More Christmas

One new thing here in Lappeenranta for us is that we decided to be a friend family for foreign exchange students. For this 6 months we got to know two Chinese girls Ying and Lan. They will be going home soon. We've met them maybe once a month. It's been interesting! Why I'm telling you this is the Christmas balls. I found out that Ying loves them and here are some pictures of the balls in our tree for her!

On a Christmas day we were out alot. The sun was shining and it was frosty outside - so just perfect! We even found out that bay on the other side of our home had ice on it. Couldn't resist it!

I had my camera with me. The other day I had seen beautiful pictures of frozen roots etc. at Terry's blog and I wanted to have some of my own. Here are some of my catches:

The ice had so smooth surface that people were skating on it on the other side of the bay.

Christmas Eve in Lappeenranta

As you may know we celebrate Christmas in Christam Eve in Finland. The routines of the day go pretty similarly in every family. This Eve was a little different compared to ones we've used to have.

The morning starts with children's programs in TV. We watch the phone line to Santa Claus where children can call to Santa and maybe sing a song for him.

After that it's time for the traditional rice borridge with hidden almond in it. This year none of us got the almond! On top of the borridge we put little cinemon and sugar.


After the borridge time we've used to go to Christmas sauna but this year we skipped it. I remember only one other time in my life when I haven't been on sauna on Christmas and that was then when we were in Poland on Christmas. It was year 1989. We went to East Germany on that vacation too and get to witness the brake of the Berlin Wall. We got our own pieces. Well, I've already lost it but the memory still holds!

The reason we didn't go to sauna was simple. We didn't have time for it. First our daughters had to go to sing in the declaration of the Christmas peace in city hall. It was a short ceremony were a brass band played, children sang and town manager read the declaration. Right on the moment when children game out and the ceremony started it started to snow. In the morning it was totally black christmas here (and again is) because of the very strange weather of this fall. Even the lakes are still free from the ice. But on the momoent it snowed and look how it snowed! As if God wanted to let us know that I'm here. The snow stopped when the ceremony stopped.

After that we visited home shortly and headed to the church in downtown. There was a family devotional service in there. The string orchestra I lead was performing there. In that orchestra play 13 2-graders who started playing the violin this fall with me. It's been fun! Well, they don't know much of even how to hold the violin so our daughters were there as assistants. It was a very warm service and all the songs we sang and played went well and I got to be involved with music!!! Special blessing to me! There are some of our angels in here:

When we came home Santa had visited our home and left all the gifts under the Christmas tree. That normally happens after Christmas dinner later in the evening but while our routines had been broken we decided to brake them thoroughly.

Gift opening is always so much fun! We try to keep the amount reasonable and I think this year we even succeeded in it. I got a brand new bible with golden pages and foreign coins. I also enjoyed some jewerly from New Zealand from my cousin. Jonna's favourite was mp3 player, Juha's favourite was a hand made scarf from Peru and Viivi's favourite was a huge teddy bear. Girls also loved the new costumes they got. What the whole family loved was the Twister game. It was just too hard to play with your stomach so full...

After the gifts it was time to eat. Ham, of course, with potato, sweet and carrote cassaroles. Yam!

Thn we had to go out to walk and burn some calories. It was time to head to the cemetary. It was so beautiful there! It was like a candle ocean. We lit two candles on a statue for the loved ones who've been berried somewhere else. There were so many candles there that it was hot close to it!

All in all we had a very memorable Christmas Eve here on our new home town. I felt God's presence very strongly in the Christmas peace declaration, At the church and at the cemetary. I hope all of you got a peace of heaven as a gift this Christmas!

Christmas 2006

I love Christmas and you can see it in our home. I enjoy every little thing in Christmas: decorations, baking, gift shopping, songs etc. This year I've had more time to enjoy it because of my new job. As a special teacher I don't have a group to lead so I didn't have to make program to any christmas event of the school. Last year I was involved in three different Christmas celebrations plus our Christmas concert. What happened? Have I been able to enjoy all the extra time? No, I have missed making Christmas that way so much that I found myself crying in a closet one evening.

Anyway my Christmas spirit is very high at the moment. Angels have found their way into our new home. Many of them are warm memories of my ex-pupils whom I miss. You can smell Christmas in our home and hear it through cd-player. My heart is filled with gratitued. God has once again been faithful and helped us through this a big change in our lives. I'm also grateful that He gave us this adventure even tough it hasn't been easy to let go the past. My life is on a solid rock called Jesus and I love celebrating his birthday!

I wish Merry Christmas and blessed New Year to all of you!

At the zoo

We have a year ticket to korkeasaari zoo. We go there every once in a while. Now we decided to pay the zoo a visit on christmas day. That's a good place to walk off all the extra you ate on christmas eve.

