2011 is coming to an end and as Jochem, Nils and Elsa are off to the movies and Ingrid is out shopping with a friend I take some time to sum up the year. I don´t know where the time went this year but sure is that it went fast. It was a year of both joy and sorrow for us. In the beginning of the year Jochems father Jacques passed away. Losing someone dear is always hard but it also brought us closer together, our family. Jacques suffered from severe Alzheimer and I think that the person who suffered the most in the end was oma Nell (Jochems mother). Since the loss of her partner, with whom she spend at least 50 years, Nell has visited us in Sweden a bit more often which has been very nice for all of us. Jochems brother Harry and his wife Miriam also came to visit us this year and helped out with both our houses (painting the house in Ulricehamn, putting out gravel around the house in Vegby etc.). It is wonderful to feel what great family we have both in Sweden and in the Netherlands.
2011 was the year with an exceptional long winter and we had snow until April so the kids got to use their skis and snow boards a lot. Jochem spent spring in Brazil and the Netherlands working for Philips. He really enjoyed Brazil which is good as Elsa (11) will spend a month there in 2012 on a CISV summer village. I got a new job within the municipality as Project manager for the learning organization and also traveled a bit for my work to the Netherlands, Spain and Greece which was fun and challenging. One always learn new things taking in the perspective from someone else!
In May we had a “Fire station reunion”. 15 years ago, when I met Jochem, he was an exchange student at Lund University and many of the foreign student lived in an old fire station. We have kept in contact over the years and this year we arranged a reunion in Ulricehamn, Sweden for the former students and their families. Friends from Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands arrived for a long weekend in May and it was wonderful to see everyone again. The weather was great, the spirit high and it was clear that 15 years is not much time after all.
As both Ingrid (12) and Elsa (11) went on different summer camps with CISV to Austria and Denmark in July we had an early family holiday in June and went for two weeks to Rhodes, Greece. It was wonderful and the kids had a hard time choosing between the pool and the salty seawater. Nils (8) is set on going back but maybe we can find another warm spot to visit next year? As we keep on being involved in CISV (a peacekeeping organization arranging international camps all over the world, usually in the month of July) we have to plan ahead. In 2012 Elsa will go to San Paolo, Brazil and Ingrid on an interchange to Rome, Italy with CISV (www.cisv.org)
In the autumn Ingrid (12) started a new school – the International English School – in Borås. She has settled in well, having no problem with the classes held in English and is doing very well but it is a long commute for her. She spends two hours on the bus each day and has to get up really early in the morning. Luckily she likes it so much that it is worth the traveling. Elsa (11) and Nils (8) are still at the Montessori school in Ulricehamn and are both enjoying it. Nils is a keen soccer player and Elsa stays faithful to her main hobby – baking and cooking.
In August we also welcomed a new family member Geo, a German Sheppard. Geo is a military dog who will join the military at the age of 1 ½ and until then he stays with “a normal family”. Geo is a fun, active dog but also a dog especially bred for being used in the military. We love him but have had problems with his biting and do not feel that we can totally trust him when he is alone with the children. Therefor we have suggested to the military that he is moved to a family without young children. So far he is still living with us but will probably leave us in January. Our dog adventure ended quicker than we thought but safety for the children goes first.
In October we went on a one week holiday to the Netherlands visiting both family and friends but also enjoyed being tourists in “our own country”. We went to Amsterdam for a day, visited the Efteling attraction parc and celebrated Jochems 40th birthday. It was an exceptionally warm week and we traveled around the country in Jochems Audi cab.
This year we celebrated Christmas in Ulricehamn for the first time. We also celebrated oma Nell, who had her 80th birthday on December 24th. My father did all the Christmas cooking, my mother and Elsa took care of all the sweet stuff and the rest of us ate (for several days!) My sister Hanna, her husband Kristian and little Ellen and Lisa made our holiday complete and we had a really nice time together. Christmas is a time to enjoy family and friends, to relax and have fun together and to reflect on what has been and what is coming. Jochem is sure 2012 is “our year”. I am not sure what that means but it sounds good! If I look back on this year I also see the many moments with good friends and family, the spontaneous dinners, fun parties, weddings and the joy of everyday happenings. We had a good year due to all of you!
I hope you all, close by and far away, had a positive year and feel similar about 2012. And to end, I will quote my brother-in-law Kristian who said to me “ I live right now, right here and I don´t save a special moment for another day. If I feel that this is a special moment, I embrace it”.
Let's all embrace happiness, laughter and special moments in 2012! Hoping to see many of you!
Happy New Year!
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