You may be thinking, Oh, so it’s warmed up then? HA. No. This morning it was a brisk -19 degrees Celsius (-2 degrees F). We really don’t mind the cold that much, which is a good thing because wherever we will be ending up in Siberia, it will be a lot colder. Both Micah and I, and the girls it seems, are usually always warm. We always have warm hands, warm feet, and just warm bodies.

There are things we like and dislike about the cold weather such as;

Like: Getting dressed with lots of warm layers and feeling warm while out in the cold.
Dislike: Getting sweaty as soon as you walk into any building with the heat on because of all of the layers you are dressed in.

Like: Seeing all the pretty fur coats and hats people are wearing.
Dislike: Seeing all the frozen spit and animal droppings left on the sidewalks.

Like: Feeling healthy after a nice brisk walk.
Dislike: Not feeling your nose and cheeks after said brisk walk.

Like: When your daughter makes up songs about how cold it is outside that sounds like this:

Its cold , its cold.
Its snowy, its windy.
Its snowy, its windy
Its cold outside…

I am sitting on a sled.
Its so funny.
Its so funny.
Its so funny.
Its so funny.
The sled is funny.
Ha, and the sled is funny.
The sled is over.
Ok, you gotta take a nap right now.

(I was writing this as she was singing while standing on her sled looking at herself in the mirror. If I get up to get the camera to record her she will stop.)

BTW… she has been doing A LOT of that lately. Just singing everything that comes into her head. It is really funny. And it reminds me of the days growing up where my mom and I would do the same thing. We kinda just sang while we talked to each other though. Ha ha, remember that, Mom?

And I’ll leave you with two super cute pictures of the girls. Thanks for the cute outfit, Aunt Elaine!!

We decided to have a small birthday party for her on Sunday night, with two Russian couples. We had lots of food and then she had a fun time opening presents from them and playing with her friend Andrei. And of course we sang to her and had some chocolate cake!

Keira and Angelina playing together

She was so excited about chocolate cake

Yesterday the 23rd was her actual birthday, so last night we had some presents from family that she opened up. Thank you family for giving her a special day! She loves opening presents, so she really enjoyed it.

Silly Violet...

...is now in a BIG bed!

She is quite the roller though, meaning she is constantly rolling around in her sleep. We have a big cushioned area beside the bed now for when she falls out. Anyone have any solutions to this problem or do kids just normally outgrow this?

...and Keira is now in Violet's crib/bed.

What was Keira sleeping in before? Well, the drawer was getting a bit too small… JUST KIDDING! We were borrowing a pack-n-play.

By the way, Micah’s mom made it safely home. She left Saturday at around 1 pm our time and got home in California 2 pm her time. Flying in that direction she only lost an hour of her day, even though the flight was about 13 hours. Pretty crazy how that all works. We’re glad she was able to spend time with the girls and be here with us for the holidays.

Keira is getting to be quite a big girl. She will be 4 months old on the 20th, but I have already started putting her in 6 month old clothes. The ever changing growth of babies in their first year is just amazing, and goes so fast! And for those of you who remember how Violet’s hair stood straight up, well Keira’s hair does the same thing. Are most babies with hair like this? Here is an old picture of Violet to remind you:

Violet at 3 months old

Keira is starting to hold up her head pretty good

Micah and his girls

Big Sis and Little Sister

taken by Violet, our little photographer

Me and my girls

In the evening were invited by our co-workers to join them for a roasted lamb dinner, and it was some of the best lamb we’ve ever had, it was awesome! Afterwards we sang some Christmas songs, even Violet sang. I’m so glad we have been singing them with her, she really enjoyed singing with everyone.

Gudrun preparing the feast

That's one nice looking leg!

Violet playing with their guinea pig

A pretty sunrise we got to enjoy the next morning before it hid behind the clouds for the rest of the day

On Tuesday, Micah’s mom arrived for a short visit to see the girls and enjoy some family time for Christmas. So we had another Christmas day on Thursday. Violet was so happy to see Grammy, and of course open more presents.

Tea time

Craft time

New trike from Grammy

On Friday, Micah took his mom to see inside the Kremlin, which she has missed the first time she was here. Inside the walls there are many cathedrals and palaces, you can read more about it here.

Saturday evening, we were invited to a New Years Eve dinner/party with Russian friends of ours and their family. This is a very good thing to be invited to, because New Years is the biggest holiday of the year. They usually celebrate by getting together with friends and family and eat lots of traditional Russian dishes. So around 9 pm we all bundled up and headed out in the cold for the party. We had a great time eating and practicing our Russian and at midnight the president gave his short speech on tv to give his wishes to everyone for the new year. Afterwards the clock tower rang 12 times followed by smooches of the couples who were there and then the fireworks began. And they continued on and off sporadically until after we got home around 4 am. BTW, Violet stayed up the whole time until we got into the car and then she was out! She was really good the whole time and they all enjoyed having her there too.

We also celebrated a birthday

We wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

Today some new areas of Russian culture were opened up to me. I had the sad opportunity to attend a Russian funeral today. Tragically, a young married couple from our Sunday fellowship was killed in a car accident earlier this week. Thankfully, they are in a much better place right now but it was still sad to have to say goodbye to them today. I was interested to see how a Russian funeral differs from funerals in America and it turned out that it was not too much different from a funeral you might attend in America. This probably because of the fact that they were children of the King, a traditional secular Russian funeral I have heard is much different.

The second interesting part of my day occurred when I entered the metro to head home. An acquaintance of mine was being accosted by the полиция (police). Apparently there was some problem with his metro ticket. I, unfortunately, got there after the fact and he was in the process of being dragged by the police into their office. He saw me and yelled for help, asking me to call somebody, he was shouting that he was being unfairly treated and being arrested without just cause. I felt bad for him, but there was nothing I could do. I’m not even sure what he did (or did not do). I got in touch with one of my other friends and asked him to help. Hopefully, it is nothing to serious!

Anyway, it was an interesting day here! Thanks for reading our blog.

Here are some pictures of Violet enjoying the Little People Nativity Set from one of the packages. She loves it and plays with it all the time. It makes animal noises when you open and close the gate, and it also plays songs, which she really likes singing along with. And it has been great being able to explain the story to her with the characters.

Baby Jesus lights up with the music

Three wise men with their camel and gifts

An angel with the shepherd and sheeps

Angel over the manger and animals

One of the first things she does in the morning