Birthday Cabin Trip: Crunchy Snow

I asked for the whole weekend off so that we could spend time at the cabin. Fortunately for us, for the past few days the temperature had dropped down a lot compared to the days before. That meant that it was easier to walk along the snowy path towards the lake he he...because the snow had frozen quite well so that our feet stayed on top of the snow quite well.

We arrived at the cabin at around 5 pm and it was already so dark. There was a beautiful orange full moon hanging low above the horizon and it was a starry night as well! The temperature was -18'C. Funnily enough, the inside of the cabin was only about -6'C he he he...

Here's a pic of R2 trying to get some water from the frozen lake for the sauna. We were afraid it'd be so hard to get the water again, but thankfully the ice layer wasn't too thick. I remember one time it took maybe half an hour for him to use the tools before we could get some water (we almost gave up and R2 was sweating so much after all the hard work!!!):

 
By the time we got the cabin ready, I saw a halo around the moon, but it was SO hard to get good pics of it. One of the reasons was that when it got that cold, it was hard to press the button of the camera after a while. My fingers were freeeeezzzziiinnngggg after taking lots of pics (some of them were failures!). Here are some pics anyway...

Can you see the stars in the next pic? My monitor's setting is a bit darker than normal, so I'm not sure if it's still too dark or not...hmmmmhhh...

Woke up at around 10.30 am the next day. The sun had just started rising by then and it was gorgeous. Here are a few sunrise pics I took.

And we left the cabin at around 13.30 (around the time when the sun was just about to set). Here is a pic of the lovely pinkish sky at sunset:

Oh yeah, on Friday morning I made some cupcakes from a cupcake mix (with sourcream topping plus brown sugar sprinkles). Easy to make and yummy enough for us ha ha...here's the pic!

And here are some pics of tilhi/waxwings. I stood only a few steps away from them, can you believe it? One of the perks of living in Lapland ha ha ha ha...Aren't they SO cute and round??? :-D It got so dark already by then so I had to fix the pics a little...Hope you enjoy the pics! :-D

P.S. As you probably notice, there's not that much snow left 'coz until a few weeks ago the temperature got really warm, so most of the snow had melted! However, yesterday in southern Finland there was snowstorm in many places that brought so much snow (as much as 35 cm or so in Helsinki if I remember correctly). 

 

3BT: Random Days

1. Asking hubby, "Have you EVER regretted marrying me?" and he said no HUE HE HE HE HE...

2. Being able to laugh while watching comedies - there was an occasion where I didn't feel like laughing while watching a comedy 'coz I was down and that occasion reminded me that to TRULY laugh your heart out while watching something funny (without a care in the world) is such a WONDERFUL thing. 



3. Seeing breathtaking sunsets that made me able to endure the cold weather 'coz the beauty was just something that I HAD to absorb with my own eyes 'coz that kind of beauty reminds me of God's greatness.

4. Getting more enlightenment by reading other people's blogs. It really helps me expand and stretch (and hopefully become better and better as a human being in general). :-)))

5. Discovering something that hubby had done in the past that he hadn't told me before. It's nice to find out more things about him. :-D

6. Something hubby said made me SO happy and touched - about that it's better to have a bigger main bedroom 'coz that then we can put the baby's crib in it. (Side note: NO, NO, it doesn't mean I'm pregnant yet, but it was the FIRST time I've ever heard him say something like this and it just filled my heart with such a warm, gooey feeling - also 'coz it means that it's fine to have a baby with us in the same bedroom). ;-D

7. Hubby has NEVER told me what to do. (I know I've written this down several times already, but I really must give him credit for this and it's one of the VITAL things for me 'coz I know how stubborn I am. If I'm paired with a "leader" type of a guy, there's gonna be TOTAL CHAOS from the beginning. I just want to cherish this side of hubby's personality. :-D)

8. Hubby's sensitivity towards my mood. He doesn't aggravate me when he senses that I'm feeling down and cranky (he doesn't get angry 'coz of it) and he tries to cheer me up.

9. Meeting a friend and talking to her for hours. It felt GREAT! ;-D

10. Walking to my friend's house when it was around -25'C outside (it took me around 25-30 minutes to walk to her place) and getting myself a natural shade of "mascara" as the result:

Dad's Birthday and Brother's Honeymoon

One thing I dread about living far away from my parents is seeing their pics and realizing that they look older than the last time I saw them. Gladly my Mom has the privilege of being forever younger than her real age (people always guess that she's around her 50's whereas her real age is 61) and she always rejoices in that fact. Just now my brother sent me a batch of pictures of my family after he bought a digital camera right before his honeymoon.

December 27th was my Dad's 65th birthday and my brother and wife bought him a birthday cake along with the candles and some pizza. Yeah, Dad specifically asked for pizza from Pizza Hut (he's a HUGE fan of pizza from that resto) even though Mom had cooked some other dishes ha ha ha ha ha ha...I was touched when I saw how HAPPY Dad was in this pic, but my heart also sank when I realized that he had grown older than the last time I saw him. Anyway, at least he looks VERY happy, don't you think so?




It was clear to me that Dad dressed up for the occasion. By the way, that's the shirt I bought him about two years ago he he he he...There's also a picture of my Mom alone, but she didn't look her best, so I don't want to share it here he he he he...Instead, I'll share a pic of my brother and wife in Bali Bird Park on their honeymoon he he he...Here it is!!!




And here's a stunning pic of sunset in Bali. Bro bought a digital camera with 12.1 MP (IXUS 960), so it can capture more amazing pics than mine can he he he he...



Ahhhh...my family...I LOVE them and God bless them!!!