New Camera for the Snow

Took this picture before heading to bed last night.
I like the whole "palm tree in the snow" theme.

We got a new camera for Christmas from my parents.  It is amazing how fast things have changed in the camera world.  Thinking back I realized our former camera was about 5 years old.   This new one can do high definition videos.  We have been focused mainly on staying warm these last few days.  It got down to -8 (c)Thursday night, the windchill was -12. We got a good bit of snow on Friday.  I didn't set up at the market, but I stopped by to check out who was there.  Where I usually set up there are at least thirty stands on a normal Friday, yesterday there were three.  I am not complaining because up until this point we have had a relatively mild winter.  Saturday we stayed warm and enjoyed a few snow flurries.  Angie, Lilia, Arianna, and I had been battling colds, so I took the boys to church on Sunday.  There was supposed to be a meal afterwards, but snow started falling heavily during church, so everyone one went home afterwards.  It snowed all day yesterday, this morning we have 15cm still on the ground (6 inches). I did stay up and watch the superbowl. It has just started snowing some more.  The kids school was canceled today.  The forcast predicts that it won't get above freezing until this next weekend.  Enjoy some snow picks from the new camera, check back soon for some high definition videos.  Blessings, JASON

Christmas guests

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

Reindeer games

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

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

Anniversary

We had a very Merry Christmas.  We had a theme this year of family gifts.  Meaning, we focused more on having gifts that the whole family would enjoy.  The kids didn't seem to mind or even notice really.  I left for part of Christmas day to attend the Christmas morning service at the church in Carcassonne.  Sunday morning I brought the message, it was my first Sunday morning message in French.  I think it went fairly well.  We enjoyed hearing the evening service of our sending church, Walnut Street Baptist Church, Hillsboro, Texas.  Over the weekend we did have the opportunity to catch up with some friends on Skype.  Monday was restful, I did take the kids to Carcassonne for a litte while to give Angie a break.  Took a few minutes during that time to wish happy 37th wedding anniversary to my parents.  Today is an anniversary for us as well.  We just finished our third year in France.  I didn't really realize that until I asked the kids how many Christmas' we had spent in France and after some consideration they said, "three".  We arrived on French soil on December 28, 2007.  I am looking forward to seeing God's blessings for this fourth year and the following ones.  Enjoy some snapshots from Christmas day at our house.  God bless, JASON

Christmas Eve

All the "kids" at our Tex-mex dinner.

The Christmas season has been going great.  Tuesday we did some Christmas shopping as a family.  We also picked up some Christmas cards and enveloppes to stuff for the church in Carcassonne.  We worked on them as a family and it only took a couple of hours to stuff 100 Christmas Cards.  Wednesday and Thursday morning I helped the pastor in Carcassonne pass them out.  It was fun, good time of fellowship, getting to see the area, and placing cards in mailboxes that share about the true meaning of Christmas.  Thursday evening, we watched some fireworks in town and then we had supper with our friends from Magrie.  We served Tex-mex and had a great time sharing about Christmas in Texas.  We also got to explain what a redneck was.  This morning Caleb and went to the market and distributed about 80 bible verse calenders. There were not a lot of people there and it was cold.  Caleb really enjoyed it.  This afternoon Angie is going to pass out gifts to our neighbors and visit with some friends.  I will take the kids to Carcassonne and pick out some more fish for the aquarium and also stop by downtown Limoux and let the kids have a turn on the obstacle course they have set up.  I am looking forward to tommorrow.  We had planned on Skyping with our family, but Skype was down yesterday because of server trouble.  Hopefully we can try tonight.  I pray that you have a very merry Christmas and that you take time to think about the greatest gift ever given, Jesus.  Enjoy my favorite Christmas song, What Child is This.  God bless, JASON

Christmas vacation starts.

Arianna's Chrismas dress

Friday night I had my last basketball practice, we will start again in January.  I'm hoping that my ankle will be 100 % by then.  Saturday we had the Christmas Dinner outreach in Carcassonne, the kids did an amazing job on the skit.  I didn't get very good pictures because the lighting was bad and I couldn't change the setting on the camera with one hand.  There were a good number there and just a few chairs were empty.  Sunday we stayed with some friends after church and attended the english Carol Service.  It was a good time, and all in English.  We sang 5 christmas carols.  We only knew one of them, yes even the Christmas songs are different in England it seems.  There was one funny moment during a moment of open prayer time, I was praying and in the middle, I said in French, "Seigneur" instead of "Lord".   Today, we got the house straightened up and Angie went to do a little shopping.  Another interesting event occured while she was gone, I was chasing a small lizard out of the house who likes to crawl in through the door jam and he ran up the leg of my pants.  The kids all had a good laugh about it, the lizard did not survive.    God bless, JASON

Weather Predictions



Lilia played with Andrew's hair,
grow up quick Arianna !

