Shopping, Visitors, Food, and Fun!

Yup, it's cold here, windy, and almost like home!

On Sunday, I saw Terry looking out of the window at the Church. I walked over to see what he was looking at so intently, this is what I saw! The wind blowing so hard the beautiful Icelandic flag was standing straight out. He then said, "reminds me of home in Spanish Fork when the canyon wind whips through the bench area". Then he said, "remember how your dad's flag use to stand straight out on his flag pole too?". 

Meet Thora, a sweet sister from Church. When I first visited Iceland in 1996 I met her then and was so impressed by her dedication and involvement in assisting the Reykjavik branch members as well as caring for and loving the young missionaries. When she saw my name tag on Sunday, her eyes lit up a little bit, when I told her YES, the young missionary, Tyler Shepherd, was my son, her eyes lit up like a light bulb and she got the BIGGEST smile on her face. What a precious daughter of God.  

When it's cold outside, my mother taught me to make chicken noodle soup to warm our tummy and heart. It was a cold day and the soup was just what we needed. It not only warmed our tummy but warmed our heart with memories of home. We're use to having between 25-40 family members and friends at our home every Sunday. It was a little quiet, just the two of us, but we're happy and we can do this :) 

Great News, We're Legal!

We received our identification cards which means we were able to get a bank account and feel a little more comfortable for lots of reasons.












Shopping - A Big Challenge
Wowser, it takes me a LONG TIME to figure out what I'm buying at the grocery store. First, I'm use to having my cute sister by my side every Saturday at the store, not Terry. Second, the labels are in either Icelandic or Danish, and sometimes English. I'm really grateful when there are pictures. If I see a word I don't know, I use the translator on my phone. The problem is, if I use the Icelandic translator, then the words doesn't translate, then I have to try the Danish translator. TAKES LOTS OF TIME (Terry is loving every minute of this experience and helping as much as his patient self can). So sometimes, if I see a picture that I think I know what the item is, I buy it. 

YUM, I thought this 'grape juice' looked delicious! Ha, when we got home and Terry was helping put away the groceries, he said, "Lil, you better not drink too much of that 'grape' juice in one sitting", I asked why, and he said, "turn the carton around". Yikes, we both had a good laugh. 

This is NOT grape juice

This IS prune juice

With that said, EVERYONE at the grocery store is VERY NICE. We have had to learn to just 'ask' and every time, with no exceptions, we have been given help with a smile.

We have a VERY NICE car

Since it has snowed almost non-stop since we arrived, we had to wash the car before we could get a picture. That was a task in itself, finding a car wash. However, we did it and it was GREAT! Totally automatic, with the exception of these two guys who sprayed it down in the beginning. Note: it was 33 degrees fahrenheit this day....brrr.....

Here is our very nice car, that gets us everywhere we need to go. Below it's parked in our heated garage. Yes, HEATED! Notice the wall heater on the right side. More of that wonderful, very efficient, warm and happy heat via the HOT water coming from Mother earth.

Our Project at the National Icelandic Archives is going Fantastic!

This is a map of Iceland. The country is broken in to Deaneries (areas or counties). Each Deaneries has a set of records or books if you will, with names, ages, family farm names, and lots of other information. Usually these books were kept by the local Parish Priests or Pastors, or sometimes local government officials. 

The staff we work with at the Archives are all so very kind, helpful, and patient. They are thrilled and even surprised with the fact that the Icelanders who immigrated to Spanish Fork, Utah in the 1800's taught their children so much about their homeland. We had an opportunity to give an introduction about us and many were brought to tears. One man said, "I think you're more proud to be Icelandic than me". 

If you will look at the very bottom of the map, you will see an island called Vestmannaeyjar. This is where more than half of the 315 early immigrants left from. The Archive staff assured us we would be able to handle these records and capture the images of my ancestors. WOWSER, we are so excited for this opportunity. 


One Of Our Most FAVORITE Places For Sure!

The Iceland International Airport in Keflavik

Each time we are here and these doors open,

a guest from home will walk through.

This past Friday morning, March 4, our first

guest arrived. Morgan Hughes, our oldest grandson.

Grandpa and Morgan were ALL smiles!

Then later that day, our daughter-in-law, Kellie

showed up at our apartment with her friends!

