Danish Christmas

We had a great Christmas here in Denmark. We were sad to miss all the festivities back home, but since we will be moving home in a matter of months, we did not want to deal with the jet lag again. The last time we made the trip was rough with the two youngsters. It was very relaxing and we were so excited to celebrate with our friends and neighbors (who were back from the US) and experience a traditional danish Christmas. I think having that to look forward to helped us not being so sad that we were away from our family.

They celebrate on Christmas Eve here and that is pretty much it. They don't go to multiple Christmas celebrations like we do in the states. We went to church with them that afternoon and it was packed! It seems everyone in Denmark goes to church on Christmas eve, then we went to Brian and Janni's house shortly after. It was a great evening, we had a wonderful time.

Lets start with the food ...
It was awesome! This is the traditional Christmas meal here and we love it.
Rødkål (red cabbage)

Medister (sausage - mainly for the children) and flæskesteg (pork roast with crispy skin)

Brun kartofler (potatoes carmalized in butter and sugar) and regular potatoes.

Enjoying the meal. Brian's parents were with us too. The food is SO good. We also had roasted duck and of course ... ris a lamande for dessert. Mmmmm .... yummy. Seriously, those brun kartoffler are to die for. I love them, but I'm not great at making them yet - trying to perfect them. When you eat ris a lamande, there is a whole almond in there. Whoever gets the almond, gets a gift. Its called a mandelgave. Here's Broderick holding his almond and his gift. (All the kids had an almond in their portion. Brian's mom was nice enough to get them all a mandelgave. )


Here's me and Janni doing dishes.
I guess there's things the Danes miss while in the USA too. Before Brian and Janni moved to the US, Janni asked if we had dish brushes like the ones she's holding. I said of course! I guess we don't... her's is a special one made from horse hair. So when we visited last fall, I brought her one her mom bought for her. I think its funny the little things we miss from home.


Relaxing before gift opening ...

Broderick was so excited to play with Krister. Every day since they've been here, Broderick asks if he can go to their house. I think he'll be sad when they go back to Iowa.

Brian, Brad with Anika, and Erik (Brian's father)


The Christmas tree ..... Its tradition here before you open gifts that you sing Christmas carols while dancing around the tree. So of course we had to partake in such a fun tradition. You wouldn't wanted to have heard us (Brad and I) since we were singing danish songs, but hey - we tried.

I was a little disappointed when I realize the dance is more like a walk, I was hoping to see some sweet dance moves. =)


And the part Broderick had been waiting for all night .... PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, I know socks aren't that exciting, but that's what he asked for.

Anika was more interested in tearing the paper then what was inside, but eventually she'll enjoy the toys.

And even though we had an awesome danish celebration, we still did the American tradition of stockings and few gifts on Christmas morning.

Thank you so much Brian and Janni for including us in your celebration. We had a wonderful time and will always remember the year we had a white Christmas in Denmark!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and took time to focus on Jesus' birth and the real reason for all the celebrations!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Denmark!!!!!!!! (a few weeks late)