We went to Dallas for a truncated weekend. My kind brother-in-law not only lets us stay at his nice condo, he literally evacuates to let us have it all when we come down. The kids are so enthralled with urban living, the grand view over down town from the balconies, and the stores and people just below. When we were there we saw horse carriage rides every night, below on the street! Elina was in heaven. We saw the Dallas Temple (spire above) and met all the Swedes of Dallas for the annual Christmas celebration.
No pilgrimage there is complete without an IKEA stop, especially before Christmas when we have to stock up on essential Swedish Christmas food supplies. (I may add a video later of the Lucia performance). No pictures were taken. Mark had his hands full with Anja, I guess, and the rest of us were in the performance. Elina endured the entire dress rehearsal then backed out of the actual performance because she did not feel well. Sure enough, at IKEA later that evening, she threw up after I - very motherly - insisted that she take "two more bites." Elina throws up no matter what her illness is. This time it was upper respiratory.
At the IKEA cafeteria, minutes before Elina 'personalized' our area, poor thing.I am also adding some pictures of the annual Christmas photo shoot. Last year we somehow managed to get everyone facing the camera at a snapshot in the church foyer. This year blood, sweat and tears would not get my kids to cooperate much. And forget taking them to the photographer. The photographers tear their hair out before we leave and insist that every picture is "really cute", just so we will leave, even though my otherwise gorgeous kids look like caricatures of themselves. Isak and Elina did fine during my hopeful session, but Anja would have none of the posing stuff, would not be still for even a second and never mind looking in the camera. Isak and Elina came up with the idea of chasing Anja down and putting her in an upright wrestling hold. It worked better than any other thing we tried. My kids just don't get enough practice posing, I guess. Worse things could happen to kids, but I would like just one good Christmas picture one of these years. Is that too much to ask? (All I want for Christmas is a frameable family picture, or one of the kids.)
Anja, 19 months
Isak, almost 6 and a half
Elina, 4 and a half
How to make hair like this, you wonder? After bath, let dry without any brushing. Voila.
The trick to making Anja sit long enough to snap this picture: removing one of her new shoes. "Ko!" she says while putting it back on, her version of the Swedish "sko" meaning "shoe."
4 comments:
It turned out cute! I keep hoping for a good picture too. I seems like the more kids you add the wiggle multiply by 10
Elina's hair. That is NOT what my hair looks like if I let it dry naturally.
I have never been to IKEA. I want to go. Is it really as great as I hear it is?
Yes, Tiffany, IKEA is everything you've been told it is. Plan several hours of browsing. Even if you are not in the market of furniture, the household goods section alone is to die for. You should not go without at least $100 to spend on odds and ends, it will go a long way, and then you must buy Swedish chocolate. You can order a catalog on their website, but not even half the little stuff makes it into the catalog, though the majority of the furniture does. I actually have an extra 2009 catalog come to think of it. If you want, I can bring it to church, but you'll have to come find me in the nursery to get it.
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