Party
This morning, when my mother greeted my father for their anniversary, he returned the well wishes. I'm very thankful that he is clearer today. Breathing continues to be very difficult, but with morphine and a sedative he calms down enough to sleep peacefully.
Our party tonight will jointly celebrate my niece Annika's birthday and my parent's anniversary. I baked a cake for Anni, using a recipe that she chose (the most chocolate one I've seen in a long time--yea!). Also bought flowers for the children to make garlands for Mom and Dad in honor of their anniversary on Midsummer Day. And if we're not too full of cake, we will also indulge in strawberries and cream, a Swedish dessert.
Midsummer
Midsummer, or the solstice, usually lands on June 21. The Swedes find the closest Friday to June 21, making today the big day there.
But I will be celebrating on the actual day because I'm visiting my parents in Virginia, and tomorrow is their 57th wedding anniversary. Since they were married on the most important Swedish holiday of the year, I'm hoping to follow some traditional Swedish customs tomorrow. Stay tuned and I'll let you know what happened.
Royal Christening
Princess Leonore of Sweden was baptized last Sunday, one year to the day after her parents married in Stockholm. Last June, I got up early to watch the wedding. This year, I had hoped to do the same for the baptism, but our lives were too hectic last weekend. There are several good photos on the web, but this one is among my favorites. The crib belonged to Karl XV, king of Sweden in the late 19th century.
Tornado
My brother and his family witnessed a rare tornado near their home in the Colorado mountains. Their land is quite high in elevation, which gave them a direct view line for the tornado five miles away. The main news station in Denver, 100 miles away, drove to their home for an interview. See the following link, which shows my nephew Jacob describing what happened:
http://www.9news.com/story/weather/2014/06/08/funnel-clouds-reported-near-fairplay/10199321/
And here's my sister-in-law's photo, with their driveway in the foreground. I took this image from Google, with her name as the byline!
Beautiful
Yesterday, quite early in the morning, I looked out my bedroom window and caught a distant glimpse of Mama Rabbit. She grazed on our neighbor's lawn at the end of the block. She is quite substantial for a rabbit, with a torso about a foot long, which is why I could recognize her.
Suddenly, a second bunny hopped into view next to her. I don't think it was a baby from our yard, because this one was definitely full-grown, although smaller than Mama. It was possibly the other mother rabbit, the one with the nest where the young ones all died. We had seen her at that time, holding her ground despite Kentucky's barking on the other side of the fence.
I made a mental note of the picture in my head--two beautiful animals in the new morning light. Joy!
Important Day
Adam graduated last Sunday and received his high school diploma. We are very proud of his accomplishment and grateful to everyone who helped make this day possible.
