Family Christmas Letter

You may (or may not) be interested to know that we have finally finished our Howes family Christmas letter for 2007!

If you want to have a butchers, you can download it here... Yes please, I'd love to read what Nick, Silje, Eden, Tias and Jonar have been up to!

Enjoy! We'd love to hear from you.

The Howes Family Christmas list!

Christmas wish list for the Howes Family Members!
Guideline only! Feel free to improvise!

Eden
DOLLSHOUSE (this is the biggy –if you want to contribute towards furniture sets –please do!!! They are £12 each –we’ve ordered the whole lot, so we’re getting a family free!)
CLOTHES (size 4-5 years/110)
VTech V.Smile JOYSTICK CONTROLLER
VTech V.Smile Dance 'n Learn
DYRENE I HAKKEBAKKE SKOGEN
HAIR THINGS

Tias
VTech V.Smile BOB THE BUILDER GAME
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMALS
BIG CATS (3 disc dvd about wild cats)
ANIMALS (schleich)
Ones he doesn’t have and would love; okapi, jaguar, leopard, meercat, orang- utan, cheetah, llama, panda, rhino, killer whale, white shark, penguin, dromedary, two humped camel, grizzly bear, koala, wolf
SAFARI PLAYMAT (something like what they have on www.letterbox.co.uk)
SKETCHER/MAGNETIC DRAW AND EREASE

Jonar
CLOTHES (size 80)
SNOW SUIT (size 80)
FISHER PRICE STAR STAGE
AMAZING BABY FLASHCARDS
MAX LUCADO CHILDRENS BOOKS
PRAISE BABY DVD’S
ANIMAL FLASHCARD
VEGGIETALES DVD’S

Nick
4GB COMPACT FLASH CARD
CHRIS TOMLIN CD’S
SPORT SHOP VOUCHERS (need new football trainers)
STARBUCKS HOUSE BLEND COFFEE BEANS
CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS DVD/HARDDISK RECORDER

Silje
BIKE CHILDSEAT
WILLOW TREE STATUES
* Child’s touch
* Child of my heart
* Brothers
GOOD DVD’S –ROMANTIC COMEDIES
THINGS I REALLY LIKE;
* Scented candles, tablecloths (brownish) and pretty serviettes

Nick and Silje
VICAR OF DIBLEY DVD SET
GAMES
IKEA VOUCHERS (new Ikea opening in Coventry city centre!!)

A BIT OF A RANDOM ONE –we’re going to a Venture photographer that is rather expensive (due to winning a voucher), but it would be nice to end up with something a bit bigger then the smallest picture for our wall. So money contributions would be appreciated!

Donkey rides, squirrel hunting...and other adventurous activities

These photos of the Howes kids just keep on coming. Follow this link for the latest editions...and here's one just to whet your appetite.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21175&l=e8d0a&id=585416141

Summer in Norway photos

Hi people,

sorry we've not written much here lately, still overtaken with the facebook phenomenon. Anyway, here are 2 links to loads of photos of our summer in Norway in case you are interested. Some cute-tastic Howes kiddie pics!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18865&l=0060c&id=585416141

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18871&l=0ca2a&id=585416141

Sunny days!

Some more Howes' having fun in the sun pictures...click here

Affections diverted

Sorry to all you faithful howes-house viewers...we've been a little distracted by our new involvement with Facebook - a website for keeping in touch with people.

The good news is that we've uploaded loads of great howes family pictures which you can go and have a look at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7812&l=4e77a&id=585416141

Enjoy, and see you soon.
Silje

What A Faithful God We Have!

Lord, I come before Your throne of grace
I find rest in Your presence,
And fullness of Joy
In worship and wonder,
I behold Your face
Singing what a faithful God have I

What a faithful God have I
What a faithful God
What a faithful God have I
Faithful in every way

Lord of mercy, You have heard my cry
Through the storm You’re the beacon
My song in the night
In the shelter of Your wings
Hear my heart’s reply,
Singing what a faithful God have I

Lord, all sovereign
Granting peace from heaven
Let me comfort those who suffer
With the comfort You have given
I will tell of Your great love
For as long as I live

Singing what a faithful God have I

Just want you all to know how grateful I am to God for bringing me through what has been a tough time, but with a knowlegde that my family has been completed and I have been able to learn a lot about God; His Faithfulness - His strenght -His Joy and His peace.

But I am on the road to full recovery and for that I am really excited!!! Thank you all for your support and prayers through the last 6 Months!!!

Home!

Unexpectedly they decided to stop Jonar's anti-biotics last night and send them home. I have never seen anyone so happy as Silje when she got that news!

It was a surprise to the kids this morning as they were on a sleepover with Ben and Lily last night. Little bit nervous when they arrived home as to how they would be but they were amazing, really happy to see mummy again and their little brother.

Last night as well was the first where I felt like a new dad - awake every two hours!
It's wonderful to have the whole family together. Big thanks to our faithful God who has blessed us a lot.

Good progress

Time on a quiet Sunday morning to write a bit more about our exciting couple of days.

Firstly an apology - I thought I'd sent a text to loads of people on Friday afternoon with news of the birth, but it seems that many didn't receive that, so sorry! At least you've got howes-house to satisfy your interest!

Its been a strange couple of days - completely different from the previous two birth experiences. The c-section was very quick and painless (at the time) and without any of the emotional and physical exhaustion of a long labour. Also it was in the middle of the day rather than the dead of night, very civilised.

Jonar was born with a skin rash and a bit of laboured breathing so after about an hour he was taken down to the neonatal (special care) unit so he could be watched a bit more closely. There was never any panic or worry in this, just caution on the part of the doctors. Consequently its been bizarre, especially for Silje, being in hospital having just given birth but not having a baby around most of the time!

Yesterday evening Jonar was released back up to be with Silje which was great. Silje also had a better night's sleep. She has her own room which is fantastic.

Expectations are that they will be coming home after 5-7 days. We hope soon as possible. Eden and Tias can't wait to have their mummy back, and to meet their new brother.

Bless you all, and of course, some pictures...

Cometh the hour, cometh the man!

12.57pm today via Ceasarian section, Jonar Robert finally arrived. He weighed 8lb 8oz (that's 3.8 kilos for the Norwegians) and was 53cm long.

I'll write more about it all tomorrow, but for now I'm sure you'd much rather see some pictures!

Summer time!

Here on the Bristish Isle we seemed to have skipped spring completely and jumped right to summer time. Easter was the start of what has been a hot spell here in England. The kiddies loves playing in the garden with the new toys accumilated over the last couple of weeks; including slides and a sandpit!

We've had various friends around and the kids has been loving the paddeling pool -loving summer the whole way!

Another bonus; Our good friend Leif-Ivar from Norway has come to Coventry on his worldwide travels (as you do -Coventry is a very important city on the world map), and it's great to share the good garden life with him!!!

More important than all of that is that we're only another full day away from C-day... Yippeeee! Friday bring it on!!! The sad part is that I'm looking more froward to my spinal block than anything else. As my consultant said to me; 'yes for you it will be a glorious three hours!!!' And so it will -can't wait!

So the next post on this site will be probably pictures of our new little son and hopefully by then we've agreed on a name! Check out this space!

Leaving you with a cute summer picture of the Boden and the Howes kids enjoying summer together. And can only say that God is so good and has blessed us in so many ways!

We like ice cream!

Eden and Tias went to the Zoo yesterday with Rich, along with his sister and her 2 girls. Apparently they had ice cream...and liked it...a lot - think that is the 'Erlandsen gene!'

3 weeks and counting...

Greetings howes-house fans!

Been a while...would be normal to say we haven't written anything lately because life has been rushing along fast and we didn't have time to write anything, but can't really say that's the case. Time is plodding along a bit slowly as we move towards "C-day" (c is for Ceasarian!).

We next see the consultant on Monday and we'll get a definite date then for arrival of baby Winston (or some other name...still under discussion).

So how are we doing?

Tias is brilliant! He's developing in his speech loads at the moment, favourite words at the moment are car, head, ow and noooooo! Coolest thing he can do is perform an almost perfect oo-ooo-o-ooo that comes after "mama" in Queen's classic Bohemian Rhapsody. Its a great party trick! o yeah, he's sleeping much, much better these days too. Thank you jesus.

Eden is also amazing. She's 3 now and in so many ways is very grown up, still a born performer and budding preacher! At the home-church meeting at our house this week, when it was her turn to say what she was thankful to Jesus for, she opened her Bible, looked very serious and said the following:

"As I said last week, the Bible says we should go to bed now...and then come back."

Hilarious! She's at the local playgroup Mon, Tues, Weds morning which is great, particularly now Joel has started there. She is finding it a bit difficult with her mummy not being able to do all the fun things that she'd like to do and can bit a bit frustrated sometimes.

Silje is doing well at keeping her spirits up almost all the time whilst looking forward to "C-Day" perhaps more than anything else ever!

I am keeping going, doing great most of the time, a little tired and perhaps marginally less patient than normal and my short term memory has completely left the building! Friends in the church here are still bringing us meals 3 times a week which continues to be a life-saver...fair to say we eat better on these days than when its entirely down to me!

We are a blessed, happy family and intensely look forward to completing the family in just a very short time and getting ourselves back to full health very soon.

Eden is VERY strong!

This is taken yesterday on a family trip out to playground and see the ducks at Coombe Abbey - it was a lovely sunny day... today we have snow!

(Silje is getting in some good upper body workout these days too!)

See what happens when Daddy's left in charge!

Happy Birthday Edie Lou Lou!!!

Rain, rain, rain...

"Bergen is renowned for its plentiful rainfall (and has been nicknamed the City of Rain or the Seattle of Europe), which makes up most of the 2250 mm (88 in) yearly average precipitation. For some years there were paraplyautomater (umbrella vending machines) installed in the streets, however, they did not turn out to be a success. A joke is told in Bergen about a tourist asking a local boy if it ever stops raining. "I don't know," replies the boy, "I'm only twelve."

Source "Wikipidia"

We are in Bergen after a wonderful week in Geilo and here it has been rainy every day.... not just for our 5 days here, but for about 50 or more non-stop!

Home tomorrow evening. Will write more about our trip then. Hope its not raining where you are...

Christmas Letter

Greetings. Hope the build up to the big day is going well for you. We are in Bergen, Norway once again, ready to head up to a cottage in the mountains tomorrow, 22nd, until 29th Dec. Very exciting!

You can have a look at our family Christmas letter if you want to (no obligation!)...

http://217.41.30.186/nationsweb/HowesXmas06.PDF

Happy Christmas from Tias, Eden, Silje & Nick.

Dear Santa...

Eden has finally got round to writing a Howes family letter to Santa...

if you want to be in the know with what St.Nick knows, you can read it here: dear santa...

Eden & Uncle Benny doing animal noises!

here's some entertainment for you courtesy of 'onkel benny productions', filmed on location during Silje, Eden & Tias' recent visit to Bergen. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIMWr4pZN4o

The gorgeous duo is back…

Wedding season has been upon us here in England. And these past few weeks has been very busy specially for Nick. The college started back up again and in the midst of his teaching module on the Christian foundation, we had our community Fun Day! So today Nick is a little bit poorly, and that doesn’t happen often! Still at work today teaching the students, but due home for a sleep in a little bit. Bless Him!

Fun Day was great, and with the youth club going really well we are really getting to build momentum in our neighbourhood –it’s great! Being a blessing and making God famous.

Tias’ walking is improving though his head seems to take the majority of the falls contributing to his though guy look. He’s a bookworm, specially into books about animals, and he loves going to the library.
Eden is growing really quickly and with her maturing vocabulary we often find ourselves laughing at her very grown-up sentences. She loves dressing up, dancing ballet and creative stuff –very good at making up songs about anything from what’s for dinner to the names of her friends.
There’s never a dull moment in the Howes-house. We have loads of fun together!

Doodle do; laugh and play!

Thought our lovely audience out there would like to see and know more about what goes on in the Howes-house. Eden is craft queen. She loves painting (gets very messy –but she invents ways to put paint on paper!!!) Her favourite program, which thanks to Nick purchasing some sort of TV hard disk thing, we can and have recorded –it’s called Doodle Do. And for all you out there who know Richard Jones who I went to Covenant College with –it’s him; the program host or what you call them. I know you might say ‘Richard Jones? Are you sure?’. Well I do see it many times a day, so all I can say is if you are the lucky person who has Ceebeebies watch it!!! If not you’re missing out on elder Jones having some great making moments with three hand puppets!!! Thank you Richard –our house wouldn’t be having so much creative fun if it hadn’t been for you.

And here’s an example of a doodle do headband! Tias as always needs to put on his cheeky face. He is also enjoying Edens passion for making things as it means he now knows the different taste of yellow and blue, and has also had the opportunity to rub paint in his eyes! Life with him is never dull… Action boy!

Why don’t you sit down and be creative!?! But remember ‘tidy up –put away –ready for another day…’

Tias starts to walk!!

Yes, Mattias John Howes last night decided it was time to trim down a bit and start walking... not just a couple of steps, but going the whole length of the room in no time.

Click here to watch it happen (1.4MB) http://www.howes.talktalk.net/tiaswalk.wmv

Eva, you were right!

This one goes out to… our great friends Rich and Lou

-And their gorgeous kids; Faith, Taia and Finlay!

Last weekend we went down south to see our friends Rich and Lou. (for all you Norwegians –Rich was Nick’s best man in our wedding) They live in Southampton, and we’ve seem to made some kind of tradition to go down late summer time to spend a weekend with the crazy family! We love hanging out with them, they are so much fun! The picture is just a pearl of all the kids exhausted after ‘trampolining’, well that is if there ever is such a word as exhausted when it comes to Faith.

Larks –we love you and think you are great. Apart from stealing people’s personal belongings on a Sunday morning meeting, not quite sure where we stand on that one yet!?!

Friends are a great gift from God. So is nanna’s that comes up to stay so we (Nick and me) get a Saturday morning lie in! Yeah… we are very blessed!

Shalom!

Sibling love... and parents pride!

No one can say that we haven’t done our fare share of updates lately! Hehe… love it as long as it lasts!!! And when you thought you’d seen some of the cutest pictures here already –well, we’ve got some great shots to share with you all.

The travelling howes’ family has arrived home this morning, after very little sleep last night. My little sister Eva got married and Norwegians keep the wedding party going into the night. Yesterday was no exceptions, but we’re not complaining as it was an absolute great day; with a beautifully gorgeous bride, handsome groom and some pretty bridesmaids (Eden and Lena –Hakon’s niece), and a very cool little Tias on top form too. Great party with amazing food, some good songs to sing and fun entertainment from friends and family. I’m sure that if you were there you agree with me and loved celebrating with Eva and Hakon. And if you weren’t there and don’t now them… you missed out. But don’t you worry; cause here’s some pictures to cheer you up. At least you can see Eden and Tias in their party clothes –together with some loving pictures of them from our trip away.

Love from the sleepy, but proud mother of the gorgeous duo.