At this year's annual Scandinavian/Santa Lucia party, we had a full house. We invited a bunch of couples and families who consisted of Scandinavians, those adopted by a Scandinavian, and those married to a Scandinavian, including one full Dutch woman who so graciously shared her Trader Joe's Dutch cookies with everyone. (We almost didn't let her in the door!) Surprisingly, they were fairly popular. I chose not to eat one though. : ) All the guests were given an assigned Scandie name for the evening, courtesy of Mom's great idea. Everyone, whether they might have been Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, or perhaps Chinese, had a great time fellowshipping together during this "most wonderful time of the year".
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| Some of the guys chat in the living room |
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| Mr. Steve---actually, he said that this was his Ole face. |
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| And this was his Steve face, if I remember right! :) |
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| Annaliese (Gina) and I (Astrid) eat dinner in the kitchen |
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| More kids! Maryn, (back left) Soren, Noah, Kayla, Lucy, Ellie, Lillian, Livy (I'd write their Scandie names but I can't remember them all!) |
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| Bjorn and Anders (aka Mr. Mitch and Dad) |
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| Hilda (Deb), Ole (Steve), Nels (John), and Brian (can't remember his Scandie name!) |
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| The ladies |
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| Anders & Nels |
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| A bounty of Scandie desserts (I don't think the Dutch cookies made it out here) |
The Santa Lucia Parade begin as Ingrid (Mom) plays some Christmas tunes on the piano:
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| Else (Esther), Elisabet (Eva), and Maryn |
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| Annika (Lillian) passes out the famous lefse |
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| Lars having fun at his first introduction to his family's Scandinavian heritage as a Star Boy. |
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| Else leads the way in her Norwegian sweater from Miss Deb who wore it as a child when she performed for the King of Norway at her school. |
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| Lucia girls and Star Boys munch on their lefse after marching around. |
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| Silly Liv pretends to share the flame of her candle with Lucia |
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| My Scandinavian parents Ingrid and Anders |
