Nordmark Family Life

The Fun Continues

2012-01-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

Some pictures of Saga's birthday and some other random fun.

Saga and I had a great time making her birthday cake this year. Her theme was Indian and my mom brought over some really cool plastic Indian figurines. We made a chocolate cake put some food coloring in the frosting to make water, grass, and sky and then on with the Indians.

Sixten needed to show of his bike as well. He does everything his big sister does even put on his "helmet" which are actually their winter hats. So funny!

Me at Saga's party (a Sixten picture).

Saga and some of her birthday presents: face paint, a new dress, and barbie fairy.

Sweet Mormor made the trip for the birthday dinner and party.

Another variation of the butterfly face painting. Fanny and Alina came over the other evening for sledding, hot chocolate, and face painting. They are just the best aunts a girl could ask for.

Cowgirl Saga in her new boots carrying her new cap pistol.

It's so fun to watch them do things together. He is getting so big. Saga stayed the night at her friends Elin and Axel last night. Her first sleep over at a friend's house in Sweden and she did awesome.

5th B-Day

2012-01-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the bike grandma and grandpa. Sixten loves to sit on the back and catch a ride. I love it. Thanks so much!

The Christmas Photo

2012-01-02T03:42:00.000-08:00

Saga and Sixten getting ready for New Year's Eve. Saga went with us to a party while little brother stayed at Farmor and Farfar's house for the evening.
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It's not easy getting a photo where everyone is looking their best.

Mom's Visit

2011-12-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

We are having such a great time with my mom here. The kids are loving having someone to play with all day long. Saga sleeps with her every night out in the cabin. She even asks if it time to go to bed, which is VERY unusual for her. Today we went swimming and yesterday we went and had lunch at Axel's Grandma's house. Tomorrow we are going into town for a little shopping. The snow is falling and everything is exactly like it's suppose to be around Christmas. Calm and cozy with a fire going. I'm lucky to have such a wonderful helpful mother that enjoys my family and me. We sure love having her here.

Took a little trip on the snowmobile.

Saga took a little trip behind the dogs on the sled, FUN!

Our tree after grandma had her way with it. When she showed up it had about 8 ornaments on it and some lights, now it's lovely.

Sixten waiting his turn for the snowmobile. He loves to ride on it.

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how the weather is so very important to our lives. While we lived in Bellingham Axel would often comment on the lack of seasons and how he missed the intensity of winter/summer. I never understood what he meant, it gets cold in Bellingham and hot in the summer. It makes sense now. Life is driven but the weather, it's so important to us. Makes us connected to nature and life. I love it! The snow has finally fallen and not lightly. We get to play and everything is so much lighter outside. BEAUTIFUL!

My first attempt at baking cinnamon rolls, tasted pretty good!

The kids playing outside and building a snowman.

We were going to do this experiment I saw on someone else's blog. Milk, food coloring, and soap. The colors were supposed dance around.

It all went so fast, looked pretty for a few seconds then it was just light blue. Nobody was very impressed.

Dancing Lucia

2011-11-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hello there! Seems like I have two weeks worth of pictures to post. Last Sunday was Saga'a dance show. Every Sat. morning we drive to town (30 minutes) so Saga can dance for an hour. Her show was great and the whole family came to watch. Below is Fanny and Saga before the show began. I think they have matching smiles.

The star took time to pose with her parents as well.

Giving me wave before they began.

After the show Saga was nice enough to give her brother a lick or two from her lollipop. He wanted more and more. It was pretty cute, her sharing with him. We all stood around them and watched.

Sixten is in that phase where he likes to put on things (mostly clothes). He came to me the other day and wanted to have the beaver skin wrapped around him.

Saga likes to play school (wonder where she got that from?) Here she is practicing her numbers.

Clothes switch

Today we had our Santa Lucia party in our village. It's really not celebrated until the 13th of Dec. but we had it today for a variety of reasons. Anyway, here is my little Lucia and my little Santa.

Saga and her friend Elin getting ready to walk out into the crowd singing their song.

The kids listening to the priest talking about Jesus. Sixten didn't want to be down there.

Here he is in my lap. My sweet boy!

All Gone

2011-11-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

I took it upon myself to cut Sixten's hair. Not sure why I think I can cut hair because I can't. It was never intended to be so short but now I can say he looks like a little boy.

Before

I think he looks like a totally different little guy. He actually looks a lot like Axel's Uncle Ola when he was a little boy. At least from the picture I've seen at his grandma's house.

Moments

2011-11-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

I love walking in on moments like these. What a lucky mom I am to have such fun adventurous loving babes. Makes me smile.

Halloween Catch Up

2011-11-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Elin stayed the night and we carved pumpkins.

My kids love to play horsey. They will jump on the back of anyone that kneels down. Axel is a favorite horse, much to his dismay.

Our lovely spice cake Halloween House. Saga had full control of the making of our house. She did a fine job.

Without Internet

2011-10-31T12:58:00.001-07:00

We haven't had internet access for a whole week now. I will do an update as soon as we get it all figured out. Happy Halloween

Indian Saga

2011-10-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

This week we've received two big boxes full of Halloween goodies from America. We are on a bit of a sugar high. Saga loves to get boxes from America, everything is recieved with a "WOW, OOOOH" Sixten quickly learned to take things out of the box and say "ooooo" with raised eyebrows. We can't thank you enough grandmas and grandpas for thinking of us and making Halloween such fun.

Girl Power

2011-10-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

The cavier season has begun. It's going okay, still waiting for that big catch. I plan on taking some more pictures tomorrow of Axel doing his thing. Saga likes helping out, it's a real family affair. FUN

Just had to try on Saga's ear protection. Now he needs some of his own.

Saga and I got to go on a date last Sunday, just the girls. First we went out to lunch and then to a play. Afterward we did a little shopping and went to the library. It was SO WONDERFUL to get to do something with just Saga. She's so easy to have out and about. Love her so!

We met me friend Minna and her son Vilgot at the play.

Sixten in his new rubber boots that are a little big. He isn't a fan of them yet but this morning he wanted to try them on.

Need a Push

2011-09-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

Lucky

2011-09-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Sixten is so lucky to have such a WONDERFUL big sister. Saga is really great with Sixten 95% of the time. She is always telling him she loves him and giving him hugs. He gets to play in her room with her things ALMOST any time he wants. She includes him in her games and helps him out. They laugh together, and he is even starting to do things just to get her to laugh. I can tell they are going to have a wonderful relationship when he gets a bit older. Axel went out on his first fishing attempt tonight. Really excited to see what he brings home tomorrow. Both kids are sleeping and I'm going to finish my tea and crawl into bed as well.

Sixten gets to sit on the couch and watch a movie with her friends.

Saga found her sunglasses in the car yesterday and Sixten needed a pair too. They ran around with those on the whole time I was making dinner. Sixten likes to pull his off and then come to me or Saga so we can put them back on. I think I put his sunglasses on 100 times and I loved every one of them.

2011-09-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

The newest addition to our group of friends, little Frida. Elin is the big sister to the little one. Saga couldn't wait to hold her, we were in such a rush we forgot to comb her hair, haha.

Sixten was so cute tonight. He loves to read books and layed down on the couch to read. Just after I took these pictures he rolled off the pillow and hurt his cheek, a big bruise.

