Repaving

Angie took the kids to the park.

One of the road work tractors.

Arianna was showing Angie the sugar cube that she
had found and quickly eaten.



We had our first frost and the kids snuggled up to watch a
movie.



Wow, another week has passed.  Our road is still being worked on.  Let me hit some highlights from this past week.  Arianna had a doctors appointment, she is doing fine, a little smaller for her age, but has been that way for some time.  She got a shot, but didn't even cry.  Bible study was good.  We had two present. At the market  I was able to have coffee with the person who came to the Bible study the week before.  We had a real good visit. Friday, Angie dropped me off at the market so that she could pick up some boxes for us, only to find out that they were repaving our road and she could not get back up.  So we hanged out in town all day.  We picked the kids up at lunch and took them to McDonalds, which they really enjoyed.  I guess that it has been over a month since we had last been.  Lilia is doing real well in school and in her swimming class.  She has her first competition November 30th.  Today I helped the Pastor in Carcassonne move their stuff into their home.  I'm going to take the kids swimming tomorrow and Wednesday I am driving to Paris to pick up some friends who just started language schools.  They are also from Texas and are going to be doing church work in France as well.  They have three kids and we are looking forward to spending some time with them.  The kids are enjoying the vacation.  The played outside most of the day.  Enjoy the pictures.  God bless, JASON

Computer Bug

The hallway in our future house.

The view into two bedrooms.

The back yard.

The side yard.

I'm not sure what this is.

Micah playing with some legos that my parents sent.

Seems like Arianna wanted some cereal.

Looks like she wanted to have some milk with it.

As I predicted the road is not finished yet.  I did get to say "hi" to the major a couple of days ago, as he was inspecting the work.  What has got us perplexed, is that it doesn't look like they are going to pave it.  Our neighbor said they should be finished in two days.   On Tuesday we got a box from my parents.  We enjoyed all the goodies.  Tuesday we also went and looked at our new house, we will be moving in the end of November.  We took some pictures (attached above).  I spent quite a bit of my time this week working on computer problems.  My computer locks up at random, more often when it is not being used.  I spent at least a day, trying several different things to get it to work right, but nothing seemed to help.  It seems like it will need to have windows reloaded.  Now it is just a matter of doing it.  Interestingly enough, I am not the only one recently to have computer problems.  Our church was struck by lightening and "killed" several computers, my mom's computer had a serious virus, and several others as well.  Someone at our church said something like, "Steve Jobs dies and all the computers crash".  I also had some troubles with out toilet.  I wonder if another inventor/inovator passed away this week. In other news, basketball practice continues to go well, but I didn't play very well this week.  I might need to find some time to practice with the boys a little.  Thankfully my main purpose is not the playing time or the excercise, it is meeting and getting to know my fellow players.  We have been wanting to invite some people over, but we are waiting for our road to be finished.  Thursday night, the Bible study went well, we had a first time visitor, and he seemed to enjoy the songs, prayer, and Bible lesson and discussion and said he would love to come back.  Friday morning at the market, there was not a lot of activity, but I did speak to a man who has a stand that sells bags and purses.  We talked for probably a hour, if you add it all up.  I also talked quite a bit with Philip, the man who came to the Bible study, we even enjoyed a cup of coffee together.  Friday afternoon we got a call from our landlord saying that someone wanted to some see the house, we got in touch with her and she ended up coming at 4 that afternoon.  That meant the afternoon was spent cleaning.  She came but didn't seem too interested.  I felt bad because she had to walk up our road wearing black, in high heels.  Friday afternoon Lilia was invited to a birthday party by one of her English friends at school.  She spent Friday night with the friends house.  She came back with excited stories involving painting fingernails and having cucumbers, avacadoes, and yogurt on her face.  Doesn't sound like much fun to me, but I am glad that she had a good time.  We let the boys have a friend over to fill the void at the house, so they had a good time as well, they played with legos for a good while.  This morning, I finished preparing for the services tommorrow, I will be leading the singing and giving the reading and devotional, and the devotional for the kids.  I really enjoy giving the kids lesson.  It captures a wide audience, because the kids tend to listen better, and the adults listen as well, so you reach everyone.  I pray that you have a blessed weekend.  JASON

Road Construction

Arianna showing what "joy" is.

