This Week & Show and Tell combined...

Today I am going to combine “This Week” with “Show and Tell”. I will not have time to write the S&T entry on Friday, so therefore I am writing it now.

Erica, who lives in northern Sweden is the host this month, and even though she writes in Swedish you should check out her blog, she's an AMAZING photographer!!

The theme is: No Christmas Eve without…
The answer is: NO Christmas Eve without my Swedish traditions.
Christmas Eve is nothing but our traditional Swedish Christmas, and now Peter has embraced it, too. And he follows all the traditions just like I do. Of course, all is just natural to Karolina.

Karolina in 03



It is the Tuesday before Christmas and I feel like i have everything under control. Yes, it is a nice feeling. I have a few little gifts left to buy, and that will be easily taken care of.
I am ready to embrace Christmas!
My favorite holiday of the entire year!

As always we will celebrate Christmas two ways. On Christmas Eve we’ll celebrate it the Swedish way, and on Christmas Day we are celebrating it the American way.
It is very nice to celebrate twice. It is our tradition.


Karolina in 04



Christmas Eve is the most important day in the Nordic countries. THAT is the day when Santa arrives, and he usually arrives in the evening. He’ll actually come to your house.
When I was a kid it felt almost like torture to wait for Santa the entire day. I remember that I could hardly eat Christmas dinner that is how excited I was.
Around 16:30 on Christmas Eve one of our neighbors always dressed up as Santa, and you could see him walk up and down the street and in to the nearby park. We, the kids, stood in the windows or on the balcony and watched him. He never visited anybody; he just took a round around the block dressed up. It was so appreciated in the entire neighborhood.


Karolina in 05



At 15:00 on Christmas Eve in Sweden the whole country pauses to watch Donald Duck on TV. A Disney Christmas is an almost fifty year old tradition in Sweden, and almost the entire population watches it. It is remarkable. Donald Duck is now as much of a tradition as Christmas ham and Christmas trees in Sweden. It is nostalgia, and memories of your childhood. When I am celebrating Christmas in Sweden (every other year, as you know) we always watch it. But, maybe it has lost a little bit of its allure over the years, but it is still special.


Peter and Annika o5



State side, I have the show on DVD, but it is not the same watching it here.
Weird, huh?
Anyway…Christmas Eve here in the states is Swedish for us. We start the morning with a big breakfast, I’ll make sure I lit up all the candles in the house, and we listen to Christmas music.
Later in the day we’ll take a long walk, and then we’ll go home and have a glass of glögg. In the afternoon we usually go over to my Swedish friend Susanna’s house. We’ve spent Christmas Eve with Susanna and her family for years now. We have the traditional Swedish Christmas dinner together, and it is always so nice.
We hang out until mid-evening and then we’ll go home again. Yes, we do open some of our gifts on Christmas Eve, as we do in Sweden.



Last Christmas in Sweden. Santa has arrived!!

Christmas Day morning we open up our stockings in bed. Peter then makes breakfast for us. It is always pancakes and it tastes so good.
When we have eaten, we open up the rest of the gifts underneath the tree.
This year we’ll go over to Peter’s sister Melinda in the afternoon. We open more gifts there, and then we all have Christmas dinner together. This year Melinda will host a big crowd, both family and neighbors, and that will be fun.

The third day of Christmas, boxing day, is just a day of relaxation and eating good food at home.

As always, I am looking forward to my favorite time of the year so much.
I am only a little bit taken a back on how fast time flies…