August Recap

2011-09-04T12:28:00.000-07:00

What a great month we have had. It's been full of activities and fun. We celebrated two birthdays at our house, Sixten and Axel. We had guests here from America for a week. They were great fun and actually a lot of help around the house. Two on my dear friends had babies this month, one boy and one girl. The summer has come to a quick end here. So this is my last summer post. Now onto Fall which includes hunting season, fishing season, dance and gymnastics. Included in there many play dates and other activities. I think we have a lot to look forward to. Good bye summer, we will see you next year.

Winter in August here in Sweden. Saga trying on Brian's wolf hat he bought in Iceland. She wants Axel to make one for her this winter.

Brian and Shirley Faloon came to stay with us for a week. Everyone wanted to pose with their fur accessory.

Tried to have an impromptu photo shoot but it's not as easy as it sounds. Got a few cute ones though.

This is a perfect log for Saga to dance on and practice her balance beam moves.

A little boy and his ball.

kick kick throw throw

The birthday boy who turned 33 last week.

My friend Ulrika who was two weeks overdue with baby number three. They had a little girl on the 31st. We can't wait to go over there and meet her :)

No this isn't my harvest but our neighbors down the road brought over some goodies to share. YUM!

Creatures

2011-08-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Saga isn't afraid to pick up anything, whether it be a craw fish or a lizard. She was chasing the other kids around with the craw fish and hooking it onto her shirt with it's claws (clever). The lizard was found IN our house. It was in the wood box and quickly got scoped up by Saga. I think something was wrong with it because he just let Saga hold it and didn't run away.

Sixten's 1st Birthday

2011-08-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here's the birthday boy eating his breakfast.

See my cheerio??

Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa. Saga was MORE then willing to help him out :)

Sixten was pretty interested in Saga's presents from Great grandma and grandpa.

The table was all set for our guests. Sixten wanted to try out his seat.

Then he wanted to rip the paper off the table. I guess it was his birthday so...

The birthday guests arrived and found their seats at the table. We served hamburgers, potato salad, bow tie salad and corn on the cob for dinner.

yum

We celebrated Alina and Farfar's birthdays as well because they weren't home for their birthdays.

Then it was time for cake and coffee.

He enjoyed his cake!

Some More Summer Pictures

2011-08-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of the things I that was on my TO DO list for the summer was to take the kids to Western Farm. Saga is really into Indians, cowboys, horses so I thought it would be perfect fun for us. It was great! Lots to see and plenty of horses to look at and ride. Fun was had by all!

Western girl Saga, I think she would rather be a cowboy actually.

Papa and Sixten at Western Farm. He is throwing himself at me, I think.

Saga heading off on her horse ride by herself. What a big girl we have.

LOVE their faces in this picture.

Sixten took a nap in the middle of all the action. There were guns being fired everywhere (blanks of course).

As I've said before, Sixten loves to visit the dogs in their kennel. He now walks over there himself and tries to let them out. Saga makes sure that doesn't happen :)

Some fun in the sun with Axel and Elin. One of our last swimming adventures before the weather turned Fallish (it that a word?)

I asked Saga to model our carrots we've grown in the garden this year. She thought that was funny and then gave me this pose. So serious and cute.

Guess Who's 1?

2011-08-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

This little baby is now this little boy. The first year is such a time of change and development. More of a birthday post later, I promise. Need to go to bed now!

Summer So Far

2011-08-06T11:58:00.001-07:00

Saga the Swimmer from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

He's Walking

2011-07-21T12:50:00.001-07:00

Untitled from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

11 months and 4 1\2

2011-07-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

We were given a beautiful box of strawberries from a neighbor. Sixten enjoyed his first real taste of summer. He is such a sweet little boy. Enjoys the water, I can't keep him away if he sees it. His communication skills are improving. He now points and grunts and babbles when he wants to go somewhere. We usually go around in circles in the yard. First a visit to the dogs, then to sit on the lawn mower, next to the carrots, and then the sand box. We also can end up in the car playing with the steering wheel.

Saga is really into Indians right now. We have a book about different tribes and she pretends we are Indians outside. When we go in the car somewhere she usually says that we are going to visit another Indian tribe. One evening she found this picture in her coloring book and spent a lot of time coloring it beautifully. She is so much fun and so wonderfully sweet. A bit of sass thrown in there too.

2011-07-01T10:36:00.001-07:00

Untitled from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Happy Mid-Summer

2011-06-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe June is almost over. We had a great Mid-Summer celebration on Friday. Everything went down as usual, except for the rain at mid day. No big deal though. A great time was had by all, even Sixten stayed up until 11:30 at night for the fun.

My almost walking 10 month old.

Fanny came to help Axel fish. She is really interested and a great helper :)

Our Mid-Summer Fika, YUMMY! Stawberry and Whip Cream Cake

My Wonderful Family!!

Here we are again

An Early Summer Visitor

2011-06-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we went down to the beach for our first swim of the season. We were about to leave when this little baby goose came swimming up to Saga and wouldn't leave her. Earlier that day we were heading into town for a Dr. appt and met a family of Canadian geese on the road. The mother and father flew away and left the 4 little ones by themselves. I was hoping that they would return after we drove away. We didn't see them when we returned from town which was great. The assumption was that they found each other and went on their way. So when this little one swam up I felt horrible because I assumed again that this was one that got lost. She followed us home, waddling after her new mother, Saga. We had her for two days but then she disappeared when we left her down by the water to eat. Saga loved to have her but I think she was also a little bit happy that she moved on. It's exhausting for a 4 year old to have to think about a little goose following her all the time. Saga could run anywhere because (Priscilla) couldn't keep up. I'm sure it's just one of many animals we will have passing through our lives.

SUMMER IS HERE AND IT*S HOT!!!!

A Family of Fishermen

2011-06-12T12:32:00.000-07:00

We've been without internet for a little over a week due to a thunderstorm. So this is a big update about our lives the last few weeks. I could sum it up in one word "fish". The herring season has begun. We had a few days catching only 15 kg. and a few days catching 330kg. I would help Axel with the shaking of the fish after he got back from picking up the nets in the early morning. Some days Sixten was on my back others he was asleep inside.

Saga is such a little fisherman. She loves to follow with Axel and never complains in the boat. Here she is helping him load the nets into the boat.

She has great pulling technique.

Axel has started with the dreaded cutting of the grass. It's his least favorite thing to do in the summer, ever though we bought a new riding lawn mower two years ago. Sixten on the other hand LOVED to sit on it by himself and with Axel. He's pointing at everything now with his cute little pointer finger. Just thought I'd throw this in.

Our house of a beautiful late May afternoon. The grass is SO much greener now and the trees are full of beautiful leaves.

Is the Battle Won??

2011-05-21T03:44:00.000-07:00

Since Saga got her own room we have been battling about her closet. She LOVES clothes and changes at least 8 times a day. BUT she just can't seem to keep her clothes off of the floor and in her closet. Hopefully with these baskets she can see everything and just take out what she wants. I also divided her clothes up and put a big plastic bin under my bed of clothes that she can switch out when winter comes. We'll see if the battle is won or if it's just another failure. :)

9 Months

2011-05-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

Sixten is 9 months old now and so so sweet. I tried to get a picture of him standing alone but as soon as he sees the camera he come and tries to get it.

This is Saga at 9 months old standing.

Here is Sixten holding on but he CAN let go and stand for a few seconds.

