Saying goodbye :(

The time has come for us to say goodbye to all our friends who have been part of our lives for the past four years. While we are excited about our future and the adventures to come, it is very sad to leave our friends in Findlay.

Sidney's last day of preschool was Friday. The teachers, many of whom have known her since she was six months old, started the tears flowing. Her friends, who have been her classmates since the Infant-One Level all gave her hugs and told her they loved her. The class made her a shirt with all their names and fingerprints to remember them by. Her school has been such an important part of her life, and we deeply appreciate all that the teachers, staff and her friends have done for all of us. The experience has certainly been integral in making Sidney who she is, and we have been more than pleased and surprised with her progress.

Our last day at church was this morning, Palm Sunday. Pastor Dan lifted us all up in prayer, and Matt had the choir sing "Gaelic Benediction" at the end of the service for us, the words of which are as follows:

"May the road rise up to meet you, the wind be at your back,
may the sun shine warmly on your face, the rain fall softly on your fields,
Till we meet again my friend, till we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand, may God hold you in the palm of His hand."

It was probably one of the more touching moments we have had. As we stood there listening with tears in our eyes, I thought of how many times I stood in the choir myself and sang that as both a regular benediction and for special occasions when others left for journeys such as ours. I also thought of how much this church has meant to us with all the love and support we've received, especially with Sidney's premature birth. I also know that everyone there has been part of Sidney's growth spiritually, as one of the first songs she could sing by heart was "Jesus Loves Me."

Lots more hugs, tears and well-wishes came from everyone, and Sidney shared lots of love with her "girls" at church. We cannot express how much we will miss you all.

Kimber's last day of work in Findlay is tomorrow. I know she will leave and feel like she could have done more. And I don't doubt she will continue to contribute, even if only through email exchanges with the group here. I am very proud of the professional growth I have seen her go through with this job, and I am sure it will continue in her new position.

Our last goodbye will be tomorrow night with Gerry and Mary Kay Mohr. They, more than anyone, have been what made our neighborhood so good for us. Since our first house-hunting trip to Findlay just over four years ago, they have been a part of our lives and tremendously important to us. They have been friends, surrogate parents, baby sitters, counselors, dinner partners, party planners, sounding boards, life savers, and so much more to us. We will have dinner one last time tomorrow night, and I am sure the tears will flow freely. The dinner will probably be BYOK (Bring Your Own Kleenex.)

The thing we continue to stress with them and all others is that we hope you will all visit in Norway! We will have room in our apartment, and can rent the bedroom downstairs for much cheaper than a hotel room. It sleeps four and has a private bath. As I will not be working for the time being, I am happy to serve as host and tour guide to Stavanger (once I get to know it myself!)

Pastor Dan talked this morning about the men that came to Jesus during his trip to Jerusalem. He said Jesus told one man to come with Him, to which the man responded "Yes, Lord, after I say goodbye to my family." Jesus said to him "No man can plow a straight furrow while looking backward." Jesus' point was that you can't look toward the future and live in the past. We will try to live for our future, not regret our decisions to leave this part of our life, and hope to meet all of you that have meant so much again. And until then, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Moving out

Our movers arrived yesterday to pack us out for our move overseas. We were pretty well organized upon their arrival, with furniture and belongings marked "Store", "Ship", "Air" and "Stay". All our luggage that we will have for the next three weeks before our arrival in Stavanger was also separated out.

It took only one day to pack everything in boxes. Then today the movers were back and loaded the truck with everything that will stay in storage for the next however-long-we-are-there. Tomorrow our shipping container arrives and the "Ship" stuff will be loaded. Finally, the "Air" stuff will go on the truck to be taken for final prep and sending. It will hopefully arrive in Stavanger about the same time we do.

We moved into the hotel last night. Sidney went to school today and promptly notified everyone we slept at the hotel (very nonchalantly - this kid is travel-wise!)

We took Alex to his new home this evening. We will take the fish over tomorrow evening and see how Alex did his first night there. It is very sad to us to leave this member of our family behind after 14 years of companionship and loyalty. He will be with a friend, so at least we can get updates. Had timing been different and allowed for the time to get his rabies titers, etc., we may have taken him, but there is the consideration of his age and ability to handle the long flight.

On a happier note, we will be flying down to Houston next week for our ex-pat orientation. We look forward to seeing a few friends in the area one last time during our very short visit, but unfortunately will only have one night to do so. We wish we could see you all!

