The supermarkets are stacked with Advent calendars filled with chocolates for each day. It is indeed a very tempting sight. However, two advent calendars would not be sufficient for my girls. They each would need 24 because they will finish gobbling all the chocolates from one calendar in a day!

This year, I resorted against chocolates and decided to gift my girls advent experiences that they can enjoy and remember! I am not sure how far I will succeed, but I shall document as and when we go about one!

On 2nd December, Saturday, we kick started this festive season by attending our first Christmas Market of the year – the Immanuelskyrkan Christmas Market. We were joined by Krissy’s school friend, Abi and her family!

We were welcomed by by the church brass band playing ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Rain-deer’. You can listen to it here. We purchased a kids coupon book for each child. The coupon book contained some exciting little stuff.

The first coupon in the coupon book was choosing lucky candles. Each child got to choose two candles of their choice. Under a few of those candles were stickers that were assigned a price. Little Abi won a prize!

The second coupon was 20Kr worth of toys/books at the second-hand kids market. There were many books, toys and games for just 5kr and 10kr.

KT purchased this Mix-Max board game with her coupon. We had a great time playing it together later that evening!

Krissy traded her coupon for a binoculars (10Kr) and two plastic ponies (5Kr each)!

Coupon #3 was a handmade wooly sheep!

The girls each picked a wooly sheep!

We took a brief break from our coupon shopping and enjoyed some melodious A-cappella Swedish Christmas carols. They truly sounded like angels. Listen here.

It was time for lunch. The kids purchased a hotdog with their coupon.

We adults enjoyed a delicious meal of cold poached salmon. This has become one of my favourite Swedish dishes!

The kids used their final coupon at the ginger snap house. Each child got to choose four ginger snaps. There were surprise gift stickers hidden under some.

KT won this cute little snow globe!

And Krissy was the ultimate winner of the ginger snap house! She won this Kalaha game! For how many of you does this game look familiar?

It is one of the earliest ‘board’ games I remember playing as a child. We used to call it ‘pallanguli’. It used to be an old wooden board with fourteen pits. The boards were usually passed down from grandparents and were always antique pieces. And we used cowry shells or tamarind seeds to play the game. I hope I can recreate the same memories for my girls!

The Church Christmas Market was so well organised and it sure was a day we all enjoyed!

When it comes to Christmas, I would like it to be more than just fun experiences. I want my girls to experience the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ, in all aspects of life. Hence, with each day of Christmas, I would like to reflect on one aspect that I have experienced this year!

God with us. Matthew 1:23 AMP

Waking up to each new day with not having to worry about a roof over our heads or food on the table,

Going about our day and returning home safe and sound,

The money in our pockets that has been sufficient for us and to bless others,

Being privileged enough to chase my dreams, 

All the good times and friendships we have made and enjoyed,

The not-so-good times that we were able to get past with courage and hope are just a few ways in which we have experienced GOD WITH US!

If you are residing in Stockholm and are interested is some good Christmas music, there are some amazing concerts organised by our church. You can check out the details here!