Saga loves to pick him up like this. I always run over as fast as I see this :)

Easter

2011-04-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

We are really enjoying our beautiful weather. Life is good here. The ice is starting to break up and the snow is almost gone. The birds are in full swing with there noise making. Sixten is busy cruising along the couch and pulling himself up on everything. He's fallen quite a bit by will soon be standing by himself. Sixten isn't a big sleeper but is proving to like eating. He eats lunch and dinner easily not so into oatmeal and such "baby food". Axel is busy cutting wood and put out his first net this weekend. Caught a few perch which we ate for lunch, yum! We have lots of exciting things happening in the next few weeks, such a fun busy time of year :)

Easter was BEAUTIFUL. We were outside without coats or shoes. So wonderful!!

The kids' great grandma. I tried to get a picture of them together but Saga didn't have time to sit down. She is so happy that the Spring weather is here.

Sixten and I swinging.

2011 Easter Branches

Saga has been finding a way to throw the peace sign every chance she gets. I asked her where she learned that and she said " Alvin and the Chipmuncks".

Waiting for Papa to come to the table so the coloring can begin. If you notice Saga has red paint slashes all over her body. She painted herself to look like an indian (Native American of course).

What A Circus

2011-04-27T01:20:00.001-07:00

The Circus Act from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

A Happy Sixten Video

2011-04-24T11:13:00.001-07:00

Untitled from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

2011-04-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

I thought this was funny since he didn't hurt himself. Yes, Sixten is crawling everywhere. He doesn't want me to leave his side though, very attached to me. We are enjoying Spring. Yesterday we were outside without coats sitting in the sun, heavenly. Saga thinks it's ok to run outside in the muddy yard without shoes. An early start to summer I guess. :)

Busy Times

2011-04-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

Sixten and Saga's Bitty Baby sitting on the couch watching Saga dance. They were the audience of course.

BEWARE! Cute Cowboy coming up

Baby Blues

2011-04-01T05:07:00.001-07:00

Update!

2011-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Loaded my pictures to the computer and realized I haven't taken many since we've been home. We put up Sixten's crib, so here is one of him after he'd pulled himself up. He is now crawling but mostly just uses his new skill to follow after me. He doesn't really enjoy crawling yet, and Saga really doesn't enjoy his crawling either. She can't leave things just laying around anymore because he WANTS them. Sixten is now eating a pretty good lunch and a bit of dinner as well. We go to his 8 month check up next week. Time is flying and he is growing up so fast. Saga is enjoying the milder weather and has been spending lots of time outside with Axel. Everyday the snow melts a little more. One more month and it will all be gone. Both kids are asleep now so I think I will clean out one of the drawers in the desk. I'm in a Spring cleaning mode right now. Really need to wash my windows, urg. Happy Spring!

New Developments

2011-03-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Untitled fr

om Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

The C Words

2011-03-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks have been busy. We've been trying to spend as much time as possible with the cousins. Saga loves that there are kids around she can play with within walking distance. I thought I should do a little Sixten update. He is almost crawling! He is just creeping now but within the last few days he has been up on his knees a lot. It won't be long now. Sixten is eating a little bit of food everyday. He's not REALLY REALLY interested but still opens his mouth for a few bites at a feeding. I'm encouraged, anything will be better than his sister's eating habits. My mom is taking the rest of this week off. WE plan to go to the zoo, get a massage, and get pictures taken of the kids. My brother Daniel and his girlfriend are coming on Thursday for the weekend. Then my best friend Michelle is coming over to visit too. It's going to be a fun week. Monday we fly out. It's gone fast but we are excited to see Axel again.

My friend Stephanie and her son Braden came down for a visit. He is so sweet and turns 2 in April.

Big boy Braden

Cousins

Grace came over after school one day. Her and Saga like to play house, dog, and school.

Love this one of Sixten and Grace

We had a family dinner last Sat. Here is Celia and Grandma Carole digging into their food.

My wonderful grandma and grandpa. We've gotten to spend lots of time with them this trip.

Saga playing in grandma's dresser. She made a little bed in there, whatever.

Saga's new haircut given by Aunt Jan. She looks cute!

Saga taught her cousin Jackson (turning 3 this week) how to jump on grandma's bed.

The kids table

First Week in WA

2011-02-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

Our first week here has come and gone rather quickly, as usual. We are officially on WA time and the weather is on Swedish time, haha. It's been snowing here for the last few days. We have gotten to spend time with my grandparents and seen all of the cousins. My friends Stephanie and Sarah came down for a visit with their kids. Hopefully I'll get to see them again before we leave. My mom is off work today which is nice. I guess we will just play inside all day due to the weather.

My friend Sarah's son Cohen and my baby boy.

The gang, minus Steph's little boy. Love seeing my girls!!!

Terrace and Saga dancing and cheering. They played pretty well together but also had their moments of girl pettiness.

My brother Jim's family has gotten a new puppy named Tink. Saga just loves dogs and has of course taken a liking to this one.

Some more Saga photography.

Uncle Jim and Sixten

Terrace and Saga making some pizza for lunch.

Sixten checking out Cohen who is one week older. He's trying to figure out how he got up on his knees.

Getting ready to eat some lunch.

Saga riding her bike around in the garage. Last year she couldn't figure out how to ride it. This year she is almost tipping it over due to riding it so fast. Lots can happen in a year.

WA

2011-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to say that we are in Eatonville and trying to get back on schedule. The flight was long but went really really well. Both kids are amazing travelers, no problems at all. They both have small colds now and are still waking up really early in the morning. I'm sure by early next week we will be back to normal. Got out and enjoyed the sun yesterday. It's not really warm but hopefully before we leave we can get some BEAUTIFUL SUNNY weather (hope hope). I will get some pictures up soon, when I get around to taking some.

The Box

2011-02-09T00:37:00.000-08:00

Spiderman and Sleepovers

2011-02-09T00:28:00.000-08:00

Saga had a friend stay the night last Sat. It went really really well. They played until it was time for bed and then fell fast asleep. Here is a picture of them watching a movie together in the morning before we headed out to gymnastics.

Saga is into Spiderman right now. For her birthday she got these pjs but really needed a mask SO I made her one out of a pair of tights. She looks more like a thief then Spidermand but she's happy with it.

Sleepover picture

Turned 31

2011-02-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

I had a great birthday. We tried to get a family photo before the party started. It was pretty funny running back and forth with two kids and trying to get Sixten to look at the camera. I put on a few so you can take your pick. None of them are "good" but I think they are sweet.

This was an upside down picture but somehow it got turned sideways.

Sixten in his walker.

My yummy yummy birthday cake.

Warm January Day

2011-01-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

HI! We've had a nice Sat. outside after being inside for the last week due to more sickness. Will it ever end??? Some pictures from the week. ENJOY!

Saga and Sixten sitting in a box.

Saga and I made some ice art the other day. As you can see the blue one broke from spinning around and hitting the other ones.

Sixten sleeping outside today. It was a warm -9C. Saga and I did some skiing while Sixten slept.

After bath time. He loves his baths.

Last weekend Axel just had to go out skiing for 3 hours in the -32C weather. He looked like this when he came home.

Sixten sitting in the box. Saga took this picture.

Saga painting a picture of Snow White that she got for her birthday from her friend Axel.

Just had to put another sweet sweet picture of my baby boy.

4 years and 5 months

2011-01-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

This week we celebrated Saga's 4th birthday and Sixten turning 5 months. Yesterday we had Axel's family over for dinner and then our family friends came over for cake and cookies. I spent all day baking and cooking.

