A yearly get together......

Every year for the last 23 years we have been getting together as a family (the whole of Kristian´s family) the first weekend after Pentecost, for a picnic and day out. Years ago we all lived in different parts of Denmark and so those that lived furtherest from each other didn´t get to see each other so often, so having this picnic day meant that we all got to see each other at least once a year. Even though we now all live closer to each other, and have done for years,  we love this tradition and have kept it going all these years.

Since Kristian has 5 siblings each year a different sibling has been in charge of planning the day. This year it was our turn. We had a great day planned down by a lake, those that wanted could go out rowing and the rest could relax by the waters edge. Unfortunately we had to change our plans as the weather looked terrible for Saturday.

So the day started home at our place. We served breakfast to the 31 family members. Everyone was there except one niece!!

Everyone gathered in the kitchen to say good morning to each other. My tiny kitchen has never been sooo full! For some unknown reason the kitchen was packed with people and the living room was empty! I think people didn´t get any further than the kitchen before they were lost in conversation with each other.

 

When everyone had arrived Kristian called us outside to say welcome. We also had a surprise for his sister Signe and her husband Kim. They have been married 25 years this month so we had gotten together as a family and bought a small gift for them. We wanted to give it to them. Kristian´s brother Søren would hold a speech for them and then give them the gift. He did a great speech . They were totally taken by surprise.

 

 The gift was a glas bowl made especially for them with colours that they like.

They then were made to dance the wedding waltz.....it was great fun!

It was then time for breakfast.....

 We had put tables and benches in the garage and we had a heater going, so it was really warm in there.

 I had been up at the crack of dawn to bake bread rolls for them all. Freshly baked and warm, they were delicious. even if I say so myself!! :-) They went down a treat!

The garage wasn´t the only place filled with bodies...the living room and dining room were too. It was all really cosy.

After breakfast we decided to head out on a walk in the beautiful nature that surrounds us.  We had planned a 4km walk through the forest.

The good thing about walking is you end up walking with different members of the family along the route and get to catch up with them and their lives. I spent some time talking to my nieces new boyfriend. He came and met the family for the first time and he was just lovely. I think she has found herself a keeper there!

Half way through the walk the heavens opened and we had to try and find shelter in among the trees. The rain didn´t last long but it was heavy while it was on. After about 5 minutes it was over and we could see some blue skies! Yes!!!

But even the rain could not dampen our spirits.....there was singing in the rain!

By the time we got back home the sun was out, there was blue skies and we were all feeling tired and hungry!

 Out came the picnic, we had all made something for the buffet, we hadn´t arranged what exactly to bring, it was "Potluck" - just bring something to share with us all, and nobody made the same thing. There was a huge variety to choose from and everything was delicious!

 Some found a place in the garden to sit and eat their food.

 

 

 

 Others sat in the garage.....

 My mother-in-law was enjoying her spot in the sun......

 Some of the family played badminton, others rugby, others bowls while others played Uno. But most of the afternoon was just spent relaxing and enjoying each others company. We all just enjoy hanging out together. 

We usually always end up singing and so yesterday was no different. Those who love to sing, sing their hearts out and those that don´t just listen and enjoy!

At 5.30pm people started to pack up and head home. It was such a great day together.

Sara´s home again.....

.....for another wee while!
 
Sara arrived home on Thursday evening. She was off work Friday and since she and Christian were coming over for "The Rasmussen Family Fun Day Out" on Saturday, a yearly event with the whole of Kristian´s family,   she decided to come a few days early.
 
It´s been sooo lovely having her here. It has been really special just being the 5 of us again.
 
Sara requested Irish Stew as a treat for dinner on Thursday evening, so that´s exactly what she got. The boys were not so happy (they hate Irish stew!) so a couple of pizzas kept them happy while us girls enjoyed our stew. We have so enjoyed having Sara around the place these last few days!

This week has also been an interesting week with my nose!! I woke up on Monday morning with such a huge bump on it. It looked like my mole had grown back - only worse!! We had such a laugh about my big pimple! It was hard for Kristian to talk to me for a few days. He was literally sitting on his hands!! All he wanted to do was squeeze the thing!  Thankfully it is starting to disappear again and my nose is starting to look good.

 Today we have been busy getting ready for the yearly Rasmussen family outing. This year it is our turn to arrange the programme.

