Alma's baptism

Our little Alma was baptized in our church last Sunday  - here's a little bit of what it was like

 (thanks to Holli for putting it together)

baby, it's cold outside

"...a frozen curtain has descended across the continent..."

French thermometers weren't expecting this

As most of you have heard....it's cold here.  Not just in the Alpes, but all across Europe. They are estimating now that at least 400 people have died from the cold, and it isn't over yet.

The best data I could find shows that the normal weather for this time of year is dropping to a few degrees below freezing at night, and warming up above zero during the day.  Last year I think the coldest day we had was -9 at night and 0 during the day. We've had about a week below zero so far, and have had lows as cold as -14.   Fine, that may close to the average daytime "high" in Edmonton during January, but around here it's sure not normal. Buildings were not built to heat in that kind of cold.  The kids school was closed on Tuesday at noon as the pipes had frozen and there was no more running water in the school. Actually we know several people who have had frozen pipes.  I talked to some colleagues who were in a restaurant in Grenoble this week where everyone was wearing hats and gloves to stay warm while they ate.

We are incredibly thankful that we live in an very well insulated house, and have a wood-burning stove. Many newer houses use a heat-pump to stay warm (sort of like a refrigerator, but instead of keeping the inside of the fridge cold, and the coils on its back warm - the heat goes into the house, while the cold is sent out) - however they become basically ineffective around -15 as there just isn't enough heat in the air.  So when you need them most - they do nothing.  Which normally here wouldn't really matter too much - but this year it does.

Our kids still seem to make the best of it. We've actually had snow stay on the ground for over a week now - so it really seems like winter has set in.  The only problem is that everyone in our family seems to have acclimated to the weather here, and the current temperature feels REALLY REALLY cold.  I blame it on the humidity.  And the fact that red wine thins out your blood.

five months!

Hard to believe  - but Alma is 5 months old today!

She continues to grow as she should, smile as we like, and is just a lot of fun to have around.  The other kids continue to be amazed every time she learns something new - and it's great to see her development through their eyes.

  

I don't have much else to say - and  honestly - you're not here for my writing - so I'll just leave you to the pictures of her. 

all four with the matching hats Susan made for them

There is a lot of laughter in our house - probably more than before Alma got here. And yes -it's always laughter. All sunshine and lollipops - our kids never fight, have impecable manners, and clean  up after us.   (the beauty of selective reality through blogging!)

 this is Alma trying out our new bed that we found at a flea-market-type store.  Before we just had a mattress held off the ground by a metal frame with 4 legs. now we have a beautifully carved solid walnut bedframe (which for €60 sure isn't bad!)