Resolutions (just...small...ones)

 Last night I told my uncle Brad and aunt Olivia that I need to learn Danish and Swedish by June.  No big deal....

I spent time yesterday afternoon online researching the geography of our family histories in Denmark and Sweden.  Adam and I are planning a trip there this summer.

Adam's grandma came to America at age 5 from Denmark.  His faithful great grandparents joined the church and went to Utah.  Someone took this picture of them in New York and it was apparently in U.S. history textbooks across the United States for a time.

Adam's grandma is the one looking to the side.  The littlest boy was named Fred Hulse after the missionary who taught them.

I am looking into where they are from in Denmark and I want to go see it.  I am looking at records and signs and addresses in Danish and the more I look, the less Danish I know.

I love looking at pictures of them.  I especially feel an affinity with Adam's great grandma Karoline Lang Simonsen.  I don't know why.  Every picture of her that I see, I just want to be friends with her.

I found this picture and I love it.  Adam's aunt Jeri was very close to her grandma Simonsen and told me once that her grandparents' house and their faithfulness was a refuge for her.  This is a picture of Karoline and Jeri and I just love how playful it is.

Karoline looks like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

She is also on the verge of a big smile in every picture I have seen of her.

I found this on Family Search.  "Far" is Simon Simonsen, who is pictured above.

I wonder if it should say christened rather than confirmed because it is a Lutheran church?  Then I found this with a google search:

I want to comb the surrounding cemetery and find the graves.

So far I have looked into one of my Swedish ancestors, Ellen Jorgensen Dahl.  I found the church on google maps in the town where she was christened according to Family Search.

I looked at the records of that specific church which go to 1846 (and are not indexed into English).  She was christened in 1842 and it took me awhile, because I had to learn the Swedish word for birth.

But I found it!  It is for Elna (Ellen)!

It is March 13 and if you squint you can see her parents: Soren Joransonn on the first line and Karna Nilsdotter on the second line.

This kind of stuff is very exciting to me!

So, you know, two smallish New Years resolutions:  learn two new languages.

We started the new year right with the ladies holiday brunch at Olivia's.  It is a highlight of my life.  We laughed and cried and ate delicious food.  Clarissa said it is like girls camp.  Yes, except the food is better and we don't have to sleep outside.

And we have indoor plumbing.

I love those women!  We played after the manner of the adverb as is our custom and it is always so much fun.  Niece Olivia tried to convince her mom (who is her high school English teacher) that they should play after the manner of the adverb for their English final.

Our kids went home and last night we went to Marianne's for more games and snacks.  We are having a lovely time.