Harrieth, Axel, and Ulrika enjoying their red velvet cake. It was a spiderman themed party. Saga is into spiderman now.

Sixten was in my lap and was sucking on the plate. He fell asleep like that, I'm not kidding. He has a very itchy mouth but no teeth yet.

Birthday Guests

Sixten can sit up now for a bit. Have I mentioned how stinking sweet and cute he is??

LOVE HIM!!!

3/4 of the Nordmark Family.

Father and Son

Saga is very creative. She came out of the bathroom very proud of her creation.

We hiked into the hunting cabin last weekend. Sixten in the sled, Saga hitching a ride and Papa skiing. I was trudging along behind without skis in deep snow. My calves were hurting the next day.

The Laugh

2010-12-30T03:21:00.000-08:00

Saga is such a great big sister. She loves to make Sixten smile and laugh. He of course loves her even more. This was just so cute I had to make a video

laughing sixten from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Famous Even in Sweden

2010-12-29T03:08:00.000-08:00

Sixten and Uncle Daniel meet for the first time, haha.

Axel brought home a magazine yesterday and told me to look at a certain page. It took me awhile but then I saw the company my brother Dan works for on the page. I thought that was pretty cool, but then Axel told me to look at the picture. It was my brother Dan in the picture. I called him to confirm and it's true. A star even in Sweden. Love you Daniel!!

Strange Christmas

2010-12-29T02:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all. We had a strange Christmas here in Sweden. Saga was really really sick the whole week before Christmas. I was wondering if she was ever going to feel better, high fever and just wanted to sleep all the time. Finally on Christmas Eve she pulled out of it and we actually got to leave the house and spend x-mas with Axel's family. Axel wasn't there though because he was on call all x-mas weekend. A big cable broke and we was working ALL weekend. So Christmas day was spent at home just the three of us. Saga got to open her presents from America. Below is her Bitty Baby named Emma. Thank you for sending us gifts in Sweden. I know postage costs a lot and sometimes the boxes don't even show up. My mom sent three boxes and only two have arrived. Everyday we get mail (mon, wed, fri) we hope for a box.

Farmor helping Saga put on a new dress she got for Christmas.

Farfar trying on Alina's new helmet.

Santa came with a big sack of gifts.

Uncle Arvid and a drooling Sixten. He's always naked because his clothes get so wet.

Not the best Christmas picture but it will have to do :)

Christmas Killer and Sick Saga, what a pair.

Just A Little Peek

2010-12-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

A Sunday Afternoon from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Siblings

2010-12-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Saga holding Sixten. It doesn't look like it here but he really loves his sister. She can make him smile, laught, and cry. Love those two so much.

Saga's Minks

2010-12-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, there are 7 frozen minks laying on my living room floor. Saga and Axel have a mink trap down by the water in front of our house. Every evening consists of them going out to check the mink trap. They have been very pleased with their trap, 7 were caught this fall. She is quite the hunter/trapper.

Videos and More

2010-11-24T00:41:00.001-08:00

He loves to have his head like this when he's sleeping. It looks worst than it really is, I promise.

Laying naked looking at the Toys R Us Christmas ad.

Here is a link to a new video of Saga doing some great dancing and one of Sixten laying on his tummy. Enjoy!
http://vimeo.com/17077018

Weekend Report

2010-11-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

HI! We had a fun and busy weekend. Arvid and Helena were here so we could finally celebrate Arvid's 30th birthday. Sat. was filled with fun at Farmor and Farfar's house. We played all day and then had a wonderful dinner in celebration of Arivid. Sunday was more celebration with friends. It's snowed here and been rather cold. Winter is here!!

Sixten could stand and look at the puppies all day.

Helena and the kids

Sixten and I having a quiet moment

Farmor and Saga

Arvid the birthday boy

We had some wonderful light this morning. Thought this was a great photo opportunity.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Sixten with his great grandma who turned 82 today.

Sixten looking at his Mama.

He's found his hands and loves sucking on them.

Practicing sitting at the table. It's still a bit dangerous due to the lack of head control. He is really stable but untrustworthy. Boy does he drool, could it be teeth already???

Yesterday was our second annual Halloween Party. Fun was had by all.

We had...

a witch

a skeleton

a lion

an Indian

a clown and a pregnant lady dressed as an old man with a big belly

3 princesses and a few more guests who didn't get their pictures taken.

painting pumpkins

The Season Is Over

2010-10-26T01:17:00.000-07:00

After 5 intense weeks of fishing it's now time to put the nets away until next year.

Sweet Sixten

2010-10-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

11 weeks old today!

Requests

2010-10-26T00:55:00.000-07:00

Axel's uncle wanted me to post some pictures of the puppies. They are thinking of getting one of them and wanted to see what they looked like. So these pictures are for them :)

Saga's Gymnastics

2010-10-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday we go to gymnastics, all three of us. Sixten usually sleeps while Saga shows off her skills. She has extremely strong arms and can really jump. It's a great way to start a Sunday.

Look I Can Sit

2010-10-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

I propted Sixten up this morning in the chair. He is pretty stable for a 10 week old. He's so sweet and wonderful. Looks a bit sour in this picture though, need to get one of his cute smile.

My Little Cowboy

2010-10-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

The shaggy haired big sister

Saga came out of her room with the cowboy hat that my dad bought for her. It's too small so shw wanted brother to try it on. It just so happened that Sixten had on his pink pj's, he was so coordinated.

Flying By

2010-10-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how fast the weeks just seem to fly by. It's Sat. night already, again. Where did the week go??? We've had such a busy day today. Saga had dance class, which you will see below. It's a different class then the one she was in in the Spring. She really enjoys it. Still the smallest but that's no big deal. Then we went shopping for a few items and presents. We headed back to Farmor's House to look at the new puppies. Their dog had 6 puppies a week ago (also a picture below). Next on our agenda was our good friend Elin's birthday party. A fun two hours of sugar and playing. What a day!! Then it was back home for dinner and packaging of the cavier Axel caught today. In case you don't know, Axel has been fishing for a certain kind of fish in which the eggs are pretty good to eat. He's set aside 5 weeks of his time to do this. It's very time consuming and hard but he is enjoying it.

Our Sat. in pictures:

Dance class. Saga is up in the front in the white tights and pink dress.

Elin's 4th Birthday!

Fish eggs

Axel getting ready to dry the caviar eggs.

What kids doesn't love to hold puppies? Saga LOVES the hold them all. She just sits there and switches between them all.

Sikan and her 6 puppies.

Sixten hanging out in his swing. He can sit there for longer periods of time now. He's 8 weeks old here.

Here is a picture of Saga when she was about the same age as Sixten is now. Just fun to compare

Saga took a late night boat ride with Axel last week. He brought her inside looking like this. It wasn't easy taking off everything while she was sleeping. I had to take a picture, she looked so cute. She never woke up either.

Sixten's film debut

2010-09-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sixten and Saga from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

The Cozy Days of Fall

2010-09-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday morning here in Sweden and the rain is pouring down. Sixten is sleeping in my Moby wrap (which is a life saver, highly recommend it to any new mother), Axel and Saga left this morning to go on an adventure. I just finished vaccuming and thought this is a wonderful time to update the blog.

Sixten is 6 weeks old now. He is so sweet and just starting to smile. It's takes a lot of work on my part to get something out of him but it's well worth it. It seems like he is calming down a bit in the day time. He was crying a lot and not sleeping so much during the day but sleeping GREAT at night. Eating well, loves warm baths, and likes his sisters kisses on his mouth. Saga is so sweet with him, no problems at all in that department, luckily!

