Christmas

Christmas was alot of fun. We had a lazy Christmas eve. Mainly hanging out, napping and wrapping up loose ends. Arden and I went to the Nutcracker and Philip napped with Mary Ann on the couch. We went to Family service at St Paul's and Philip dressed very nicely. The Frasiers and Johnsons came to dinner and we had our annual Swedish Smorgesborg(??) We have done this for 4 years but never with a Swede!! How wonderful to have Philip here. My friends are getting attached to him also. He has great conversations with Jason Johnson, participated in our White Elephant gift exchange and was so helpful cleaning up afterward.

We decided to blend his tradition of opening gifts Christmas eve and ours of waiting till Christmas morning. The girls were SO excited. Lots of smiles all around and then off to bed!!

Christmas morning came VERY early for us. Mary Ann thought she heard Santa's bells outside and wouldn't go back to sleep after waking at 5:30 AM!!! The girls woke Philip up and he didn't protest. Wow. Santa was generous and many games of darts, wii and smart globe have ensued. Philip is quite the competitor. He fits right in!!

What a blessed Christmas!

Skiing

Have gotten behind on blogging without our computer(going on week 3!! without one). Thankfully Philip is generous with his.

We went skiing at Solitude on Monday. It was the first free day from school and even with a storm coming, we went up. All except Arden who was left home with a sitter for being sassy. Philip was amazed at how empty the parking lot was as was I. People were staying home so we literally had the mountain to share with a couple hundred people.

Philip is a nice boarder! He's very graceful and was probably bored skiing with me b/c I'm so slow!! He was a fun ski buddy and we had fun chatting on the lifts. I am actually a better skier than he saw but the powder was unbelievable and it was my first day up. We went down runs that hadn't seen anyone yet that day. The powder was up to my knees at times and felt like a cloud when you fell...which I did!!!

Also, Mary Ann went up for the first time. She was a little pro and on her own in just a few minutes. Philip was off on his own a bit and seemed to like exploring. What a great day for me to steal him away from his friends and have him all to myself as Dennis was with MA.

Until the next time.

Avalanche

So we have mentioned that it is our preference that Philip not ski out of bounds. Well teenagers do what they want and at least he admitted he probably still will. I just figured he probably thought we were fuddy duddy adults. Well at Snowbird yesterday while he was up there skiing and avalanche occurred IN BOUNDS! We woke up to it on the front page and were a little spooked. Later Philip text me from school asking me if I had heard about it. He didn't know it had even happened and he was there! He seemed a bit sobered by it. We have told him that it is a real danger and to keep his eyes on the signs posted at the lifts. I think he believes us now! We may be investing in a beacon for him. It would do alot to ease our minds even tho it is not fool proof.

Tidbits

Philip told us after practice last week that 'he wasn't scheduled to swim' on the Saturday of the upcoming 2 day swim meet. Mmm curious. I asked about the relays in which he has been a participant EVERY meet, and he made up some story about others getting a chance because somebody broke his foot blah blah blah. Oh but could he go snow boarding. Alarm bells are going off in my head by this point. But I say yes. Days later he fesses up that he asked to not swim on the saturday. Have to appreciate his honesty but I probably won't let him off the hook again:)

So I can't tell, but I think he was a little bummed about having to go to Park City to go tubing with the youth group from St PAul's. He mentioned all that he was missing with his buddies etc.... I held my ground knowing that a couple a fun kids would be going. I am pretty certain from his call this am that he had a blast. They went tubing, cooked a great big dinner with lots of meat, something I think he feels he doesn't get enough of here!!! I got a text from one the adults at 1:17 am that they were having fun. I have yet to see him as he went boarding asap. After 6 new inches at the Bird, he was probably drooling to get on the mountain. I can't wait to hear all about it. All I know is he is now known as the crazy Swede from the youth that I did see at church this am.

Lastly, he asked if we could wait and get our Christmas tree tonight. He has never gone and picked a live one out. I guess his family has a fake one. So we'll wait. It's not like we're hiking into the woods and cutting our own but still it'll be new experience for him.

The Nutcracker

We attended the Nutcracker on Friday. Philip has never been to a ballet and there is not a better one to start with! I figure he was a tad bit bummed as 3 of his friends were having birthday parties that he would at best be late for.

He was in a t-shirt and jeans so I asked him to get on a nice sweater. We were all dressed up and I couldn't tell if he just didn't know or if he was digging his heels in at the thought of having to go out with the family and not his buddies. Plus I was asking him to attend a Youth Group function on Saturday so yet another day without his friends or (gasp) being able to snowboard!!!

