Tove's Travels Through Life

The Ranch is alive !

2011-12-11T20:14:00.001-08:00

Dyrene paa gaarden :) The animals at the ranch. :)

Bay

The Mansion

Adoptiv katter/ adopted kats
Hoved badet
Der finnes mange slags hester: there 's more than one kind of horse
Det stoerste soverommet/The biggest bedroom

Melanie's Kiwi bedroom/ Melanie's Kiwi soverom.
Gjestebaderom/ Guest bathroom
Kjoekkenet med kun en kjoekken stol./Kitchen with only one kitchen chair

New master bedroom decor

2011-06-07T13:08:00.001-07:00

A little bit more fresh and summer like. We painted our walls with a metallic shimmer paint. Be warned, It's not recommended. I can see where the paint roller rolled. The color is nice, but the paint left me unimpressed, even if it comes from Martha Stewart.The pillows in the front are from Target, the colorful ones in the back, I sewed !!! yay ! I actually used my sewing machine. And it worked. Amazing! I may have to do that more often. It felt good to have "made"something.

This yellow color makes me smile every time I go into the room.
Happy summer !

Glamour shots No2

2011-05-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

We ended up with another "free"session and I decided to have some pictures taken of me, to give one to Gunther for his office. I picked a few more than I had planned. hard to not pick some, when they make you look better than normal :) These pictures were taken in the Woodlands Mall Glamour Shot. They are very good and it's a fun eperience.

Well, now that Gunther is retired , we will have to hang one in his home office, Who would have thought.

Happy Birthday to Christian!!!!

2011-04-06T19:15:00.001-07:00

Gratulerer med dagen ,kjaere Christian, Vi er glad i deg !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST DAUGHTER IN LAW

2011-03-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our sweet Brittany !!!

Hope you had a wonderful day. We love you!

Glamour Shots

2011-02-11T05:26:00.001-08:00

We have always known that Melanie photographs well, and now we know just how well. These pictures were taken on a day when she wasn't feeling well at all.She followed the photographer very well , and the pictures speaks for themselves

Vi har alltid visst at Melanie er fotogen, men naa vet vi hvor fotogen hun er. Disse bildene ble tatt paa en dag da hun var syk og ikke foelte seg vel i det hele tatt.Hun gjorde som fotografen saa og bildene taler for seg selv.

Dress rehearsal

2011-02-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

Monday was dress rehearsal for the Bearkadettes. My pictures didn't turn out very clear, but here are two that are semi good.They looked so good. their costumes are amazing.Melanie did such a good job. I am so proud of her.

Her er et par bilder fra mandag, da bearkadettes hadde en gjennomkjoering av alle dansene .De var kjempeflinke og saa utrolig bra ut.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Who's the fairest of them all?

2011-01-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Our little princess on the way to her Bearkadette Ball.We think she's the fairest of them all.

In the limo with her date , Grayson Dansby, the hansome prince.

Sundance Utah

2011-01-09T19:53:00.001-08:00

Here are some random pictures from Sundance. iIt was a great week with lot's of adventure.

an update

2011-01-09T18:47:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas ! We celebrated on December 22.nd this year because we flew to utah to go skiing on Christmas morning. It was strange to do it so early , but it worked for us and we had a wonderful time together.

God Jul.
vi feirte jul 22 desember. Litt rart aa vaere saa tidlig ute, men det funket faktisk helt fint. Vi floey opp til Utah 1. juledag. En fin dag aa fly paa siden alle andre var hjemme.

Twinkle was more into the gift paper. It made her real happy just to tear it apart.

Twinkle storkoste seg med gavepapiret, Hun er lykkelig naar hun faar rive det i stykker.

Our cookie collection. Mostly store bought, but still yummy. I loved using this wire 3 tier basket, It looked so pretty with the lights between the cookies.

Vaare smaakaker ble lagt det paa dette nye 3 delte fatet. Med lys innimellom saa det flott ut, og smakte godt, selv om mesteparten kom fra butikken og ikke fra vaar ovn.

Nothing like a gift like this from a daughter.

Hvilken gave fra en datter til sin far !

Let the texting begin !

La meldingene komme!

Waiting for the magic to begin.

Melanie is always our sweet Santa.

Melanie har altid jobben som vaar soete nisse.

We had a little gift wrapping contest. Melanie won, wrapping this laptop into this surprice pkg.(polkadot red)

Vi hadde en liten pakke pakking konkuranse. Melanie gikk av med seieren med denne laptoppen pakket med hvitpriukket rodt papir.

