To Paris and back

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.  Also I wish a happy 12th birthday to Lilia today.  God bless, JASON

Just us guys.

Our friends, Nikki and Gemma, arrived from Scotland and Angie and Lilia are touring Paris with them. We became friends with them at a Missions Seminar a few years ago in North Little Rock, Lilia and Gemma really got along well. They are from New Zealand. Micah didn't stop talking for the first two hours they were here yesterday. So it is just us guys at home now. I took a nice nap with Andrew, good quality time. Caleb always asks to have "boy time", meaning we all get on the floor and wrestle, until somebody gets hurt or Angie makes us stop. Angie is not here, so you can deduce what that will mean. We are going to have hot dogs for supper, one of my favorite meals. Tomorrow they expressed interest in going to one of the French churches for worship and a new cultural experience. Attached picture demonstrates how they get furniture into there apartment buildings. This wide ladder has a lift that runs from top to bottom. God bless, JASON

Preparing for another trip.

Lynn and Brenda are at the airport now. We enjoyed our time with them. We had many good conversations and fun times. Monday we visited Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. Tuesday we took the kids to school and then went to the Louvre. Come to find out it is closed on Tuesdays. We walked from there down Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe and then over the the Eiffel Tower. It was a little over 4 miles but a scenery filled walk. Tuesday evening Lynn and Brenda took the kids to McDonalds and let me and Angie go out to eat, very brave of them. Wednesday we rode a tour boat on the Seine (bateau mouche). Thursday we had school and afterwards ate at Pizza Hut. Lynn and Brenda headed to the airport this morning. Now we need to get packed up to go to Greece tommorrow. Tonight we have meetings with Lilia's and Caleb's teachers. Yesterday I met with Lilia's and Caleb's French teacher and had a good visit. She, like many teachers here, is very direct, to the point of being rude. She praised Caleb for his intelligence, pronunciation, memory, and then said, but he colors like a baby. After the meeting was all over I asked Caleb if he heard all that she said. He said, "Yup, she said need to color better." I found out that since they did away with school on Saturdays, they have the option of keeping kids a half hour later each day if they need extra time. I will be taking my computer to Greece and hopefully have time to update the blog during the week. I will also try to post picks of our trips into Paris as I go. God bless, JASON

Commencement

Another good weekend has passed. We had good services yesterday, Bro. Lynn brought a good lesson that even the kids followed well. We had a couple from a language school come eat with us Saturday night. They used to service in Kenya and knew a lot of people that the Raburns knew from there time there. We shared a lot of stories and had a good time. We met some knew students that arrived Sunday at language school. One young man had just spent some of the summer in east Texas, our home. Two young ladies also arrived, one of which was from North Little Rock, where Lynn and Brenda call home. It is amazing how small the world is. We saw on the list of students that name of a student that had gone to high school with Angie, it ended up not being the same guy, the world is not that small. School starts for us on Thursday, but we are going to go to the orientation Tuesday to meet some of the new students. I had the some of the same situations experienced when we arrived, except I played a different role. This time I greeted them in French and they said, "Uh . . . English please." We plan on visiting Paris today. We looked at going to Normandy Wednesday, but at short notice it was too expensive for the rental car. Looking forward to a good week ahead of us, things are going to get a little busier, which I like. God bless, JASON

August Vacations

We had a good weekend. Saturday Angie and I took the boys to the grocery store. Lilia went to a friends house. It is rare for all of us to go to the store. The local Cora is usually very busy and difficult to navigate with kids. We had a good time and the store was not as busy as normal. Services went good Sunday, we had a lesson over Ephesians 3: . I like how Paul explains that
"is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think". "Exceeding Abundantly" could be translated from the greek as "super-duper-abundantly". I liked explaining to the kids that God has the ability to do great things and chooses to do what is best for us. As always we enjoyed hearing and seeing Walnut Streets services live via Skype. Many businesses are closed around Paris for the month of August. The Sandwich shop next door to us and a Bakery around the corner have both closed for the month. I would like to take the kids to Paris a couple of times this month to see some sights, but we will have to see how that goes after the first trip. Summer school ended well, one of the students was a missionary kid from Kenya. I was wondering if he could take some gifts to the Taylors, our missionary friends who just moved to the East coast of Kenya, but he lives near Nairobi. But this week he is traveling to eastern Kenya for vacation and so he was willing to take the items. It worked out real well. The Taylors arrived a few weeks ago and have not received their container yet so I know they are missing some things. I had better get busy with the days activities. God bless, JASON

Trips into town.

