Gone Fishin'

Last weekend, we took the kiddos fishing. Between the move and traveling, we really needed a relaxing weekend away as a family. Well, it was away, but I am not sure how relaxing it was.

It started off well enough. Timo got the poles and lines ready while I corralled the herd. It was a beautiful morning, even if we did get a later start than anticipated.



Timo  loading up the hook with bait.



The lake

  K was excited to get started, and she and AJ fished for a short while before they decided it was lunch time.

K fishing

 While I fed the kids, Timo took a turn fishing. It was the best uninterrupted time of the whole day. Too bad the fish weren't biting. And he lost a couple of flies.


Timo with his fly rod



H is for my little ham.



AJ enjoying his sandwich.



K relaxing on a chair, getting ready to eat some marshmallows.


As the day wore on, so did the kids' enthusiasm. If someone had caught a fish, I know it would have been easier for them. The sporatic rain showers didn't help, even if they were short-lived.

AJ fishing. Look at that rod. No wonder he didn't catch anything.

 H didn't have patience for fishing. He wanted to reel it in right away and at record speeds. He decided throwing rocks in the water was much more fun. AJ eventually joined him. That didn't help K or Timo with their fish-catching efforts.


H brushing off his hands after throwing a bunch of small rocks in the lake.

 K moved around to various spots, and I saw some fish swimming around, but they were not biting.

K trying a different spot.

 When AJ's line got tangled in his reel, and K's did the same. We decided it was time to head home. All three kids fell asleep on the drive down the mountain, but I enjoyed the views.


A view on the way back



Another view



Yet another view on the way down.

When we got home, all the kids said that they had had fun, but we will have to try a different lake that is not so over-fished next time.

Another Trip to the ER

Saturday evening brought yet another trip to the E.R. for our family. This time, AJ was the one who suffered an injury worthy of the trip.

The kids were swimming with their father, and AJ decided to jump off of the diving board. The problem is that he wanted to jump backwards, and he didn't jump far enough back. His chin hit the diving board, causing his head to snap back and his chin to split open. I missed the drama. All I saw was Timo trying to get AJ out of the pool while screaming for my attention (I was inside). When I got outside, AJ was crying, his hand over his chin and mouth, and blood was dripping from what I thought was an unknown source at the time. When I finally saw his chin, I knew that we were going to the ER.

I was the parent who was dressed, and I panicked, running to get my shoes on. Then I realized we needed to get AJ dressed. Timo had him halfway dressed by the time I came with clean clothes for him to don. We had no gauze, so I had just put a band-aid on his chin in an effort to contain the blood. It was better than nothing.

AJ was a good sport. He stopped crying, and the drive to the ER was uneventful. We were able to check in quickly, and I was pleased that the wait time was not incredibly long.



AJ in the waiting room. He tried to smile, but he said his chin hurt too much to smile big.

  Once we were led to a room, a nurse came and cleaned up his chin. This is what it looked like.


AJ's split chin



Once the doctor saw him, the nurse came and put a local anesthetic on his chin via a cotton ball, which she bandaged to his head so I didn't have to hold it there the whole time.

AJ with the local anesthetic

Shortly thereafter, she arrived with a small bear sporting a similar bandage.

 After twenty minutes, she checked his chin, then she put the cotton on for a little longer before the doctor came in and glued it shut.



All glued shut

As for me, I was happy that he didn't have to be stitched up. Glue is much less traumatic and time-consuming. I am sure AJ was just as happy to see no needles. The whole trip took about two hours, which I think is fantastic. By the way, he named his bear "Computer."

K and Ballet

K started ballet last week. She has been so excited about it, and her clothes arrived the day of her first lesson. The teacher said that she has some natural talent, so I am hoping that she will work hard enough for that to pay off. If she puts some effort into it, she will move up to the next class after only a few weeks.



K waiting for the class to start. This is her "Mom, you are embarrassing me by taking a picture" look.

  

After class



Ultrasound of Baby 4

Yesterday afternoon, I had an ultrasound of my sweet baby number 4, due in December. The ultrasound technician was wonderfully careful to tell us to look away when she was near certain tell-tale areas so we would not accidentally see the gender of the baby. She also did a few 4-D images for us. Here is our precious baby at 21 weeks, 5 days, with a knee by his/her mouth and an elbow next to his/her face.

I think he/she looks a lot like our other kids. I can see H in the face. :)

The older kids got a little impatient (especially the boys) during the ultrasound, but, thankfully, Timo was there to rally the troops while I enjoyed looking at the sweet baby growing in my belly.

First Weeks

Our first two weeks back in the US have been crazy busy. There have been a few moments to breathe, but there is so much to do that it is difficult to justify hours or days off.

On our first day back, we went car shopping. After all, transportation is pretty important. We left the kids with their Farmor and Farfar, and headed out to the car dealerships. Four dealerships later, we found ourselves the proud owners of a new F-150 pick-up truck. A far cry from the minivan we set out to find, we were happy to have something the five of us could fit in.

Day two, Timo headed over to the storage unit where the movers loaded up all of our boxes, furniture, and toys that had been sitting there for 3.5 years. Afterwards, we all drove to the city of our current residence.

Day three, I saw our new house for the first time, and the movers arrived with our stuff from storage. We started unpacking, and I commenced the tedious task of washing every single dish we own. Our realtor was kind enough to bring us lunch, bottled water, paper plates, plastic silverware, and more. That evening, we ordered our washer and dryer, ate at Olive Garden, and shopped for fishing gear for the kids.

Day four, I spent much of the day unpacking and washing. Once Timo was off of work, I went to the OB/GYN to establish myself with the doctor as early as possible for this pregnancy. Afterwards, we went shopping for some household basics. This was also the first night we spent in our house.

