Home From Sweden

Well we're home now, back in our own beds and trying to adjust to a new time zone again. We keep having to convince Ella that when it's dark outside she needs to stay in her own bed until the sun comes up. Last night she was only up once, so we're making progress. And 6:30am isn't that early is it? Oh wait, we're talking about me here!

I've designated this week as catch up week and nothing more. I'm putting aside all other ambitions and focusing on laundry, sorting pictures, and telling all of you about our trip! Doing the dishes can wait can't it? (Please say yes!)

So, to keep true to my catch up duties, here is a snap shot of the last few days of our time in Sweden this year.

One of our favorite things to do while we're visiting Daniel's family is to spend the evening at his sister Cecilia's house. She is an excellent cook and we especially enjoy sharing a meal with the whole family. In Sweden, the weather doesn't stay warm for long so many people have an enclosed porch that they use for eating and entertaining. It's perfect in the evenings when it's too cool to be outside. On this particular night I helped Cecilia make dinner for everyone. The thing I love about her meals is that the simple is made extravagant. Take for example desert. We had pudding from a box. Simple? Hardly. She added chopped bits of chocolate to the bottom of each glass. Then topped the pudding with real whipped cream, a citrus leaf, and chocolate shavings. Fantastic! The rest of the meal was just as delicious. I look forward to making it here!

The kids were especially having fun that night. In this video they were pretending to be going to sleep. Farfar joined in on the fun and they prayed the prayer that we pray before bedtime.

Saturday was a full day of fun. We sailed from a harbor on the west side of the lake to a little town called Grenna on the east side. The town is famous for its striped pepermint candy called Polkagris. You can watch it being made and of course buy it there too! Fun fact: When Daniel and I got married this was one of the candies we had at our reception.

These pictures are from our day, starting with views of the beautiful surroundings at the harbor before we set sail.

Since all of us are together only once a year, Cecilia had a great idea to have some family photos taken. It was extra fun because she kept it a surprise. We all managed to look decent, thank goodness! These two pics are clearly from my camera, but I'm looking forward to seeing how the real ones turn out.

Swedes are good at a little thing called fika. I wish we had an equivilant here. Basically between meals they snack, but not like Americans snack. They stop what they are doing, sit down with others, put out pastries, coffee, sandwiches, and cider, and enjoy each other's company.

I thought this view of the harbor in Grenna was beautiful. While we were there we ate dinner and celebrated Daniel's dad's birthday which is next week. Happy Birthday Christer!

Sailing this day was easier because Ella rode in the car with the rest of the family who didn't sail. The first picture is exactly as it seems. The boat really IS leaning that much. It was perfect weather for sailing and we were going about as fast as that boat can go (7.4 knots).

At the end of the day we had kvallsmat (evening food) back on the west side of the lake in the boat house. The kids had been together all day and taught Ella this song. We got a spontaneous performance as we ate our sandwiches.

As you can see, we had a fun and eventful trip. Being so far away from family is hard, but it's made easier by trips like these. We make memories that strengthen the bond of a family and we look forward to the future knowing we'll make more!

Heading Home

Just a quick note to say we're headed to the airport soon. We'll spend the night in a hotel and fly out in the morning. I wanted to post some pics from the last few days, but we changed our plans and we're leaving now (as in I have to turn off the computer!). So we'll see you in the US and I'll post the pics then. Love to you all!
Sarah

More Sweden

It's hard to believe we'll be leaving in just a few days. It'll be good to get home and back in a routine, but we'll miss Daniel's family. Ella is especially loving spending time with everyone. Tuesday night we were at Daniel's sister Cecilia's house for dinner. We were trying to get Ella in the car to leave after we had spent a wonderful evening together. I said, as I sometimes do to encourage her to come, "OK, we're leaving. Bye" She stopped and looked at me, then said with great confidence "Bye!" and ran back in the house. We were laughing so hard we couldn't chase after her!


Here are some highlights of the last few days.


Swede's eat a lot of candy! Daniel is no exception to the rule. Who knew there were so many kinds of black salty licorice.


























































Too much of a good thing? I don't think so. This is our third time eating Kebab pizza this week. The view from the restaurant was pretty good too! This is the most southern part of lake Vättern. Daniel's parents live about 10 minutes from here.








































Watching Emelie play soccer.


Meeting Emelie's friend Alexandra who lived in the US until last year.




























The Swedish flag is a common sight here, but even more so are these wind flags. A Swedish house just isn't complete without one.

Filip rides motorcross. We went and watched him practice.

Wednesday night (after the boys played golf again) we went sailing with Cecilia's family. It was a beautiful evening.

Sweden

Enjoy some pictures from our time in Sweden. It's been a busy few days, but we're trying to fit in as much as we can in the 10 days we're here. Here are some things we've been up to.

FRIDAY

We arrived tired, but the flight over went very smoothly. Ella took a nap when we got to Farmor and Farfar's house. Daniel played golf and we went to bed and slept all night. AMEN!

Ella has missed her favorite fruit this past year....Vinbär!!

We took a walk to feed the horses up the street.

SATURDAY

We visited Daniel's brother Henrik's family and enjoyed their town's yearly festival. Daniel's brother owns a local grocery store and his sister-in-law just opened her own hair salon.

Daniel, Camilla, Hanna, and Ella

The grocery store Henrik owns and runs.

Camilla's hair salon. The name is a play on words translated "Hair and Now"

August in Sweden means Kräftor. We enjoyed it swedish style which is nothing like cajun style. It's cooked with lots of dill and as you can see you wear a hat!

SUNDAY
We traveled to an island near Gothenburg for a family reunion on Daniel's mom's side. Many of the cousins hadn't seen each other in years. It was also a celebration for his Aunt Britten's 70th birthday. She is a clothing designer and there was a surprise fashion show of many of the clothes she's made over the years. Daniel's cousin Pernilla is a famous singer in Sweden. She provided some entertainment for the day with her son's band. The video below is more proof of Michael Jackson's impact throughout world.

The way the tables were set is a good indicator of how things are done in Sweden. In the US a family reunion would be pretty low key, but here all get togethers are a reason to celebrate. Everything is done right, from the meal, to the entertainment, to the setting of the table. As the day went on the kids got creative and enjoyed coloring on the paper table cloths. Britten, the designer drew the fancy lady picture. This is definately a family of artists.

MONDAY

Daniel played golf again and Ella and I went with the cousins to a park. That evening we had dinner with the whole family at his sister's house. Ella and the cousins had a blast playing together and jumping on the trampoline.

Ella, Filip, Hanna, Emelie

Now I'm off to take a nap. The jet lag requires it! I'll post more of our fun soon.

~Sarah

That's MY "E"!

Back in March we were sitting at Uncle Brian's graduation from Medical school when Ella looked at me and said, "Mom! That's MY 'E'!" She had seen the red EXIT sign in the auditorium and noticed the E was the same as the E in Ella. Of course I was a very proud mother at that moment. Now my pride continues.....She is writing "Her" E.

Tonight (actually after I started writing today's post) Ella and Daniel were in the car. Ella was playing with a pen and a piece of paper. Daniel said "She was quiet"....... This is what she was doing.