Easy on the eyes

Hey Whiggle,

Remember me? Probably not, but I don't blame you. Ever since I came back to Sweden after Mama's funeral I've been trying to catch up then keep up with school work. So there hasn't been too much to write about from my side, unless of course you're interested in Swedish grammar, in which case I could go on for days. I'll spare you that info for now, and try to catch up on what I've missed.

First of all... our birthday! At some point we really are going to have to spend our birthday in the same place. It's hard to believe we're 26 though. It sounds a little old to me. Especially since a few days before I was convinced we were turning 25. Bjorn had to tell me he was certain it was 26 this year, so I did the math and realized I forgot a year. Which really makes me feel old.

I ended up having a such a good day though! I had to be at school all day, which would seem to be a bit of a downer on your birthday, but it ended up being a lot of fun. My friend from Florida, Amy, made a delicious pound cake that she brought to school. I feel like I need to emphasize just how nice this was since by "brought it to school" I don't mean that she got in her car, drove there, and brought it inside. From her apartment to school she walked to a bus stop, took the bus, switched to the metro to go into the city, switched to a different metro at the Central station, then walked for 15 minutes from the metro to school. All during the busiest part of the day while carrying a pretty heavy pound cake, it's form, and a plate. True friend :)

Yummmm....

Sebastian and Amy. Sebastian's birthday was two days before mine so it was a joint birthday celebration:)

Amy!

We sat with our other friends from class and ate cake during lunch. It was a lot of fun, I have such a great group of people in my class, I feel really lucky to know them.

I ate cake to the point that I felt sick during the entirety of my 3 hour class afterwards, but it was very worth it :)

When I got home I got flowers from the hubby, and a Mexican dinner of chicken and cheese enchiladas that were better than any Mexican food you could find in Stockholm. We also got a knock on the door and saw that the surprise visitor was Camilla, who came by with cupcakes and some flowers.

 

Sooo good. 

Hmmm....I think there is one thing I'm forgetting....

His name would be Henry and he's the best little birthday present I could imagine. I'm completely biased, but he's probably the cutest dog in the world. Or at least the cutest in Sweden.

6 weeks

7 weeks

His favorite sleeping spot is on someone. So he was pretty happy here. 

Around 9 weeks

War Eagle :)

Taken today - 3 1/2 months, with his new haircut.

Gaaah, he's cute. He's made a new dog friend in the building, a 4 month old dachshund named Nisse, and they went to the "small dog" dog park the other day. I'll have to get a picture of them together, it's adorable.

Speaking of easy on the eyes... I have these two people in my life.

I snuck a picture during a Friday afternoon fika.

I got the hat and jacket for Naomi's 2nd birthday last time I was in the US. This is her wearing them after her party.

 
Basically, I'm surrounded by cuteness:)


I hope you had a wonderful birthday too,  post some pics so I can see. I hope studying for your test is going ok, I know you'll be glad when it's done. I know you'll do great on it, so no stressing. So write me back AFTER your test, and tell me what you've been up too.

Miss you,
Allie

catching up on things

I should have known it would take me a while to get back to the 'ol blog after Mama's passing. It's been a difficult couple of months adjusting to life without her after being so involved in her life on a day to day basis. Sometimes I still have to remind myself that she's not in the hospital anymore. I hope that's not too strange.

 

Even in her death, the Lord used her life to bring us closer together as a family. Al, I'm so glad that you were able to come over (suprise mom) and go through the funeral with us. It wouldn't have been the same without you, so to have the whole family there was a huge blessing.

After the whirlwind of that weekend, we got back to our new reality....Sam started a new job as you know and he is transitioning well. The weeks seem like they go by so fast these days though. Which is good and bad, considering the weekends come fast, but they don't stick around for very long and then it's off to work again. I've been occupying the majority of my time studying and preparing for my big NCIDQ exam at the end of this month. I am a tad bit a lot  nervous about that to be honest. Let's just say, I still have a lot of studying to do, so poor Sam may not see much of me this month!      

Valentine's Date

Although the last few weeks have not really been anything to write home about, we have had a few exciting moments in between. 

It first started when I momentarily lost my mind and you and mom convinced me I needed a PUPPY. I  somehow ended up with that puppy... and wait you ended with his brother.....our poor husbands had no. i.d.e.a. 

You, Me and the brothers

Little Franklin

On a hike with Franklin the day after we got him.

The day we gave him away. 

 I will miss that little guy. 

We are our mother's daughters and those puppies (and babies ) will get us every time. Unfortunately, little Franklin was only with us for about a week. We thought we could do it, but it was not the right time for a puppy after all. He did bring a lot of sleepless nights laughter and excitement to the Brown house while he was here. I'm glad that you and Henry made it back to Sweden safe and sound and the your husband didn't throw him out the window when you got there:) 

A few weeks ago, as you know, Ashley and Rob welcomed their sweet little girl Kate. I waited two weeks to go see her, and was so anxious to get my hands on this sweet little thing. 

she makes the cutest faces.

They are all doing very well and Ashley is such a natural. Kate has great parents and I'm so thankful for this new little blessing in there lives.

A couple Mondays ago we celebrated our birthday a little early with tickets to a NEEDTOBREATHE concert that I got super last minute! It was a great concert. They always put on an awesome show, and this was no exception. I was kicking myself for not jumping on tickets earlier when I first heard about it because I am definitely not as tall as Sam and standing on my tip toes to see over people is not fun:( But other than...a great time was had at the beautiful Alabama Theater.

Tonight we will be hunkering down in the Brown Basement due to threats of severe weather in the area. After the storms last April, you better believe I take these warnings pretty serious! Lord willing, we will all be ok:) Looking forward to seeing pictures of you and Henry!

xoxo,

Whit