Clark Family in France

Thanksgiving in January

2012-01-30T11:47:00.001+01:00

We had a wonderful week. It was filled with activities. The main focus of course is the Bible study and Thanksgiving. I did find time on Wednesday, my day off, to clean the back yard a bit more. Our back yard is terraced and once clean has the potential to produce a lot of fruit. We have been cleaning rows and burning a large pile of brush, which the boys really enjoy. The weather was nice Wednesday.

I am a little sad that we will not be here this summer to take advantage of the garden, but I hope to plant some automn fruits when we return to be able to profit at least some from our hard work this year. The boys have been a great help and really love helping out. As long as they can make it fun, which they usually can find a way of doing.

Micah has been know for sleeping in wierd positions,
this is how we found him in our bed one evening.

I did have an opportunity to talk with a man about his spiritual needs. Be in prayer for him because he is dealing with a lot of issues and needs Jesus more than anything else.

Our thanksgivign meal was a big success. It was a lot of work to cook for 28 people, but there were helpers as well. (pictured above and below) We had a couple offer to provide the Turkey, someone else made the pumpkin pie, we had babysitters, people loaned us tables and chairs and dishes. Many thanks to all.

The evening went well. I started this year out with a quiz about Thanksgiving, it was a good topic of discussion and everyone seemed to get along real well. I then went over the questions and in the process gave the history of Thanksgiving. There were good questions and conversations throughout the evening. We enjoyed the time, for all who came, it was their first time to have Thanksgiving. All seemed to enjoy themselves. There were many compliments on the food and even the Dr. Pepper got positive reviews.

Sunday Services went well in Carcassonne. They had several visitors, several people were out because there was snow in certain areas. They predicted snow for us as well on Sunday night. We had a church member over for lunch to help us eat the leftovers and enjoyed some fellowship. We enjoyed hearing the services at our home church in Texas. My father is bringing a series from the Song of Solomon. It has been excellent. It is based on his book that he is writing for his doctorate. I am looking forward to getting to read it when he is finished. It would make a good study for young people, young couples, and all christians. We awoke this morning to find out that we did not get any snow, not even ice. The kids will have to wait to see if they can have a snowman this year. God bless, JASON

From Batman to Basketball

2012-01-23T11:02:00.001+01:00

We had a good week. Pictured above is Andrew's face painting from the birthday party on Saturday. He was invited to a friends house for her birthday and they had a good time. Angie stayed for the party to help out and was able to meet some of the parents as well. It took a lot of work to get the paint off afterwards.

I was finally able to get our address changed on the car registration form. The week before I had made two trips to Carcassonne to try and get it changed but it didn't work out both times. The first time their computers were down, the second they had closed early. I made it on Wednesday and when I sat down in the waiting room, I was greeted by a "Bonjour, Jason" it was a man from Limoux that I have had contact with on several occassions, so we were able to spend our time waiting, talking. I also met someone who attends the church in Carcassonne who had just bought a car. I got it all done and it was free as well. Thursday night we had a record attendance at the bible study (including Angie and I). Friday morning it was cold and rainy. To the right you see Arianna bundled up and sleeping after Angie took her to meet Lilia walking home from school. There were not a lot of people at the market, I did hand out one Arabic New Testament. Friday I also got my guitar fixed. Lilia and Caleb had knocked it over and broke off one of the tuning knobs.

Caleb has been asking for a hair cut, but we have not found time, Angie straightened it for him and this is how he looks.

We had some British friends over for Lunch and they gave us some flowers they have grown and bloomed quickly. The boys would wake up every morning and run to measure them to see how much they had grown. They have a sweet smell and are called Jacinthe (french spelling). Angie said that I had bought her some just like them several years ago.

Here is the newest member of the family, a dishwasher. She is four years old and I purchased her Saturday. We got a good deal and if she lasts us for six months it will be worth it. The last time we had a dishwasher we only had two kids, so it has been a while.

Friday night we had a basketball game. Pictured below I am the number 6 waiting to go for a rebound as our coach shoots a freethrow. We lost the game by four points, but it went well and everyone had a good time. During the game, which Caleb and Lilia attended with me, Lilia walked over to the bench and said that Micah had fallen on his head and Angie had called 15 (911 in the States), he did not show any signs of a concussion, but had a big knot on the back of his head. I woke him up a couple of times during the night to make sure he was okay. It was funny because normally when I wakes up during the night he appears completely out of it and says the strangest thing. this time it was no different. I woke him up and told him to go to the restroom, which he did, I then asked him a few question to see if he was coherent. I just got what seemed like random yes and no's. Just before I put him back in bed, out of the blue he quoted a few lines of a french poem that Caleb had memorized a couple of years ago, "Quatre-vingts moutons, autant de poisson, un peu de pain, et j'ai toujours faim". I took that as a sign that he was good.

Below picture is from our game before on Saturday, I am pictured on the bottom right making a shot. The boys had a basketball tournament Sunday after church. Lilia was sick to her stomach so after church Angie got a ride home with Lilia and Arianna. So just us boys had a good time together. Micah and Caleb won both of the games they played, 3 - 0 and 6 - 4.

Last Saturday the weather was nice and we even cleaned up the back yard some. This Saturday is our Thanksgiving meal that we finally got rescheduled. We are looking forward to it, please pray that it goes well. God bless, JASON

Cold Market morning

2012-01-16T11:02:00.000+01:00

I like how Angie is holding two bottles.

Lilia's and Peter's card house at the youth meeting.

Micah finds an interesting way to clean the underside of the table.

Arianna tries on Andrew's coat.

We had a good week last week. Things were busy but we accomplished a lot. Bible Study went well Thursday evening, we had one new visitor. The lesson went well and a lot of good comments were made. The market Friday morning went real well. I spoke with a man from Sweden who has lived in Limoux for 10 years, a man from Israel who had been to our Bible study once but we had not seen since, two of me fellow basketballers stopped by, a young lady wanting a Bible and to know about churches available in the area, and I visited with a few regulars. It was cold but worth it. Saturday we met a neighbor boy who came to play with our boys. I was able to speak briefly to his mother. Angie and Lilia went to the youth meeting in Carcassonne on Saturday as well. They had a good time. Saturday evening I was able to make my second basketball game of the year. We lost the game by a few points because of a poor second half. I did not play much, but did manage to score 6 point, block two shots, and get a couple of assists and rebounds. Not too bad for an old man. Services went well Sunday. I lead the services which I enjoyed. I had fun with the kids lessons which I will post on my French blog. Sunday afternoon Lilia had two school friends come over to work on a project. We were able to meet both of the parents and spoke for a while with them. One of Lilia's best friends this year is a girl who was adopted from Thailand several years ago. Lilia and her get along real well being that they are both third culture kids. This week I need to make a trip to carcassonne to change our address for our car registration. I made this same trip twice last week. The first time, their computers were giving them problems, and we I went again Friday afternoon I discovered that they close at three. It might get done this week, baring computer problems and early closures. I was able to start the process of getting Arianna's name changed on her French birth certificate. They made a mistake and put one "n". We will see how much of a complicated process that is. It was -4 degrees celsius this morning when I dropped the kids off and went to fill up on gas. The exchange rate is getting better, however the price of gas (diesel) has jumped up to 1.40 euros a liter. They makes it $6.76 a gallon to save you some time on the math. Makes me thankful that we are in town now. Enjoy the pics and God bless, JASON

Starting out the New Year

2012-01-09T16:25:00.000+01:00

After seeing some super hero movies, here are the boys with a
hammer, sword, and shield. The have them all painted now.

Arianna has gotten to where she loves wearing
everybodies shoes, sometimes she has trouble
getting them on, but she seems to walk well in
them no matter how big they are.

The kids got right back into the swing of things with school. Lilia has moved up into a higher level swimming class, so she is there everynight of the week, though she didn't go Tuesday might because she had homework. Wednesday, the Irish lady we know, made us and Irish Stew. She had seen a recipe in one of our cookbooks and explained that it was not right. What she made us was excellent and we really enjoyed it. The kids started basketball practice on Wednesday, as did I. I think they took to it better that I did, because I was sore for a few days following. I think I had a little too much Turkey, or maybe it was the Irish stew. At basketball practice I found out that one of my teammates, had lost a baby last week, the baby passed away one hour after birth. We sent him a card and are praying for him and his wife. Thursday night bible study went well. We had three present an picked back up into the study on John after a break from the holiday's. This past weekend, we met a lady at the church in Carcassonne, who was really happy to meet us. She has been living in Limoux for a year and had been praying to meet some Christians who live there as well. You could tell how pleased she was at the church in Carcassonne after meeting us. She plans on attending the Bible Study thursday night even called me Sunday night so that we could learn a little more about each other. I also spoke to a lady at church who has a son who plays basketball in Bordeaux, we are having a bastketball outreach planned for the spring of next year. I was hoping to have a contact with a basketball player in Bordeaux, because I know the pastor of a church in Bordeaux and was hoping to have a basketball match there. This will be a busy week. Saturday I have a basketball match, and Angie and Lilia will be going to the youth meeting in Carcassonne. Sunday, I will be leading the services in Carcassonne as well. The church in Carcassonne is meeting in a new place in order to have a little more space. Outgrowing your meeting place is a good problem to have, one that I hope we will have recently. Angie has had a headache off and on the last couple of days, she is now off of caffeine to see if that helps. God bless, JASON

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T11:05:00.001+01:00

A couple of picturs I took in Andorra.

The kids on Christmas morning.

The Estrada family.

Our time with new friends finished well. On Thursday they showed us how to make Tortillas, the real way. They were very good. Lilia said that they were better than chocolate. We also had a visit from our friends from Magrie. Their daughter is leaving soon to spend 6 months in Australia to improve her English. She will be staying only a hour from a good pastor friend of mine. I took the Estrada family back to Barcelona on Friday, we saw a pretty rainbow on the way down. Andrew and I stayed for lunch with the pastor in Barcelona. We enjoyed getting to know them better. I was able to follow the gist of most of the conversations, the pastor speaks fairly good English. He has invited me to come speak for them in February, which I am already looking forward to. It will be nice to have the family with me as well, so they can meet all of us. Saturday the kids played outside a lot, they are enjoying the basketball goal that they got for Christmas. We did not let them stay up to midnight, because they were already tired, but we did let them stay up later than normal. Angie and I saw the New Year in together. We celebrated our fourth year in France this past week. What an amazing God that we have, to get to the end of the year and see how good he has been to us, not just this past year, but our entire time in France, and our time together, and out entire lives. Surely those reading this can realize the same thing, I pray that each of you know my King and Savior. I try not to get too preachy in this blog, because the goal is to keep everyone up to date with our family and life here in France. But, I do think it is important to share the greatest love in my life, Jesus Christ, and I hope that it is evident even as you read about our daily life in France. If you do not know Jesus and you would like to, you can contact me by email at abainfrance@hotmail.com. Sunday services were well. There were a half dozen first time visitors at the church in Carcassonne. One young couple were from Australia, he is playing Rugby for Carcassonne. I stayed for the meal and business meeting with Lilia and Micah. We enjoyed the rest of the day and hearing the services of our sending church over skype. Monday was somewhat surreal, the kids realizing that it was their last day of vacation. They were excited as well about school starting back. I am enjoying my first day back in the office for a while. God bless, JASON

Christmas guests

2011-12-28T22:36:00.002+01:00

The Sunset from the Walled City of Carcassonne

This is actually the work of a marker in the hands of a
teething child.

