Adventures coming soon...

The children leave tomorrow for Space Camp!

What a cool childhood they have. These experiences are amazing and something that most children never even realize are out there.

We are very happy and proud that we can provide them with these opportunities and hope that they will one day realize what an amazing childhood they are having.

We are also on a countdown to Spain.

4.5 days and we are out of here. I need it. I need to remove myself from the drama that seems to encompass everyday life on a camp!

Spain should be wonderful. The weather seems to be in the high 60's F, sunny. We are traveling to many different cities, never staying in one more than 3 days!

The new iPad comes out in Spain while we are there...and if I have the luck to get one (since mine smashed from falling flat on it's face!) then I will try to post.

If not, then I will have to catch up with everyone on my return in a few weeks!

Happy Spring!

Melting away

The days are staying light longer, the air is slightly warming up...

so that must be Spring knocking on our door!

The weather always amazes me here. At this time of year it is constantly changing. By no means is winter completely over. There is still snow on the ground.

Just the other day, ALL of the roads and sidewalks were covered by a thick sheet of ice. It was treacherous to walk or drive on. I left my house to take my children lunch at their school, and it was like an ice rink.

Then by about 1:30 pm, as I was returning home, it was all melting away.

Yesterday we went out in just a fleece. Granted, the tennis court is close by!

I guess our blood has thickened over this past year and a half we have been here. It certainly had to make an adjustment from the tropical temps we lived in prior!

So the countdown begins...

~2 weeks until our Spring Break trip to Spain

~4 weeks, approximately, until the snow melts, we are able to see the river flow again, and the flowers and trees start their beautiful blooming cycle.

~5 weeks until I return to the warm weather of our house to oversee some of the construction of our addition!

~12 weeks until summer break and going to see Roland Garros, the French Open!!

Exciting times are ahead...

Spring, my favorite season that brings new hope and gorgeous days!

Love

Love

With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I'd write about the word.

First some quotes that I found regarding love:

• Love is not to be purchased, and affection has no price-St. James
• The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart-Helen Keller
• True love begins when nothing else is looked for in return-Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• You know you are in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams-Dr. Seuss

I found these on a site for love quotes, and they were some of my favorites.

What prompted me to write this post is with Valentine's Day approaching, I'd like to see a change in our vocabulary.

Love to me is of the heart, fulfilled in my whole being, felt by my whole self...from my head to my spirit, I love.

I love my family. I am so grateful for every one that has touched my life.

Where the change needs to happen, in my opinion, is in the casualness.

I love these potato chips, I love this car, I love this tv show....

it cheapens the word, makes it less valuable. You can prefer these chips over those, even really "like" their taste. but can you love a chip?

A chip, (or anything else inanimate), can not feel your affection. It doesn't return, or spurn, your feeling back to you.

So, let's take charge of our words, feel our heart and

LOVE, with our whole being, those things that make a difference in our life!

Happy Valentine's Day to my husband, who is the greatest gift that I have received.

We are blessed with two beautiful children whom we LOVE with all of our hearts and with whom we share our lives together.

Bitter cold

It is cold.

There is almost nothing else to say...

the snow finally stopped falling after days of this fine mist. I could not imagine how what looked like a wet snow, very fine snow, could accumulate to the amount that it did.

But now that the snow has stopped, the cold air has set in. We wake up to mornings, with the wind chill factor biting at our cheeks, at -26 this morning...

We are in the tough stretch right now. The air is freezing, the daylight is short, and the roads are not the best to be driving on...

Ah, well, at least there is a chili cook-off fundraiser this weekend, the middle schoolers will watch Gone with the Wind, and I will join them, and of course, there is always cuddling next to the fireplace!

Happy winter, from the frozen North!

Here is one of my favorite houses here:

Buried in

Wow, this is how I remember winters from when I was a child.

A lot of snow, piled up to my knees....

Check out my last post to see the first photo of this chair on my back patio to see how much snow has fallen!

The funny thing my children noticed, though, is that since the children walk to school here, it is right on our village camp, there are not any "snow days"!

Good thing my refrigerator is stocked!

Bella is interesting in this weather...she like to play in it for awhile, but then her paws must get really cold because she barks to come in.

A different type of fun for us, but still fun all along!

Snowflakes

Ohhh, it's a good day here if you like the snow!

The flakes are falling. Even though they are fine and seem like just twinkles in the air, they are accumulating on the ground.

The weather forecast is calling for much more snow to fall throughout the weekend.

Perfect days to for me to snuggle in near the fire and watch some amazing tennis from the Australian Open!

I love the purity of the white snow and how fresh it makes the ground look.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Christshenya

Here in Atyrau, my friends and I are always up for an adventure. It is hard to find much to do besides exercise, cook and get together with friends.

(not that any of these activities are bad, but any sort of city wide festivities, outside of our village, are not the norm).

So when an opportunity to walk on a frozen river to get to the site of Christshenya came up,

we all jumped on it.

Christshenya is the Russian Orthodox celebration where the water in the river is blessed 12 days after the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Believers follow a procession from the church to the river where the priest says his prayers,

and blesses the water.

The most hardy of the believers then submerge themselves three times for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Their sins are absolved and they begin the year anew.

They had a scuba diver ready in case tragedy struck...aka...someone lets go of the ladder and falls underneath the ice.

Musical entertainment provided by the man with an accordion.

Changing room...(term used lightly!)

Those that can not fathom jumping into a frozen river in extremely cold air with only their undies on can collect the blessed, holy water and keep it in their homes until the following year, using it medicinally, to drink or however they choose.

We walked from our village down the frozen river. The ice is strange to walk on, half of me feeling secure, but yet feeling a little nervous in case I were to fall through!

It makes beautiful bubbles right underneath the surface.

The sunrise was beautiful behind this lone ice fisherman.

It was definitely a not-to-miss opportunity here in frozen Atyrau!