Welcome to 2016!!!!  I spent New Years Eve at the house of a BFA'er and was delighted to see this symbol of New York on the landing leading to her apartment.  The shot is not fabulous, but it is indeed a Statue of Liberty made of Legos.

I took a walk today and loved seeing the sights.  This picture is a male sheep, or a ram.  I am almost positive I have never seen one outside of a zoo.  I couldn't resist taking the picture.

And off in the distance is France, and past the brown of the tilled field, and the rolling hills of green (not something you would see in Northern NY this time of year) are magnificent snow covered mountains.

One of the events I have been fortunate to participate in was this Christmas celebration with refugees.  

Hearing all the different languages, watching all the kids run around, seeing them get their Christmas gifts that had been selected and wrapped and included special personal messages for each of them from members of the community was overwhelming.  Considering what their lives have been like over the last four years of conflict in their home country made me introspective and appreciate the freedoms I take for granted coming from a place that doesn't currently know such violence.  Living in a place that has a past and a current struggle with what it means to have open borders makes me glad that there is a God who loves us and that we are all made in His image.

The youth performed the Christmas story and it was in English and German.  The performers were definitely the stars of the day, the youngsters in the audience were glued to the performance and the youth performers were kind enough to stay in their costumes after the performance and let the kids hang out with them.

On December 17 I went with four ladies from the BFA community to Strasbourg France to walk around the Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkt). Strasbourg is home to the Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame and ranks as my favourite Cathedral seen so far.    To learn more about the history of this remarkable Cathedral you can visit this website: http://www.strasbourg.info/cathedral/

This is one example of a building decorated for the Market

Oper fun sites around the city: