Sara experienced her first snow. She didn't quite know what to do with it, but she had a blast. It started snowing around 9 PM. Becky suggested we go out. Good thing we did, because by morning it was pretty much gone. Snow ball fights are quite popular, and we found ourselves in the middle of a few. This made taking pictures with the new SLR a little risky.
Although it might be a little hard to make out, this is Anna and one of her friends. Old Monasteries are excellent places for learning, tourism, appreciating old cultures...and kids to run and play.
She wanted a "Pink Princess Birthday," so I borrowed a wonder mold and doll topper. She was so excited about this cake, she almost didn't let me put in the fridge so that the icing wouldn't sag too much.
We invited a bunch of friends to share the cake for a very casual party. The party kind of morphed throughout the day. At first it seemed we would have the from-out-of-town friends for dinner, and then everyone for dessert. So I planned a easy American-friendly BBQ chicken dinner. But then it ended up that everyone showed up for dinner, so we said "Welcome! This is American food [BBQ] American-style [buffet], Enjoy!" It all went! Usually local do not like the sweet-and-salty dishes (like BBQ) that we eat, so I was relieved when they seemed to enjoy it. Plus the pot of local-style chicken stew thrown together when I realized my plans weren't matching reality :)
Anna barely spoke three words all night, surrounded by kids--most of whom were older than her. But she was the princess, and when I talked to her she seemed to think the whole thing was fun. People brought little presents like a hair clip, this princess crown, or a screen-printed t-shirt.
This weekend we went with some friends to an old Monastery about an hour away from our city. Going into a monastery is an interesting experience. Normally we are surrounded by the Muslim religion, but then for a brief time, you step into ancient Christianity. Yet, it is far from evangelical. Here's a picture I took inside the monastery.
Here are two pictures that I "photshoped." They were lighter when I edited them on my other computer, but when I converted them to jpeg and transfered them to my laptop they got darker. I don't know if it is the laptop or the jpeg, or both. Both pictures are black and white images with other colors added. The first is a shot of a lake that we took on the way home from a short vacation. The second is on the Med. sea.
This is right outside a very old hotel. The gold glow of the sunset is brought out a little better with HDR than without it, but the picture still doesn't do justice to the brilliance of the original color. Without HDR the city is just a silhouette. This is a very old city on the side of the a mountain. Before I processed this with HDR the roses were silhouettes. I thought the yellow cab went well with the brown hills. The HDR processing brings out the detail in the sky and hills.
Sara experienced her first snow. She didn't quite know what to do with it, but she had a blast. It started snowing around 9 PM. Becky suggested we go out. Good thing we did, because by morning it was pretty much gone. Snow ball fights are quite popular, and we found ourselves in the middle of a few. This made taking pictures with the new SLR a little risky.
Although it might be a little hard to make out, this is Anna and one of her friends. Old Monasteries are excellent places for learning, tourism, appreciating old cultures...and kids to run and play.