We had planned a day out by the lake near our home but last night when we saw the weather forecast we were in a bit of a panic!! They had promised rain and a lot of wind for Saturday! As if that wasn´t bad enough, we got a leaflet in the post telling us that our roads would be closed on Saturday from 9am to 4pm because there would be a bike race!!! WHAT??!?!!! We have 33 people needing to get into our place on Saturday!!!

Kristian rang the organisers today and found out that the road will not be closed. It will just be a one way system....you go out one road and in another. Phew - we were relieved, the family could still get to us. That was one problem solved.

The problem with the weather is a little out of our hands. We have been praying for the weather to change and actually today, the forecast has improved greatly. It looks like we will only get a little shower of rain tomorrow afternoon.  To be on the safe side we borrowed some benches and tables from one of Kristian´s friends, got the garage tidied up a little and have a heater out there to take the chill out of the air. There is room for 16 people out in the garage and sitting arrangements for 16 others here in the house. Hopefully the sun will be shining and we wont need to be inside at all but if we do, we are prepared.

This evening we decided to eat dinner in the garage just to see how it all worked. It was actually really cosy.

 

So now we are all set for the invasion of the family tomorrow!! Christian will arrive sometime in the morning too and stay until Sunday when he and Sara will head back to Århus.

 

Busy week....

It´s been another busy week!

 

My colleague was moving house this week so I was helping her move along with some of her family and other friends. She has found herself a lovely apartment close to work. I hope she will settle in quickly and be very happy there. On Thursday we had a trip to Ikea as she needed some things for her new home.  She had no trouble convincing me to drive her in - I was more than willing!!

 

Friday Kristian went over to visit Sara and Christian in Århus. Sara´s Christian was racing in Århus Classic Grand Prix and my Kristian was hired to be the offical photographer for the race. That meant he got a free ticket and was allowed "backstage" in all the areas where others were not allowed. He had a great time doing what he loves - taking photos of cars!!

 

Sara´s Christian´s car in the picture below....

 

Sara´s Christian was doing really well throughout the day and on the last heat of the day - the one that counts, he was starting in first place. It looked like he would win but unfortunately he got driven off the track by another driver and so didn´t finish the heat that really counted!

 

So since my hubby was away for the weekend, and is often away on gocart weekends, I decided to make a new man to keep me company!! haha

I started to make him on Friday evening and the real reason was to use him at a birthday. My sister-in-law Lis was holding her 50th Birthday party today (Monday) so I decided to make something for a bit of entertainment and to give her a laugh.

My Friday evening was spent trying to get my fake man made....I had sooo much fun! (What is wrong with me?!!!) haha

In the end I finished him and called him Frank and all weekend he scared the life out of me! I forgot about him and put him in the corner of the dining room so when I came in from the kitchen I would notice this figure in the corner and jump!! Honestly!! But Frank was ready, my costume was ready and I had a song all ready for the birthday too.

Here was the finished result.....

This was taken today (Monday) at the party. Since it is Pentecost we are all off work and Lis had her party. We had a lovely day with her and the Family and I was her Irish Leprechaun brought along by Frank to the party, to help her through the crisis of turning 50!! We had alot of fun with it and since Lis loves Abba a birthday song written to the tune of Super Trouper went down a treat.

But I´m getting ahead of myself!! Back to the weekend.

Saturday I spent cleaning up the house. It was badly in need of a good clean! Andrew and Leah were both at work so I had the place to myself and got it all cleaned and organised within a few hours.

Laura (my neighbour) came over and invited me over for a smoothie and we spent a little time together planning our day. We decided that we would go to the garden shop and buy new plants for the garden and have a fun day out together, so that´s exactly what we did. We had a blast! We bought the plants we needed, we did some food shopping and we headed home again. My wee car could hardly hold anymore stuff - it was bursting at the seams with plants and food!


Saturday night and I had a clean organised house, food shopping done and plants ready to be planted in the garden. Andrew had a date with Camilla Saturday evening but Leah and I had a planned a girlie night in.

When she got home from work we made a delicious dinner and sat and enjoyed it together. Then we picked a girlie film to see and just relaxed on the sofa together. It was really lovely.

Sunday was a beautiful day. Sunday afternoon found me out in the garden. I decided I would surprise Kristian with a lovely flower bed. The flower bed has been empty for the last year. It has just been full of soil. I had no idea what I was doing...I hate gardening but I was determined to make this small patch nice.

