Gas leak

A wonderful hot day with sun and a little breeze :-D Marlee and I have mostly been spending the day around the house. Checked out the pool (no swimming though) and the dock. Marlee really wants to stand up ALL the time now. Sometimes he keep himself busy with a box or a toy on the floor and that is when I try to get something done... The box for the high chair his farmor and farfar bought him kept him busy for quite a while :-D Alex has had a busy day working and he is still working on an article that is due today, or I guess before tomorrow morning ;-)

So what happened with my computer you may wonder (if you have read the previous blog post)?? Marlee and I went to the store but shortly after we arrived they had to evacuate everybody because of a gas leak... The whole buiding (plus a few other ones close by) had to be emptied and suddenly all customers from all the stores in the building wanted to leave the parking garage at the same time! What a mess!! Both the fire department and police were there to organize the evacuation and the traffic...We got home safely without any problems but with no computer... Expect to be luckier tomorrow, if not, I can always go to a different store...

Jackie, I have just finished my cooking of the squash. Kathy and I had some for dinner (it was too healthy for the guys ;-) and the rest is now in the freezer.

Marlee just went to sleep and so will I now. I hope you all have some sweet dreams!

Sunny Miami

Miami is serving us beautiful weather and Alex's parents is offering us tip top service :-) Me and Marlee have visited a few stores with Kathy and the other day Marlee and I went out on Sonny's and Leon's boat together with Kathy, Sonny and Meredith (Sonny's daughter). It was a great day! I went swimming and Marlee was laughing most of the time. He even got to practice driving the big boat with Sonny!! :-) Alex had to stay home working..

Today I was happy to talk will everyone in my close family on skype. So nice!!! Miss them and is so looking forward to have them here soon!!! (Pappa, ser ju jatte bra ut pa Faro!!! Ska bli sa spannande att fa se det pa riktigt!) After that Kathy, Alex, Marlee and I went to church and Sunday mass. It was probably the most entertaining mass I have ever been too, the priest made jokes and it was great music!

Marlee is eating more and more solid food and today he had "frikadeller" with mashed potatoes. It was a hit and maybe the chicken dish I made today will be popular, too... Time will tell...

My computer is broken so unfortunately there will not be any photos before I have solved that. Will hopefully go for a laptop hunt tomorrow :-) If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let me know, I have not looked into this market in a few years and feel a little rusty... Now I am going to do some computer research, see you all soon!

Love

Catch up

Time to add some pictures from the passed week and give a brief update.

 

At one of the motels on the way to Florida



Alex and Marlee on the beach, Ormond Beach

  

Nancy, Betchy and Marlee in the house in Ormond Beach



Marlee with one of the dogs, she (the dog) was so nice to him!



After spending time with Nancy and Bechy in Ormond we stayed one more night and then took off for Callahan where Jackie and Doug live. Had a nice reunion dinner with them, as well as Alex's sister Cindy, her daughter Ariel and her boyfriend and brother. Super nice to see them all again!! Marlee got a lot of fun toys from Jackie and Doug! Even I got a little present, a nice book, Mother Love :-D  

Last breakfast at Jackie's and Doug's

Stayed two nights with Jackie and Doug (and their dogs and cats :-) and we got to see Troy and Michelle (Alexs's two other older siblings). During our second day at the house we had a shooting competion. It took them quite a while to convince me to use the gun. Not really my kind of thing. In the end I did use it, but Alex had to cover my ears, even though I had ear plugs. I simply dislike the sound very much. I did hit our target(a paper plate with some stripes :-)  !!!

 Foto: unknown dude ;-)                                                         
Alex,      Jorge,       Alex,         Tina
                  Marlee

On the way down to Miami we spent some time in Gainesville to see Alex and Jorge. Unfortunately, little Lucas could not come but we will meet up with them again before we leave the States. Can't wait to see him!!! 

Well, now we are down in Miami and last night we had the pleasure to have some dinner over at Joyce's house (friend of Alex's parents). Very good Turkey!

Today it is Thanks giving and we have had a Turkey dinner again. Really yummy. My favorite was the sallad with apples, raisins, marshmallows(!!!), some white sauce etc as well as the cranberries!! Marlee's favorite was surely the sweet potatoes :-D Well done, Kathy!

Quick update

Location: Miami

Time: 00:28 am

Will write a better update tomorrow and add those pictures that I have promised for so long... We have met so many good family and friends the last days and I wish that I had time to spend more time with every one of them! Thank you Jackie and Doug for being such wonderful hosts!!

