Jopikgården

A few weekends ago we went for a drive on the ice to one of the islands outside Luleå that has a cafe/restaurant.

The ice road is about 25 lanes wide...

On the island... Some people get there by snow mobile...

Mormor also came with us and we met up with Zara and the family on the island.

Happy Birthday Felicia!

Vill bara säga Grattis på födelsedagen Felicia!! hoppas du har haft en jättefin dag och att vi ses till sommaren. Jakob och vi andra längtar efter dig!
Kram Anna, Adam, Jakob och Isak

Saturday night

Adam has a boys afternoon/night tonight and I decided to have a quiet night at home. I asked mum to come over for dinner and some company.

When I wasn't in the living room Isak had climbed up on the couch and was sitting next to Jakob watching tv. It just looked so cute and just shows how much he wants to be like his big brother. When Jakob laughs Isak laughs, when Jakob shakes his head Isak does too etc etc.

Last night Jakob slept at his friend Finn's place and it went well. They had a great time and played really well. Finn fell asleep at 7.30 and it took Jakob until 9 before he finally went to sleep. Zara read him hundreds of books so he probably thought he was in heaven. After such a late night you would have thought that he slept in this morning but no, he woke poor Zara up at 5. The good thing is that he feels 100% comfortable at their place and with them and not once he mentioned mummy and daddy or was upset. He was extremly tired tonight after such a big start of the weekend. For the first time ever I think he said he wanted to go to bed before Isak and hit the pillow around 6.40 and was asleep only a couple of minutes later after telling his teddy that he is now back at home and will sleep with teddy all night.

A day in the sun!

I had decided that I was going to spend the day outside today. After not seeing the sun from work all week I really needed some time outside! the sun was luckily shinging this morning and it was quite warm so we packed a bag with hot chocolate, sandwhiches and sausague and headed in to the city to watch the snow ball fight competition on the ice. What we didn't realise when we left was how windy it was. After meeting up with Zara, Micke, Finn, Lykke and Jakob (yes, he came with them since he stayed at their place last night) in the city and spending about 15 min on the ice we had give up the idea of staying there and went to our place for a bbq at the back of our house. Very successful day in the end with lots of time in the sun!

Isak 13 months

Isak is now 13 months old. He is still not walking but he is learning to climb a lot more.

Tired boy

Isak sleeps once a day between 1-3 hours and 11-12 hours a night. He loves his white wrap that he sleeps with, just like Jakob did. When he gets tired during the day he crawls around looking for something that looks like his wrap. In the photo he has found a tea towel that he is trying to go to sleep with on the floor. He is still a baby that likes sleeping but in the last week he has started waking up earlier and earlier in the morning...

Winter

This is how beautiful winter can be up here in the north of Sweden. And it is just our backyard. The photo was taken through the window because it was -25 degrees outside.

Busy life!

Life has been pretty busy after we got back from our trip. I started working straight away and have worked long days and every weekend. It is really fun to be back working but I don't think I would work quite as much if I didn't know I was having time off soon again. I will work full time in March, 3 days a week in April and have May, June, July and half of August off.

Adam is doing great being home with the children. The house is tidy and dinner is ready most days when I come home. On top of that he is doing some renovations in the house. He is doing it much better than I was. Mum is helping a lot too, what would we do if we didn't have her? she had both boys yesterday for most of the day and it went really well (Isak slept for 3 hours, he never does that at home anymore but always at mormors). The photo is from yesterday just after mormor gave them a bath.

Isak is growing and showing more and more of his personality. He is still not walking but crawling very fast and standing by himself with no problem. He loves food and goes crazy as soon as someone eats in front of him.

Jakob is having a sleep over at a friends place on Friday for the first time. Maybe. He is really keen and talks a lot about it but you never know if he will change his mind when the time is in. I hope it goes well, at least I know that he will be well looked after, Zara and Micke are planning a fun evening for Finn and Jakob. And Lykke.

Tonight Adam is out for a drink with some English speaking guys. I mean English is their first language. I am home with a bag of lollies and the computer. Nice with a quiet night at home :-)

Dad's funeral

Dad's funeral was held in Luleå about a month ago, the day after we arrived from Australia. The ceremony in the church was of course very emotional but also nice. We had organised a soloist who sang the Swedish song Stad i ljus and Somewhere over the rainbow so from now on I will always think of dad when I hear those songs.