Christmas went well at the Clark house. The days leading up to Christmas were busy preparing things and keeping the peace between the kids. Friday I went with Micah and Andrew to distribute some Christmas tracts. We woke up early on Sunday and opened gifts. Caleb and I left at 8:30 to travel to Barcelona, where we attend the services of the church there. We had a wonderful time and I was shocked by how much of the services I was able to follow with what little I remember of Spanish, and what sounds close to the words in French. Caleb was real good in the services and even went right in to Sunday School as well. We brought the visiting pastor, who is doing a conference for the missionary in Barcelona, and his wife and daughter to our house to spend a few days. The Estrada family is from Mexico City and even though we have only met them once, several years ago, and have a few friends in common, we get along real well. Amazing how Christ can unite people. Monday Angie took them around Limoux and shopping, and that evening we went to the to the walled city of Carcassonne, saw a beautiful sunset while we were there. Tuesday we visited the country of Andorra. It was a pretty two hour drive and the snow in the Pyrenees was a nice sight. I'll have to post pictures from there later, because they were on the cell phone. Today Angie took them shopping in Carcassonne, where they found some good deals. We plan on makings some Tortillas tommorrow. Yeah! God bless, JASON

Playing with Tops

2011-12-22T12:27:00.000+01:00

Arianna brought me this stadium for the tops the boys play with and wanted to play it with me. Angie thought it was cute and grabbed the camera. You can hear Arianna saying, "there it is" and "uh-oh" and she shakes her head yes. She is cute. - JASON

Reindeer games

2011-12-19T16:08:00.000+01:00

Happy 9th birthday Caleb!

Lilia was serving tables at the Christmas dinner.

Andrew and Micah during the Christmas play.

We had a good week, busy but we did get a lot accomplished. I prepared lessons for Thursday night, devotion and kids lesson for Sunday, English devotion for the Carol Service. Unpacked several boxes, installed shower head, installed new bathroom lock, hung a light in the kitchen, repaired a door knob. Thankfully the sickness was all behind us. The kids had a good last week of school, the whole family seemed to be waiting for Friday to come. We celebrated Caleb;s birthday Saturday. He turned 9. He had a friend over that he had not seen in a while, because the boy had changed schools. They had a wonderful time playing together. Even Arianna joined in the fun and roughness that comes along with boys. Saturday evening was the big Christmas dinner outreach with the church in Carcassonne. The kids performed a sketch, I will try to share the video later. The dinner went well, and the kids did a good job on the skit. Sunday services went well, Angie said I did a good job leading the service and I try to believe her. Of all the opinions of others, hers counts the most. We had a restful afternoon. The director of the skit to the kids out for ice cream at McDonalds sunday afternoon. Today we had a good time enjoying the activities downtown. They had a free obstacle course and zip line, as well as a reindeer sleigh ride, that all the kids enjoyed. We met another family there and they visited at our house afterwards. We did have a good time even though it was cold and misting at times. Angie has gone shopping and I now hear a little voice calling to me, it seems to be saying, "I have woke up from my nap and I want to get up and have a snack." Of course to others it would just sound like a baby crying, but I know what she means. Arianna is saying several words and even phrases and it is cute. Blessings, JASON

Christmas Sickness

2011-12-12T14:16:00.000+01:00

Saturday Angie did some Christmas shopping and we put
up the tree.

Had some play time putting some legos
together with Caleb.

The sickness seems to finally be behind us. It lasted all last week and we did end up cancelling the Bible Study and our Thanksgiving meal. We will try to reschedule after the first of the year. We did manage to get some stuff unpacked inbetween sick moments. Let me run down the schedule for you. Andrew became sick Saturday night. Arianna joined him on Monday. Caleb and Micah hopped on the sick wagon on Monday night. I had fever on Tuesday. Angie joined in the fun on Wednesday, and Lilia on Wednesday night. Andrew had a slight relapse on Friday night. The sickness lasted one or two days for everyone, except Andrew, who stomach was still hurting on the third day. We found out that is was because he had not gone "potty" of anykind for two days. I went to church on Sunday with the three older kids. Services were good. Caleb and Micah had a basketball tournemant that afternoon. They tied two games and lost the third. This week I am hoping to have things back to some kind of ressemblance of normal. I have a lot of work to do. Prepare for the Bible study, for the Christmas outreach in Carcassonne, and for leading the services in Carcassonne on Sunday. Better get to it. God bless, JASON

The last meal

2011-12-06T11:47:00.001+01:00

I enjoy every meal as if it were my last . . .let me start from the beginning. Last week went well, we got probably 75% of boxes unpacked. The Bible study went well, I had sent out a text message to all that we have had contact with, we still just have our usual audience, but I am confident that we will experience better growth in town. Friday morning the stand at the market went well, I passed out one Bible, almost two. Limoux has a large psychiatric hospital, so often mentally handicaped people will frequently walk through the market under supervision. Two young teenagers passed by with an adult, one young teen asked me how much the stuff cost, I mentioned it was free, he then asked the adult if he could have a Bible. They went back and forth for a while, the adult stating, "You can't even read, you don't even know what it is." He answering back, "But so and so can read, and it's free, I don't care what it is." I wanted to give it to him, but couldn't overide the authority of the adult in charge of him. Friday we got the heat turned on and it has been nice. Friday afternoon I went and met with our former landlord and finished the papers on our old house. There are some things that I will miss about the place. Basketball was cancelled Friday night, I found out right before, which I missed. Saturday we cleaned and unpacked. Which brings us to Saturday night. About 1:30 am, Andrew arrives at the bedside stating that he wet the bed. Angie got up to help him, and a few minutes later calls for my assistance. He had vomitted in his bed, next to it, even under it. It took three loads of laundry to get it all washed. We made him a palet on the floor and gave him a bucket. He carried on three more times through the night. I stayed home on Sunday with him and Arianna and Micah, while Angie and the others went to church, she needed to speak with someone about preparing for Thanksgiving. Andrew didn't eat much that day and everytime he did, he threw up. Arianna followed suit yesterday (Monday).

The poor thing, we have never had one so young get the stomach virus. It has not been so bad for her. She takes a few minute nap after she gets sick and just can't seem to understand why we keep that bowl in front of her. Monday night Micah's turn was next. He doesn't handle that kind of thing well at all. He said one time, "Dad, I just want to die." We had prepared and so we just had one load of laundry from Micah's bed. Caleb followed a few hours later. Thankfully he already had a bowl, so the mess was avoided. Today everyone seems to be walking around with a bowl. Arianna has not gotten sick since yesterday, but along with everyone else she has no appetite. Micah just walked in from the bathroom saying, "That was round six." Angie, Lilia, and I are waiting our turn. We could avoid it, but as I shared with Angie last night at supper. I am enjoying every meal like it could be my last for a few days. Hopefully we will not have to cancel Thanksgiving on Saturday, but God is in control. Blessings, JASON

Moving Day

2011-11-28T16:01:00.000+01:00

A hallway full of boxes, and if you look closely, Arianna
is sleeping in her stroller at the end.

Packing up the old house. And to think, we arrived her four
years ago, with just suitcases.

Our move went well. Most of the week, as you can imagine was spent preparing for the move. We managed to get almost everything boxed up by Thursday. Thursday morning (which was Thanksgiving) we met at the house to look it over with the agency. Boy, did we ever look it over. Everything, every mark, every hole, every broken piece of everything was marked. It took about two and a half hours, but we finally had our house. There was electricity but no water and gas and we are missing the key to the large attic, which they are still looking for. That afternoon I managed to move 35 boxes in preparation for the big move on Friday. We also called and got the water turned on. We called about the gas, which we will have to wait a week before it gets turned on, which means no heat until Friday. Thursday evening, we picked up the moving truck, and Friday morning we had five guys from Carcassonne show up to help out. We loaded and unloaded three loads in about 4 hours, and fed them lunch. We had one more person come and help out in the afternoon, reassembling furniture. The move went well, we did have a miss communication leading to breaking a hinge on the truck, but everything else went good. A friend provided supper for us on Friday and lunch on Saturday, which was a great blessing, we did make good progress on emptying boxes and putting away furniture, but still have some work left. Sunday morning, we had a surprise when the phone rang . . . the surprise wasn't that someone called, but that the phone rang. We had been told that the phone/internet services would not be working until 8 days, which from our past experience we were expecting up to a couple of weeks. Things were running Sunday morning. Services went well Sunday morning. And we treated ourselves to McDonalds for supper for a little break from unpacking. The kids love the new place. We have met two of our neighbors and they are both really nice. Arianna has been wondering happily all over the house. She has slept really well at night. The only complaint so far, is the cold. It was about 55 degrees in the morning when we woke up. We do have an electric heater that we plug in, and we keep one room warm and heat the kids rooms up before bed. But we are really enjoying the space, and being so cose to everything. I just took the kids back to school after lunch and when I got back, Angie looked at me with surprise and said, "Back already?" Hope you enjoy the few pics that I took. God bless, JASON

Ready to move

2011-11-22T14:53:00.000+01:00

Arianna finishes her soup.

Arianna with bath hair.

Took this shot on a recent hike with the kids.

Letting Arianna feed herself, or practice face painting.

The kids enjoy snack time.

Arianna looks up to her biggest brother.

We had a good week last week. Tuesday I witnessed a man on a bike lose a significant amount of money from his pocket. I honked but he did not stop. By the time I got out of the car and gather the scattering bills, the bicyclist was no where to be seen. I reported it to the police, who took my information, I hope that he calls. The kids are doing well. They are all excited about the move, even though only Arianna has seen he new house. I am sure that they will enjoy it. They are easy going. We have continued packing, I would guess that we have about 50 boxes packed up. I plan on counting them as we take them to the new house. Thursday night Bible study was good, we will not have the Bible study this week because of the move and so next time will be in our new house. Friday, the market went well, I saw several usuals and three guys I know from basketball as well. Saturday night, I played in my first basketball match of the year. It was a good game, we were behing at one point by 20 but we came back to within four by the end of the game. I scored only five points and missed several shots, but I did good otherwise, 3 blocked shots and several assists. Sunday, I led the services at the church in Carcassonne, there was a first time visitor from Limoux, and I enjoyed getting to talk with him. He is from Guadelope and was wanting to come back. Several people offered to come and help us on Friday. Yesterday I picked up the signed papers for the house, and today I went and got the renters insurance swapped. Thursday we will pick the keys up and do the walk through, and spend the rest of the day moving boxes. I will pick up the moving truck that evening. Friday everyone will be coming over at 10. I do not think that it will take long to get the big items moved and we should have plenty of help. Then we will spend the rest of the weekend getting settled the rest of the way. I do not know how long it will take to get the internet up and going at the new place. The phone company told me 8 business days, but that might just be a loose estimate, meaning I do not know when I will have a chance to blog again, but I will when I get a chance. Thanks for your prayers. God bless, JASON

A shot at Basketball

2011-11-14T00:58:00.000+01:00

Keeping Arianna happy during the three hour
tournement.

