move in day

Well... This one will be brief because I'm sitting in a completely dark apartment waiting for Steve to track down lamps or find the converters so we can use the one lamp we packed.  Apparently Swedes take all their ceiling fixtures with them when they move out.  This is #1 on my list of things that drives me nuts about this place!!!!!   Here's number two... the washerdryer.  Yes, I wrote it as one word because it is ONE unit.  It took me about 45 minutes to translate all the words on it to figure out how to do laundry.  I washed the same load of laundry 3x because I didn't realize I never switched it to the dry cycle.  It takes an hour to wash a load and 90-120 minutes to dry it.  Seriously!!!!  

All in all, the move went well today.  The guys were very nice but they were not thrilled about climbing the stairs inside the apartment.  From what we are told, we live in an unusually large apartment for Stockholm.  The best part, we lived in that teeny apartment for a week so when the boys saw this place, they were thrilled.  Mission accomplished!!!!

Here are a few photos of the mess we were in a few hours ago. 

I spent most of my day putting the kitchen together, while Steve spent his day assembling beds and furniture. We were told the movers were going to assemble all of our furniture, hang our  pictures and help set up.  Thy failed to tell them.....  and therefore they bolted as soon as they loaded it all in.  I was able to convince them to at least unload all the boxes and get rid of the trash.  They didn't forget their lunch break at 11:20 though!    

The boys started out helping.  They loved unloading boxes and got all excited to pull out things they completely forgot about.  I agree with Claudette when she said that it felt like Christmas.  That novelty wore off quickly so I sent them across the street to the park.  I can see the playground and BB/soccer area from my living room.  Chase was in his glory with all the  toys we unloaded so he stayed here with us.  Jake and Smith have already  made two good friends, Leo and Eli and both boys live in walking distance to our house.  They met up at the park and played for hours.  Leo's mom and dad are the friends that I mentioned yesterday. It's so nice having this park across the street.  

We did stop long enough to eat a really good dinner at this cool little Italian restaurant two doors down from us.  The waiter was so fun and the kids loved the food too!  It was nice to sit down and gain perspective again.  Steve and I have moved five times in 12 years.  Some would say we are crazy.  I hate the act of moving, but it has been so fun to live in different places, meet new friends, and experience new cultures.  God new what he was doing when he paired us....  We both love it!  We are so happy our kids get to expand their view of other cultures and then be able to come back to the one place we will always call home.