Christmas 2008 came and went. We spent Christmas in
Ylläs, Lapland. My parents drove to Ylläs with Tuomas and Jaakko arriving on the 19th (a drive from hell according to my parents even though they drove the 1000 km in two days... apparently Jaakko has been blessed with an amazing lung capacity... need I say more?). DH, Risto and myself started off the next morning at 06:00 arriving at the cabin some 13 hours later. A long drive, but thanks to the DVD´s it went ok. The next week, on the other hand, was just down hill in many ways:
Risto took a 3-day skiing course and in my opinion learned to come down the slopes way too fast. Tuomas took a couple of lessons and together we skiied down from the top of the fell!! A lot of screaming from Tuomas, since the wind was pretty strong, but after 10 m it was fun. Tuomas is quite black-and-white when it comes to skiing. His opinion about the slope and skis changed every 50 m, depending on wether he fell or not. Either it was the best slope in the world and the best skis or then they were the crappiest pair of excuse for skis.
But what else went down hill i.e down the intestine/up the esophagus. Warning: a lot of bowel information to follow!!! But to look on the bright side of life: nobody gained weight during the holidays and nobody was sick in the car.
Risto fell ill the next night after arriving, diarrhea and vomiting. Luckily he's old enough to find the bathroom in time!!! DH (had a bad cold) spent the Sunday inside with him when I went sledding with the smaller boys. There was a lot of snow, but the temperature wasn't that bad, only -5C at the coldest. The fun ended the following night when Jaakko started vomiting, followed by Tuomas half an hour later. You can only guess if they made it to the bathroom. Nope! DH changed their sheets four times that night! It was a first time experience for him to watch his children simultaneously emptying their stomachs on their beds and then on the floor, right next to the buckets placed there an hour before.
Monday the 22nd was Risto's birthday and he was able to got to the slopes. By that time I had lost my appetite and my father wasn't feeling too well either. But I did manage to join Risto in the slopes, had fun! Tuesday was my turn to have a complete colon cleansing lying in bed/on the sofa most of the day and feeling sick. The smell of the ham cooking in the oven was not mouth-watering. My mother managed to cook the ham before she fell ill. DH was feeling quesy, but was able to do some last minute grocery shopping. MIL arrived around noon only to find the whole cabin full of more or less sick people!
Surprisingly enough we all sat down for dinner at Christmas Eve! Jaakko gave us a scare emptying his stomach again the night (why does it always happen during the night!!!!) between Christmas Day and Boxing Day. All I could picture in my mind was a boxing ring with this blonde chick in bikinis and high heels holding a sign sayin "Round Two". Luckily "Round Two" involved only Jaakko and the next day we drove back home. What a Christmas!
Since I won't amuse you with Christmas pictures of pale, sick people, enjoy this one of Jaakko taken back in October!
Riding in Saviaho, the best hotel in the world!!!!
Risto at Repovesi National Park in August.
Not Bob the Builder, but Tuomas. He really loves the tiger t-shirt he's wearing under the vest.
DH in Japan back in September. The love of my life!
A carrot, what else?!?!
Japanese soft drink. Sweat to quench your thirst!
Myself at Osaka subway station on our way to Osaka castle.
Cakes I made for my colleagues for my farewell party i August. Believe me, they were good :-)
How to behave in Osaka subway!!! "I quietly hold my breath whenever I come across someone smoking." "If you're going to read words during rush hour, we wish you'd also read between the lines."
Sensouji shrine in Tokyo. The smoke should heal you.