Micah shoots the ball straight up into the arms of the girl in
front of him.

Dropping Lilia off to catch the school bus.

Caleb scores, see Micah's reaction.

Driving home along the Canal du Midi.

We have had a good week. A lot of the preparations have begun for the move in less than two weeks. What the focus has been on this week seems to be basketball. The Friday night that I blogged last, the team asked me to pray for their game on Sunday. I said that of course I would, and they won. Their first win of the season, and second win in two years. Of course they could just as easily loose the next match, but at least it was an attempt to share an important aspect of my faith. An interesting side note, last Sunday was also a muslim holiday celebrating the sacrifice of Abraham. The practices with the group went good this week and I will be playing with them this next Saturday night. Caleb and Micah had a basketball tournement today. We drove over after church and spent the afternoon at the tournement. Normally I would be hesitant to go to such an event on a Sunday, but that is the only day that many events are held, and I was an opportunity to meet two sets of parents and get to know the coach a little better. The boys played well and won the first game 4-2 and the second 14-8. Unlike many of the other teams they only had four players, so no subs. Caleb scored twice in the second game. Micah did good as well, he was among the youngest in their age group, so he was dwarfed, but it didn't bother him at all, he ran all over and cheered when one of his teammates scored, and laughed when he shot the ball once and it went straight up (picture attached). In other news, the Bible study went well. I missed the market this week, because it was changed to Thursday since Friday was veterans day in France. I also worked on translating a skit for the Christmas dinner outreach with the church in Carcassonne. It was a great time and I am looking forward to it this year and helping out with the kids program. We will also invite some people we know who live in Carcassonne. We showed the house to a couple this week, actually two, we had a suprise visit from a couple on Saturday morning. I had a good talk with them while Angie had the kids do a quick straighten up, turns out that they were both from a protestant background, and they seemed interested in the house. Enjoy the attached pics from our cell phone. God bless, JASON

Same question - three answers

2011-11-04T17:35:00.000+01:00

To Paris and back

2011-11-03T15:46:00.000+01:00

Indoor hockey was a big hit.

Kids of all ages participated.

The Cross family.

Arianna made a new friend, should we tell them that
those remotes are not plugged in?

We had a good vacation. On Monday and Tuesday we relaxed around the house. On Tuesday I went swimming with Lilia, and she wore me out. I also had my language session. Wednesday, I left to pick up our friends in Paris. The trip went well, I took a scenic detour to avoid some tolls. I arrived at our friends house and stayed the night and then we left to come back to the south. Our visitors, the Cross family, are new missionaries in France. They are from Texas and have just started language school, and we wanted to welcome them and give them a little break from Paris, and all the struggles that come with language learning and entering a new culture. We had a wonderful time with them. We arrived at the house Thursday evening, the trip went well, just a couple of car sickness episodes. We planned to have the Bible study, but no one came, busy with the vacation themselves I imagine. It rained Friday and Saturday. To occupy everyone and burn some energy we played indoor hockey on Friday, and I took all the kids swimming at the pool on Saturday. On Sunday we went to church together, at supper at a members house, and then went to tour the walled city of Carcassonne. Monday morning we left to return to Paris, hit a little traffic, but had no other problems. Tuesday, I drove back. Wednesday, the kids had a full day of school, which normally they do not have. They seemed excited about getting back to school. I have been busy, these last two days with emails, reports, and lessons. I took the boys to get a physical so they can play basketball. Angie is having coffee with a friend in town. And I'm getting back to work. Enjoy a video of Lilia playing with Arianna. Also I wish a happy 12th birthday to Lilia today. God bless, JASON

Repaving

2011-10-24T22:35:00.001+02:00

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

2011-10-15T14:26:00.001+02:00

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

2011-10-11T09:15:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-01T22:24:00.001+02:00

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

Another Surprise

2011-09-24T22:16:00.000+02:00

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!The attached video is of Arianna making faces at herself. She even ends it with a kiss. God bless, JASON

Surprises !

2011-09-21T00:08:00.000+02:00

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. Attached is a video of Arianna walking on the front porch. God bless, JASON

School days return

2011-09-15T10:19:00.000+02:00

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. Attached video is Arianna pushing a toy around. 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

2011-09-11T22:35:00.001+02:00

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

2011-09-06T16:46:00.002+02:00

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

2011-09-01T22:33:00.000+02:00

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. The video below shows Arianna asking for a cracker (cacka). God bless, JASON

Preparing for preparing

2011-08-28T19:09:00.000+02:00

Eating supper with my parents and some friends.

My dad and I

The week ended well. Most of last week seemed to be preparation for this week, which is preparation for school starting and our trip to Greece. We are still awaiting the response concerning the house. The kids school starts on the 4th. Of course the boys will be with us in Greece for the first week. I had a few good contacts at the market on Friday. We had the Bible study on Wednesday night, and we had a friend over for supper on Thursday. I played basketball twice this past week, and I can still feel the results of taking those few weeks off. I also fixed a computer for some friends this past week. Had my session with my language partner. Passed some good time with the kids. We made several pints of Fig preserves from some figs that were given to us. It was a little time consuming, but we are happy with the results. We should have the answer about the house by Tuesday. I need to have an eye appointment this week. It has been a couple of years since I have had my vision checked. On Friday morning we are getting some new tires on the car. They are all pretty run down, and one had a screw in it. Friday morning was the only opening they had, I am not sure how I am going to do the market, I may just walk down and talk with some of the vendors. Services were good this morning. Arianna has been doing well. I think that she has some back teeth pushing through because she is chewing on her fingers a lot and did not sleep well the last couple of nights. She has been taking some steps by herself. I think up to 5 one time. God bless, JASON

Summer Outreach

2011-08-23T14:20:00.000+02:00

The Bible Exposition in Carcassonne.

Interesting stallagtite in one of the
caves we toured with my
parents.

My parents arrived home without any problems. We have had a good time with the Mission Vacances team (United Beach Mission). On Friday, we passed out tracts with the information about our work to about 1900 houses in Limoux. The group had lunch at our house and then everyone crashed. I think the 100 degree heat wore everyone out. Saturday morning we stopped by to drop off some Bibles at the church in Carcassonne, they had run out and need some to have until their order came in. We also did a little shopping and finally got Arianna some shoes that will work for any occasion. Saturday, it was just plain hot, it got up to over 85 degrees inside. It is actually not too bad, as long as you don't wash dishes or cook. Angie doesn't care much for the heat, so in the late afternoon we went for a drive to cool off. We explored a couple of areas of Limoux that we have not seen yet. Sunday was another hot one. Angie stayed home, there was going to be a crowd at church and there would not have been enough seats for all of us. We had a familly from Wales eat lunch with us. They are Christians who have been staying in the area on vacation. After lunch we visited in the afternoon. In the evening Angie went with them to a special service in Carcassonne. It was a conference on Catholicism. I heard it last year and so Angie went. She really enjoyed it. The man who presented it was a teacher in a Catholic school and very active in the Catholic Church. He shares his testimony of coming to the faith and shares about some differences and ways to aproach them. Angie got back late, so we ended up having supper together as well. Monday I went to the Bible Exposition in Carcassonne. This is the third time that we have helped with this. It is an exposition of old bibles and and gives a lot of information about the Bible. It is a good opportunity to invite people into the church and talk with them about God's word. There were only two that stopped by while we were there. This morning I finally got our papers turned in for our house. We should have a response in a week. I have no idea how it will go, and either way, I will not be upset. We just pray for God's will to be done, as I could be happy in that house, just as well as staying in this one. I'm going to try to go to a few basketball practices this week. I have not been in about 6 week, and I know that it is going to show. The weather has cooled off and little and they're calling for rain in Wednesday. God bless, JASON

Quotation in the American Cemetery

Back to Summer

2011-08-18T16:49:00.000+02:00

The birthday party pick. We had two cakes !

Andrew fell asleep in the car, Arianna
would play with his hand.

We have enjoyed the last few days with my parents. We returned the rental car on Monday and spent some time shopping. I picked up a Petanque set for dad's birthday. He enjoyed playing with us and so I hope he can introduce the game to the States. Monday afternoon we had an early birthday party for Dad and for Arianna. Tuesday evening we attended the Bible Study in Carcassonne. We had some friends eat lunch with us Tuesday. Wednesday evening, Mom and Dad watched the kids and let Angie and I go out. We had a nice supper together and then helped the church in Carcassonne with their outreach at the walled city. The team Mission Vacances (United Beach Mission) has come to help with outreach this week. They will be helping us out here in Limoux on Friday. At the walled city they set up a stand with some tracts and sing and few songs and have a testimony time. There are usually a couple of contacts made, mostly tourists. My parents and I, along with Lilia and Caleb, left the house this morning at 5am to drive them to the airport in Toulouse. We really enjoyed their visit. I know that the kids are really going to miss them, especially Arianna. The weather warmed up these last few days and it looks like we are finally having a summer. It got up to the upper 90's yesterday for the first time and should be even warmer today. It is back to work now. I need to finish preparing the paperwork for the house in Limoux that we are trying to get. We are looking forward to the outreach tomorrow. I will most likely haave my stand at the market, while others go door knocking and some pass out tracts. Today is my Dad's birthday and we figured out at lunch time that this will be his longest birthday, 41 hours long. God bless, JASON

We also repaired the kids bikes.

Normandy, France

2011-08-14T18:07:00.000+02:00

The family on Utah Beach.

The Craters still remain from the bombing of Point du Hoc.

We left early Monday for our trip to Normandy with my parents. It was a great trip. The kids did well in the car for the 9 hour drive (it took us 11 hours). It helped splitting them up between our car and the rental car. We ate lunch at a rest stop and had supper at McDonalds before getting to our hotel in Bayeux. The hotel was nice, inexpensive, and centrally located. Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and spent a day looking at the sights. We first went to the Utah Beach Museum. We arrived just after they opened and beat the crowd. We spent about two hours there. It was amazing and as an American with two grandfathers who served in WWII, it was a great visit. We took a walk on the beach before packing up to head to the next stop. We stopped next at the town St. Mere Eglise, where there is the Airborne Museum. When the paratroopers where landing in the town one landed on the church steeple and was captured. There is a dummy hanging there now in memory of him. Afterwars we went to Omaha Beach followed by the Point Du Hoc. It is a piece of land jutting out with views of both Omaha and Utah beach. The germans could use it too target both beaches. It was heavily bombed and then Rangers stormed the point before the main landings and scaled the 100 ft cliffs using rope ladders and destroyed the guns. They then held out until reinforcements arrived. On the more than 225 men that arrived only 90 were alive and fighting at the time reinforcements arrived. The next stop was the American Cemetery, which was the highlight of the visit for me. It is the burial site for over 10,000 American Soldiers who were killed in the battles in Normandy. We stopped by one more musuem, the wreck museum, containing equipement salvaged off the seafloor. It was already closed, but we were able to see what they had out front. We made it back to a hotel and ate supper in a nice restaurant nearby. We headed out early the next morning for Mont St. Michele. It is an island in a bay that floods during high tides. The island has a Cathedral built at the top. Once again we arrived just in time, because as we left we saw a line of cars about 4 miles long waiting to enter. The rest of the trip home went well. We rested Thursday and Friday. Friday, I took the papers in to turn in for our new house. A few items were missing so I will try to get those turned in on Tuesday. Saturday we went and looked at some caves in the area. We attended services in Carcassonne today. God bless, JASON

Parents Visit

2011-08-07T22:54:00.000+02:00

Mom and Dad couldn't wait to hold Arianna again.

