Photos from Abroad

Here are some pictures (especially for you Auntie Myrna).




Love, Heather

Merry Christmas from France

I must say, the French really know how to decorate for the season. Each town has such beautiful lights and trees and Christmas decorations. Even without the snow, it is definitely charming. So far, we've been walking a lot, looking at a lot of museums, taking pictures, and eating a lot of breads. The cheapest and best way to eat is the croissants and crepes at the little shops around. Although tonight, we broke down and bought a kabab, which actually is just a shwarma. Pictures coming. Although I don't know if anyone out there is even reading this blog. So maybe I won't. :-)

Christmas in Chicago

Here are my new figure skates. So exciting!Twirling about.
On the skating rink.
Michelle and I in Millennium Park.
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style. I guess you can't see the Christmas wreaths and things in this picture, but it was pretty.

Mom and Dad in Chicago

Playing in the fall leaves behind Michelin's house in the country.In Chicago, we went and got a tour of the Chicago Board of Trade. Here's me on the trading floor.
Busy Christmas shopping at Macy's department store. This expensive couch was actually kind of comfortable.
Mom and Dad waiting for our train in the heated little train station near my house.
At the symphony.
After the symphony.

On the windy shores of Lake Michigan.
The Museum of Science and Industry--beside a captured German submarine from WWII.
And the Christmas store windows downtown. I absolutely adore ballet.

In my room...

It's like the Beach Boys song. I love my room.

YSA Service Project

Pictures on my Picasa Web Album

It was fun to get out in nature, although it was a bit rainy and chilly.

First Man on the Moon

My enthusiasm for space and astronomy was recently rekindled as I watched a documentary on the Apollo 11 mission. I was actually preparing for my reading class, and I wanted to show a clip of Neil Armstrong on the moon. The black-and-white footage really thrilled me. Actually, what thrilled me more was the part about an earlier mission, and how on Christmas Day, one of the astronauts quoted from Genesis, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, the earth was void and without form... And God said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'" It gave me a little chill to hear those words spoken from space, and seeing the views of the distant earth. I can only imagine how exciting it was for them in the 1960's to actually reach space and the moon.

I then started to read a biography of Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts. I can't believe that in 1969, there computer systems actually did allow them to land on the moon, and return home. Although, what a price to pay. I think that Neil Armstrong's dedication to space might have cost him his family. I'm not sure, but it sounds like he was pretty preoccupied with work.

Nevertheless, I could tell the the hand of the Lord was over that space mission. It is His heaven, so I'm sure He was in control.