Church booked!

Well, Kristina has also booked the church! June 19, 2010, 3 PM at this church:

Reception hall booked!

Kristina has booked the reception hall! It's all in Swedish, but you can see the website here.

Engagement gift - Marimeko towles

From some of Kristina's friends we received a pair of Marimekko towels:

We'd like to thank all those who had a hand in giving these towels:

Johanna
Ann-Sofi & Botvid
Anette & Peter
Lotten & Mika
Eva & Hans
Kariina & Johan
Sofia & Patrik

One of the thoughts with all of these gifts is that Kristina will have a bit of home in America when she gets here. I like them too!

Engagement gift - Aalto vase

From Kristina's father's siblings, we received a famed Aalto vase:

Originally designed by Alvar Aalto in 1938, the piece is representative of "Nordic modernism". We all learned a new word, didn't we?

Kristina and I would like to thank all who had a hand in giving this vase:

kerstin & john
hans-erik & else-maj
rune & linda
roy & gun-marie
majvor & rune
bernice & harry
yngve & cathrine
ralf & barbro
boris & ingeborg
pia & johan
tomas & yvonne
kjell & åsa
ulf & ingegerd

I would like all those in my family to have these names memorized by the end of the week. There will be a test.

Engagement gift - iittala "Maribowls"

Also from this gift-giving crew were two great dishes/ice cream dishes by one of my new favorite companies, iittala:

I suppose you could put anything in them, but, to me, they were made for ice cream. They come in many different colors.

Engagement gift - Moomin coffee cups

Apparently it is a tradition in Finland to give engagement gifts!

These are a set of coffee cups with the Moomin character on them. The Moomins are the main characters in a popluar comic strip:

The cups are from:

Mommo (Kristina's grandmother)
Mamma & Pappa
Carina + Martin + Lukas + Esther
Mikaela + Patrik + Ellen + Ivar + Aron + Hannah + Ellis + Joas
Daniel + Sophie + Hannes
Patrik + Martina + Nadia
Joel
Paul

Kristina and I thank you guys! Also, I got an extra cups for my birthday, which I just realized I don't have a photo of...COMING SOON!

By the way, the Moomin collection is HUGE: Check it out!

Engagement gift - Moomin coffee cups

Apparently it is a tradition in Finland to give engagement gifts!

These are a set of coffee cups with the Moomin character on them. The Moomins are the main characters in a popluar comic strip:

The cups are from:

Mommo (Kristina's grandmother)
Mamma & Pappa
Carina + Martin + Lukas + Esther
Mikaela + Patrik + Ellen + Ivar + Aron + Hannah + Ellis + Joas
Daniel + Sophie + Hannes
Patrik + Martina + Nadia
Joel
Paul

Kristina and I thank you guys! Also, I got an extra cups for my birthday, which I just realized I don't have a photo of...COMING SOON!

By the way, the Moomin collection is HUGE: Check it out!

Kristina's apartment in Göteborg, Sweden

Yes, this looks like an Ikea catalog spread:

Living room

Kristina's bedroom

Living room, view 2

Kitchen/Dining "room"