Heddal Stave Church, Notodden, Norway

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Chris' one request of our Norway trip was to see a Stave Church, so we googled around and found that the largest one in Norway is just two hours from Oslo. Off we went! Destination: the Heddal Stave Church.
It's always fun to rent cars and drive off the beaten path while exploring these countries. We get to see "behind the scenes," if you will, the everyday, normal life. I could have sworn we were driving around Bellevue, Washington, the landscape and houses are so similar!
After passing by incredibly beautiful forests and mountain lakes, we arrived in the town of Heddal.
Norway's stave churches are a monument to the country's heritage, a heritage that wove together traditions from the older Viking Age with Christianity that arrived in the Middle Ages. No better is this blend seen than in these incredible timber churches.

There was once almost 1,000 of these wooden churches throughout Norway, but only 28 remain, with this one at Heddal being the largest.
The church dates from the early 1300s and the interior has been returned to what it looked like when it was first dedicated, removing some updates that had been added over the centuries.
And how about that setting? Not too shabby!
A cemetery surrounds the church.
Across the road from the church is a visitor's center, museum, and cafe in an old barn.
Speaking of cute, how about these kiddos? They are somethin'!
Here are a few video highlights from our day trip to the church:
Our family at the Heddal Stave Church in Notodden, Norway on Friday May 26th 2017.
Such a great way to end our #evansfamilyeuropeanadventures!
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Vacation Mini Album by Flóra Farkas

Friday, June 2, 2017

For today's post I assigned design team member Flóra Farkas to create a vacation-themed mini album and I LOVE the results! With only a few supplies, she created an awesome book from cover-to-cover documenting her Easter weekend.
Hi girls! It’s Flóra back sharing a mini album about our Easter trip. We visited Hollókő, Hungary with my Mom and niece. This is an old village where folk traditions are still alive.
I wanted to document our unforgettable memories in a new format. It came to my mind to use Heidi Swapp Memory Planner Photo Sleeves - one pack includes three 2x2” and three 3x3” pocket pages. 
I was thinking a lot about how to bind the pages. In the end I decided to use Heidi Swapp Cinch binding tool. I needed to create covers so I wrapped two chipboard pieces with Oh My Heart patterned paper. 
 
Once the base was ready, I filled up the pages with many photos and lots of embellishments from the Oh My Heart and Take Me Away collections. 
I used lots of different elements to make my album diverse. The cute Epoxy Paper Clips and Heart Charms are great accessories. 
I also decorated the mini pages with Ephemera Die Cuts, Chipboard Stickers, and Puffy Stickers. I like to add Hungarian titles so I also used Thickers and tiny letters from the Sticker Book. 
 
Between the pages I bound cards from the Specialty Paper. I wanted to break up the order of the pocket pages. For the binding I used 1” wire. I had to punch two extra wholes on my pages, but with Crop-A-Dile Punch it was easy.
I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by! 
Blog: pinkandpapergift.blogspot.com Instagram: @floramfarkas Pinterest: @floramfarkas
Facebook: pinkandpapergift YouTube: Flora Monika Farkas
This is such a perfect way to get photos off your phone and computer and into a physical format - so much more fun to flip through than staring at a screen right?! :)
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Oslo, Norway

Thursday, June 1, 2017

And so it ends... the last, but certainly not least, country we visited while living here in Germany: Norway!
We flew out of our "home" airport of Munich on a lovely day in Bavaria. I spy yellow rapeseed fields dotting the landscape!
Looking down at the cool coastline of Norway as we flew into Oslo. 
Obligatory license plate shot.
Taking selfies with the kids while Chris picked up the rental car. 
Our plan was to drive straight into downtown Oslo and go to the National Gallery. The museum's website said it had later opening hours on Thursday so we were made in the shade... except it was a national holiday so just as we were walking into the gallery at 5:00 expecting it to be open two more hours, they said it was closed. Bummer dude. But, the sun was shining and the air was warm so we decided to just stroll around town. 
Hard Rock Cafe in a cute building.
The recently pedestrianized harbor area was hopping! Food trucks and flowers and crowds and fun galore.
The Nobel Peace Center is housed in an old train station and celebrates the work of the people who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize over the years.
Oslo sits at the end of the huge Oslofjord, a playground with 40 city-owned park-like islands, cruise ships, fishing boats, and more.
Sitting above the harbor front is Akershus Fortress with its 13th century ramparts and castle.
Looking inland from the water is Oslo's huge city hall. This is where the Peace Prize is awarded every year.
Other details from our walk.
Flowers & blue rental bikes! Love!
Norwegian.
Strolling along tree-and cafe-lined Karl Johans Gate, the grand boulevard leading from the main train station up to the Royal Palace.
It had been a long day of travel so after a couple hours of exploring we piled in the rental car and drove to the outskirts of Oslo to our 5 star rated airbnb. 
I wanted to smuggle everything home. 
There was even a great yard with a trampoline and little playhouse and toys. The kids loved it to bits.
The views were stupendous overlooking Oslo and out towards Oslofjord.
Me.
The next day, after driving out to and exploring the incredibly cool Heddal Stave Church (blog post coming Saturday!), we went back to the National Gallery to finish what we actually hadn't started yet: see the paintings!
The gallery has a modestly sized but well curated collection ranging from 18th century French artists to Romantic Norwegian painters to sculptures from antiquity.
Braque and Monet and Picassos.
Attempting to instill a love for the visual arts in our kids like our own parents did with us.
But, the thing everyone comes to see is Edvard Munch's über famous, The Scream.
In the gift shop there was a spatula with The Scream on it and Fox said, “Spatula, more like Screamula!” his first joke :)
After enjoying the museum, we headed back out and walked up towards the Royal Palace. Norway is a monarchy so this is home to Norway's King Harald V.
Darling girl with pretty purple flowers.
The city has a vibe a lot like Helsinki, Finland that we visited a couple summers ago.
The next morning we were up bright and early for our flight home to Munich. Adjø, Norge!
Our last time flying back into Germany!!!
Our car seats didn't make it. We're been pretty lucky on that front and this is the very first time we've "lost" something in all our 4 years here. Apparently they didn't get put on the plane in Oslo so Lufthansa tracked them down and arranged to have them delivered to our home the next day. Which they did so all was well!
*Note: We have been listening to audiobooks as we've done roadtrips or driven to and from the airports, specifically the Harry Potter series. We finished listening to the last book, book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, on our drive home from the Munich airport at the end of this trip. Thanks for entertaining us for hours and hours in the car, Harry!

Video highlights from Oslo.
The Evans family in Oslo, Norway on Friday May 26th 2017.
We miiiiiiiight drive down to see the Matterhorn in a couple weeks, we're watching the weather like a hawk cuz it has to be good weather to see the mountain! I just can't come to terms with this being the "last" adventure!
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