A proud hunter. Axel and Saga have a mink trap down by the water that they check everyday. She loves it and reminds him as soon as he gets home that they need to go check the trap. They got one last week and she was thrilled. It was carried around the yard all afternoon and played with. Well, this week they got another one, unbelievable fun for a 3 year old sweetheart.

Typical morning at our house, Sixten on my shoulder while getting breakfast ready. He is holding his head up so well.

Packing moose meat late at night with Sixten in the Moby. It's great to be married to a moose hunter, lots of meat to eat all year long.

Saga in her new snowsuit grandma bought for her. It will keep her warm during those cold days playing outside.

Hat Time

2010-09-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

Saga having some outside art time.

SuperSaga

Sixten 3 1/2 weeks

Saga 3 weeks

Sometimes when Sixten is sleeping he looks like Saga when she was a baby. What do you think? Sorry the picture is sideways, turn your head.

We got a package in the mail from my grandparents this week. Axel, Saga, and Sixten all got matching hunting hats. Fall has come and hats are becoming more and more necessary. We are getting into a routine. We've been visiting friends this week and have gone shopping. Today we are going to a birthday party and then to Farmor's for dinner. Uncle Arvid is in town for the week. Moose hunting starts on Sunday, yeah meat!!

Sixten & Saga's Visitors

2010-08-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Some pictures from the last three weeks. Can't believe I don't have more of my mom but that was such a busy time. The camera wasn't a priority. We are back to our family of four after three weeks of visitors. Sixten is growing and Saga is enjoying being a big sister.

Saga showing off her great face-painting skills. Two happy customers!

Axel's birthday party (Harrieth and Helen)

More guest and the birthday boy (Stig-Olof and Tobias)

Uncle Viktor

Making smores out in the teepee.

Michelle was Saga's horse the whole week. Notice the cowboy boots on Saga. Michelle actually sent those to her when she was a baby. She loves to wear them now.

Michelle, Bill, and Saga really excited to eat dinner.

Sixten loved to curl up on Michelle.

Sixten LOVES to sleep if someone is holding him.

Saga with her baby in her pack (just like I do with her brother).

Sixten wide awake.

One of those evenings where everyone wanted to be with mom. Both of my babies were asleep on me.

Great-Grandma

Saga in her new dress and her YUMMY chocolate chip cookie grandma made.

Grandma admiring her 8th grandchild.

Proud big sister Saga

Sixten's first visitors (after grandma of course).

More Sixten Pictures

2010-08-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

On our way into the hospital to see what's next!

A few hours old

Saga meets Sixten

Papa and Sixten at the hospital.

Enjoying our fika after Sixten was born.

Baby Sixten

2010-08-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

Sven Sixten Emanuel Nordmark born Aug. 1oth at 11:08 PM. 8 pds

20.5 inches. Busy with Saga and Sixton will add more pictures later.

Still Waiting!

2010-08-06T00:08:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update on the baby situation. My due date was yesterday and baby didn't make an apperance. We are picking up my mom at the airport today (Friday) at 4:30. So it seems like she will be getting to see me very pregnant. With Saga she arrived the day after she was born, which actually worked out perfectly. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. I'll keep you posted!

New Videos

2010-07-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

We are doing well here. Hard to believe it's the last week of July. My mom will be here in two weeks and the baby sometime before that we hope. I downloaded a few new videos. Saga is really into playing soccor right now. She tries to get everyone that comes and visit to play a game with her. The other new video is of her dance recital that was in May. Better late then never. Just click on the link below and it will take you to the videos.

http://www.vimeo.com/13576123

37 Weeks

2010-07-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

Fanny and Alina stayed the night on Sunday. The girls made signs and watched the soccor game from Saga's bed. GO SPAIN!

Saga and her friend Vilgot.

37 Weeks pregnant and now we are just playing the waiting game. I feel great just a bit tired.

June Fun

2010-06-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

My brother Daniel and his girlfriend Liz came to visit us. They were here for four very short fun filled days. The pictures are in the wrong order but you get the picture. We spent lots of time outside in the beautiful weather. We loved having them here and can't wait for them to come back next year, hint hint.

group picture before heading to the airport.

Liz and Saga inside the cabin that all of our guests get to stay in. It's so cozy in there.

Liz and Daniel wanted to take home a reindeer skin. Axel has so many skins that they got to choose one from our collection.

Part of the Mid-Summer pole and Saga in the background.

Mid-Summer strawberry cake and coffee. Just one of our treats we had that day.

Alina got confirmed on Friday (Mid-Summer Day)

Alina, Fanny, and Viktor ( syblings)

Alina's confirmation group. She's the last one on the left in a white robe.

At the church for Alina's confirmation. Daniel's face says it all. One hour of sitting there understanding nothing, I guess you could say they were bored but they were good sports.

Daniel and Mormor. She just loves him!!

Mormor sporting a pair of Daniel's sunglasses.

Daniel and Liz

Saga is really into sign language lately. We have a book that she just had to show Uncle Daniel. He was a fast learner.

Uncle Daniel kicking Saga. I guess they were playing, haha.

Uncle Daniel and Saga at the boat harbor.

Liz and Saga on the boat.

Daniel and Axel sitting in the back of the boat. The girls were in the front.

Lunch outside in the yard.

Liz and Axel hanging out at the picnic table on their first morning here.

Saga fell asleep at 6:00PM on the lawnmower. I guess you could say she was tired!

I thought this was a funny sequence of pictures. She can turn from grumpy to happy in a matter of seconds. It can go the other way as well.

We had some guests over for coffee and Saga ran out of her room dressed like this. Underwear on her head and crown around her belly.

Saga and Elin

Saga loves to hug on Elin. Elin is very patient with Saga, she normally doesn't like to hugged and touched so much but she let's Saga do it. They are cute friends.

The Last Few Weeks

2010-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

My baby belly 30 weeks!

Yesterday was Mother's Day in Sweden. So here is a picture of me and my little girl. I love being a mom!!

Saga had her dance recital a few weeks ago. It was really cute. I'm just happy she went up on the stage. At the dress rehersal she wanted me to come up with her. She impressed me by running up there when it was their turn.

Before the BIG SHOW

Another cute picture of Papa and his little girl. Saga wants to be with Axel all the time. She goes outside with him everynight and does his "jobs" with him.

Saga and her friend Micah up in her new bed.

We'be been horseback riding twice and Saga loves it. She isn't scared at all and jumps right on the pony. I see a horse in our future (maybe).

Saga has a white board in her room and I came in and found this picture. Thought it was interesting.

Stockholm Weekend

2010-05-23T04:37:00.000-07:00

As I'd mentioned before in an earlier post, Axel's brother and his wife Helena invited us down to Stockholm for the weekend. We arrived late Thursday night and then spent Friday morning exploring the parks around their apartment. We found one that had a slide Saga just couldn't refuse. Then Axel and I were driven to a castle about an hour away to stay the night. Saga was going to stay with auntie and uncle. Everything was lovely and the food was AMAZING. Saga and Arvid picked us up on Sat. morning and we headed back to Stockholm. It was great spending time with Helena and Arivd. We had a wonderful time and always miss them when we are in Luleå and them in Stockholm.

On our way to dinner in the dining room of the castle.

The castle/hotel we stayed at on Friday night.

Self-portrait in front of the cute field of flowers.

