December 24, 2010

Christmas eve was a beautiful day with sparkling sunshine, and about -20C (-4F). Before lunch we took Ebba on a walk on the nearby golf course. So stunning!



(Kit: Flergs and Eva Kipler, Peace on Earth; Template: DigiDesigns by Denise, Template 12)

Some of the pictures and highlights from Christmas Eve.

December 23, 2010

We worked until noon, and then we got in the car and drove north to my family. First we visited my brother, his wife and their lovely little baby daughter. Then we continued to my parents, were we will be celebrating Christmas Eve.

Here is a cute little decoration that my mother had on the living room table.

December 22, 2010

Here is the result of the re-made raspberry caramel. The first one, that was cooked too long, were more brown in the color, and really hard. I brought it to work with a warning to watch the teeth while eating it. Apparently it was nothing wrong with the taste. (But I know this one is even more delicious =)



We decorated some today too. Dressed up the Christmas tree and put up some Santas here and there. Even with the ridiculously busy time at work right now, I begin to feel Christmas is actually on its way.

December 21, 2010

More Christmas cooking tonight. Lastly we mixed up some mulled wine, Glögg in Swedish. I had prepared tags for the bottles, with the year on them as we plan to store two bottles for next year.

December 20, 2010

This evening we started preparing food and candy for Christmas. Unfortunately the Christmas ham got a little over cooked, and also the raspberry caramel. But Daniels pickled citrus herring (the picture above) looked nice as always, and the fish- and shellfish pate smelled delicious. Tomorrow we'll give the caramel another try, and continue with the ribs.

December 19, 2010

We drove home from Stockholm today in very snowy weather. Everything went fine, although it was a little hard to drive when the road are all snowy. When we got home we picked up Ebba that had stayed with Linus mother during the weekend. After her walk she fell asleep in "her" sofa, where she loves to relax.

December 18, 2010

Sorry that the quality of the photo isn't better, but it is captured with my SonyEricsson Xperia X8 cell phone camera.

A friend of ours has just moved in to a new apartment, and invited a lots of friends to his housewarming party. He lives close to Stockholm, and on the other side from where we live, but we decided to go anyway. It was a really fun party! We got these little snacks before dinner, and it was a little funny that he has Swedish flags in them, as he is from Finland from the beginning. We teased him a little, but of course there aren't many such sticks with Finish flags to find here in Sweden.

December 17, 2010

I got this candle holder from my parents earlier this year as a gift. I thought it was comforting and reasuring in some way and it has been placed in a window in the livingroom ever since. When Zoey passed away in October, I lit a candle in this holder, reminding us all of Zoey. This has become Zoey's light.

December 16, 2010

The office where I work arranged a Christmas party, and it was located not far from where Daniel and I live. The people at my department met up at our home before heading for the party. It was a fun night, and Ebba were thrilled to have so many visitors at once.

December 15, 2010

Yesterday we went Christmas shopping, and today it was time to wrap the gifts. There will be some more, but I was happy to have begun.

December 14, 2010

Right after work we went home and took Ebba on her walk (-9C/16F), and then headed for the mall to do Christmas shopping. We actually was quite successful, but afterwards we were tired and cold and our feet hurt. To cheer us up we made ourselves a warming set of Irish coffee.

December 13, 2010

Today we celebrate the memory of the Saint Lucia in Sweden. Everywhere children dress up and sing Christmas carols for the parents at kindergarden and schools. It is actually a lovely start of the day.



Here is our Santas little helper!

December 12, 2010

12 days to Christmas. I thought I'd give this another try, at least with 12 photos counting down to Christmas. Hope you are all having a good time, and are looking forward to the holidays!



Today I have baked lussebullar (saffron buns). They turned out quite nice, and our home got a lovely smell of Christmas.