Angie took this picture from our house, we are those
little dots hiking up the trail.

Mom playing a game with the boys.

Mom and Arianna trying to stay warm
at the beach.

I picked up my parents on Tuesday. Monday we finished preparing for their arrival. I also finished reading through the New Testament in French. I pickd up my parents at the airport in Toulouse at 5:15 pm. It was an easy drive and a small airport, which was great. We made the trip back no problem and they went to bed soon after supper. Wednesday, Angie and I had an appointment to look at a house, we liked the house and are going to try and get it. It is in a good location and is roomy. Wednesday afternoon I had my language session and then we went for a walk. Thursday, us boys went on a hike. Friday, we went to the market in Limoux. I set up my stand and everyone else did a little shopping. I had one stop by and get a Bible and a tract. Friday afternoon we worked on repairing the kids bikes while a thunderstorm rolled through. It has been different weather than my parents are used to. In Texas they have not had any rain since May 14th, and it was 110 degrees (46 C) the day they left. Here it has been cloudy and in the 70s (20c). Saturday we picked up the rental car, visited with the pastor in Carcassonne, did a little shopping. In the afternoon we headed to the Meditteranean to go swimming. The traffic was bad but we made it after 2 and a half hours, it was sunny and warm when we left, but when we arrived it was cool and cloudy. We had a good time anyways. We made the trip back home in the normal hour and a half. Suday we attended the services in Carcassonne. I resided over the services (led singing, brought the devotion, and kids lesson). Dad brought the message while the pastor translated for him. We listened together to the services in Walnut Street. Tommorrow, not only are Angie and I celebrating our 13th year of marriage we will be making a trip to Normandy with my parents. We are looking forward to seeing the sites there even though the drive will be long. I will hopefully blog again at our return. If you would like more information and pictures, you can check out my dad's blog by clicking here, or the link to the right. God bless, JASON

The boys liked getting hit by the waves.

Sun will come out

2011-08-01T15:02:00.000+02:00

Arianna looks upat me with those
big brown eyes.

Last week ended well. The sun came out and it started to get warmer. That allowed me to get the yard mowed and cleaned up. We also got some items purchased online for my parents to bring with them. I got an appointment to look at a house in Limoux. It is in a good location at a good price, but it all depends on the interior and the yard. Services went well Sunday, I brought the devotion for the kids and there were several visitors at the church in Carcassone. We are looking forward to my parents arriving tommorrow. They are flying into Toulouse, which is a lot closer to us than Barcelona and also a smaller airport. We are making final preparations today. Angie has gone shopping again, she lacks only one item to have all the kids school supplies bought. Arianna is awake now, and so I'll sign off. God bless, JASON

Repairs

2011-07-28T20:35:00.000+02:00

Some of the produce from our friend's garden - tomatoes,
black tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, cherry
tomatoes, Coeur de boeuf tomato, and zuccini.

Candid shot before going for a walk to
fly a kite.

The weekend went well. I thought I did a decent job at church Sunday. This has been a week of getting several small jobs done. Monday and Tuesday I prepared the lesson for Tuesday night. I also got our financial report sent in. Wednesday I fixed a leak under the hot water heater, fixed a broken doorknob, and washed off the wall of the back porch that was growing moss. We also placed a few orders for items that my parents will bring when they come. The weather has really been cool and rainy these last two weeks. Today was the start of a couple of days of sunshine, so I should be able to mow the yard. I plan on setting up the stand in the market tomorrow morning, and then I am having my lesson with my language partner. We are trying to translate a really difficult text. We have been babysitting the garden of our friends who are on vacation for a few weeks. We are being blessed with all kinds of good stuff. God bless, JASON

"Vacation" in full swing

2011-07-22T11:54:00.000+02:00

We had to blow out some eggs for the
last youth meeting. Caleb and Lilia
had the patience to do one apiece.

We had a nice trip to Marseille. We left at almost 11 and had lunch on the way. This was a test run for how Arianna would do in the car. Alltogether she spent 7 hours in the car. In a few weeks we are going to Normandy with my parents, which will be at least a 9 hour drive. She did well, but did require a lot of attention, which might have been partly due to her having a slight temperature the day before, teething I would imagine. All went well at the Embassy, we enjoyed talking and joking around with the Consul. We did forget the prepaid security envelope, but we just walked to a post office afterwards to pick one up and then we dropped it back by. We took a scenic route home and had some beautiful views of the Mediteranean. We arrived home at ten in the evening. Wednesday, the kids were invited to a birthday party of one of Micah's friends. Angie went with the three oldest kids. The mother of Micah's friend approached Angie during the party and asked several questions about what we believed and what religion we were. She said that Micah had been talking with her son about God and her son was asking her questions. Good job Micah! Thursday I had my conversation time with Eric and we prepared for the Bible Study. I didn't expect a large crowd. One friend from the church in Carcassonne came and we planned for the next youth meeting. We invited some of the kids friends (same ones who had the birthday party) over to spend the night tonight, and the whole family to eat lunch with us tomorrow. The attached video is when Micah talked with his friend on the phone. Sunday I am leading the service in Carcassonne and I will be bringing their bible study on Tuesday night. So far the summer "vacation" has gone good. God bless, JASON

le Tour de France of the Bible

2011-07-18T17:00:00.000+02:00

Another sponsor who threw out packs of sausages to the crowd.

Part of the caravane of sponsors.

The official starting point (man in center with white hat
spoke with me for a while about what we were doing).

Here I am wearing the banner.

The crowd waiting for the racers to exit their buses.

Their personalized car.

This weekend we enjoyed the tour de France. We hosted a group called "le Tour de France de la Bible" that goes to the starting and finishing points of each stage of the tour de France and does outreach usually in participation with a local church. Limoux was selected this year as the starting point for the 15th stage of the race. There were activities all weekend long. We prepared as a family by putting personalized labels on all the tracts, Bibles, magazines, cds and everthing else that we were handing out. The group arrived Saturday evening and we had supper together. One couple stayed with us, while the three others stayed with our friends down the hill. We enjoyed a good time of fellowship. The couple left early in the morning to work at Montpellier, the finishing point. We started out at 9 in the morning and arrived at 9:30 at Limoux were we started handing out tracts. I volunteered to wear the banner, which attracted a lot of attention. It was not as easy as you would expect, with wind gusts, and obstacles overhead. Several people, thinking that we were part of the Tour would even came and ask us questions about the race. We mingled in the crowd and looked at some of the activities. Lilia, who went with some friends ended up being on Television, you can see it by clicking here. She is 15'16" into the video on the far right with a pom-pom. We did pause and enjoy the caravane (a parade of sponsor vehicules that are decorated and give away free stuff ) that was a little bigger this year than last year. Afterwards we walked some more and made a tour around the charter buses and even saw a few races preparing. They had expected a crowd of 50,000 but I dont think that many came. We did distribute 2,000 tracts, and several Bibles, cds, magazines, and balloons. There was one member of the church in Carcassonne who was coming to help, he ended up not making it in time because of road closures. He did make it in time for lunch afterwards. The cyclists departed at 12:50 and soon afterwards we walked back to the car. We enjoyed a lunch together at our house and then I ran them to the train station in Carcassonne. I think it went real well. God bless, JASON

The team that helped us, from Congo, Holland, & France.

The family, preparing the tracts.

Fireworks

2011-07-18T15:11:00.000+02:00

Wednesday evening there were fireworks in Limoux. The French "independance" day was Thursday but Carcassonne has their famous firework show in that day so most of the cities in the area have theirs on Wednesday. We arrived early and spent 30 minutes looking for some friends that we were supposed to meet up with. We ended up being on the wrong side of the river and had to cross back over. The fireworks were nice, they started out with the Canoe association, canoeing down the river with laterns on their canoes. They then shot off the fireworks from the bridge. Afterwards they had an orchestra and ballroom type dancing in the square, but it started raining heavily. We stayed for a little while visiting under the covered areas and then headed home. We decided late thursday to attend the fireworks in Carcassonne. I did not really want to go, but we needed to make the trip to Carcassonne anyways and so we finally decided to stay for the fireworks. We actually found a good parking spot close to a friends house. We walked a little ways before finding a nice hill to view the fireworks from. The show was awesome again this year. Caleb made a friend who almost talked during the entire show. After the grand finally (shown in the video) we walked back to the car and started making our way slowly out of town. It was one in the morning by the time we made it home. The kids were exhausted after being up late two nights in a row, but it all went well. Now time to focus on preparations for the Tour de France. God bless, JASON

Lake at Puiverts

2011-07-18T12:13:00.000+02:00

Tuesday morning I attended a funeral for one of the ladies who attended the church in Carcassonne. She had no family that could be found and there was just a small group of friends there. Tuesday afternoon, we went to the lake with some friends. It was a small lake, what I might even call a pond, but it was nice. There was a nice play area for the kids and the beach and swim area was not too big. It was cool and cloudy so there was not a lot of people there. Arianna did not care much for the water so she spent most of her time hanging out with the grown-ups or sleeping. The kids swam while we played petanque. I happened to win every game, a shock because this was only my second time to play. We breaked for lunch, and played a little more in the afternoon. We really enjoyed the drive there and back. It was a nice relaxing day.

Video Done

2011-07-11T23:33:00.000+02:00

When the kids play video games they give Arianna a
remote as well.

It seems like this whole weekend was taken up working on computer problems. I thought I had a good start on the video with all the filming done. But that was just the beginning. I was going to use windows movie maker but it would no longer recognize the video format from my camera. After a lot of research I found that codecs were the problem. After several tries I found a codec that worked, but I still could not get the audio working. Finally I had to download a converter to change the file to something that was a little more windows friendly. It then took a while to get the software working. Then it took a while to convert the videos. Then I could not load them into the movie maker. I tried at first re-indexing my folders and several other things. After more research I found out that there was still a compatibility issue. I had to re-convert all the videos to another format. Finally I was able to start working on getting the video together. That part went fast considering everything else. I only had one problem that was shortly resolved. I finished it this afternoon. Finally. I would imagine it took 30 hours of work over the weekend. The trouble is I don't like having things hanging in the air, when I start something I have to get it done. Otherwise the summer is passing good. We are looking forward to the Tour de France outreach this weekend. I am going to attend a funeral tomorrow of a lady who came often to the church. Later in the day we were invited to picnic at the lake with some friends. Micah talked to one of his friends on the phone today. It was very funny. His accent, his expressions, just the way he talked was funny. Neither one of them knew how to converse over the phone. Angie got some of it on video. I would attach it, but I don't imagine that you would understand much. Sunday afternoon I did take a break and played some basketball, but I ended up pulling a muscle in my groin/hip area. It doesn't hurt as long as I don't move a certain way. That made it okay to sit and work at the computer. The kids have enjoyed summer. They play a lot and take dips in our little swimming pool. Lilia has gone to the public pool with friends a few times. I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but Lilia was accepted on the swimming team next year. Angie has been trying to stay cool. God bless, JASON

Some horses walked up while we were filming on the hill
overlooking Limoux.

Some videos.

2011-07-08T22:58:00.000+02:00

The last few days have been good. No one came for the Bible Study last night, but we knew that many would be gone on vacation. The market went well this morning. One Muslim stopped by and asked for a Bible. He said that he had seen several times on television people mention things about what was written in the Bible and that he would like to read for himself. I pray that he finds about the love of Jesus. I have just about finished making all the parts of the VBS video that I am putting together. It has been fun, I am think about putting a gag reel at the end. We just noticed that Andrew's passport will expire this month and that means that we will be making a trip to Marseille to get it renewed. I will attach a couple of videos. One is of Andrew who was feeding Arianna at supper. The other is when I was playing with Arianna on a matress. God bless, JASON

Summer Shopping

2011-07-06T14:07:00.000+02:00

At the last youth meeting in Carcassonne, they had a
picture scavenger hunt, I am not sure why but this was
one of the pictures they took.

Andrew with the soccer ball he got for his birthday.

We had a good weekend. Services went well Sunday at Carcassonne, there was a first time visitor. We enjoyed a meal after services and a nice Sunday afternoon here at the house, including listening to our home church services in Texas. Monday the kids started the real vacation. It was warm, so we let them go swimming in our little pool. Angie went shopping in Carcassonne, one of the members of the church there wanted to buy each of our kids an outfit. What a blessing! July is a month of sales in France and you can find some good deals. Tuesday, the girls went grocery shopping, (and Angie bought a purse for 70% off) and I managed to finish preparing my lesson for next week. I played basketball with the guys Tuesday as well. It was 90 degrees, 27 % humidity, and no shade on the basketball court. Somehow I still managed to play for two hours. It was good exercise, but it took a while to recuperate afterwards. Caleb and I got home to find out that Angie had grilled because it was warm in the house. Today we started working on a video for a church in the states. Their Vacation Bible School is going to be taking an offering for us and we are making a short video for them. It is going to be fun to put together, I hope to have it finished by Thursday or Friday. We are about to leave and visit some friends on Carcassonne and also run a few errands. We have a new cell phone that we are trying to get used to and we want to use the older one in place of our old prepay phone. Tomorrow I will have my language session, I will be filming on location in a couple of areas, and also preparing for the Bible Study. I hope that you are enjoying your summer as well. God bless, JASON

Bugarach

2011-07-02T16:19:00.000+02:00

We saw this pretty view at the
horse show last week.

Another week behind us. This was the kids last week of school. It ended well. Micah ended with all A's on his report card. Caleb had more of an average grade. Andrew had a lot of compliments from his teacher as did Lilia. We are looking forward to a good summer. Bible Study went well Thursday evening, we are still in the first chapter of John. Several people stopped by the market on Friday morning, I did give away one Bible after assuring the person several times that it was free. Recently in the news there has been a lot of talk about a cult that has moved its way into the area. The are a New Age group believing that the world will end in 2012 and that a local peak (Bugarach) will be a place of safety. You can read the wikipedia article by clicking here. I hope that this will not affect our credibilty any. The French organization for cults has already issued a proclamation warning people about his groups and will attempt to limit their growth. They are worried about the posibilty for mass suicides and also swindling. Hopefully we have already distinguished ourselves in the area well enough. We rearranged the house a little this month. My office is now in our bedroom to give me a quiet place to work during summer. As a result Arianna found a new place to play (pictured). Last night I attended a meeting for our basketball association. They are planning on growing next year and expanding into other cities as well. It was a good occasion to meet some new people and to get to know my team members better. Arianna surprised us by sleeping all night a couple of nights ago. She made up for it the next night by waking up four times. We have a little pool for her in the backyard and she enjoys playing in it and watching the boys splash in their pool. I received a call from the director for the Tour de France de la Bible. I am excited about this opportunity. God bless, JASON

Swimming break.

2011-06-27T11:46:00.000+02:00

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

Andrew tells us about his day.

2011-06-23T16:35:00.001+02:00

Angie asked Andrew about his day at school. He did a good job of telling us. It is a little hard to understand as it is in French and English and, in general, little boy language. God bless, JASON

Sleep walking

2011-06-23T15:20:00.000+02:00

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

2011-06-16T16:04:00.000+02:00

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.

2011-06-13T00:34:00.000+02:00

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

2011-06-08T14:05:00.000+02:00

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. The attached video is Lilia and Arianna talking. God bless, JASON

Nodding Off

2011-05-29T19:06:00.000+02:00

Saturday I, Angie, went to an "attic empty" or garage sale as we would call it. I was visiting the stand of some friends who are raising money for their daughter to teach in India for a year after high school. I love garage sales. I ended up buying a bath chair with suction cups on the bottom for Arianna for the lovely price of 3 euros ($5). She loves bathtime. Then I picked up Emmanuelle for bible study at our house with Jason and Lilia. They were on the story of Noah in the series through Genesis. Then Jason took Emmanuelle home on the way to Caleb's swimming lesson. After lunch, I did a little grocery shopping and then we let the kids get their little pool out. Arianna loved sitting in her swing and watching the kids play. At supper we noticed that she was so tired she was nodding off in her chair. We got the camera in time for the final nod. Today we enjoyed French mother's day. After church everyone left very quickly for a change. We saw another garage sale in town but this one had BMX bikers and skateboarders entertaining. So we stopped and took the kids to see. We were pretty impressed with some of the bikers doing flips. We bought an item that a friend had been looking for for one euro($1.40). Can't beat that price. We've also been trying to decide what to do for Andrew's 5th birthday. Can hardly believe it is just one week away. Hope you all had a blessed day as well. God bless, ANGIE

Swimming competition

2011-05-27T15:33:00.000+02:00

It has been a good week. Temperatures got up to 90 on Wednesday, but we had a cool front blow through and today the high is 70. There has not been basketball practice this week, which I am missing, I am planning on inviting another one of my teamates over with his family. Lilia had a field trip on Tuesday and Caleb has one today. There were 5 at the bible study last night. Wednesday was the busy day this week. Lilia has been making preparations for entering Junior High next year. She wanted to try out for the swimming team. Wednesday morning from 10 to 12 they had a test of physical capabilities for everyone who wanted to try out for sports. We then grabbed a quick lunch to get her to the swimming pool at one that afternoon for her swimming test. As soon as we arrived we met another parent waiting with her child and they were British. Then two other British parents arrived. I was excited to know that she will have other English speakers in her class. The try out started, I admit that I was a little nervous after they said they would not accept everyone. They did some warmups - the had to swim for 10 minutes straight, Lilia swam about 400 meters. They then had some timed swimming with various styles. Lilia did 50 m backstroke in 1 min 30. I don't know if she will make it. Some other girls that were there have been doing swimming for a while. One girls did the 50m backstroke in 23 seconds, and did twice as many laps a Lilia in 10 minutes. Lilia doesn't seem worried about it either way. She has been sore. Wednesday we also let the kids play on a slip and slide that some friends bought for us. They really enjoyed it, after I explained to them what to do. A funny thing happened during Bible Study. Arianna bit her finger and breathed in so hard that she passed out for a couple of seconds. Looking forward to a nice cool weekend. God bless, JASON

Motor Show

2011-05-23T14:10:00.000+02:00

First Youth meeting, you can see the Castle in the back.

All the monster trucks were US models, this was the first
monster truck in Europe.

Even the Limousine on two wheels.

Self proclaimed largest monster truck in the world.

Andrew and Arianna were playing good together.

Angie and Lilia had a real good time at the youth meeting. They enjoyed it and took lots of pictures. Saturday night the kids and I had a wonderful time at the Motor Show. I was impressed by some of the stunts. I enjoyed embarrassing Lilia by singing along with the country music they were playing as well. The show ended late but everyone had a good time. Sunday services went well. I gave the kids lesson and I think it went well. I made the illustrations myself, and I am no artist. I have put the lesson on my French blog, you will find the link to the right. The pastor has been doing a series on the 7 saying of Christ from the cross. Sunday afternoon all the kids were supposed to take a nap, but ended up only one did. We enjoyed listening to the evening services of our sending church. My father is doing a series from the book of Jonah. Today everyone is back to school. Angie visited with an English lady who lives in town this morning and this evening we were invited to eat supper with some friends. During lunch today, we were talking about taxes and Andrew said, "We have a car so we don't pay for "taxes" (taxis). Enjoy the pictures and the video. God bless, JASON

La vie en "roses"

2011-05-21T17:57:00.000+02:00

She is as pretty as a flower.

We have had a good week. The weather has been wonderful all week long. It has been dry however, about two weeks since it last rained, and this is usually the wetter time of year. Several people were out with traveling and so we ended up not having anyone for the Bible study. We did have a Sunday School lesson for the kids instead. Angie taught and I kept the nursery. The market went well Friday morning. It started off a little slow. Nobody came the first hour, one person stopped by the second, but there were several more that came the third hour. Friday night, we had basketball practice outside because the gym was being used, Angie took the kids to the park during my practice. Today we did quite a bit of yard work, weeding and mowing. I did find the opportunity to take a bike ride with Caleb and take some pictures. One of our neighbors stop by and gave us some cherries from their garden. She mentioned that roses are one thing that grows exceptionnally well here, as you can see in the pictures. Another neighbor stopped by this week gave us a lot of clothes from her daughter. Lilia was excited about that. Currently Angie has taken Lilia to a youth meeting in Carcassonne. I am excited that Angie is getting this opportunity. They needed to have at least one women there so Angie volunteered. She always does a great job with people of all ages, being a natural "people person". The grand event this evening is the Monster Truck show that has come to town. The kids are excited, they even claim to have the largest monster truck in the world. I'm sure the boys and Lilia will enjoy it. I will make sure and include some pictures. Enjoy you weekend. God bless, Jason

Young People

2011-05-17T12:39:00.000+02:00

Our four oldest children with my Father's parents, several
years ago.

