Celebration

Celebrating my birthday started last year, as the entire Swedish family gathered around the dinner table on the second to last day of 2012 for a birthday bash. After a brief pause in the festivities, end of March saw a lot of them. There was a huge and extravagant surprise party with many of our dear local friends; the boys and Bob carefully selected delicious treats and camera equipment as gifts and baked a wonderful cake that we enjoyed with friends in our small group, the host having decorated the house for a special evening complete with banners, streamers and balloons. Very timely, a box of goodies arrived from Sweden and the boys very kindly offered to help me eat these sweets so that I would not gain too much weight. They are truly thoughtful :-)  The celebration continued as cards, phone calls and more boxes arrived at the house. I was showered with kindness, generosity and well wishes from all over - I truly feel blessed.