year not really a wreath - but fashion changes…

On November 29th we celebrated 2 x 75 years´ birthday for my mom and dad. The actual dates are December 2nd for dad and February 2nd for my mom. We all met in beautiful Tivoli, where everything was decorated for Christmas. We tried to stay warm with some nice gløgg, which was needed. It was a cold day! In the evening we had drinks and dinner in a wonderful restaurant at the spectacular hotel Bella Sky in Copenhagen.












We also celebrated on the actual day with a dinner close to where Caro, Mick, Søren and Sisse live. Since it was a weekday, we wanted to be close to home, so nobody had to stay up too late. I am sure my dad was pleased being with his loved ones on this special day.

Last weekend we, Lone and Peter were invited by our friends, Helle and Søren, to go hunting on their ground. It was an absolutely wonderful day. The girls caught up on what happened since we last met, just after I returned to Denmark. The boys had fun outside and came back with both deer, pheasants, a duck and a snipe. We were co-driving with Lone and Peter, so even the trip home was nice. We really enjoy having them close by. They are within 15 minutes´ drive, so we see each other pretty often. Actually quite a lot of our friends are in a distance of less than 30 minutes drive. That is one of the reasons that we really like the area where we are currently living.

By December 1st I signed a contract for a job as Marketing Manager with a company called Icepharma. Icepharma has introduced a new operating model for pharmaceutical companies in Denmark/Scandinavia. We call it a ”housing concept”, where pharmaceutical companies can keep their own identity under the Icepharma umbrella and share overhead cost with other companies. I have been working for the company as an independent consultant for the past 6 weeks, but now I have a more secure position. The GM is Peter, who has been my boss twice before, so we know each other very well and we enjoy working together. For the time being, I work from home but that is hopefully going to change in the not to distant future. I hope that the company will be successful and it is a great opportunity to be part of something totally new. I´ve never tried that before, so it will be a great learning process.

Tonight Michael is out for ”Christmas Lunch” with the Ministry of Defense - something that is a tradition in Danish companies and also private settings. We are going to some friends´ tomorrow with a similar concept. The food is traditional and everybody loves it. We will go on our bikes, since it is probably not a very good idea to drive home. Usually beer and schnapps is part of the ”agenda”.

Finally Michael arrived! Written August 3rd 2014

Marianne:

Michael finally arrived on June 30th. It was really nice to have him here with me.

We stayed in the summerhouse for a couple of weeks, relaxed a bit and did a lot of practical things that just needed to be done. The first day Michael was in Denmark, we took a long walk – first of many! – on the beach.

 

We put up the name of the house. We have always called the house for FriisBo (Friis I guess that I don´t have to explain; Bo means ”to live”). Now the name is official – and we will always have a memory of our nice Chrysler Pacifica.

For the past couple of years, Søren and Sisse have always spent a week of the summer holiday with my parents. They were always in the summerhouse as this is much easier for everybody. We dicided that there was no need to change this, so the kids and my parents stayed with us for a week. When Caro and Michael came to get the kids, they also stayed for a night. It was very nice to have the whole clan together!

During the days with the kids, we did a lot of things together. Went to the beach, we were bathing, playing all kinds of games etc. Michael made a treasure hunt, which they really loved. We went to gorgeous places and had fun at the amusement park nearby. It was absolutely wonderful to spend time together!

I simply have to show a couple of more pictures from the beach. Michael and I took a bike ride on the beach and on our way to the closest bigger town (Løkken), we passed a bunch of bunkers from WW2. I find it very scenic and a somewhat scary memory of a pretty terrible time.

On our way back to the house, we passed an old farm house that has this earthwork covered with the most spectacular wild flowers. It is SO pretty!

  

We left the summer house in order to be present when our container arrived on July 16th. A lot of people (Neighbors) were very curious when it came, because it is pretty obvious that there is not enough space in any of the apartments in this area, so hold everything that was in that huge box. We (well, the movers) unloaded the whole thing and we sorted what to take up in the apartment and what to send to storage. I guess that we have about 25% of our stuff here now. The rest is in a nice storage facility where we can come and go as we please. Michael might even, when time comes, be able to set up his golf shop there. But that is not for now.

We are now settled in our new home. All the boxes are unpacked, we have some paintings on the walls and the lighting is fixed. And it is actually pretty nice. It was hard for me to get there, though. I have cried a lot of tears, because I was frustrated about all the nice things we have and that there is no room for here. My parents came last week to visit for a couple of days, and that kind of gave my a kick in the butt, so that I got finished before they came. It was nice to have them here – and they also like the place.

 This is the combined living – and dining room.

Here is the combined office and guest room (yes, there is a bed available if you decide to come for a visit!)

And here is the view from our balcony. Nice, right?

This is my room, which will be mainly for crafting, but also my office and my sanctuary

The bathroom is pretty nice – and functions very well.

 

We were anxious to know whether our big beds could fit into the rather small bedroom. Well, they could. Not room for much else – but it works great.

Finally, here is the kitchen and dining room. As you can tell, it is an open space kitchen. Very nice!

Last weekend we went back to the summerhouse. We arrived pretty late Friday night, cooked dinner and ate outside. It was SO hot and humid! After having finished, we just sat there enjoying ourselves – and not least the fact that everything was in order, which was far from the situation at the apartment. In the distance we could see this beautiful rainbow. Fun thing is that we never really got any rain where we were… This picture was taken at 9 pm.

