Christmas Eve
Posted by Guano & Associates | Posted in | Posted on 8:06 PM
We had a great Christmas Eve this year. We slept in a little bit, got up and made the house ready. About 2pm, we drove to the house of some friends, the Wirtala's in Piteå, for dinner. They were very kind in inviting us to share their Christmas dinner with their family. We had a great time, ate too much and even watched the Disney Christmas cartoons on TV (the famous Donald Duck cartoon that they have shown every year for some 30 years?).
Dinner was a traditional smörgåsbord. Johan told us that in his family, they always ate fish first on one plate and then came back for the rest with a second pass. However, in Victoria's family, they put it all on one plate, and in much the same as our family, some traditions go with Mom and others with Dad. The meal was an extravagant affair with ham, sausages, köttbullar, pickled herring with onions and mustard, deviled eggs with caviar, and on and on and on... All of it was great; I was a bit worried about the caviar since it has never been my favorite but I loved it. And Kathy was worried about the pickled herring, but we both agreed it was the best we'd ever had.
After dishes and cleaning up, the Tomten came to the house. His glasses were thick and his clothes were heavy, so his glasses fogged up and he had a tough time reading the words on the presents. The youngest boy in the house, Lias, received a lot of presents from Tomten and every time he gave one away, the Finnish sounding man would say, "God Jul Lias". He seemed to have a tough time pronouncing people's names and once a member of the family told Tomten in English that his voice was familiar, it dropped a couple of octaves for the rest of the night.
He had gifts for everyone, including a gift for Matt with a cryptic message that implied something about wearing things in the sauna. It was packaged in a box marked Speedo, but thankfully, it was a piece of smoked reindeer meat. At one point, Tomten spoke in English to Kylie and Daniel about how dirty their chimney was in the U.S. and that he had seen them before. Definitely a night to remember!
The house before we left for Piteå.
A real tree this year!
2 o'clock sunset!
Dan, Kylie and Mandy, hoping to make a good impression on Santa at the last minute.
Daniel trying on Jonathan's new hat.
Watching the Donald Duck cartoon before Tomten arrives
Joseph, Dan, Kylie, Lias and Jonathan enjoying the dinner!
Adam, Bosse, Jon, Johan and Kathy having a great time.
Christal, Lias, and Victoria greeting Tomten as he arrives.
Victoria and Lias speaking with Tomten about his gift.
Lias, Joseph, Moa, Jon, Jonathan, Dan and Kylie opening presents.
Victoria, baby Idamaria, Bosse and Boel opening Tomten's present.
How wonderful! What a great evening you had. So glad you were able to experience the real thing with a family there. That was really nice they invited you. Hey - do I see makeup on Miss Kylie?!
yes....*sigh*.....unfortunately you DO see makeup on my baby. She is 12 now. Turning 12 allows her to dabble in mascara and lip gloss.
WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO!?
Yes, thank you...it was a wonderful evening (both of them) with wonderful friends. I have such a love for the Wirtala's. They are such warm, wonderful people. This Christmas would not have been as sweet without them.
Next year, if we are lucky enough to be here, PLEASE come and join us. I'm convinced there is nothing finer than Christmas in Sweden (unless, of course, we could have Christmas in Sweden with all of our family and friends from the states, too).
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, God Jul, Happy Festivus. ;)