THANKSGIVING

Again, one great thing about living overseas is that you can pick and choose when to celebrate American holidays. Kind of what ever's convenient for you, you know?! So, this year, our Thanksgiving celebrations have already come and gone. We gathered yesterday at our American friends place with two American/Swedish families and had a GREAT T-Day Feast! So now, for us, at least, we have given our respects to the bird, and can put our focus and energy into CHRISTMAS, which is just around the corner!

18 months

A couple weeks ago, Emmy hit the 18 month mark. (Finally made it to nursery!!!) I know it's always like this, but I can't believe how fast these kids are growing!

Samuel - the pleaser

Sofia - the pixie

Emmy - the personality

HALLOWEEN!!!

Swedes, like most Europeans, are a little unsure how/when to celebrate when it comes to true, American holidays, like Halloween. Not that this particular holiday is anything to be proud of, but it seems every year it gets bigger and bigger over here. Most people think Halloween is a floating holiday like Thanksgiving and isn't on the same day every year. I think mostly because there's a similar holiday called "The Day of the Saints" which is not always on the same day, but is always within a week or so of Halloween, so Swedes tend to get these two holidays mixed up, and it results in about a week long trick-or-treating episode. You never know when you could get a knock on the door. That combined with only every fourth house or so actually having candy to give to the kids, always makes trick-or-treating exciting.

So, this year we decided to do a trunk-or-treat at the church. SO MUCH FUN! Granted there were only 6 families that showed up (4 of which being Chris's siblings), but it was great and I really think it could be the beginning of a great tradition! The kids loved dressing up, and running from car to car and the parents had fun being a part of it knowing everyone was prepared instead of having to follow your child timidly to your neighbors house and hope they had something to give :)

But, we're lucky because we get double-whammy over here. Friday we're heading over to some American friends where they have a huge Halloween party every year. They've prepared the neighbors and sent out flyers weeks in advance warning people that anyone who wants a knock at the door should put out a little candle or pumpkin so the kids know where to go. Smart! I remember so clearly last year, walking up and down the streets (freezing our tails off!) with my kids in hand going from door to door (nearly every other house was in on it!) and I felt such a nostalgic feeling come over me. When I do real American things over here, it's hard for the tears not to come and I feel grateful I can give my kids a small taste of my childhood.

We'll post pictures after Friday's festivities. :)

Happy 30th!!!

Last Sunday (yes, on Halloween Day) Per Gustav Christoffer Malm celebrated 30 years of life on this earth as we know it!!! We got to celebrate two nights! One with friends and one with family (not to say that family isn't friends...there were just too many of both). Although Chris isn't a huge fan of being center of attention, he did great and everyone had a great time! We love you Chris!

Renovating in all it's glory

We have now started the process of renovations! Besides the small things all over inside the house (ie sandpapering floors, painting walls, windows, etc...) we have 3 major projects we want to do on this house. The entrance way, the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen. Last Saturday the digging began for the entrance way. As it is now it's too crowded when you first come in, so we want to knock down the front door/wall and extend the house out a couple meters to make a small entrance hall. A lot of the other houses in the area have it and it really makes a big difference. We hope to be done soon, so it doesn't get too chilly! Wish us luck. We'll keep you updated!

How it looks today from the inside. A bit tight with 3 kids and winter shoes and coats and hats and gloves coming!

You have to dig down a couple cm to be able to lay the foundation. This is the kids helping.

After about a half hour, the kids came in cold, and tired. Chris is still working...

Isn't the best picture, but you can see somewhat how we want it (from the outside anyway). You see blue house has an entrance hall extended out from the house.

And we're back!

Let's just say life has been pretty go-go-go since we've been back. Which, I think has been a blessings. With so much to do, I haven't had much time to think about missing "home". (But, every now and again, that feeling of homesickness creeps back and I enjoy thinking of all the great memories we had this summer).

As I sat here doing some work on the computer, I realized how unusually quiet it was for a Monday afternoon. Something must be wrong. So, I got up to check on the kids and there sat Samuel with his legos, Emmy was in the kitchen playing with the dishes and Sofia was downstairs with her barbies. At that moment there was peace. But, it made me realize that this is kind of how my life seems sometimes. Three different kids, three different directions, with a million and one things on her to-do-list. It feels like I'm being tugged and pulled sometimes. But, the secret is to find those moments of peace. Life is good.

I also just wanted to say that I LOVE our little townhouse! It is so great. It's not a "dream house" but we just love it. There are projects and renovating that we're working on every night. I feel like Mary and George in It's a Wonderful Life. It's great!

Anyway, more will come. Life as a mother is a busy one.

The rest of the story...

Sorry for the absence the last couple weeks of our vacation. Chris came and he started taking way too many pictures to organize and go through and put up here. Now that we're back, I've had a little time to be able to go through them and make a slide show. These are the highlights!

Our summer has been perfect! Sun nearly every day, FAMILY, friends, BBQ's, swimming, sleeping in, running, the mountains, camping, everything you're supposed to do during the summer. We're not sure when we'll be back, so it was wonderful being able to be there for such a long time. The kids are happy to be back "home", but for me, Farmington Utah will always be home. I loved every minute of it!