Thomas the Grinch !

The Birthday Child

2010-12-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the big first birthday. What a fun day that was ! Lilly had almost too much fun.Meeting santa , getting presents in bed , and later in the day. Going to the Zoo , eating cake(or crying over the cake :) ) Big exhausting day.

Her kommer noen bilder ifra Lilly's store dag. Man fyller ikke 1aar hver dag. Masse morsomme og slitsomme ting skal man gjennom paa dagen. Masse latter og noen taarer.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

Lot's of food, family , friends and fun, What a great time we had, It just went by too fast.

Braces are off !!!!! Wahoooo !

2010-11-10T20:09:00.001-08:00

After2.5 years of braces , they were finally coming off. Melanie was counting the days.

Look at this beautiful girl turn even more beautiful. What a blessing she is in our family.

We love her so much and are so happy for her to see her big new smile.

Etter to og et halvt aar med streng paa tennene, skulle den endelig komme av. Melanie tellte dagene.Se paa denne nydelige jenten. Hun blir bare skjoennere og skjoennere. Vi er saa heldige som har henne i vaar famile. For en velsignelse hun er !

Vi er saa glad i henne og gleder oss over hennes nye flotte smil.

visiting family in Norway

2010-10-31T20:08:00.000-07:00

The new prince in town: Markus. A handsome little prince.

Lilly likes red licorice. Lilly liker roed lakris.

2010-10-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

A little Lilly Love

2010-10-31T19:23:00.001-07:00

Lilly loved the water,

Breakfast with Morfar (grandpa)

2010-10-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

My old High School: Kongsgaard Videregaaende Skole

2010-10-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

View from the school's yard

Back of the school's main building

Stairs up tp the principle's office.

Round about Breiavatnet
Right behind my old high school

Domkirken Church downtown Stavanger

2010-10-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

2010-10-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

From the Harbor and the fishmarked down town Stavanger.

All fresh :)

Seriuosly needed Update

2010-10-31T17:11:00.000-07:00

Working in dad's garden.

Taking a daytrip to the cabin at Aamoey. A beautiful day !

Catching crabs.

Melanie is 16 !!!!!

2010-06-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Our cute little girl is 16 ! Wow where did the time fly. We woke her up early in the morning as we always do with her gifts.We love everything about this girl. She is a fun girl, caring and sensitive. Petite by nature , but a giant in so many ways. She has climbed some mountains in her life and had her challenges, She's the stronger person for it.
We love you Melanie !

Later the morning of Melanie's big day, we headed to the DPS office , to get her license. She finished all her test in Nov. 2009 and all she had to do was to show her papers and take the eye test and a picture. It took us 2 hours ! She is the happy owner of a license with parents hesitant to let her drive :) She's a good driver, her parents are just old and scared.

In the evening she had her little sweet 16 party with some of her friends. She loved every minute of it.Here a a few pictures I was able to snatch, Picture taking moms are not cool :) so I limited myself .

Family pictures

2010-05-16T14:38:00.001-07:00

Our long awaited visitors

Proud Grandparents :)

A few hours with Bestemor at Lake Conroe

Modeling with Great Grandma, new clothes

New toys have to be tasted/tested.

Twinkle Twinkle, still our little star, all though she had lot's of competition this weekend :

BFF's

Melanie and Lilly= BFF's

One happy grandma

Lilly loved Twinkle, Twinkle wasn't so sure about Lilly. Our little dog is afraid of babies :)

Bestefar og Lilly having a great time together, He carries her wherever she want's to go.

A fun loving family , who we love dearly.

So Lilly is in about every picture ! It's to be expected when you are the first grand baby in the family. We had such a great time together. Lot's of play and fun. LOT's of pictures.
Cookies, movie night, water testing, day at the lake, prune puree, farmers bridge, Killer bunny, Krautruladen, chicken soup , apple cake and nut cake, Great grandma's special cooking. She didn't know why she was cooing for a huge group, but she did find out. Snicker ice cream seemed to be one of Christian's favorites , all though they were very small, so he needed, more than one....like 6
We also celebrated Melanie's birthday a month early, but when you have family there, you have to get it all in while you can, we did mothers day, Gunthers birthday and Melanie's birthday. Lot's and lot's of fun. Dinner was eaten at Saltgrass mainly for the decor, but the food was great too.
Now we begin our every day life...it's good to know we will see them again soon !

