The summer of 1995 was my first trip to Sweden.  We were not yet married and I was meeting Sandra's family and friends for the first time.  It was my first time out of the country, and I made the trip into hostile territory all alone.  When I got there, I was amazed at how sparsely populated Sweden was, but it was beautiful.  Sandra's family didn't take well to me or what I represented to them, but they went out of their way to show me around, and to make me feel welcome, even though I knew I wasn't.  Sandra's friends, too, treated me really well, and we had a lot of fun, even though I didn't speak any Swedish.

We had been apart at this point for what seemed an eternity (although it was only a month), and we were so happy to be together again.  I'm so happy we all made it through all the hard times and can be a happy family at last.  Thank you to everyone in Sandra's clan for putting up with us through this time, and we'll see you again this year!

This slide show will share a few moments from that first trip.  For more pictures of us in Sweden click on one of the links at left, or check out our Sweden Photo Gallery.  To begin the slide show, click on "Next Image" below.