Hej Sverige: Björkliden

My oh my, this going to be a long blog post and I shouldn't be writing it because I have my online class to work on. (Please do not get mad Dad but don't you want to read about my amazing week?)

Jonas, Lena, William, Nils, Agneta, Louise, Sam, Hika, and I went to Björkliden for a week! Björkliden is in the Arctic Circle!

Many of these photos are taken by the others so photo credz to all them :)

Taking a break to read while packing.

On Sunday, February 23rd, we made our way up North!

We arrived in Kiruna.

We made it!!

Our first stop was to the grocery store!

Never let William and me pick out the buggy!

We ate at a pizza place for lunch!

There was so much snow!

To get to Björkliden from Kiruna it takes a hour. After, we arrived and unloaded the car, Jonas and I went to go rent my skis for the week.

The first day; Monday!

Wake up William! It is time to ski!!!

Hika, Sam and I went to the bunny slope to warm up and get used to the skis again as the others went to explore the rest of the slopes!

We meet back up at the cabins for lunch!

The view from our cabin!

Jonas shoveling snow!

Hot soup to warm us up!

Back to skiing! Hika, Sam and I graduated from the bunny slope! :)

William chilling!

After skiing, we all went to After Ski were we just relaxed and listened to music! Then the kids went sledding!

Louise, Hika, William and Sam climbing up the hill!

"McKenzie, you can get worms from eating snow." - William

Right after he tells me to eat it...

Tuesday was practically the same routine! However, after a great morning of skiing, I died in the afternoon. We went down a red slope to say the least.

Lena <3

Jonas was a great personal ski left back to the cabin!

Jonas, Lena and I walked down to the small grocery store.

It was by the train station!

CANDY

For dinner, we all went out to eat. Hika, Sam and I had reindeer pasta! It was really really good!

"I think I will have that!" -Louise

William a little up close and personal.

Wednesday, started off great; the sun was shinning! Plus it ended even better because I went the whole day without falling!!!

Lena, Jonas, William and I ate at the hotel for dinner. I had reindeer again!

For dessert we went to the Leijonhufvud's cabin!

Ice cream!

I taught everyone how to play a game called Family. Back home in Beaufort, my family and friends played Family all the time when we got together! Everyone here loved it!

Thursday, we drove to another mountain in the morning for one reason and one reason only...there was a chair ski left! Hika, Sam and I had to try it out! The slope that it went up to was way too difficult for us to ski down so we just rode it in one big circle without our skis on! It was so funny to see the other skiers reactions as we passed them going down without any skis.

Friday we went on an adventure!!! We took a piste machine up to the top of a mountain! Nils, Jonas, William and Louise got pulled behind it...for an hour!

Up at the top we explored, took some photos, ate some waffles, and sent postcards to our families from the northern most mailbox in Sweden!

Hika's postcard to her parents!

"We need some bourbon."

Then we had to make our way back down on our skis!

The host dad's helped us out a little bit when it was up hill!

They truly are the best!

We saw reindeer!!!

Staying hydrated!

Wipe out of the week goes to Miss McKenzie Blake. Congrats on the bruises all over your body and the busted up eye! (The eye isn't bad so do not freak out Mom it is just same scratches. I only noticed it when I went to the restroom at After Ski.) I couldn't stop flying down a hill slash turn and so I just crashed right on my face! My skis went flying. The only person to witness it was Sam and the last words I screamed were, "Samantha, watch out!!!". Lena later told me she thought I broke something when she saw me laying on the ground but realized I was okay when I started laughing. After the wipe out, I wished that someone got it on film because it was actually really funny! I mean I would never want to experience it again in my life but the video would be hilarious!

See I am alright!

Just smiling!

After ski!

Dessert time at the Jöhnemark's cabin!

Ice Cream!

During dessert, Jonas went on the balcony to look up at the sky to check if he could see the Northern Lights. He could! We freaked out and quickly got ready to hike up a mountain to view them better. I had a moment as I looked up at them. Already, I have seen and done unforgettable things in Sweden and there are many more to come. I am so thankful for everyone who has helped me get to Sweden and everyone who has opened their hearts to me in Sweden. It is a time in my life I will never forget!

It is difficult to capture the Northern Lights on camera.

They were much cooler in real life.

It is an imagine that will stay in my mind forever!

Saturday, we headed to the slopes again!

"Fika med Hika"

Fika with Hika

I sat on Rudolph.

I ate Rudolph.

Poor Rudolph.

The cinnamon bun was huge!

In the afternoon, Sam and I went for a walk to take photos!

That evening, Jonas, William and I went snowmobiling!

Do not tell my Swedish friends but I went ice-fishing again...they are totally going to kill me.

As it got dark, we made our way to a cabin to get warm and have a fika.

Snow up to the window?!

We rode in the dark. It was awesome. A lot cooler than riding when it was light outside!

When we got back to our cabin the week was wearing on me. I could not even get the food on the plate in front of me into my mouth, everything just kept falling onto my lap.

Everything most come to an end. Sunday, we had to say goodbye to Björkliden and make our way to Kiruna to catch our flight but we had a couple stops to make on our way.