Our room at the castle.

Arvid, Keane, Axel and Saga throwing rocking in the water.

Many trips were made down the slide over the weekend.

On the way to the fun park in the middle of Stockholm.

Birthday Surprises

2010-05-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

These last few weeks have been full of fun. My mother-in-law planned a surprise birthday adventure for all the Nordmark girls (except Helena who lives in Stockholm). We headed to town for a day filled with surprises. First a new dress for me, then a new haircut and some make-up. After all this we headed home for a birthday dinner with friends. My birthday was in Jan. but I was in America and haven't had a chance to celebrate with everyone in Sweden. I didn't think it was a big deal but turning 30 seems to get others excited!! We also took a trip to Stockholm last weekend for another 30th birthday surprise weekend. I will post those pictures later and tell all about it.

A 26 weeks belly shot

Sweet picture of Saga. She is loving the freedom of warm Spring days without a coat. They are few now a days but soon :)

It's baking time, yum yum.

Harieth and Saga getting ready to bake.

I decided to make curtain for Saga's new room. I've never sewn before and it proved to be more difficult then once thought. The first machine I borrowed caused me much despair. So I went over to Saga's great grandma's house and she showed me the ropes. They aren't bad for my first pair.

Axel putting out new boat into the water. We've taken many trips up and down the little lake. The ice is still blocking the sea, so we can't really go far yet.

Papa and Saga having a cozy time in her new bed.

My birthday dinner. Axel sure got dressed up. He looked so handsome!!

The short side of the new hair cut. I wanted to go short and have some bangs. The beautician suggested this funky modern cut.

Before shot at the salon. Looking in books deciding on what kind of haircut.

On our way to our surprise adventure!!!

Another sweet one of Saga enjoying the sun on the porch.

Few New Videos

2010-04-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

I've added a few videos to our collection at Vimeo. Check them out by clicking on the link below.

http://www.vimeo.com/11102039

A New Season

2010-04-21T00:48:00.000-07:00

Spring has finally made it's way up to Luleå. We have been doing some major Spring cleaning/re-arranging in our house. We've had lots of changes in our lives this month. Saga has gotten her own room/bed. Our house is so small that when one room is used for Saga's things it's my job to find a place for the OTHER stuff that was in that room. It takes a bit of brain work but I think we have finally gotten things under control. Saga also started going to pre-school/daycare for 15 hours a week. She seems to enjoy herself and I am trying to enjoy the time I get home by myself (it is kind of weird to be home alone). That is only for a few more months until baby #2 shows up in August.

Saga's friend Klara playing in Saga's new room. I will take some more pictures when we are totally finished with her room.

We lifted our guest house up last week and set it on telephone poles. It was sinking into the ground, needs a new foundation. We have lots of guest coming this summer that are going to be staying in there, FUN!!

We took a trip behind the snowmobile over Easter. It was very bumpy and long. That's all I'm going to say :(

Papa and Saga playing.

Saga singing songs at pre-school. I will take more pictures of this as well.

Axel's cousin's baby got baptised a few weeks ago. His name is Henning.

Great-Grandma sent some St. Patrick's Day stickers. They were fun for the whole day. She really really really wanted me to take a picture of her looking like this.

20 weeks = Half Way There

2010-03-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted Axel to take a picture of my 20 week belly. It wasn't the best shot, my pants are too high, haha.

Self-portrait

We've had a busy week here in Sundom. Saga's friend Klara just got a new jacuzzi bathtub. She had a little party to try it out. Saga mostly sat on the side while Klara swam around.

We were on our way outside one morning and to my surprise I saw two hot air balloons hovering over the frozen lake. We rushed outside to see them flying over the house. It was pretty cool.

On Tuesday we had Axel, Elin, and Ulrika over to play. We ate lunch in the teepee we have set up in the yard. We played outside while we were waiting for the fire to get going.

Elin taking a walk around the teepee.

Saga in her pink slippers on the pink stool.

Last weekend we took a day trip over to our little hunting cabin that we were staying in this Fall. We hadn't been there since and we were wondering how it was fairing in the winter snow. Here we are sitting close to the fireplace eating our lunch.

Saga and I out on a walk. We took a break to see if we could climb in the snow, but it was too deep.

Saga in the new sled Axel bought us as a surprise when we came home from America. We've been wanting one for a LONG time. The dog can also pull it.

Homemade Bagels

2010-03-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

So if there was one thing I really missed eating in Sweden it would be bagels and cream cheese. When I was home I ate one almost everyday for breakfast. So I was determined to find a way to bring bagels to my house in Sweden. Who know it was so EASY to make bagels. I am a big angry at myself for not looking into this option earlier.

We decided to bake them one morning when we were up at 3:30. Here is Saga waiting for us to get started.

Not the most perfectly rounded bagels but who cares. It was rather cold in our house that morning so they didn't really raise properly.

Into the water for two minutes

Out of the oven (20 minutes of baking). They were so good. Hard on the outside and chewy on the inside. The recipe made eight and they were gone in two days. Time to double the batch and make some more.

Super Saga enjoying her bagel.

Saga and Papa cooked some sausage in the fire the other day. Trying to get it in her mouth, it was pretty funny.

Have I kept you waiting long enough??

2010-02-09T19:40:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've updated the blog. It gets a bit overwhelming after so much time has gone by. We have been in Washington for the last five weeks, and I had every intention of updating then but.... So we are back in Sweden now suffering from severe jet lag. Saga just won't sleep on command like I want. I'm finding myself getting VERY frustrated because I just want to sleep. This will pass, I know. Here are some pictures from the last two months. Lots happened from Saga's third birthday to our trip to America

Let the show begin!

Before we left for Washington we had a little sleep over at our house. Fanny and Alina stayed the night. Here were their beds for the night. Saga thinks it's wonderful to have guests!

Saga's pink birthday cupcakes. We celebrated Saga's third birthday on Jan. 12th.

Papa and Saga waiting anxiously for the guest to arrive for the birthday party.

Some of the party guest taking a much needed break. Watching a new Pipi movie.

We arrived in the big USA after a long trip over the ocean. Saga spent lots of time in grandma's bathtub. It's even more fun with friends to bath with.

We planned a little birthday celebrating when we got to America. Here is Saga helping grandma with the cake. Licking the bowl is a family favorite.

Just SOME of the princess attire Saga recieved from family and friends.

Christian and Grace helping with the present opening.

Uncle Jim throwing out the peace sign.

Saga's cute birthday cake.

Beautiful Michelle modeling a nice headband. I was so happy that she made it over to visit for the weekend. I miss her SO much!!

Cousind Celia and Haley hanging out at the party.

Great Grandparents... We spend many of our days hanging out at their house. Loved that we got to spend so much time with them.

Stephanie, Terrace, and Baby Braden drove down for a nice visit. This is the only picture I have of them being in Eatonville. I must say I wasn't very good at documenting our trip. We went to Bellingham for a whole week and I forgot my camera. SUCH A BUMMER!! Terrace and Saga played rather well together, much better then last year.

I also had a birthday while we were there. We had a nice dinner at my grandparents house and some yummy cake.

We went out to Chinese on my real birthday. We were all happily surprised at how good the food was. I asked the owner if he would take a picture of us and he misunderstood me. He thought I wanted to take a picture of him and his wife together. It was so funny.

We also celebrated my grandparents 55 wedding anniversary on Feb. 5th. It was really fun; pizza, games, and cake. FUN FUN FUN! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the wedding pair together. Like I said, bad documentation.

