Skelleftea 07

The day I landed in Skelleftea the newspapers said that it was the warmest city in all of Europe...I immediately claimed credit for the good weather...and why not?  It was so good to see Karin again, looking as cute and impish as ever and telling me as we drove from the airport what adventures lay ahead of me.  Parties of course, Swedes do nothing if not party!  The house looked just as I remembered but with the addition of the dog, Bonnie a smart and beautiful Golden Retriever.

It wasn't long however before the rest of the family came home and it was a shock to see how adult the kids were now

Niklas, grown up into a very cool dude who plays piano, and video games and knows all the current English slang...

Lisa his twin, quiet, smart a fine animal trainer and much more beautiful than she will ever know.

 
And the glamorous Diana - grown now into a woman, smart, shy and waiting for the adventures of her life to begin...

 
And Lars the wild and crazy father of this great family!

This is how the yard looked the first day I arrived - but the very next day a beautiful new sauna came flying over the trees into the yard - unfortunately it was too hot for a sauna, so we just admired it.  It was built by Victor, Karin's nephew as a class project... here is Victor - - kind of amazing to think a kid this young could make something so complex and beautiful and still not get the highest grade on it.

Life in Skelleftea is easy going and we did simple fun things like playing cards and taking long walks (when we weren't partying and going to church, of course) This is the Skellefteaven, a river that Karin and I crossed many times in our walks - as women have done for centuries, we walked and told each other our lives and our stories and our plans... it was like being in a late spring, the leaves were the lightest spring green in the woods and wild flowers and lilacs were all around us

We paid a visit to Elizabeth and Olle in their new house in the country...
  and we tried to do some fishing Needless to say we did not keep this one...

But there were parties waiting for us - birthday parties - lots of them - the first was for Annette who was turning 30
  and here she is feeding the baby.  Annette is the daughter of Stephan, Lars' twin brother and a terrific cook who made steaks for twenty some people and they were some of the best I've ever eaten.  Like all Swedish parties there was toasting, music and singing

 
This is our hostess Kiki, Stephan's wife.

All ages attend parties here - from a two year old baby -   to a woman 104 years old -

We also went to a 50th birthday for a woman whose husband is a Choir master and many of the men sang songs to her

But the children were graduating and there were ceremonies to attend...  In Sweden when you are 15 you graduate from 9th grade and move on to some kind of High School, depending on your interests and grades.  The twins were making this graduation and Diana was graduating High School and planning to take some time off before University.  The graduation from High School is a huge thing in Sweden and celebrated in a way that no US kid could understand.  

The ceremonies take place in church and afterward the proud parents wave signs with the graduate's baby pictures on them and drape flowers and gifts around their necks - and of course there is singing of traditional songs one of which has lyrics that say "We are students and Damn but we are Good!"  these photos tried to capture the innocence of this event but you really have to be there - afterward all the kids go into town and sing songs in the square before going home to feast with family & friends and the (since it is light all night) they go back out to party with their fellow graduates...you had to be there...  They all wear these cute little caps...

The kids in Diana's class pile into a trailer for the ride into town and the twins worry the the tires will go flat from the weight

Now the day of the Twin's graduation:

the beautiful Lisa and the handsome Niklas

The church ceremonies the whole class.

I was there for 10 days and the time flew by - the hot weather didn't last but the days were lovely even the rainy ones and I was a part of a wonderful family, like some old maid Aunt, who doesn't visit often and so if fun to see when she comes.  Long walks and long talks and of course Lisa felt I should ride a horse.  I haven't been on a horse for over 30 years and I was afraid, not of the horse, but of falling off and messing up my holiday,

                                                                                  Nice Horsey
    but I did my best and I walked like John Wayne for two days afterward.

Soon it was time to leave for Jokkmokk and Lena's birthday party but first a stop to see Tommy's house in the country

His house is beautiful and he has built it himself, it is on a river with big fish but we didn't do any fishing...

We proceeded to drive to Lulea where we spent the night with Elizabeth, another girl I met in NYC  34 years ago, but one I haven't kept in touch with...it was great to see her again and to meet her husband Åke and their two dogs

Now we are going to Lena's 50th Birthday Party