Week 1: Down and Still Kicking

OK everyone we have officially been here over a week and we are still kicking.  Some more than others but we are here! LOL After a wonderful week in Sweden we have learned so much and look forward to 2 more years of learning ahead! Several points in this blog...grocery store, parks, dining establishments, bikes, emergency medical care and we are loving it!

Ok ladies...let's start with the grocery store! You must bring your own bags or you pay for bags at checkout!  I have never been more thankful for pictures on items in all my life.  If it weren't for pictures I have no idea what we would be consuming! For the most part things are relatively the same.  I do say that with a bit of a grin because we have had several trial and errors that have been hilarious.  For instance...Mark went to pick up some milk(which is one of the easier items) and he came back with a fermented Lattfil.  It tastes a bit like liquid sour cream.  The swedes are huge on their fermented milks and they love yogurt.  Not the kind of yogurt we are used to though.  They drink yogurt out of a carton.  It tastes like what you would find in the states just a more liquid substance.  The kids love it as long as I mix it with a little milk to thin it out.  It is like a smoothie to them!  The love for coffee here is evident everywhere! Coffee houses are on every corner and they take great pride in their coffee!  I am adjusting just fine! LOL Ok I could go on forever but lets skip to...

Parks! They are everywhere!  Not just small corner parks, but huge gorgeous parks with lakes and canals trees and fountains.  The swedes love to go Bathing(sunbathing) in the summer when they can.  You will find people all over enjoying the sun and there is plenty of room to go around.  These pics are of a park just next to our apartment!

Pizza in the park!  A fun outing!

 Here are some other parks within walking distance of the apartment!

The Food is wonderful!  We have found so many new Yummies! Zachary has discovered Nutella and that is a morning must on a rice cake. Dining establishments vary considerably though! Some places you just go in, order, pay, sit and eat.  Others you go in, order,sit, eat and pay.  We are figuring it all out though! They have some great sweet treats that are unbelievable!!!

This week our Express shipment arrived!  Hooray! This also delivered a new kind of turmoil for me! The bikes were delivered in our small shipment of business books and so the Sawyer's set out on wheels!  That was scary!  Our kids are not exactly used to riding in traffic.  Although they are learning quickly and doing a great job I am needing some serious TUMS for this heart burn!  Fortunately the drivers here really are mindful of all the bikes and such.  We are storing our bikes at the apartment...

Yes we have seen the apartment! IT is FABULOUS!!  It is so much bigger than we need!  I do not possibly have enough furniture to fill it!  The children are excited because I don't have a need for all the extra space, their rooms are unusually large! We cannot wait to move in!  However, we found out this week that our things are not set to arrive in Denmark until the 15th!  We will not be wasting our time though...this week we are headed to Stockholm to check out the capital city.  It is about a 4 hour train ride from Malmo Central Station and are looking forward to seeing the countryside.

We have been rather anxious about figuring out the healthcare while we are here, but not a family to wait for anything we dove right into the Swedish Emergency Healthcare last night! Unfortunately Brooklyn had a bit of a mishap climbing a tree in the park with her brother!  She went too high and hit about every branch on the way down.  What finally stopped her decent was a tree branch on which she ended up astride.  She is fine but we were rather frightened!  She is bruised and scratched up a bit but will heal.  The doctors and nurses were amazing with her!  They have a special emergency room for different specialties so that was very helpful!  Her nurse was so reassuring and her English was outstanding! The doctor was so polite.  HE made sure she was going to be ok and reasurred her she would not need stitches this time! She was a happy girl!

Well that about sum up our week!  I will finish with some other fun photos at the waterfront park!  Love you all!

We have arrived in Sweden!!!

Hello All,
  Our journey began a little over a month ago in Florida and has finally ended here in Malmo,Sweden! We are so excited!  I decided to keep you up to date via this blog and of course Skype! Our Skype account is Sawyers4Sweden.  Just remember we are 6 hours ahead of Eastern time.  Now on to our trip!

We began our trip in Estero, Fl where we were last stationed! The children finished up school and we were on our way!

Then on to Orlando,Fl to drop off our car for a quick overnight trip!  We continued on to Gulf Shores and Mobile, Alabama where  I was able to get some much needed catch up time with my girlfriend ANGIE!!

We left Jeff and Angie :( and made our way to The Promise Land (on earth anyway)...TEXAS!!  We had an amazing time with all of our family and I do mean ALL.  The Houston's had an amazing reunion and I think we had over 50 in attendance.  Holly Lake Ranch will never be the same again!

The pictures above are of my amazing mother and myself and of course my PRECIOUS grandparents Mamie & PaPa!  The only downside was that I didn't get to see Carrie or the Thoms family :(.  I did however get to see two of my brothers and the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium...amazing.

Best Family photo EVER!!!!

We unfortunately left Texas but we were on the road to amazing sites!  We headed to Nashville where we spent 2 days and then on to a cabin in Gatlinburg for 4 days.  It was a nice quiet break from our travels!

From TN we had an amazingly easy trip to Elizabeth City,NC.  Mark's parents live there and we had a blast!  Brooklyn and Zach both learned to water ski and Knee board!!!  Too fun! We were able to visit with Mark's sister and her three girls and the kids had a blast together!

 

Above is Mark out on the boat in NC.  We were headed to the Fourth of July fireworks show which was great...the kids are obviously worn out from tons of fun as you can see!  Here is Mark's mom aka Grammy with two of her bundles Brooklyn and her cousin.

As we left NC and our precious dog Paisley behind...only for two months.  We headed to DC to take yet another step towards sweden! After four days there we were on the plane bound for our new home!

So now here we are!!!  We have been here 5 days and we LOVE it!  The people here are so friendly and helpful!  Today we took the train to Copenhagen,Denmark and established ourselves there.  Then we took in the sites.  The little mermaid was currently on exhibit in SHang Hai however we still had a great time!  Take a look at our new town and visit to Denmark...

Now as I get better at this things will improve.  Remember this is just our first posting!  I cannot wait to fill you in on all the little details we encounter! I will be taking more pictures of Sweden!  I just realized all the pics I have taken are on my phone! We love you all and hope you enjoy the first installment of the Sawyer Follies!