Happy Christmas Loved Ones!

I've been thinking about what a traditional time of year we are enjoying. Some of our family favorites have been passed down through several generations. When I was in college, I did a folklore paper about my Mormor (Swedish grandma). I learned a few interesting tidbits about our family traditions.

Santa Lucia
The Celebration of lights. My family didn't even celebrate this in Sweden because it was considered very Catholic and they were Lutheran. It was only when they immigrated to the U.S. that they celebrated as a way to be more connected with the Swedish community. It has been one of our most beloved traditions so I'm glad they got over their religious differences :)

Swedish Cardamom Bread

I always thought it was 'cardamoN' so that was a shock :) My grandma made this ridiculously delicious bread but no one could seem to duplicate it. There were recipes; but none seemed to create her delicious-ness. So my mom finally insisted on making it with her and actually writing down how she did it (she followed no recipe). This bread has to rise THREE times before it's baked! Are you kidding me?! I have people ask me why I only make this at Christmas...
Now you know.

An Accidental Tradition
About four years ago, for FHE, we took the kids downtown for ice skating, dinner, and lights. We haven't missed a year since and they fully expect to do this every Christmas season exactly the same way - down to eating dinner at the Olive Garden.

Seriously love this time of year. Love all of it - the neighbor gifts, the shopping, the old movies, the million family parties, the Christmas spirit in general.
Happy Happy Christmas Everyone!

The BIG 4-0

So 20 years ago, I was really dreading not being a teen-ager any more. It really bugged me. SO, on the big day, my friends, who were really sensitive to my 'depression', gave me a card that told me how they had been watching 20/20 the night before and they saw 20 people with 20 children with 20 illnesses and 20 blah blah blah - you get the picture...

You'd think 20 years later I'd be twice as sad.

...and you'd be right ... j/k

This time around, my very YOUNG friend Whittney gave me a whole slew of gifts designed to help the elderly ease into the rest home with more comfort.
e.g. Old people need warm socks and sweaters because their circulation is going.
Old people need large print playing cards to entertain at the nursing home and be able to see what they're playing.
Old people might as well drink regular Mountain Dew because their metabolism is shot anyway so live it up.
Old people sit and do puzzles until they just die...

Seriously though, BB made the experience a big deal in a good way. We ran a half marathon a few weeks before and had a great time on the day of with a bunch of good friends and family. BB gave me surfing lessons for my 40th birthday to be taken next fall in Hawaii. So, all in all, not a bad day...

Great fun with great friends (one of which brought 40 bottles of diet coke) and NO black balloons!


Now this is friendship... she's one of the biggest byu fans I've ever met...