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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Our Kiwi son

If in another blogpost Lucas looked like a little Swedish kid, the other day he was properly Kiwi. Dressed in an All Blacks-singlet combined with his slouchy shorts. Actually, he looked a bit like the Santa out of "A Kiwi night before Christmas" - don't you think?

Hoppe-lej Mammis!

Linnea talks and talks and talks, and she is so funny to listen to at the moment. She learned to skip quite a while ago, and that was the big thing for a while - she skipped everywhere, even just out into the kitchen or the three steps from the table to the sofa.
Now the skipping has got it's own soundtrack, every time she skips she says "Hoppe-lej, hoppe-lej!". Today I asked her who says that, and the answer was (of course...) Pippi Långstrump (=Pippi Longstocking). Should have figured that one out - the Pippi-song actually goes "Tjola-hopp, tjola-hej, tjola-hoppsan-sa"... but hoppe-lej is close enough!

She also calls us Pappas/Daddys and Mammis.
I think (my own little theory), that it's because she is touching everything all the time, and every time I will tell her "nej, det är Pappas" (=no, that's Daddy's) or Nathan will say "no, that's Mummy's".
So, she calls us Pappas and Mammis (which it becomes with the Swedified pronunciation of it) because that is all she hears - and it's actually quite cute!

Totally sporty day

I had a swimming lesson this morning, first one in a long time.
It went alright. It was together with one of my friends, and it was kind of nice to have a bit of "competition" and also realize that I am not completely useless. At least not at breast stroke, freestyle still needs quite a lot of work...
I'm not giving up though! (Even though I felt like it this morning...) I have only had five lessons, so I will keep at it. It will have to fall into place sooner or later, right?

Now, I just got back from my first tennis lesson and it was so much fun!
I will be taking tennis lessons once a week, together with my Danish friend Anne. We are both total new beginners, so we are at the same level. It is really tricky now in the beginning, lots of things to think about to get the swing right and not create bad habits. But I'm already looking forward to the next session!

It's funny because I'm looking so sporty-wannabe, since all my gear is brand new, from the racket to the outfit and the cap. (I didn't wanna wear the sweatbands, would have been a little bit too Björn Borg!) All this has one simple explanation though - I have never done exercise of any kind before, so I've had to buy it all since I didn't have any!
I will post a picture from our next session - I forgot the camera today.

My UFO Christmas gift

I am part of a chat group on the internet with another Swedish mums living abroad. There are about 50 of us, living in KL, Canada, US, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, Australia etc etc.
It is an open group, so anyone can participate, but along the years (I have been writing there about 4 1/2 years now) quite a few of us in the hardcore group have met IRL too. Since we chat daily most of us, we know eachother pretty well by now!

This year was the 4th time we did a Secret Santa swap. It goes like this:
We all get another mum to send a present to, we pick out a suitable present (could be something personal or something special from the country you live in) and send it off together with a rhyme, by 1st of December. Then we have to try and guess who sent us the gift, and of course what it is - and also report back to the others by Christmas what you got this year!
So, this is my present for this year, sent to me by one of the mums in England. God knows where she got Swedish and Danish spices from?! First the rhyme:



And here is the full content of the present:
Vaniljsocker, vinsyra, citronsyra, brödkryddor, mald pomerans, Salmiak x 2, hjorthornssalt, kardemummakärnor and two Swedish books!



Thank You very much Maz!

Our Christmas 2007

So, this is Christmas... *Singing*
Actually, turns out, you don't need cold weather and snow to get into the Christmas Spirit, it's all about who you are with - and the food! :)

We celebrated Julafton ("my" Christmas) at the Scott's place. They had arranged a huge Christmas lunch, for about 50 people - with all the traditional Swedish Christmas food you can think of! It was absolutely fantastic!
The mix of people was great, and they had decorated the house really nicely. All the kids were entertained by the new table tennis, and the Wii. (I mostly spend my time eating, yum, yum!) It was a great success!
Linnea wore the little dress she got as a Christening gift. We finally found the right occasion for it! Anyone recognize the material? It's from the same material as my bridesmaids dresses! (One of my bridesmaids, Kamilla, is also Linnea's Godmother) Isn't she cute! Here is a little slide show:

