Merry Christmas!

Mum

2019 has been a very full year! I’m interested to see whether things continue like this – for instance with regards to getting two grandchildren a year. Lovely! I turned 60 this year and enjoyed a great celebration, thanks to all who did so much! Turning 60 means one more week of vacation! I spent that week in Crete, with Magne. We have also been on summer holiday with the family, those already born and those yet to come. We also spent a week in Brighton visiting Solbjørg and family who were there for a few months. There I got the chance to walk along the white cliffs of Dover, something I have wanted to do for about 40 years… Mathias took us around in his car, I guess he was pretty relieved when we left.

Our family have enjoyed a lot of celebrations and events this year; birthdays, baptisms, confirmations.. we are so lucky.

2019-2020 I am working at a different school. It means I have to bike 6 km longer to get to work. After realizing I needed a lunch break on the way, Magne got me an e-bike. So now I’m doing pretty well.

Our children are celebrating Christmas with their in-laws this year. Magne and I are looking forward to celebrating with my parents and my sister, Liv. For new years we will spend time with our children and families at a cabin in the mountains. I hope you are all doing as well as I am, and I wish you a great Christmas!

Dad

I join Astrid in saying this has been a year of many great experiences. Work in Dynaplan continues to take up most of my time. Therefore, I believe, many were very surprised when I joined Skala Brass Band in March. I was just supposed to take part in one particular project, but it was so much fun that I am still playing with them. Not many kids have two granddads who play the tuba, but Sigve and Johan do. In the picture, Gunnar and I are playing in Johan’s baptism.

Sigve and I like to play with trains together, as you can see in the other picture. I am so lucky to have four wonderful grandchildren; Sigve, Bjarne, Johan and David!

In addition to the trip to Crete, I also spent a week, as is now tradition, biking in Mallorca with Gunnar and Ingve. This summer I fixed a lot of the stonework around the house. Huge job in terrible weather but with a great result.

I am also proud that Solbjørg and I, with two further co-authors, have published an article in International Journal of Health Policy and Management. Today an interview with us was broadcasted on radio and national TV. Our results indicate that waiting times for specialist health services can be kept almost 90% lower than today, without requiring additional costs for the hospitals.

Solbjørg, Mathias and Bjarne

Dear all!

We are all doing well and hope that you are too! Bjarne is now 13 months. He runs around with all sorts of stuff in his hands, while shouting. Things have changed in a year! Now, he sometimes sleeps a bit too :) Mathias is working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bergen. This fall we all went to Brighton for three months, where I visited the University of Sussex as part of a research project. Mathias and Bjarne were out and about all day. They went to play groups, the aquarium, the parks.. At the end of the stay Mathias knew every mum within miles. We are so glad to have met Bjarne’s two new cousins, David and Johan, who arrived this year. We have enjoyed family cabin trips and dad and I have published a scientific paper together! We have sold our apartment at Kronstad, lived 3 months with Mathias’ parents in Åsane – soo nice, and have moved into our new home in Krohnegården, Fyllingsdalen. We wish you a very merry Christmas, filled with peace and time for all that is important to you.

Ingrid, Jørgen, Sigve and Johan

Status for family Myrtveit Petersen 2019:

  • 5 years of marrige
  • 4 in the family
  • T(h)ree-wedding-anniversary
  • 2 beautiful boys
  • 1 house
  • 0 sweat

In January we moved into our «new», almost 100 years old, cozy house in Askøy just outside Bergen. We love it there! It has a small garden, is close to the school, the sea, a hill full of wild blueberries and the church where Ingrid works. Just when we had got the most essential furniture in place and were almost finished sewng the curtains, little Johan decided to arrive. He came at full speed on March 16. Sigve (now three and a half) is very proud of his little brother. He is also proud of now being in the group for big kids in the kindergarden, of his skills on the trampoline, of being given the bread and the cup in church (qoute: before, when I was small, I didn’t get it, but now I am very big), and in general of everything he can do, and thinks he can do. From day one, Johan has proven to be a laid back and content guy. He is mostly happy, and is extatic when Sigve gives him attention. Jørgen is now a doctor at Haukeland hospital in Bergen. From the middle of February he will be at home on father leave with Johan. Ingrid is home on mother leave until the start on March, when she will continue as youth pastor on Askøy.

Magnar, Lillian and David

2019 has been an eventful year. Here are some highlights:

  • January: We moved to the capital.
  • January: Lillian started her first job, in the Norwegian Environment Agency.
  • February: We learned that we were going to be parents!
  • March: We got to see our child for the first time on ultrasound.
  • April: Lillian got an offer for a permanent position at the Office of the Auditor General of Norway.
  • May: Lillian started in her new jobb at the Office of the Auditor General.
  • May: We bought an apartment by Østensjøvannet.
  • June: We traveled on our last couple’s vacation in Italia before the arrival of our new family member.
  • June: We moved into our new apartment.
  • August: Lillian celebrated her 30th birthday.
  • September: Lillian started her parental leave and returned to being a full-time house wife (see last Christmas letter).
  • September: David was born!

David is a wonderful little boy, and we are so happy and blessed! He smiles, cries, eats, sleeps, does not sleep, and is extremely kind and lovely. A bit tiring, but incredibly fun and worthwile! We are very happy with our new home. Just so you know; we do have a guest room, so you are more then welcome to come visit! It is not far from the truth to say that it has been occupied just as much as it has been free since David was born. That’s fully understandable, as he is truly worth meeting!

The words of Jesaja give new meaning for us this year. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. Luckily the government is not on his shoulders. But that God is willing to give his own son for our salvation is greater than ever to us. We wish you all a peaceful and blessed Christmas time.