Iceland

Iceland is known as the country of fire and ice. Full of volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, glaciers (yes, more than one, including the largest in Europe!), ice bergs and cold rain! It is a breathtaking country and there is just something about nature that draws us to the heart of God. Standing at the mouth of a massive glacier, the foot of a powerful waterfall, or taking in a majestic view of ice bergs floating in a crystal clear bay, which leave us in awe of our Amazing Creator. Even though we know our God's beauty and eye for detail is astounding, it's so nice to be reminded in such a big way. Watching a cute little puffin, which looks like a cross between a penguin and a toucan, gives us a glimpse of His sense of humor. Hiking through the hills spewing smoke from the ground and carefully watching our step because the streams and puddles are bubbling and gurgling with boiling water, gives us a glimpse of His power. We serve an incredible God.

The day we arrived in Iceland was Bart's birthday, and we headed straight for the Blue Lagoon. It's a beautiful geothermal lagoon set in the lava fields and it felt wonderful to relax in the warm water after a day of traveling.

The next day we did the 'Golden Circle'. The weather was terribly cold, windy and raining...sideways. But we didn't let it stop us!

After walking in that weather, we were happy to see that the bathrooms were heated and actually had a great view. Tempting... can't we just stay in here for awhile?

"We" (actually, the 3 boys) decided to follow this plumb of smoke coming from the top of a mountain to find it's source. Here M has jumped out of the car to clear the steep dirt road of a few big rocks. The road was really more suitable for a 4x4, which just made it all the more exciting for the 3 boys. Yes, sometimes mom gets out voted and she just has to hang on tight and pray! Iceland has a large amount of geothermal and hydro power. All of their water comes from geysers and hot springs and since it's already hot, they don't need to do anything else to heat it, it just flows directly to the tap. The only draw back is that due to it's source, the hot water smells like rotten eggs from the sulfur. Lovely when your taking a shower! Luckily, their cold water is from a different source and is pure spring water that has been naturally filtered through layers of porous volcanic rocks. No smells there!

The boys are running over volcanic rocks that are covered in a rich, incredibly thick layer of moss. Our feet sunk down a few inches and it felt like we were walking on sponges. So wonderfully soft and bouncy.

Here we are at mouth of the glacier. Absolutely amazing. There are no words to describe it's vastness and beauty.

We are on a boat between the ice bergs. They shot a James Bond movie here. The boys were given some of the ice from a berg to eat. Not too many people can say they ate something 1,500 years old! What you see of an ice berg is 10% of the total size. It's constantly shifting to keep its ratio of 10% above the water and 90% underwater. This makes them very dangerous to not only ships, but also to tourists who decide to camp over night on them! This is a true story and it happened just a few days ago here in Iceland. The tourists then had to be rescued and paid a huge fine.

It's hard to image their sheer size from a photo, but a boat out in the water passed by earlier and gave us an appreciation of how big they are. Unfortunately, I missed the picture. Just imagine a boat in the background the size of an ant.

The boys being boys. Wrestling and trying to throw each other off the side of the cliff. Ash had started it and pushed M off when he wasn't expecting it. Now it's payback until Mommy comes to the rescue. Obviously, the cliff wasn't high and they were both laughing uncontrollably the entire time!

The cliffs are the home to thousands of birds. We were trying to spot the adorable puffin.

And after some hiking and waiting, we finally succeeded! Just look at how cute he is!

We were so excited to finally see him!

One of the many beautiful waterfalls.

If you look very closely, you can spot M and A walking along behind the waterfall.

This is why I didn't walk behind the waterfall! They were soaked and it was freezing outside!

This is the remains of the most delicious little lobsters we've ever eaten. The restaurant is here in the tiny village where we are staying and the lobsters are caught here in the waters.

Finger licking good!

Statue of Leif Ericsson, born in Iceland, he discovered North America 500 years before Columbus.

Here we were at a favorite local restaurant in Reykjavik. The typical Icelandic foods consist of pickled sheep's head, in which you get half a head on your plate, eye included, and fermented shark's meat, where the meat is buried in the sand for months and the smell and taste is suppose to be horrible. Considering that, I was a little worried, but the food was really good, and no, we didn't try any of the above mentioned! You'll have to ask the boys what was so yummy as to receive a thumbs up from Ash.

In between the cold and showers of rain, we did a couple of hikes. Notice how the hillsides are covered with spots of billowing smoke. This area is full of hot springs and we had to be careful when crossing streams because they could be boiling! Some people bring eggs and cook them in the springs of boiling water. The locals burry bread dough in the hot dirt and let it cook overnight.

Here the stream is nice and hot for a dip. Notice that it's really cold outside, so stripping down and getting in the water happens fast to keep ourselves warm!

Here Ash is demonstrating how you should never touch water unless you are absolutely sure that it's not boiling. Emergency rooms visits for burns on tourists are quite common here.

We have loved Iceland, have made so many memories, tried so many new things, and have learned a lot. I'll leave you with one more interesting fact about Iceland... More than 50% of the people here believe in the existence of the 'little people', such as elves. Roads are actually detoured and construction sites held up because they may be the homes of these invisible 'little people'. Hmmmmm...