Saga wearing the cute hat Michelle and Billy bought her for her birthday.

On Superbowl Sunday we went out to NW Trek for a Volksmarch. We choose to walk the 5 Km route. It was really fun and we got to see lots of animals.

We took a break in the middle of the walk for a photo. I think this is a great picture of 4 generations.

Saga and Grace really took to each other. They played so well together. Saga really loved her cousin and misses her. She asks for stories about Saga and Grace.

I got to go with Grace to her school as a parent helper. It was their Valentine's Day Party. Great-Grandma made her this heart to take to school with her.

We out to dinner with two friends at the Melting Pot. The food was great the company even better. Sarah ( the one in the middle) and I are both 17 weeks pregnant. My belly shows a bit more then hers, haha.

We were lucky enough to have Heather, Halla, and Sage come over from Omak to visit. They drove over and we had dinner together. It was great to see them and catch up

The whole gang. Great face Grace!

The next morning we went to Tall Timber for breakfast. My dad used to take us there all the time. YUMMY!

Tried really hard to get some good pictures of Grace and Saga together. I liked this one a lot.

In front of the Eatonville fire truck. I can't believe that I don't have any pictures of the Doll family. Miranda sent my some on facebook of Jackson and Saga but I don't know how to get them to the blog. We got to spend so much time with everyone but it always is so hard to leave my home. We have come back to extremely cold weather -25 F. Am longing for a warm Spring day.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-02T06:28:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. Thanks to all that sents cards and presents. We've had tons of late nights and wonderful dinners at friends. I forgot our camera on New Years but will update again when Helena shares hers with me.

Saga's stocking I've been working on all Decemeber. It got finished Christmas Eve at 10:30 PM.

Our yummy Christmas food!!

Brothers Nordmark in matching shirts (just like when they were little, so cute :)

Some of the girls in their Christmas dresses.

Sisters Nordmark at their wonderful dance recital.

Funny face!!

Pink Princess

2009-12-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Snow white right after she woke up. Saga has these princess dresses on ALL DAY LONG. Yes she has even fallen asleep in them.

It's all about princesses and pink. She's a real girly girl.

Cute cute

Angels making snow angels

Our Swedish Thanksgiving Dinner

princess princess princess

More face painting, no it's not blood

Two New Videos

2009-11-11T05:13:00.000-08:00

I put up two new videos on Vimeo but I couldn't get them to load onto the blog. Click here to see them.
http://www.vimeo.com/7546640

Baking and Dancing

2009-11-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

HI! We've been so busy the last few weeks. It seems like I always say that, but it's really true. The weeks fly by! Here is a quick picture update. I have to go check on Saga, who fell asleep while watching a movie tonight. She has pink eye, which she got from her aunt last night. Looks like tomorrow we will be staying home. That sounds kind of nice actually. Good night!

Twice a year we get the opportunity to bake bread in a fire warmed oven with our friend Harrieth. This was the first year Saga got to be a part of the baking. She did so well and even made her own bread shaped like a car and a turtle.

Getting the oven nice and warm.

Getting ready to go to dance class.

Saturday mornings are booked up for dance class. Saga is the youngest and the smallest one there. She does pretty well but needs me to be very close by.

The first snowman of the season.

Wednesday we celebrated Mormor's 81st birthday at our house. Please ignore the look on my face. It was the only birthday picture we had.

Halloween Party

2009-10-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Saga and I hosted a Halloween Party this afternoon. We invited four friends and their mothers. Many activities were planned and fun was had by all. Pumpkin painting and cookie decorating were just a few of the exciting events.

The pirate Magdalena and her little kitten Klara.

Saga enjoying her candy, not so into the cookies.

Ulrika the witch (not really, she is the best) and her little princess Elin.

Minna the bear and her little Tiger Vilgot. Spiderman is little Axel.

My little cat fairy .

The sweet girls

Axel boiling his moose skull. He shot this one a few weekends ago. He boils it to clean off all the dirt and yuck so he can hang it on the wall, o boy.

Saga and Elin at Elin's birthday party.

Klara has baby chickens, and Saga got to hold them and actually get in the cage with them, fun.

Axel took a trip to the tannery to pick up animal skins he had taken there a year ago. Here is Saga playing in a pile of fox furs.

We've been dealing with the normal fall sicknesses here. Tomorrow Axel and I are going to a 30th birthday party, and Saga is staying the night at farmors. Have a great weekend!

September Pictures

2009-10-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

September has been BUSY!!! We've been so busy that I haven't even taken that many pictures.

Saga wanted to practice for Halloween, so here she is as a fairy cat.

Last Sunday we helped out some friends of the family pick potatoes. I think it's really fun, and this year it was made much easier due to a new sort of machine which dug up the potatoes. We just had to follow after the tractor and pick them up. Saga had fun as well.

Elin looking for the ones left behind.

We have had some pretty amazing mushrooms this Fall. These are a few of the many red and white mushrooms we've found around our house.

Axel walked down the road to shoot a bird he saw when coming home that day. Saga and I followed and we're happily surprised when he emerged from the woods with this bird in hand.

We spent a few days at Helena's parents' house a few hours south of Luleå. They have this statue in their front room. Of course Saga tried to ride on it but she was quickly taken off.

Papa the prince Saga the princess

Here we are at Klara's Princess Party. She turned 3 at the beginning of Sept. We've been spending lots of time with Klara this month. We go swimming together once a week and try to find other ways to play throughout the week.

New Videos

2009-09-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

>p>

Cars, cars, cars from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

The Wrestler from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Finally!!!

2009-09-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

I'm finally finding time to update the blog. The last three weeks have been spent focusing on getting my Swedish Driver's License. I was allowed to drive for one year on my American license (four years later) I've finally got it! Anyway, I now feel like I can get back to my regular evening jobs (blog, reading, internet browsing).

Here are a few late sunmmer pictures. The middle of August brings crawfish season. It has become a tradition to spend an evening with family friends catching some crawfish, and then eating them the next night. I was in charge of bringing dessert, so I slipped a picture of my yummy pie/cake. More pictures to come of Axel's birthday, but I somehow got sucked into reading the Twilight Series and just need to head over to the couch and finish book two (waiting for Edward to come back!!!).

Saga's playhouse

Our yummy peas we grew in the garden.

The crawfish

The Crawfish Party (Not sure why we all have to wear goofy hats but...)

It was a great night. Everyone went home very very full!

Norway

2009-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time on our road trip to Norway. I highly recommend taking a drive on the islands called Lofoten in northern Norway. The cabins were cozy and the weather beautiful. The best part was spending quality time with my two favorites.

Sunday (the day we left) was spend celebrating Alina's birthday.

Texas was in position and ready to go! He rode up there the whole time. We left Sunday night around 10 PM. We wanted Saga to sleep and she did until we stopped to sleep as well. She crawled in back with me and we finally fell asleep.

Our first night was spent in the car.

Axel slept outside in his sleeping bed. We woke him up because we were HUNGRY and wanted to go get some breakfast!!

Cabin #1

Trying to stay cool in our first cabin of the trip. Loving the bunk beds!

Beach in Narvik, it was so HOT!

These shoes were wore while, in the carseat, for about 75 % of the trip.

Saga really wanted Texas to wear her hat.

Trolls trolls everywhere. It seems to be a very Scandinavian Thing.

A little down time was needed while watching a movie.

The view from cabin #2.

