Last time for the year.

Sunday marked our two year anniversary in France. The Lord has truly blessed beyond what I thought was possible. My apologies for trying to limit God with my plans. It has been wonderful. I have my report done and have sent to to my dad for approval. I have my lesson almost all completed for the prayer meeting tomorrow. Today we had Yelena over for lunch and we practiced some songs for the Bible Study that hopefully will take place next week. Today we went and spent some time with some friends from the church in Carcassonne. We had a wonderful time together. The kids were able to play on some of the games and we walked and saw some lights. We then went to their house for pizza and discussed some about the upcoming year concerning Sunday School. We will be helping the church in Carcassonne in their Sunday school program. A break-through happened throug the evening. I said the prayer in French and did not have to pause to think about what I was going to say next. Okay, so it's not that big of a deal for you, but I felt like real progess has been made. Lilia is having two girlfriends stay the night tonight. We are going to try and invite some friends over for a New Years eve celebration tomorrow. Pictures are the kids taking a break from all of the fun they had this evening. God bless, JASON

Fruitcake

Christmas day ended well. We played with the kids, talked with both of our parents on Skype. I made some Fruit cake as well. I guessed at all the amounts, but it came out well. The color was a little of because the graham crackers (actually cookies) were a lighter color, and the only marshamellows we could find were pink and white. But it tasted good never-the-less. Saturday I got our financial reports done and spent the rest of the day straightening and playing with the kids. It rained all day long. Sunday was nice and sunny. Services where good in Carcassonne, the sermon was over Simeon from Luke ch. 2 and what we could learn from him. Afterwards we went home with Neil and Helen, a British couple who have a vacation home in a village not too far from Carcassonne. We enjoyed a good meal and visit together. They served fruit cake for dessert and it was very good. We all sat outside and watched the kids play and enjoyed the sunshine. We made it back in time to hear the services from our Church in Texas. Tomorrow I will work on the monthly report to be sent to all our supporting churches. Angie's cough which had seemed to almost have disappeared was worse today and yesterday. Please join me in praying that it does not get any worse. Attached pictures are of our meal and a view of the Pyrennes Mountains just south of us. God bless, JASON

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. This week has passed quickly. Tuesday night we went to the English Carol service at the church in Carcassonne where I was blessed to have the opportunity to bring a devotional - in English. I made some wassail for the service, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I remeber having it as a child and I always enjoyed it. Here is the recipe that I used. 2 quarts(2 liters) of apple cider, 2 cups(500 ml) orange juice, 3 1/4 cups(26 oz) pineapple juice, 1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice, 3 cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 cup sugar. Mix it and boil it and it is ready. Wednesday we spent most of the time with the kids and taking turns running to the store for things. Thursday I brought the lesson for the prayer meeting in Carcassonne. Before bed, Angie read the kids the Christmas story. Which brings us to Christmas day. We have been letting the kids stay up a little late for the last few days and so they didn't wake up until almost 8:00 this morning. Isn't that great! Andrew got up first and came to us and asked for some breakfast. Lilia was next and she woke everyone else up and reminded everyone that it was Christmas. After presents, Angie made a wonderful breakfast and we have been playing with the kids ever since. I am excited because we got the boys Legos. I always loved playing with Legos when I was young and ended up with quite a collection. It seems they have the passion already. They really enjoyed putting them together with us. Micah immediately tore his apart and starting making something else. I had better get back to the family. I pray that you have a wonderful Christmas day and that your thoughts are turned as well to the reason for the season. . . Jesus Christ. God bless, JASON

The weather outside is frightful.

The great news is Angie is continuing to improve. Yesterday she was able to smell the food that I cooked. Her voice is still a little raspy and she coughs occasionally. Today she is getting out to do some Christmas shopping. I just spent some time painting with the kids. All the kids seem to be better today as well. I hope all the sickness is behind us for a while. Angie was sick for three weeks. Yesterday we had another snowy morning. What I would call a blizzard came through after I dropped the kids off for school and covered the grounds and the roads in snow. I did not want to try to make it up our road, which is steep, so I parked at the bottom and walked up. I could tell by the footprints in the snow that three others had done the same thing. The snow didn't fall for long and I was able to drive all the way home after lunch. It has been cold. The temperature has not gone over freezing in the last few days. We celebrated Caleb's birthday, which was Thursday. He turned 7 years old. He was feeling a little better thankfully by the time we had the party. I am looking forward to the time off now more since Angie is better. Tuesday evening I will be speaking at the English Carol service in Carcassonne. It has been a while since I have spoken publicly in English. Hope that you weekend is blessed and that you find time to worship God. God bless, JASON

Snowy Day

Pictures from around our house on Monday. There is also a chance of snow today. It is currently 27 degrees so I think it is possible.

Tis the season.