Our fence desperately needs changed too, but since I am not able to do such jobs I decided to scrub the fence down and see if that would make a difference. It did!!

 

 A few hours later and this is what I had.....

I was sooo pleased. I wondered if Kristian would notice - and he did!! It was the first thing he mentioned when he came through the door that evening! He was sooo pleased with it too. (Let´s see how long the plants live!!)

So even though it has been a busy week, it has been good.  I feel like I accomplished a lot and I love that feeling.

The video above is of me being an ejit (as they say in Ireland) I was showing Kristian the costume after he came home Sunday evening.  I still had a few things to do to fine tune it and I needed his advice. You can see Leah had some friends in - our neighbour and her boyfriend and they totally ignored me! haha can´t blame them! :-)

It was a success.....

......Silver Envelope 15 went down a treat!! We had a brilliant road trip to Sweden!

Thursday morning we were up early and ready to go, a little later than our planned 9.15. I told Kristian we were going to drive to one of our favourite cafes for brunch, to get a good start for the day!  It was then I also told him what the plan was, that we were going to Sweden to stay in a cosy wee hotel and visit a certain place that I had heard about. He was a happy man! And so the road trip began......

After brunch we headed for the bridge to Malmo in Sweden. It is only about a 30 minute drive from us.

We drove up through Sweden towards Kullen which we have been to a few times, however this time I had booked a hotel at the other side of Kullen. It was such a beautiful drive up there. About an hour and a half later we arrived.

I had brought some snacks from home, so we parked the car down by the harbour and enjoyed a cold Coke and a Snickers.

The little village was sooo cosy and the hotel was just our type of place! We fell in love with it all!

We were still a little early for check in so we went out exploring and enjoyed the beautiful nature.

After exploring for an hour and a half, we decided to go and get checked in and see what the hotel looked like from the inside. It was lovely....sooo cosy. The rooms were small but we just loved it. We had a fantastic view from the room!

The Dining Room....

Our bedroom.....

                                    The reception area......

                                           Some extra rooms for catering.....

                          One of the hallways leading to rooms.....

So after our long walk we got checked in and relaxed before getting ready for dinner. We had the most delicious food - when we finally worked out what the menu said. It was all in Swedish! We were sitting using Google translate to see what it was we were ordering!! Finally we gave up and asked the waitress if she had an English menu which she did.

After dinner we headed out again for a walk, this time going in a different direction than what we had done in the afternoon. It was such a beautiful evening. The sky was amazing. The colours were beautiful. It was like watching God paint a masterpiece.

It was then back to the hotel to sit in the lobby and check out some of the books they had lying around.  We had to be good to ourselves, so I got a cola and Kristian a cup of coffee. A perfect way to end the day.

Then this morning we were up early again. No point burning day light!! We came down to the most delicious breakfast at the hotel. We stuffed our faces again! Then it was time to pack up and go out exploring again. I had heard about a place called Nimis. It was not far from the hotel and I wanted us to check it out. It is a very unique place!

Nimis is a gigantic sculpture made of driftwood. It is 150 meter long and 12 meters high and it is constructed with about 160000 pieces of wood, that´s about 75 tons!!!

So we set out to find Nimis and what an adventure that was.

We discovered that the path to Nimis went through the forest and it wasn´t really a path...it was more like climbing down steep hills and gorges!!! Ok maybe I am exaggerating a little but if I am, it is only a little. It was such HARD WORK!! MY LEGS, MY HEART, MY LUNGS - I thought I was going to die!

It started out easy enough.....a wee path,  a few lovely trees.....

  Then it got worse. The paths disappeared and it was just steep!!!

Finally after an hour and half of going downhill, we made it to the entrance. You had to go into this pile of rubble (see pic below) and climb down to the beach.

This is the sculpture, with Kristian climbing down on the inside of it.....

and me too!

 Finally we were down on the beach....

 rather amazing.......

 After resting for about 15 minutes we had the long climb up again!!!

We made it - just about!!!

By this time I had had enough nature. It was time to hit the big city and go and wander around the shops, so we headed to a city called Helsingborg. We had been there years ago when I was pregnant with Sara so we thought it could be fun to check it out again.

We enjoyed our afternoon in the city and ended it with a cold Coke in the sun. It was the end to a great couple of days away (we feel like we have been away for a week!) Some more  great memories have been created and tucked away in our memory bank!!