A wonderful month !

2010-05-16T14:29:00.001-07:00

We have had Oma visiting for a month, and then Christian , Brittany and Lilly walked in on Wednesday, surprising Oma big time.We have had some fun filled days together, but all good things must come to an end, and so today we drove them all to the airport. It's all very quiet here at the moment, but we have busy days ahead.

Southern Living at Home

2010-03-09T05:25:00.001-08:00

I have joined Southern Living at Home as a consultant !
It's a great company with lot's of wonderful Products, I am in the decorating mode. Just love being in that mode.

I even have a website ! Go check it out:

http://www.southernlivingathome.com/tovemayer

I need more parties, so let me know if you's like to host one !! That would help both me and you. Lot's of great hostess gifts and free treasures.

New family pictures on the wall.

2010-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

I am teaching a class in our church on Feb, 25th.in Spring, TX. I have taken 2x2 chipboards and dressed them up, inspired by Carol Wingert's canvas art. It hangs in our living room, reminding us who should be the center in our lives.

If you like it and would like to join us, the class is free, but you need to bring some supplies. Send me an email to tovemayer@hotmail.com if you are interested

2010-01-24T18:02:00.001-08:00

Just a few pictures to share our wonderful Christmas vacation. Our whole family together for the first time in a long time with the cutest little grand daughter !! What a great time we had and what great blessing we enjoyed. A baby was born thousands of years ago , and we still enjoy the blessings of His life as we get to meet the newest little baby born into our family. The gospel is a true gift. Love is a gift and time spent together is a treasure . I will forever treasure these moments.

Melanie is still enjoying the blessings of having two older brothers who love to play with her .

A white Christmas at last !

The cutest little toes in the whole wide world !
Lilly Hazel was blessed January 1. 2010 at home. What a wonderful experience it is to be part of such a special ordinance.

Christmas Eve.

Finally !
Bestemor had to wait way
too long to meet her first grandbaby !

Bestefar in action

Thomas' birthday.

Aunt Melanie. Tante Melanie

2009-12-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

We are off to see our grandbaby for the first time. What a Christmas that'll be !

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas !

We are grandparents !!!!!!!

2009-11-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

We are the proud grandparents of this cute little angel.
Her name is Lilly Hazel Mayer.
Born Nov 27. at 1.37. She weighed 6.8 pounds, and was 19 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well and are coming home tomorrow.
Wow , this is big. We can't wait to got see them soon, but not soon enough.

Look at this cute little angel !

2009-11-01T17:46:00.001-08:00

Halloween 09
A few pictures from our Halloween Celebrations. Lot's of decorations this year. We decided to have a party and to do a Haunted House. Work Work Work, but fun.Lot's of good company and good food.

haunted house decoration

Black Angel

From the Haunted house

Loved this huge spider

Is this the cutest angel ever , or what ?

Kitchen shelf

2009-07-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ditte is visiting Melanie.
Loads of fun for a whole week. Last night it was catch up time, The slept for 15 hours !

2009-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

8th grade dance,
Better pictures , taken by Donovan Smith. (Thank you )
Melanie and Taylor in the front, Savannah and Danielle in the back.
Pretty girls.

2009-06-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Fun summer album.

This is an album I just made and taught as a class, Loved working with the colors, It set me in summer mode, It's not totally done, I haven't journeled yet, but will do that this week.

The paper is from Close to my Heart and so is the album, I love working with this clear album.

If you are interested in making this contact me at: tovemayer@hotmail.com

The pictures are from a vacation in Provo Utah some years ago. I love to take pictures when the kids are in the pool.

2009-06-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last day of School.
Thursday was Melanie's last day of school. In the fall she starts high school. This monday she starts drivers ed!!! Our little girl is growing up fast , too fast. Seems like it's going in fast forward mode these days. She's a wonderful girl , and we are so proud of her.

Happy 70th Birthday Dad !

2009-05-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

My family have been visiting the last 2 weeks to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. We had a great time together. My dad seemed to enjoy the commotion.
It was wonderful to spend time with my family. We had so much fun together, and the big surprise was finally let out. My dad got a future gift for his birthday: the gift of a future great grandchild !!! He was excited , and so are we.

We are to become grandparents. Wow ! What a blessing that will be. Brittany seems to be doing well, and we are excited for both of them.
They have lot's of adventures ahead of them.

The last two weeks have been a blast, now it's back to reality, and new adventures.