After the lunch, we went back home, to switch Santas with another part-Swedish family. As you know, according to our traditions, Jultomten (=Santa) actually visits in person on Christmas Eve to deliver the presents.
So, Nathan went to see the Cummings kids to give them their presents, and then Santa (Andy) came to our kids.
Lucas was very polite and friendly, Santa even got a hug - but Linnea didn't want to get too close. She did a little pose though in the end, next to Santa but in Mummy's arms...
Then when Santa left, Lucas said "Hejdå Adam's Dad!"... Hm... busted...

Our Christmas Eve wasn't done with that, oh no. We were invited over to the Morris' house for a traditional English (well, they are Australian) Christmas dinner. They too had made a super job in decorating, setting beautiful tables and everybody got fun gifts, and glasses (!) to bring home!
We were 20 people having a very nice time, feasting on another absolutely fabulous meal and playing a very entertaining Secret Santa game! (In the meantime, the kids had apparently been busy with their new toys and didn't go to bed until 22.00...)

Lucas was the first one awake on Christmas Day, and he was already downstairs when we heard him. When we came downstairs, he was standing in front of the lit Christmas tree in awe, of all the presents and everything!
We waited for Linnea to wake up, and then we opened all of the gifts, and spent the rest of the morning playing with them all - and building a lot of Lego..!
The kids got really spoilt this year (like every year...):

Lucas got the Lego Police Station, the Lego Petrol Station, a Lego crane-truck (?) and some Lego racers. He also got a mask, snorkel and some fins; a Doc Hudson car for his collection (the racing version); a little sleeping dog, a magnetic dart game, some Meccano, Jibbitz for his Crocs, a few things to hang on the tree, a stinger suit and a big wooden easel and a Astrid Lindgren Christmas DVD together with Linnea.

Linnea got a Little People-set with some dogs, a big wooden dollhouse (a combined birthday present) and a family, furniture and car to go with it; a wooden fridge for her kitchen; a boogie board, Jibbitz, a xylophone, a stinger suit and the easel and DVD earlier mentioned.

Big Thank You to everybody for all our lovely presents!

We had our Christmas Day lunch at the Yacht Club. It was really nice too, a set 5-course Christmas menu. Yum!
After lunch we had a swim and tried out some of the new presents, really nice!

Christmas Day was finished with pizza-dinner together with the Danes. We were all far too tired to cook or go out or do anything at all - but pizza actually wasn't too bad either!
All in all, we had a lovely first Christmas here in Brunei - and we hope that you all out there enjoyed yours too!
Merry Christmas to you all!

GOD JUL!!!

Today is the best day of the year for many little Swedish (Danish, Norweigan etc) kids, who celebrate Christmas on the 24th.
This is the day when Jultomten (=Santa Claus) actually shows up, to give you the presents. Usually late at night, so you have to suffer through the whole day first...

We would like to wish you all, a wonderful Julafton (=Christmas Eve) and hope you all get a happy and peaceful Christmas together with your near and dear ones! Enjoy!

Here are some pictures from last years Julafton:





Julafton 2006, with Santa visiting.



Swedish Christmas party with the little friends, December 2006. Santa came there too.

My first coffee morning

I held my first coffee morning yesterday. It was really nice, a good mix of girls and some yummy Christmas goodies.

It is always nice to meet up and be able to hold whole conversations without being distracted by the kids. Alway nice too to meet some new people!

It looks funny outside though, when you have people over, because the custom here in Brunei is to leave your shoes at the front door before you step in to someones house.



Brunei - the land of the flipflops!

Boel the Builder - and helper(s)!

Today the kids and I decided to build our Pepparkakshus (=gingerbreadhouse) that we bought at IKEA in Singapore.
We all got kitted out accordingly with an apron each, put on the Christmas music really loud, and laid out all the pieces while we waited for the sugar to melt.



The constructing of the house was actually the easiest part. No worries there, we ended up with a symmetrical and sturdy house.





