Swimming break.



At our friends pool, the water was cold, but we had fun.



A view of the sunset from our back porch.

Arianna did not like to cold water, she ended falling asleep.

Bible Study went well Thursday night.  We learned some new songs and had some visitors thanks to school being out.  Friday morning, I had a good time at the market.  Actually only one person stopped by, my language helper, but I still feel it was worth the three hours.  Friday, I enjoyed basketball practice and I felt like I played really well, mainly because I frustrated our coach who was trying to cover me.  Saturday was a busy day.  Lilia went to a birthday part at lunch, we spent the afternoon swimming at a friends house, and in the evening we attended an end of year show for one of our friends who does horseback riding.  Sunday services went well in Carcassonne.  I brought the kids devotion time, I felt like I did not do a very good job, however Angie and the kids thought it was good.  I watched the kids while Angie took a nap Sunday afternoon.  It reall warmed up this weekend and got up over 90 degrees.  This morning, I have gotten a lot of paperwork done.  I responded to some letters some kids from the states have written for their Sunday School class.  I also finished filing out our french tax form.  It is now time to go get the kids for lunch.  Remeber to say a prayer for my sister and brother-in-law who are leaving today for a three week trip to Thailand.  Pary for my parents too, who are watching their 5 kids.  God bless, JASON

Sleep walking



Arianna enjoys playing in her bed.

 

Andrew at the end of school program.

 The past weekend went well.  We divided the kids up between us.  I took Arianna and Micah to Caleb's swimming lesson, he had the end of school swimming party.  Meanwhile Angie took Lilia to watch Andrew's end of year program.  We joined them after the swimming was over.  Afterwards, Angie and Lilia went to the youth meeting in Carcassonne.  Sounds like it was a great time.  They did a photo scavenger hunt at the Walled City of Carcassonne.  They had to take pictures of certain things and whoever had the best won.  Sunday we attended the an English speaking church in Mirepoix, about 30 minutes west of us.  We enjoyed the services and fellowship.  It is basically an Anglican church, but the members are from several different denominations and are mostly English who live in France.  I did get several presents for Father's day, mostly clothes, which always useful.  Monday we had a guest over, a lady that I meet at the Market on Friday.  She is Christian, and has a wonderful testimony and sweet spirit. She has some beliefs that are different than ours, but we still hope that we can fellowship with her and minister to her.  Yesterday, the first day of summer, was the warmest day of the year so far.  I think it actually got up to about 90, even though the forcast said 82 for a high.  In the evening we had a three thunderstorms roll in, one after the other.  It was a rare treat.  It also cooled things off.  It was still real warm in the gym when I had basketball practice.  I am still enjoying practice and we are hoping to invite some of the guys over during summer.  There is one more story I need to share.  While Angie was putting away some clothes she noticed that the boys closet was wet.  After an inspection, we discovered that one of the boys had slept walked and thought their closet was the bathroom.  We suspected Micah and after school confronted him about it.  Caleb, however, spoke up and said, "I think it was me". He went on to explain that he needed to go to the bathroom, it was dark and he looked around until he found and door and then . . .went.  He said he thought it was a little too close to his bed.  We all had a good laugh about it.  The fun part came a little later.  Andrew was looking for a drink in the fridge when he found some pineapple juice in a jar. He brought it to us to see what it was.  I immediately saw a golden opportunity.  I called Caleb and Micah to us and told them that someone had gotten up during the night and thought that the fridge was the bathroom and that I wasn't upset, I just wanted to know who it was.  The boys were speechless.  I asked for the jar and took a drink and said, "It is you Caleb I can tell."  I wish you could have seen the look on his face and Micah's.  His eyes were big.  After a few moments he said, "No, because everybody's tastes the same."  We couldn't hold it any longer and had to laugh.  Tuesday we had another friend over for lunch. She is going to be returning home during summer, the first time in 14 years.  We will miss her over the summer, but we are happy that she has the opportunity.  Pray for her because her home country is having political troubles and she is a little worried that once she arrives it will be difficult for her to leave again.  Angie is currently visiting with a friend in Carcassonne, getting a little break from the kids.  God bless, JASON

College

Arianna asleep in Angie's arms. 
She had cut her finger and we
had to "sock" it to keep her from
pulling the bandaid off.

