Birthday number 35

For those of you who didn't know, yesterday was Andreas's 35th birthday. I wish I had pictures, but my batteries were dead on the camera. We had a quite birthday cookout with Twain and Jennie Weaver and their kids. Andreas is not big on his birthday, so he likes it quite. We will also have a grand seafood dinner next week when we go to the ocean house (that's what he really wants for his birthday). Thank you all the sent birthday wishes through facebook.

Also, just wanted everyone to know that we have not had any news on the adoption. We are waiting, waiting, waiting... like everyone else. It is not so bad for me right now because I don't expect any news till at least the end of this year. I am enjoying my patience and calm about it right now because I know there will come a time that I am not so calm and very impatient. It is amazing how much easier the second adoption is. Maybe because I have Sam to keep me occupied (which he does really well), or maybe it is because I have learned my lesson to trust God completely (I really want it to be this one), most likely a combination of both. Whatever it is I am thankful to God and look forward to meeting the child that he is preparing for this family.

Blessings,

Laurie

The Summer of the Moose

I can not tell you how many moose we have seen this summer. We lost count at around twelve. They literally pop out of no where. You have to be really careful driving around here, especially at dusk. Although we have seen many moose during the day also. I don't know if there is more of them or they are just getting bolder. Today we spent some time on Tinnsjon with the canoe and had a wonderful time. On the gravel roads that lead out of the lake we came upon the moose you see below and her calf. They were both in the middle of the road. The calf was not to fond of the car and ran back into the woods, but the momma moose didn't seem to care. She got within 25 feet of the car, just eating away. So we stopped, turned off the car, and waited for her to move. We got some really cool pictures and Sam got to see a moose up close. They are funny creatures but none to nice if provoked, so we are careful.

Tim and Cathy Bickert, we always think of you when we see these things. Hope you can join us someday for another close encounter.

Blessings,
laurie

Independence Day

While Samuel was spending time with his grandparents we came back to Alingsas to enjoy a 4th of July party with friends. Rebecca and Jonas Ryberg had a great backyard party. You would even think we were in the States for all the memorabilia that was there. We had a great time. If anyone needs a party organized Rebecca is your girl (she is truly amazing). I haven't been able to get pictures from other people yet, but I will try to do so soon. I think they are on Facebook though. Below, you can check out the cool tattoo I got at the party (don't worry mom it's fake). I hope everyone had a great 4th of July, it was fun to actually get to celebrate here in Sweden. Thank you Rebecca and Jonas for sharing your home and food with all of us.

Blessings,
laurie

Fun At Grebbestad

On July 2nd we made our way up to Grebbestad (otherwise known as the ocean house). Mom and dad spend their summers up there, who can blame them! This wonderful home was passed down from Andreas's grandparents to mom and her brother. They have made it into two nice homes and everyone gets a chance to enjoy it. We only stayed for a day but we left Samuel with them for 4 extra days. It is a good time for them to be with Sam and for Andreas and I to get some alone time.

It was gorgeous weather so the night we got there we went out with the boat and swam and then the next day we all went out to one of the islands to spend the day. It was warm and wonderful. We saw a seal (sorry, no picture), swam in the ocean (it was actually about 70F), and ate. Thanks mom and dad for the great time.

Maybe this great picture of mom will make up for the floral dress one in the retirement post.

Sam and Andreas getting messy eating crab legs. Ohhhhh, soooooo good.

Trying to create shade for the dog, he had a great time.

Sunset (or the closest thing you get to sunset in the Swedish summer)

Retirement

Andreas's Dad is officially retired. There have been many jokes leading up to this time, but after working for the city of Gothenburg as a child psychologist for 40 years (wow), he is a pensionare (Swedish for retiree). We were thrilled to see that his work really celebrated him and gave thanks for all he has done. You are incredible and incredibly patient dad, I am sure your work will miss you but we are thankful to be able to spend more time with you. Now you can psychoanalize Samuel, please don't do it to me though! It will be strange for him now, but he started his new found freedom with 5 weeks of vacation at his ocean house, so I think he will make it.

After Maciej wedding (the next post on the blog) we went into Gothenburg to celebrate dad. He asked mom to wear the lovely floral, 1980's dress. I guess it was a favorite of his. I am sure mom will hurt me for putting it on the blog, but it is all done in love (please remember that mom).

Sam told me that now Farfar doesn't have to work he can spend more time with Samuel. So Farfar your new job will be to run after your two grandsons, enjoy!!!

Andreas's First Wedding... As the Pastor

At the end of June, Andreas was asked by a good friend to be the Pastor at his wedding. Some of you may remember Maciej when he visited us in Wilmore, in 2003. He married Isabelle on June 26th. It was a sweet wedding. I was proud of how Andreas really prepared himself and talked with the couple. It was cool to see him in that role and to know how seriously he takes being married and how Biblical it is.