Dinner on the patio. What a wonderful place to be!

Our cabin is the one right behind us with the grass roof.

The theme of the trip was "bunkbeds". Saga loves bunk beds and three out of four cabins we stayed in had them. She was THRILLED to say the least, up down up down. This is probably classified as a bunk bed but whatever it was fun!

My girl!!

We found a great beach just two minutes from our cabin. Hours were spend looking for glass and shells. It doesn't go to capture the beauty in a picture.

Saga really wanted to go up on that rock.

Papa was more then willing to find a way to get her up.

Enjoying the outdoor faucet.

A cup of coffee while waiting for the ferry to show up.

We took a 4 hour ferry ride to our last destination.

A very tired little girl on the ferry

We head outside to get some fresh air and wake up a bit.

Axel having a snack before bed. Our last stop was at Jenny and Andrea's cabin on our way back home.

Home Sweet Home.

Saga is into face painting right now. We're cats, can't you tell???

Celebrations

2009-07-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

Our internet is back. I really don't spend much time on the computer everyday, usually just look at a few things daily. But when one is without it seems really strange. Life has been busy as usual here. Birthdays, visitors, trips to the beach, what fun we have!! On Sunday we head off to Norway for a little road trip. We'll be gone a week. I'm sure I'll be back with lots of pictures to share. Everyone we've talked to about northern Norway says it's extremely beautiful. We are ready for a family trip. Axel has been working all summer, most Swedes take 5 weeks off in the summer. So this will be his first week off in a long time, YEAH!!

These pictures are for my mom. She asks about the flowers she planted all the time so I thought I'd show her a few pictures.

They look beautiful mom, thanks!

Axel's Dad celebrated his 61st birthday on Wednesday. BBQ and cake out on their new deck, yum.

We had playgroup at our house this week. Every Tuesday a few of us get together and let the kids play while we chat. We look forward to Tuesdays every week. The weather has been beautiful the last few days, many a meal has been eaten outside.

Axel's cousin (Matilda) and her new baby(Henning, I love that name), 3 months old, came for a visit this week. Saga loves when babies come to visit. She is so loving and sweet with them.

Saga and Baby Henning, yes he's only three months old and BIG!

Axel and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary on Monday. We headed to town for an after dinner treat and some quality time to just talk. Love being married to Axel, we live such a great life together.

2009-07-21T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's all about babies now a days. She plays with them , acts like she is one, Axel and I are the babies and she's the mama. She LOVES BABIES!!!

Here she is nursing her baby.

A rare family shot. Of course Saga is looking away.

My little princess.

No, she didn't climb up there by herself but really wanted to. She talks about climbing trees all the time. I just can't seem to find one where she can actually get to climb up it.
We've been without internet for a few days due to a thunderstorm which blew up our modem. Been busy hanging with family and friends all week long. Arvid and Helena were here visiting this weekend. Summer is flying by, but we can't say we aren't enjoying every second of it.

On Her Way

2009-07-07T23:33:00.000-07:00

sleep over from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Cool Water on a Hot Day

2009-07-03T00:13:00.000-07:00

Saga Swimming from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

She looks blue

The last week has been spent in the water. We've been swimming twice a day and loving it. Saga seems to be a water girl, which is so funny because there was a point when she refused to get in the bathtub. Things are always changing with little ones.

2 Weeks of FUN!!

2009-06-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's so hard to believe that my parents have already left. We had such a great time with them. It was so wonderful having them here, hopefully they will be back soon. Time flies when you're having fun!!!

On Father's Day we drove to a beautiful place that I have never been to before. A big waterfall called Storforsen. We walked around and then had lunch. Saga did a bit of playing in the water as well. It was a very enjoyable day. Dinner was moose file on the BBQ, so good!!

Saga playing in the water.

Dan at Storforsen

More mid-summer dancing

I love this picture. Saga and Grandpa walking out in front of our house.

Mom and Dan spent lots of time sitting in these chairs reading their books.

Play Time!

Saga being very serious on the carousel.

walking the labyrinth in Sundom

Mid-Summer 2009

2009-06-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

The making of the mid-summer pole. The night before we went out and picked flowers (or weeds, as mom calls them). Then the next day after the fesitval we put the flowers on the frame. It looks beautiful for a few hours then the flowers get a bit droopy. It was fun to share the experience with mom and Dan.

mid-summer from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

They've Arrived!!

2009-06-18T04:41:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dan made it here safely. We are enjoying our time together, it's great!!! Tomorrow is the mid-summer celebration. It means their trip is half-way over :(

Mom came prepared to do some yardwork. The three snakes we've seen have scared her off a bit though.

Saga helping shovel dirt into the new flowerbed.

Dan waiting for the next direction.

Mom planting the expensive plants we bought for the new flowerbed around the flagpole. It's beautiful!!!

Saga on her way to wake up grandma and grandpa in their stuga. I have to lock the door to keep her away from them in the morning.

knock knock knock, are you awake?

Dressed up in a towel dress.

We bought a brand new riding lawn mower. If I ever wanted to see my husband this summer, a riding mower was an important purchase. Before the rider he was spending every evening mowing the lawn, urg!

Swedish Mother's Day

2009-06-09T23:58:00.000-07:00

Three generations

Saga showing off her "summer clothes".

We celebrated Swedish Mother's Day on May 31st with Axel's grandma. It was a beautiful windy day in which we ate saffron fish soup, yum!

The countdown has begun, grandma and grandpa will be here in 36 hours. We can barely contain ourselves!!!!

So Lucky

2009-05-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

I just love the way Saga and I spend our days together. No real plans, just doing whatever we feel like doing that day. We've been spending so much time outside lately exploring the forest, picking weeds, watering the tomato plants, having picnics, going on bike rides, checking the fish traps with Papa. I don't think life could get any better then this. Well, actually my parents are coming for a visit in two weeks so we get to share our wonderful days with them. YEAH!!

I took a risk and put my tomato plants outside for the summer. I hope it doesn't freeze :(

Saga's friends Amelia drinking some "tea" together.

Saga helping Papa gut a few fish.

2009-05-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

saga in the woods from Kate Nordmark on Vimeo.

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

Saga and I celebrated Nemo's second birthday on Sunday. The goodie bags contained this cool straw and mask. Thanks for the great party.

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We had a nice day in the forest last weekend. Saga was taking a nap and I was finishing a good book. Axel was waiting for Texas(our dog that ran off) to come back.

My little forest fairy.

Axel, Jessica (the birthday girl) and Andreas

Axel and I had a night out together a few weeks ago. Jessica turned 30 and had a really nice party. Saga slept over at Farmor and Farfar's house. Her first sleep over and it went perfectly.

It's been so long since I've posted anything. Believe me it's been on my mind but have just had other things to do. I haven't downloaded any pictures from my camera in weeks and promise to do it tomorrow. I just wanted to write a quick mother's day post since I know my mom checks our blog everyday waiting for a new post. Saga fell asleep pretty early tonight (8:30), yes she's a night owl, so I thought I would make myself a cup of tea and read a magazine before going to bed. Maybe I will spend a little time talking to my husband without interuption as well. I love being a mother and everything that comes with it, but there is nothing better then a few hours before bedtime to yourself.
Happy Mother's Day MOM!! I love you and can't wait for you to get here. Happy Mother's Day to all of my friends who have been such a blessing and inspiration to me. I thank you all for all of your advice and support. The world's greatest gift is to be a mother!