The reason for yet another trip to FriisBo was that my uncle and aunt had their summerhouse modernized and they wanted to take the opportunity for a summer party. It was very nice to see everybody. This is the family who visited us twice in Bountiful. Two of my cousins have had babies since we saw they last time and it was wonderful to be introduced to these two new citizens of the world. They are SO cute. One of them has actually since then (as in this week) moved to San Diego with his parents. His dad is going to study there for the coming 10 months.

My parents gave us a nice Danish flag hanging in a string and with big stones as weights (and decoration). I love it – and it will always be hanging outside the house when we are there.

 Tonight is Sunday night. We have had a beautiful weekend. Yesterday we celebrated silver wedding with some of our good friends (Jeanette and Ole, who visited us three year ago with their 3 kids). It was a fun event at a very spectacular venue. We met for sandwiches before going out to play.

The boys were trapshooting and the girls were having fun on Segways. Afterwards we had coffee and the owner told us about the history of this beautiful manor built in 1750. He bought it 10 years ago and at that time nobody had lived there for 60 years. Now everything has been restored and opened as a hotel and conference venue.

It was a great party – some of us were partying most of the night. Here are Jeanette and Ole with their 3 kids and daughter in law.

This morning, after having brunch, we all left for the church nearby and there was a special worship done by Thomas, who was also at the party the night before. He is a very skilled and popular priest. What a wonderful way to end a unique event.

Well, it is about time to go to bed. We did not have much sleep last night – and tomorrow is another busy day. Michael is going to work. I am going to prepare for a couple of meetings I have this week with some headhunters. The week after is vacation time. We are going with Jeanette and Ole and some other friends to stay in a rented summerhouse and we will play golf and watch Made in Denmark – a golf tournament on the European Tour where quite a few of the world´s best golfers will play. It will be SO much fun.

Summer in Denmark - right after Mariannes return. Written June 27th 2014

Marianne:

Dear friends from all over the world.

This is our new blog - in English. While we lived in Utah, we wrote our blog in Danish so that our friends and family back home in Denmark had the opportunity to follow our American adventure. In order to keep our English updated, we figured it would be great practice to write - and why not continue documenting our lives? If you guys wish to follow, you are more than welcome. If not, that is perfectly okay too. If you are so interested, that you actually want to receive an email whenever we have updated the blog, please let us know. You can let us know by email: marianne@mbofriis.dk Then we´ll take care of the rest. Don´t expect this to be a regular event - for some reason everyday life takes over and not so many exciting things goes on. On the other hand there is nothing wrong with everyday life!

We have previously written a few ”newsletters” in order to let you know what was happening after we returned to Denmark. They will be the two first postings here - for those who haven´t seen them yet.

Hereby a little album with pictures from Denmark. I have tried to give a small explanation on every picture. Hope it does not get too boring!

This is our summerhouse – and where I am currently staying. It is by the North-Western coast of Denmark in a small place called Nørre Lyngby.

As you can tell, I have not been working all the time. I have also taken some time to relax. The hammock has come in handy - especially the first days, where I still had some jet lag.

 

From the nearest ”bigger” town, called Løkken. This is a place visited by a lot of tourists. Germans in particular. The picture was taking during Pentecost, where all Danes have a day off on Monday.  

One of my absolute favorites. The mill was built in the middle of the 1800´s. Now the blades are set as a cross, which they are usually not, as a memory of a Danish freedom fighter during WW2. To the right of the mill is an old monastery built in 1220. It is now privately owned but is open to the public.

The local church – 5 minutes walk from the summerhouse. It is a small church – seats 120 people. It was built in 1814, so it is relatively new. The old church was right by the coast and in danger of sliding into the water, so it was decided to move it.

I often go to the beach right before sunset. It is so amazing at this time. These pictures are taken around 10 pm. That day I brought my bike. The sand was nice and firm so it was fun to bike.

Yet another house is getting VERY close to the edge. The ocean eats part of the sand every year. I am pretty sure that two houses were lost since we were here last time; two year ago.

  

I am not sure if this is part of the foundation of one of the lost houses or if it is from a shelter from WW2. The Germans built a lot of these concrete shelters along the west coast of Denmark. You see them every where.

This is the remains of and old well – the house is totally gone. It looks like a tower – but it used to be dug down in the ground. Wild nature!

The sunset at Antelope Island is pretty spectacular. But there is absolutely nothing like watching the sun go down in the ocean.

Because of the steep sand cliffs, conditions for hang gliding are often perfect at our beach.

I made elderflower lemonade. It is really yummi. And very special, since you can only make it around Midsummer. To me, it is the taste of Danish summer!

I had to stop the car when I saw these beautiful poppies.

 

June 23rd is Midsummer Eve. We typically celebrate with BBQ and when the sun sets, a bon fire is lit. We have special songs that we sing and it is always a very fun event. This year is was REALLY special since Malou, the daughter of some of our friends, graduated from high school (in Denmark she became a ”student”). All the students wear the white hats you can see on the picture. As you can see, the desert was a cake decorated as the hat. (And yes, I still have mine!)

 The bon fire and the amazing Midsummer sky

The next day, I drove back to the summerhouse. It is a 5 hour drive that takes me from one end of the country to the other. I pass this beautiful bridge, which connects Zealand (where Copenhagen is) with Fyn, which is another island. From there you pass yet another bridge to go to Jutland, which is the mainland - connected with Germany and the rest of Europe.