To a very special birthday boy!

Happy Birthday Flynn, little darling on the "wrong" side of the world.

Miss you and think about you every day when I bike to work.

Have a fantastic 5th Birthday!

Busy Days and a Visitor

My oldest nephew came to visit, almost a week ago now, but I've been flat out working and training and not had time to put the pictures on the blog, or anything else for that matter. Haven't even had time to give him a ring him to thank him for a lovely couple of days and to tell him that I hope that he comes back soon! We spent a whole day at Universeum, an interactive museum and had a great time! " monster" och "råttan"

cool australian jellyfish in a fish tank.

I really have been busy this week! Working every day and sometimes long hours. It's a good thing I enjoy my job, I just think it's a shame it has to end in september... So I'm making hay while the sun is shining, trying to clock up hours and money. Harland has been the house hero, doing everything at home, I haven't lifted a finger in ages, it's great!;) Thank you darling! The coming week looks to be fairly busy one as well, they've offered me two days off but I just need one so I can go to IKEA and pick up some things and maybe chill out for a bit as well... I have however made a plan this week which incorporates meals, work and training so nothing is left to chance! ;)

sweetheart

My youngest niece got a heart from me (the long way around but never mind) and this morning she turned up and with a piece of string and said mum now we need a hammer and nail. She wanted it hung up outside the front door so all the neighbours could see it. bless. but here's the cutest part. Mummy, i think aunty emma gave me this heart because I'm her sweetheart.

Too right!

She's clued on that one.

I hope the other three realize it too.

birthday boy

My little sunshine-boy is one today! Amazing little Mio Mattis who surely must be the happiest little kiddo there ever was. A calm, smiling ball of sunshine and joy he is, and quite the opposite in both personality and size to big sister Lo, aka miss monkey whirlwind zoom zoom.

Both me and Harland have, time and time again established that little boy truly is a ...

dude

22.36

Harland and Anders are off on their epic bike ride.

I'll be thinking of them.

And sending them happy thoughts.

In bed.

Sleeping.

night night.

Go boys, GO!

woolleys bay

this is Woolleys bay, a beautiful bay on the Tutakaka coast north of Whangarei. It just so happens that Harland's mum's cousin has a bach there and they offered it to us for a week. With some good surf along that coast it was unlikely that we would turn this offer down! Arrived on sunday after stocking up with food at Keri Keri farmers market. Loved it there from the start with the bach being just across the road from the beach.

Sandy bay is the next bay along, about a three minute drive from our pad and where we spent most of our time. Doing what? Surfing of course!
On Monday Harland's mate Jason and his flatmate Maria came to visit and we spent some time surfing, since Maria, who is from Uruguay, had never surfed before I tried to pass on some of my knowledge to her and she really enjoyed being swept in to shore by the waves!
On Tuesday we went to Mermaid rock Pools, they were beautiful but unfortunately didn't come out that way on any of my photos. We snorkeled around in the rock pools and Harland saw a stone fish which is poisonous...

is that a mermaid?? haha

Above: Harland riding a wave. Unfortunately we have yet to get a good photo of me surfing(but I have done it, I promise).
After Jason and Maria had headed we kept surfing (surprise) until we were to tired to paddle. I did my best surfing on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday my arms were too tired to paddle! a great feeling, knowing that you've given it your all!

Below: my leg when I came out of the surf on Tuesday. A surfer dude in the car park was very impressed and I felt cool:)
Below: Harland got a surprise bottle of wine which we enjoyed on a blanket on the beach at dusk.

Jenny came down for a visit on Thursday and spent the night. We walked to Whale Bay, and she got the privilege to watch us surf:)

We actually ended up heading back to Paihia a couple of days before planned as a cyclone was moving in... Whale Bay (the most photographed beach in Northland) I can see why.

my sis kicks ass!

GTATTIS TILL NYA JOBBET

STORASYSTER SARAH!

