Jacob and Abi Beutler Family

Here are Ben and Liz at Market Day in our town Roskilde. Market Day is Wed. and Sat. and we go there each week for produce like carrots and tomatoes. We already have found our favorite booth. The kids love market day and the man who runs the booth sometimes gives them a free sample of his vegetables and fruits. This is the Cathedral that is in Roskilde. Roskilde used to be the capital of Denmark. Ben gets excited each time we see it, as he thinks its a castle and that there is a princess in the highest room of the tallest tower waiting to be rescued. Liz and Ben love it when Dad comes home. That is when they can wrestle and do all the physical stuff that I avoid during the day. This is in our back yard.

Ben and Liz in front of the back of our home.

Just a quick post (more will follow) to announce the birth of our baby. He came to us three weeks early on May 28, 2009. 3320 grams. 52 centimeters. This meant nothing to me as they measured him after the birth, but I have since learned that 3320 grams equals 7 pounds 5 ounces. 52 centimeters is 20 inches. He is a cute little guy. We haven't decided on a name yet! We got home from the hospital yesterday (sharing a hospital room with three other moms just didn't suit my fancy), and are both trying to recover. Jacob has locked off the back of our house to give me and _____ some peace and quiet. Ben and Liz are not happy about it. Hopefully they'll adjust soon. Will post pictures later.

I have been obsessed with food lately. I think it is due to the baby being due in one month, and to the fact that going to the grocery store and preparing food in a completely different country takes a lot of brain power now. So I thought I'd clue you all in to what grocery shopping and food in general is like in Denmark. People here apparently consume a lot of open-faced sandwiches made with a variety of very dense breads, McDonald's (there are two or three in our city alone), pizza, and coffee/tea. In addition, everything is bought in small quantities. The only thing bought in bulk seems to be beer. A standard box of rice contains about 3 cups rice, enough for two dinners. We are trying to adapt our usual American shopping list to what we can find/afford in Denmark. The following is just a bit of Denmark food wisdom I've developed.

• Chicken: They have it! Chicken breasts are $5.00/pound on sale.
• Peanut Butter: It is a luxury here at $5.00 for a very small bottle.
• Yogurt: Is very yummy and tastes homemade. I can't recall the price.
• Baking Soda: I haven't found it yet. Anyone have any cookies recipes that don't reguire baking soda? I did find baking powder and yeast (which is very very smelly) though.
• Cookies: A bag of cheap store-brand wafer cookies goes for $4.00 here in DK.
• Apples: So scruptious and juicy here.
• Carrots: I got a steal of a deal (for real) at the farmers markets for $3.00 a bunch. They are very good.
• Juice: Very expensive. I have yet to break down and buy it. It is all bottled or boxed. No frozen juice concentate here.
• Milk: We are big milk drinkers, but appparently the Danes don't drink much of it, as it is only sold in liters. Milk is very good here. We buy it at about $1.00 a liter. So you math whizzes out there can figure what it would be for a gallon.

Hope that this wasn't too boring of post. I've got to go find something to eat now. Anyone else hungry?

• Our first flight out of Utah was delayed, so we missing our connecting flight at the Newark, NJ airport.
• The airlines in Newark put us up in a hotel that night.
• We got to the airport the next day in plenty of time to make our flight. BUT...had trouble locating our checked baggage. THEN...Jacob and I got separated. We finally found each other. Then we had about 10 minutes to get through security and on our flight. We were all running and Ben and Liz were crying.
• We rushed on the plane just in time and got settled. Then they announced that there was engine trouble with our plane and that we needed to exit the plane and get on another one.
• We waited for an hour or so at the airport and then loaded onto the new airplane.
• Once we were on that plane, we had to wait another hour to get a clearance for our take-off.
• Our flight to Germany was fine, and we picked up our luggage and rental car without any problems. Then we drove four hours to Denmark and got checked into the guest house here in Roskilde.

More of our adventures to come. We miss and love you all!!!