I painted this last year.

Monday through Wednesday was spent preparing for the sermon that I will preach in Carcassonne the day after Christmas.  I prepared it well in advance so that I would have plenty of time to look over it.  Wednesday at Lilia and Micah's swimming class, Santa Claus showed up, wearing snorkelling equipment.  All the little kids were really excited.  As always, I have been having trouble getting an accurate weather report.  I usually check two or three to get a idea of what the weather will be and even at that they can be wrong.  The forecast was for rain yesterday, and freezing temperatures and snow today.  What we ended up with was snow all morning Thursday, though thankfully it didn't stick.  I was able to get some Christmas items mailed to the states.  This morning it was 50 degrees when I woke up.  We did have the rain however, which meant that  I didn't go to the market.  That gave Angie and I our first chance to do some Christmas shopping together.  This afternoon I am doing some paperwork, and soon I am going to make some pumpkin soup from some pumpkins that were given to us.   The temperature has been dropping all day, so we may end up with snow this evening.  I pray that the weather clears tommorrow afternoon for the Christmas meal and program in Carcassonne that everyone has been looking forward to.  We had only one at the Bible Study, but it was still an excellent time.  Sunday afternoon there is a Carol Service in English at the church in Carcassonne that we will be attending.  Today is the last day of the kids school and so it is the official start of the holiday break for them.  It is also Caleb's birthday today, he is 8 years old.  Attached song, may not be to your style of music and it may reveal my age, but when I was a teenager, it was my Christmas theme, I would play it every Christmas. God bless, JASON  

Crystal

I am glad that last week has passed.  It ended well.  The Bible Study was good.  The market on Friday morning went well.  They had closed downtown because they were setting up stuff for Christmas, and so I put my stand up in another place.  I ended up next to an young man who was selling crystals.  We had a nice time talking.  He has traveled all over and then, after two angels talked to him, he built a temple in a town near Limoux.  He sells crystals and gives seminars about how to use them and the special powers that they hold.  Needless to say, it was an interesting visit.  Other than that, I met a former missionary that was interested in the Bible Study and also handed out a few Bible Verse Calenders as well.  It was cold but worth the time.    I also met someone online, who had seen my Youtube videos and wanted me to help with his translation of a song.  I did what I could and got that back to him. 

Friday night, Caleb had a friend from school come over.  This was the first time Caleb had a friend over. They had a really great time.  I went to choir practice in Carcassonne, came back and picked up Caleb and his friend, and we dropped his friend off before going to basketball practice.  My ankle is continuing to get better.  I try to take it easy while I play though.  Saturday we had Caleb's birthday party.  His birthday is the 17th, but last Saturday was the best time we could find for his party.  We had a wonderful time.  We finally bought him a top, Beyblade, that he had been begging for these past months.  They were sold out at the store, but we found a good deal online.  Sunday passed well.  After church we rested since everyone had been up late the nights before.  We listened to the services of our home church on Skype that evening.  Today I have been catching up on emails, correcting past lessons, working on future lessons, and even found a few minutes to watch the highlights of a few NFL games.  I saw on the news recently that a teenager armed with swords had taken kindergarten kids hostage, and their teacher, at a school in eastern France.  Thankfully it has ended with no one getting hurt.  The Christmas song I have picked for this blog I heard recently and it brought back a lot of good memories.  I was listen to Christian Christmas Radio online.  You can check it out at http://www.klove.com/ , on the home page click the red box that says Klove Christmas Radio.  There you have it, 24 hr christmas music.  God bless, JASON 

Winter weather?

