First, I want to thank you all for your kind words and thoughts about Moa. It’s a tough loss to take, but there is comfort in knowing that we were able to send her on her way in peace instead of in pain. Today is a day that the four younger kids have been anticipating… Read More Onward and upward

I thought I could write this post without crying, but it looks like I was wrong. Yesterday we had to say goodbye to our beautiful, fluffy girl. Two weeks ago, when this picture was taken, I would never have imagined that we’d lose her so soon. The past several days, however, saw her losing weight… Read More Moa

Twenty-three years and a couple of weeks ago, I had what I thought was a chance encounter but instead turned out to be one of the most significant meetings of my life. I was seventeen years old, and on a trip to the “big city” of Lewiston, Idaho, my high school boyfriend and I met… Read More What’s all the buzz?

Last summer Petra started playing soccer on a team organized by our local sports organization. For the first year it was mostly just play, a chance for the girls to learn about the game and to get a feel for what to do on the field. They played some scrimmages within the group, but it… Read More Game day

Olof and I got home from Umeå Sunday evening, and it feels like it’s been go, go, go since. Good thing we had a little break. Our time away was nice, if oh, so brief. We ate at not one, but two Indian restaurants — one of my very favorites and something that is sorely… Read More Report

We’re all packing up our bags here — the kids are off to Farmor’s and Olof and I are heading south to Umeå for a kid-free overnight. Last time we had one of those was nearly three years ago, when I was expecting Yrsa, so I’d say we’re a bit overdue.

Snippets from the week gone by: Yrsa speaks mostly clearly, especially considering that she’s not yet two-and-a-half. She doesn’t quite hit the mark on some words, however. For instance, “fork and knife” sounds very much like something less innocuous (try saying it under your breath a few times quickly, and I’m sure it’ll become clear).… Read More Comedians, the lot of them

We went to Biltema today, where the girls were quite taken with this guy, whom Brynja aptly called a “character.”

Watching a little baseball and packing up my suitcase in preparation for my trip to Uppsala later this afternoon. I’m really looking forward to this workshop, even though it’ll mean a couple of long days. That first sentence made me think of a weird thing in Swedish — to do something “up” means to un-do… Read More Musing

Last weekend Olof, the four youngest kids, and I drove up to to Sorsele, a little town about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of here. Olof’s sister and her family live up there, but it was the first time we’d visited since they made the move. It’s up in the mountains (not the kind of… Read More Checking in