Isabella

I'm trying to play around with my new camera as much as I can, to learn and to get to know all the settings and just to get used to it. It certainly is different with the lens with zooming instead of my older Canon, where I could zoom in MUCH closer without an extra lens. The quality is much better with this new model but it certainly is something that I have to get used to!

Anyway, what better to practise on than my own little models. Isabella and Cassandra loves the camera (and the camera loves them!) and poses and plays around with ease. Benjamin is much harder to take pictures of, he hardly ever wants to pose. This time it was Isabella that was my model of the day, as Cassie was still in school. 

My sweet little baby girl, that has an angels face, but with a pretty spicy temper! Every day, she drives me crazy with her discussions, arguments, tantrums, fighting and pushing the limits. Sigh...Wouldn't it be fair if one could just skip the terrible twos when you have twins?

Anyway, she is so funny at the same time, when you tell her off and tells her that you have to play nicely with your brother, it wasn't good to take his toy etc, she is very fast with telling you about lots of things that she IS in fact good at. She speaks very very good now. Clear and has a large vocabulary. Surprises us all the time! She will be able to talk herself out of trouble all the time when she gets older. Keeps smiling and keeps talking...that's her. Almost daily, she tells me:

"But mamma, I'm VERY good at finishing my dinner, eating all my food, sleeping (hmm?), helping mamma clean up, going to the bathroom, using the toilet, getting dressed, putting my shoes on....

and on and on and on. She is also fast to point out the things that Ben doesn't do good, like saying:

"Ben is NOT a good boy!. Right mamma? Right? He's not eating his dinner, he's not going to the bathroom, he is still using diapers and no big boy underwear, he's not cleaning up...

and on and on and on..We have to correct her and say that he IS a good boy, but that he sometimes doesn't do the right thing. She does try to take overhand a lot and as he is both shorter and lighter than her, plus doesn't speak at all as good as she does, she normally "wins" the fights. He steps back and comes running and crying. 

Sigh, did I tell you that the terrible twos is a very trying period of time?! Good to have such sweet little ones that despite their arguments, can light up your world with their love, hugs and kisses.

We're Expecting....

...our family to grow! This afternoon, I got to witness my daughter fall in love. I probably wouldn't have thought that it's such a great thing to see in my 10 year old, but her love for this boy was immediate and very real. It was so cute! Like in the movies, when you see it, you know which one is meant for you, and that is how it was.

We had promised Cassandra that she was going to get a pet, and as we decided on a rabbit, we didn't want to wait, but to get a move on it now before Christmas. It's a Christmas present with everything it needs, but also that we wanted to have the bunny here when she is off school so that they have a lot of time to get used to each other and to bond.

I have been a bit absent the last couple of days - again - from the blog sphere, but my computer time has been devoted to do the research for a bunny. As none of the pet stores sells them here, I got lots of help after posting on a Facebook page for moms here in Yuma, and a woman gave me a few phone numbers. On Tuesday, I was able to get hold of a woman there, and we decided that we could come yesterday to have a look. This worked perfect, as Chris was off work and this was out of town so it was good that he could come with.

We were a bit shocked to say the least when we got there. I didn't understand on the phone that they were "real breeders" but thought that they had one or two litters with babies now. It turned out that they had a barn with hundreds of bunnies, different breeds and some for shows, some for breeding and therefore also a lot of babies. We had set our mind on a Mini Lop, a smaller bunny, which is known to have a great personality and a very calm and with a nice temper - perfect for a family pet! I also had read about and gotten many confirmations about that a buck (male) is "better" suited to be an alone pet, as a doe (female), which can get very "bitchy" and start to bite when she hits puberty..

I have had two bunnies in my life, Hugo and Hampus, both males, but from another breed, the Polish. They are a bit smaller than the Mini Lop, but with the standing ears. Hampus we had when Cassie was very little, she was only 2 1/2 when we moved to Sweden and then our Hampus had to move to the neighbor girl instead. To much drama and difficulties with the move to take him along. He had a long and happy life with our neighbor. So even if they are a different breed, I do know pretty much what we are getting ourselves into with caring for a bunny.

This seller had told me over the phone that they probably had two mini lop bucks that would be likely to suit us. They were just getting weaned from their mother about this time, and would soon be ready for pick up.