I was given an opportunity to add something to the wedding also. I did the bridal bouquet and the grooms bout. It was fun to do that again. It had been a while. But it all turned out well. At least I think it did. Our friend Jennie Weaver even did the decoration for the cake at their wedding (pictured below), it was beautiful. We'll send more business your way Jennie.

So congrats to Maceij and Isabelle. We were excited to share this day with you and will be praying for strength in your marriage and belief in the One that created it.

It was a warm day and the wedding was by a lake, so of course Sam needed to get in. I love that he was walking through all the reeds. It made for some cool pics.
Her "maid"of honor was a guy, which I love because I have been a "best man".

The gorgeous couple

The bride and her bouquet.

Warmth Is A Wonderful Thing!

It is always wonderful when warmer days come to Sweden. This is a glimse of what we will be doing during our vacation and our stay at our summer home. In June it got wonderfully warm, although most Swedes thought it was too warm. However, it makes the lakes and ocean swimmable and really nice. The pictures below are of our son and dog enjoying a absolutely gorgeous Swedish summer evening. We took a portable grill, some food, our swim suits and had a good family outing at "our lake", Tinnsjon. Praise the Lord for these times to lighten the heart and enjoy his creation.

A boy and his dog, what could be better?

You would think that Samuel never had his picture taken, here he posed and asked me to take the picture. Hey, it's a good catalog of his life.

June Play Dates

At the end of May Samuel's preschool ends. That means he has no regular play times with friends. That is something that this little boy needs. Simulation is a must to get all his energy out. So every Monday in June we made play dates with Asa, Naomi, and Nikhil. This was a great time for Asa and I to talk and the kids to play (thanks Asa for the sanity checks). Naomi and Samuel are almost inseperatable. They are very cute together and we have a standing joke that Naomi's father will need to get a gun very soon. However, I may need to do the talking with Naomi, she is quite forceful in the fact that she wants to be with Samuel. It is all pretty cute and very innocent. There are many times that you can catch these two hugging each other or playing "house". I have to that Naomi is a beautiful little girl and she will be stunning as she gets older. I think all boys will swoon soon enough.

The last time we all met together Samuel told Kunal (Naomi's dad), that he was a big old dinosaur and Samuel and Naomi were going to run from him while Samuel saved Naomi. The look on Kunal's face was pretty funny.

Samuel and Naomi holding hands.


Nikhil is Naomi's older brother. Samuel is sandwhiched between Naomi and Nikhil in age. I think he has to fight to play with them sometimes, but Samuel really enjoys being with him also. Usually the fights end up being between Naomi and Nikhil because they both want Sam's attention. Don't worry, he has enough energy to go around. I love this picture of the two boys below.

Samuel is my little monkey.

Nikhil is just hangin out.

Samuel thought hanging from the ropes and then falling was loads of fun. He must of done it 20 times. What a thrill seeker!

Backlog to June, Happy Birthday Johan and Emma

June rolls around so quickly and it seems that everything gears up, just to gear down. On June 13th Emma (sister in law) had her 30th birthday and then on the 17th Johan (brother in law) had his 32nd birthday. Congrats to both of you thank you for a wonderful party.

I always remember Johan's birthday because it was the day after we got married. So on June 16th we also celebrated our 12th anniversary. Hardly seems possible that it has been that long, but it's very cool.

The pictures below are from Emma and Johan's birthday.

Cousin Frida (and Per in the background) with their youngest, Selma. Selma is so far the only girl among the cousins. Don't worry Selma, we are trying to get you a playmate!

Hannes, Samuel and Viktor (the 3boy cousins that will eventually torture Selma) The most fun at the party was when the soccer balls came out and the "little boys" were doing their best to keep the balls away from the "big boys" (yes, I mean you Johan )

Birthday Man, Johan. Happy 32nd Johan, you're getting old man.

Birthday Woman, Emma. Happy 30th, I hope you enjoy being 30, I thought it was great.

Son of the Birthday man and woman, Viktor. He got to enjoy the spoils that his parents received. June will always be a good month for him too.

VACATION....FINALLY

Well, we have finally come to vacation for my husband. Here in Sweden he is entitled to at least 4 weeks of vacation. Yes, all of you Americans that are reading this are jealous, I know. We have now moved out the our house in the woods. It is unusually warm here, which to most people is not that warm, but to Swedes, they are dying. We are having fun swimming in the lakes, and being outside. It stays light until after 11:00 pm so we are able to enjoy being outside for a long time.

