tivoli with the tidholms!

when two of our favorite people come to town it is time to drop everything and have some fun!  that´s right auntie zita and uncle fredrik came to brighten up the holiday season!

we headed off to tivoli i copenhagen with them.  rita found all kinds of christmas decorations!

it was chilly but beautiful!  fun to have a little holiday cheer!

gingerbread and fotoshoots...

it is beginning to look a lot like christmas...  and smell like it too. thomas and the girls made some yummy pepperkakkor the other day.  they are so funny when they bake.  but as usually it was a load of fun.

 then i did a quick fotoshoot with the girls a couple of weeks ago for our christmas cards.  they were so silly, and really were hamming it up.  but we managed to get a few cute pics.  the dogs even got in the christmas spirit!

thomas cheats!

so the company christmas party involved curling this year.  never tried it before.  it was pretty fun. but i am not a sports person.  thomas had his own technique.  not sure you are supposed to send two at a time..

a visit from the lovely danes

our dear friend christina came for a visit.  she is always a great hit with the girls, and she brought along the adorable mie, better known as rebecca.  there was all kinds of fun.  the snow sledding...

 the poo game on the ipad...

 and the christmas market...

it is probably a good thing we do not have pictures of us playing wii, but we all had a great time.  zoe is always so sad to see christina go.  she is already planning her next visit!

första advent

 so it is december, it is dark and cold, but the warmth comes from all the mysig christmas preparations. while in paris thomas and i picked up some super yummy cheeses, and some meat (not so yummy for me).  so we had a great första advent dinner.

 then we set up and decorated the tree.  one of our favorite things.  perhaps one of the few good things about being home in the winter time.

happy christmas! india style

santa claus came to goa!  we woke up this morning with eijla bouncing a ball on our heads.  our ikea shopping bags worked great as stockings, and old saint nick did not miss a beat.  there were pens and stamps, and stickers, and of course the balls.  oooh!

 the booty!

 then it was another fun afternoon at the beach.

 with ice cream of course, cuz as zoe says it is christmas and that means an extra special day with extra special belöningar!

 and then a tasty dinner on the beach and flowers in our hair.  merry christmas and happy holidays to all!

randomness for the mellendagarna....

zoe was happy for christmas day, as she woke up and found that the american santa claus had been here last night and filled her stocking with glittery things and even left her a purple sparkcykel! but best of all it meant she got to wear another princess dress! as we headed down to spend the evening with our extended swedish family.
speaking of princesses, i was treated like one for my birthday, including breakfast in bed!
eijla has started sleeping in her own bed, but it only seems to work at night, not for nap time...
her second ever ponytail. what a cutie if i do not say so myself.
and we finally sold the tyringe house. but to avoid paying too much in taxes, we went through all our reciepts for the last 8 years, and organized and added them up. doesn't it look like i am super organized?
and tonight we are off to furulund for some frolic and new years fest.

christmas eve in röke

after a lovely lilla jul afton with the österströms, our happy little tomte enjoyed her breakfast in anticipation of what lay ahead for the day...
there was delicious food and drink. even some song, but thankfully no dance...
and our little tomte just continued eating...
then a big orange tomte came for a visit, bringing lots of presents. yeah! but eijla thought he was just a touch on the scary side...
after the good eats and presents, there was wii. farmor and farfar battled it out swordfighting...
there was wii bowling until the wee hours. and the morning after there was farfar snuggles...
tack för en jätte mysig julafton farmor och farfar!

christmas candies! yum!

we had the pleasure of having the österström girls over to make all kinds of yummy christmas treats. there was english toffee (my favorite), peanut brittle, ischoklad, and all kinds of yummy combinations of almondmassa, maricipan, and nuget! yum, yum, and more yum!
even made all the girls names in mandelmassa...
thanks for a lovely weekend girls. always a pleasure, screaming kids or not!

time for some christmas lights!

farmor and farfar came up for första advent and helped us decorate for christmas.


twas a great time, but i managed to catch the guilty parties in action, repeatedly!
ever wonder why the kids love the grandparents so much? it is definitely all the sweets they give them!

pure bribery!

the two days of christmas...

being as we are a culturally blended family, we celebrated both the swedish and american christmases this year. started off on the 24th. in the morning we made candy and then it was time to begin feasting, the table is set...
after a couple of courses it was time for tomten (santa) to come and and deliver the christmas presents. i think he about overheated in his thick jacket there were soooo many presents to give out. though most of course were zoe´s, and she was a big help to tomten.
i cannot believe how hard it is to fool a three year old, she said it was a farfar tomten directly when he came in, even though farfar had gone to buy a newspaper and wasn´t there. in the end she comprised and agreed, " okay, but that tomten was farfar before!". anyway, he still got a big hug after handing out all the julklapper.
then there was a wild frenzy of paper and toys, and soon it was time to try out all the shiny new things. the fairy wings from bonita and tutus from the jameson jungle were big hits.
but not even pappa could wait for zoe to try out her new four wheeler. they were out in the snow as soon as he had it assembled. i think they both had a blast.
and then it was time for yet another feast. i think we were on about the fifth or sixth course of the day in this photo.
then on the second day of christmas, we had a visit from the cousins, and even more christmas presents...
emma looked lovely with a tutu on her head.
and the big hit of the day were sparkling wands for the little girls. they ran around with them until zoe started trying to poke a dog´s eye out with it.
and since mormor was not here to get a big thank you hug, zoe just wanted to say thanks for the easel, she loves it, though at the moment it is more interesting to write on the wood than the white or black boards!
hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and those friends and family that live so far away, we miss you and wish you the best in the new year!