We had to wait for a while, as the lady was busy selling another bunny, and we therefore had some time to look into the cages up and down the isles. Chris soon had to go outside with Ben, that hadn't had a nap, and therefore was pretty cranky. Isabella didn't sleep either, but in general she does much better without nap than Ben, and now she was just very excited to see the rabbits.

Picture taken down one of the isles to the left, 

to the right the black and gray baby bucks with their mommy. 

These two were the ones that the woman had thought would fit. 

We finally got to speak to the woman, and she pointed out the ones that were the mini lops and which bunnies were soon ready to be picked up/weaned off their moms. Cassie thought they were cute, but not much more. There was no extra spark in her eyes. I thought I'd ask what others they had that weren't quite ready yet to be picked up, but maybe would be in a couple of weeks. 

We walked down the isle and looked into a cage with a mom with I believe 3 babies. These were younger than the others and not yet ready. I don't quite remember exactly now when they were born, but I believe she said that they were about 4 weeks old. This is what caught Cassie's attention in this cage!

A curious little buck, such a cute one, with broken color as it's called. I could see that this was one that Cassie really liked from first sight, and I asked if we could have a closer look. She took it out on a little table and it was just adorable. This is when I saw Cassie melt away....:)

First touch!

Pretty soon, I realized that we didn't have to look anymore. She had found her bunny. The seller double checked to see if it really was a buck, and it was. He will be ready and weaned off his mother around the 14th of December. He was not just cute, but even so young, he was already really friendly, didn't try to bite or scratch, was open and curious and his ears were awake and up and around. Normally they have hanging ears, the Mini Lops, but as young as this one, they still stand up some. He had one up and one down from time to time.

He looked really healthy, I double checked my list that I had made for signs, eyes, ears, coat etc..forgot to check his teeth, but will have to do so next time. Just to see if there were any other ones at all in the same kind of color that were older and ready now, we got to see an older buck that was born in September. He was a mix breed and couldn't be sold for show. You could tell that they hadn't handled him much at all, as he was scratching a lot and trying to get out of the sellers grip. Not a good sign. Especially as he was older, it would be harder to win his trust.

This is the older mix breed that she showed us. Do you see the blood stain on the table? That's from him scratching the sellers arm! No thank you - this one was not going to go home with us! 

(Plus he looked like he was loosing fur on his ear..)

But this one is going to come home with us. Not today, as he has to stay with his mommy a bit longer, but after the 14th of December, we can pick him up. That will be a GREAT day! Not just for Cassie, but for all of us, and I think that I've fallen a little bit in love myself - just look at him?!! He's adorable!

The pictures didn't come out that well. I didn't bring the new camera. I did bring the old one, but it got left in the car, and as I had to carry Isabella to keep her off the very dirty floor and to make sure that she didn't stick her fingers into any of the cages in a moment where I maybe weren't looking and risk to get bit, I had to keep her tight on my hip. That didn't make it easy to take good zoomed in pictures of a bunny that was curious and didn't want to sit still for very long. Plus Isabella was trying to reach over all the time...But, still, I took as many pictures as I could with the phone just to have, and to make sure we get the right one when we get there! He didn't yet have a tattoo in his ear, what otherwise is standard, he's just too young yet, so pictures and trusting her words are all we have to go after. She has a very good reputation though, and is called the rabbit guru here in these circles, so I do think that we can trust this breeder.

Now, we can get everything we need for our new family member without rush, which suits me fine. There is quite a few things to get and to think of, and Cassie gets some more time to read up on bunny care etc. I will also have have enough time to talk to a vet just to hear what they have to say and what vaccinations etc he should have/get.

Cassie even told me a wonderful surprise today, which I didn't know about and I have to double check so she didn't get it wrong. BUT, according to what she says the teacher told the class, they go on Christmas break on the 14th of December and don't go back to school until the 9th of January 2013. That's the longest Christmas break she has ever had! That couldn't come more perfect - this way we can pick her bunny up right then and they will have a lot of time to bond and to get to know each other from the start!! That will be great!!

Isabella petting the rabbit with her big sister. She was so gentle!

