Winter Beauty

There is something amazing about being in the Colorado mountains on a winter day, especially on days when the sun is out and the snow is glistening. It almost seems enchanting to be in the Rockies on days like that. Saturday was one of those days. The sun made it warm enough that I could walk around even without having to wear my full winter gear (hat, gloves, etc.) and instead I just feel free to walk around let my hair down and soak in the sunshine and the sparkles in the snow. And to be quite honest, I wasn't walking around as much as skating around. Below is a picture of the pond we were skating on.


What made Saturday even better was that in Keystone there were some ice sculptures and in Breckenridge there was a snow sculpture competition. So on top of just an absolutely breath taking day with God's awesome creation, I was able to see the artwork of some of the most incredible "winter artists" I have ever seen. Teams come from around the world to carve these sculptures. There were teams from China, New York, Canada, Lithuania, Minnesota, Colorado, Germany, France, and many more. And the amazing thing about these people is that they work so hard for days to get these snow sculptures carved fully knowing that they will be fully melted in a few weeks. I just find that incredibly fascinating. There is something that I find so admirable about people carving these sculptures for the pure fun and beauty that comes out of it, only for it to go away shortly. I must say, I would have a very hard time putting all that work into something only for it to be evaporated. But these teams do that, and thank goodness I got to enjoy the benefit of it.

Here are some of the awesome sculptures...


This was a sculptures of all of these people holding up a bowl of what looked like marbles. This one was probably my favorite. I don't know why, maybe it is because it seems to me such a picture of what community is. I loved it.


This one I just loved because this is my favorite flower.


When I saw this one I couldn't help but be a little sad because I know that Aaron's grandma would have been crazy over this one. So I took this close up in honor of her. Plus, the eyes, whiskers, and id tag were all made from ice so it made it even more beautiful.


This was the winning sculpture from China. I thought that the stuff behind the horse rider was like coral, so I was greatly confused. But Aaron told me that they were prolific G.... (some type of tree that starts with a G, and I can't remember the word). So that makes more sense to me.


This one was my brother's favorite. I liked it too, but not as much as the first one with all the people. It actually reminds me of my Kisi stone from Kenya. Very beautiful. It was titled Cold Hands, Warm Heart.

If anyone knows me at all, they know why I liked this one. AHHHH hockey, what a great thing!


This one was super cute! I really enjoyed just gazing at this one, dreaming of the future! :-)








Now these weren't from the Breckenridge snow sculpture contest, but I still like them. And in fact, this was TOTALLY different because this was an ICE sculpture in Keystone. See the difference?