Caleb showing the results of his bike accident.

Angie showing us walking down the road.

Showing the construction, the boys liked the big rocks,
they actually has to use dynamite to remove one of them.

Lilia showing some new clothes.

I am trying to show the mud on the car.

Arianna showing how happy she is playing outside.



Arianna showing us her ball.

 We have been busier recently, with life.  I can't name exactly what has been keeping us busy.  I guess recently the work on our road has been throwing a curve into our routine.  They are widening our road and so we never know throughout the day if we will be able to use it or not.  That means sometimes we have to park at the end of the road and walk up to the house.  The boys really enjoy this.  The distance is not that great, maybe between a quarter to half a mile, but still it is something that you have to factor in.  Last Thursday we got a call that someone might come look at the house.  We spent Thursday getting it ready and packed up a couple of boxes as well.  Friday morning, we called to let her know that the road was muddy because it had rained overnight, and found out that she had cancelled.  We have been having the Bible Study at our friends house in Magrie because of the road trouble.  They are supposed to be finished this Friday, but I doubt they are going to make their deadline.  Just now, I have to straddle a trench going down the middle of the road for a few hundred feet.  Otherwise, things are going well.  Lilia is still enjoying school.  The boys as well.  Micah went and played with some classmates Sunday afternoon, twins who are new to this area.  It was nice to meet them.  Arianna is happily walking all over the house and grabbing for everything that is within her ever expanding reach.  I met a lady at the park yesterday who had a 20 month old little girl that was quite a bit shorter that Arianna who will be 14 months old at the end of the month.  This past weekend, the temperatures dropped down to around 40 degrees, but yesterday it got back up to 80, so looks like the Indian summer is not over yet.  Let me add some pictures and let them tell some more about what is going on.  God bless, JASON

Indian Summer

I took these pictures of Arianna at the party, I don't know why but I really like them.

Birthday surprise party.

We have been enjoying an indian summer.  The temperature has climbed into the 80's everyday, which is abnormally warm for this time of year. Monday we had a surprise birthday party for Angie at our friends house. She had a good birthday and is still younger than I am :)  I was wondering why it worked out that we did not get to have the Bible Study last week. Well, now I know why.  We found out early in the week that some people were coming to look at the house on Wednesday.  So Monday and Tuesday we gathered up some boxes and filled up about thirty of them with items that will not be neccessary over the next couple of months. Angie showed the house Wednesday evening while I took the kids to the store and over to McDonalds.  Seems like both families that came, liked the house.  Thursday night Bible Study went well, we held it at our friends house, here in Magrie.  After promising to redo our road for the last two years, they have started this week, which might mean the road being muddy or partially closed.  Oddly enough, they worked Monday, Tuesday morning, and about an hour on Friday morning.  I do not think that they will make the October 14th deadline.  I did have a few people stop by the booth on Friday morning.  Friday afternoon,  laid down to take a "short" nap, and got up two hours later.  Once again, I was a little down that I had let that amount of time get away.  Of course, God knows all, Arianna, who is still getting over a cold, woke up at 2 in the morning and stayed awake until 4.  So we hung out. We talked, played, sang, ate a donut and two hotdogs, and she even chewed on a raw onion for a while, before going back to sleep.  Today, we had lunch with an Irish family we met last week.  We took a wrong turn and had a nice scenic drive getting there,  but we had a great visit and meal together.  At the end, Caleb had a fall on the bike and got a significant amount of road rash.  It took a good while to get him calmed down (meaning about an hour).  He will be sore for a while and have something to show off to his friends at school at least.  God bless, JASON