Oh, and now Robyn (Swedish singer, she is good) is on TV, Late night with Jay Leno. Sweden rocks! ;-) Little weird outfit though, but I guess I am not cool enough to understand the fashion...

Well, see you tomorrow, time to sleep!

Time: 00:41 (gosh, do I write slow... ;-)

Sleep Marlee Sleep!

It is almost midnight and Marlee is wide awake playing. He does not seem to have any plans on going to sleep... We have tried stroller walks, singing, nursing but to no avail. All this travelling surely has given us some sleeping issues. Time to start waking up early and waking him up!

I know that I have promised to add some pictures but I am sorry. The energy to deal with that is just not there today.

Met up with farmor Kathy today, to hand over Snowy. It was a short visit but good to see her! After that we had our first drive through chinese food ever. Really good!

Mum, dad and Linn, Super nice to talk with you today!! And you, too, Johan and Bosse ;-)

Beach!

Great day in Daytona and Ormond! Sun, beach, good food, and above all, great company! Betchy, Nancy, Alex, Marlee and I have enjoyed the day and it ended way too quickly! Marlee got to play in the sand a little and dip his toes in the ocean :-D Early tomorrow the girls will be leaving and we will sure miss them a lot!!!

I am really enjoying being in a nice clean house! Thanks Kathy and Mike for letting us stay here!

BOOGER PROGRESS:

Marlee did some great progress today, he made it from sitting to stading by holding on to the couch table!!! (and I missed it!)

Now I am hoping to very soon see all the family here in Florida and let them meet the booger.

Pics will be added shortly.

Kentucky to Tennessee to Alabama to Florida

We arrived to Florida today. Nancy and Betchy (friends that went to school with Alex in Brasil) were waiting for us in the house in Ormond beach. They are here for the weekend to spend some time with us :-D

We spent last night in Alabama. In a very simple little motel with very bad Internet so I did not update the blog. Was not that much to tell either... Today we made a quick stop in Tallahassee, which is the capital of Florida, where Alex was going to meet some people at a Florida newspaper.

After we arrived to Ormond the four of us, plus Marlee, went out for dinner. After that we have just spend time at the house. Now it is almost 3 am so time to go to sleep... Little Snowy is here with us, too :-D

Kansas to Missouri to Illinois to Kentucky

So continued our roadtrip today. It is more transportation than roadtrip since we do not really have time to make any stops except for eat and sleep. Did one exception today and stopped in St Louis to look at the arch, the highest man made "something" in North America. It was dark so the pictures did not come out very good but I might add one when we get to Florida. Now it is time to go to sleep. Just have to make sure Marlee understands that, too ;-)

Roadtrip started (Denver - Kansas)

Lying in the bed at a motel somewhere in Kansas (Junction city). We started the road trip around lunchtime but got stuck in traffic in Denver so spent 2 hours therer before getting on I70 (Interstate 70) east. The rest of the day was spent on I70 which is a pretty long highway... Kansas kan be described as rather flat and "grassy". No trees and some small towns every here and there. At the moment Marlee is esaping his bed. We decided to put him on a matress on the floor since the crib the motel lent us smell bad. As soon as he decides to sleep I will do the same! It will be a long day on the road tomorrow!

Golden touristing

Foto: Alex

Spent yesterday in Golden together with Jenny, Inger, Göran and Tessla. Unfortunately, Chad could not come but we had a great day. Golden is a very charming little town about 30 min from Denver. It has a famous university (Colorado School of Mines) and a lot of nice art all around the town. We started the day with an art exhibition where Michele had some beautiful scarves for sale. It was a lot of very nice things to look at and buy!! After taking a walk around Golden we had lunch. The “Sundströms” (Jenny is now Gilbreath) were going to a birthday party and left but Alex, Marlee and I looked around a little more and visited the Coors brewery, which is located in Golden. Supposedly, the largest brewery in the world! Included in the free tour were 4 beers each!! Felt bad not to drink it all but what could we do… Forgot to say that we also visited a rock museum before going to Coors. They had a lot of really cool rocks (not the music)! 

The founder was a German immigrant, which
probably explains the use of the word "Bock" :-)

 

Today we went to church, spent some time at home and then went to Brittany, Joey and Charlotte-Mary for dinner. I brought a Swedish “Kladdkaka” for dessert. We had a very enjoyable evening. Back home now and I really feel like going to sleep. These nights are “killing me”, waking up between 6-10 times is no fun! Poor Marlee is having too many bad dreams...

