happy holidays, happy new year!

Hope you're all enjoying this holiday season and the rounding off of the old year. We're enjoying "romjula" (the week between Christmas eve and New Year's Eve) in Oslo where it's cold and no more snow, but cozy inside and on short brisk walks outside. We had a couple of nice weeks in Gran Canaria earlier this month, relaxing in our apartment, by the pool, or strolling along the beach walk. Here we are on one of those walks, one of our first days there (for more pics., check out the album).

As New Year's Eve approaches, we get all nostalgic, looking back on 2008. It has been a big year for us!

Anne went from being an overworked prof at St. Olaf to being a happy stay-at-home mama for Lilly here in Norway. I haven't forgotten completely about work though; this month I got a publisher for my book, which I hope will help grant applications this spring. I've applied for another year off from St. Olaf and look forward to actually writing the book next year after trying out some ideas for its format this spring.

Leighton has been thrown into life as an expat in Norway where he's getting at least some good use of the Norwegian language studies he completed at St. Olaf last year (new year's resolution for the both of us is to speak more Norwegian together). He's thriving in grad school, enjoying the (at times quite dense and always ample) reading in particular. He has focused his thesis project and its title is: "The Garden Party: 'Intimate Spaces' in Ibsen's Love's Comedy."

Lilly turned half a year while we were on Gran Canaria this past month and has started eating solids (we're talking tea spoons here). Banana and avocado for now (she's not so fond of either). She's finished beginning and advanced baby swimming courses, talks a lot ("ng" and "ablablabla"), loves to play on the floor, explore the world and other babies, and listen to mama singing. She still prefers to sleep snuggled up with mama, but has begun to sleep more by herself in her crib.