On the other hand we highly suspect that Samuel has a grass allergy. The poor little guy has been miserable. He will be tested on August 20th for all of his allergies. We take him to water a lot to help get out of some of the grass areas.

For now we will just enjoy being a family. The post will not come very often, but I will try my best. I hope that all of you are well, would love to hear from you.

God Bless,

laurie

Bible Study

One of the things that I have been greatful for is my English Bible Study. It has given me fellowship and discipline. It has also allowed me to get to know many amazing and Godly ladies. I am thankful for all of them. Most of these ladies only stay a couple of years, but some are indefinite like myself. They are here for work with Volvo, Saab, Astra Zenica, Husqvarna, Coclear, missionary work, and so on.... We had a good gathering the other day to say goodbye to one of these wonderful ladies, Trudy Cranney. Trudy has used her time in Sweden to serve at Fisher's Creek International Church in many capacities. One of those was to facilitate the Bible Study and incourage more woment to join and serve. Thank you Trudy for letting God use you so we could be blessed. Trudy is moving with her husband and her twin sons (and two cats) to Argentina. There her husband will be the CFO and Vice President of Ford and she will be the wonderful mom that she is and looking for new ways to serve Jesus in a new culture. She has spent more than four years total here in Sweden. Trudy, we will be praying for your transition, your ministry and your family. We will miss you greatly.

This goodbye is just one of many that I have already been a part of in the short time of living here. There are many more to come, but I will enjoy the fellowship of these women while God has brought them into my life. You are all a blessing, Thank you.

Samuel and Toby, just goofing off.

Many, but not all the women.

The Friggebod, Part I

You all may be asking, "what is a friggebod?". Well, it is a little house about the size of a good walk in closet in the States. Our friends, Jennie and Twain Weaver, were getting rid of theirs in order to build a bigger one for guest and such. So they kindly sold it to us for a very cheap price. All we had to do was find someone who would move it (for a price that wouldn't break the bank), prepare the ground at our house for it, and prepare the friggebod for moving. Doesn't seem so hard? Well, it was harder than we thought, but it worked, join me as the saga unfolds... It now sits at Ott's (our house in the woods) and we are making it into a writing house for Andreas. He has always wanted to write a book, or books... now he will have a quite comfortable spot to do just that. It also has a soffa that pulls out to a bed, so now we can have quests. Anyone want to come and try it out?


The kids thought this was great fun.

The truck and the man that would do the job.

The Friggebod, Part II

This is the Friggebod sitting at Jennie and Twain's house. We had taken the roof tiles off and actually cut the overhang off so that we didn't have to get a special permit to move it. This was the time of prayers. We didn't know if the house would hold together when it was picked up and it had to go over several bushes and a workshop/barn. The crane truck driver was really amazing. As you will notice in later pictures, the friggebod is two different colors. Two sides are black and two are red. Jennie and Twain wanted the black, but only two sides wher showing, so they painted those sides. The funny thing is that now it will all be red again to match our house in the woods.

This is the truck that moved it.

Althought the kids wanted to be a part of the action, they had to stay on the porch. We were all nervous enough without having to watch kids running around with heavy machinery and a house in the air. They had a lot of fun though. The workshop you see behind them is the one the friggebod had to go over. Twain was praying that it didn't drop on it.

The moment of truth!

It made it over all it need to in one piece. The next step was to move it to our house. The video is pretty cool, but too long to put up here.

The Friggebod, Part III

The Crane truck coming down our driveway at the house in the woods (Otherwise known as Otto's)

Here was the tricky part. If you look closely you can see how low the electrical wires are and the crane had to get the friggebod under that.

The friggebod sitting on it final resting spot. The crane man was amazing.

Samuel wanted his picture with the crane truck man. I think this man might be Samuel's new hero. Samuel said he wants to grow up to drive one of those trucks.

The truck driver and my guys.

Pictures are Multiplying

I have found more pictures that I didn't put up here. So now I am back in May. I believe this was May 17th. Mor Far (Andreas's grandfather on his mother's side) had his eighty fifth birthday. So we all come to celebrate. Samuel absolutely loves getting together with the cousins. We also tried to take some family pictures and you can tell below how that turned out. All in all we had a good time though.

Viktor was done by the time that we tried to take these pictures.
This is Mor Mor and Mor Far in a candid moment. You don't often see this so I was really glad to get it on film. I love this picture. This is a love that started before World War II and has lasted and will last their whole lifetime. What a blessing from God to have grandparents that show how a marriage relationship should be.

Elizabeth (Andreas's cousin) played with the kids to keep them occupied. Thank you Elizabeth.

I think Viktor is just one of the cutest kids. Samuel loves his cousin very much.

And here you have it. The Kjernald Family portrait. So fitting for us. This one should definitely be blown up and framed. We make our parents proud!