moving day..at last..!

Hi and how is the snow in England? We finally had a dry day yesterday, which was a relief as the 3 Burtons were suffering a severe case of cabin-fever. We all wanted to ´go home´ yesterday and I felt very isolated and very alone, so it was a relief to get up to our new home and actually move furniture in. (On weds pm, I commented that I needed Deb and Erika..Deb because shes the only person I know who actually enjoys cleaning and Erika because she would have all the cleaning fluids we needed at the point I was scrubbing the shower for the third time..!)Garðbraut now feels like ´home´ and Toti and I are really looking forward to it being the 4 of us again. I felt we had a bit of a reassurring sign on the drive home at 1 o´clock this morning as the Northern lights came out to play and it was absolutely fantastic. Like spirits in the sky..T said you rarely saw them move so fast. It was a good feeling.
Antway, off to feed all Burtons on this particular island. Take acre everyone..Lots of Love Joanna and 3 boys xx

day 2...

hello again friends and family..its the second day and Toti has gone off to work. That was hard-I really didn´t want him to go as it made me feel isolated and very alone, especially as I have no car and it is a lovely (but longish) walk into Reykjavik. Still, the Burtons braved the wind and the rain and had a blustery walk near the sea. Didn´t have to practise my language skills then.Toti and I went to the house together last night-T was very nervous and said it felt as if I was a surveyor as we walked around the house in my usual systematic way. Everything was smaller then I remember, apart from the front garden but, after having spent a few hours there, it began to feel good and the nice vibe we first felt when we viewed back in August returned. We have a busy few evenings but are on course, at present, to move at the weekend. Jolyon will visit his class tomorrow but I don´t know whether he will want to view our new home then or wait (he keeps saying he wants it to be a surprise). Elijah is struggling to stand on the wooden floors and has lost his confidence in standing so needs a bit more encouragement and a few good rugs. And yesterday I drove on the ´wrong´side of the road (in the dark and wind and rain) and that was fine-except for the fact I was driving an automatic and felt out-of-control. We are now looking for a manual, 4 wheel drive with 7 seats (to accomodate lots of visitors?!) and a high drivers seat (for dodgy backs etc). It will be good when my favourite citroen arrives in the country along with all our belongings. Its amazing what you use on a daily basis and never even think about..bye for now. Take care and love from the Anglo-saxon branch of a viking family xx

finally here..

Well, its been a while since the last entry but we have finally arrived in our new home country. It seemed a long journey, with one practising teenager and one independent crawler but we made it and are having a chilled day today. We are having to stay at Toti´s parents for a few days but are aiming to be in our new home by the weekend. This p.m we will go up to the house and I will see our new home for the 2nd time!! Jolyon and Elijah are enjoying a weeks attention from both sets of grandparents (we all enjoyed our few days in Yorkshire) and are coping with the change, despite some worries. If you would like to see pics of the house in varying stages of decorating then go to www.einmitt.is/gardbraut. We will try and update it soon (complete with furniture).
Love to all from the newest branch of the Viking side of this cosmopolitan family.
We love and miss you. J.T.J and E xx