This week is progressing good.  It seems that we fought off the invasion of last week.  I have my lesson prepared for next week.  My ankle is doing better.  I went to Basketball practice last night but took it easy.  We got the Christmas decorations up.  The kids are excited about Christmas.  Andrew goes on and on about the tree.  Speaking of Andrew, we were coming home from school one day and Andrew was talking about his friend, Manu.  As he does often, he repeated the name several times while he was thinking of what to say next.  Micah couldn't wait and said, "Your new what!".  Think about it for a little bit and you will get it.  The weather has been nice here but freezing everywhere else in France it seems.  Last week there were record low temperatures in several cities in the North, odd for so early in the year.  Yesterday, Paris was shutdown but several inches of snowfall during the day.  They had to set up roadside shelters for all the stranded motorists.  Yesterday it was 65 degrees here.  It has cooled off some today and the wind is blowing.  I am looking forward to seeing what this winter brings.  Last year we had above average snowfall. The kids are hoping for it again.  The song below is "Une fleur m'a dit".  It is a cute childrens song about finding a flower in the snow and rescuing it, and the flower telling that it is Christmas. Our kids are singing the same tune but with Christian lyrics for the Christmas program in Carcassonne.  God bless, JASON

Invasion

My view of Arianna

This weekend was particularly busy.  Friday night I had choir practice with the church in Carcassonne.  When I arrived I got a call from Angie that Andrew, Micah and Caleb had lice, an invasion.  There had been signs up at their school since the beginning of the year, so with four kids in school, it was just a matter of time.  Saturday was spent washing laundry, hair, bagging up dolls, combing. . . the whole works.  We did take a break for the kids to practice their Christmas program in Carcassonne.  Sunday we ate after church and then I stayed and attended the businesss meeting.  The church in Carcassonne is searching for a new meeting place.  I made it back home by five, got the kids homework done and ate supper, which left bedtime.  Today I went shopping, worked on my lesson.  I tried to stop by the pharmacy and pick up an ankle brace, but I forgot almost all of them are closed on Mondays.  I got a few groceries and returned home.  Worked on my lesson some and am currently watching Arianna, while Angie sleeps in.  Arianna just lays in her bed next to my computer, as content as can be.  She looks and around, tries to suck on her fingers, and makes noises.  The Christmas song for this time is Petit Papa Noël.  Once again, I could not find one with English subtitles, but here is one sung by an American, Josh Groban, on French TV.  He starts singing about halfway through.  God bless, JASON

Christmas season is here.

I had a good meeting with the pastor in Carcassonne.  The Bible study went well last night also.  It was cold at the market this morning.  We even had some snow falling periodically.  There were not many people at the market and we did not get to make any new contacts, but we did see two men that we had met previously and talk with them at length.  It was cold.  Angie had purchased these hand warmers that are interesting.  Little gelatin sacks with a piece of metal inside, you bend the metal and the sack heats up and stays warm for about an hour.  Afterwards you just boil it to reactivate it.  It says it will work for 1,000 times.  Interesting.  As you can see in the picture my ankle looks worse, but it is feeling much better.  I just have a slight limp.  Tonight we have choir practice in Carcassonne, tommorrow is practice for the kids christmas program.  Sunday afternoon there will be a meeting of the church members in Carcassonne to discuss several issues involving the future of the church.  Remember them in your prayers.  They have been such a help to us.  I will try to attach a Christmas song at the end of these posts in December.  Below is "Il est né le Divin Enfant", one of the most popular traditional French Christmas songs. I could not find a version with English Subtitles, so here is the English version, "He is born the divine Child".  You can find the french version on YouTube as well.  God bless, JASON

Thanksgivingly ever after.

Thanksgiving meal was real good.  We spent two days in preparation,

 made the desserts on Thursday and then the main dishes on Friday.  One of the guests arrived early Friday to help out which was great.  We got everything ready on time and 15 guests came.  We got started at 7:30 and we had a wonderful time.   I gave a history of Thanksgiving and everyone shared something that they were thankful for, I led in prayer, and then we dug in.  The food was enjoyed and we had a lot less leftovers that I expected.  The favorite seemed to be the Buttermilk pie (grandma's recipe). Everyone stayed until about 11:00.  There were really good conversations.  We assigned seats so that we would have Christians sitting with non-Christians.  It went really well, even the kids were well behaved.  I hope that God will bless and we will see some fruit.  Angie and I stayed up until 2 in the morning cleaning and washing dishes.  I called my parents house and spoke to my mother

 for a little bit, wishing them a happy Thanksgiving.  As in the case in many families, you can have three or four Thanksgiving meals just to get around to all the family.  We went to bed and I slept the best I had ever sleep.  My eyes closed and I opened them back up and it was 8:30 and Andrew was standing beside the bed asking if it was time to wake up.  Saturday we finished washing dishes, took borrowed tables and chairs back to Carcassonne, started putting the furniture back in the living room.  Services went well today, we are taking part in the Christmas program with the churh in Carcassonne.  Lilia is playing Mary and Caleb is Joseph.   I hope that your Thanksgiving holidays went well. but that you keep up the Thankful spirit all year long.  God bless, JASON

Thawed out.

