More from the twins!

I just got to see the two beauties at the hospital. Tiny little things, looking very much like Lilja and Kári. I got to feed the little boy through his tube and felt very honoured... and nervous as it felt like a huge responsibility!

News of me... ehmmm.... working and working and working!

A girl and a boy !

The sweetest things!

Where did the week go???

I have no idea where last week went... but it went by very quickly! I took four days off from work to spend with my kids and we did lots of fun things together, visited the Family Park, did a lot of gardening both at home and at Skólagarðar and enjoyed some good visits to friends and family!
Some nice photos from Skólagarðar of hard-working kids :)

Tiny Twins

Dóra and Gummi's twins were born last night (June 18th, 2007) nine weeks premature. A little boy (1600 g) and a little girl (1270 g). Two small miracles. They will stay at the hospital for some weeks to grow and gain some more strength.

The family in Hringbraut can't wait to see the babies, hold them and give them a cuddle!

We send our best wishes and a BIG congratulations to Dóra, Gummi, Kári and Lilja! Til hamingju kæru vinir!!!!

WAW

WAW is the new expression in my vocabulary for What a Weekend :) I think I have talked about busy weekends before but this one is certainly on the top three list!

This is the weekend in brief:

Friday night I flew to Ísafjördur in the West Fjords of Iceland and stayed over night at Hotel Isafjördur. Calm evening and I went out for a meal. I met quite a few people I knew from Reykjavík who were there to attend seminars or even to make a movie!


Saturday was spent working. Adriana was there at seven in the morning and we had bus tours and boat tours to Vigur running throughout the day. I had a lunch date with Aino Freyja and her beautiful daughter Hrafnhildur and in the afternoon I decided to jump on board the Sæferðir boat and go to Vigur Island. Lovely island, very tranquil and nice. I spoke some French with the tourists, I really should get my French back on track... will keep that in mind for old age :)

I went back to Reykjavík on the six o'clock flight after a shower and a change of clothes at the hotel. From the Airport I drove straight to Olli's house (Runólfur Ágústson was called Olli 25 years ago...) where some former AFS exchange students were gathering to celebrate AFS 50th anniversary and our own 25 year reunion! All these faces from the past :) Olli, Ása Richards, Jói Hlíðar, Ingibjörg, Ranný , etc. We then went to Nordica for the main celebration, and as the night was still young at the end of the dinner and dance we ended up at the Nordica bar for some more chats and laughter.

Sunday was again a day of work. At seven in the morning the Atlantik team met with MS Albatros and then we went for a coffee afterwards.

The afternoon the kids and I went to town. We caught the parade into town and then spent a nice afternoon on Hljómskálagarður eating candy floss and trying out the jumping castles and more fun things! The looooong day ended at Subway with an ice cream in front of the tv in the evening and Sandra and Eiríkur went content and full to bed.

Ísafjörður

Here I am at Ísafjörður in lovely weather (yes - that means neither wind nor rain!) greeting the cruise ship Adriana. French passangers so the coffee on board is excellent :)

Just met my uncle Elias and his son Julius, always nice to see the family.

End of School!

My kids have finished yet another year of school. Rebekka has completed her second year at Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, Eiríkur will be moving on to 7th grade at Vesturbæjarskóli this autumn and my baby Sandra Kristín will be attending grade 4 at Vesturbæjarskóli. One more year and Eiríkur will be attending Hagaskóli!. They make their mummy really proud :)

Rebekka and Sunna!

Rebekka is having a great time with her mexican family and went to a party over the weekend with Daniel, Jaime Elías and his girlfriend Claudia. She seemed to have had a great time and is also enjoying her school in Mazatlan.

Lovely to speak to Sunna on the phone last night all the way to Natal in Brazil. She was checking for news of Rebekka - hey girls you can still e-mail between Brazil and Mexico, doen't have to be via Iceland ;) - I can't wait for Sunna and Rebekka to get together again in July.

Congratulations Gréta!

My friends Gréta has just accepted a new position as the assistant to the Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde. Brilliant news and I know Gréta will be excellent at her new job!

Another Cruise Breakfast

... this time on board Arielle. Feeling very spoilt :)

Back at Atlantik

Started my summerjob yesterday at Atlantik and it was nice to be back. People are still the same and I even got the same office, sharing this time with Jóhann and not Sólveig.

MS Discovery arrives in Sundahöfn early in the morning so kids are staying with their grandparents tonight. They had great fun last night when Sólveig María (Sandra's classmate) came to stay over. Lots of trampoline hopping and hot-chocolate :)

Three Cups of Tea

I just got this lovely book Three Cups of Tea from my good friends Kayee in Jakarta. I cant wait to read it! Thank you dearest!!!!



"In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan. Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school.

From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson’s one-man mission to counteract extremism and terrorism by building schools—especially for girls—throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Mortenson had no reason to believe he could fulfill his promise. In an early effort to raise money he wrote letters to 580 celebrities, businessmen, and other prominent Americans. His only reply was a $100 check from NBC’s Tom Brokaw. Selling everything he owned, he still only raised $2,000. But his luck began to change when a group of elementary school children in River Falls, Wisconsin, donated $623 in pennies, thereby inspiring adults to take his cause more seriously. Twelve years later he’s built fifty-five schools.

Mortenson and award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin have written a spellbinding account of his incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived an armed kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. Yet his success speaks for itself. This year the schools will educate 24,000 children."

The Family in Breiðholt

Kids coming back!

Can't wait to have the kids back at Hringbraut. The house is very empty without them.

Sunday

The most quiet day in a long time. Eiríkur and Sandra with David and Rebekka all the way in Mexico.

But peace did not last long... Sissa, Heiðar and Stefán turned up with food to prepare and even ice cream for afters and we chatted and laughed until midnight.

A long walk...

Super walk on Saturday - we walked so called "Leggjabrjótur" (Shinbreaker?!) from Hvalfjörður til Þingvellir. It was a five hour walk but with travelling time we spent about 7 hours in total. Nice ice cream at Þingvellir after wards :)