Well I have my day of at work but I work 90% and do have every other friday off.  That is very nice to bee able to do something else than work all days.  Einar Trausti just came home from school and Maríanna is in music class learning musicology (got it from the dictionary), I am writing this and looking outsice the window at the glacer Langjökull, as the picture shows.

Everything is gray the wether, the earth, the mood in the community (well that’s rather black), many people is in big financial trouble after the breakdown.  Some of my friends have lost their job, and some have lost their savings, but we just have to look at the bright side we didn’t loose the healt or each other.  Icelanders are fighters and rather optimistic so I think we will get through this like everything else.  Now it is cool to be a teacher or a nurce at the hospital but 3 months ago it was rather lame.  People goes back to the basics in stead of living like a king.

I am now a member of Facebook and that is a whole world of old friends, I meet some old friends from Niles, Michigan there and old school friends from Laugarvatn.  Meet you there

More sometimes later.

Love Ella Jona

Remember the comments.

Tags: Iceland

Hi everyone

Well in spite of what you have heard in the news, we are all fine here in Tungufell.  We are not broke, I still have my job and we didn’t loose any money on the big bankruptcy here in Iceland.  All the banks exept one is now in the ownerchip of the government.  Oh well little Iceland was trying to bee sooo big!!

We still had to change some plans because of the situation, but we were supposed to be flying out to Germany tomorrow with the company I work with, but the trip was postponed .  We are going in end of March instead. 

Maríanna is growing up and is having her confirmation in end of May.  The ceremony is going to be here in the little church in Tungufell but I still don’t know where the rest is going to be.

Einar Trausti is getting 10 years old in December, whow things happend fast.

Well I don’t have more time now I write more later.

Tags: Iceland

Hi everyone

Well summer has arrived in Iceland and is even erlier than usual if anything.  We have had a good spring and the lambs came as usual and now they are all gone to the mountains to grow bigger before fall.  Everything is as usual here in Tungufell.  I have been working alot at school and the last few months has been busy.  As you maybe remember I have been a computer administrator at the computer system in our school and our community.  Now in August I will start a whole new job in Selfoss as an computer administrator in a big company that serves all the communities in Southern Iceland.  That includes schools, hospitals and goverment buildings.  Whell my english came in handy as usual but I am having no trouble reading instructions and learning about the new technology in computers.  I am very exited to start this job but one of the administrators working at the company hunted me into this work, so they came to me and asked me if I wanted to work for them.

Marianna is now almost 13 years old and is now working at a farm about 20 min driving from us.  She is babysitting for a friend of mine and is staying at her home.  Einar Trausti is almost 10 and is here in Tungufell working as a cowboy and feeding the lambs that has lost their mother.  The harvesting is about to start a week earlyer than usual but I am glad maybe we can go for a summer vacation this year.

I wish you all the best and please make a comment if you read this. Also look at the photos on http://picasaweb.google.com/elitraus

Love Ella Jona

Tags: Summer

Hi everyone

Well now christmas is over and we are back to Iceland after staying on Tenerife over the holydays.  We had a really nice time, we drove around the island and up to El Teide the highest mountain on Spain.  We also just enjoyed time and went down to the beach and swimming in the ocean.  How nice could it bee??  My parents were also staying at the same hotel so we had a good time with them also.

Now we are having some snow, some people would say that this is the most snow that has been since late on the last century and that might be right.  Today school closed early because of the snow but there is a big snowstorm coming and we have around 50 cm (20 inces) of snow on the ground ready to blow all over the place.  As you know that have visited Iceland we don't have any trees to make the wind blow slower so we are expecting around 20 m/s (45 mph) of wind.

Tags: Christmas, Tenerife

Hi everyone

I haven't been busy writing on the blog but I have been busy doing everything else.  The weather here in Iceland has been more then disscusting the last months rain, snow, rain, wind, snow and soo on.  The sun has officially left us, I hope it is in your country and it better be in Tenerife but we are going there to meet her on friday.  I just said to Svanur the other day "we sure made the right decision last June when we ordered the trip" this is the darkest winter I have ever known.

Well despite of that we are all just doing fine, I work alot as a computer administrator at the school and the kids are growing and doing all kinds of things for fun.  Maríanna was just playing at the National museum (Árbæjarsafni) last weekend and I did send you a link to the video I made but here it is again "Video" if you click on the Public gallery you can also look at some more photos from us.  I will also put in some photos from Tenerife.

The life on the farm is like usual feeding the animals, milking the cows and so on.  I just bought a new horse for Einar Trausti and I also bought a young horse last year for my self.  Hopefully they will be good horses but the horse Einar Trausti had before was a bad one and not good for riding.  I bought him a nice 4 year old mare named Toppa.

Tags: Christmas

Well everything has it's end an now the summer has officialy said goodby.  Yesterday we had alot of rain and snow ugly weather. Jakkkkkk  Today is better and hopefully next weekend is going to be fine because then we are gathering the sheep.  It takes a week to gather all our sheep and we all pray for good weather and a lot of luck during that week.

Work is like usual busy, I am now a head of the ICT department in the county so my salary has raised a little, but the work stays almost the same because I was working too much last winter now I just get payed for what I do

Maríanna is now starting to learn the flute she has been learning the piano for 5 years but she wanted to change, so now I have to drive her every week to Selfoss (50 km).  Einar Trausti is always playing his football and enjoys it very much.

Life on the farm is like usual nothing new is happening.

Well I am keeping it short today I did add some photos to the web so enjoy.

Love Ella Jóna

Hi again

Here we haven't had anything else than sun the last 5 weeks.  We are praying for rain now so if you have some please send it to us.

In all this good weather we are now finished the harvesting and we have even had the time to take a couple of days walking around the neighbourhood.  The main reason for this writing is to let you know that I have put some pictures in the photogallery so enjoy.

love Ella Jóna

Hi hi

Long time no writing, I have finally been able to start my summervacation even though it should have started long time ago.  Now we are harvesting and longing for some rain but it hasn't rained since beginning of June.

Work has been busy and also the new womens choir I am in charge of, we went to the northside of the country in beginning of June to meet othe womens choirs and a choirdirector from the USA named Lynnel Joy Jenkins.  It was livechanging to meet her and spend four days in her hands singing an enjoying life.

I was going to visit in Michigan this summer but because of this choir thing I didn't have the time to go but I have not at all forgotten about you guys and am trying to find the time to come for a visit.

I have gotten a promotion at my work and I am now head of the IT department.  That means more money for me and more time to do my job.   
We are going to Finland in the midle of August with the school and I am more or less in charge of that trip.  That is also why I couldn't got to the States for a visit.  To many trips in one summer.

We have decided the family that is me, Svanur and the kids and my mom and dad to go to Tenerife in Canary Islands during the Christmas.  That is the only time I can drag Svanur away from the cows. 

All though we are all doing fine and I hope you are too.

Love

Tags: Summer

Well I haven´t written in some time, and I can't say other than that I have been busy.  There is church choir, womans choir, school, and all the other work I am doing.

We here in Iceland are tired of waiting for either winter or spring.  We haven't had any good solid winter for years just rain and rain and strong wind and both rain and wind.

I haven't decided on summer vacation jet, I am having trouble making the trip to visit in Michigan fit into the smmer, I have to go to the north side of Iceland in beginning of June and in end of June and beginning of July is harvesting and in middle of August I am going to Finland with the school.  Probably in November I am going on a conference in Minneapolis.

Well this is enough for now looking forward to hear from you