Norway: Vi Elsker Dette Landet (We love this country!)

After 6 weeks of studying, this guy finished his exams and escaped to...
...NORWAY! We came to visit Rob's exchange-family in beautiful Stavern (between Oslo and Kristiansand).
We had 5 days in Norway and got to spend lots of time with all of the wonderful Klyve family. Rob spent his junior year of high school in Norway with the Klyves as an exchange student, and he really loves his Norwegian family.

Guro, Rob, Mamma (Kari), Magnus, Hedvig, Isak

We were fed VERY well with lots of good brød (bread), brunost (brown cheese), kjøttkake (meatballs), delicious fruit, and soooo many other great foods. The Klyves (after seeing how much I like to eat) surprised us with a Norwegian recipe book so I'll be able to recreate at least part of our Norwegian experience at home. :)

Here you can see Pappa (Helge) in the middle

We went on some nice walks in the evening after dinner (and in the summer months, "evening" stretches on until after 11 pm!).
I couldn't believe how beautiful Norway is.

And syrin (lilac) smells just as good there as it does all over the world!

There are lush forests, huge rock formations, clear cold lakes, all making a beautiful background for the painted wooden houses and boats in every town.

This is an old, old lighthouse at Verdens Ende (World's End) where we were treated to some delicious epletkake (apple cake) by pappa

At the end of our week, mamma and pappa took us up to their hytte (summer cabin) on a fjord outside of Kragerø. The little summer town was really quiet, and we were told that most people don't come until the 'summer' (which doesn't begin until July). So, I guess Norway is pretty much almost the opposite of Texas!
We really enjoyed the beautiful and peaceful retreat. On our early morning boat ride, we had the fjord to ourselves and got to see a herd of about 20 seals basking on some rocks! As soon as we got near they started scooting/flopping away, and mamma said she had never seen so many seals there before.
Saying goodbye at the airport was pretty tough. The Klyves are such a great family and they treated us with so much love. We can't wait to see them again!