We have spent quite a bit of time the last few days getting Lilia's paperwork for "college" (junior high).  We turned that in today.  Unfortunately, in September, school starts Monday the 5th this year.  Which is also the start of the Greece Missionary Retreat.  The last several years, school has started on a Thursday and we left for the retreat the following Saturday. We are prayerfully considering whether to leave Lilia here or to take her.  She really doesn't want to miss the first day or first week for that matter.  The pastor in Carcassonne and I stopped by the mayors office.  Thankfully he was with me because the free room that we were looking at using is not available to religious organizations.  Thankfully the Church in Carcassonne is not yet big enough to be registered as a religious organization, they are listed as an Cultural Association, which thankfully can use the room.  The pastor has sent a written request which I hope will be granted.  I also picked up our French tax forms this afternoon.  We do not pay income tax in France, but we do need to register and this will help if we ever need to get a loan in France.  The school year is winding down.  Lilia and Micah had their end of school swimming party yesterday.  Caleb will have his Saturday.  Saturday is also the end of school program for Andrew and the youth meeting in Carcassonne.  I'm all ready for the Bible Study tonight.  I pray that the weather will be nice for the market tommorrow.  I don't mind so much an occassional drizzle, but the a strong to moderate wind us unbearable as far as tracts are concerned.  I have contacted the organization that does outreach at the Tour de France bike race.  Looks like everything will work out good with them, I just ordered 2000 tracts.  God bless, JASON 

Birthday comes around.

Arianna enjoyed Andrew playing with his birthday bubbles.

Thursday night the Bible Study was good.  Friday morning there was a threat of rain so I did not go to the market.  We did have a friend over for lunch.  Friday night we had a good basketball practice.  It has gotten warmer and I think everyone was soaking wet by the end, so we didn't mind that it was raining outside afterwards.  Saturday was my birthday, now 33 years old.  We attended the 14th aniversary celebration of the church in Carcassonne.  I really enjoyed the services.  They gave a history of the Baptist Church of Carcassonne and had the President of the Bible Institute at Brussells, Belgium as a speaker.  Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at the park as a family.  The rest of the day was spent just relaxing and having fun with the kids.  We played some games and went for a walk.  Angie got us some McDonalds for supper, which was a nice treat for the whole family.  Sunday services went well.  We ate lunch at church afterwards.  We enjoyed the fellowship.  For supper this evening, I guess I had a little birthday leftover, I enjoyed my favorite meal, hot dogs.  Lilia attended a dance recital with some friends and we let the boys stay up a little late.  They have no school tommorrow because it is a holiday, Pentecost.  I plan on staying up and watching game six of the NBA finals.  I am hoping that Dallas can win their first title.  Looking forward to a good week, have some important porjects to get done this week.  God bless, JASON

Hamsters and Hedgehogs

The kids enjoying the slip-n-slide some friends gave us.

Lily the hamster.

Andrew wanted a pineapple cake.

Lilia got our all her petshops.

Me, playing chess with Caleb.

The hedgehog,

Caleb is right in the middle.

Micah, on the front row looking through his hands.

Well I have done it again.  It has been over a week since I have last blogged.  I suppose that is not as bad as some (you know who you are).  Tuesday we had a friend spend the afternoon with us.  Last week the kids were out of school from Wednesday through the weekend.  Thursday was the national holiday of Ascension (celebrating the ascension of Jesus into heaven). We had a good break, however it did rain everyday.  It fact it has rained for the last 8 days.  Because of the holiday, no one came to the Bible study and we did not have the teen Bible study on Saturday.   We have had a few moments of sunshine.  We are babysitting a hamster names Lily, for some friends while they were on vacation. Sunday I led the service at Carcassonne, meaning I was responsible for leading the singing, announcements and prayer requests, scripture reading and meditation, and childrens devotion.  I enjoyed it and think that I communicated well enough to be understood.  I stayed up a couple of nights to watch the NBA finals.  I am hoping that Dallas will win.  Lilia brought a cold home from school last week and it is making its way around the family.  Arianna was down with it for a few days.  Lilia has not been able to shake it and I think it has turned into the flu.  Angie stayed home with Caleb and Lilia Sunday because they were coughing all night.  Lilia had a fever monday night but begged to be able to go to school on Tuesday because her class was getting to tour the Junior High (called College in France).  We let her go and in the afternoon she wanted to go because their school was putting on the end-of-the-year music program.  We let he go again, but soon got a call from the school saying she needed to go home.  She had a fever and came home and took a three hour nap.  I mentioned to Angie that I think that is the longest nap she has taken since the age of about two weeks.  She never has been a sleeper.  Yesterday afternoon we also had a visit from some friends who used to live here, but now serve for a non-profit organization as water engineers in Congo. Coming home yesterday after getting the kids, Angie found a hedgehog on the road wandering around.  She caught it and brought it home.  Hedgehogs are welcomed animals around here because they eat many insects that harm garden plants.  We let him go in our garden.  Andrew's birthday was Sunday, we celebrated on Sunday and Saturday with our family.  He is now 5 years old.  I will let the attached pictures sum up the rest of the activities.  Arianna has been doing good after getting over her cold. She loves to play on the floor and watch her brothers play.  Her favorite toys are the remote controls and paper towels.  God bless, JASON