The snow finally stopped falling late Saturday night. We ended up with over 7 inches. It was nice while it lasted. Sunday, Angie and the kids stayed home, while I walked to the car and braved the icy roads to go to the church in Carcassonne. I really enjoyed the servcies. Their current pastor will be retiring soon and his replacement was visiting Sunday. I enjoyed hearing him speak. He will be moving here in June and we have offered him to stay in our house if needed while he is trying to locate one for him and his family. Tuesday he came and visited in the morning with us. I am really impressed with him and looking forward to getting to know him and his family better. We are trying to decide our plans for returning to the states. We do not know if we will leave mid-june and stay to the end of August, or if we will May and stay to July. We received a Christmas package from Angie's parents today. Loaded with fudge and other goodies. Angie has gone shopping with Lilia, January is a month of sales on almost everything. I am hoping that we will have the Bible study this Friday. I am giving an introduction to the Bible. I also pray that we will have a good number come. I heard this morning of the large Earthquake in Haïti, our prayers go out to all who are affected by this tragedy. Tomorrow I am giving the prayer meeting at the church in Carcassonne since the pastor has taken a short trip to England. Sunday I will lead the services and Angie will teach the younger kids Sunday school. Attached picture is the kids playing a board game. Enjoy the day that God has given you. God bless, JASON

Twenty Ten

The New Year was kicked off well. We enjoyed bringing in the New Year with a couple from Carcassonne. We started this year off in prayer. Wise considering what all we will have going this new year. Last week we did receive boxes from my parents and from my sister and brother-in-law. That made for two more Christmas celebrations during the week. We enjoyed getting them and are truly thankful for them. The gift from my parents had been opened and searched, I would imagine in wake of the recent bomb scare on a flight. Last week was dificult week of culture shock for me personally. I found myself not even trying to comunicate in good French several times. Thankfully a New Year has been started. Yesterday we took the kids to McDonalds, with Angie being sick and then the holidays, it has been over a month and a half since we had gone out to eat. Afterwards we enjoyed a good talk with my younger sister and her husband on skype. Kids will be back in school Monday. I will be bringing the lesson at the prayer meeting the next two weeks as the pastor in Carcassonne will be traveling. Also Friday will be our first home bible study, Lord willing. I am working on an introduction to the Bible. I pray that God will bless this Bible Study. As well I have email a request for someone to be my French Conversation partner, I hope to receive a repy soon. Evidently I am in need of help with French (even my kids remind me of this). The picture is of us opening the box from my parents. God bless, JASON

Fruitcake

Christmas day ended well. We played with the kids, talked with both of our parents on Skype. I made some Fruit cake as well. I guessed at all the amounts, but it came out well. The color was a little of because the graham crackers (actually cookies) were a lighter color, and the only marshamellows we could find were pink and white. But it tasted good never-the-less. Saturday I got our financial reports done and spent the rest of the day straightening and playing with the kids. It rained all day long. Sunday was nice and sunny. Services where good in Carcassonne, the sermon was over Simeon from Luke ch. 2 and what we could learn from him. Afterwards we went home with Neil and Helen, a British couple who have a vacation home in a village not too far from Carcassonne. We enjoyed a good meal and visit together. They served fruit cake for dessert and it was very good. We all sat outside and watched the kids play and enjoyed the sunshine. We made it back in time to hear the services from our Church in Texas. Tomorrow I will work on the monthly report to be sent to all our supporting churches. Angie's cough which had seemed to almost have disappeared was worse today and yesterday. Please join me in praying that it does not get any worse. Attached pictures are of our meal and a view of the Pyrennes Mountains just south of us. God bless, JASON

