Morning Runs

I have soooooo appreciated Carolina living so close to us this summer. She's staying at Chris's other sister's apt that's like 100 meters away in the same apt complex so she's been coming over with her 4 children 3 days a week and we've been taking turns going for runs. It has been so refreshing and it feels good to get back into running! So, thanks Carolina! (Don't the kids looks like so alive and happy in this picture?)

Who's Who

Samuel

Sofia

Emmy

This is when Samuel, Sofia and Emmy were 3 months old. Kind of fun to see the similarities and differences. :) Who do you think looks alike? (They definitely all have grandma Alder's ears!)

Sibling-Love

Emmy is now nearly 3 months old, and we probably have half as many pictures as we had of Sofia when she was 3 months and a fourth of what we had of Samuel at that age. Point being: we need to take more pictures!!! So, here is our lovely trio as of today, 9 July 2009.

Happy 4th!!!

God Bless the USA. I think this year more than any other I've felt more nostalgic on the 4th. We had our annual gathering at the Murphy's and we ate hamburgers and hot dogs and had chocolate chips cookies and rice crispy treats and even got to taste Skittles, Twizlers, and Tootsie Rolls (all importated by Paul on his recent visit). The kids played in the pool and jumped on the tramp and the adults talked (Enlglish) and ate 'till their tummies burst.

Paul gave his annual speech, and I guess for some reason it really hit me, as we stood there and repeated the national anthem and sang the Star Spangled Banner, I looked around, and noticed that the whole 5 or so Americans that were there all had an automatic hand over their heart and I couldn't help but get all choked up. Most Swedes love Sweden and are proud to be Swedish, but nothing can compare to the patriotism I feel and see from a people who come from a land who has had to fight for their freedom and rights. America really is a great country and I'm not saying Sweden isn't because it definitely has it's beauties or that America is the BEST country because heaven knows it has it's flaws, but I guess yesterday, I just felt both grateful that I am an American and have that heritage and at the same time a bit sad that my children have never seen a parade or eaten cotton-candy or played baseball or know who Big Bird is and it's completely up to me to indoctrinate them with those traditions. The task can seem a bit daunting at times, especially when nobody around me cares about those traditions. But, I am eternally grateful to families like the Murphy's who understand and can help me feel a bit of home in a foreign country.

Anyway, I didn't mean to get all sappy. We had a great celebration yesterday and I just wanted to shout out to cyber-space HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!

(ps. somebody wondered if maybe we shouldn't buy fireworks and have our own show, but then we quickly realized, we'd have to wait until nearly midnight since it's so light these days. I thought that was funny)

(Not sure what's up with the Weezer background...sorry about that. Also, we didn't take as many pictures this year for some reason, but here are the few we have)

Swedish Summers

These pictures were taken last night around 10:30-11:00 pm. Every summer, I am equally surprised at how much day-light time there is. I really love it!

Summer!

Summer is finally here...yea!!! It's been soooo hot here for the past 2 weeks straight and we have been loving every minute of it. We've been to the beach nearly every single day and the kids are just exhausted every single night. I love the sunshine!!!

Tired Swedes

U2 Training

Back in March, we found out u2 is coming to Sweden this summer and in the name of spontaneity Chris bought us some tickets and realized only afterwards that we'd have a 3 1/2 month old baby. Not wanting to pass this opportunity up, we thought we'd just have to teach Emmy to take a bottle early. Thinking it might take awhile for her to get used to it, we started a couple weeks ago, giving her a little bit each night before she went to bed. She caught on a lot faster than anticipated (i think because she's the first one to take a binki), and now it's no problem! Even daddy can feed her!!! The concert's August 1st! YEA! U2 here we come!!!