So much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving. My personal favorite in terms of holidays.

Living so far away from "home" at times like these can be difficult. I miss the traditions, my extended family the cozy times, the memory making. And, of course, the day-after shopping spree.

But I am so very lucky to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with a bunch of great people... my beautiful family, and a group of close American or "almost" American friends who understand not only what it's like to be an expat but also understand what Thanksgiving means. People who can, for example, eat sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows without wrinkling their nose. And pumpkin pie! And cranberry sauce!

We have a tradition (now in it's third year) of celebrating Thanksgiving with Steve and Eva and their kids. For the past two years we've been joined by Camille and Klas, and this year we added Merrick and Ling and their daughter to the mix. We had a terrific, memorable time. Eva and Steve were our hosts this year.

Here's Steve carving the first turkey (we had two -- this is Sweden, after all -- the turkeys are similar in size to a large hen....)

Cam and Klas -- Cam's expecting their first child in just a few weeks!!!!

Steen's plate.... just looking at it makes me hungry. :)

Merrick digs in.

We usually follow Thanksgiving with a day of baking gingerbread... Here you see Matthew rolling out the dough in preparation for the arrival of the cookie cutters.

And Luke, who has found the aforementioned cutters.

Steen and the boys are in charge of making a gingerbread house every year.... and every year they get just a bit more crazy and creative. So I present to you the gingerbread house of 2010:

As we'll be away over Christmas and New Year's, we decided to put our tree up extra early. It was exciting this year because it was the first year when Nico could really be involved. He was thrilled. Every ornament was a discovery for him.

Some of my boys having a bit of fun.

A visit makes a dream come true

Throughout my life, I've watched one celebrity single-handedly change the world, one step at a time, while simultaneously fighting numerous accusations, derogatory statements and court cases with dignity and the utmost respect for her fellow human beings.

She brought us the "Angel Network", lit up an interest in reading in a culture where reading was arguably "on the way out", and used her financial wealth for countless gifts that have brought hope to those less fortunate.

I am speaking of Oprah. While in grad school, I turned down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend one of her tapings together with a fellow student. Why?

I had class that morning.

I am nothing if not conscientious. Yeah, right.

Well, I had been regretting that decision ever since. And then, in February last year (at an amazing charity event that is being repeated in just a few days -- click here!), my parents bid and bid and bid again on a pair of tickets to one taping of the Oprah show.

And they won.

And my mom called me and asked me: "Tina, would you like to go to the Oprah Winfrey show with me?".

Jumping up and down, screaming with all the energy this just-a-bit-older-than-a-teenager body can muster, I of course answered yes.

And in late October, I landed in Chicago, proudly announced to the passport control guy that I was returning to the US to see Oprah, and joined my mom for the taping.

Here we are the "morning of".

We left the house early enough to take the train downtown, have a cozy breakfast and a nice cup of coffee, brave the hurricane-force winds to make it to Harpo Studios, where we waited outside for a few hours along with other lucky ticket holders to be admitted to the studios.

Once inside, we spent another hour or two waiting around with 300 or so beautiful women and a few handsome men before being admitted to the actual studio where the taping would occur.

I could feel the energy in the air when Oprah walked into the room. For a few minutes, my eyes were filled with tears at my incredible fortune -- to be in the presence of such an amazing woman who has done so much good for the world and to be sitting next to another amazing woman who has done so much good in the world. I didn't want to be anywhere else.

There are no other pictures from that day except for a couple more we took before we left the house. We were not allowed to bring cameras or camera phones with us to the studio.

The show we saw taped was Oprah and Gayle's Yosemite Vacation, which was good fun. I know I truly enjoyed myself.

After the show, mom and I took a cab down Michigan Avenue, grabbed a snack at a terrific café, did some shopping, and had an amazing dinner at The Capital Grille. I had the most mouth-watering steak ever!!!!! Full, giddy and tired after a day of excitement, we hopped the train home.

Thank you mom for making (yet another) dream come true. I don't know how I can ever repay you.

*************

While in Chicago, I got to spend some precious time with dad, grandpa, Tim, Kathi, and my niece and nephew.

Let's talk about grandpa for a minute -- the man who has taught me so much and with whom I share a love of cooking (along with so much else). You have no idea what the following scene means to me: a kitchen with my grandfather in it.

When I was a little girl, grandpa would make my brother and I anything we wanted for breakfast -- and I mean it. Pancakes, toast, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, cheese sandwich. Anything He'd let me sit on a chair in the kitchen and whip the pancake batter.

When I was a grad student, he and grandma made hundreds of meals, froze them and brought them to me at the university. I've never eaten better than I did those two years.

As an adult, I've spent countless hours in the kitchen with grandpa... whether it be his kitchen or mine, or even mom and dad's. We've baked bread together, whipped up a stir-fry or two, along with eggplant parmesan and pasta galore. We are comfortable working side by side, sharing a few words here and there and happy to just be together.

Well, now I'm just speaking for myself. I'm always happy to be with grandpa.

And here Kathi and I are celebrating our 25th birthday. :)