He obliged and we visited backstage, met some of the crew and finally got to our seats. He says after first act that they never talked! He wasn't aware that dancers don't speak. At the end he confessed that it wasn't as boring as he thought it was going to be! I said we'll be going again, to a luke-warm response!

It turns out that the birthday parties weren't all that and so a night at the ballet, which some of his friends(the girls) thought was cool, was a good choice.

Philip's bedroom

Philip mentioned that his mom usually cleans his room. He has let me know that he would wait long enough that she would get sick of it and finally do it herself. Or, heaven forbid, his girlfriend would do it!!!( Moa, you are setting a bad precedent!!) Anyway. I will go in and fish out dirty laundry but that's my limit! He picks up when we ask, especially if it comes with a ..."before you go boarding...." He really should have never told me that he wait's for his mom to do it because now I'm on to him!

I did do a bunch of his laundry recently and after folding it asked that he put it away...in a drawer. He looked at me sideways with a sly smile and said he would try...but the drawers were hard to open! He can dish it out as well as he can take it. :)

He did however come racing home after school before his team photo for swimming looking for his sweat jacket. I knew he needed so made sure it was clean and put it in his drawer. He came out pretty panicked. I had since forgotten I had cleaned it. I helped him look around and aske dif he had looked in his drawers. He hadn't...it was there. We had a good laugh b/c it had never occured to him to look there.!!

Hair

Philip's hair...is out of control. We have had so many laughs about it. It is really long and shiny from the chlorine. I asked him finally if he was moisturizing after swimming and he laughed and said he didn't have any shampoo. He said he didn't have a hairbrush either. We are cracking up by this point. We were kinda waiting for him to ask for a hair cut but he hasn't. We will set something up here shortly. We tame it up until then.

Thanksgiving

So I think we have done well showing Philip an American Thanksgiving...the 2008 version. We moved our Turkey dinner to the previous Sunday b/c our friends were traveling. We had onlyTurkey breast, b/c who eats a whole turkey anyway?? We also had wonderful potatoes, spinach madeline, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. On Thanksgiving day we slept late, watched 2 minutes of the Macy's Day Parade(not really interested!), we don't watch pro football so we made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. D's P's came up and we visited with them and Korey and Jacob and Cara. They are Philip's age but kept to themselves.

We had a mean game of twister going on for a while. We let Philip call his family and girlfriend because 'technically' this is a holiday. I'm now blogging on his computer b/c ours is on the fritz. One may be wondering when the meal preparations are taking place...well, we are eating out!!!

Star of India here we come. It was an easy decision for Erin and I. We didn't feel like cooking again and we are thankful for the Indian food we are about to eat. American...I don't know but it is what it is.

The explosion

I'm not sure when it happened but there was a clothes explosion in Philip's room. I asked him for his laundry and got a few undies and socks. Mmm, I know I saw him wear more than that the last week!

Putting away the undies and socks while he was at school I discovered a pile of clothes so big it was hard to walk in the room!! I started laughing and then proceeded to run a new load(or loads in this case!!:)

Grades

So Philip was struggling to keep his grades above a B average and we were all alittle nervous. Thru no fault of his own he has a very strict language arts teacher and his Am Gov teacher was AWOL. He pulled out A's and B's and we are pretty stoked for him. We expect A's and B's from our own kids and he's complying withthat. I hope his Mom is happy!! Hopefully she'll read the blog!

Birthday continues

It's friday and Philip had asked that we have some friends over to hang out and watch movies for his birthday. We were kinda excited to host and meet some of his friends. Plans changed as they seem to on a minute by minute basis and there were lots of birthdays to celebrate. So off they go to Mountain Dell to go sledding! A few swimmers came to eat meatballs and noodles. They had a few laughs and were off.

It's good that he feels comfortable having his friends here. I wish we had more big kid stuff around here. He doesn't seem to mind

Mary Ann was a little taken back by all the big kids. She wanted to get close to her 'best friend' Bilip and couldn't. She was pretty sad about that. He did refer to her as his little sister. I loved it. It will be Mary Ann that has a hard time when he goes home. A day I don't look forward to!

Happy Birthday Philip

Gosh, has it been this long since I wrote something! It's Philip's birthday. We always make one's favorite dinner and so he chose a salmon dish has mom makes...out of her head?! She did send the recipe, in swedish, and volunteered to shop with me yesterday to get all the stuff. Now he' gone till 5:30 and I havn't a clue how to put it all together!!

