Makaila turns 6!!!

My mum told me she would never come to Sweden in the winter - well so much for that!! All I had to do was tell her I was pregnant and she started planning her trip. November 2002 she arrived in Stockholm for the birth of my first child, who today turned 6!


The Swedish birthday tradition is to go into the birthday child and wake them - carrying a birthday cake with the candles lit, as well as presents and singing Ja mår hon leva as you go. While there is no chance of her getting a cake in the morning (not that organised) and we forget that we are supposed to wake her up, we did sing for her, at least in English. The Swedish flag on the table is also a tradition - one that I picked many years ago as I was given that flag when I first arrived, and that we follow - the kids seem to like it. We just need to get an Aussie and a Canadian one to match.

As the years go by I can't help but notice that we often get our first snow fall around her birthday. Just as we did the year she was born - my mother remembers it well!!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!