2009-04-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Christian's GRADUATION

What a glorious weekend.We are so proud of our son and what he has achieved,
Congratulations Christian !!! Proud family
Happy Couple.

2009-04-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Monday is Horsback riding

2009-04-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

Melanie started taking horseback riding lessons when we moved to the US. She's riding western and loves it. She's very galant on her horse. I love to see the progress she's making. last week she rode bare back. Sge looked so good, and she was all smiles during the lesson, she loved it.

Grandma is visiting right now , and she came to waitch, she was equally amazed at Melanie,

Swimming with the Dolphins .

2009-03-16T08:20:00.001-07:00

Swimming with Dolphins was simply a dream come true. It was something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and I have been looking forward to this day. It was amazing. I was ready to pay my fees and go right back in the pool.
Our group(5 all together) swam with 3 dolphins and there was also a baby dolphin there, always swimming around being curious but not ready for interaction yet, but oh so cute.

The pictures speak for them selves, Just look at our smiles.
if I get a chance to do this again, I will . Without a doubt.Just wished we could have stayed even longer, An hour was too short. It was over so quickly.

I will enjoy looking at these beatutiful pictures for a long time.

Mexican dream come true.

2009-03-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

With this view from our room, the story starts.
We had a wonderful week in Mexico, Playa del Carmen.
We stayed at the Grand Coco Bay hotel and were spoiled for a week. It was plain wonderful.
We had so many experiences that were once in a lifetime experiences. My dream of visiting the ruins in Mexico along with swimming with dolphins came true, and I even got more than I hoped for when we swam in the cenotes and snorkled with stingrays. Being in the jungle river, and seeing it all was an amazing adventure.
The Mexican people were heart warming and helpful. We never felt threatend in any way.

It was amzing to listen to the guide telling us about the mayan's and their life. It was like reading the Book of Mormon, the stories were so much the same , allthough the places we vistited were not from that era, the culture and way of life was the same, I just felt like I knew more than they did , having read the Book of Mormon. Amazing experience, it strenghthen my testemony and seeing what's going on in Mexico today , the story goes on. Kind of good , kind of sad.

A room with a view, and what a viw it was ! I miss the ocean !!!

Mayan pearl.

Digging foe a pearl. It was so much fun to see Melanie get her Mayan pearl. It was beautiful.
She's growing into such a beautiful girl, It's so much fun to be with her.
dresses, Originally made from white sacks after the Spanish arrival.Human sacrifices anyone? This was the place. Unbelievable stories.

On our way to Chichen ItzaAmazing to watch them work. Can't believe I didn't get a mask !

Chichen Itza
Two different era's shown by the different pillars , round and square. The details are absolutely stunning.

Handcarved wooden masks , 1 dollar !!!!

After the warm day at Chichen Itza , we went swimming in this wonderful Cenote.
What an experience ! It was not easy to leave. It was a huge cave way down .

Spring break ! What a break! Alle three were reading a lot.

Wet and Wild
is the name of this place. It was amazing.All you can eat and drink, lots of activities. Sunshine and fun. We loved it.
Lush palm trees , What's not to love ?

TULUM

The Tulum ruins were amazing, located by the ocean , the views were spectacular.

I want to never leave a sight like this.
Can you see the rain? Kind of grey rain?
It was rainging all the time we were at Tulum. Hiding under some palm trees.

meeting the natives :)

XELHA
Waiting at Xelha for the rain to stop.All inclusive , great food. Good service. But

Xelha. What an amazing place. Snorkeling , seeing all kinds of fishes, I even saw three sting rays. going into the jungle and the river was quite the experience too.

At the beach
Beach Voleyball, Ahh ! a great way to spendt the time.
Love to feel the sand around my toes :)

Gunther never got a sunburn. Wonder why :)
I love the ocean !!!!!

I love the colorful Mexican souvenirs.

The Buffet was wonderful, Lots of great food every day.

2009-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

Two pages I made.
Love the interactive scrapbooking I learned from Karen Russel at the Ultimate scrapbook Cruise. I love to get loads of pictures on one page.

The sunshine in our daily life: melanie and Twinkle. I love the interaction. twinkle is always up for playtime, unless it's late at night.
Then it's snuggle time, My favorite time . I love to snuggle with her, She's our Teddy !

Twinkle is always looking for something at this spot in our yard. Must be something there.
LOVE the flowers in the spring. It makes my day

What a wonderful start on a new year ! Crusin and scrapbooking in The Caribbean .