This morning the girls decorated his room with balloons hanging from the ceiling. He of course was out the door at 5:15 am to swim so I haven't seen him. We are having my brother's family over and having dinner and dessert. Friday he will ahve his friends over. More on that later.

He thinks all we got him were some ski mittens that look like Chewbaka hands but alas...more to come!

Two things.

Having 2 girls, I never thought I would have to beg the question to my son"why do you where your pants so low" And even if I did, my 'son' wouldn't old enough to do that for years and hopefully the trend would have changed by then. That said with Philip here I hae had to resist the urge to say "pull up you pants!" While on the trip, he and Arden were skipping rocks and her pants slipped down and I said pull up your pants. Philip turned around and looked and I said "oh not you." We then told him about what we American's refer to as bagging. Who thought this was fashionable? What desiner came up with this one? Philip says it comes from an old Swedish guy who's pants are falling down. That seems like a stretch and we laughed about that. He says he sometimes tells tall tales about Sweden to his friends here. That sounded a bit 'tall.'

Also, sadly we had to ask that he not call home so much. This seems like a pretty crucial time to emerse himself. With his B-day and the holidays coming , we want him to be here, fully. Dennis and I hated to tell him , and his P's and Girlfriend, but all seemed ok. Hosting is tough when you have to lay down the law with a child who is not your own. Thankfully, he has been so easy. I think it will begin to feel more like home without constant reminders of home. I will however continue to make Gravlox. We enjoy that together!

UEA

UEA allowed us to vacation as a family. We needed this as I was kinda feeling like Philip was barely around. He's super busy with swimming, 8 practices a week and weekends are spent with friends.
This trip up to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole allowed us to just hang out. Lots of time in the car. Arden and he are forging ahead. I realized something...they are both the oldest! Families aren't supposed to have 2 that are the oldest and used to being first!!

Watching them hike, eat, look at animals, geysers etc...they both had to be first or right or the best. OMG the competion was hilarious. And Philip plays hard. Pillow fights started by the girls were answered with an 16 year old's strength. I had to just let my girls figure their way thru the beast. He does know when to let up with them and is quick to apologize however lots of things were discovered this weekend.
Arden's jealousy is subsiding and she holds his hand and plays with him w/out us right there. MA kisses him goodnight and lays with him watching movies on his computer. He handled a very long portion of the car ride home sitting in the very back b/c Arden needed to pull rank! Later he was quick with a video to calm the girls down. Dennis and I were thankful!!
So we made a fun weekend out of it. We bonded, we laughed and I was so happy. We weren't home 10 minutes tho before he was asking to hang out with Dane??? We said sure, when will he be here, and he laughed and said...'He's right outside!' Little shit was planning his escape the whole time...:)

Locked Out

Last night Philip went to see a ski mvie that his friend is in. It was listed as being from 7-10 pm. His ride fell thru so D and the girls took him. I called a friend and got on the computer. About what seemed like a 1/2 an hour later Mary Ann cmes down urgently saying Philip's here, upstairs(...Mom, Bilip here...updairs) I disagree and say no sweetie he's at a movie. She says it again and I send her up to her Dad. I hear the doorbell ring and figure D will get it. A few minutes later I hear MA upstairs talking abut Philip and she again comes down and says he's updairs and wants a cookie!! I finally give in and go up to show her that he's not there an who's face do I see peaking in the window... but Bilip! He had been trying to tell her thru the window to get one of us. OMG, I felt so bad. He was laughing. Poor MA was trying to help him and I was just blowing her off. He said the movie was short, so he came home. To end the night she had to go down one last time and give him a love goodnight. Someone is really liking this big-brother thing alot.

Church

So we are regular church goers. Philip has come a few times and I don't know what he thinks. We don't make him, STS discourages that, and I feel he and his parents can make those decisions together. However, today my Sr high Sunday school class came to my house to make breakfast. The planned hike to ANtelope Island was altered due to snow. About 7 kids came and he participated in making pancakes, bacon, fruit salad etc.... All the kids were wondering about the homemade whipped cream on pancakes with lingon berry jelly? Those who tried it loved it.

Anyway, the SS teachers like to mix it up with our kids. It keeps them coming and creates fellowship between them. Philip fits in fine and seems to like the kids.