Friday night, we let the kids watch a new movie. Saturday was spent getting the Christmas tree up and decorated. Of course the kids loved it. We take time to remeber where each ornament came from and what some of them mean. We also had our friend Yelena over to visit with us. Saturday night, Andrew had fever, so I went with the three older kids to church in Carcassonne. Services were well and enjoyed the visiting and fellowship afterwards. A church member gave us some fig preserves and some apple prune jelly. What we have tried so far has been very good. Monday morning there was a layer of snow on the ground when we woke up. It continued to snow all morning and into the afternoon. We ended up with several inches of snow on the ground. The kids enjoyed it, and we even let Andrew get out and play in it a little. I will attach pictures of it later. Today Caleb has a fever. Andrew is doing fine but we are keeping him home from school just to make sure he is fully recovered. Angie still has been coughing a lot. She did venture out yesterday with the rest of us to buy Caleb some shoes for his birthday. This sickness going through the family seems to have slowed everything down. I am getting a lot of good reading done in between running the kids to school or shopping. I do hope that everyone is healed by Christmas break. Attached are the picture of our tree and the lights on the outside of our house. God bless, JASON

Shopping

The week has been going well. Angie is finally starting to get over the cough that has stayed with her after the flu. We took her to the doctor Wednesday to get some medicine. We decided to postpone the Bible study one more week just to make sure she is not contagious. Thursday after school I took Caleb and Micah to get their hair cut. The ladies cutting their hair, remarked at how well they sat there. They do look a lot better. This will be a good oportunity to build a relationship because with out family of six, we will be spending a lot of time there. We are starting to see some Christmas lights going up around town. I was thinking of adding some because our house is in a good spot for the lights to be seen from the main road. So I started shopping around for good prices on outdoor lights. In the States if you wanted the best prices you would just go to Wal-mart, but here there is not really one store that has the best prices on all things. We usually go to three different stores during the week just for our grocery shopping. Looking forward to Christmas this year. We raelly do not have any big plans. I'll be speaking at the English Christmas service in Carcassonne. Sometime I would like to take the kids ice skating, they just set up a rink in downtown Limoux. There is a carnival going on in Carcassonne for the rest of the month that we might take the kids to. We have just a few more family members in the States that we need to get gifts form and have not started shopping for our family here. When Angie is fully recovered we will get to the shopping. Attached is a picture of the fog in the valley this morning and of a rainbow Angie and Andrew saw a few days ago.

The sick and the napkin.

Last week seemed to drag by. Angie was sick all last week. . . fever, achy, cough. We ended up cancelling the bible study that we had planned for Friday night. I know that it must be difficult for those single parents to raise children on their own. I have just been running all over the place. Thankfully, Angie has been there to point me in the right direction with phrases like, "Those clothes don't match", "It is time for ya'll to leave", "We need more groceries", "The kids need a bath" , "Don't forget . . .". She has been a lot of help even though she just kind of alternates between her bed and the couch.
It rained all day Friday, and Saturday I found out that quite a bit of the rain and entered into our garage where we store a lot of stuff in boxes. Needless to say, a lot of wet, it took a while to rearrange everything, but at least I know better where everything is at.
Sunday Caleb and I went to church. We had a meal afterwards consiting of soup, salad, quiche, new pototatoes, potato casserole, fruit, chicken, 3 cheeses, and 3 desserts. Good eating. Afterwards we attended the business meeting, which was my first business meeting to attend in France. I enjoyed it, there were a lot of good questions and the atmosphere was light and included plenty of laughter. We were made associated members of the church. The story behind that is we would like to participate in the teaching and preaching but there is a rule that only members can do those things. This rule was made because some people believe just by participating in the service and helping, they would merit a place in heaven. So for us and another couple who visit during the summer, we are already members of another church, so they made a special case for us, a kind of stamp of approval, so that we can aide in the ministry aspects of the church. We of course will not be allowed to vote during business meeting and such. If that has just confused you even more, then email me or make a comment and I will try to explain further. The church in Carcassonne has helped us already in many ways.
There are several things I need to get done this week. I need to get some things mailed. I need to get a letter written to our former internet service provider. They claimed to have not received the modem that we sent to them. After calling them, they instructed that we write a letter and fax it to them explaining the situation. Lord willing, we will have a Bible study this week. I am just about to go email someone to ask if they would be willing to be my conversation partner.
One thing that happened at the Thanksgiving meal that I forgot to mention. Micah, who can not stand to have a mess, had some food on his fingers and yelled out, "Napkin". Unfortunately napkin in French is a feminine hygiene product. I did not think about it until later. So since then we have worked on several other possible names to us in place of napkin. God bless, JASON

Laughter.

Saturday we had a good visit from a church member in Carcassonne. He looked at some plumbing issues we had and we talked for a while afterwards while his two daughters played with our kids. Sunday services went well. Monday I finished my monthly report. Tuesday was mostly dealing with finances. I received an e-mail stating that our old internet provider has not received the equipment that we were supposed to (and did) send back after our cancellation with them. I called to try to get the situation worked out before they charge us. After wading through the option I was told it would be a ten minute wait. After about 5 minutes and automated message came on and said that in fact the call volume was too long so I would need to call back later. No problem.

We have been having a lot of laughter recently. A lot of it is due to our sudden inability to speak proper english. During supper last night, I was instructing Caleb, that we should not ask for "dirt" before the meal is finished. Lilia said she could write with her "gauche" hand. Andrew mentioned that he was Lightning McQueen, to which Micah replied, "Well I'm a queen." It all made for a lot of laughs. It has been like that at supper time for about a week now. A couple of nights ago, one of the kids was talking in their sleep in French. Andrew walked in the kitchen one day while Angie was cutting up a red bell pepper and said loudly, "Bob!". Veggietales fans will understand that one.

Angie is not feeling well, a little achy and fever, but so far I do not think it is the "Grippe A". The weather has been cold, windy, and rainy for the last few days, so maybe she is just "under the weather". Tomorrow will be mainly the kids swimming class and in the evening, we will have Yelena over for supper and maybe even some singing. It is hard to believe that December is already here. The attached picture is one we took of Andrew at a church we visited while raising support. He had fallen asleed in his high chair. They are still so cute, especially when they are sleeping. God bless, JASON