Hello everyone or should I say hejsan! Sorry my Weekly Wrap Up is coming out later than usual. With Christmas coming this week, I am SO behind the 8-ball. Picture me scrambling with last minute baking and presents, crossing my finger that Amazon will deliver on-time (please!). Anyone else in the same boat?

Santa Lucia Day has always been important in my family. The Swedish Christmas season begins with Lucia Day on December 13. A festival of light during a dark winter, Lucia dates back to the 3rd century, commemorating a Christian martyr who brought brought food and aid to Christians, using a candle-lit wreath to free her hands and carry as much food as possible. In Sweden, Santa Lucia is represented as a girl in a white dress with a red sash and a crown or wreath of candles on her head. In many families, the eldest girl dresses as such and brings buns and hot cocoa to other children during the night!

Here are my girls ready to march down to the concert.

When my mother emigrated to the U.S. in 1960 from Sweden to become a stewardess for Pan American Airlines, little could she have imagined that 55 years late she would be attending the Santa Lucia concert in NYC with three granddaughters and five grandsons of her combined total of 12 grandchildren. Attending this concert has become one of our family’s favorite Christmas traditions.

Here’s my Mom with the kids’ beloved preschool teacher who now teaches Marielle. She’s taught all five kids and I consider her one of my close personal friends at this point! I was so happy that she and her daughter (pictured behind), who are Hungarian, could join us.

Do you agree that Marielle looks a LOT like her Grandmother?

The church looked beautiful and festive with red flowers.

Having one’s OWN personal candle is pretty cool when you are normally asked to share most everything your hands touch.

Although this picture turned out a bit blurry, I wanted to include it so that you all could get a sense of how festive and warm this concert was. The Santa Lucia stands in the middle wearing real candles atop her head.

On the way back home on the subway, we enjoyed some extra time with our crowns and gowns.

Back to our lobby, we took the opportunity to snap some pics.

Here with the girls and me are my sister Kiki and my niece Aine.



And here with my other kids is Saemus our awesome cousin, same age as Beckett (8) (missing in action is Finn, aged 10, close in age to Lachlan).

And here’s the fam. Since we have virtually NO pictures of all of us together, this year we are making a concerted effort to take them whenever the occasion arises (hmm, that makes me think that New Year’s Resolutions are right around the corner… I’m certainly going to have plenty so get ready for those).

That’s it for this week’s Weekly Wrap Up. Stay tuned for some fun holiday content this week on CloudMom and thanks so much for reading!

XO Melissa

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