Another Surprise

The boys in brown.

Arianna giving hugs.



Sisters.



It is Satuday already.  The last few days have continued on the theme of surprises (see last blog).  Saturday when I took Lilia to swimming I  met an Irish family that had just moved to France.  I was able to help them with translating.  I then took the boys to basketball practice.   Caleb begged until I allowed him to stay.  He was suppose to be taking it easy since he fell on his knee on Tuesday.  Wednesday night basketball practice for me went good.   There have been a few new players this year. Thursday,  we had everything ready for the Bible study when. . . surprise!. . .the plumbing stopped up again.  We quickly cancelled the study.   I got the problem fixed a few minutes before the time our Bible Study would have started.  I changed real fast in case someone came which was good because we did have one person show up.  We just had a good visit.  Friday, the market went slow, I did give away one Bible in Arabic. Thursday we turned in our paperwork to renew our visa, and afterwards went to pick Lilia up. She did not come out however. The gate was closed and she never came. Angie had to go in and get her. Turns out that she had left her jacket inside and had to go back for it.  Friday Lilia had swimming again, she goes three times a week because she is in competition level this year.  Angie met the Irish family again and invited them over for lunch today.  Friday evening I had basketball practice and went out for a soda afterwards with some of my teamates.  I am considering inviting them over for the Thanksgiving meal that we have.  Our lunch with the Irish family went well.  They have five kids as well. Needless to say, our kids had a great time together! God bless, JASON

Surprises !

Micah with his 7th birthday cake. He asked for yellow.

Arianna loving on her blanket.

Final goodbye to the aquarium. We had it exactly one year.

Micah and I and Caleb (the mummy in the background)
sleeping in the airport.

Well, we have had a few surprises keeping us busy the last few day.  Last Thursday we had two present for the Bible study.  Friday, things were pretty quiet at the market.  I did get to speak with three regulars.  Friday I placed an online add for our aquarium.  We decided part with it.  It is just a little too big and the kids were no longer interested in it.  We did get the house papers officially signed. So far the official date to move in is November 24th.  We are excited about it and are looking forward to getting closer to town and having a little more space.  Friday afternoon I had a physical which was required for basketball.  The doctor was impressed with my heart rate.  At rest it was 59 beats a minute. I think that is probably inherited more than me being in excellent shape.  Sunday morning I was going to be leading the services in Carcassonne.  As we were getting ready to leave the plumbing stopped up and water was everywhere.  We couldn't really do anything about it then, so we laid out some towels and headed for church.  The services went well, one of the members told me that I seemed more at ease.  The afternoon was spent getting the drain unclogged, which we finally did.  The boys really enjoyed the experience.  Monday morning, we had coffee with some British friends. In the afternoon I went to help a church member in Carcassonne with his internet.  He had recently moved and was having problems with his internet.  I figured out that his phone line was not activated.  Monday we also got a call from someone interested in the aquarium.  They came over to look at it Monday night and said they would take it.  This morning I was working on getting it ready, while Angie dropped off the boys and went to the store.  I got a call from the school saying that Caleb had hurt his knee and was wondering if we could come pick him up.  However Angie did not have her cell phone turned on. I called a friend who drove to the store and let Angie know about it.  She picked him up and went by the doctors office just to make sure that it wasn't serious.  They said it looked fine and gave him an anti-inflammatory and told him to take it easy for a few days (which will be tough for him).  The young couple came by at 2:30 to pick up the fish take.  I have it all ready and surprisingly, even though it was over a meter and a half long, it all fit in their little car.  We celebrated Micah's birthday this evening.  Angie made two cakes today, one for serving at his school this afteroon and one for us this evening.  The 7 year old seemed liked he loved his cake and his new toy, a spinning top. He even let the top fly right after opening it, and it landed on the birthday cake spinning icing all over me and Arianna. Everyone had a good laugh at least.  Hopefully there will not be many more surprise activites for the week.  God bless, JASON

School days return

Arianna playing.