Christmas Memories From Times Passed & Christmas Decorations

On Sunday, it was finally time to take out the Christmas decorations out of the garage. Here in the US, the decorations normally start directly after Thanksgiving, but as we didn't have our Thanksgiving until Saturday, the decorations had to wait until Sunday. I had told the kids that we were going to take out the boxes, and they were excited for me to finish up and get them out. They were actually playing pretty nice, Isabella had a few Barbie things out, the Barbie car and a few other things and she kept occupied a long time while I cleaned.

Ben, was playing with his sword from "Jake and the Neverland pirates". A soft one, a special one with a secret spyglass and map inside the handle! He loves it, and if he's not a pirate, he's a knight in shiny armor on his white (stick) horse.

Cassie enjoyed some peace and quiet in her room without the little ones and Chris who went golfing, wasn't at home, so the only "help" I got to decorate, was from my little ones. I'm not at all ready, not by far, but a few lights here and there and for the kids the most important things were taken out of the boxes, the Santas and the Reindeer and other soft little Santas that they received in their stockings last year.

 

The first thing that we try out every year is the big Santa that Ben is playing with in the pictures above. It's a very special Santa, as it's been with me for many many years. Chris gave it to me on the very very first Christmas that we spent together.

That was Christmas 1996 and we were in Bern, Switzerland. We met in August 1992, but that Christmas, I went back to my family in Sweden to celebrate. Christmas 1993- the same thing. Christmas 1994, I went to Hotel Management School and was working in a Hotel doing my apprenticeship for 3 months I believe, in Egerkingen outside of Basel. I had just started there after my exams in November and had maybe only been there for about a month, so there was no chance that I would get any days off during Christmas. So there was no time to see each other then even if I was in the country. Chris was working then too, back in Bern, so we weren't able to be together.

Christmas 1995, I was in Switzerland, working in Luzern. Christmas and New Year is big holidays, which often means fully booked hotels and no celebrating for the staff! Again, Chris was in Bern, me in Luzern, we had problems even seeing each other, as I was off maybe a Monday and Thursday in one week, and he would be off the Tuesday and Friday. Being two people working in the Hotel/restaurant business in two different hotels in two different cities - didn't make it easy to find time in our schedules to actually meet in person! Also- this was before cell phones and smartphones where you easily could just Facebook, email or text the other person. And to add, far before everyone had a computer or even laptop for personal use.

Just after Christmas 1995, I actually had to leave the country. Switzerland wasn't then and isn't today, a part of the European Union, which made it very difficult to receive working permits and Visas. I had been in the country for more than 6 months, and had to get out for about 3-4 months to be able to get in again. This was always different from which canton in Switzerland you were working, and you couldn't seek permit yourself, your employer had to do it for you, and even if you had a great work that wanted to have you, it was never for sure that you could start working there, because of the permit. It was a hard situation, but there was nothing else we could do...

I actually had that happen to me. A first class hotel in Bern, the Schweizerhof Hotel Bern, in what felt as my "hometown" at the time, where Chris lived, wanted me. I was selected after the interview and I was over joyed, and started to plan moving in together "for real" as we earlier only had lived in the staff quarters (small rooms that the hotels provided) in the hotels where we worked. Easier that way, much cheaper than paying rent somewhere else. BUT, my dreams crashed down on me. The working permit didn't come through. The reason they gave, "there were too many foreigners accepted and given Visas already in canton Bern at the time". There was no reasoning with them, the hotel said thank you but sorry and I had just had a great job in the city where I wanted to live, slipping through my fingers and there was nothing I could do. So it was only to pack the bags again in hope that I could get a job that could get me in earliest possible.

End of April 1996, just after Chris's birthday, I arrived in Bern again. This time I had gotten a job in Interlaken for the summer season, a very popular and big tourist village in the middle of Switzerland. Have you ever the possibility to explore Switzerland, go to Interlaken and you can go everywhere in the mountains and see the real country side of Switzerland from there. Absolutely beautiful!! Chris was still working in his hotel in Bern and it was not easy to find time to see each other, with both of us living again in different cities and no regular days off, and very very rare that we had the same days off...If it was frustrating - yes very to say the least!

End of October 1996, the summer season was considered over, and I had to leave the country again. To risk to stay illegal in the country where your loved one is and risk not being able to enter again for years to come, was not even an option.

