Happy New Year!

We made a couple ballooons and launched one, and watched amazing fireworks by the beach hotel.

Last day of the year

Bea's box

Bea made a wooden box with her new tools (almost) all by herself.

Day in Helsingborg

We drove down to Helsingborg from Falkenberg to spend a day in town.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

After our little gathering on the 23rd Bea prepared a plate of cookies and buns for Santa, and left it by the balcony with a note for him.

...in the morning he left our stockings there filled with small goodies...

...and a few larger packages for Bea.

...Including the game "Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries". Here's where we live!

..,and the Lego Friends Swimming Pool with Slide Bea wanted so badly.

We had a traditional Swedish julbord supper in the middle of the afternoon.

And then exchanged presents with each other.

Bea got this toolbox filled with real tools.

The next morning, Christmas Day, our apartment became a Lego Workshop as everyone had projects to do:

...and then we opened the presents sent from America.

Thanks folks!

Uppesittarkväll at 24D

We had a little gathering at our place for neighbors up and down our stairwell for the night before Christmas Eve. Cookies, cheeses, buns and glögg were on offer...

Jenny, Maya, and Kristina.

Fia and the visiting cockapoo Misou.

Christian and Isa.

The other Hans.

Bea, Erik and Harry playing some game.

Bea on skates again

Cookie Plate 2013

Fruitcake drops with candied citrus and dried cherries, pepparkakor, candy canes, pile-o-figs, dried apricot nut pinwheels, candied grapefruit peel, Bea's truffles, coffee crisps, toffee bars with sea salt.

Klara visits

Bea's good friend Klara visited yesterday afternoon to play, and the girls made some truffles for the holiday season.

Klara and her father Daniel were spontaneous guests to a dinner of boeuf bourguignon, with cookies and truffles for dessert.

End of the school term

Bea's school term ended yesterday (Wednesday the 18th) and they celebrated by singing for us all at Masthuggskyrkan, the big church that looms over us (and all of Göteborg, as the town's most famous example of National Romantic architecture).

Bea is perfectly obscured by a microphone in this shot, but there wasn't much we could do about it from our perspective. Each class took a turn singing a song, and the priest told a little secular tale, and there were a couple extra performances by some older kids.

Bonus picture from another parent's perspective!

Beforehand the parents gathered in the classroom to give presents to the teachers and have a little party. Hans, one of the "class pappas" made 10 liters of "risgrynsgröt", sort of a rice pudding without eggs that is served at the holidays with cinammon.

Afterwards we took care of Isa and Erik (the neighbor children) as their parents were going to the premier of the new filmatisation the "100 Year Old" book. Christian, our neighbor, was Art Director for the production, which stars some of the biggest names in Swedish cinema and had one of the highest budgets of any Swedish film this year. Will be exciting to see it!

Christmas preparations

In just over a week the holiday will be upon us! Bea attends school just three days this week. So it was high time to get a tree up for the season!

We found a nice "kungsgran" this year, something like a noble fir.

And here it is in all its splendor.

The ladies made a big batch of pepparkakor.

Which were promptly consumed by Bea.

Hans has been preparing for the Christmas tables. For the Swedish julbord here are some fried and then pickled herring, and red cabbage.