Ward Christmas Party

Saturday night was the church Christmas party. Above you see the precious dancing Christmas kitties that were displayed during the carols. I doubt we'll ever witness such variety at a ward Christmas party again. When was the last time you heard Elvis' "Only Fools Rush In" performed right after "O Holy Night"? Well, the song does mention wise men ("wise men say, only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you"). It was awesome.

Hold still girls!
After church on Sunday we went over to the Marriott hotel to snap a few photos.

It was naptime, poor Charlotte.

So we're taking the train to Vienna today . . . it will be another adventure. So it may be a while before I'm posting to the blog. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Show

The English Kinder Christmas show was quite the extravaganza. Ava was an angel and said all her parts very well! In addition to the Christmas story, there were songs, dances and poems.

Audrey refused to say her part. We considered it a success that she simply was on the stage!

Pouting, after I told her no gift from Santa unless she recited her part.

Finally, Audrey recites her part. Nothing motivates like a toy!

The grand finale: a karate demonstration, of course.

Iarna Este Aici!

A light dusting on our street.

Our snow covered terrace.

Bringing the girls home from school.

On the way to Kindergarten.

Winter is here! We had our first snowfall on Saturday and it's continued to snow this week. Snowplowing seems to only happen on the main streets, so all the little residential streets are covered with snow. Ava likes the snow. Audrey likes it as long as she doesn't touch it. On day four of the snowfall, Audrey remarked, "Mommy, it does not snow in San Francisco. I want to go back to San Francisco."

Open for Business!

I'm in business . . . back in the saddle . . . good to go . . . . I'm pleased to announce that I'm sewing Audrey a dress for her birthday, as is my tradition. I borrowed a sewing machine from a very nice Swiss lady who responded to my email plea to the Bucharest Moms group (a network of expat moms here in the city). It's heartwarming, the kindness of strangers!

BitDefender Christmas Party

Chad's company hosted a family party Monday evening. Audrey shows off her balloon art.

Mos Craciun arrived with individually wrapped and labeled gifts for the children. The Romanians have a lovely tradition requiring the children to recite a poem to receive their gift from Santa. Audrey recites her poem she learned in school: "When Santa comes to my house, I would like to peek. But I know he'll never come until I'm fast asleep."

Charlotte was thrilled with her toy from Santa.

Charlotte was not so thrilled sitting on Santa's lap.

Social dancing!

Could it be a party without face painting?

Audrey loved the buffet.

Talks and Callings

Chad and I spoke in sacrament meeting. Unfortunately, the highlight of our talks was probably the flash going off as Ava photographed the pew. Or maybe Charlotte's pointing at Chad and repitition of "DaDa DADA DaDa" was more memorable. Well, we can't leave Audrey out . . . at least she waited until the end of Chad's talk before rushing the pulpit. Yes, Circus Heinrich was in full force. Seriously, we spoke on helping our families develop testimonies and drew from Elder Bednar's wonderful last conference address.

We now have official callings: Chad and I will be serving with the young men and primary, respectively.

Fabrica Spiridusilor

Hotel Caro is hosting Santa's Elves' Workshop this month. We just had to check it out. The Romanians put together some very interesting combinations of activities: in addition to the Elves' Workshop, there were classes in CPR and other emergency preparedness presented by SMURD, the Romanian first response unit. We didn't see Santa's sleigh anywhere, but they had ambulances, police vehicles and even a helicopter!

The girls made a variety of crafts. Charlotte specializes in removing all the googley eyes.

Hard at work on her Christmas tree figurine.

Rudolph!

Audrey painted her Snow White a striking and festive red and green.

Photo Shoot

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

in Herastrau Park . . .

. . . in Kiseleff Park . . .

. . . at the dentist . . .

and at the apartment (that's our front terrace . . . we moved last week to the bigger apartment).

Karate Kimonos

The kimonos finally arrived. Don't they look serious in their outfits?

La Multi Ani Charlotte!

Happy Birthday sweet baby Charlotte!
Her birthday dress is compliments of Mayoral, a very cute children's line from Spain. . . (I really need a sewing machine.)

Dr. Dana says: self-feeding exclusively!

Big girl loves all the fuss!

Baking here is no fun. The granulated and powdered sugars are much coarser here. Yes, even the "powdered" sugar has a slight grain to it. Ugh. So I did the best I could with what I had, but
I don't think I'll repeat the endeavor. Charlotte didn't seem to mind, though.

Mos Nicholae

December 6 is St. Nicholas day when the children in Romania leave their clean boots out for St. Nicholas to fill with small surprises. This weekend we checked out the festival at the Romanian Country Museum and purchased some traditional crafts and treats.

Mos Nicolae catches Ava pouting . . . uh oh.

My kind of candy shop.

Mommy and her vintage linens.

Masks of characters from folklore stories.

"Gingerbread" cookies.

Charlotte can't wait.