Manufactured Snow

In the park behind our apartment, the mayor's office and the local "home depot" sponsored a sledding/ski hill. They bulldozed a giant portion of the hill and then when it got cold enough, they brought in giant snow blowing machines. Samuel and Hannah had a great time sledding and Eric made fun snowballs with this great snowball maker that my sister and brother-in-law sent us. It helped make our Christmas break more fun and the best part was that it was all free!

Family at Christmas and Missing them

This was our third Christmas in Bucharest, but our first without any family visiting. Although we consoled ourselves with the idea that not having family would make for a beautiful, quiet Christmas for us, we did feel lonely when Christmas day came around. We had the wonderful opportunity of chatting for long periods on Skype with both our families and had the grandparents watch the kids open the presents on the webcam-but if we are being honest-that's not really enough. And for me, this is a grieving process. I grieve that I am not there to take cute pictures with my sisters all in matching pajamas. I grieve that my children cannot hug their grandparents and sit on their laps.

But Christmas is just an event-what I really grieve is having the relationships you have when you live 10 minutes from your parents and you drop by for dinner (like we use to!) or just shopping with my mom or hanging out with my brother and sister. But in reality,(the reality I want to focus on) when I look at what my Savior has done for me and the little sacrifice he has called me to-living in Bucharest-who Jesus is comforts me beyond what I need and want.

Christmas Time in Bucharest

This year it seemed that city officials tried very hard to decorate and get into the Christmas Spirit. I remember our first Christmas here-2006. It was weird to walk around the city because there were no outside indications that Christmas was being celebrated. Now just two years later, we have lights all over the city, little Christmas markets, and trees for sale everywhere. Eric and I really enjoyed the festive spirit around outside and we took walks several nights with the kids to look at the lights and see performances around the city parks.