Not knowing what to do really, with difficulties with for instance insurances and taxes paid in Switzerland, if I worked in Sweden for such short time and then go back to Switzerland again, loosing lots of money not being able to work in a good position in a hotel as before, having to move again, having to try to live with someone or rent for a few months, as I had nothing left from my apartment from before when I left Sweden. All this, didn't make it easy to "just" move back to Sweden for a while either.

I decided to move to Germany. Easy work permits and I spoke the language and the job was pretty well paid. I found a job just outside of Frankfurt am Main, and took it. Many reasons behind the decision, which was followed by many, too many consequences. Without going into details, there were heartbreaking goodbyes and I started working in Germany in the beginning of December. After much back and forth with the schedule, working every day of the week until the holidays, I actually was able to get a few days off so I could go down with the train, back to Bern, back to Chris, back "home".

THAT's when we celebrated our first Christmas together. Chris had bought a small miniature tree in a pot, a real one that we later decided to plant outside by the river Aare just before I left to go back to Germany. Under that small little tree, was this Santa sitting surrounded by lots of presents that he had for me. The Santa says "Ho Ho Ho- Merry Christmas- plays a Christmas carol (has I believe 12 different ones) and ends with Happy New Year!"

Since then, everywhere I moved, from country to country, over the ocean and across the US, the Santa has been with me, well not literally and "in person", but packed up with the Christmas decorations. Always. Every Christmas it's been unpacked and checked if it's actually still working. So far, only battery changes has been needed, but otherwise both blinking nose and voice is still working. I think I'll cry the day it doesn't work anymore! Cassie played with it when she was little, and now the twins are enjoying my special Santa.

Wow, I just realized that this turned into a longer version of our first Christmas together than I had planned to write, but anyway, there you have it. That's just a part of our struggles in our past, what we didn't know then was all the difficulties that was to come - but that's a totally different story! 

 Kisses for Santa and Rudolph

Trying to blow out the candles?

Santa and Ben

We had bought a big chocolate fudge cake for dessert on our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, but we were all way too full for any dessert that evening. We therefore had a great dessert on Sunday, and the little ones thought it was really funny to have a quick taste before we served it on the plates. It was very good, but also very rich so no big slices needed!

Yummi!

Black Friday Shopping

 My new toy!!

We survived Black Friday Shopping! It wasn't a sure thing that we actually would go, but after reviewing a lot of these advertisements that all the stores send out, there were a few deals that I really wanted to look into. Especially the one with the camera as I wrote about here. I did feel a bit rushed into the buy, but the deal was so good that I felt that it can't be a bad buy and after reading a lot of good reviews about this model, and after very good tips from Martina (what would I do without you lately?), I felt that this would be a good buy for us.

We tried first at Target that had one of the ads, but there it had been sold out already the night before when everyone stormed the stores at 8pm. Luckily, they weren't the only ones selling it, so we continued with the shopping. Some clothes for the kids, mainly for Cassie that has grown a lot lately, and even if winter isn't really cold here, a couple of long sleeved shirts were needed in her wardrobe.  There were also a lot of other things that I wanted to look at, but as shopping is very limited when you have two toddlers with you that doesn't want to sit in any stroller or shopping cart, not walk nicely with you and especially when there is such a chaos in the stores with lots and lots of people, there is NO time for clothes shopping for mommy! 

Luckily, we did find atleast some of the things that we wanted, before we headed to Sam's Club, where they also had the same deal on the same camera. Chris went in quickly to get it, while I stayed with tired and crying kids in the car, to get it done as fast as possible.

He came out with a huge box and I was happy!!

Now there is a lot of things that I need to learn about the Canon EOS Rebel T3 and I was very surprised to say the least that I couldn't zoom in as close as I had thought, which made me worry a bit that I did something wrong. I compared with my old Canon Power Shot S5IS, which has an automatic zoom and I could zoom in much closer with the old one than with the new Canon with the bigger lens. Very confusing, but I guess that is something that I still have to learn and to study and read about how to do it the best way possible.

The quality of the pictures that I've taken so far, I think is much better than with the older Canon, and that is nice to see the difference. So now I just have to learn all the extras, and my pictures will have better quality. Luckily now, I can also post them here on the blog...:)

Our Thanksgiving

Yeees, it works! Thank's to my dear friend Martina's help, I can now continue to post pictures here on the blog! I would never have had the time to go through Google and try to find out links myself on how to get over the "filled capacity on pictures", so her help is very much appreciated!!

