1 year (et År)

Oh my goodness. I have been in Norway for one year. ONE YEAR. I cannot believe what has happened! Where has the time gone?!?!?!
To celebrate I am going to do a list of what has happened (main things mind you) to me and the fam in the past year:
March
I went to the Declo "I haven't got a clue" play and the next day or so drove down to Salt Lake to get on an airplane.
Flew to Washington D.C.
Landed in GERMANY!! (yeah I got to see Germany!! Of course it was just the Frankfurt airport, but still German soil.)
Got my passport stamped in Hell!
Started Norwegian Public school, it actually wasn't that bad and I learned basic Norwegian really quickly.
April
Went to Oslo and was able to attend the confrence in which the second stake of Norway was organized.
Snowed on April 1, I thought it was a very cruel joke.
May
I turned 16!! I had the Sister missionaries over for cake.
We celebrated our first 17 Mai, or Norwegian national day.
June
I was accepted into the International Baccalaureate program.
I gave my first talk (and so far only) in Norwgian.
Wittnessed the "Midnight Sun" actually it was only about 11:30 but close enough
July
Summer break began!!!
I went to EFY all by my self (I sound like a little kid there "I'm a big kid now!") It was in Sweden and was a ton of fun!!
Honestly I don't remember much about July I assume we did a lot of hiking and lazing around.
August
I started the IB program. Which I am now determined to get through no matter how hard it gets. :/
And I am pretty sure that during July and August we mostly just hung around Trondheim and went exploring. I honestly can't remember what else.
September
Skylee turned 7
This was also our 200 day anniversary!
October
Halloween here isn't much but I dressed up as the Queen of Hearts!!
November
I went down to a Super Saturday with the youth in Oslo, there was a dance. It was a bit of a let down, because I was new everyone avoided me.
We had a ward Thanksgiving party which was pretty fun!
December
Secret Santa began!
Shortest day of the year, it was also one of the coldest. My mom insisted we got pictures out in the freezing windy weather.
We had a typical Norwegian dinner of Ribbe (ribs)
Christmas of course was a big part of this month (how could it not have been?) I got a camera!! We also had the threesome of Elders over to Skype/google/call their families.
New Years Eve party that was TOTALLY WICKED!! We had all the missionaries (about 10) over, along with a friend who lives here and is married to a Norwegian but is origionally from Texas, and another friend. So our house was full to bursting.
January
Exhastion  from New Years Eve Party didn't last long! My insane family all joined the Polar Bear Club (and in my opinon the crazy club) by jumping in the fjord!!!!!
I can't remember what else happened in January isn't that terrible?
February
I went to the Stockholm temple! It is really little on the inside only 6 youth can be back at a time.
Started to watch and get hooked on Doctor Who, the television series, I am not that far yet so don't say anything if you watch it a lot.
ummm...nothing really happens now, things are slowing down with the winter.
March
Ok. this is more recent I should do better. :D
We found ourselves a house! We are moving across town, our landlord decided to rebuild his current house and needs some where to live; namely our house.
Tyler turned 14!! A.J. is almost (on the 16th) 12! Which means those two will advance (recieve) in the Priesthood on the 17th together!

Ok that last one was a bit ahead of the time but it is exciting and upcoming times now!
I will be going to Balliaden which is kinda like Youth Conference.
I will be taking my Math Exam in May and (cross your fingers) passing it. Because I really don't want to take it next year.
I will be turning 17 in May!
The youth in Trondheim are responsible for a dance in May. All the youth in Oslo will come visit us.
Some of our friends here in Norway are getting married in June!
School ends for the summer in June! (about time too)
Grandparents will be coming for visits during the summer.
August will be the start of my SENIOR year!!!
Skylee will be baptized in September!!
And of course Christmas in December is always looked forward too. :D

All in All it has been a pretty good year this past year and I am looking forward to more to come!


