Christmas Letter 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

What a life changing year 2012 has been for us!  I don’t even know where to begin.  In January, we packed up and moved our family to Copenhagen, Denmark, so that Chad could pursue a PhD at the University of Copenhagen. This year has been filled with trials and triumphs that we could never have imagined going through.  We are so grateful to the family and friends that have given us the strength to set out on this adventure, and to all the new friends that have enabled us to survive in a completely foreign world.  

Moving to a new country has filled up our year with so many new experiences, I could write pages and pages about all that we’ve done and seen.  We have visited countless Medieval Castles, churches, cathedrals and fortresses.  We’ve wandered the halls of many museums, viewing sculptures, paintings, various art and learning about Kings, Queens, Vikings and so much history.  We’ve ridden our bikes through a forest so dense, it’s was like night time, we’ve watched knights battle it out in a jousting tournament, and we’ve wandered through a park filled with so many deer you couldn’t even begin to count them.  We’ve braved new foods like Liver Paste on Rye Bread, eaten some of the best pastries (ironically, there are no Danishes in Denmark) and decided that Shwarma Kebab’s are our favorite (and the most affordable) fast food.  We’ve watched the sun stay up past 11 at night during the summer and then go down before 4 in the afternoon in the winter.  We’ve struggled to live without a car, Wal-Mart, Cream of Chicken Soup, A&W Root beer and Butterfinger’s.  It’s truly been an amazing year! 

Our family has thrived here in Denmark.  We’ve grown a lot and are enjoying this experience.  Chad is very involved in his PhD program, he is meeting lots of people, teaching classes, designing experiments and learning so much.  Shannon has learned a lot of new cooking skills, reinvented her online business, is a counselor in the Young Womens, and still dislikes “driving” the kids around in the bike trailer all the time.  Myra is nearly fluent in Danish, we often ask her to translate for us when we go places, she is an amazing big sister, and has learned to ride her bike.  Lexi has learned some Danish, lost her first tooth, loves being a little princess and enjoys field trips with her class. Noah wants to be Batman, loves running everywhere and will probably never be potty-trained.  Our kids have walked the halls of Kings, but still like the play place at Mr. Chicken the most.  They have made friends with kids from all over the world, including, Pakistan, Turkey, Canada, Slovakia, and the Philippines. They are happy and healthy and we couldn’t be more blest.

More than anything we have missed our friends and family back at home and hope that Love, Health and Happiness find you all during this wonderful Holiday Season.  Merry Christmas!

With Love,

Chad, Shannon, Myra, Lexi and Noah

Denmark by numbers:

Days in Denmark:305                                                                                                     
Castles, Fortresses and Ruins Visited: 11

Medieval Churches Visited: Too many to count                                                                          Museums Visited:  12

Bikes Purchased:  7 & 1 trailer 

Hours spent travelling by bike, train and bus to church:  261+ 

Miles Chad has ridden to work on his bike:  2000+  

Miles I’ve pulled the trailer taking Lexi to school:  259+

Pictures we’ve taken:  6255+