American Ranch in Norway

 So the neighbors two doors down from Dan and Anita were such wonderful people! They had a small ranch of sorts that they freely shared with us. 

 The amazing part was that they LOVED all things cowboy and America! WHAAAT?!?! But seriously, they were Norwegians with Wranglers and boots on and BIG generous hearts!

 Their generosity was the direct answer to Annie's heart's desire! We were amazed when they invited us over for a ride and then offered for us to come over every day if she wanted to help care for the horses. She fell in love with Skippy, an American quarter horse flown over from Arkansas!

 Espero the pony was too cute.

 All the kids got to ride!

 They also loved being able to pet and snuggle with the kittens.

 They had a sweet daughter, Emely that was Annie's age and a boy, Marlon that was a little older than Toby.

 Toby and Jesse were having fun feeding Apache.

 They learned how to brush and groom the horses.

They even got to watch Cherokee get new shoes! We are so thankful for the time they took to be so kind to us. 

Norway and Kayaks

 We had a perfectly sunny day so we headed to a lake up in the mountains. 

 It was really windy and cold when we got there, but we piled everything into a canoe and 2 kayaks and paddled off across the lake.

 By the time we made it across the lake, the wind had died down and it was a perfect temperature. 

 Dan gave each of the kids a knife and told them how to make a skewer for their hot dogs!

 He even taught them how to start the fire. We roasted hot dogs for lunch.

 YUM!

 Dan and Anita were such amazing hosts and took care of all the details. We just got to go along and have fun!

 We could always count on Dan to have his thermos of coffee with him and it was always hot!

 The kids had all sorts of fun places to explore.

Tim and I paddled all across the lake!

 The kids were brave and got right into the kayaks and tried them out too.

 Time for a little hot chocolate!

 Family pic. We look pretty outdoorsy!

 We took a little jaunt up the mountain.

 Oh the views and the trees were so beautiful and impossible to capture on film.

 We came back to the dock for another paddle around the lake.

 We ended the day with pancakes grilled over the fire!

 They tasted so fresh and amazing with sour cream and our choice of homemade blueberry or raspberry jam!

 I wonder which jam Jesse chose?

 By the end of the day the water was perfectly calm and a perfect reflection of the trees.

 The kids took one more paddle around the lake.

 Toby got stranded when he dropped his paddle.  Tim paddled out to rescue him. See Toby's paddle off to the left in the picture.

It was a perfect day on the lake with yet another weather miracle. We were so thankful for such a wonderful day that will be preserved in our memories for a LONG time.