Sunday, 20 January, 2008, Ivalo, Finland~

Dear Journal~

Terve! Miita kuuluu? Kiitos hyvaa!

I was going to do this in extra large print (seems my vision is bothering me today; MS rearing its ugly head, as is my fibromyalgia; feels like I've been stampeded by a herd of runaway reindeer!), but Nik told me the print was too large, so I am making it smaller.

This isn't bad, but it's still hard. This is one reason why I made the printing in bold; that way, I can (kind of) halfway see what I'm doing!

Well, the last time I wrote was two months ago. We were getting ready to celebrate Christmas; the decorations were starting to appear in Ivalo; really beautiful. We had a most lovely Christmas; the children got many nice things, and Nik got me a new camera, a digital. It's really confusing to learn how to operate it.

I shall be posting some of the pictures I took; it will be a while until I understand how to download the photoes on the computer. I took some of Birtta, Erik, and Nik; I also took some of the Finnish country side where we live, and some of the auroras that have been frequenting our skies.

Well, Ilsa's recovered from her fall; she's back to speed. Inger's mother passed away just before Thanksgiving; she never did wake up from her diabetic coma. We went to her funeral; it was very sad.

I heard from Helvig in America, he says he may be moving back to Finland. The place where he was working shut down; he is without a job, and money for him is getting tight. He misses Finland; he feels this may be the best thing for him.

I hope so; I have missed Helvig terribly!

Heard from Louie Sandusky; she has two baby boys. Ian and Isaiah. They are beautiful children; they look a lot like her! She had them on November 22, 2007; they each weighed five pounds. They were a month early. The Sanduskys now have sixty three children.

I hope they don't adopt any more; they have more than enough! LOL

I expect to be hearing from her again anytime; I have been thinking about her a lot lately. I hope she is okay; I hope her family is okay!!

Maybe I will have to have Nik call her, just so we can hear her voice! We miss her so much!

I have a new penpal, a lady from Australia. Name's Tottie. Tottie talks funny; I don't understand half of what she writes! I wonder if they have a dictionary on how to speak Australian; her letters have left me confused!!

I also have a new penpal from Holland, a guy named Pauul; have been writing to him for about a month. Met him online; I belong to a group for people with disabilities; I advertised for a new penpal; turns out I have two. Tottie lost her leg in a car wreck; as for Pauul, he has lukemia (spelling?), has to have cemotherapy to try to kill the cancer in his blood. He has those about twice a week; it leaves him sick and spent.

I will have to say prayers for Tottie and Pauul tonight when I go to bed!

The weather here has been brutally cold, temps below zero most days, even colder at night. Snow is rock hard, ice appearing inside our windows and even on our north walls! We can feel the cold coming in from the walls; it's terrible! We have the fireplace on full blast, but I stay away; have enough trouble with my MS flaring up without heat making it worse!!

Well, I have to go now; it's just after six in the morning here; it won't be long before the kids rise from their slumber. It seems once the first light of day appears, their eyes instantly pop open; then it's hard to get them back to sleep. They are ready to go, start a new day.

I will write in here again; until next time, God bless, take care, and Nakemiin!

Love, your Finnish friend, Sari Annike. :)