One of Kellie's friends had noticed an awesome deal, only

$700 for airfare, hotel, transfers, and the opportunity

to see the Northern Lights. It was GREAT having

them stop by and visit for a few hours.

Saturday and Viking Adventure
When in Iceland, it's only appropriate to hunt down one of the best viking museums, drive there, and learn about their amazing history. 

There are so many beautiful swans, as well as other

feathered friends that live in Iceland. They are brave animals.

Lots of docks, boats, and beautiful sights.

So much volcanic rock thousands of centuries old,

covered in moss, and today some snow too.

Many homes along the coast line.

Minute by minute, every sight is new and breathtaking. 

Poor Terry, he's driving and concentrating while

I'm gazing out the window and looking at all the wonder.

Ah, the Viking Ship! This is how they sailed from land to land, in these amazing handmade ships that were rough and tough. This ship is an exact replica of a ninth-century viking ship and was sailed across the Atlantic in the year 2000 as part of the millennial celebration of Leifur Ericksson's journey to the New World.

The Viking World museum was filled with archaeological findings from the Sudurnes Region. We enjoyed looking at the remains from the oldest occupation on Reykjanes peninsula from the ninth century. It was all amazing and Morgan didn't realize he had viking blood running in his veins. He does now :) 

Then it was off for some lunch. Morgan has always been a

pretty picky eater (and to be honest I was a little nervous how

I was going to fill his tummy). Well he surprised us and said

he was going to try anything. We're on day three, and he's loved

EVERYTHING new and even had seconds of some things.

Morgan's father, John Hughes, and his grandfather Richard Hughes (who is deceased) have a love for old cars. While we were eating, Morgan's eyes lit up and he said, "I could take that car home to my dad, that would make him happy".  So cute, thinking about his dad :)

The best thing about having a young and vibrant young man in the house is they can climb up with not many worries of falling down. Thanks Morgan for helping Grandpa hang up our dining room light.

Every day it feels a little more like Home Sweet Home!

I took Morgan shopping on Saturday rather than Terry (he waited in the car and took a nap). I asked Morgan what he wanted for Sunday dinner and he chose a leg of lamb roast. I was a little nervous, no actually, a lot nervous. I have never bought or cooked lamb. We were brave, spoke to some of the shoppers, came home with this, and it was YUMMY!

I got a 'thumbs up' from the two guys but actually the best part of the meal was the company!

More Familiar Faces

Yesterday as we were driving and talking, Morgan asked if we knew of any Olfason's at church. We said yes, our Branch President's last name is Olfasson.  Boys take the first name of their father and put son on the end of it, to create their last name. So Olafur at church, his son's last name is Olfasson. His daughter's last name would be Olafsdottir. So, Morgan went on to tell us that when he was on his mission in Texas there was a young man at church with the last name Olafsson who was from Iceland. As we chatted, Terry and I were sure it was Olafur and his wife, Bjorg's, son.  B-I-N-G-O!  It was confirmed, it was their son. What a small world.

 Even more, this awesome couple were in the Church 20 years ago

when Tyler served here. Their family was young, they held tight to

the gospel, and now their son is the Branch President here in Reyjkavik.

This cute young lady is Maliana Toutai. When I saw her at church today, I said, I think I know you. She smiled and said I think I know you too, but I don't remember why. I said, well that's because you were just a little girl at my home 20 years ago. Her awesome mother, Hera, taught Tyler Icelandic in the Missionary Training Center. SWEET! Her and her husband live way north of Reyjkavik. They drove THREE HOURS to attend church today. What an inspiration.

It was great having company at church today.

It's my father's 91st birthday today. I'm certain

he's proud and grateful his great grandson is

here learning about his heritage and that he

is honoring it. What a great young man!

Last post for this week

About 8 p.m. it started to get pretty dark, Terry and Morgan spotted some Northern Lights out our kitchen window. We decided to take a drive, get out of the city lights, and see if we could really see them. Oh.My.Goodness!!!  It was BEAUTIFUL! These pictures were taken with my phone, so they are not great. However, what we saw in the sky was AMAZING! Just think lots of purple, green, and white, dancing lights across the sky. Some lights were shooting, some falling, and some making continuos movement across the sky. Mother Nature gives us the most breath taking sights. 

Bless bless until next time!