Thursday, April 10, 2008

and there was a lighter side too ...

despite the sad reason for going to finland ... there was a lighter side to the visit too ... and bonus blessings!

one of the blessings was spending time with my aunt maija (maternal side of family - my cousin who died was from my paternal side) ... she is only 6 years older than i am, and a really great travelling companion! no complaining and just a "we can do this" type of attitude ...
i was definitely "over fed" while away! ... one evening i was taken out for chinese food (in finland? why not? *grin* ... ) and the waitress spoke finn with a chinese accent - which i found so delightful!

i even enjoyed going into grocery stores ... it was fun to look at the different types of packaging and foods ... i am holding a package of "mammi", which is an Easter dish (it really looks awful, but tastes - "ok" ... ), something that would never be found in canada ...

oh - notice the wall of candy behind me - then check out the next picture ... :o) ...

leo loves loves loves - finnish chocolate ... so i brought him back a dozen bars - then the family kept on giving me more chocolate to take to leo - i ended up with 33 bars of fazer chocolate! the liquorice is yummy too ... i needed to borrow another bag just for the goodies .... yum ...

this is a scene from downtown tampere ... it was a snowy first few days there ... but when we left, the temperatuare rebounded to 56F and the snow was almost gone ...

just some scenes from the busy week i had ...


i didn't want to post too many "faces" of family - i usually ask permission before putting anyone on the world wide web ... but imagine many variations of my own features - that would be the faces of my cousins on dad's side ... my features from mom's side seem to be more subtle, tho' there ...

Lord bless your weekend!!!!


(note: leo's doctors appt. is this friday morning ... if you remember him ... us ... in prayer as we meet with this doctor leo saw at emerge last year ... we hope he will take leo on as a patient ... thank you!)

12 comments:

Mari said...

I enjoyed those pictures. What fun to see the store and the city scene was really pretty. Glad you had lots of treats for Leo!

auntibeck said...

I'll be praying for your appointment tomorrow...

Cathy said...

I loved your cute, pretty pictures, Saija. It's good you had some fun. Leo had better not be pigging out too much on his candy before the doctor's visit! :) I'm sure he was happy with those gifts.

eija said...

Oohhh... Fazerin sininen! Leo sure knows what's good!

Praying the doc's appointment goes not well but perfectly :)

Cindy Swanson said...

So sorry about the sad reason for your visit, but how incredible...and what lovely pictures! My husband's family is mostly Swedish-American, but his late paternal grandmother was born in finland. Her name was Vendla...I always thought that was pretty!

daisymarie said...

i'll be praying!

Mimi said...

love the pictures of your trip...
and will be praying for you and Leo tomorrow as you get acquainted with the "New Doctor"
Love,
Mimi

Unknown said...

Its so neat to see picture from different cultures and countries, I love the city picture!!
I be praying on fri.

Susan said...

Nice to see the fun side and the smile on your face. Was Leo surprised with all the chocolate or did he know in advance?
Susan

Catherine said...

I'm so glad you had some happy times on your trip! All that chocolate looks wonderful. :) I'm praying for a productive doctor's appointment for Leo in the morning, with a good result.

Mrs. Mac said...

I'm happy you are home now ... but your trip and pictures are very memorable. I'm tired and need to get to bed ;)

Ramblins of a middle-aged goddess said...

I love pictures and you are very photogenic!! I hope that this new doctor will work out for Leo..let us know.

Sandy