Then we moved on to decorating it. Lucas was adamant it had to look exactly like the one on the box... uhm... yeah... let's just say I won't have a career as a baker...



I wasn't really friends with the icing, it kept running everywhere and sliding off the roof and sides of the house. (In heinsight, I think it wasn't thick enough.) But Lucas took his mission very seriously and placed little M&Ms and other decorations over the whole house and in the end, he was really pleased with the result! (Linnea on the other hand, mostly ate her share of the decorations while supervising us.)



(Note the colourful mouth on Linnea.)

And ta-daaa... here is the finished house! Not very pretty (it actually looks like the kids did it all by themselves completely without my help, maybe I should stick to that story?), but it's our house and for a first attempt, I don't think it's that bad!



Next year, we will create a masterpiece!

Edit: Lucas is now very disappointed, that we will not be eating the Pepparkakshus when Christmas is over. I had to make that decision when I discovered (should have figured that out myself of course...) that it quickly got some tenants - ants. So I have had to spray it with insect kill, and will have to put it out of reach when the kids are awake, just in case the Smarties look just too good...

Still househunting

I haven't mentioned a lot about it lately, but we are still house hunting, although we are quite relaxed about it at the moment. We saw so many houses in the beginning it all got a bit much, and we realized the best houses are really hard to come by. You need to know someone who knows someone who has a friend who have maybe heard about someone who is leaving, etc.
So, now we are sitting back a bit, just waiting, for a house to "come to us".

This house though, is perfect! It is the right size and has the right layout inside. It gives you that feeling of "I could live and be happy here". It has a big, nice garden and an electrical gate. It is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, and the location of the Simpang itself is really good too, near everything.



The best thing is the huge decking the landlord has just recently built outside. It is so beautiful, and perfect for having big parties!



The worst thing is the rent... We can't afford what the landlord is asking and he is not negociating. RBA is paying us a house allowance and most people top it up a bit themselves, to get good houses.
With this one though, we would have to top up more than we pay our amah per month, or the equivalent to filling our car up 33 times or our whole monthly groceries budget. So you see, far too much in the long run.

We will just keep looking!

My Swedish son

We have quite a few board games for kids in the house and both Lucas and I enjoy playing them. The favourites at the moment are Memo (=Remembrance), 4 i rad (=4 in a row) and Lotto.
Almost all of the games are with Swedish characters. I think it's a good way of getting some Swedish "culture" introduced to the kids - to balance up all the English-speaking TV they watch for example.

Here is my Swedish son, playing a Bamse 4 i rad , and wearing his Pippi Långstrump (=Pippi Longstocking) t-shirt!



He is actually really good, I don't even have to pretend to loose, I loose anyway!

Christmas Cards

If you are friends or family of ours, and know me well - you are probably wondering at this stage, where your Christmas Card is at?

Because, that is one thing that I love to do - send a little greeting at least that once a year, with normal post. Preferably with a photo too, of the family. (Email is great, yes normally, but I do love Christmas Cards!)

This year is actually no different. BUT - the Christmas Cards I had digitally made and ordered, has taken a little detour around the world, and hasn't even been delivered to me yet... Boo-ho. It's a long story, but all I can do at the moment is wait (and go and check our post box every day...).
As soon as they get here, I will sit up all night if I have to, and write them all, swoosh off to the post office and send them; and then hope that the Bruneian postal service does it's very best to get them to you all as quickly as they can!

So, don't expect any until in the new year...



P.S I do love to receive Christmas Cards too! Hint, hint!

Lucas new best friend

The Danes moved into Rimba last week, and that has proven to be a great success, especially for the boys. They play so nicely with eachother, they are both quite silly and they really enjoy eachothers company.
Lucas jumps on his bike and off he goes, to see Malte. They play every day, especially now when it's school holiday. Their favourite game is to be outside and "go chasing for tigers".

Malte will start school as well after the holidays, and hopefully he will get a space in Lucas class. He has said, he "only wants to go to Lucas school". :)

Here they are, having dinner at Maltes place last night:



Being silly around their Christmas tree: