Fall weather and apples

It seems strange but the month of October has crawled by.  I don't know why but several times during the month I was shocked by the amount of time we still had left in the month.  I have had some good ministry moments.  Some people that we had been praying for, came to the Bible Study, and others said that they would come.  I have had good contacts at the market as the good fall weather continues to last.

On my day off, I learned to use GarangeBand, a music software.  

 The kids are now out of school for two weeks.  Andrew had a sports camp the first week, and Lilia has swimming camp this the second week,  So activities are still going on strong.

Andrew had a handball tournament the last day before the vacation.

 We have started planning for Thanksgiving, but are having trouble finding a room once again this year.  I guess I need to reserve the room several months in advance next year. We are going to be flexible with the date so that we can hopefully find someplace to hold it.  We hope to have around 60 people this year.

 The month of November is the month dedicated to the new arrivals at the AVF.  I have quite a few more responsibilities as a result.  We must prepare for several activities, I need to arrange meals at local restaurants and still need to get together with some local business who we would like to sponsor the AVF.  The 18th, I had two games of basketball to referee but Angie and Lauren took the kids to Mirepoire for the apple festival.  They had apple sculptures and all kinds of apples to buy.  The kids opted for the caramel covered apples called "Pomme d'amour".  God bless, JASON

Referee and meetings

Micah was setting up Arianna in poses.

AVF room all set up.

October is well underway.  I refereed my first game the 4th.  It went well, it was hot, and I was worried about the score being close and tempers flaring, but the final score was 108 - 16.  So no worries from that aspect.  I had several meetings... Monday morning -meeting with Lauren about Thanksgiving.  Monday afternoon - stayed at the AVF for office hours, got to meet some new arrivals.  Tuesday afternoon - committee meeting with AVF, getting ready for the AVF welcome dinner Friday night.  Wednesday afternoon - took Lilia to meet some businesses, she is required to do a week long apprenticeship in December as part of her schooling.  Thursday afternoon - meet to do the shopping for the AVF dinner.  Friday afternoon - meeting at the bank to change over signature for AVF, and followed by preparing for the AVF dinner at 6:30.  Had a great time getting things set up and visiting with everyone waiting for the start.  The actual meeting went real well.  I welcome the mayor and we both gave a speech, followed by finger foods and visiting.  Yesterday I officiated two more basketball games.  I got to ride with my teammate from Limoux and so we had good visiting time.  The gym was still warm and I am starting to actually want cooler temperatures.  We did two games back to back,  the first was 11 - 13 year olds, and the second 15 - 17.  Both games went good without any major complaints. Services went good this morning, we had only two visitors, still waiting for several who said they would come to come.  Trust that God will continue to work in each situation.  God bless, JASON

Summer 2014 - September

I almost caught up on blogging.  September is always a crazy month.  We made it back in time to get settled for a few days before school, associations, and Bible studies all got started.  We celebrated Arianna's fourth birthday.

Then things started really rolling.  September 2nd, I had my first AVF meeting as president, we prepared for the upcoming year.  It was also the kids first day of school.  

I still had time to get things straightened up at the house...I replaced the brake pads on the car and got new tires put on.  The weather was so nice, we took the kids to the beach on Saturday, and had some fun in the sand, the water was a little to chilly for Angie and me, but the boys seemed not to mind.  

The following week was full of meetings.  Monday evening, prep meeting for the Forum of Associations, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were the main inscription days at the AVF.  I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet all the new people who came to sign up.  Friday I got back to doing the market.  Saturday was our last training for being a Referee, I am refereeing my first game tomorrow.  After visiting with the church in Carcassonne the previous Sunday, and knowing that we would be soon busy on Sunday mornings, we visited some other churches in the area during the month of September, in Toulouse and Montpellier.  Monday the 15th I had all day training for the AVF in Montpellier.  Angie had meetings with the kids teachers during this time as well. The kids are doing well in school, there were no sad faces about having to go back.  Even Arianna was looking forward to seeing her friends again and has been speaking quite a bit of french.  Saturday the 20th, we celebrated Micah's 10th birthday, a big deal for him since he does not have to use a booster seat in the car anymore.  

Basketball practice is in full swing.  Wednesday afternoon the kids practices are doing well.  There are a lot of kids so far this year, about 15 in the 6-8 year old group.  Angie is going to practice with Limoux and with the team in Carcassonne this year.  She sprained her ankle slightly this past week, so she hadn't gone this week.  The mens team is doing well.  We had 17 last night.  I was able to play in a scrimmage the 18th, and the team honestly didn't look to good.  We lost by a few but missed several good scoring occasions.  I was the second highest scorer on the team, but with only 7 points.  

The 24th, Lauren started the kids Bible studies back up and the 28th, we started our Sunday morning study.  There were three new kids this last time for he kids bible study, and there were three guests on Sunday morning and should be at least one more this coming Sunday.  

The 25th, I signed a partnership between the AVF and a local insurance company that will provide lower cost insurance to AVF members. The 26th was Angie's birthday.  The 27th was the Forum of Associations in Limoux, where all the clubs have stands to present their association.  I was able to hang out with the AVF stand and also the basketball stand all day.  Meanwhile, Angie took Lilia and Caleb to the youth group meeting in Carcassonne.  That's the summer in a nutshell.  It was interesting because the 23rd, the first day of fall, the weather changed here and things cooled off and we had a little rain.  Coming in the next post, we have the possibility for a new house to rent.  Check back soon. God bless, JASON

The first Sunday Morning Bible study.