We went to Jimmy's parents' house for Christmas this year. We had a great visit, and Anna enjoyed hanging out with her cousin, Megan, who is 12 years old. It's funny, all of the grandchildren are spaced 6 years apart -- Megan is 12, Anna is 6, and Caroline is 0!
Anyway, while we were there, we had the traditional Swedish Christmas Eve meals. The afternoon meal is bread dipped in a kettle of meat and broth. I'd tell you the Swedish name, but I have no idea how to spell it! But it's delicious, and it generally includes my favorite Swedish dish: lefse. Lefse is a thin potato pancake that resembles a tortilla. You heat it and roll it up with butter and sugar -- YUM! The Christmas Eve evening meal starts with rice pudding (yum!) and finishes with lutefisk, which is cod soaked in lye and then boiled until it becomes a jiggling, gelatinous mass that I not-so-affectionally refer to as "fish jello". This non-Swede has not quite taken to it, but the rest of the family seems to like it. Even Anna, the oh-so-picky eater ate 6 bites (one for every year she's been alive!) and did pretty well with it.
After the evening meal, we opened the presents under the tree. Caroline got a Rainforest Jumparoo, which is a fabulous product that combines the concepts of an exersaucer and a doorway jumper. She loved it, and she spent most of the evening hanging out in it, bouncing and watching everyone open their gifts.
Anna got a variety of gifts, including books, DVDs, and some new nightgowns, which she loved and decided to model for us.
Christmas Day, we did the traditional Swedish feast of St. Lucia, which involves making breakfast in bed for the parents. Anna and Megan prepared the meal, and we all ate around MIL and FIL's bed. After that, it was Santa presents, and then it was off to my aunt's house to have Christmas with my family. It was a busy day, but we had lots of fun!
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