Day five, we ate breakfast in our new home, unpacked, shopped, unpacked, washed dishes, and unpacked. Did I mention that we unpacked?

Day six was Sunday, and I really felt it as we got ready to go to a new church. I missed my church, my friends, and Sunday morning worship in Swedish.

Day 7, I spent most of the day in the house, unpacking and cleaning. That evening, I attended a homeschooling meeting, which was a great source of information.

Day 8, I headed to the park with the kids first thing in the morning, afterwards, we visited the library, where K and I signed up for library cards, and we checked out a few books. I am really going to like the library, and the kids are already asking when we are going back. In the afternoon, the guy came to install our Internet, phone, and television lines. After he left and Timo came home, we headed out to the Toyota dealership to see if we could find a minivan for me. I test-drove a Sienna, but it was only a 7-passenger van, and I really want an 8-passenger vehicle. Honda had next-to-nothing on their lot, and we ended the day no better off than we started, vehicle-wise.

As I got out of the shower on Day 9, K informed me that they boys were getting into trouble. Sure enough, they had clogged the toilet by using too much toilet paper. Shortly afterwards, I realized that our sewer had backed up into our utility room downstairs.I tried to use a squeegee to push the dirty water into the drain as I was waiting for the washer and dryer to be delivered. My house smelled like a sewer. Oh, joy. Timo was a doll and called a plumber, the washer and dryer were delivered, the plumber didn't find anything wrong (but he explained that this sometimes happens when a house has sat empty for a while), and Timo cleaned up the rest of the mess downstairs. Somewhere in there, I managed to do three loads of laundry and pack for our trip. We left late that afternoon on a four-plus-hour-drive to attend a family event that had been planned for months.

Day 10, Timo had to attend a couple of meetings while the kids and I went shopping for shoes, visited their Farmor and Farfar, and I returned and exchanged some maternity clothes my mil had purchased for me.

Day 11, Timo had more meetings, and we tried to do some more last-minute shopping. I needed shoes and make-up, Timo needed ties, and the kids needed clothes for the evening. Timo joined us intermittently, and we somehow managed to get everything done before the family dinner that evening.

The dinner was a beer-pairing dinner. I abstained, of course, but the family brew of root beer was available for the occasion, and I happily downed some of it. AJ remarked that the root beer was better than what was available in Sweden, and I agree (especially since only some generic brand is available there). We sat and chatted with various immediate and extended family members while the kids got to eat in another room and were entertained by coloring books, movies, and toys.

Day 12, I walked around the downtown Golden area with some of my brothers-in-law and my kiddos. It was fun (and strange) to see how it has changed since living there. We ate lunch at my in-laws, and then we headed to Heritage Square for an afternoon of fun for the kids. K rode the Alpine Slide with Timo, AJ drove the kiddie go-karts, and H enjoyed the train.

We rushed from Heritage Square to my in-law's where we had left some clothing. After some stressful moments of trying to locate lost clothing, we finally left for the hotel to get ready for the evening dinner. We missed the shuttle and had to drive ourselves, but the evening turned out fine, and I am hoping we got a good family picture out of it.

Day 13, we packed up and checked out of our room before heading to a family breakfast. Afterwards, we wandered around an old family residence before heading to lunch and swimming with the rest of the extended family members. The root beer was available again, and I drank my share before we had to head home. Almost 5 hours later, we pulled into our driveway, unloaded the bags, and let the kids unwind before heading to bed.

Day 14 was Timo's first full day of work, and I put in a full day at home as well. I did 8 loads of laundry in my new washer and dryer as I tried to play catch-up on our clothes, get the towels and bedding from storage washed, and get all the new sheets I ordered washed before the mattresses came the following day. I felt like I barely made a dent in my mountain-range of laundry, but the piles did start to disappear. Because of our trip, I had two suitcases to unpack in addition to a garage full of boxes. I only tackled the inside of the house, leaving the boxes for another day. I also managed to get some curriculum ordered and two of the kids' schoolroom chairs assembled. It was a productive, but tiring day.

So, those were my first two weeks in a nutshell. I am hoping that the pace slows a bit as we get settled in and establish a routine.

So Long, Sweden

As we prepared to leave Sweden, I started a post to help outline what I would and would not miss about Sweden as well as what I looked forward to in the U.S.

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Hejda, mjukglass, kanelbullar, chokladbollar, and fika.

So long, Swedish strawberries, blueberries, and lingonberries.

Goodbye, Swedish meatballs, farskpotatis, Swedish pancakes, cheese aisle, hearty breads, and Lussebullar

Farewell, long summer days, European vacations, midsommar, and Lucia Day.
I hope to see you again sometime.

Good riddance, Swedish tax authority, socialized medicine, and frustrations with the language.

I won't miss you, long winter nights, insanely high prices, and ridiculously short store hours.

Hello, American grocery stores, familiar foods, smoked cheddar, NY strip steaks, and real Tex-Mex.

It's been a long time, Lysol, Febreeze, and Scrubbing Bubbles.

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Of course, as the time to leave grew near, and the reality of the situation hit me, I realized that what I would miss most are the friendships, church family, and familiarity of our daily lives in Sweden. I know that there are new friends to be made, a new church family to discover, and a new daily routine to embrace; however, that does not eliminate the sentiments of nostalgia and sadness that I have experienced.

Sweden has brought me deeper and truer friendships than those I have experienced in a while. (This was especially remarkable given the fact that I was afraid to pour my heart into any friendship the first year of living there.) I will miss those people tremendously, even as I pursue new relationships and make new friends.

From now, though, I must look forward. I have learned that a good friendship is more rewarding to hold than painful to leave. I have met incredible people every time I have moved, and I am excited to see what God has in store for me as I enter this new phase of my life.