Jakob and Moa did really well at the funeral. To me it is important that Jakob and Isak are involved in everything in our lives and I will always try and be as honest as I can to them. Even if it is tough at times and a part of me just want them to not know about any scary thing in the world. The thing is though that I think death can be more scary if you don't talk openly to them about it. Jakob asks about morfar sometimes. He asks where he is and if he is still in heaven. He asks if I know when he is going to die and when mummy and daddy are going to die. He doesn't get sad and it doesn't seem to worry him. I am sure we will have many more talks like that when he gets older and I am sure there will be times when it will make him upset. But at the moment he just seems curious about it and tries to understand.

One little flower for each one of the four grandchildren to put on the coffin.

Winter!

This is what we came back to after 3 months in the sun. Cold air and lots of snow!

Going home...

The trip home was long but went really well. Jakob is getting used to flying and it is just getting easier and easier to travel with him. Isak was more active on the way home than on the way over but we stuck to our plan to let the kids play as much as they wanted at the airports, and sleep as much as possible on the planes.

A group of young students got absolutley crazy when they saw Isak in this trolley. The just couldn't stop touching him, talking to him and taking photos of him.

At the airport in Stockholm we couldn't stop Isak from falling asleep. He was exhausted. The second night after we got home he slept for 16 hours!! from 6.45 in the evening until 10.45 the next day. Jakob didn't handle the jetlag as well as Isak and woke up around 4 in the morning and wanted to play for over a week.

Leaving Australia

After 3 months of travelling we went to the airport for a long journey back to Sweden and our house.

Buffet lunch!

Lunch one afternoon with Adam's family, his grandmother, aunt and her husband and Adam's cousin. The place we went to had the most amazing dessert buffet I have ever seen. Dougnut machine, ice cream machine, chocolate mousse, pavlova and about 20 different cakes and other sweets.

Julie, Ben and Isak

Ben and Julie cuddling with Isak. In April we will find out if the baby in Julie's belly is a boy or a girl...

Annette and Lukas

Annette lived just around the corner from us when we lived in Glenelg North. It was nice to see her and her little Lukas again.

Work

This is where I worked after I graduated as an engineer. The company was called Schefenacker when I started, changed name to Visiocorp after a few years and is now SMR. They make mainly car mirrors but also door handles and a few non automotive products. I really liked working there and it was fun to see the place and all changes again and to meet some of the people I worked with. I also went out for drinks one night with my old boss and some other work collegues.

Dave and Fiona

Dave and Fiona came up to Gawler one day together with their Samuel who is only 9 days younger than Isak. He is so cute.

A day in the city!

When Adam and his dad had a day playing golf and drinking beer with friends Jane and I took the train from Gawler in to the city. Jakob was very excited about the train ride...

It was a 40 degrees day so Jane took Isak shopping while Jakob and I had some quality time together by the river in Adelaide. We had a picnic and kicked a ball and took a walk to the library.

Later on Caroline and Oscar came to see us together with Carolines sister Jeanette who was here visiting from Germany. We had a drink at one of my favourite cafes in Adelaide, right by the river.

Isak and grandma.

Gorge Wildlife Park!

One of my favourite places in Adelaide is Gorge Wildlife Park. I don't really like zoos and the way animals are kept in cages but I can't help liking to watch the animals and see Jakob getting so excited. This place is a small family owende park up in the hills and just the drive to get there makes it worth going, it is just beautiful.
Jakob and I cuddling a coala.


Feeding the kangaroos is just so much fun.

When we were about to leave we happened to walk past a few kids holding snakes and Jakob got to pat them.

Pizza

One day we were invited to Adam's parents friends that also live in Gawler. They had a real pizza oven and we made the best pizza!!

Trip to the hills!

Our friend Caroline and her family used to live in Glenelg but bought a house up in the hills after we moved to Sweden. Adam and I and the kids spent an afternoon up there one day and we had dinner together. Isak and Carl got to meet for the first time...

And Jakob and Oscar saw each other again after 2 years apart.

Lynda

Adam and I saw our friend Lynda a few times during our stay in Adelaide. She came up to Gawler and we also had dinner at her place on the beach. The view from her apartment is just amazing...

Jakob and Erik

When working with the Swedish club in Adelaide I got to know Yvonne. She was born in Australia but has Swedish parents, she looks very Swedish and speaks great Swedish. We were pregnant at the same time and had our boys with only a few weeks apart. She also had a second boy not long before I had Isak. It was great to see them again and Jakob had lots of fun playing with Erik and his cars.