Catching up

There was a long pause…..

Almost 3 months with no news on the blog, and people are wondering what team Swanson has been up to in Sweden!

Here are a few glimpses into life as it has kept us busy in these months of transition from spring in Sweden to summer in Sweden.

May 2018

We switched schools. We enjoyed catching a glimpse of women learning how to bike in their new homeland of Sweden.   Then after two short weeks in our new school, we took off for a vacation to join in on family fun, weddings, hanging out with friends, and some important meetings with our church back in the US. 

We love our school!

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You can find the most random things for sale in an airport!

June 2018

There’s something about strawberries and Swedes in June.  We arrived back to Sweden on Midsommarafton, which is Midsummer Eve.  A very important holiday in Sweden.  We got home and everything was closed.  No one even on the street.  Everyone was hanging out with family and friends and celebrating. 

When we came back in June these berry booths have popped up all over Malmö.  They open up and there is a person selling strawberries!

There is something to be said about the Swedes and their strawberries....

Jetlag and Midsommar parties make for an interesting photo, for sure!

We then had a steady stream of guests come to town, from the US and Germany.

We took a day off and visited Helsingborg and their beautiful rose gardens, and found a licorice factory in town.  What fun!  

Hanging with our guests....this day included ice cream for sure!

Loved the licorice factory in Helsingborg!

If we had stayed any longer in the licorice factory, we could easily have been one or two of the ten cases of liquorice poisoning in Sweden.  It was so good!

Steve looking like a Svensk sjöman (Swedish seaman)....actually he's working off the licorice that we so enjoyed that afternoon!

July 2018

Busy planning for the hamnfestival, the fair that runs for 4 days in our neighborhood down by the harbor.  Our church is sponsoring a tent and activities for kids, language classes in English and Swedish.  And fika....of course! We are enjoying summer sunsets on the seacoast.  And visiting with friends.  A personal goal we’ve set for ourselves this summer:  to finish unpacking the boxes that are in the garage that were shipped up from Belgium last October.  Not our favorite, but somehow the job is easier now that we have purchased a used piano.  Once again our house is filled with music.

Excited about this chance to serve the community ~

Super motivated to get the music unpacked ~ anticipating much fun and laughter and worship around the piano in our home

Trying to get down to the water as often as we can this summer

And that's what keeps team Swanson busy in Sweden at the moment.