I have been chronicling my recent vacation to Denmark through the series I aptly tagged as Denmark Diaries. There's just too many stories and pictures that I want to share with you all. I had an amazing vacation and I would not trade the whole month I was there for anything. I feel so blessed that I belong to a family full of nice and accommodating people. They were all so welcoming. It was the first time that I met most of the family members so jitters were there before the meeting but everything vanished after the first hello.
I met my husband's immediate family members before Christmas and I was so happy to meet everyone on the 26th of December. We had a post-Christmas lunch which my mom-in-law prepared. I already had a taste of Danish food before the event but the lunch introduced me to some other kind of food which I really liked. I was not able to take pictures of the food though because I got shy and so I just focused on eating and conversing and back to eating again. And oh I also played hide and seek with the kids. It was such a fun day.
The kids table - yes they do have a separate table. It was so fun to watch because they looked like they were playing house and acting like grown-ups. They also had their own juice that looked like red wine.
Boys will be boys! Matthias and Magnus playing with LEGO.
The kids and I in between playing hide-and-seek (Pernille, Sofie, Frederikke and Magnus)
All the random pictures I took. Arrrgh I am slapping myself in the forehead now for not having the guts to suggest for all of us to have a family picture. I really wish I did!
After a few days, we went to the house of Christian's younger brother to celebrate Magnus' 7th birthday. I was also able to meet my sister-in-law's parents at that point. But again, no pictures... Now I am convinced that I am bad at documenting.
Christian and I decorated our first ever real Christmas tree. We didn't spruce it up because I wanted to enjoy just looking at the green pine needles. I might write an article too about we cut the tree from a Christmas tree garden in Hillerod.
We celebrated Christmas Eve at my parent-in-law's house. Since Christian was the youngest child in the family that night, he was assigned to distribute gifts. I loved the fluffy gloves that I got from the kids. We also received other gifts but yes once again I was not able to take pictures.
One of the gifts we received for our wedding was a trip to Tivoli Gardens. It was a gift from my husband's older brother's family. Matthias was not able to join us but Baby Merle was - she's so adorable! Mange tak Lars and Stine. We for sure had a good time.
From left to right: Carolina and Michelle, Michelle and Christopher, my parent's-in-law and I before Christian and I left for the airport (picture taken super early in the morning and mom drove us to the train station), family in Ribe, Gording and Jutland.
The night before we left Denmark, we had pizza in Niel's and Daisy's house (Christian's younger brother). The kids and I became close because of the camera so we had soooooo much pictures. I guess they all finally warmed up to me eh!
And of course our first ever family picture - Christian, me and snowgirl! The snow wasn't too thick but we were able to make a snowman/girl nonetheless. Good thing my in-laws had a very wide yard.
I have so much gratitude in me right now. Even my mom told me that I am lucky to be part of Christian's family because they all have embraced me as part of the family. Christian's family welcomed me with arms wide open. I can't wait to be back in Denmark again to spend time with all of them. I am hoping by that time that I could manage to string some Dansk so I could join most of the conversations.
"You don't choose your family.
They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
Desmond Tutu