We nearly always celebrate Eucharist together and he receives it, but I hope he doesn't feel pressured. I don't want him to feel he has to do what we do. If he finds a sense of community he's comfortable with, then great. If he comes back to that later in life, even better but under no circumstances do I want him to feel pressure.

Church

So we are regular church goers. Philip has come a few times and I don't know what he thinks. We don't make him, STS discourages that, and I feel he and his parents can make those decisions together. However, today my Sr high Sunday school class came to my house to make breakfast. The planned hike to ANtelope Island was altered due to snow. About 7 kids came and he participated in making pancakes, bacon, fruit salad etc.... All the kids were wondering about the homemade whipped cream on pancakes with lingon berry jelly? Those who tried it loved it.

Anyway, the SS teachers like to mix it up with our kids. It keeps them coming and creates fellowship between them. Philip fits in fine and seems to like the kids.

We nearly always celebrate Eucharist together and he receives it, but I hope he doesn't feel pressured. I don't want him to feel he has to do what we do. If he finds a sense of community he's comfortable with, then great. If he comes back to that later in life, even better but under no circumstances do I want him to feel pressure.

Homecoming

Philip took Becca to homecoming. I never actually got to see her and the dress etc.... Spencer picked him up and they were off. I bought him a bouquet to give her. He said he had a friend getting him one for her. Oh well, I hope she felt very special.

He looked good in Dennis' suit with his own shirt, tie and Hugo Boss shoes. He and Dennis went to the rack to shop last week. He dresses up nicely. The boys were taking their dates to dinner(I can't remember where) then to the dance then bowling.I told him all about opening her door, putting his napkin in his lap and he may have thought I was a bit old fashion. Good menners are never old fashion in my book!

Dennis did however have to text him about 40 minutes past curfew. He was a little freaked out not knowing where Philip was. Better communication on all our parts could have averted the situation. But it occured to Dennis and I that unlike most parents, we have no idea who the kids are he's with. We didn't know them when they were younger, go thru school with them. It puts us in a position of the unknown. We will ask his friends to give us their parents numbers so we can make some contact. All around that will make us feel safer.

Kid in a candy store

Philip was barely thru the door from practice today when he asked to go Sports Den to get his new board! He was so excited. He mentioned he was hit in the face with a medicine ball and never iced it. It was red and swollen but by golly he wanted his board. I asked him if his Mom would have made him ice and the best I can figure he would have blown her off too:)

We headed to the store, I ran into another store briefly and when Mary Ann and I met up with him he had a new coat and pants a helmet and his board! He is so happy with prices here saying they are so much cheaper than Sweden.

I blew off making dinner and we picked up Arden and headed to The Pub. He loved it. What's not to love. The girls chased him around the car and they were screaming and laughing and tickle fighting. I was happy they are more sibling like now. The frost is melting with Arden. Philip has done a fine job with her by being patient.

More on the weekend later. Goodnight.

Kid in a candy store

Philip was barely thru the door from practice today when he asked to go Sports Den to get his new board! He was so excited. He mentioned he was hit in the face with a medicine ball and never iced it. It was red and swollen but by golly he wanted his board. I asked him if his Mom would have made him ice and the best I can figure he would have blown her off too:)

We headed to the store, I ran into another store briefly and when Mary Ann and I met up with him he had a new coat and pants a helmet and his board! He is so happy with prices here saying they are so much cheaper than Sweden.

I blew off making dinner and we picked up Arden and headed to The Pub. He loved it. What's not to love. The girls chased him around the car and they were screaming and laughing and tickle fighting. I was happy they are more sibling like now. The frost is melting with Arden. Philip has done a fine job with her by being patient.

More on the weekend later. Goodnight.

The State Fair

Philip, Arden, Mary Ann and I went to the Utah State Fair with the Johnson's. It was a great people watching experience for one thing, but also a chance to show Philip the fair food extravaganza! He had a Brat which was whoefully small,a Gyro that was ok and a fried onion blossom that was the pile of grease in all it's glory! He took the big kids on rides we visited some cows and then we headed back to the Johnson's.

He sat upstairs with Sara and I hung out. We played Backgammon, talked about wine, drinking and driving and swedish vs american kids. Sara and I were enlightened. I asked him if ever hung out with his mom like this and he kinda chuckled and said no. Maybe we are still a novelty or maybe he doesn't know enough kids yet but for the afternoon I felt awesome.

Philip tells it like it is about teens behavior. I appreciate that. I always give him an out like "I'm not trying to pry" but he speaks openly anyway.

