Happy New Year!

Marianne:
We have entered a new year. 2016 lies ahead of us and we are looking forward to a lot of things that we already know will happen. One thing overglows it all - we will move into our new house. We really look forward to that! The plan is that we take over the house on March 1.









The month of December just flew by.Vi started the preparations for Christmas in the last weekend of November, when Søren and Sisse were staying here, while Caroline and Michael went on a trip to London. It was so wonderful to have them here and we made a lot of fun things.
Uncle MB and the kids made decorations for this year’s ”calendar candle”, which is a candle that counts down the 24 days before Christmas.

The following weekend we went to FriisBo. I had a meeting in Aalborg on Monday so we combined business with pleasure. Lovely! It was VERY wet on the grounds. And our "back-door” neighbor had removed all the trees between the two lots. It looks really different and barren, but after some time (years?) it'll be great.

We celebrated Michael's birthday with great friends. In the morning we drove together with Lone and Peter to Helle and Søren´s - an hours´ drive from here. After breakfast the boys went bird hunting. The  girls stayed at home, where we were updated on each other's lives since the last time we saw eachother. We picked up Helles daughter Emma Sofie at the train station in Holbæk, and we took the opportunity to shop a little up there. It is a very nice town with lovely shops. Neither Lone nor I came home empty handed. Helle was in charge of cooking dinner. Lone and I tried to lend a hand, but without much luck. Helle was so much in control. When the boys came home we were served gløgg (mulled wine) and shortly after, we had a nice dinner. It was a really nice day and Michael was happy with the way he was celebrated. I will not comment on the hunting prey, since there was not really a lot to talk about, as I understand...

On December 23rd my parents arrived in Roskilde, where Carol and Michael live. In the evening we were together with most of The "Friis Larsen clan" at Caro and Mick´s. They wanted to see the family and at the same time show us all their newly rebuilt house. It was a great opportunity to meet my aunt and uncle Anne and Flemming, their children, children in-law and grandson. Next time, we hope that everyone is able to participate. Sisse had made place cards - and she's so good at it!

Christmas mainly took place in Roskilde and everything was super nice. On the 24th we had lunch with Astrid and Bent (Caro's parents) and later we went to Christmas worship in the cathedral. It was a really nice experience. Christmas Eve was beautiful with good food, dancing around the Christmas tree and nice presents. There was not too much stress, so we had fun and enjoyed it all very much. As Michael and I drove home at 1 o’clock am, the traffic was crazy.

The same was the case on the 26th, when we drove to Roskilde for the traditional Christmas lunch. We were playing with the kids' presents and ate a lot of good food. Again, Sisse (and Caro) had been creative. They had made a fine cookie tree which was decorating the well-set table.

On the 25th everybody came to our house because they wanted to see how far the builders are with our new house. We´re getting there.

On December 29th, Michael went deer hunting with Nicolai. The hunt took place very close to where we had been on the 19th.  Funny coincidence. They all came back totally empty-handed - there was NOTHING to hunt. So they were a little crestfallen and very cold when they got home. In the evening came Birgitte, Nicolai, Amalie and Andrea to our place where we all had dinner.

The next day we had a visit from Max, Gunda and Robert. It was great to have them and we had a nice afternoon and evening.

New Year's Eve was celebrated at Ulla and Lars´ in Bistrup. We have now been together with the same bunch of Lone and Peter's friends for many years, so now they all became our friends too. It was a great party with good food and wine, entertainment, drinks and dancing. After dinner we played some fun games. Michael had planned a gift wrapping competition for couples. Last year we learnt that it was impossible to get a taxi, so this year we had planned ahead and we spent the night at Lone and Peter´s. We were very pleased with that arrangement.

We will do everything we can to ensure that 2016 will be an exciting and eventful year. And we wish the same for all of you.