The End of The Year

Alas, 2005, we hardly knew ye!

Its hard for me to believe that 2005 is forty minutes away from being over. Last December seems like yesterday, what with our purchase of a new home, gearing up for my tenure decision, and getting prepared for our trip to Denmark and now here we are ringing in the New Year in Denmark, twelve months later!

We've had an excellent Winter break that was very inward focused; it was just the four of us in our apartment having fun as a family. We had a great Christmas; the kids enjoyed the gifts that they received and Leysia and I enjoyed taking a break from the chaos of "normal life" to really spend time with Max and Lilja day in and day out. Here are pictures of Max and Lilja on Christmas morning (the lollipops were stocking stuffers and "wonderful" substitutes for breakfast!).






We had wonderful weather on Christmas Day, which was good because it has been cold, rainy, and snowy ever since! Max received one "outdoor" toy for Christmas and the good weather that day let us get out and enjoy it before being "trapped" inside ever since.

We also had the good fortune to visit friends as well as have friends over (except for one get together that was cancelled due to Leysia being under the weather that day) and we had a great day today, riding sleds down a snowy hill with Aino and her family in the morning, and enjoying a wonderful dinner with Jakob and Eva and their two boys this evening.

We left their house around 10:45 and now I'm up with Max waiting for the New Year to arrive (Leysia is getting the baby down to bed) and watching the fireworks that are going off everywhere as people prepare to celebrate at Midnight. Fireworks are readily available here in Denmark and EVERYONE is setting them off, so the whole city is lit up with fireworks right now. Its certainly an amazing sight! Jakob even lit a "fireworks box" (essentially a box filled with rockets that go off one by one after the fuse has been lit) and two large "bottle" rockets from his backyard so his kids and ours could see the fireworks up close.

We had a wonderful year this year, with a lot to be thankful for. We are eagerly looking forward to what 2006 will bring.

Here's wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year!

See you in 2006!

Ken