2007 in review - Part 2

Ok, so here it goes, part 2 of our little travel through 2007:

JULY:

I have chosen to put up quite a few photos from July, since it was a big month for us. It was our last month in the UK, and we had lots of visitors, and did lots of things. Lots of "lasts"...
Mormor & Morfar came to see us, and we took them to Legoland for a day. The whole group enjoyed it, but probably mostly Lucas of course!



Morfar taught Lucas how do to magic.



Thomas & Mikkeline also came to see us for one last time.





I had one last girl's night with my good friends in Horsham.



Lucas had his last day at nursery, here he is with Claire and Maddie, his teachers.


(Sorry, it's twisted - my computer is playing up and I can't change it... You will have to tilt your head.)

Both the kids had their last gymnastics sessions. They both loved their gymnastics, it's really a shame there is nothing like that here. They had such good times doing gymnastics.


(Really sorry, I don't know how to solve this...)



Here comes the moving van. (Gosh, it feels like ages ago we did all that packing and carrying and cleaning up... and then consider that most of the boxes haven't even been unpacked here yet, we are waiting until we find our own house.)



Niccolai turned 3, and we went to his party.



And Cameron turned 2, and celebrated it with a party on our very last day in the UK. He had yummy cake, sunshine and paddle pool and a visit from the town's big fire engine! Big success! He also had a Fiskdamm (=fishpond) which the kids enjoyed.



AUGUST:

While Nathan left for Brunei, the kids and I spent this month in Sweden. We went down to the west coast, and had a day at Liseberg.





We visited my Aunt and the rest of the family, in Vävra. We stayed over there (in the camper) and the next day we went out to the rocks, to go for a swim, and a climb.





I managed to go both Copenhagen for a weekend and Stockholm for a couple of days. In Stockholm I did some last shopping and caught up with my old friends, Erika, Jenny-Ann and Maud. That was really great! We went out for sushi dinner and a couple of drinks.



The kids had a great time back home in Skara, eating Chokladpudding (=chocolate pudding) every day!



We also went to see an old school friend of mine, Karin, and her family. They lived outside Alingsås. Lucas and Olivia got along great!



And Auntie Kamilla came to visit, to see the kids. She got put to work straight away - her she is, with her first ever (!) Lego-construction, the garbage truck.



We also went pony riding, in Lidköping.



SEPTEMBER:

Then, we moved to Brunei! After that little extra stay at LHR because of the broken down plane on our outwards trip, we arrived to our new home. Since Nathan had been there a whole month before us turning up, the house was already set up, the internet connected and the TV working!
A new life started, with new friends, new job, new cultures, new climat and environment. Lots of swimming and relaxing.



Lucas started Kindergarten at JIS, and found some new friends.



Nathan celebrated a birthday, here with his present from Thomas.



OCTOBER:

In October we got our new car.



We enjoyed a visit from the Parrotts.



We celebrated Linnea's 2nd birthday at the Yacht Club with a party, and a Dora cake.



We also went to a Halloween party.



NOVEMBER:

In November Nathan got his first shot at wakeboarding. He liked it! (So much that he later bought his own board while we were in NZ).



We went on a trip to NZ, and visited the Parrotts at their farm outside Raglan.



Hung out on the boat, Nathan did some wakeboarding on his new board.



Otherwise Taupo was as it always is.







And back in Brunei, Linnea started Playgroup at Melissa's.



We had International Day at school, Lucas was dressed in his Swedish football outfit, and Maria and I had supplied a Swedish table, with chokladbollar, mmm! It was a super fun day!



DECEMBER:

December is so recent, so I'm not putting that many photos up. But, here are some from our trip to Singapore:





And here is one from the River Safari the kids and I went on, we are looking for crocodiles, and monkeys.



We also had Christmas, of course.





That's it - that was a short version of 2007!
Let's hope that 2008 become just as exciting, fantastic and fun! (I wish for a house, and lots of visitors in the new year please!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!

2007 in review - Part 1

I don't know about you guys, but I always get a bit reminiscent at this time, towards the end of the year. Looking back at the year we are leaving behind - the good times, the news, the adventures, the trips, the visitors, and the the not so good times.
But I'm also looking forward to a brand new year ahead, with lots of new happenings to come. Feels sad and exciting at the same time!

2007 was a particularly exciting year for us of course, with the big move across to the other side of the world. But apart from that, a lot of other things happened as well. I thought I would give you a little recap, and here are some pictures from the first half of the Watson's 2007:

JANUARY:

This year we actually got some snow! But we had to be quick with the camera, the next minute it was already gone, almost!



Lucas celebrated his 3 years, with lots of presents, and a day at Tilgate Park together with Mormor och Morfar. We later had a birthday party for him and all the little friends as well.
The favourite present was his Tom (from Fireman Sam) Helicopter.



He also got a Batman outfit.



FEBRUARY:

In the beginning of February, me and the kids went to see Dorte, Lars, Lukas and Anna in Berlin. We had a couple of nice days, mostly just letting the kids play, but we also went in to central Berlin and visited KDV for Brunch and some powershopping. Here is Lucas, Lars & Lukas having "cowboy food" in Lukas' playhouse:



Linnea and Anna:



And before we went to NZ, we just had time to visit little Wataru who had just come home from hospital. Isn't he cute?



MARCH:

In (February/)March, we went to New Zealand, and caught up with Grandma and Granddad, and also the cousins (White Family) who had come over from Sydney. A good time, as always, full of fishing, boating, picnics, play and good food!







APRIL:

In April we celebrated Easter. Here is Lucas in front of this years Påskris (=easter decoration).



We also went to the Key's place for an Easter party. We had arranged an Easter Egg Hunt, to the delight of all the kids. Especially Cameron, who had never had chocolate before..!



A silly April-photo of the kids:



At the end of April, the kids and I went home to Skara for a visit.



Doing just all the normal things, like feeding the fish with Morfar.



And all the not so normal things, like going up in a Firetruck with Mummy!



MAY:

This was the time we had made a decision about Brunei, and started planning for the move. I did about four-five carboots, this is our first one. I dragged Nathan along for this one, it was actually quite fun!



JUNE:



In June the kids and I went back home, to go on a camping trip together with Mormor and Morfar. We were a bit worried, but it actually worked out a lot better than we had all expected! The kids were great! We travelled around south of Sweden and saw a lot of places. We went to the BRIO-museum in Osby for example.

We went to Helsingborg to celebrate Midsommarafton (=Midsummers), and we braved the elements (and the sizzling rain) to dance around the Midsummer's pole. It was a beautiful place to be, we went for a big walk, and then had traditional sill & nypotatis (=herring and new potatoes) and of course strawberries, for dinner in the camper.



We celebrated Morfars birthday, with presents, cake and nice dinner at a flash restaurant in Ystad.



And we visited our friends the Wellanders in Vinslöv! We played the whole afternoon in their garden, had a yummy bbq and they also took us out to the Glassbåten (=icecream boat) in Åhus, and for a litte drive to see their new summerhouse.



We also went to Skånes Djurpark (=Skåne Zoo), a park that shows all the Scandinavian animals; we saw bears, wolves and mooses amongst other things.



At the end of June, true to tradition - Sören, Katja and Filippa came to see us. It was really nice, as always. Amongst other things, we went to Fisher's Farm a whole day, and had lots of fun!



They continued in to London after having spent a couple of days with us in Horsham, and we joined them one of the days; strolled around London, had lunch at Giraffe, picnic in Hyde Park, did some shopping and - the Millenium Wheel.

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