2009-01-29T08:40:00.000-08:00

a
Heidi Swaps project. Loved it!!!

Jim West , from Scrapmap ,
Heidi Swapp one of my favorite teachers. She always takes her classes one level above normal standard.
The Jamaican Taxi driver, a wonderful man . He fullfilled all our wishes for day.
I saw this in Grand Cayman , Loved it , But... 10,000.00 was a bit too much for me LOL
Morning view .
Formal night. Not so happy about them , but did ok :)

With Karen Russel, loved her projects !
With Donna Downey
Favorite dessert for dinner, It was so yummy !

I took a little dip in this waterfall. It was amazing, wish I had had more time there.
The waterfall in the tropical garden was small, but beautiful. Nice and cooling.

The flowers in Jamamica were amazing, They took my breath away.

The local shopping center. Such friendly people.

I just love the look on the little boy's face . Adorable !

A little spice shop. What you see is what there was. I love spices from foreign countries , so I picked up a few.

Getting to know new friends was a favorite part of the cruise for me. Kirsten and I had a great time with Tricia and Wendy.

2008-12-31T16:38:00.000-08:00

Just playing with my new camera: Thomas and Alex

No words necessary :)

Random Christmas pictures

2008-12-27T19:42:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T18:32:00.001-08:00

Thomas is celebrating his 21st birthday and gets household items . Yippee !
Alex and Thomas have arrived
After Ike !
Pre Ike
Gifts are wrapped
The 4th candle is lit !
These two are ready .

The cookies are made !
The stockings are filled. Günther still has the biggest one.

We had snow yesterday

2008-12-11T04:44:00.000-08:00

Living back in Norway , this wouldn't have been a big deal. It would barely have been noticed. But since we are in Texas , this was BIG ! My daughter was in heaven. She even made a snowman that is still standing this morning. An whopping 10 inches tall.
The weather here is so unexpected, One day it's warm and almost muggy , the next day 33F and snow. Got to love the diversity!

2008-12-03T20:59:00.000-08:00

We have become Texans, It is official .
We have the pictures to prove it. Just look at our front yard :)

Melanie made the Basket ball team ! And with it , there seems to follow a tradition to put a sign in your front yard. This one is bright and stands out.
Go Melanie ! # 15

More renessanse pictures

2008-12-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Renessance Festival

2008-12-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the renessance Festival and had a great time.

Lots of great costumes, It was like going back in time.
We had some turkey legs to eat , and got to be pulled by a small wagon. He was really quick on his feet , and was yelling " Coming through" the whole time. We didn't know if we should laugh or feel embarrassed. It's not like we are used to being transported like that :)

We saw a Jousting tournament . It was fascinating. A mud show with a lot of talk , less mud , but fun.

My favorite part was all the costumes. Some were simply amazing. i will upload some more pictures.

CKU Sponsor Thank you card

2008-11-19T16:26:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of fun making this card. I didn't see my mistake until it was way too late. I guess CKU didn't see it either because I won first price for this card. Can you see the mistake ?

2008-11-19T03:09:00.000-08:00

This is the Love Letters Album from Basic Grey. I loved working on this album. Haven't finished yet, But i will. I just love little albums. It's easy to finish.

Right now I am working an a Christmas Traditions Album, A close to my heart Class. Lots of fun.

2008-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas is getting closer , and being a Norwegian in Texas means that I have to make my own "Pinnekjøtt" Salte and dried lamb ribs. So right now , they are hung under the stairs to dry. Our dog keeps going into the room all the time. Last year she even got a hold of one piece. She loved it, As DO WE. It just isn't Christmas without it.

We are not ready for Christmas yet , by far , but emotionally we are getting there.

Melanie and Twinkle in the Picture , Is that not the cutest Santa ? Just got to love that sweet little dog. Who knew I would become so attached. Just love them both.

2008-11-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is me, or was a few years ago. It's time to quit taking pictures , I stopped at this age. It doesn't get any better , so why continue trying :)

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving and having Christian and Brittany come to visit, We are all so excited. Celebrating with old friends too, it'll be wonderful.

Looking forward to do some scrapbooking on Thursday. I will be making Christmas tags. It'll be fun.and DONE , best part is finishing a project. I will post some pictures when I am done.

Here I go

2008-11-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I live too far away from family and friens, so blogging is the thing....if I can get it figured out that is... Time will show. I promise to make an honest effort.

Tove :)