I was greeted at the Oslo airport by my good friend Nils Johan Fosli. He and his wife Dena, gave me a great first day at Holmenkollen, where we went all the way to the top of the ski jump and saw a fantastic view of Oslo! (Yes it was a little scary) Later in the day Dena let me try on her beautiful Nordland Bunad, this was very special for me because of my Nordland ancestors (thank-you Dena) We finnished the evening at Mauds Restaraunt where we were joined by Per Helge Seglesten and I tasted Reindeer meat for the first time (it was great!) this was followed by nice conversation and fun at the North Norwegian Pub on the Oslo Harbor.

Click here to see pictures

Click here to see pictures

I stayed with Per Helge and his lovely wife Siv and their two adorable daughters for the next two days. Per Helge and I had a great time touring Oslo! We saw the national gallery and the fantastic Akershus castle and had lunch at the famous "Theater Cafe". Later we met Arne and Hege and also Marianne Sandberg at the Vigeland Park to look at the naked statues :-) After fun converstation and site seeing, we all had dinner together at a nearby cafe. The next day, Per Helge and I drove to Eidsvoll, where we toured the large historical estate of Karsten Anker where Norway's constitution was signed! After the tour, we set off on an adventure to find a farm named "Frilet" where some of my ancestors emmigrated from in 1882. We found Frilset, but it was a huge place devided up into several farms, so we picked an old farm house that we liked and took some pictures! It was an incredible experience to be in this area for the first time. Per and Syv made me a very Norwegian Reindeer dinner for my last night in Oslo, and it was far better than any restaraunt food!

The next day I was greeted at the Tromsø airport by Trond Johansen and his wife Ann-Karin. We saw a litte of Tromsø and they made me my first Whale beef dinner (mmmmmm....it was great) and then we started our beautiful drive to the north of Troms. Even in the rain the mountains and fjords were gorgeous! We even made a special stop at a grave yard to visit Jan Baalsrud! But our real adventures started the next day when we drove and hiked to the spectacular waterfalls! We went to Navitfossen and Røykfossen in Kvænangen and Vaddasfossen in Nordreisa. They were all incredibly beautiful! After a delicious dinner of Lapskaus at the home of Trond's very nice parents we started the drive back to Tromsø and made one last stop in Skibotn for a picture with the Leonhard Seppala monument!

Click here to see pictures

Click here to see pictures

The next day Erik Berntsen and I started our trip to Lenvik to see the farms of my husband's ancestors (and Eriks ancestors too!) We made a stop at the Tromsø newspaper office for an interview with Bente Simonsen, she wrote a very flattering article about me. After a long beautiful drive we arrived at our first farm "Kjerisnæs" in Målselv, it was at the very END of the road against a mountain and a fjord. Our next destination was Tennskjær, which was also at the very End of the road! We wanted to know exatly which farm was the birth place of my husbands grandfather, so we asked some nice men standing by the fjord, I gave a few names and one of these men said that I was talking about his wifes family!!! His name is Tore, and his wife, Elenor, is a first cousin to my father in law! It was a great suprize to find her there! So they showed us the exact location of the farm and also took us to the cememtary! It was fantastic! Next we drove over the hill to Aglapsvik, which just happens to be at the very END of the road!! Most of the day was gone, so we drove to Rossfjord where Erik has a nice little farm, where we ate a late dinner of fishball soup and polse med lompa and even later Apple pie :-) The next day was spent touring Finsnes, the Lenvik Bygdemuseum and the northern side of Senja. That evening Erik's sweet wife, Rigmor, prepared a wonderful dinner party for us and we were joined by another first cousin of my father in law, Arne Jensen and his wife Henny, and Also Arne and Hege Berg. It was a lovely evening and Erik and Rigmor were the perfect host and hostess!

Arne and Hege and I started the next day with a morning ride on the tram and a hike above Tromsø, what an incredible view! then a little shopping and site seeing in Tromsø. The symposium started that evening and Arne was my personal translator and he did a great job! He and Erik helped me with my classes also, it was so nice to have them there! I enjoyed the symposium so much, it was very special to meet people who have used my web site and also new researchers who I hope will use my web site :-) The second day was my big day! I gave my speach and taught a class and helped people in the computer lab, I felt that it all went very well, and hope that those listening to me felt the same way!! That evening was a special dinner at the home of Arne Tinus Austad for the teachers and organizers of the symposium, the food and the company were vidunderlig! I was sad to have the symposium end then next day, it was a really wonderful experience for me to participate in it! Arne and Hege took me to see the polar museum then we spent the rest of the day at the home of Arne's parents eating delicious food and enjoying conversations late into the evening. Hopefully I will have pictures from the symposium and my days in Tromsø coming soon!!

Click here to see some pictures from the symposium

Click here to see pictures

The next day was spent hiking high on the mountain on Kvaløya with Bengt Larsen. It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery. We even had a hot lunch next to a cold clear lake. And we discovered that Norwegian boots and cholcolate are much better than American boots and chocolate :-) It was a great way to spend the day! On my last day in tromsø, Hugo Oien took me to a great museaum with Sami exhibits. Then a little shopping in town for last minute suveniers. Then we went to the RHD department at the University of Tromsø where Terje Holtet had invited me to meet the staff and teach them a little about my web site and the Mormon database. That evening I had my first taste of Lutefisk with Erik and Rigmor, who were nice enough to let me stay in their home all week and took wonderful care of me!