Gledelig Jul

Summer guests Beate and Unni. (They didn't open the akavit)

When a package comes from Norway, we can't help it, we don't wait for Christmas, we just tear into it. Self-control is for children.
Bundles have arrived from Norge, sent here by our summer guests, Beate and Unni. They spent a week with us on the front and back end of a grand sweep through the Great West, hitting all the highlights from the Pacific to the Great Lakes, including, of course, the besieged Rolfsrud Ranch in the midst of the Bakken Shale hubbub.

Viking booty

They've safely returned to their Norway families  and have since wrapped and posted a volley of gifts for Americans.
The first to arrive was a narrated collection of thoughtful Advent Essays, written by Beate, translated by Unni, and produced on a CD with original musical accompaniment. The short essays were intended to be listened to, one each day, throughout the season. No matter, we didn't care, we remorselessly gobbled the entire Advent pie in one glorious sitting, and enjoyed it immensely.
Then came the books, Nordic thrillers that Unni knows Kathleen will read and enjoy this winter; page-turning would be a breeze even in the cold, because, from Beate, came a hand-knitted pair of fingerless gloves, small enough for an eager reader's hands.

Beate took these shots during the visit last summer.
They were made into coasters by Unni and shipped to the US.

As for Stan, always a difficult subject, a dozen snappy coasters were made up by Unni for his bar, laminated with an oddment of mugs shot last summer by Beate. Skoal! 
Tusen takk and God Jul to our dear Norwegian friends.