The Dad's arrived home from golf and a serious game of WII Mario something something took place. sara and I finshed our wine on lounge chairs looking over the Wasatch Mountains. Nice Day!

It didn't take long

I hope I can figure out how to upload the photos to go with this blog...but Philip is hanging out with the girls more. Or should I say they are hanging out with him. Arden is still a little frosty but Mary Ann is sharing her icecream with him which is big deal. Saturday they were on their bikes in the street and Philip alternated riding Mary Ann's new 2 wheeler and helping her ride it. I warmed my heart.. Arden watched from a safe distance but is seeing him attempt to hang with them. Surely it's only a matter of time.

We hiked up Brighton a little ways yesterday. He seemed amazed by the canyon and also compared it alot to a place he skis in Sweden. We're planning a trip up to the Octoberfest Saturday or Sunday. He wants to bike down. Dennis will go with him probably.

He met somemore kids from St Paul's yesterday. They will get a chance to hang this Saturday at the bowling alley. I hope hit it off.

His swimming starts today. He will be busy and more tired and probably if it is possible, more hungry. I need to buy stock in Winder Dairy!! The boy can eat:)

It didn't take long

I hope I can figure out how to upload the photos to go with this blog...but Philip is hanging out with the girls more. Or should I say they are hanging out with him. Arden is still a little frosty but Mary Ann is sharing her icecream with him which is big deal. Saturday they were on their bikes in the street and Philip alternated riding Mary Ann's new 2 wheeler and helping her ride it. I warmed my heart.. Arden watched from a safe distance but is seeing him attempt to hang with them. Surely it's only a matter of time.

We hiked up Brighton a little ways yesterday. He seemed amazed by the canyon and also compared it alot to a place he skis in Sweden. We're planning a trip up to the Octoberfest Saturday or Sunday. He wants to bike down. Dennis will go with him probably.

He met somemore kids from St Paul's yesterday. They will get a chance to hang this Saturday at the bowling alley. I hope hit it off.

His swimming starts today. He will be busy and more tired and probably if it is possible, more hungry. I need to buy stock in Winder Dairy!! The boy can eat:)

Gravlox

My first attempt at Gravlox since Philip arrived is upon us. I have, mind you, made it before from scratch. However he arrived with packets of the seasoning from Sweden. He did not intend on going a full year without what I'm finding out is one of his favorite meals.

So I dash to costco to get a salmon big enough and picked up one with the skin on the back. Shopping with a 2 year old in tow can cause one to do this! I attempt to cut the skin off and gnaw the back of the fish up a bit to say the least. After I add the seasoning Philip takes a look, admitting he has no idea how his mom's looks but says..."oh we usually leave the back on and cut down to it when we eat it"

So, my fish will be ugly but it is marinating. TBC

My two girls are slow to warm up. Arden won't do much with Philip yet but is coming around. Mary Ann calls him'Billip' which sounds more like 'bip' He's sweet as heck to both of them. He's making friends fast receiving lots of invites to do things. I have to wonder if he thinks Americans are paranoid with our constant questions of who is that person again. Maybe it is just me and I'm clueless

football

Philip was asked to go to the EHS game and I drew a bllank. I said yes but wanted him to have Courtney call me. It's an away game, the driving, are they coming straight home...man. Where to begin. I asked him later if his mom asks him all this when he goes out and he says no, he just says he's going out. Man, we must seem paranoid in America.

Still haven't heard from this Courtney, I really should talk to her mom( my older sister informed me!)

Later Philip and I had the 'consequences' chat. It's easier to talk to him than I thought. He's a good kid.

Pool Party at the Lowe's

Philip is across the street at a neighborhood young men and young women's pool party. We left him to go on his own( as we went to visit our new niece Eleanor) and When I went to check on him he was one of the guys. We have always thought our neighborhood was pretty great, but the way the kids have included him has been nice. I was approached by the head cheerleader offering to drive him to school. It's up to him but I imagine being driven by your 'Mom' will get old!

first day of school

philip has been here just over a week and started at East High School today.I drove him down and he did not say much. He says he excited which I don't doubt...he's probably ready to make some more friends. As I watched him walk in alone my heart twanged a little but if today is anything like registration, he will have no trouble. Some cheerleading "helpers" already had 'heard of him.' What's that all about?

Please note I am a biological parent of a 7 and 2 yr old so am getting an education myself on parenting a teenager and a cute one at that.

This is what he came here for, the experience of an american school, education etc.... And so it begins

First DAy of school