We have already made a couple of trips into Paris this week. Tuesday Angie went with some girls from the Language school. They went to the largest Christian books store in Paris. It was about half the size of a movie store in the US. That shows somewhat the spiritual state of France. Yesterday I went into town to buy a new bow for my saw, I dropped mine last week and it broke. I went into an area of town (Rome street) that has several dozen music stores and found what I needed. I had a good trip, Lilia and Caleb went with me, it took about 3 hrs. The bow cost 75 euros (little over $100). Last night I found out about a mother and daughter from a church in Texas who were stranded by their tour group in Paris when the mother fell and shattered her knee. I called and made sure they are okay and Angie is now going to check on them. I can imagine how difficult it would be to be in their situation. School is continuing to go well. There are a couple of students who are teachers and other professionals who simply are here as a vacation and language polishing trip. It would be a good time. The school handles room and board and plans activities. It would be a nice three week trip in a good christian and safe environment. Check out their website if you would be interested. http://www.lescedres.com/ God bless, JASON

Bon Week-end

We are having a good weekend. Saturday was busy, which is good. Caleb and I went to the store to try and exchange some shoes that were broken. I did not have a receipt, so I doubted that they would exchange them, and they didn't. But, the good news is that I was able to fix the shoes myself when we got home. We also stopped by McDonalds to get a snack for Caleb for being good at the Doctors office. He wanted a chocolate shake. I told the cashier (in french) that I wanted a small chocolate shake. She confirmed that it was a small and went to get it. I paid and on the way out looked and we had received a small coke. Language learning can be frustrating. Caleb was not discouraged, beacuse he always begs us to have a coke and so he enjoyed it just the same. We went to the grocery store after that and I tried to find some horse meat to buy, but could not. In the afternooon we arranged a babysitter and Angie and I along with Lilia went into Paris to see Debra and Carmen taylor (pictured). Debra's husband pastors my Aunt's church in Mississippi. They were here on a girl scout tour of Europe. We enjoyed supper with them and their group and afterwards went on the boat ride tour on the Seine river. It was nice. We were able to see the eiffel tower light up at 10:00. They brought us the biggest jar of peanut butter I have seen and several other good stuff, like ice tea bags. The only rough part was when we were going home everyone was trying to leave Paris it seemed. I have never seen a subway car that packed before. People were holding bags over the heads because it was so crowded. We waited 15 minutes and took the next one which was a lot less crowded. Today (Sunday) we had to cancel services because of parking issues. There is a big market on our street, kind of like a garage sale. Yvain and Virginie could not find and parking within walking distance, and the garage sale lasts all day. WE offered to go to there house but she said it was a mess because they are going to be moving in a couple of weeks. I sent them questions for the lesson and Angie has now gone shopping on the street. She will find several things for Andrew's 2nd birthday which is this week. Hope your services are not postponed for parking issues and even if they are, you have a blessed day. JASON

Its Wednesday!

We are excited about Wednesdays because we have no school. Our teachers do seem to know this judging by the amount of homework they give on Tuesday. Today I am going to go into Paris and buy some shoes. Yvain knows of some places that sell them cheap. He said that when people ask them why they are so cheap they say, "They fell off the truck." I have another french quiz questions for you. Both of the following sentences below are true, one is positive and one negative, What do I mean when I say? "Je suis Jésus, Je ne suis pas Jésus." God bless, JASON

Caleb sees France.

We took the kids to the Eiffel Tower yesterday. Caleb kept saying that he was finally going to be able to see France. It took a lot of explaining to get him to see that we are in France now. We left at about 8:20 to walk to the train station (RER). We purchased out tickets and then had to come back to the house for a restroom break. Paris has few public restrooms. We caught the train about 9:20, met Virginie and T.J. her son at 9:30 and arrived at the tower by about 9:50. The kids loved it. There was a pretty long line so Angie and I didn't want to wait, but Lilia really wanted to go up and so we got in line. Last time we were at the Tower, it had just rained and the line was not long at all. This time after standing there a few seconds, someone came and moved the last part of the line to a new elevator that had opened up. What a blessing! We made it to the elevator and waited a little bit, then someone announced that there was a problem with this elevator and to follow her. We ended up going to the front on the line that we had started in. We went to the second level and enjoyed the view. I held Micah and took him to the rail and said, "Micah isn't that pretty!" He shouted, "Look at that!" He was pointing to a heart that someone had drawn on the railing. We enjoyed the Tower for a while. Afterwards we were going to go to Sacre Cœur, but the kids were already tired, so we decided we would take them to McDonalds instead. I enjoyed McDonalds, it was the first time I had gone out to eat in two months, since arriving here in France. Big Mac value meal for 6 euros, about $9. Tasted good though. We made it back home about 3 pm. We had a good time and the kids really enjoyed it. I will attach some pictures. JASON

End of the sunny days.

We had some rain today. It ended our week of sunshine which was nice, but at least the sidewalks will be clean. I learned that there are 500 injuries a year in France due to people slipping on the doggie surprises left on the sidewalk. We had a good week so far. Our teacher is trying her best to keep the two hours of homework a day rule. We are looking forward to being off next week. Caleb and Micah are finally going to get to see the Eiffel Tower. I don't know where else we might take them.. JASON

Massy

Our town of Massy is very nice. I was looking at the scenery when I took the boys to school yesterday. It is also, as I recently found out, a wealthy town. I discovered this when telling Yvain about seeing and early 70's model Camaro, yellow with black racing stripes. He explained then that is a rich suburb. The boys were rained out of their field trip to the woods. I noticed there were no posts to answer the last quiz. French has the same amount of vowels that we have but they have 16 different vowel sounds. JASON