We had a good weekend and this week has started well. We enjoyed the services Sunday at Carcassonne, the was a missionary from Algeria in the services. She was a converted Muslim. Monday, Angie visited with a friend from Carcassonne, while I enjoyed my day off, by doing some of the things on my "to do" list. Today Andrew is taking a field trip to an Australien Park and a circus. He is very excited about it. He reminded everyone he came across that he had to be at school at 8:30 or the bus would leave without him. Not to worry, we did make it on time. Time to get the lessons prepared for this week. There is the Bible Study Thursday night, lesson with the young people Saturday morning, and I am also doing a short lesson for the kids in Carcassonne on Sunday. There is a youth meeting in Carcassonne on Saturday. Angie is part of the planning committee and will attend. I am glad that she can have this opportunity, she does so well with people. We have had guests for lunch the past couple of days, and today we are invited to eat dessert with a friend after lunch. Enjoy this video that Angie took while Arianna was enjoying her teething biscuit. At least I think she was enoying it. Arianna is getting her top two teeth in and is unhappy about it at times. She enjoys chewing on things. God bless, JASON

L'accident

2011-05-14T17:26:00.000+02:00

"L'accident" is french for "the accident". Yes, French is a difficult language :) Tuesday afternoon we had some visitors who planned to drop by. We received a call from the husband saying that they had a wreck and had backed into a ditch. I immediately drove down to find that had accidently backed off a small cliff, about 30 feet, on our road. Thankfully they were not seriously injured, just bumps and bruises, even though one was pinned in the car for an hour before released. We are thankful that they were okay. The city had been promising to redo our road for a couple of years now, yesterday they had the surveyors looking at it. We also had a few occasions to speak with some of the neighbors as a result. The Bible study went well Thursday evening. We had a good number thanks to several from Carcassonne, including a couple who are passing through that are planning to be missionaries in Mali. They stopped by as well during the market on Friday morning. The market went well, I passed out one Bible in English, and one in French. Today, (Saturday), I had bible study with the teens this morning and this afternoon we visited with the new missionary couple some more and also worked on getting a youth meeting started with the Church in Carcassonne. I don't know if I mentioned it already, but we did get our French Driver's licenses in the mail. Looking forward to services tomorrow. God bless, JASON

Open House

2011-05-10T14:55:00.000+02:00

Another week has passed. The vacation ended well. We had nice

weather. Wednesday we painted Arianna's old room and moved Lilia into it. Arianna now shares a room with Andrew, Caleb with Micah, and Lilia has one all to herself. It was a lot of work but looks nice and she will feel better about inviting her friends over now that they have a place to escape the boys. There were three for the bible study Thursday evening. Friday, at the market, I met the wife of a couple that I had met last year. There are retired English missionaries who several years back started an english bible study in their home. They meet on the second Sunday of each month. Angie and I had discussed attending one of the English services in our area and so we went Sunday and had a wonderful time. It was held in a little village about 10 minutes from us. There were a dozen there and we enjoyed meeting everyone and visiting. The study went well and we stayed for lunch afterwards. The couple is also preparing to move and passed down a lot of stuff to us, which we were pleased to have, a lot of toys, blankets, and baby stuff. The

kids started school back yesterday. They seemed excited to go, and we were able to meet some of the parents that we had the chance to get to know better during the vacation. This morning I got my inbox cleared out, prepared to materials for a church who plans on having us be the missionaries for their vacation bible school. The weather has warmed up and flowers are blooming everywhere. Highs are in the 70's and lows in the 50s. We have already started opening windows in the evenings to cool the house off a little after supper. One of the attached pictures if of a moth that flew in one evening, the other is off the English bible study Sunday morning. God bless, JASON

Meetings

2011-05-03T14:39:00.000+02:00

Visiting at the park.

Feeding the ducks.

The Rutherfords serving in Romania.

The Bible Study went well Thursday evening. We had two first time visitors. A lady came that met me at the market. She brought a friend from her that was from Israel. They seemed very excited about the work and were looking forward to meeting with us next week. The market went well on Friday morning. There were just a few regulars who stopped by the stand. Saturday we had a picnic at the park with a couple of other parents. We had a good time and were able to visit with them. We also recognized a lady that Angie had met in the Doctors office waiting room while she was pregnant. We were able to talk with here some and exchange contact information as well. Sunday services went well. We spent the afternoon preparing the house for our friends from Romania coming in. We did get to catch the services at Walnut Street, there was another preacher filling in for my father, who was preaching revival services for another church. The fill-in preacher was pastor of the church were I was an intern and he did an excellent job. Our friends arrived without problem and we enjoyed spending the evening catching up with them. On Monday we took them to the Walled city of Carcassonne, ate at KFC, and did some shopping. They left this morning to head back to Romania. Only a few more days of vacation left. Enjoy the pictures and God bless, JASON

Mixed Time

2011-04-28T14:58:00.000+02:00

The past days have been well spent with a good mix between playing with the kids and preparing for the Bible Study. With the kids we have played Badmitton, went on a hike, played ball, and several indoor games as well. I got tickled at Andrew while we were hiking, he just loved running down the hill. He would throw his arms out and run as fast as his little legs would carry him. He was full of joy. He had found a magazine on the side of the road and he carried it with him the entire time. Caleb and Micah were content marking all the rocks with an arrow in case we got lost. Yesterday I also got the yard mowed. It looks a lot better now. Angie took the kids to the park this morning while I had my language session with Eric. We found out that I was mispronouncing words with "ui" like "cuisine". I was pronouncing it more like "oui". Slight difference, but noticeable. I just got a call from the lady I met at the market last week, she is coming to the Bible study this evening. We will be studying about Easter. Enjoy the video that Angie took while Arianna was playing on the floor, and some pictures that we took during the day yesterday as well. God bless, JASON

Stand up

2011-04-26T19:13:00.000+02:00

This could almost be a blog in pictures. The Easter weekend went real well. We enjoyed the services in Carcassonne and listening to the services in Hillsboro as well. We started two weeks with the kids at home. They started two weeks of spring break. It rained most of Saturday. Monday, Lilia rocked Arianna to sleep twice. Arianna also pulled herself up to the standing position by herself, for the first time. She had found one of the kids chairs and pushed it on her knees all the way to me, and when it stopped against my legs, she stood up. Later Monday evening, a neat line of storms blowed in from the east. It was very pretty to watch over the hills. So the attached pictures are of, Lilia with Arianna sleeping in her lap and Arianna standing up, rain clouds moving in, and the Easter egg hunt. One other funny quote from Caleb. He came in while I was cutting up some carrots. I asked him what he would do if I cut off my finger and blood was squirting everywhere. He said, "I would go outside." God bless, JASON

Change in the Weather

2011-04-22T15:25:00.000+02:00

Those strawberries are the reddest I have ever seen.

Tree in front of Andrew's school.

The Bible study went well last night. We had a lesson on salvation, but there was a lot of good discussion concerning different topics. There were six that came. Angie had a lesson with the kids during most of the Bible study. They really enjoyed it as well and could not wait to show me what they had done. The market was good this morning, there was only four people who stopped by the stand. One lady was very excited to hear about our work. She was baptized by a baptist church in the north of France and she eagerly took my card and said that she would call and was interested in the Bible Study as well as the prospects for a church in Limoux. Angie went and watched Andrew go swimming with his class. He really enjoys it and is not scarred to get into the water. She had a nice conversation with another mother while they waited. She stopped back the market and we went and picked up a few items (pictured). This has been one of the warmest Aprils on record here in France. We have also not had much rain, but there are still penty of flowers. The weather is changing as there has been a strong wind blowing these last couple of days and heavy rain is in the forcast for tonight and tommorrow. Arianna has a tooth clearly showing now. She slept good last night, after waking up every two hours the night before. Hope that you enjoy your Easter weekend. Historically in France you eat a Egg and Asperagus omelet on Easter. We might give that a try. Also remember Angie and her family in your prayers, one of her uncles passed away this week. God bless, JASON

Arianna crawling

2011-04-21T11:48:00.000+02:00

Several people have asked recently about Arianna. Last night we did a couple of videos of her crawling. She is cute. She crawled faster to Angie that to me, but I acredit that to the fact that there was a toy in her way. After we made the videos last night we laughed long and hard about the fact that Arianna slapped both of us after we picked her up. Other than that, I have a good language session my my helper. We discovered a particular error that I was doing. In some words ending in "a", I tend to made a slight gutteral sound that could sound like a french "r" when there is not one, that could make a big difference in the meaning of a word or phrase. Looking forward to the Bible study this evening. We are going to be looking at the week before Easter in the life of Jesus. The weather has been nice but windy. The wind has been blowing and gusting and changing directions. We tried to play badmitton last night but it didn't work at all. We ended up hitting to ourselves several times. God bless, JASON

Getting a French Driver's license

2011-04-18T21:37:00.000+02:00

These are a few pictures from the "Toques et Clocher" festival. Caleb, Micah, and I went. It was quite crowded and I can not imagine seeing more cars parked. They were packed in every spot. I did enjoy seeing some antique cars and some wooden models of the churches that have been repaired. Sunday went well. We received word that one of Angie's uncles had passed away. He had been sick for a while, but it is still sad to hear about it, and not be able to be with the family. We enjoyed the services in Carcassonne and also listening to the morning services of our sending church. Today I dropped of the paperwork for our drivers license exchange. If you do not remember the history of our driver's license issues, let me summarize. We found out that getting a french driver's license the french way is very expensive. We also found out that there were several states that had a exchange agreement with France. Colorado was one of these states, and also one that did not require proof of residence. It was actually cheaper for us to fly to Colorado and exchange our Texas driver's license than to go through the process here (classes, driving lessons, exams). Thankfully I have a aunt that lives in the Denver area that hosted us for our trips. When we arrived and received our Colorado driver's license we tried to exchange them, but because our visa (carte de sejour) was issued before our driver's license we could not. We did found out that we could drive with a US license the entire time that we were students. So we had some time to spare. After language school we returned to the states to get our visa changed to non-students. We arrived back in France, and received our visas (thankfully before 1 year was up, because you can only drive for one year in France with a US permit if you are not students). All the paperwork we needed was a couple of photos, proof of residence in France, marraige license (for Angie to show her maiden name), official translation of the Colorado license, stamped and addressed envelopes, copes of our visas and driver's license. I got that all turned in this morning and ours should arrive soon. I didn't even have to pay, excluding the cost of the translation. I think this could be the smoothest paperwork trail that we have done since being in France. I will let you know for sure when we have the French "permis de conduire" in hand. God bless, JASON

Toques et Clochers

2011-04-15T16:20:00.000+02:00

An aerial view of Limoux

Notre Dame de Marseilles is
the church that will be restored.

We have had a good week. We managed to survive the ten hours of French on Sunday. I'm still having some French phrases slipping out when I am speaking English. We have started the process to get our American Drivers Licenses exchanged for French ones. So far it seems that this might be a smooth process. Bible study went real well last night, we had four people including my langauge helper. My stand at the market went well this morning as well. There were about 10 people who stopped by. One reason was because there was a lot of people out because "Toques et Clochers" starts today. . . okay that might need some more explanation. Toques (the hat chefs wear) et Clochers (bell tower) is a festival unique to this region of France. It celebrates French cuisine and wine. There are activities all weekend long and proceeds are used to repair one of the church bell towers in the area. They are expecting a crowd of 50,000 people (about 5 times to population of Limoux). They have 120 police, 60 other security personell, 20 red cross volunteers and a helicopter standing by to help if someone is injured. The main events are the concerts, meals, and wine tasting. They have already closed many streets in Limoux. I might stop by tommorrow afternoon to see what's going on. I have been advised by several people, that it is not good for young children. I am a little saddened by the fact that they cancelled basketball practice. I am looking forward to the weekend. God bless, JASON

Pétanque and Le Cross

2011-04-10T21:46:00.000+02:00

Micah is on the far right.

The crowd approaches.

Lilia in the purple.

Caleb in the blue with the hat.

Lilia, purple shirt, helped registering students.

