This sled is actually "vintage"... it used to be Bill's
If Sports Illustrated is one of the magazines you get in the mail, yet sometimes goes unread and in the trash bin, don't discard last week's issue yet!
There's a really neat spread of an ice hockey game being played on the skating rink just outside of Gum. I think this is the same one we saw in January of 2008. The online story and pictures don't do justice to the two page spread in the print edition. The print edition is worth keeping, and possibly framing, especially for those of us who adopted boys.
This is the link to the on-line story, and you may still be able to get the printed edition.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/hockey/more/01/10/russian.all.star.ap/index.html
The picture to the right is one of the pictures that was posted online. I haven't been able to find the nice shot that is in the magazine, anywhere on the net.
...and the irony of it all is that I am pretty certain that Nicholas never got to play in the snow until today. Mind you, there were several feet of snow in Novo when we were there for court almost a year ago. We didn't stay out too long. The wind was just brutal and you could tell that he didn't enjoy that part of it.
We have a berm behind our house that is perfect for sledding. Hopefully the next snowfall won't bring the below zero windchills!
We were invited to a Russian Christmas & New Year celebration hosted by the Kids First Foundation. They are affiliated with a local adoption agency (not ours), but they were kind enough to open the even to all local families that adopted from Russia.
Nick had a great time and wasn't too interested in leaving. He got to hang out with his buddy Jakob and I got to catch up with a few other families that I had not seen since before the completion of their respective adoptions. It was great to see all of them and their children.
Left: Dancing with the other children.
Right: Focused on what Father Frost was saying.
Left: Father Frost
Below: Performers of the different pieces.
Today Russia celebrated their Christmas Holiday. Given that the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar; Christmas celebrations take place 13 days after the western world celebrates.
When we traveled to meet Nicholas in October of 2007, we did quite a bit of shopping with the thought of buying one Russian made gift to give to him each year until his 21st birthday. This year he got two, the first one was his Christmas stocking and that has been hanging on the mantel since we first decorated in December.
The "official" gift for this year is a white t-shirt featuring Misha, the mascot from the 1980 Summer Olympics that tool place in Moscow. This year we kept it simple, but as Nicholas grows, we will talk to him more about the Russian traditions and maybe incorporate a Russian menu for dinner.
