No Worries: January 2011

Once again the Sawyer Saga in Sweden continues...

We begin this installment with Thanksgiving! For those of you who do not know this is my husbands favorite holiday and go figure...Swedes don't celebrate an American holiday? HMMMM... Not only can you not find the things to prepare here you must also...go to work! I truly believe Mark felt completely violated at the thought but he did it anyway! We are very fortunate because the Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark has a small(convenient stores in the states are bigger) commisary. Every year they pre-order our "staple" Thanksgiving/ Christmas items which was a treat! I was able to take the train over and load up with good old american brand indgredients! Life is good! We were originally not going to prepare a huge meal because we were leaving for Vienna the next morning, but Mark just couldn't resist...plus it was his birthday and the double whammy sent the man over the edge in food necessity! LOL LOL LOL As proof below in Sweden or not we are American!

I was even able to get canned pumpkin to make Mark his favorite Pumpkin Pie for his birthday dessert and suprise him!

The next morning we headed to Vienna, Austria and as the title states there are no kangaroos in Austria! That was our favorite t-shirt we saw while we were there! Our trip was amazing. We have determined that Vienna has been our favorite trip to date! Since it was the start of the Christmas season they had christmas markets in every possible square! This one is right in front of Parliament and was the largest! Everyone was so nice and joyful. They love life in Vienna and it really shows through their culture. Here is a typical vendor at a market. They all have these adorable wooden huts all decorated for christmas and there are just hundreds of them.

Brooklyn and Zach are below with the market behind them!

You would think I could get used to the architecture in europe but it just takes my breath away at times. Take the church below as an example. We were just walking through Vienna and came across it!

Yes I do go on the trips too! Here I am with the children outside of Belvedere in Vienna!

Mozart of course! With his little helpers!

NOW...The moment you have all been waiting for!!! My favorite picture to date! We have a bit of fun on our trips, as you can imagine, and it doesn't take much coercing for us to get mark to mimic this sculpture! I think he did a phenomenal job! My hubby is so fabulous!

Nightime on the streets of Vienna!

Although our trip to Vienna was not too long we did take a day trip to Salzburg! It was really a fun trip for me being a HUGE Sound of Music fan! Since we have returned Grammy & Pops sent us the movie for Christmas and it is so much fun to hear the kids watch it and point out all the places they actually visited!

Here we are at the lake from the movie...hmmm it was a bit foggy!

On our way we took a slight detour to a small picturesque village in Austria! It truly is just like you think it would be!

Here are my kiddos at Lake Wolfgang! By the way Zach was quite in the Christmas spirit our entire trip!

Mark & Zach on the streets of Salzburg!

Mark & Brooklyn in front of Mozart's birthplace!

The view from the castle.

Just for fun!

We really enjoyed our visit! We found the Austrian people to be so kind and welcoming! It was a wonderful trip!

Upon our return Mark had to make a trip to Germany and the children were in a small production at church! They make me so proud! Brooklyn had quite the speaking part in the play which was in English and Swedish so it was very unique!

Then it was of course Brooklyn's 9th birthday! I cannot get over how quickly they grow! I know people say that all the time but WOW those words are so true! Here she is the morning of her birthday! Now please bare in mind she does not give a hoot that we live in Sweden, she wears those new cowboy boots every chance she gets! You get 'em girl!

Now I know I am a bit partial but isn't she beautiful!

This is a traditional Swedish princess cake! It is what you get for birthdays and such. Unlike the states you cannot just go buy cupcakes or a decorated theme cake here! It is actually quite tasty though! IT is usually lime green but it being Christmas time we found one in red for B!

End of term celebration for school

I know the quality is poor but I was really far away and they were just waiting for the ceremony to begin! I did manage to get them both in the photo though before they started!

I hope you have enjoyed our latest installment! LOL I will leave you with some Winter fun in Sweden photos! Stay tuned...we just had Christmas with a precious visit from my folks and returned from our fun ski trip to Germany!

Brooklyn on the sledding hill