WINTERTIME WHERE WE ARE...

We love the winter here in Kyiv.  The snow is beautiful.  It covers all the blemishes and muffles sounds.  Our first snowfall was just before Thanksgiving.  We had a couple of more snow falls since then.  Our latest was today.  The forecast is for snow this weekend.  Oh, and the temperatures are in the 20 degree and little below.  Oh, and one more thing...the sun comes up a little before 8 am and goes down a little before 4 pm.  The shortest day is on December 21st and from there we will gradually have more sunlight during the day.

As mentioned in previous posts we travel mostly by foot, aided by either by a tram or small little buses called marshrutkas.  We have the right winter clothes so we are fairly comfortable when we are outside.  The Ukrainians don't let the cold weather keep them inside.  It's interesting to see all the little children bundled up like Ralphie in the movie "A Christmas Story".  Families are out, pushing the baby strollers or putting the kids on little sleds and pulling them along the snowy sidewalks. We see kids in our "front yard" sliding down a small hill near our bus/tram stop. The snow and cold doesn't seem to bother the dogs or birds either.  

I've take quite a few pictures during the past few weeks and thought I would share some of them for you to see what I've been writing about.  I hope you enjoy them.

Our "front yard"

Kids sliding down the hill from the main road

A Christmas tree lots in our front yard.  The building in the upper right is our tram station

    

Vivian ready to go outside in her new winter coat.

                                                        

Vivian outside in the snow.  See, she's still smiling.  A very warm coat indeed.

Here I am sitting on a bench inside the gates where the Kyiv Ukraine Temple is located.

This is the "Cadillac" of the trams we take.  The newest.  Heated on the inside and comfortable seats.  There are what I call "Soviet era" trams.  Not as nice.  This photo taken where we get off 5 days a week and then walk a mile to where the Kyiv Temple, Church building and Kyiv/Moldova Ukraine Mission Office are located.

This is where we walk from the tram stop to where the temple is located.  The picture on the left was taken at about 12:30 pm.  The picture on the right was taken a little after 4 pm the same day.

                                                                                       

Ukrainian Heckle & Jeckle

Yes, fruit and vegetable stands, even on a wintry day.  Gotta love it!

This is an outdoor meat stand.  The sign says "Fresh Meat" in Ukrainian.  It's as cold as a meat locker outside, so I guess the meat is ok and won't spoil.

This is church building in Kyiv where we attend Sunday services and where the Kyiv/Moldova Ukraine Mission Office is located. 

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latte-Day Saints.  This was taken from the steps of the church building in the previous picture.

This is my favorite picture.  It captures a very holy place in a beautiful winter landscape.  

Thank you all for staying to the end.  A very Merry and Joyous Christmas Season to you all.  I am so thankful for Jesus Christ, Savior of us all.