Sollefteå

Hello Hello!
    Well things have been absolutely crazy crazy for the past couple of weeks. Last Sunday I got to talk to Garrett which was awesome. I loved hearing his voice and hear him speak crazy spanish with Devin, it was awesome even though I felt a little left out not being able to show off my new found language skills with them, but o well maybe another day haha. Then the next day, I think that was Monday the14th? maybe?. Anyway, last Monday I packed things up and went on a 2 1/2 day camping trip with my school class. They called it a Survival Camp but it wasn't even close to a survival camp haha. But it was fun. The 3 graders (seniors) were in charge of the whole deal. They split my class up into teams and we had to play games all day and which ever team had the most points at the end of the day got a "prize" So my team was awesome and we won the first day so our prize was a bag of chips and we were able to sleep "inside". It was more like a little hut without a door that we were able to sleep in. So we set up our tent and set it inside the hut. It worked good enough for us. Oh and just so you know, we had to buy all of our food, and my team bought 38 packs of Ramen Noodles to live off of for 3 days. Hmmm someone wasn't thinking haha. The next day we did alot of walking (If you want to look it up on Google Maps where we walked look up Torekov, Sweden and Båstad, Sweden, we walked all along the coast from Torekov to Båstad.) But my team won that day too, so that night our prize was a bag of chips, apples, and a 2 liter bottle of pop, also we were able to sleep inside and actually house, on the floor of course but still it was alot warmer that sleeping outside. At 3 in the morning the 3rd graders woke us up and made us pack up everything and go outside and meet the others for a Twister face off. My team won that so we were able to continue sleeping inside which was uper nice haha. On Wednesday my team won the finals and won tickets to the tennis tournament in the summer and also tickets to a restraunt. Brawn definitely won over brains durning that camping trip haha there was alot of brawn in my team. My team called me "the beast" haha. I am sure you can guess why haha. So I got home Wednesday night and then the next day I flew out of Ängelholm to go North to Sollefteå to meet my swedish relatives. It was about a 3 hour flight including an hour  layover in Stockholm. I flew into Sundsvall which is close to Sollefteå. There I met my grandpas cousin Rigmor. To explain really quickly how I still have relatives in Sweden is goes like this, My great-great-grandpa was married and had a son in sweden but then he decided to move to the USA and left his son and wife in Sweden, promising that he would send for them when he could. He then moved to Wyoming with his brothers and remarried and had my great-grandpa. So Rigmor comes from the swedish marriage and I come from the US marriage. So Rigmor is my 3rd cousin. I have been here for about 2 days and I have met so many cool people and learned so much about my family. I have met my 4th cousins and their children who live in Sollefteå, but they spell Irene Irén. Here in sweden Irene is a first name and Irén is a last. They both sound the same but are different, and rén has nothing to do with reindeer. I saw a picture of my great-great-grandpa for the very first time and I can't explain the feeling I got to finally see who he was. It even brought a tiny tiny tear to my eye. I was also able to see a picture of my great-grandpa for the very first time in my life. My grandpa has always tried to explain his father to me and I had a image in my head of him and you know it was pretty close to the picture. The Irén family is originally from Resele, Sweden which is super close to Sollefteå so on Monday I am going to go and check that out, the original homestead is still there so I am so excited to see that . I can't imagine the feeling I will get when I am there.
  It was kind of funny, I have never ever met or talked to or even seen pictures of my 4th cousins but when I went to their home I sat with them in their living room and it felt as if I had known them my whole life it was so cool. And then today I met my other cousin who is 21, Markus, and it felt so natural to be with him even though I had never even heard of him until they told me that he was coming over. He is really cool and I like hanging out with him. I get to hang out with him and his dad tomorrow. I love my family even more now, and I am so excited to learn more about what makes me who I am today. Oh and just for your information, Rigmor and her husband, Göte, don't speak any english so I am here for a week, speaking ONLY swedish. I am doing awesome!!!!! I will post pictures after the trip since I don't have my other computer. I hope everyone is doing awesome and I will try to keep you updated better haha.
Love,
Micah