A different type of fast

I have been reunited with our tiny tot for a week now. To not have her around for two weeks was HARD, so the past week I have been making the most of our time together. I took time off from other things, I decided to go on a Facebook fast for a while. And it was good, must do it more often!

Eid Mubarak & Hajj Mabrour

We are back from an experience of a lifetime. We have performed Hajj, alhamdulillah.

I will come back with some pictures and some tales from our week. But right now I am gearing up for a quick trip to Finland to pick up our daughter who has spent the lat fortnight in my parents' care.

Meanwhile we can only hope and pray that our Hajj was accepted, or as they say in Arabic : Hajj Mabrour.

Gate 32

At the gate, waiting to board my flight to Istanbul. I wonder if we will all fit om the plane..

Väntar på att stiga på flyget och undrar om det finns plats för oss alla...

Behind the glitter of the Gulf...

Cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been dazzling visitors for years now. The capital of Qatar, Doha, is heading I'm that direction too. But behind all the shiny sky scrapers and outrageous-sized malls lies another reality. That of the migrant workers that are hired to build these structures... It really is nothing short of modern-day slavery.

I visited Doha just a couple of weeks ago and I thought I might share some of the photos I took during our long weekend. I changed my mind and I am sharing this video instead.

The Monsoon

When it rains it pours they say. I really thought it was enough getting food poisoning and a cold in the same week. But no. I then got a toddler that somehow lost the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Then... I managed to pull a muscle in my back...

Thank God I am feeling much better now and the young one is sleeping so much better. Not yet fool proof and she's definitely not a " sleep through the whole night" type of person, but maybe we might get there one day.

Here's a sample of what we have been up to - in pictures.

Karelian pasties - bringing Finland to Saudi

Running - the young one first and me after her!

Picasso she might not be, here's the first drawing. Surely there are many, many, many more to come!

Har varit frånvarande en tid. Har nu klarat av matförgiftning, förkylning, en värkande rygg och en ettåriga evigt växlande sömnsvårigheter... Ja, sömnen e de väl ännu si och så med, men det är i alla fall bättre än för en vecka sen. Ännu vet den lilla int vad sova hela natten betyder. Men kanske hon gör det en vacker dag... Jag menar natt!

Här kommer nu ett litet bildkollage av vad vi har hållit på med.

Still here

Still around, but I have put the blog (and everything else) on the back burner for a while. After coming back from India the whole family got sick, so we are now trying to recover from a very nasty cough and cold.

The past few days have been a bit of a blur, but we will survive :) thanks to everyone for the get well wishes and for all offers of food, meds etc. 

Here's a funny pic for your Saturday night. Have a great weekend everyone!

Our Indian Adventure - Day14

Another day spent at home. The trip ended on a slightly negative note because me and the young one fell sick. Rather than going anywhere, we concentrated on spending our time with our family. Our daughter has a bunch of lovely and doting cousins. It was just amazing to see how well the older cousins took care of her and how the younger cousins adapted their play to suit her. These are the things you miss when you leave away from family.

I just thought I'd share a photo that I took one day while driving through the neighboring township. I just thought that the name was hilarious!