Kings, Queens, Football, Friends and Family!!!!!

Dear Lerhol Family and Friends,
I cannot believe it has been three weeks since I updated Sondre's blog.  Do I need to reintroduce myself to you all?  So many exciting things to tell you all about.  Starting with our brush with Norwegian Royalty three weeks ago today.  Then I have to fill you in on all of what is going on in football for both Sondre and Alex.

The Queen, King and (in our opinion) the "crown prince" of Norway: Sondre Lerhol. 
Three weeks ago today we were able to join many Norwegian students and many Americans of Norwegian descent at a church service at Augsburg College.  Even though my sister Anne is a graduate of Augsburg College I had no idea of the connection to Norway. 

Augsburg was the first seminary founded by Norwegian Lutherans in America, named after the confession of faith presented by Lutherans in Augsburg, Germany, in 1530. Augsburg opened in September 1869, in Marshall, Wisconsin, and moved to Minneapolis in 1872. The first seminarians were enrolled in 1874, and the first graduation was in 1879.  Here is a link to its history for you to review. Here is a link on the college history is you are interested in learning more.  http://www.augsburg.edu/about/history.html

The service was wonderful and done just beautifully in both English and Norwegian.  We were excited to be able to meet Mary Quanbeck Barber at church (who is a relative of Sigrun's here in Mpls).  We also met her Mom and Dad and her brother who is a professor at Augsburg.  I am starting to think Sondre's has as many relatives here as I do.  After the service we were able to go to a reception in in honor of the King and Queen and I was amazed at just how close we were able to get to them.  They seem like very lovely and warm people.  I think Sondre really enjoyed the entire morning...Scott and I sure did.

 The King and Queen...can you believe how close we were?

 Sondre, Mary and her parents

Sondre and me standing by as the Queen and King walked over to the reception.

AFS Party and Presentation: 

After the brush with fame and church service we went home to get ready for the AFS party at our house.  Every month one of the AFS students must host all of the other students at their house and do a presentation on their home country.  Sondre did a great job and was both interesting and funny.  Everyone was extremely impressed with him, but also so interested in this wonderful family he has in Norway.  Scott and I were very proud of the job he did and we think the other kids will have a "tough act to follow" after the great job he did.  Sondre made Lefsa for his "dish to share" and every single bit of it was gobbled up by the kids.  They seemed to love the ones with Nutella in them.  Nutella has become a staple around our house since Sondre joined us....I had never had it before now. 

 All of the kids waiting for Sondre to start his presentation.

Sondre giving his presentation to a very full room of kids and their American parents.

Later that evening we watched Torstein's documentary and all we can say is WOW.  Sondre translated it for us so we got a very good idea of what was going on.  We loved it and now feel very honored that someone of Torstien's fame will grace us with his presense this Christmas in the US.  :)  

Minnetonka Football...an amazing season comes to an end:

It is hard to believe that the football season for Sondre and the Minnetonka Skippers has come to an end.  They played well all season (the Jr. Varsity team was undefeated) and the varsity team had only lost a few games against extremely tough opponents.  (Wayzata and Eden Prairie).  Friday night they had to play Eden Prairie again to advance to the State tournament and sadly they lost a heart breaker by only 3 points.  I think Sondre was surprised by how overwhelmed he (and all of the other seniors) were by the loss.  He said there were a lot of tears in the locker room afterwards and the coaches were emotional too.  We are so happy that he had such a wonderful experience and was part of such a great team of young men.  Next....he has to decide which sport he wants to play this winter.  His football coach thinks he should be on the wrestling team....so we will keep you posted on if he decides to do that or skiiing.  Either way...he will meet more kids and keep active. 

Frank and Buehla were able to come to one of Sondre's games in the last few weeks!

Winona State Football:  Alex has been the starting QB for the last 4 games!!!!

Scott and I have seen more football games in the last 10 weeks than in our lifetime.  We have enjoyed it immensely but have had some scheduling conflicts trying to be in two places at once.  Alex was not expected to be the starting QB this year but circumstance with the other QBs changed that and Alex has started the last four games and has led the team to three victories. 

Yesterday,.Scott, Sondre and I got up really early and drove to Bismarck North Dakota to watch Winona State play University of Mary.  It is a LONG drive...6.5 hours each way but was worth it.  Alex played really well and Winona State won in the last 2 minutes after a long offensive drive down the field led by our favorite #18 Alex.  Here is a link that was in the local newspaper about the game.  Next weekend we are going to drive to his final regular season game in Wayne Nebraska.  We might rent a motor home since it is another long drive.  Sondre will now be able to say he has been to North Dakota and Nebraska in just two weeks. http://bismarcktribune.com/sports/college/football-u-mary-falls-to-winona-state/article_f9868b42-0826-11e1-90e3-001cc4c03286.html

All of us on the field after the game....it is strarting to get cold her so we are all bundled up.

Family:

Sondre was able to spend the weekend with Frank and Buehla when Scott and I went out of town to one of Alex's game.  They also had dinner at Deb's too.  Sondre really enjoyed the time he spent with all of them and is very lucky to have such a wonderful family right here in Minnesota. 

Two weeks ago Courtney, Amelia and I flew to Virginia Beach Virginia to visit Pam and Jackson.  Billy (my son and Pam;s husband) is out on deployment with the Navy until January so we like to keep Pam company and try to visit often.  We had a great time and really enjoyed spending time with Pam and loved watching Jackson and Amelia play with one another.  Pam and Jackson will be home over Christmas and are  excited to see Knut and Torstien too.  I am really blessed to have such a wonderful daughter-in-law.

  Amelia and Jackson giving each other a little smooch. 

Me reading to the kids before they went to bed.  How lucky am I???

Last Sunday we all went to Amelia's 3rd birthday party at Courtney and Ryan's house.  Sondre was able to meet a lot of relatives that he had not met before and they all enjoyed meeting him.  So many people remark about how fortunate we have been to get two Norwegian exchange students that are so cool. 

Tomorrow Courtney and Ryan find out if their baby is a boy or girl.  I think it is another girl...we shall see in less than 24 hours.  Courtney is about 20 weeks pregnant and feels really good and looks adorable. 

Today we are just hanging out, doing some grocery shopping and errands and then off to another AFS meeting tonight. 

Hope you are all doing well.

Lots of Love,

Alix and Scott