So thank's to her, you can now take part in how our Thanksgiving celebration turned out. As Chris was working on Thursday, when it was Thanksgiving Day, we decided to celebrate on Saturday, when he was off. Cassie was invited to a birthday party in the afternoon, and Chris took her there and stayed while she was there. It was Cassie's friend Oriah, that had her party at a gym, and Chris is good friend with her dad, so they had a good chat while the kids were tumbling around.

Before he left, he took care of the cleaning of the turkey, and getting the spices and veggies ready that needed to go with it into the oven. Our turkey was about 20 pounds, that is about 9 kilos, so it was a pretty big bird! I told Chris to try to get a smaller one as it would only be us, but there was no small ones to find when he went shopping, so a big one it was. As they were going away in the afternoon and we had planned to eat around 5pm, we needed to get it into the oven early enough. According to the weight, this bird needed around 4 hours in the oven to be ready. What's good with most of these big turkeys is that they have a "built in thermometer" and when the red button "pops" - the turkey is done!! Perfect, and very helpful as you don't have to be scared that it won't be cooked through. That would be the absolute horror on a Thanksgiving dinner, that the turkey wouldn't be done!

Anyway, away they went, I made a potato gratin to go with it, prepared the beans and bacon, and the rest that needed to be fast to be finished when they came home. Well, after pouring the turkey a couple of times, I realized that the button had popped much earlier than expected. We have as mentioned earlier, had problems with our oven, and the heat doesn't work accordingly, so it was now done an hour early! That made it a bit stressful to get everything else ready before the turkey dried out totally.

The turkey is done!

Most of the food on the table, the turkey, potato gratin, gravy, corn, beans, bread rolls, pigs in a blanket, cranberry jam, stuffing and drinks.

Cutting of the turkey, only made by the chef himself. It was perfect, so moist and yummy! Must be because of all the pouring and checking on it in the oven that was made by the person that actually spent the afternoon in the kitchen...

Pretty messy plates, but still very good!

After dinner, we decided that our girls were pulling the wishing bone this year. Last year, Benjamin and Isabella did it, and as Benjamin wasn't really behaving at the dinner table, not wanting to eat and sit still...we said that the girls who could behave would do the wishing bone. Chris cleaned it up, and the girls pulled, and I think that Isabella got the biggest piece, but that the biggest wish came from Cassie. She received a promise letter from Chris and I, to f i n a l l y get a pet. 

She has been wanting a dog since she was a very young girl, and we have never been able to grant her that wish. With all our moving around, it's not that easy to have a pet, and especially not a dog or cat. If we travel which we hopefully will do even in the future, even if it's not sure for next summer, it's not only for a weekend or for a week. It will be for atleast 2-3 weeks, and when you don't have family close by, it's not that easy to ask someone to care for your pet for such a long time. Especially not a bigger pet. Therefore, we have decided on a rabbit. A rabbit can be kept in a cage, and when you go traveling, you can ask someone to care for it and it won't be too much trouble as it would be with a dog for instance.

Anyway, we didn't want her to wait for Christmas, but already now get this promise, so that she can be involved in finding one. She was so overjoyed and so happy that she cried! THAT made her mommy cry too..I know how much she has wanted this, so I'm happy that it finally will become reality for her.

Reading her "promise letter"

And that pretty much sums up our Thanksgiving. We were too full to eat either the Pumpkin pie or the Chocolate cake that were waiting for dessert.  The kids finished the evening off watching the new movie that the "Thanksgiving Fairy" had put onto the DVD player - "Arthur's Christmas", while the grown ups had to take care of the not so funny part of celebrating - cleaning up the kitchen.

One thing that couldn't be forgotten though was to toast to the one thing that we all were thankful to - our family!

Three Generations

When my mom was here, we never got around to take pictures with me and my mom and the kids. Family pictures or the "three generations pictures". Unfortunately, my grand mother passed away when I was expecting Cassandra, so there has never been any "four generations pictures" taken with me in them. Anyway, I almost realized this to late, and when I did it was too late in the evening and the kids were soon to sleep. So, as Chris was working days when my mom was here, he wasn't there to take them. So, I had to for the first time ever...(I know!) use both the tripod and the self timer to take the shoots. NOT as easy as one might think to get the right distance, everyone close and focus on the faces but hardest of all to get the little ones happy sitting still and smiling into the camera - preferable at the same time.

