Michael Sings "Ja, må du leva"

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John and Katharine 11-20-08

A few more pictures from John and Katharine's wedding day...

Lisa and Kristina are leaving me in the dust where creating a post is concerned.  I thought I had my pictures in order but evidently I still have a lot to learn about this.  Anyway, here are a few more pictures from John and Katharine's wedding.  It was such a wonderful day.  The temple ceremony was sweet and full of the love of family and love of the Lord.  We love Katharine and are so thankful to have her in our family. We're grateful that she and John have found each other and have chosen to marry one another.  We appreciate the loving kindness they show to everyone and the fun they bring to our family!

The reception hall was so pretty.  Katharine's family had decorated with candles and greenery.  The brick fireplace made it seem so inviting.  Time for family pictures...is this really us?  Where did our family of little kids go?   
  I can't help smiling when I see this picture of our grown-up children!

This is one of my favorites of John and Katharine.

Kristina, Dad, and Mom at the temple 

Linda, Evan, Angie, Julie, and Derick found a nice 

window seat overlooking the temple after the wedding dinner.

John and Katharine were beaming with happiness when they came out of the temple to greet everyone who had gathered to congratulate them.   There were lots of hugs, smiles, and pictures.  They are a great couple and we're all so happy for them!  

Sankta Lucia

For those of you who haven't seen the "Big Show" in years and for those of us who have tried to peer out from backstage to see if our little "Tomten" are getting enough pepparkakor, here's what it looked like from the fourth row...You've just gotta love Dave's outfit! I really mean that Dave - it's awesome!

It's pretty hard to see who's who here, but they were all adorable!

"I Ett Hus" and then of course, "Tip Tap" sneaky little tomten snacking on the leftovers...

Somehow we didn't get any pics of the awesome gingerbread men (Grant and Max - AKA Run DMC - they had the coolest bucket hats!) or any of the incredibly talented moms and kids dancing around the tree. Guess we were so captivating, they didn't want to miss a thing by having to stop and take pictures!Here are all of the lovely Lucias and Starboys. It was Kacey's first year as a Lucia and I have to say I was so incredibly proud of her! She learned all of the songs and was so confident, I couldn't believe this was my little Kacey-Loo being a grown-up Lucia girl. And of course I got teary every time I heard her singing because it took me right back to when I sang those very same songs when we were in Sweden and of all the wonderful christmases we had there.
Two of the cutest little "Svensk Flikor"! (ok, my swedish spelling is really bad - give me a break, it was over 30 years ago and i was only 7!) They are really cute though, aren't they!?!Yay - we did it! Everyone had the right costumes at the right time, we sang the right words and did the right actions, and even though Dillon ran on stage at the wrong time...at least he had his clothes on!

Johnny Angel

We had a great trip to Utah, thanks to Becky and Brent, for John and Katharine's wedding! We were lazy picture takers but here's what we have to share.
Here's the temple at night from the 9th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where we had the wonderful and fun dinner the night before the wedding.

My only picture of John and Katharine leaving the temple doors.
Congratulations hug from Mom.

All smiles from Evan, Angie, Julie and John.
More smiles. Anyone's cheeks hurting yet?
With Andrew, Mom and Dad, or is it Grandma and Grandpa? I never know.

It was a wonderful time and we were so glad we could be there. John and Katharine looked so happy and we were happy to meet her and welcome her into the family. We saw Amanda too, and so many cousins and relatives. I think I talked to them each for about 3 minutes a piece, but I always love being reminded that I'm part of a bigger, stronger family and not just out here in the dreary world by myself. What a blessing it is to have such a loving family.

Congratulations John and Katharine!

Scarecrow Festival

Scarecrow Festival 2008

In mid-October we all volunteered at the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  It ran for 4 days.  Evan was the main "fry guy"--we don't know how many fries and fry-bread tortillas he made, but he was good at it!  Brent took food orders and cashiered, Julie was in charge of sodas and Becky and Linda helped with the children's games and ticket gate.  John and Katharine helped in the food pavillion, too.  Over 40,000 visitors came.  We had a great time and enjoyed being together!

Utah or Bust

Good luck to Becky, Brent and Linda on your new adventure to Utah, Take 2. We love you and know you'll all do well there. We can't wait to check out the guest room soon!

Oscarson Family Reunion in Utah

Well Elmer Jones arose at dawn and put his huntin' britches on and looked up at his shot gun on the wall... No reunion would be complete without Elmer Jones! What a great time we had at the picnic with so many of our family members that we hadn't seen for way too long! It was so great to see everyone - it had been entirely too long, but it seemed like just yesterday - family's great that way! The kids have all grown, but somehow we've managed to stay the same - right?? Uncle Paul and Aunt Bonnie worked so hard to make this weekend happen and I am so grateful to them for it! Emily made a new and improved Birthday calendar and Amy put together Mema's history for us all. I have truly enjoyed reading all about Mema's life. I have been staying up way too late for too many nights (apparantly I'm a really slow reader!) really getting to know this remakable woman. I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing family and am so proud to be an Oscarson. I wish more of you could have been there, but I am looking forward to our own reunion soon.

THE TRIP!!!!

Kacey and I had the incredible opportunity to spend the weekend in Utah with our long lost Oscarson cousins! We had SUCH a great time! Kacey was a little nervous about the plane ride at first (it was a bit too loud!) but after a quick prayer for help to be brave, she was doin' just fine! She loved looking out the window at the changing landscape (including the Grand Canyon), but the best part was the 1 1/2 hour layover in Arizona where we got to ride the moving sidewalk about a million times.

Once we arrived, Mom and Dad picked us up and took us to Temple Square where we got to see all the sights and take a ton of pictures. I thought Kacey would get bored or have zero interest, but I was quite happily surprised. She loved it all - the Tabernacle, Visitors Center and of course the park on top of the Conference Center.

After that we got to spend the rest of our time with our cousins in Bountiful. What a fabulous time we all had! It was so great being able to catch up with all of my cousins that I grew up with. And to meet all of their adorable kids too! It was so funny, they all came running in and I had no clue who belonged to whom - they all look like they could be siblings! Kacey had a ball with them - and with all of the dress-up clothes. Her favorite though, had to be the treasure chest full of gems! My favorite thing had to be the fact that I could relax and sit with the grown-ups not worrying that anyone was breaking anything, hitting anyone or running away and falling off the side of the mountain! (Kacey is so grown-up and responsible now!!) I did miss my boys (and I think they may have missed me too), but I really REALLY had a great, relaxing, fun time!!