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all. This week has passed quickly. Tuesday night we went to the English Carol service at the church in Carcassonne where I was blessed to have the opportunity to bring a devotional - in English. I made some wassail for the service, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I remeber having it as a child and I always enjoyed it. Here is the recipe that I used. 2 quarts(2 liters) of apple cider, 2 cups(500 ml) orange juice, 3 1/4 cups(26 oz) pineapple juice, 1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice, 3 cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, 1/2 cup sugar. Mix it and boil it and it is ready. Wednesday we spent most of the time with the kids and taking turns running to the store for things. Thursday I brought the lesson for the prayer meeting in Carcassonne. Before bed, Angie read the kids the Christmas story. Which brings us to Christmas day. We have been letting the kids stay up a little late for the last few days and so they didn't wake up until almost 8:00 this morning. Isn't that great! Andrew got up first and came to us and asked for some breakfast. Lilia was next and she woke everyone else up and reminded everyone that it was Christmas. After presents, Angie made a wonderful breakfast and we have been playing with the kids ever since. I am excited because we got the boys Legos. I always loved playing with Legos when I was young and ended up with quite a collection. It seems they have the passion already. They really enjoyed putting them together with us. Micah immediately tore his apart and starting making something else. I had better get back to the family. I pray that you have a wonderful Christmas day and that your thoughts are turned as well to the reason for the season. . . Jesus Christ. God bless, JASON

Tis the season.

Friday night, we let the kids watch a new movie. Saturday was spent getting the Christmas tree up and decorated. Of course the kids loved it. We take time to remeber where each ornament came from and what some of them mean. We also had our friend Yelena over to visit with us. Saturday night, Andrew had fever, so I went with the three older kids to church in Carcassonne. Services were well and enjoyed the visiting and fellowship afterwards. A church member gave us some fig preserves and some apple prune jelly. What we have tried so far has been very good. Monday morning there was a layer of snow on the ground when we woke up. It continued to snow all morning and into the afternoon. We ended up with several inches of snow on the ground. The kids enjoyed it, and we even let Andrew get out and play in it a little. I will attach pictures of it later. Today Caleb has a fever. Andrew is doing fine but we are keeping him home from school just to make sure he is fully recovered. Angie still has been coughing a lot. She did venture out yesterday with the rest of us to buy Caleb some shoes for his birthday. This sickness going through the family seems to have slowed everything down. I am getting a lot of good reading done in between running the kids to school or shopping. I do hope that everyone is healed by Christmas break. Attached are the picture of our tree and the lights on the outside of our house. God bless, JASON

Shopping

The week has been going well. Angie is finally starting to get over the cough that has stayed with her after the flu. We took her to the doctor Wednesday to get some medicine. We decided to postpone the Bible study one more week just to make sure she is not contagious. Thursday after school I took Caleb and Micah to get their hair cut. The ladies cutting their hair, remarked at how well they sat there. They do look a lot better. This will be a good oportunity to build a relationship because with out family of six, we will be spending a lot of time there. We are starting to see some Christmas lights going up around town. I was thinking of adding some because our house is in a good spot for the lights to be seen from the main road. So I started shopping around for good prices on outdoor lights. In the States if you wanted the best prices you would just go to Wal-mart, but here there is not really one store that has the best prices on all things. We usually go to three different stores during the week just for our grocery shopping. Looking forward to Christmas this year. We raelly do not have any big plans. I'll be speaking at the English Christmas service in Carcassonne. Sometime I would like to take the kids ice skating, they just set up a rink in downtown Limoux. There is a carnival going on in Carcassonne for the rest of the month that we might take the kids to. We have just a few more family members in the States that we need to get gifts form and have not started shopping for our family here. When Angie is fully recovered we will get to the shopping. Attached is a picture of the fog in the valley this morning and of a rainbow Angie and Andrew saw a few days ago.

Christmas Day +1

On Christmas Eve, Lilia brought a devotional about Christmas and did a wonderful job, then Angie read a pop-up book to the kids about Christmas. We let the kids stay up watching "White Christmas" which all but Andrew lasted through. We had a wonderful Christmas Day. The kids were spoiled of course, but not too bad. Everyone slept until 8:00 which was nice. This year we handed out the presents to all four of them one at a time. That made it a little more enjoyable and not a hurry to open up and assemble everything that has been opened right away. The food was great. For breakfast Angie made eggs, sausage, and pancakes and for lunch and supper we had chicken and dressing, mashed potatoes, corn bread, and salad (leftovers from Christmas Eve). The rest of the day was then spent assembling and opening and explaining and demonstrating. It was fun. I will try to post pictures of the kids in future posts with their toys. Now we are looking forward to New Years. I just realized that we will reach the new year before many of you do.