Our first week in Sweden...

I can't believe it's only been a week since we left Virginia.  - And by that I don't mean that time passes slowly, but instead how much we've crammed in to this first week in Sweden.

The trip over with the kids went great!  They are such seasoned travelers that they just got comfortable, ate some dinner when it was served and then slept the rest of the way.  Our stop-over was in Iceland, which I at first thought was a good break in the trip.  Turns out that since the kids sleep so well it's better to do one longer trip all at once and let them rest as long as possible.  Since we all couldn't fit in the same row I had Oliver with me and Skyler and Porter sat in front of us.

Our third and last flight is only a 50 minute trip from Stockholm to Östersund.  I love looking out the window as we are approaching my city, at the familiar view of the lake, islands, green woods and the mountains in the distance still with a little snow on the peaks.  Unfortunately the airplane window was both dirty and scratched, so the picture doesn't show too well...

Even though it hasn't been two months since I was home last, it was great seeing my Mother again.  She was greeted with big hugs from the kids.  Even though I've seen her almost daily over Skype it hit me how yellow her eyes and skin were in person due to the elevated bilirubin levels.  If one doesn't know better it just looks like she's got a good tan going.  And to me, she's still as beautiful as ever!  Thankfully, by now it seems to be turning around again.  Hopefully her new round of cortisone is doing its job and she can continue her chemo treatments as soon as possible.

The very next day after landing in Sweden, Skyler and Porter joined in in a camp for four days.  They spent 6.5 hours a day playing soccer, doing track and field, canoeing, biking, playing flag football, jumping on the trampoline and much, much more.  They really enjoyed themselves and even though they were tired by the end of the week, it was great for them to get to meet up with other kids and play and be "forced" to speak swedish right off the bat.  I actually think they've adjusted quicker with the time change than us adults because they were so tired after their days of playing...

Skyler and friends warming up for track and field

Porter and friends doing soccer drills
He is the one in the hoodie to the left.  Danny said it's so much easier
 telling our kids apart from other children when we're in the U.S... ;)

On Tuesday my Grandmother stopped by for a few hours to visit with us before she left to spend 10 days in the very south of Sweden with my Uncle and cousins and families.  She is such an amazing woman!  It is hard for me to understand that in just a couple of months she will be turning 92!  I'm looking forward to having "our time" with her when she comes back from her trip.

Danny joined us in Sweden on Wednesday - one day later than planned due to thunder storms on the East Coast on his initial day of departure.  The kids were so excited to see him here!  Well of course, so was I.  It's been four years since he last visited Sweden.

Now, we are just relaxing (or not really since there are a bunch of stuff still to be done on the cottage...) and having a good time...

Oooops, I guess I have to update my blog in order to get some more pictures in here...

I'll let you enjoy this video I shot the other night at 1:00 am - magical light...