I'm ever so proud of my sister as she's managed to score that job she really really wanted but wasn't sure if she could get. It just goes to show what you can do if you really put your mind to it.

good bye scotland

bye bye hills,bye bye lochs, bye bye house, bye bye my darling chickens, bye bye cows & sheep, bye bye veggie garden, bye bye friends @ Cromlix, bye bye friends @ Grangemouth RFC, bye bye constant rain, bye bye poo with a view, bye bye Cromlix, bye bye Scotland, bye bye UK. It is a little sad... but....

HELLO FREEDOM

here we go again.....

Hello..

meet patrick, the latest addition to our strange little gang

detta e patrick, det senaste tillskottet i ganget.

c u later...

Superchilled in a hotpool

Yesterday was amazing. We started off going for a run and after lunch at the flat we headed for the thermal baths. At first we were a bit puzzled, finding our way around the bath house was proving to be a bit of a challenge as it was a maze and there were no signs in english... We found two hot pools and a steam room and sat there thinking "there must be more to it than this...". After a while we ventured down the far end of the building and found the door to the other side. Another few indoor pools but above all there was the outdoor pool, huge beautiful stemin hot outdoor pool. There was also a sauna down some stairs with a cold pool outside it. I spent a little bit of time at the end of the day going between the hot sauna and icecold pool, it was really refreshing! Harland didn't like it at all. There was a whirlpool and a huge jacuzzi down one end of the outside pool, we spent quite a bit of time playing around there
Most of the day, however, was spent just floating around the pool together looking at the clear blue february sky enjoying the warmth.
By the way, the weather has been stunning so far.

Hampus forsta berg

I went to pick up mamma at the airport Friday afternoon and she had a surprise with her. One of my favorite people in this world. Nephew. Today he climbed his first mountain, with pride!!! Here are some snaps.

heroes

The countdown is over!!!

RUGBY WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY!!!
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/

the loooong wait is finally over and it's time to bring it home.
C'mon England!!!!

and mamma is coming to visit for 9 days :)

We're back online- update

Finally after just over a week without internet, time which was spent arguing with BT's trained monkeys over the phone, an engineer came out and spent and hour and a half fiddling around. He got there in the end! YEEAAAH!!
So, lots of fun things have happened since last. Dad, Sis, Anders and Cheeky monkey came to visit, nine lovely days full of fun.

we train them young

Lots of fun for the children

She's a lady....

.

.

.

Afternoon tea
at Cromlix House and Dad doesn't know where to start!

that sweet lil family

And finally.... Is this Love?

o h y e s

Till Lo

Hej Loppan
Var forsta paprika och jag sparar den tills du kommer hit. Den e DIN. Jag langtar efter dig

och var brodmaskin bakar for fulla muggar medans vi kollar pa TV. fantastiskt!

april -07

in two weeks and 14 h I get to see my sister,

her monkey, pappa and anders.

Langtar efter baby.

Wicked!!!

Kristina,one of our Siberian students had been expecting a parcel from her mother for ages and it arrived today. I was actually in the office when she came to collect it and she giggled like a school girl. I was in the middle of trying to work out the timesheets and didn't pay any attention. Later on when me and Vik came back from training Kristina asked if I remembered that she'd told me she had a surprise arriving for me in a few weeks time. I did not. But anyway, she pulled out these wicked wellies, just like the ones she's got that I threatened I would to steal of her when she's asleep. Wicked surprise!!!! I was gobsmacked!!!!!

MEAN thunder and lightening again tonight.... We've had a lot of that lately....

day off

We spent our day off by the beautiful Norfolk seaside (cley-next-the-sea)





Put the bikes in the back of the
van and took them for a spin
along the coast.

It was a lovely warm day and we had a brilliant time!!

there was even

a bit of this

going on

Sverige 11-18 maj.

Rugby moments
yes that's me with the ball.

Love moments

also:garden moments

not surprisingly: food moments

Dom ar sa fina den där familjen... Längtar till nästa gång vi ses.