Finally, Winter!

Multiple dips in fog, almost 90% humidity and -24C produces spectacularly thick frost!

We are enjoying some sunny days with bitter cold temps.  I haven't tried walking or skiing on the river yet, but hope to soon!

My friend, Ani. She moved here with her husband and family from Bulgaria this year to serve on our National Operations team. We have many common values and our kids are classmates, baseball teammates, and good friends.

Our kids go sledding (or plastic snow-boarding) in the park every day. Even on the -24 day, we went for a short time!

Images of December

Moon over Finnish Gulf

I'm always amazed when driving home by the cruise ship parked along the street. Just a little reminder that we live by the sea, and in a tourist destination!

Every year I long for snow. This year we finally got some in late November. But it quickly turned to dirty slush. I took this picture to admit to my friends who dislike snow that they are right--sometimes it makes things uglier. 

Now, I understand why people come to St Pete as tourists. But when a caravan of RVs showed up in late November, in the slushy snow, I was surprised. They set up a cooking tent in our courtyard, complete with a generator. But it seemed most of their time they spent inside... understandably!

It was very disappointing that our snow only lasted a few weeks. But despite the mess and grayness, it also revealed beauty. Here is the  on the way home from the office. 'Reflections' has been a theme of my art this year, because I've been amazed at the beauty I can see in the dirty puddles.

Our team has been studying the letter to the Hebrews this year, and I've found a lot of parallels between these ugly puddles and suffering. If we focus on what they allow us to see, even the hardest things can show beauty.

Beauty in ice.

Ella and Tima enjoying breaking ice. The river stayed frozen for a week after the snow melted, and created some amazing ice structures!

Six inches of latticed ice crystals, impossible to display in photograph, but fun to crunch!

Attempt at capturing the beautiful crystal structure.

Driving home from picking me up at the airport on Christmas Eve... if you look closely, you can see the famous beauty of the Winter Palace as we cross the bridge.