Well we are off and running now.  School has started, the boys enjoyed their first days.  I had no problems with any of them not wanting to go.  They all walked right in.  Micah had a short field trip even.  We went to a birthday party Monday afternoon.  I have been even more occupied with taking the kids to school now.  Lilia's school starts and 8 and the boys start at 9.  Lilia gets out earlier than the boys and at different times on different days.  I have given up trying to keep up with it.  I just ask as I am dropping her off, what time she wants to be picked up.  To shorten amount of trips we make, Lilia is eating lunch at school.  I will be looking forward to moving to town and her being able to walk.  Speaking of which, we will sign the lease this afternoon.  We also have a Doctors appointment for one of the kids and a meeting at Andrew's school to attend, followed by Bible study this evening.  Earlier this week we also had a slight scare.  We got a call from one of our missionary friends in Romania, telling us that there was an explosion at at nuclear waste treatment plant not too far from here (not too far being relative considering that it is a nuclear waster plant, it is about a two hour drive from here).  Thankfully it was not a nuclear incident. Just an explosion in a furnace, causing one death and several injuries.  There was no radiation leak.  Arianna is doing great, I think she enjoys having a little break from the boys while they are at school.  Angie and Arianna are suffering from colds, but I guess that season is approaching.  We are still having beautiful summer weather, lows in the 60's highs in the 80s.  The grape harvest has begun, which means almost every trip we take to town ends up with us stuck behind a tractor pulling a trailer full of grapes.  That is a price we pay for living in the largest grape producing region of the world.  This seasons grape harvest is a large and early one.  Warm weather we had in April caused the grapevines to bloom early, then cool wet weather in July slowed them down.  I heard this morning that my younger sister had her baby.  Baby girl was born at 11:59 during the night their time, 7 lbs 5 ozs, 19.25 inches, Naomi Elizabeth Bachman.  Mom and baby are doing good, my parents are enjoying grandchild number 11.  I will be looking forward to meeting this new addition to the family when we return to the States this summer.  God bless, Jason

Angie snapped this shot of the village where they had the
youth meeting with the church in Carcassonne last saturday.

Our Greece Trip

There was even a swing for Arianna.

One of the swimming pools.

The boys passing time in the airport.

Kiss for dada.

Andrew and I on the 4-wheeler.

Our time in Greece was well spent.  We left the house right on time and arrived at the airport at around 9:30 pm.  We left a little late from Barcelona, but that was okay with us because we had a 4 hour layer waiting for us in Athens.  The kids all slept good for the flight and we found a quiet corner in the airport in Athens to sleep before catching our flight for Corfu.  We arrived at the hotel at about 11 in the afternoon.  After eating lunch at the hotel the whole family enjoyed a few hours of sleep, before waking right at supper time.  We enjoyed eating supper with some of our missionary friends who had arrived.  The conference did not start until Monday night, so during the day on Monday we went swimming with the kids.  The services every evening where great, and I enjoyed learning some new songs in English as well.  In the mornings while Angie and I had classes and share sessions, the kids had Vacation Bible School.  In the afternoons we did all kinds of fun things together.  We had a wonderful time.  I am already looking forward to next year.  We left Friday morning and flew to Athens and then to Madrid and then Barcelona.  We had a funny moment in Athens when the security guard wanted us to take the blanket away from Arianna who had just woke up.  He wanted to pass it through the x-ray.  It took a little coaxing but finally she gave it up without any tears.  We made it home at about 1:30 am.  I defintely think that next year we will try to fly out of Toulouse.  Enjoy some pictures and the video below as well.  Today is the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.  We were living in Corsicana and I was about to leave the house for work when we received a call telling us to watch the television.  I remeber being shocked and having the radio on all day.  Thinking that there could be 20,000 people in those towers was just shocking.  Our prayers continue for those who lost family and friends that day and in the war against terrorism.  God bless, JASON

Update from Greece

Just wanted to take a few minutes to let every one know that we are having a good time in Greece.  The trip went well.  The kids slept good, but Angie and I . . . not so much.  Lilia had a good first day at school.  The hotel we are staying in this year has made several changes which are good . . .free drinks and ice cream throughout the day, three free meals a day instead of two, free water park access (the boys are loving it).  However, we do have to pay for wifi which I am trying to avoid.  Check back on Saturday and I hope to be able to post some pictures and share more about what we have been up to.  God bless, JASON

House Approved

Arianna and I praying.

Arianna's first watermelon.

Andrew at the lake.

Arianna's birthday party.

The important news that we just received this evening is that we were chosen to get the new house.  We (esp. Angie) are excited about this opportunity, having more space, being in town with more contacts, having a home easier accessible, all more the same or even a little less a month.  It will probably be the end of October before we move in.  Other than that, the week has been good.  We took the kids to the lake on Tuesday afternoon.  We celebrated Arianna's first birthday party with a few friends Wednesday.  This morning Angie and Caleb went and picked up some clothes for Caleb that Angie bought online.  Online shopping is a real blessing, she looks most often at leboncoin.com or ebay.fr (petits announce).  You can great condition clothes, good brands, for sometimes one euro or less per article. We had a good bible study with three present this evening. Tommorrow, I will get new tires on the car, and while that is getting done, I will walk into town and visit at the market as well as run a few errands.  In the afternoon, Angie will hopefully finish getting Lilia prepared for school, we still need to get her lunch ticket and her bus card.  We will hopefully get some packing done as well.  We will be leaving the house, Saturday, around 6pm to arrive at Barcelona at 9pm, we fly out at 12:35am, four hour lay-over in Athens, arrive at Courfu at 9:30 Sunday morning.  It should be a fun time.  Maybe ?  We are looking forward to spending the week with friends, relaxing, hearing some good preaching and conferences.  I may not have the chance to blog, but I will sure update you when we return.  God bless, JASON