Wow, we are just finishing a busy weekend. Let me catch you up from the last blog point. (For your information if you see a highlighted work, it is a link, meaning that if you click on it it will open another window with more information related to the highlighted word.) Tuesday was spent studying and preparing for lessons. Wednesday afternoon, I had a lesson for Lilia and another teenager in Magrie. Thursday morning after my language session, we walking to the Magrie Mayors office and picked up Angie's visa. An answer to prayer, just to have it in hand. Thursday night we had two for the Bible Study. Friday morning at the maket I talked with several regulars and also met a lady from a village about 20 minutes from Limoux, she was already Christian and we knew some of the same people. We talked for a while and she seemed interested in the prospects of having a work in Limoux. Friday afternoon, my counseling sessions went well and the week finished with basketball practice. Thus began the busy weekend. Saturday morning there was the "cross des mille enfants", it was a long distance race with over 1300 children from schools in the area. Micah, Lilia, and Caleb participated. I had a choice of either serving as one of the volunteer crosswalk guards, or getting pulled into racing along with the kids. That's right, I chose being the crosswalk guard. I attached several pictures of the event. After that finished we grabed lunch and prepared for having some guests over for an "apéritif" (snack before the evening meal). We had a great visit with them, I play basketball with the husband and there kids go to school with ours. Sunday we left immediately for a BBQ (french style) put on by the basketball coach for celebrating their last game of the season. We arrived just as everyone else did and had a great time. I during the afternoon, everyone asked about why I was here and what my work entailed. In typical french fashion, it took about three hours before all the eating was done. Afterwards, we played a game of Pétanque, briefly explained a French game kind of a mix between horseshoes and bowling. My team won. By the time the BBQ was over it was almost seven. We ate a quick supper and helped the kids get the homework finished before calling it a day. It was a great weekend. We had the chance to build some great relationships. I also want to attach a music video. I try to help you get a glimpse into French culture. This music video won two awards. The artist is Ben l'Oncle Soul and he won two awards for this song entitled Soul Man. I was surprised by the style of music. There is an English Version and also a version with French subtitles if you want to cheat. Below is the original. God bless, JASON

Going backwards

2011-04-04T16:47:00.000+02:00

I made a lot of forward progess this week, except where blogging was concerned. The past week was good. Basketball went well as did my time with my language partner. We cancelled Bible Study as several were unable to attend due to various reasons. Friday the weather was perfect and I enjoyed the Bible Stand at the market. We had several stop by and there was a crowd there. Friday afternoon I had a conseilling session with a young lady that went well. She has even asked to have a Bible Study on Wednesdays. Saturday we got a garden planted. The boys planted one and I planted another. Neither one of them may grow anything, but it was fun. We planted lettuce, squash, melons, parsley, tomatoes, and one other thing that I can't remember at the moment. Services were good Sunday. We had visitors on Sunday afternoon. A family that we met online after reading their blog came over for a couple of hours. They are British but have lived in several countries all over the world working with a non-profit organization. Today, I just sent out the monthly report and am trying to clear my inbox. Arianna has been doing much better. One day this past week, she was just happy and playing on the floor when Angie remarked, "She is happy. . .I don't know what to do." She has started crawling, but goes better backwards than forwards (see the video below). I hope that you have a good Monday and a good week, and that you make a lot of forward progess as well. God bless, JASON

Indoor Hockey

2011-03-29T12:20:00.000+02:00

There were three at the Bible Study Thursday. Friday morning the market was busy as well, as the weather was nice. A young muslim man stopped by, which surprised me, he noticed the Arabic Bibles that were on the stand I had set up. He refused the things I offered him and asked if I was a Jehovah Witness, and the moved on. I gave a large print Bible to the lady, Mona, who runs the stand next to me. She was very grateful and insisted that Angie come and pick something out for herself from the clothing stand. The weekend went well. Services were good Sunday. Angie stayed home with Lilia, Andrew, and Arianna, who were all plagued with colds. Poor Arianna was just gettting a

routine when this cold set in a few days ago. At least she is upset for a good reason now. I wonder if there are any young children that actually enjoy getting their nose wiped. Sunday evening a brief thunderstorm rolled through. Storms like that are rare here in France, at least compared with how often they occured in Texas. For a moment we all stood at the window watching. Andrew was kind of anxious, but the storm didn't last but a few minutes. Last night after, Angie let the kids play a game of indoor hockey (video attached). They really enjoyed it. It wasn't long before all the kids were hot and exhausted. God bless, JASON

Da Da

2011-03-24T11:16:00.000+01:00

These are some pictures of the Carnaval from Sunday. Tuesday evening's Basketball practice went well. I am trying to put in more effort and do the best I can. As it says in Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Work hard at whatever you do." It paid off because our team won the scrimmage. Wednesday Caleb took an all day trip into the mountains for his Wednesday sporting event. Micah and Lilia did their swimming lessons. Lilia is progressing well and her instructor has asked her to stay at it and join in the competition next year. I don't know what she wants to do. She seems to enjoy it. Arianna was saying "Da da" all day yesterday. It was music to my ears. In the afternoon, Andrew, Micah, and I got our haircut. Micah attended a birthday party at McDonalds. I had a good talk with my parents last night. Andrew had slight fever yesterday as well, and as a result is home from school today. Looking forward to my language session with Eric this afternoon and the Bible Study tonight. God bless, JASON

The Carnaval at Limoux

2011-03-22T15:27:00.000+01:00

We are nearing the end of the Carnaval of Limoux. It is the self proclaimed longest carnaval in the world. It is every weekend from January to Mars. It mostly consits of live bands performing folk musique in a parade with costumed groups following along, and a lot of confetti. I will attach later some pictures of the real carnaval that Lilia and I attended this past Sunday. They also get the kids involved as well. Monday morning was Micah's turn to join in a parade around the town square, dressed as a storm tropper. It was Andrew's turn Monday afternoon, his entire class dressed as clowns. Lilia and Caleb had their turn this morning. Lilia was a singer and Caleb was zorro. They had fun and even though it consumed most of our day it was nice to see them and get to visit with the other parents as well. They all really enjoyed throwing the confetti. Arianna seemed to enjoy it as well. She was worn out afterwards, here she is after falling alseep leaning on me. God bless, JASON

Toothless

2011-03-15T11:26:00.000+01:00

This was taken in January,
Arianna has changed.

The weekend finished well. We enjoyed the services with the church in Carcassonne and hearing the services of our sending church in Texas as well. Our sending church is having Missions Month, which we are excited about. The kids have returned to school. Micah lost another tooth yesterday. He takes these teeth serious. This morning the tooth was still under his pillow, and he said he knew it would be because he didn't go to sleep fast enough last night so the "little mouse" didn't come. I did some research yesterday for a trip we are planning in August to visit Normandy. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. I also cleaned out my inbox as well. There was an email from a pastor in Haiti that had emailed me in January that I finally was able to respond to. Lilia has been really interested in the situation in Japan. They have talked a lot about the earthquake and tsunami in class. Our prayers go out to all those who are suffering there. I just read that the island of Japan has moved 8 feet. Arianna has continued about the same. She has happy moments, but also moments where she screams and nothing seems to appease her. She has cute moments, thankfully. Angie is excited about a 35 mm camera she bought. She just tried it out and is excited to get the film developed to see how it worked. I need to go get the kids for lunch now. God bless, JASON

Kites to Visas

2011-03-12T18:27:00.002+01:00

This was the first time I saw an ostrich with wings open.

This is a Syrian red wolf.

We even got to see an otter playing around.

This has been a good second week of the kids school break. Arianna had a doctor's appointment and she had not gained much weight. But she is just starting on solids so I am sure that will fix the weight issue. Jason took the kids on some hikes and walks. They also flew a kite one day---or they tried to. The wind was very strong so the kite crashed a lot. I worked with the kids on their English and we just had a good time being together without all the running to town. Arianna gets on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth now. Thursday we just had one person at Bible Study but it was a very enjoyable study together. We were blessed once again with some groceries from a friend of one of our Bible Study regulars. I am hoping to meet this kind lady soon. Friday was the big day this week. We had to go once againg to the immigration office in Montpellier because the director had not emailed the office here as he said he would to explain our case. With it being a vacation period we were skeptical if the director would even be in his office but we decided we had to go try anyway. So we planned on adding a fun outing to the trip just in case he was not in, then we would not feel we had gone for nothing. We made it to Montpellier with Arianna only crying 40 minutes of the 2 hour trip. Whew! Jason let me out at the office and he took the kids to the parking lot. After talking with the front desk attendant and explaining the situation about 3 times I began to realize that she wanted to question me a lot without hearing me out. And I got the impression that she did not want to let me talk to the director. (I was being very kind this time- last time I was much more insistant and I got to move on to the director very quickly) Anyway, after being interrupted with questions and explanations that had nothing to do with the fact that the director had not sent the email he said he would....I caught sight of the director as he walked by and called out to him. He of course remembered me and took over immediately. I waited while he copied my passport. I realized then that I must have really offended the lady at the desk because she gave the poor guy after me a really hard time. oops.

So the director took me to his office and told me he had tried to call the office at Carcassonne and that they never called him back. Then he "moved on to other things". He called again and left a message not mentioning my name or anything about my case. I did have the number and email of our office in Limoux and he got our caseworker on the phone. She told him just to send an email......Hmmm...If he had done that like he said he would in the first place?......I asked him if he just wanted to type up something and print me a hardcopy and then I wouldn't have to worry about it again. He told me not to worry that with one phone call... er.. email and it would all be "unblocked". He never really said sorry, though while talking on the phone with our caseworker he did admit that he had made me travel a second time for nothing. He did ask for our email so we would be kept in the loop about how it was progressing. I left feeling pretty good about receiving it and not having to return to the states and start over!
Then we went to the ZOO! We had a great time and saw some things we had never seen before, white rhinos, Syrian bears, and a red wolf! I don't think I have ever seen a wolf. The zoo was really hilly and after 3 hours of trudging around we were all tired. We bought a little velro monkey as a souvenir and headed to the car. Arianna took her nap at the zoo so we weren't too excited about the drive home. After some McDonald's burgers we headed out and Arianna did fall asleep...eventually.
When we got home we already had the email from the director! Here's hoping I will have my card soon! God Bless, ANGIE

Let's go fly a kite.

Already a sinner

2011-03-05T18:51:00.000+01:00

Our first week of the kids on vacation has passed. Thankfully the weather has improved over the week. We did not have the Bible study Thursday, because everyone was on vacation. We did enjoy a visit from a friend in Carcassonne instead. The market went well Friday morning. The weather was nice and there were a lot of people out, several stopped by the stand, including one of our neighbors. Friday afternoon we took the kids out to try a buy a fish. One of our fish that came with the fish tank, the kids call Batman, is all alone. I figured out finally what kind he was and the kids wanted to get him a wife. However there were no females at the fish store. Batman will have to wait a week. Afterwards we have some English lessons for the kids (pictured), they really enjoy the lessons once they get started. It is pretty again today , we all went for a walk and then I took a few of the kids for a hike. Arianna has proved that she is already a sinner. She seems to only be content in the evenings if you are standing with her. Don't believe me? I have a video to prove it. God bless, JASON

Photo Op

2011-03-01T15:22:00.000+01:00

Andrew focusing on his video game on a cold, rainy day.

Arianna doesn't know what to do with all those toys.

Andrew with his buddy, Luke Manary.

Us three at the Castle in Carcassonne

Arianna finally "fell" asleep.

