snowed out

there is this much snow in belge. roughly two centimeters worth. it was negative five celcius today. brrrr.

on our drive to the meetinghouse this evening, we got word that the meeting where i was to teach salsa to the combined youth was cancelled because of the snow. i don't speak french and i don't really salsa, so i was pretty much okay with the cancellation. were it not for the joy that comes from being with the saints i'd be thrilled:)

since we were already out, we drove around to see the way europeans do christmas lights.

i can't believe it's december first. 

"Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Savior to the Garden of Gethsemane to make Himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the plan of salvation; it is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spring of healing, the precious fountain of hope. As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the Holy Spirit."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

too true not to share

Noël in Paris

i am so unstudied. i have never been to another country for Christmas. sadly, i don't know much about all of these sights, except that they are lovely and so was Christmas in Paris.

tree lit Champs Elysees with Arc de Triomphe in the distance 

the ever-calling crepe

Christmas market with gorgeous music playing

biking on Champs Elysees, just like Lance Armstrong, no?

Avenue Montaigne, the nicest shopping street in all of paris. my new favorite street in france.

Arc de Triomphe and the most mesmerizing round-about. we watched cars for 20 minutes.

belgium dressed in snow

it started last night. i woke up this morning singing "over the ground lies a mantle of white..." the white stuff from heaven has made it's graceful arrival. i think white is my favorite color. i love seeing it blanketed over the everything. my favorite attribute of snow is the tranquilizing affect it has on the whole earth. with snow things feel little more still, more peaceful, more calm (once the blizzard is over and if you don't have to drive in or walk through it, right?) those are the exact feelings this holiday season needs. no wonder Heavenly Father put angelic snow and the Christmas season timed them together so perfectly.

Pair-ee

the weather has been our excuse for not going out the past few weekends. plus after 15 straight weekend "day-trips," we were easily tiring of the tourism thing. 

despite that, we trekked down to la ville lumière (the city of light) this weekend. as we crossed the border we noticed snow on the ground(it doesn't really stick in belgique). paris was full of dashing women braving the cold dressed up to the hilt and smothered in furs. we thrived on a whole day of bikes via velib for only 1 euro each and whizzing around crowds in breath-showing temperatures. i guess we are bigger fans of bone-splitting cold than rain.

after a full day in the city we found our car, parked on a big street, and noticed the back window of the car in front of us has been shattered. freshly broken glass. we felt watched over, and that hasn't been the first time we've felt that.