Today is also father’s day in Sweden so I talked with my parents on Skype :-D "Hoppas att du hade en bra dag, pappa, trots att varken Linn eller jag var där... Marlee hälsar till morfar! kram från mig".

Alex and I have not really decided which day to celebrate, Swedish or American, and so far we have not celebrated any, so lets hope for more celebration next year, daddy Alex ;-)



Funny sign in Golden, apparently the bridge
had once broken because of too many cattles



Be aware - Lost Tortoise in Denver!!

It has been a very good day even though my sleep was interrupted way too many times last night... Alex has been in Fort Collins working today so Marlee and I had the day for ourselves. Started it at the caf'e where I had some breakfast and did some sewing while Marlee slept. Spent the rest of the day walking around the area and doing some grocery shopping. I have been trying to find a porridge that Marlee likes as much as the one I brought from Sweden and today I found one!! What a relief!

I better keep Marlee inside!

While walking around the neighborhoods I read the same signs I always read, "Lost dog", "Lost cat", "Found dog", but today I saw a new one - "Lost Tortoise". Wow! I hope it has not frozen to death! It was frost on the ground this morning

Tomorrow we are going to Golden together with Jenny and her family. It is going to be nice!! Finished the "diaper bag" today so tomorrow I will know if it works good or not :-)

Marlee fell asleep early today (around nine) so I will, too!

P.S Thanks for the comments! It is nice to know that someone reads this :-D D.S

Eating better and no teeth yet...



Teething cookie. No teeth yet but they
keep him busy (and messy)





Marlee is sleeping and Alex is at a meeting with some students down town Denver. I am taking the chance to update the blog without being interrupted :-) Marlee is still not sleeping good at night, he wakes up a lot, but the good news is that he is eating a lot better now. Makes me sooo happy!!! Realised yesterday that he really likes my homemade mashed potatoes so that is great, I love it, too!

Alex went back to the dentist today for a check up and me and Marlee came along. Had some fun in the waiting room :-)

Jenny's dad Göran sent me some pictures from out get-together the other night. So glad, that they took some pictures, since I forgot to bring my camera... Next time I go there (hope it won't be take 15 years...) I will take nice pictures of the house and the view. They have a lake next to their house and they have made some really nice renovations in their house.

Chad        Jenny        Inger             Michele             Göran
Tessla                         Tina               
       Marlee
Foto: Göran (using the timer)

I am worth a treat after this night, Alex, too, if he could eat it!



One of few moments when he was
totally satisfied today



Marlee woke up 10-15 times last night, crying loudly, and Alex is high on his painkillers, pour boys! When I finally woke up, to GET up, I decided that I was worth a little treat after the tuff night. Marlee was still very tired (and so was I) but he did not want to go back to sleep. A trip in the stroller would solve that and as soon as he was sleeping I went by the bagel place 5 min walk from our house and had a nice breakfast!! Felt a lot better after that and went home and cleaned the kitchen :-D Well as much as you can clean without real cleaning "tools".



Marlee has been crying a lot today and maybe those little teeth are finally on their way? He is also not eating very good but I hope that will soon change.

This morning was really nice but now it has been hailing for a while and the temperature has dropped a lot.

Hail on the ground (our car to the right)

PICTURES FOR YESTERDAY'S BLOG ENTRY

Lunch place

Skiers, I want, too!!!



Dillon

Dillon Reservoir

Up by the shrine

View over Denver (from the shrine)



 

Good we did not have to use this! ;-)



Our little monkey back home again!





Catch up

Sometimes nothing happens and then there are days when things happen all the time, so you have not time to "blog" :-) A few of those days just passed.

Saturday I spent partly looking for a missing piece of the diaper bag I am working on. I had put at least a few hours on that part and I had not seen it since I last worked on it in the park, a week ago... Finally, I went back to the park to make sure it was not there. I did not think it was very likely after a week but... IT WAS THERE!! Could happy continue my work again. The evening we spend at a friend's house, barbequing. Sooo yummy! Marlee has started to be a little shy and cries easily when there are a lot of people around. I cannot just "give him to anyone" as I could before.

