Fireworks

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 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

Good times

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

Mission Vacances

Things are passing by quickly. Saturday ended up being the hotest day so far this year, with temperatures over 100 F. Thankfully things have cooled off some. Angie seemed to do well with a fan and some ice packs when it warmed up inside. Sundays services were good, all the family was present. We enjoyed a restful afternoon as I think most of the family enjoyed a nap. Monday ran errands around town, grocery shopping and picking up things that we needed for the hospital. Angie had a list of things that she had to provide for herself and the baby. Some things were hard to translate, others hard to find. Tuesday, I helped at the Bible Exposition that morning and came home to work on my lesson. I attended the Bible STudy in Carcassonne that evening and was able to meet the group from United Beach Mission (Mission Vacances in French) who has come to help with outreach and evangelisation in Carcassonne and in Limoux. Today I finished my lesson for next week, had the language session with Cédric, and went to the open air preaching at the walled city of Carcassonne. I handed out some tracks and was able to meet some interesting people during the meeting. Tommorrow I will go pick up a fold out bed from some friends of ours and then pick up some maps for the group coming to Limoux on Friday. We will have the bible study at our house as planned. After the outreach Friday, we will finish preparations for my parents arrival on Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to seeing them again as is the rest of the family. Attached picture is of Lilia and Caleb washing dishes. God bless, JASON

Jousting

We had a good visit with out friends. It was enjoyable just to sit and talk about our ministries and how God has blessed. After church on Sunday we had a picnic at the park and then we took them to the walled city of Carcassonne where we walked around, saw jousting (video attached), and had ice cream. Monday we stayed home and let them walk around Limoux while we watched their kids. Tuesday we loaded everyone up and headed to the beach. We had a good time, except for the frequent wind gusts that sand blasted the kids. The water was freeezing. Wednesday, I worked on my lesson and then some friends from Carcassonne watched our kids for us while Angie and I went out. We did some shopping and them went out to eat some chinese food, which was very enjoyable. I am looking forward again to the Bible study this evening. I have news that some will attend. Micah has continued to do crazy things and say strange stuff. After bedtime a couple of nights ago, he got to use the restroom and came out with the kids toilet seat stuck over his head, it took some effort to get off. Yesterday, I asked him how many days are in a week, he answered, "One". Wanting to help out I said, no, days, like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thur. . .How many are there? He answered, "Tuesday". I gave up. Attached is some pictures of good times with out friends at the walled city and battling the wind at the beach. God bless, JASON

Fireworks at Carcassonne

The early part of this week we took a trip to Carcassonne to do some shopping and then we ate a picnic lunch at the lake near Carcassonne. I also prepared the lesson for the bible study next week. I am glad that I am a week ahead. Wednesday some friends from the language school came and visited with us. They are staying in Toulouse and we decided to go see the fireworks in Carcassonne together. The Bastille Day fireworks in Carcassonne is an amazing event. It is also a celebration of the burning of the walled city in 1898. It lasts only about twenty five minutes but fireworks are shot from all parts of the castle and it is amazing to see. It ends with 1200 fireworks going off in 6 seconds. We planned to arrive early, the show starts at 10:30 pm, but the town of 30,000 swells to 700,000 with visitors from all over the world. So we arrived at 8:00 and set up a picnic blanket on the street. We ate and played games with the kids and watched people arrive. We were able to meet an american family from Toulouse that was seated near us. There was one interesting moment when someone who had been waiting in a good spot for 5 hours had someone else come stand in front of them. It started to get energized when one man pushed another, but 6 police officers arrived so everything calmed back down. The wait was not too bad. The street lights went off, the show started and it was amazing. The castle was lit up red and the fireworks were the best I have ever seen. Off course I have attached pictures, but it does not do it justice. Afterwards we walked the mile back to the car and waited until midnight before we drove off. It only took and hour to get out of town, which was not too bad. We are now looking forward to the bible study tonight. God bless, JASON

The sick and the napkin.

Last week seemed to drag by. Angie was sick all last week. . . fever, achy, cough. We ended up cancelling the bible study that we had planned for Friday night. I know that it must be difficult for those single parents to raise children on their own. I have just been running all over the place. Thankfully, Angie has been there to point me in the right direction with phrases like, "Those clothes don't match", "It is time for ya'll to leave", "We need more groceries", "The kids need a bath" , "Don't forget . . .". She has been a lot of help even though she just kind of alternates between her bed and the couch.
It rained all day Friday, and Saturday I found out that quite a bit of the rain and entered into our garage where we store a lot of stuff in boxes. Needless to say, a lot of wet, it took a while to rearrange everything, but at least I know better where everything is at.
Sunday Caleb and I went to church. We had a meal afterwards consiting of soup, salad, quiche, new pototatoes, potato casserole, fruit, chicken, 3 cheeses, and 3 desserts. Good eating. Afterwards we attended the business meeting, which was my first business meeting to attend in France. I enjoyed it, there were a lot of good questions and the atmosphere was light and included plenty of laughter. We were made associated members of the church. The story behind that is we would like to participate in the teaching and preaching but there is a rule that only members can do those things. This rule was made because some people believe just by participating in the service and helping, they would merit a place in heaven. So for us and another couple who visit during the summer, we are already members of another church, so they made a special case for us, a kind of stamp of approval, so that we can aide in the ministry aspects of the church. We of course will not be allowed to vote during business meeting and such. If that has just confused you even more, then email me or make a comment and I will try to explain further. The church in Carcassonne has helped us already in many ways.
There are several things I need to get done this week. I need to get some things mailed. I need to get a letter written to our former internet service provider. They claimed to have not received the modem that we sent to them. After calling them, they instructed that we write a letter and fax it to them explaining the situation. Lord willing, we will have a Bible study this week. I am just about to go email someone to ask if they would be willing to be my conversation partner.
One thing that happened at the Thanksgiving meal that I forgot to mention. Micah, who can not stand to have a mess, had some food on his fingers and yelled out, "Napkin". Unfortunately napkin in French is a feminine hygiene product. I did not think about it until later. So since then we have worked on several other possible names to us in place of napkin. God bless, JASON