P.S. A few things that didn't have an excat date to them from our past year.
We got to meet our 3rd (? yeah his grandma and my grandma are cousins) cousin Elder Argyle! I honestly don't know what his first name is.
I am now doing Seminary in Norwegian (that is a weird thought, only Norwegian.)
Tyler and Skylee can speak more Norwegian than me. :( But I am practicing!!
I got a few babysitting jobs so I can buy candy and presents for birthdays. (the candy is mine not for birthdays)
I started helping out at the local English elementary school. I help with the Preschoolers afterschool program, the kids are all really cute! They call me Miss Mack because they can't say "Miss McKenzie" I think it is too many m's and "s, z, c" sounds.
I became friends with a Canadian! Imagine that I travel half way around the world and the person I get along best with is from Canada. It's kinda ironic.

But yeah that is my year in review, and a bit of a look on my future year. I hope everyone has the best of times in their future and can remember more about their past year than me. :D Wishing everyone a fantabulous Spring break (coming up I know) and A great day!
Alysha

To Hundre dager fest!! (two hundred day party)

This is a bit late, but it is one of the first times I've been free!
Two hundred days! That is a long time, So to celebrate here are some intresting facts about the number. 200 hundred miles is the average amount that the pony express would cover in a day. Each dandelions can produce 200 seeds. In Greek mythology Typhon the Titan had 200 red eyes, two for each of his 100 heads.

Two hundred is also the number of days that we have been living in Norway. The time has seemed to both fly and go incredibly slowly. It was September 28, and I planned a party

In order to celebrate I thought it would be fun to do a themed party. 200 days deserves something right? So I set up a movie with dad and mom, I created a shopping list (of course we had food), I assigned out jobs to the kids, and we were set.
Movie: Monster's Inc.
Shopping list: Candy (of course!), Hot dogs (our first meal in Norway), pop (there is always pop on airplanes), and I would have liked peanuts and pretzels but that got vetoed in light of all the candy available. ;)
Jobs: I was head attendant and Miss Boss, Tyler was our Captain, A.J. was a chef, and Skylee helped me out as flight attendant.
I even made Boarding passes for the flight! We loaded up about 5 o'clock, dinner was served (by A.J. and Sky) Skylee served everyone drinks, and then the inflight movie showed! It was a lot of fun.
Oh, almost forgot Skylee told everyone what to do in case of emergancies. It was a good list that she came up with herself:
"In case of fire, go out the window, and flap your arms and fly away like a bird"
"If we land in water, hold your breath and swim away like a fish."
"When your done eating load your own dishes"
All in all it was a lot of fun, but I don't know how I am going to top this when we have been here for a year, it wasn't to hard to come up with this one, but what else can I do for the next one?
(P.S. I welcome any suggestions for the year party, in the comments below)

Tyler "crash landed" the airplane

Skolen/School!!!

My stack of textbooks!

     So it is official school has started. To be even more correct though it started a few weeks ago on the 21st of August. I have just been trying to settle down and begin the school year.
      As most of you know I have been accepted into the IB program. It is an all English program based in a Norwegian High School, which means I still have Norwegian surroundings most of the day. There are some really nice kids in my class, only 7 of us are only English speaking the others speak Norwegian.

This is Sky with my books, showing how tall the stack is. It is huge!

     I have two or three classes a day, but that is enough! My books are HUGE, with just my textbooks in my bag it weighs in close to 30 lbs (14 Kg).
I am up and about by 6:15 because I have early morning seminary on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and some Fridays. (Wednesday is after dinner at the church, which is nice.)
School starts at 8:15, each class lasts for 90 minutes. I typically have two classes before the hour lunch and then one more afterwards. I have English, Norwegian, Physics, Math, Chemistry, and a wonderful class that called "Theory of  Knowledge" which questions everything I have ever learned.
     The school has supplied me with all of the textbooks, and a computer that at the end of the two years, will be mine. Everyday I get more homework, each assignment is due within the week. It is a lot of fun.
     Since I am part of the regular school system I have the opertunity to join in the clubs offered here. One such club is the school Newspaper- Kattastrofe (means catastrophe). I went to the first meeting just to hear about it. I ended up being voted the Secretary! The Editor-in-chief is an only English speaking boy in my IB, and the treasurer is also an IB member. So the IB is taking over all of the programs. We also have sent an only English speaking student to the Student Council.
     So there you have a look at my school schedual, and a good idea of what I do each day. If there are any questions about my school LET ME KNOW, I will answer you!!!