God Jul means Merry Christmas in Swedish

Have you ever seen the movie, "Fanny and Alexander"?


Last night I watched the first half of the movie and laughed and cried. I cried because I lost my Uncle Carl a few weeks ago (there is an Uncle Carl in the movie). I love the part of the movie when they are celebrating Christmas Eve.
In the movie Fanny and Alexander, they are celebrating Christmas Eve. I have included a clip from the movie.




When I was a child my mother would make us take a nap for a few hours so she could finish the Christmas Eve chores. While we slept she would decorate the tree, make a Smorgasbord, put out our gifts and more. It was great that there was a hall door that was where we kept the stereo system. She'd wake us up and we'd put or Christmas Outfits on. After we were dressed she's open the door and put the needle of the turntable to this song. The hallway ended in the kitchen which was open to the living-room.  We lived in a 1950's open concept house. We'd dance in a line out to the living-room which was magically lit by hundreds of candles all over.

My mom worked full time a a waitress at IHOP. She got Christmas Eve off since my parents were Swedish and that is their tradition. We were allowed to open our gifts too. On Christmas morning we'd open our stockings and got an Orange and other goodies. At the time it was a big deal to have an orange on Christmas, especially in Sweden. My mom would have to work on Christmas Day and we'd visit friends and family, and play with our gifts with our Dad.

My Farmor (Dad's Mom) and some cousins would join us for the special meal. My mom's parents (Mormor and Morfar) lived in Sweden. Sometimes my sister and I would entertain the guests. One year my sister, Anne-Marie, would play the Alto recorder while I sang Coventry Carol.

Here Anne-Marie, Erik and I are posing with our tall fake giraffe and our dog Buffy.




Now we celebrate with both sets of my parents, my siblings, nieces, nephews and close friends.

Now we celebrate with both sets of my parents, my siblings, nieces, nephews and close friends.  Here Kurt is checking out the start of our Swedish Smorgasbord. Later on my dad (Morfar) will make Glog (mulled spiced wine) for us. That is the only time I really miss being able to drink alcohol.