bergaust.org Blog

Unfortunately, I missed the various Halloween parties the kids attended because of the visit with the Secretary of State.  The kids went to a neighborhood one complete with a haunted house on Friday and then to another one of Saturday with about 30 children at a local British club.

Optimus Prime!

Woody

While I was helping with the visit of Secretary Clinton to Marrakesh, we figured it made sense to take advantage of my two bedroom apartment.  Norma and the kids came down from Casablanca to spend a few days with me before things became too crazy with the Secretary’s arrival. 

While Marrakesh has really never been my favorite city in Morocco, after spending a week exploring a bit more, I must say that it grew on me quite a bit.  We found a couple really interesting museums like the Medersa Ben Youssef, which is a former Islamic school converted into a museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Youssef_Madrasa).

Entrance into courtyard

A window looking into the courtyard – amazingly detailed work

Another place we found quite interesting was the museum of Marrakesh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrakech_Museum).  It had a nice collection of jewlry, pottery, knives, textiles, etc.

A typical fountain

My in-laws were very gracious and let my parents spend the night at their cabin.  We all enjoyed using the ATVs and spending some time together, which we really haven’t done since last Christmas.

Gramps and Adam

Grandma and Adam

ATV fun

Boys having fun

We had quite a few family members travel for Adam’s blessing.  My parents and maternal grandparents were able to travel from out of town, and all of Norma’s brothers and sisters were able to make it.  After the blessing we went back to the Foote’s and had a nice open house. 

My grandparents and Adam

Four generation photo

After Erik finished his swimming lesson we decided to head up to the Foote’s cabin.  Being able to spend some time in the mountains was great, and the kids had a blast.  Sometimes it’s nice just to get away and take some time to do nothing.

I thought this was a pretty cute clip you might enjoy.

I don’t think that this needs any explaining. It’s the small things like oreos and milk that I miss being overseas.

Norma and I are happy to announce the arrival of our new son, Adam Paul Bergaust, who was born on September 2, 2009.  My prediction of a 3:00 am birth was pretty close – he came at 2:37 am.  He weighed a healthy 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 inches long.  Both Norma and Adam are doing extremely well, and we couldn’t have asked for a better delivery.   We arrived at the hospital around 11:00 pm, and he came less than four hours later.  This was the best birth of any of our three children. I guess that practice makes perfect, right?

Erik was really excited to meet his younger brother, but it took Joseph a little while to warm up to seeing him.  However, they are both happy that the baby is no longer in mommy’s tummy and that she is feeling better.  They did a great job taking turns holding him and giving him little kisses.

We will all stay in the states until Adam and Norma get their medical clearances to return back to Morocco, which will probably happen sometime in the middle of October.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts on our behalf.  We are so fortunate to have such beautiful, healthy babies.  As I was telling my sister earlier today, the feeling of holding a new baby for the first time never gets old. 

Mom and baby

One unappreciated benefit of being in the U.S. is the presence of many great local parks.  I took Erik and Joseph and two of their cousins to a nearby park, which was tons of fun.  After playing for a long time on the equipment, they decided to go on a walk around the upper perimiter.  The park is basically surrounded by a hill that is about 80′ tall, which has a walking trail on the top.  The kids did a great job climbing, but they were definitely ready for lunch and naps after we finished.