I pulled out pretty much all my cards, played with them, put different stuffed animals on top of the camera to pretend that they are taking the picture, saying things like, Do you think the monkey can take a good picture? Let's see if he can!!! And all different things! Me running back and forth checking the pictures and refocus or zoom out or in, trying to get the best pictures possible. Hardest was to get myself in the pictures, as I had to scoop up the little ones every time I stood up to refocus..As you can imagine, it was HARD work for everyone. My mom and Cassie had to keep smiling as I stressed around trying to catch at least a few good ones.

Some might think, why bother? Never mind, kids won't sit still, and it doesn't get better than that...Yes, true, but as we never have the chance to retake them, not being able to take any pictures when ever we want to, makes it even more special to me! Especially as I hadn't really gotten any good ones with me and my mom either throughout the weeks she was here. It's not like we can try again next weekend if we would see each other again. We don't even know if we will be able to take pictures like this next year even..

So here we go, and trust me, these are only the "best" ones out of all the ones I took!! We were all pretty exhausted afterwards, and it was warm too. I had planned to take a few outside too, but when I said to Cassie and my mom after this stressful session, come lets go outside and continue, they just looked at me! Haha, to tell the truth, I wasn't really up for it either, and I knew that I had gotten a few that I was happy with anyway! I was also happy to be able to print these out to my mom right away so that she got the photos with her home!

The best one of them all - all kids looking into the camera, 

just that I only got half my head in the picture so I cut that out..

Mamma & Me

On this photo, both my mom and Cassie blinked, but especially Ben looked great, so I cut the little ones out of the photo to be able to use that part. Great what you can do in photo shop!

Grattis Mamma/Mormor!!

Alskade Mamma/Mormor!

Today it's a special day. It's my mom's 70's Birthday! Happy Happy Birthday Mamma! We felt so happy that we were able to once celebrate you on your birthday, and to do so on a special one felt even more special to me. Even if it was a little bit early, it was a great evening, and we managed to surprise you with a birthday chocolate fudge cake and fresh raspberries for dessert.

It was a nice evening, and I was very happy to be able to do something for my mom. Living abroad for so many years, I couldn't even remember when I was able to celebrate my mom "in person" the last time. As most visits to Sweden has been over the summer over the years, her birthday in November has never been something that we have been there for. This time, we were and I think that it was just as special to me as to my mom!

Chocolate, raspberries and ice cream is always a good combination!

Big hugs for mormor! Benjamin and Isabella were getting tired and weren't really in the mood for lots of cuddles, so Cassie got to snuggle even more!! I realized that I wasn't in any pictures when the evening was over, as always I always forget to actually put myself in the pictures and ask someone else to take the photo, but I made up for it the next day!

I haven't been able reach my mom today, I guess that she's been busy. I'm sure that I'll talk to her soon and until I do, I want to tell you:

Mamma,

Du ska veta att du idag ar otroligt alskad och sa saknad -som varje dag. Jag onskar att vi hade mojligheten att traffas ofta, att kunna ata middagar tillsammans, fika och bara vara. Att lata Cassandra, Benjamin och Isabella fa krypa intill och lyssna pa dina sagor och berattelser nar langtan faller pa.

Du ska veta att det ar underbart varje gang vi traffas, att fa vara tillsammans, prata och skratta. Att jag onskar att saker och ting vore annorlunda, att det vore lattare och enklare att traffas. 

Det ar inte latt att bo i en annan varldsdel nar man inte har mojligheten att halsa pa nar man vill. Det ar svart och saknaden ar stor! Livet rullar pa och vi blir aldre och barnen vaxer upp sa fort, och det ar sa mycket som du missar nar vi inte ses. Jag ar sa tacksam for att jag har mojligheten att lata dig ta del av var vardag och att du kan se barnen vaxa upp har via bloggen. 

Skulle jag kunna traffa dig idag, skulle jag vilja ge dig den storsta buketten som finns av dina alsklingsblommor, liljekonvaljen. Da det inte ar mojligt, skickar jag dig denna bukett via ett photo istallet.

Mamma- Grattis pa din dag!

Love you,
Elisabeth

Och stora grattis kramar fran Chris, Cassandra, Benjamin och Isabella.