Pictures from New Year's Eve

Claes (Farfar) and Birgitta (Farmor)

Erik and I

Erik preparing for 12:00 a.m.

Alex with Farfar

Alex and Isabella with Farfar and Farmor

(Don't you love Farfar's tux?!)

Mamma, Pappa, Isabella, and Alex

Isabella and Alex

Favorite Christmas Gift

I believe this is their favorite Christmas gift this year. I think it is so cute to see them piled on their beanbags in front of the T.V.!

Late Post

Sorry for slacking in my posting. I know some were a little concerned (Jessica?). The start to our new year began with 3 weeks of colds, fevers, coughs, etc. It started with Alex, then myself, and then Isabella. Erik was the lucky one. It missed him, thankfully, so he played nurse for awhile. Thanks for being our knight in shining armor, Pappa! We love you! Somewhere within those three weeks we were able to get out a little, though.

New Year's Eve we had planned to have two other families join us at our home, but unfortunately, members of both families were sick. So, we welcomed the New Year with Erik's parents. They fixed a wonderful dinner filled with crawfish, shrimp, steak, etc. Oh, and of course lots of champagne! We had a great time, and as always Alex welcomed in the New Year with us. Isabella fell asleep, but not Alex. I guess maybe he slept through his first New Year (he was only 3 months old), but every New Year afterwards he has welcomed with full force! I skipped making a New Year's Resolution this year since I never keep it, but I do want to think more about saving energy, staying more organized, and as always, making better food choices and involving exercise more in my daily routine.

Since the start of the New Year we also attended Disney on Ice: Princess Classics. Alex loved Disney on Ice so much last year that we couldn't dare let him miss it this year. Isabella also got to tag along. We met Richard (a childhood friend of Erik's who was also a part of our wedding) and his daughter, Signe. We all enjoyed the show, but I think Isabella enjoyed it more than Alex (he was still sick). We were a little disappointed though because we didn't see as much of Mickey and Minnie and other Disney characters. It focused mainly on the princesses and their stories. But overall it was good, and we look forward to it again next year.

Last weekend we went and stayed overnight with Erik's sister and her family. We had a taco night and had a great time. Jakob, Ulrika's son, received a battery-operated motorcycle for Christmas and it was the main attraction of the visit.

Oh, I must say that I stayed up the other night when the Titans were playing in the play-offs. It was showing live here and I ended up staying awake and watching the ENTIRE game only to see them lose at the end! The game was over at 2:00 a.m. Swedish time and I had to work the following day! But watching American football brought a little bit of home my way.

I also was able to catch Obama's inauguration and inaugurational (is that a word?) activities. I have instilled a lot of faith in him and his hopes and goals and I pray that God will guide him in his leadership. From conversations among the citizens here in Sweden, I gather they have a renewed respect for American citizens for voting him into office based on his dreams, ideals, and willingness to work with other world leaders to promote peace and respect among each other. He has instilled hope in other nations around the world, and I feel things are starting to look a little brighter :)

For those who haven't heard, the children and I have booked airline tickets to the U.S. in April. Unfortunately, Erik will not be traveling with us, because he has to work, but hopefully he can fly down to Spain and meet up with his parents for a few days to get away from the loneliness. We will be visiting for 2 weeks and Alex and Isabella are getting excited. I also know that their Grandmama and Pa are also excited (especially Pa, it will be 9 months since the last time he saw us!) Isabella is especially excited about seeing her Uncle Luke. That is who she talks about wanting to see. Also, we are all excited about seeing Aunt Jen's growing abdomen with Baby Mc. Alex is biting at the bits to see Grandmama's and Pa's beloved cats (well, loved by Alex) and ride his new Hot Wheel. I can't wait to see family, friends, grandparents, and visit WAL-MART. I know most people despise Wal-Mart, but I tend to have withdrawals after 9 months! Anyway, we look forward to seeing everyone, and I am finally going to bring this update to a close. Hope everyone keeps warm this winter. I hear it has been quite, unbelievably cold in Tennessee this year!

Christmas 2008

Alex opening a gift.

Isabella with Faster (Aunt) Ulrika

A picture of Isabella after she picked out her own clothes to do last minute grocery shopping!

Alex and Isabella waiting for a big night with Santa.

Alex with his stocking

Isabella with her stocking

Isabella receives a gift from Santa.

Isabella with a large gift

We were a little scared when Santa arrived!

Nice Santa!

Santa outside of the window.

THE Christmas smorgasbord!

Smorgasbord

Farfar, Alex, me, and Isabella


This year Christmas was calm, enjoyable, and relaxing. We celebrated with Erik's parents and his sister. Jakob (Ulrika's child) and his Dad couldn't be with us this year. Jakob had just come home from a 9 day stay in the hospital recovering from a stomach virus and severe cold. We missed having them with us.

We received a visit from Santa. He happened to be in the area and brought Alex his much anticipated race track and Isabella received a Pippi Longstocking doll house with accessories. He was met with a few terrifying screams from Isabella and Alex was a little stand-offish, but towards the end of his visit Isabella would point at him and sort of laugh and Alex warmed right up to him. He was very nice and I kept thinking to myself that he looked VERY familiar!

We had a wonderful dinner that we ate for three days afterwards! The julbord included everything under the sun and it was delicious.

We had a great Christmas this year with our Swedish family and friends and look forward to a U.S. Christmas next year with our American family and friends!

Bake Day!

This past Sunday was a big family bake day! We made lussekatter (saffran buns), pepparkakor (ginger thins), and my personal favorite, glögg (hot-spiced wine)! We all had a really good time and made a really big mess! At one point, Isabella was literally swimming in the flour!

St. Lucia

St. Lucia Day was this past Friday. The children's daycare did a St. Lucia tåg (train). They sang Christmas carols in their Christmas outfits. This "production" is put on at schools and preschools all across Sweden and is typically done outside. Well, it was raining, and quite a mess, but the kids did a wonderful job, and didn't seem to be phased by the rain.

Pepparkakshuset

I am a little behind with posts, because we made our gingerbread house (pepparkakshus) two weeks ago! We struggled with it this year. The backside of the house broke, and thankfully, Erik's Mom was there to help us creatively make a new backside so that the house would stand. Anyway, needless to say, we finally pulled it off!