Sunday was mass day and after that we headed for the mountains. The goal was Dillon, a small town up there. It was beautiful and the views make me so happy. We saw skiers, too!! Wanted to be one of them so badly!! Can't wait until Marlee can go skiing with us!! On the way home we passed a Shrine. It was more than 300 steps up to it and it was a beautiful view of Denver from up there. We spend the evening watching Jericho, which is a very good TV series, though scary!

Today I drove Alex to the dentist. It was supposed to take 30 minutes but ended up being 1,5 h. The wisdom tooth that he was taking out did not have two roots that most wisdom teeth have (they sometimes have 3), it had 4!! Was a little complicated to get out and Alex is high on pain killers now. Right now he is sleeping next to me, holding some "dentist ice" against his swollen cheek.

While Alex was home watching Jericho and having pain, I went to visit Jenny and her family. She is a Swedish girl who lives here in Denver with her husband and daughter, and it was 15 years since I last saw her!!! She was the one who flu with me on my first trip to the US, which was to Denver. It was so good to see her again, and Michele who was also there, and Jenny's parents, visiting from Sweden.

It is too late to upload pictures now but I will be sure to do it tomorrow!

Not much going on

So why am I writing...? Well, to make sure that you know that our life can be pretty normal, too, somtimes ;-) 

Added this old picture to make this entry
a little more colourful. It is taken
about a month ago in our house.

We got home from Wisconsin ok. Marlee's stomach seems to be doing better. If I put it like this, it is more like peanut butter now, than like chunks of clay.. ;-)  (I apologize to everyone who is not a mum and might have gotten a little grossed out)

The weather here in Denver is beautiful. Today: 23C / 73F and sunny!! Close to Miami temperatures according to the news. Marlee and I did the grocery store, some washing and cleaning. Marlee does not sleep very well during the nights now, he wakes up and cries a lot, sometimes every half an hour. He is still kind of sleeping when he cries. About an hour ago he woke up and I decided to change his diaper. He went back to sleep in the middle of the diapy change so I left him sleeping on our bed :-D Guess I have to move him soon, so that we can go to sleep.. it is almost midnight...

Hope you all are having a good sleep!

Mirror communication

Is that a booger?

Alex did his speech today and it went good! Marlee and I can be proud, though Marlee slept through most of it... I got to meet a lot of the JBS (John Birch Society) and TNA (The new American) people. All very nice and friendly. Two of the "other wifes" took me and Marlee out for coffee, after Marlee had been crying (or more correct, screaming) for half an hour in the office break room. Think he might have some stomach aches from the baby food. Alex did some reseach on the Internet so that we could go and buy some appropriate "stomach food".

Back home again Marlee discovered the mirror in the hall, which was very cute. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of him trying to kiss himself but a lot of other ones :-D

At the moment we are watching the election updates and the big news is that Rand Paul got elected. Alex is happy! :-D

Good nite, folks!

Wisconsin trip

Are on a three days trip to Wisconsin to visit the office of the Magazine for which Alex writes. We got up at 4 this morning. Marlee actually woke up at 2 and kept me awake for a while and after that I could not go back to sleep. He could probably sense that something (the trip) was going on and had a hard time to sleep.

Well we made it upp here fine and we have spent time with some of Alex's "colleagues" of which some are catholics. We came with them to church to honer the saints since today is "All saints' day". It was a "very catholic" church and more strict than I have ever seen before. I got to borrow a catholic veil, which is like a thin scarves, to wear on my head and the mass was in latin. Marlee was a little noicy though so we spent most of the time in the "baby room" reading about Joseph :-)

Had a very yummy dinner at Applebees and now we are back in our fancy suite at the hotel :-D Time to sleep!! Hotel breakfast tomorrow before I am going to visit the office of the magazine and watch Alex having a speech about the FED (federal reserve / am. central bank)

God natt!

Halloween

Hammering away in the kitchen

So Halloween is here and it is surely a big thing here! Most houses have decorations out front, some more than others, and a lot of kids came by during the evening for Trick or Treat. A lot of very good outfits! Marlee got the chance to use his new outfit from grandpa / farfar, which fit him perfectly, and the bib (haklapp) from his great grandma (Alexs mormor) :-D

He is rather steady sitting now so I dare to put him on the wooden floor. I falls every once in a while but seems to handle that ok.



Tomorrow we are going to Appleton, Wisconsin to meet some people at the New American. We have to be at the airport 4.45!!! Good night! 





Foto: Alex



One of our neighbours