Remembering Tara

Mother and wife.

Always remembered.

Music from the ceremony:





UMC Hymnal #593 "Here I Am, Lord", #502 "Thy Holy Wings, O Savior", #528 "Nearer My God to Thee".
Reverend: Steve Armfield, Immanuel Church, Stockholm.
Organ: Eric Wadman
Cello: Amalie Stalheim

Evening trip to the nature reserve

A beautiful afternoon/ evening hike through the Nacka nature reserve. Tara enjoys the view of the lake Söderbysjön where there is supposed to be plenty of European perch.

Fighting style photo before the fishing session.

Mommy enjoyed trying out W's fishing rod.

He knows how it's done. Very manly fishing pose...

Surveying the waters with a firm grip on the handle.

Can we all get into one photo frame?

Dinner's ready! Oh, and there's Beef Jerky for everyone!

Outdoor dining.

Time to go home. It is 8.15 PM.

Walking across the bridge that separates lake Dammtorpssjön and lake Söderbysjön.

Violin concert in May

W playing a string quintet ("Snowflakes, The Mist, The Wind and The Moon" by Lesa Longay) with his violin teacher and his class on May 24.



Practice at home of the above piece.



Solo performance of "O, Come Little Children" by W at the violin concert in May.

Beautifully Swedish

Rekorderlig Cider (Tara's favorite brand) has put out a number of tv ads in the US, playing heavily on their Swedish roots. Thanks to Debra's twitter account, we realized that this has become something of a fad in the States. And so we had to watch the spots on Youtube. And they are quite funny! There is quite a lot of truth behind their portrayal of Swedishness and what it means to "be a Swede". Enjoy!

Swedish school - the right way of "being Swedish":

"Knullrufs" - Pronounciation class:

Sauna class:

Playing Kubb with style:

Have you seen the muffin man?

L proudly presents the muffins she baked together with Daddy.

We had particularly fun with making the colored frosting and arranging all the different decorations!

First pike

Evening fishing at Sickla lake, ten minutes walk from our apartment.

On the ferry over to Hammarby sjöstad - lots of fish in the water here.

 A 5-6 lbs Northern pike caught in the local waters.

Casting gear ready.

Our new coffee table

The family just got a new coffee table for the living room, molded in light concrete with a black steel frame that seemingly with no effort suspend it from the charcoal rug.

A new sport to tackle...

W's tackle box with different baits - jigs, wobbler "plugs", spoons and spinners.

Some of W's fishing gear; a closed casting reel and different baits, swivels etc.

W's top-mounted closed casting reel by Shakespeare, and a 5 foot long Abu Garcia casting rod.

First fishing trip

Fishing dudes doing a "boys only" thing at the put-and-take lake Sandasjön, outside of Stockholm.

W with his new casting rod. Yes... it is a little chilly in Sweden at the end of April...

It is somewhat frustrating to see the trout in the lake when they will not bite...

Dad trying to show how it is done.

April hike in Stockholm

There is still snow in Stockholm in mid-April...

L and Dad.

Today's collection of bugs.

Miss piggy-back rider pretty tired after hiking for half a day.

String quintet - Apples and Pears

W performs in a violin quintet with his violin class. The concert included pieces from Bach, Paganini, Beethoven, Schumann, Vivaldi and Händel, performed by older students. Apart from the quintet, W also played a solo piece (the American folk song "Go Tell Aunt Rhody"). In between performances, there were readings from the new translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's children book Le Petit Prince.

Mom talks to W before the concert.

Cry-baby

An attempt to copy Jill Greenberg's approach to photo art... one model is our daughter...

Christmas violin concert at home

1. Twinkle variations. 2. Song of the Wind. 3. Go tell Aunt Rhody. 4. Oh, Come Little Children. 5. Allegro. From Suzuki book 1. Also available on Youtube. More reading about the importance of parental support in the Suzuki method philosophy - here.

Merry Christmas from the Nilssons!

Christmas feelings!

God Jul!

 Now Santa (Sw: "Jultomten") can arrive! The Christmas tree is decorated and the stockings are hanging on the bookshelves.

Lightly Row

W performing Lightly Row, from Suzuki book 1, at the Christmas concert.

Sankta Lucia

Few things are as important this time of year as the Lucia festivities on December 13. L is showing off her textile candles and crown that grandmom ordered for her Lucia train at daycare.

Fall time hikes 2014

Having a snack break in the Nacka nature reserve, near Hammarby.

Afternoon break at Tyresta National Park in October.

The wilderness is slowly taking back what was lost in the forest fire in the Tyresta national park south of Stockholm.

Fall hike and some late sun in the foliage.

Piggy-backing in style on our way back home.

A perfect spot for a hot chocolate break!

Hot chocolate and cookies.

Now I am full!

The Tyresta lake at the center of the national park.