Micah coudn't see the game that Caleb was playing,
so he found this spot.

Double rainbow we saw yesterday from our house.

Arianna is actually playing and having a good time.

See.

But now those teeth are bothering her again.

Changing Quick

2011-03-01T10:45:00.000+01:00

Last week finished well. We had three present for the Bible Study. In spite of

the threatening weather, I set up the stand at the Market. It went well and there was not any rain. I was able to hand out one tract and one Bible. The weekend passed well. We enjoyed the services in Carcassonne, France and in Hillsboro, Texas. Monday started two weeks out of school for the kids. Lilia is signed up this first week for a sports camp of sorts. She goes the same hours that she would normally go to school to the gym and participates in different sports. She wanted to spend time with her friends and I hope that she is able to meet girls her age from other schools because they will all be in the Jr. High together next year. In the afternoon we went to pick up a piece of furniture (pictured) from the pastor in Carcassonne. It was a nice piece that I thought would fit into our car, it didn't, but we were able to borrow a trailer and get it here. Thankfully we have a little more storage in our kitchen now. Arianna has been eating cereal once a day now. She really enjoys it. She was real good for us

for a few days, but now her teeth are bothering her. She seems to change like the weather. It has been interesting the last few days with sudden downpours of rain, followed by sunshine. We saw a beautiful rainbow yesterday (pictured) with some of the brightest colors I have seen. I will work on my Bible Study lesson today, answer a Bible question that my language helper had, and work on a question that someone asked at the market (I gave them an oral answer, but wanted to write it down as well). I wanted to attach this video of Andrew eating the other day. We still have been laughing so much at meal times. It would be impossible to tell all of the funny things that happen and that we hear at the table. We did get Andrew to re-enact how he started eating.

Good times

2011-02-24T15:27:00.000+01:00

All the kids at the dinosaur museum.

The group at church, Sunday.

We had a lot of good times with our friends. The Manary family arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed with us until Wednesday. On Saturday we went and saw the Dinosaur Museum and Hat Museum. Saturday night Arianna, slept bad and had Angie and I up most of the night. We all made it to church Sunday, but cancelled our plans to see the Walled City of Carcassonne afterwards. We ate at KFC and returned home. Monday afternoon we went to see the Walled city which everyone enjoyed. Angie and I liked it as well, probably because the kids were in school and not begging us to buy souvenirs. Tuesday we had a good restful day before they left Wednesday after lunch. We were very grateful and encouraged by their visit and our kids just loved have new playmates for a few days. What is really touching is that they were willing to drive here, which took three days. Just had my language session with Eric. It is going well, we are working on reading with the right rythym and intonation which is interesting. French is actually boring rythmically. Every syllable is pronounced the same and the voice does not change tones as often as it would in English. It is a hard thing to get the brain to do, but it will come with time and practice. Eric even had a question about the lesson. Looking forward to the Bible study tonight and the market tommorrow, weather permitting. God bless, JASON

Feeding and fighting

2011-02-19T08:57:00.000+01:00

We found the earthwoom before school.

It is Saturday morning and our friends should be arriving in a couple of hours. Le me take this chance to give you an update of the last few days. Thursday during recess at school another girl came up and pinched Lilia's shoulder real hard, leaving marks that were still there three hours later. This particular girl has always caused problems. Lilia wants so much to be friends with everyone that she still hangs out with her. I went and had a talk with Lilia's teacher, who immediately told Lilia that she should have come and told her. They talked to the girl and I hope that it resolves that issue. We also started Arianna on some solid food this week. I fed her the first time while Angie was shopping and she seemed to really enjoy it. Angie fed her some more rice cereal last night and she ate it all up. Arianna has still been generally fussy a lot. She wants to be held a lot and even then she may not be happy. Sometimes she gets in a playful mood. I have attached a cute video of her trying to attack my shoulder. It rained hard Thursday evening. We had one come for the Bible study, some regulars were out because the electricity went out at their house. It was looking like rain Friday morning so I didn't go to the market. I ended up getting my Sunday School lesson ready and helping Angie set up for our friends. At Basketball practice last night, we went played a scrimmage, full court, for over an hour. It was good excercise to say the least. God bless, JASON

Friends are coming

2011-02-16T15:13:00.000+01:00

The weekend went well and we are already well into the week. Monday we celebrated Valentine's Day by getting some gifts for the kids (pictured). I have continued enjoying the contact with the basketball team and am considering having an end of year party at our house for them. I had another language session with Eric that went real well. He has a lot of work to do on my accent, but we are making progress. The exciting news this week is that some friends are coming. Our missionary friends, the Manary family, are already on their way to visit with us for a few days. They have a long drive of about 25 hours ahead of them. We are looking forward to seeing them. They have four kids about the same ages as ours. We met them while on deputation several years ago and have had chances to see them again on furlough and at the Greece Retreat. We are looking forward to spending about 5 days with them. It will be nice just to talk with them and share stories. We are getting the house ready now. Bible Study is tomorrow and I am still planning on going to the market on Friday, weather permitting. We had the chance to visit with our neighbors some today. The weather has been nice and people are getting our more.

It's free

2011-02-11T15:17:00.000+01:00

Arianna's passport picture.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather these past few days. Monday and Tuesday, I prepared next weeks lesson so that I could give it over to me new language helper, Eric. We had a good time together. He did well in correcting my pronunciation and helped me with words that had a strong American accent. Wednesday and Thursday I finished this weeks lesson. Bible Study was good last night, there were four that came. We are almost finished with our study on the sermon on the Mount. Yesterday at lunchtime we had a lot of laughter at the table. We were talking about being right handed and left handed. To confuse everyone I said, "I can hold up my right hand with my left." Micah said he could make his right hand his left and just help his right hand up on the left side of his body. Soon afterwards Angie was opening an ice cream cone for Angie when it slipped out of his hand and landed right in front of Andrew, who said, "Splash!". Micah tried to stick the top of his cone in his mouth and had it shoot out, he then tried eating it from the bottom up. My parents printed out this blog in a blog that they sent us for Christmas. Angie was reading it and came across the time when Micah said he wanted to go to the lake and chase dogs. We were reminding him about it and asked why he said that. He replied, "Because the fish will jump in the water so I can chase them." That's as clear as mud. I was at the market this morning and one of the ladies that stopped by the stand, just couldn't grasp how all the stuff that was on the stand was free. I explained several time that she could take whatever she wanted and that it was free, but it was as if she couldn't grasp the concept. She mentioned that she didn't have any money and had to leave. A man stopped by later and talked my ear off. He notice the word "Biblical" on the stand and that got him started on the Biblical diet. I don't think he took a breath between stories for he next 30 minutes. However, I enjoyed talking with him, more like listening to him. I am going to work on my Sunday School lesson now. Next week we have some missionary friends from Romania that are going to visit with us. We are really excited about it. Also the local inexpensive grocery store, Lidl, is having American week. We have already visited one time and picked up peanut butter, ranch dressing, muffin mixes, pancake mixes, 1000 Island dressing, and other American things. Awesome. I hope you have a good weekend. God bless, JASON

Games

2011-02-08T09:09:00.000+01:00

Last week went well. Having our paperwork done and

turned in was a relief. While there were freezing temperatures and snow in the states, we enjoyed warmer temperatures. The Bible study went well last week, three were present and we continued our series of studies on the Sermon on the Mount (currently in Matthew 7). Friday we had a nice family night with the kids. We had bought a marble obastacle course, where you build up these . . . perhaps a picture would be better than words. Friday morning, I had a great time at the market. It was warmer and there were a lot of people out. Several people stopped by the stand and I passed out a bible, some tracts, and a gospel of John. I also spoke with a few people who had stopped by before. Saturday night we had a basketball match. We lost and I only played about 20 minutes of the whole game, but I did score four points and had three rebounds. It was at least another chance to hang out with team-mates and get to know

I was proud of my parking job.

them better. Sunday services in Carcassonne, went good, Angie stayed home with Arianna and Andrew. Angie is still trying to get over a cough. The other kids and I stayed for the meal afterwards and enjoyed visiting. Sunday night, Angie and I both stayed up to watch the superbowl. The team I was hoping would win did. It was nice that Angie stayed up, it was much funner laughing at what the commentators said together. I think there were only four commercial breaks. I have a new language helper coming tomorrow, so I am going to get an early start on my lesson. God bless, JASON

Daddy Jim

2011-02-01T11:01:00.000+01:00

Lilia and Caleb with Daddy Jim

Micah in the snow.

This is what we called our Grandfather on my mother's side. I am not sure where the nickname came from. Daddy Jim, Jim Taylor, passed away on Friday night. He was a good grandfather. He pastored churches in Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas for over 50 years. He served in the marines in World War II and the Korean War. We received the news Saturday morning. Read his obituary here. He is the third grandfather that has passed away since we have been in France, Clyde Clark was my Dad's father, Harold Davis who I consider as my spiritual grandfather passed away these last couple of years. If I could mention one thing that I had learned early from watching him, is that preachers and christians can have a good time. He loved to have fun and he could talk to you about so many things. Saturday it rained almost all day but in the afternoon it turned to beatiful snow. It kind of made a good summary of our week, things get tough but God's still there and he can turn the bad into good. Sunday's service was good as well. I had a little trouble when we sang the french version of "How Great thou Art". The text for the message that morning included 1 John 3:2 "My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is." We look forward to seeing Daddy Jim again. Back to work for now. God bless, JASON

"Government Organization"

2011-01-29T07:54:00.000+01:00

This is one of my favorite oxymorons. This weeks has been spent mainly dealing with the government. Tuesday morning we made our trip to Marseille, a pretty place by the way. Everything went good, we had a little trouble finding the Embassy and it took a while to get throught security, but finally we handed off our paperwork and in a few months, Arianna will have an American birth certificate, social security number, and her passport. We then decided to swing back by the immigration office in Montpellier because we never got the appointment for Angie and we can't reach them by phone. (turns out they said they don't answer the phone while they are there - frustrating to say the least) We had to act French a little. They said that we should have already received the letter for the meeting and that since it was passed there was nothing they could do, Angie would have to return to the states. We were not going to take that as an answer. We had to show signs of being real upset and explain that it was their fault, they didn't notive her paperwork in the folder with mine, they sayed they would mail the letter for a meeting for her. We complained enought that they said we could see the boss. After the boss arrived, they said they could do the medical visit and interview right away. Sometimes you have to throw a fake fit (learned that from my dad :) Angie started waiting for the interview and I had to buy the government stamps to pay. They are usually sold in Tobaco stores. The fifth store had some and so Arianna and I returned and we finally finished up there. Thursday we had one couple come for the bible study, he had just got in from work so we just visited a few minutes, shared some prayer requests and dismissed. Friday morning we prepared the paperwork for the next step in our visa process. We took a pause to watch some dances that Micah's class put on. Arianna had a doctors appointment as well, which is why I didn't go to the market. Her doctors appointment ended up being cancelled. We turned on the paperwork that afternoon, found out all that we were missing and will finish it up, hopefully, on Monday. It is frustrating at times all the paperwork and getting all that they want and need, but that is part of life living in any foreign country. Picture is of Andrew putting together a puzzle, feels liks what we have done this week. God bless, JASON