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Well here are some.

Or maybe not new all of it, but at least some new pics.

We spent our vacations in the wild west, and our kids fit in very well:
Oooops - ended up in jail...
But they behaved well and took care of the Indians, so they were set free :)

As I've already told you, we went to San Diego Sunday. We went to see the USS Midway - an aircraft carrier for the US Navy that ended up as a museum. Definitely the boys' cup of tea!
They asked the volunteering old marines about everything!
Here they are on the deck of this huge vessel.


Here in Irvine we try to have a life besides packing. We are in the pool, seeing friends and so forth. Today we went to the beach once hubby came home.

The last trip

Today we had our last trip with the Toyota Sienna. It took us safely to San Diego and home. Tomorrow morning we are no longer the owner of this car. Another family has bought it, and this kind of marks the end of our stay here.
The car itself isn't the worse, but knowing our time here is almost up, is upsetting me a bit.

Sometimes I try to be a strict mom. My kids are very energetic and it's kind of hard keeping them and their wonderful voices on a decent level.
The way they are running around chasing each other and making an extreme noice, is what triggers my anger.
Well, I put them in a TO, and they are making funny faces I just can't resist. I burst out in laughter and the whole time out is spoiled.
I feel so powerless against these hilarious children. They know the exact way to make me fail, and use it for all it's worth.

But then, when I tuck them in for night and they say their prayers, it's all worth it!
"Thank you Jesus for a good day, and for all the fun we had with mom today!"
These adorable kids are such a blessing!

What a mess!

Well, I wouldn't go that far say our life is a mess, but have you seen our apartment? This place has always been kind of chaotic, but now it's worse than ever.
Three big bags left for Norway in the end of June. Now three other bags are filled with stuff we won't need until we come home.
We are waiting for people coming to pick up stuff they want to buy from us, we wonder how we are going to fit everything in our baggages, and we try to figure out what we just don't want to bother bringing back, what is more convenient to buy here due to price and availability compared to Norway. Wow this is such a puzzle! We are planning to fill up and bring home nothing less than 11 suit cases/bags. That sounds like a lot, but I'm not quite so sure.
All our books and documents will be shipped back - somehow - and I'm pretty sure we have at least 150 pounds of books. They will not be counted in with the rest of the bagage.
These are the things that fill and occupy our brains now a days.

And yes, I do admit our problems are few and insignificant. And yes, we are lucky. We don't have too much to worry about. Even though we know this, it can't stop us from worrying a bit - the apartment reflects our minds.

Grand Canyon North Rim

Finally we went to Grand Canyon. The boys have been talking about going there since long before we left Norway.
The view was stunning.
It is a little bit sad that most of the trails and hikes are not arranged with kids in mind. It really would have been great to go way down in the canyon, but even for kids used to hiking these trail are just too much.

But we found a couple of nice trials and combined with the Junior Park Ranger Program, we all had a great time.

The sunset was spectacular!

Back to Bryce

We went back!
A beautiful hike into the canyon was one of the most important activities today. The kids attended the Junior Park Ranger program, said their pledges and became rangers too!

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Chipmunk
Queen Victoria
Very proud Junior Park Rangers

Road Trip

We are on our road trip! So far we have traveled nothing less than 1000 miles. We have been to Zion national park with it's steep and stunningly beautiful walls of mountains raising around us.

In Cedar Breaks we saw the first hoodoos and arches, and went hiking in over 9100 ft (2800 m). It is fascinating to see how similar the nature all the way up in the mountains is to the Norwegian lowland woods. While the tree line in Norway is about 3300 ft (1000 m), I haven't seen one here.
When we first came to Bryce, we were quite disappointed. Except some beautiful animals there was not much more to see than in Cedar Breaks. But on our way back to the park entrance, we decided to check out a place called Bryce point, about a mile drive off of the main road. Wow! That was a spectacular wiew! The hoodoos, arches and caves were many, and the colors amazing! And we also found some trails we can do. I'm already excited and elated about tomorrow! Oh so boring Bryce, we are coming back!

The tooth fairy

Princess has had a wiggely tooth for about a week. It suddenly almost came out, to our surprise. And yesterday it did come out. Guess who was happy?
In Norway and US the traditions for what job a tooth fairy has are a little different. In Norway they are used to find the tooth in a glass of water, because our coins are of much greater value than the US cents.
Here the tooth fairy always finds the tooth under the pillow, and brings bills instead of coins.

Luckily we've seen "The tooth fairy" movie, so we knew what to do.
The tooth went under the pillow, and Princess tried to stay awake. But the tooth fairy wisely waited until all the kids were asleep. When she woke up today, she found $3 under her pillow. What a good start of the day!