Another Birthday, and a Bon-Voyage to Norway

February, already!

Tom turned 27 on January 31! He has officially entered his "late twenties." As a result, the last weekend of January was busy with post-Christmas activities and birthday events. On Friday Tom and I had our two families over for an annual potluck. Of course, Dylan was the center of attention. Although he is only able to converse with the use of "Dada," and "Uh-oh" (and apparently "Baxter," but I have yet to hear that one!), he lets his wishes be known. Cumulatively over the course of the night, he was able to convince various people to lift him up so he could turn the bathroom light switches on and off-- for a total of about 20 minutes! He also entertained himself by passing Ashley bags of candy, and then taking them back, and pushing around a soccer ball. We didn't really have any toys for an 16-month-old available. An oversight on our part!

Tom and I celebrated his birthday on Saturday night with dinner downtown. On Sunday we had dinner with his family. The meal was followed by the proud presentation of a hand decorated birthday cake. Credit for the artistry goes to Dave and Andrew--a job well done.

Andrew and Dave's Masterpiece

The pink and blue box is not a gift wrapped present, it is the artists rendition of the Norwegian flag. You'll also notice the skier in the top right corner of the cake between some majestic pine trees. That is Tom-- and the white squiggle on his face/body is some sort of video-gaming headset/apparatus. The giant "T" is obviously for "Thomas" (Duh!), and as you can see, his whole family wishes him a "Happi Burfday"!!!

Tomorrow Tom is leaving for his week long trip to Norway. He flies out of Calgary at 6pm, FIRST CLASS on Air Canada, and won't be back until Saturday, February 13. He will be in Stavanger and Bergen for most of his trip. He'll also stay in Oslo overnight on his way home. For those of you who aren't up to date with your geography, here you go:

Really old map of Norway.

Happy Travels!