So where is Stavanger?

View Larger Map

So many people have asked about where the city is, I added this map. Stavanger lies on the interior portion of a peninsula in Southwest Norway. It is the fourth largest city in Norway. The population is around 285,000 and is made up of many ex-pats (due to the oil industry) and native Norwegians.

Also located on the peninsula are Sandnes (to the south of Stavanger) and Sola (on the exterior portion of the peninsula along the North Sea. Hinna (the place where our apartment is located) lies between Stavanger and Sandnes. The Google Earth view shows the soccer stadium as a "work in progress", but pictures imbedded in the Google Earth view of the area show what things look like now, including our building.

We found a place!

After looking for a few days in Stavanger, then placing an offer (you actually can "negotiate" rent there), our offer was accepted for the apartment in these pictures.
As you can see, the view is SPECTACULAR. We are on the 7th floor, overlooking the fjord and mountains to the front and the Stavanger Vikings Soccer Stadium and practice field to the back. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a living room/dining room, family room, kitchen and two fireplaces. The complex also has additional bedrooms for rent if we need them for guests (nicer and cheaper than a hotel in town.) The train stop is right beside the stadium and takes 7 minutes to go directly to Stavanger city center. It is 10 minutes from Sidney's school, and has lots of playgrounds around it. It is also about a 5 minute walk to Vaulen Beach, a popular public beach, which is also visible from our front balcony. As you can tell, we are pretty excited!

Our visit to Sidney's new school was also good. She will start preschool probably in May, then go into the Reception class (roughly equivalent to Kindergarten) in August. The kids in the reception class are actually writing sentences currently, and they are only 6 months into the school year! I am sure Sidney is going to soak all this up like a sponge.

There is so much I could tell about our week there, but more will follow. We are getting things ready on this end to pack, travel, etc. We plan on leaving Findlay on April 8th, visit with the family in Germany over the Easter holiday, then arrive in Stavanger on April 14th. We will be in a furnished temporary apartment until our belongings arrive, which we hope will be around May 1st.

More updates and info to come!

House Hunting

Kimber leaves tomorrow for the first leg of her trip. She is heading to Aberdeen for a week to meet with others over PSM stuff. She is packed and ready to go, but already knows she will miss Sidney horribly while she is gone. I leave next Saturday evening, and will meet her in Stavanger for house hunting. We will be there a week.

We have looked at several online postings and are undecided on exactly what we want. We are considering unfurnished places (as long as they are big enough for the three of us and our furniture, within our price range, and can accommodate visitors) as well as furnished (same as before, just without "our stuff".) There are several flats with excellent water views that we think are really nice, but we will have to see when we get there. I think we could deal with being without our stuff for a few years as long as the place was nice.

On the home front, we had our first viewing of our house today. Haven't heard any feedback yet, so we don't know how it went. It would be really nice to get a buyer quickly, as we have with our previous two moves.

The next post will come probably after our trip, so we will let you know how it goes!

Plans are rolling along for our move. Looks like April 6th is Kimber's effective date there. March 22nd will probably be my last day of work here. We are also going to make a trip over at the beginning of March for house hunting. Kimber has to go to the UK the last week of February, and I will fly over and meet her in Stavanger. My mom will come up to babysit while we are gone.

Speaking of trips, our trip to Disney World was lots of fun. Here are a couple of pictures:



The only real downside to the vacation was the airline. Delta charged us for the luggage, even though Kimber is a Gold Onepass member (a Skyteam partner), delayed us on the ground after pulling back from the gate in Atlanta (with no AC) for over 30 minutes because of an equipment problem, temporarily lost our stroller, then delayed us again departing Orlando (again due to an equipment problem). Seems like the supposedly "great" merger between them and Northwest is exactly what I felt it would be - when you combine the two worst airlines you get a bigger bad airline!

And Kevin, I love you, man!

Accepted

Kimber accepted the position last Friday, and things are beginning to get going. We will be planning a house hunting trip for the end of February or the beginning of March. My mom will probably come up to visit and babysit Sidney while we are there.

We have also begun to make some friends online with people that are moving to Stavanger around the same time we are. One couple is in Alaska and we've made arrangements to have them pick up some Kaladi Brothers coffee syrup for us before they come :)!

We also head to Disney World this Sunday for a week, so pictures will be coming!