christmas in Älmhult

You know you're celebrating Christmas in Sweden when...

1. The turkey you're about to cook has the name, address and photo of the person who raised it on the packaging. (The same is true for honey and all other meat products.)

2. The biggest turkey you can find at the store is less than 10 lbs.

3. Your house is filled with clementines.

4. Your house smells like hyacinths.

5. Your windows have some form of light in them: advent star or candles.

6. You have to tune into iTunes radio to find familiar Christmas music.

7. The grocery store is closed on Christmas Eve but open on Christmas Day.

8. And you've been drinking too much glögg.

At least this is what Christmas was like in our house this year. Since I'm only a few weeks away from delivery, I wasn't allowed to fly back to the states. So Lewis and I had a cozy Christmas here. We invited the other orphans stuck in Sweden from Lewis' program to come join us as the vegetarians attempted to cook a traditional American Christmas meal, complete with turkey and gravy. We had 3 guests from Mexico, Guyana and Ukraine, and they really helped us make the day special.

And did I mention Lewis bought me a new mobile phone??!! Very exciting. Now I don't have to worry that my 5-year-old phone will freeze up just as my water breaks and I need to get a hold of Lewis.

Having Christmas here meant we got to go out and buy a tree in the square. I figured we'd get the lowest priced one. But nooooooo. Lewis shocked me by snubbing the "regular" trees and picking a "silver" level tree. Dad and Dick, I can already see that Lewis will take part in your annual who-has-the-best-tree competition.

Having a tree meant we needed to buy some Swedish ornaments. We like the traditional ones: the doves with the symbol, the straw garland and the little santa heads (photos below.)