YCGL - Saturday, July 20, 2024 - Day 38 - Et Bryllup og en Fest - Part 1

 A Wedding and a Party!  And how!!!  

I'm not even going to begin starting to write.  The wedding was a 1:00 and the party started at 2:30.  And Silje and I walked home at 2:30 am.  Yeah, 12 hours and three meals later.  And I fell write to sleep.  I just woke up at 5:30, and checked.  My phone, which lost its battery at 11:30, actually uploaded all 244 pictures and videos that i took yesterday.  I'm just going to start posting pictures and I'll fill in when I can.  

(Remember, you can left click on any picture and and they will all open up at a larger size.  Then right click to go through them.  Then to get out, click on the little box with the "x" in it to get out of picture mode.)

Below is a family tree of the Hilmarsen's.  Everyone here was at the wedding except Einar's father (and Olov's husband) Kolbjorn, who died of a heart attack in 1979 at the age of 43.

How did I get here?  Sally's grandmother, Kirsti Moen Solien had a bygdebok (a history of the people and farms in the church parish.) from Vingelen that her brother Ole sent in 1942 or so.  In it, Kirsti had written next to the Fremmermoen farm "This is my home."  Then, she scratched that out and wrote "This was my home."  And that was all the history we had about Kirsti's family other than her brothers and sisters.  In 2018, Sally and I drove from Oslo to Bergen and then to Trondheim to search for Sally's grandparents' homes.  I reserved a place to stay at a local guesthouse in Vingelen and informed the owners that my wife's family was from Fremmermoen but we didn't know the family that lived there but would like to meet them.  Brit set up a meeting with Einar, and it was like the Parodical Son returned home.  They all but killed a fatted calf for us.  They had a dinner set up and Einar and Kiki, Einar's mother Olov, his uncles Jon and Magna and their wives, daughter Silje, and son Tore were there.  It was like the biggest group hug we've been in.  Sally and I had planned to go back in 2020 before Covid hit, and then she died the next year.  She asked to have some of her ashes scattered there and the Edgars and the Wojahns did that last fall.  And we met Tore's fiancé Marit Helene.  When I heard they were getting married this summer, I asked if I could come and it was again like "Yes, you are part of our family."  So there I was.  

Fremmermoen is a old (the family has lived there for 400 years) farm and has several parcels around.  Primarily, there are some fields in the mountains where the cattle are kept during the summer so all the pasture land around the farm can be used for growing grass for the winter.  The main summer farm, or setra, is Movollen.  The original house that is there was built in the 1830s or 40s and has been added to over the years.  The milking barn is reconditioned to modern standards with a concrete floor, individual stalls and stainless steel piping for the milk.  However, no power lines go there, so they have electricity from an old tractor engine running a generator.   In 2022, they had an extreme makeover for the house (one of the Norwegian TV stations having a remodel-in-a-week program), so the interior is nice and new.  

And that's where they had the wedding!  Here are some views of the house and the young ladies handing out programs.  

Marie and Synne handing out programs in their Bunads and Ellie helping

Einar welcoming the guests and ringing a horse bell announcing the couple was ready.

Tore and Marit Helene are ready to walk up the aisle.

Music was provided by a friend on accordion, Alf Hulbaekmo.  The opening hymn was "Be Thou My Vision, Oh Lord of my Heart," of course in Norwegian.  They had the words printed out so I was able to sing along.  And Google Translate helped with a translation, kind of.  The minister gave some scriptural readings.  

There was another hymn which I didn't know, and then the couple said their vows...

Exchanged rings, and...

    

Then they Kissedddd.  Pretty Serious Kiss.... :)

One more hymn, "Thine is the Glory" (the March from Handel's Judas Maccabaeus) and then a Norwegian Bridal March out.

Olov, Einar, Marit Helene, Tore, Kiki, Kiki's Father

The Siblings, Mali, Silje, Marit Helene, Tore and Esten

(Esten was the Best Man)

Nieces and Nephews

Live, Oscar, Gaute, Marit, Tore, Ellie, Erik

Grandma Olov was pretty happy!

Mali's husband Tore and son Gaute                 Oscar, Silje, and Erik

Oscar, Erik and Trond Peder                               The whole family                  

Einar built a new gate on Thursday, painted it on Friday and it was dry and ready for Saturday noon.

He found the shoe in the attic when they remodeled the house.  The daisies are new.  

Marie, Guro and Olov showing off their bunads.

OK, these are the wedding pictures.  It's now 7:30 am, breakfast is at 10:00, so I'm going to catch a little more sleep.  And do the party pictures in the next installment.

God Natt!