When we got there we found out that there was a special route for children in Korkeasaari for christmas time called the stable gnome's route. How I enjoyed it! As a daughter of an artist I can really appreciate things that demand imagination. I'm not sure if the kids enjoyed it as much as I did.

There were signs like this showing the route all the way around the island. Each one was different even though there were many of them. On the route there were also signs where the stable gnome or the girl gnome of the island told about some of the animals and how they have helped them. There were also few tasks for children to fill on a paper (like weighing animal horns, figuring out which hair goes to which animal). What I liked the most was the little scenes that had been built on the route showing the gnomes home, secret garden, kitchen, sauna etc. Look the pictures:

The girl gnome's kitchen

her secret garden
Indoors picture of the boat in which the stable gnome can go around the island

the stable gnome's forge shop

His sauna

The stable home
His skis.

At the end of the tour the girl gnome and the stable gnome had a fancy dinner at the zoo restaurant. The setting was beautiful but my camera's battery was already dead by that time.

I really like Korkeasaari. Most of it is outdoors but there are few houses too. I like walking there. In the summertime the garden looks beautiful and even in wintertime one can enjoy the good work of the gardenists. here is just one example.

Even though we visit Korkeasaari quite regurlarly there is always something new to see or experience. This time the male lion decided to play with our children fortunately through the glass. Exhibitions are quite big and well taken care of except for birds. I think they should have bigger exhibitions. Anyway I like it. And the stable gnome's route was such a special treat for me! Especially when the weather was just perfect. it snowing without wind big snowflakes. This picture is taken from the island towards the downtown Helsinki. Background you can see two ice-brakers waiting for their work season to come. girls enjoying the animal figures on the way to the zoo island.
Me and girls looking how teddy bears are in winter sleep in an very old bear cage. I'm wearing my favourite hat from Peru.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is here again! You can tell it when you smell the fir-tree when walking into your home, you see candles at people's windows, presents coming out of their bags and when you hear christmas carrols all over the places. It never dissapoints you but it comes every year bringing the hope to the world!

This year I've been thinking how tired Mary must have been on the first christmas after the long trip to Betlehem and even after got there in looking for a place to stay overnight all while being pregnant ready to give birth. Along the day she must have cried occasionally her tiredness and despair. I'm not sure if she remebered that she was carrying the Son of God in her. She might have been too tired to care for that. But she gave birth to Christ our Savior and those moments of despair changed into the night of the miracles after miracles, into the night that generations after generations would remember! All along God had been with Mary and Joseph making the divine plan come true. Mary just didn't feel it or even believe it.

I've felt it this December. I don't remember being this tired ever in my life. I haven't been able to concentrate to the real meaning of christmas. I've been too busy with my work and all the concerts, events, reports etc. which come along with my work in December. I've just been walking this road step by step towards the christmas doing all the things I've had to do. On the road I lost my belief for the fact that God cares for me and carries me in my moments of despair. But just like for Mary the real christmas came to me too. I can see it in the eyes of our children, in the flame of the candle, in all the decorations and most of all I can feel it in my soul. CHRIST WAS BORN! It's time to celebrate it.

I can't even imagine what my life would be without the first christmas. I'm so happy that God changed Mary's wearyness into the joy to the world. And He did it to me, too. I hope you all can experience the secret of christmas in your life!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!

PS. This year I didn't send any christmas cards. With that money I planted a real christmas tree in Peru hoping that it will bring joy to the family in need with its fruit.

Christmas is coming

Angels and elves have found their way to our home once again! I love Christmas time! In decoration I like using self made little things, nothing fancy. Smaller elves on teh picture have been made by my grandmother and the others are made by some craftsman from Imatra. The christmas angel is a gif from my pupil.

Christmas time means also delicatessen and in order to have those one should either make them or bake them. I prefer baking myself. It's a good way of spending time with children and of course you get the scent of the christmas. In Finland the most common things you bake for christmas are gingersnaps and Finnish Christmas pies. I love the pies. We eat them only in christmas time. There is a picture of me making them and a picture of them already baked here.













Mother's enthusiastic helpers.


One thing is a tradition at our family. We don't make gingerbead house but we make a gingerbread creche. I want to remember and remind others that christmas is a christian event. Here is our creche.

It would be nice to hear what kind of delicacies are been made all over the world. Please, let me know! I will appreciate the recipies too.

Christmas means presents too. I love giving presents. I would love to give everyone selfmade present but I don't have enough time for making them. This year I've knitted few stocks. A Finnish company Novita has created a yarn that has stripes in it. It helps a lot when you don't have to change the yarn in order to get the stripes. So you get good looking stocks easily. Take a look!

There are still 6 more nights till christmas eve which is the biggest of the christmas days here in Finland. So plenty to do still. Blessings to your preparations!