Well, the day approaches and we finished another project in anticipation for the little one. Thanks “Grandma” and “Grandpa” for the crib! Mir bought the rat because she knew how much I loved it. By the way, all the pillows and blankets are a bit premature for a newborn, we just wanted to make the picture look even AWESOMER!
Not much time to blog today, but I thought I would post a pic of Mir.
Since I was a kid I have wanted to go to one of these museums. I finally got my chance last month and thought I would share a few pics. Some of the figures looked pretty real…others…not so much.
This is for my fellow Minnesotans. Purple Rain is alive and well over here.
Me and Bob. Mir wonders how many people put that hat on before me….Ewwww.
It’s been a little hectic as we have been trying to show Nathaniel a good time here in Sweden. The blog has been a bit neglected lately.
Yesterday we all took a road trip to Lidköping. The weather was beautiful so we decided to picnic along the way. We stopped about an hour outside of Jönköping at the ruins of an old monestary. We sat outside and grilled hotdogs on a “one time grill.”
We spent a few minutes looking around the ruins…
Exploring the underground…Mir says I look like I am ready to fight in this pic…well…It was REALLY dark in there!
Then we were on our way to the castle in Läckö.
The castle has 250 rooms but we only were allowed to see maybe 10 of them on our tour.They were pretty restrictive when it came to cameras.
Nathanael loves his guns.
I have never been the type to be overwhelmed by flowers, but I must say I was impressed in Holland. It is beautiful in the spring! Apparently, the farmers in Holland grow tulips in the fields, then harvest the bulbs after they bloom.
My co-worker and I took over 500 pictures. Every time we turned around, there was another amazing display of flowers! It was stunning!
We just realized that I can really take advantage of the pregnancy just by making some adjustments to how I phrase things.
Just because you are not hungry right now, are you really going to make your ENTIRE family go out into the kitchen and cook?
Are you going to make your ENTIRE family go and get juice at the store?
Are you really going to watch this show when your ENTIRE family wants to watch something else?
Are you going to hog that blanket and let your ENTIRE family be without?
Are you going to eat all that when your ENTIRE family has to share this?
The possiblity are endless and we were laughing a lot while making up different scenarios. I think I will really use this from time to time!
I am beginning to realize that my wife is pregnant! We spent last Saturday looking for “the perfect stroller.” This is not an easy task. There is a huge assortment of strollers with many different features. It kinda reminded me of buying car. Mirjam has been pouring over consumer reports and we have amassed a pretty impressive stack of brochures.
Dispite Mir’s happy face, we left this store pretty disappointed.
Well, I kinda liked the purple one with the umbrella.
Later that day, we bought some maternity clothes for Mir. Here she is showing off her tummy…
Well, It is that time of the year again…April 15th is the IRS deadline for all of you procrastinators out there. Mir and I are fortunate enough to have the honor of filing BOTH in the USA and in Sweden! Fun!
Actually, we file our USA taxes online. It only took about an hour this year. Plus, It gives me an excuse to call my dad and chat with him. He is somewhat of a tax guru.
I declared via text message here in Sweden. It only took 2 minutes! That was definitely more my style!
We have a great outdoor market which is about a 7 minute walk from our apartment. It is one of the few places in Jönköping that you can get a fresh, greasy, American style doughnut. You can find some really cool stuff …and some strange stuff too. This week Mir and I spotted a stand that was selling t-shirts with running horses on them. (Think Napoleon Dynamite)
As we left the market Mir pointed out a couple of old men leaving the market. One guy had some chocolates, flowers and a pear. The other guy had a pear and a toilet plunger. They just looked funny sitting together in the clear plastic sack….so I snuck up and took a pic of them.
Just make sure it’s really a statue!
A few months ago my uncle came through Sweden for a week. His job sends him all over the world…usually into hostile situations…(who am I kidding, Sweden can be pretty hostile in November-December.) It gets pretty cold and dark here.
I snapped this picture because my uncle told me a funny story about it. He was staying in the old part of Stockholm and noticed this statue of an old woman nearby the bus stop that he used to go to work. Every time he went by it, someone was leaning on it, laying hands on it, and on a few occasions, giving it a full body hug! He finally went over for a closer inspection and discovered that it was REALLY warm! We were not sure how this was accomplished, possibly electricity or warm water running through it.