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!