Getting a French Driver's license

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   

That's how it is.

I went this morning to get our driver's license exchanged. Thankfully a former student gave me a ride. It would have been a much longer trip. We got their early and didn't have to wait in line long. It went well, however I did not leave with a French license. They explained that the date of the Driver's license must be before the date of the Visa. So I must wait until we get a new visa (it expires Feb. 11). At least that is the idea now. You do not realize how easy you have it in the US until you move to a foreign country. The official Internet site gave no such information and no phone number to call to ask. I did find out that students can drive in the country while they are in school with their US driver's license. So we try again in a couple of months.
Micah is still coughing so Angie missed school all week. She was able to keep up with her homework and so there is not a lot of catch up work to do. Tonight a friend offered us a coupon for a free meal and free babysitting, so Angie and I are going to go out on a date. Finish off with a Micah quote. Yesterday morning, Micah's first words were, "Is it today?" God bless, JASON

Another Anniversary

We have arrived at another anniversary of sorts, it has been one year since my first blog. The blog has been very helpful. I spoken to a missionary who had been on the field for several years and he could not remember much of what happened during that time. We have an online diary of sorts. I enjoy reading other peoples blogs as well. It helps me keep up with a lot of friends from seminary and family.

The weather has remained unusually cold. It was about 15f (-10c) this morning when I woke up. I went to the translator office this morning to pick up my driver's license. They were not ready, so I went back this afternoon and got them. I took a nap with Andrew after lunch which was enjoyable. I just haven't been able to catch up on sleep since school started. I am awaiting a call from another missionary here in France. There is a lot that I feel like I need to get done this week and weekend. I have attached two pictures of the snow. It still has not melted. In fact it has become slippery on the sidewalks now. I found out that you use different muscles for walking on slippery surfaces, because I am sore. God bless, Jason

Snowy first day of school.

First day back at school today and it snowed all day long. It started just before we left, by days end there was a good three inches on snow on the ground. Of course the kids, and even us adults on occasion, had a wonderful time. It may last a couple of days, I will be sure to post pictures tomorrow. It is not supposed to get above freezing tomorrow, so maybe it will last a day or two. The first day went well for us. We didn't have to be there because this day is orientation for the new students, but we like to meet everyone and help out when we can. We helped get the lunch meal set up and after school, I went with another students to get some paper work translated. I took our driver's license to have them translated. After school, I let the kids play in the snow for a little and then we came home to hot chocolate. No homework yet, so a wonderful first day indeed. How about another Micah quote? After hearing a girl express a lot of things she knew about snow, you could see Micah's gears turning in his head, finally he said, "Well, see how fast I can run", and he took off. I gotta run as well. God bless, Jason

A New Year

I realized a couple of days ago that we will reach the new year before many of you do. We will start the New Year somewhat the same as last year, sick. It was the flu that was making the rounds this time last year. I have had small fever and been congested and coughing for a couple of days now and a couple of the kids have to. Angie received her drivers license in the mail today, as soon as I feel up to it we will go get them translated, so that we can exchange them. Attached is a picture of the boys in Batman gear they received from a church in the states. We were really blessed to receive several offerings and gifts from others. We pray that you have a happy New Year. God Bless, JASON

Denver, Colorado

I had a great time in Denver. I arrived, my cousin, Andrew picked me up from the airport, and I spent the night in my Aunts house, not far from the airport. My thanks to Aunt Jean for letting me stay with her. Friday morning, I mailed something for a friend in France, got my drivers license and bought a large amount of stuff from Wal-mart. I stayed there about an hour and a half. That was probably the longest time I had spent in Wal-mart by myself. I picked up some things for the kids Christmas, some medicines, some spices and candy that we could not get here, shoes for all the kids and other misc. items. Everything except the medicine was cheaper at Wal-mart. Medicine is cheap in France because of the socialized health care. Angie bought a prescription to other day that was $50 for a months supply, here she got three months worth for $5. Sorry, we are not taking orders. Other interesting things about the trip, people were talking English, customer service was better than here, I had Dr. Pepper and ranch dressing, and there were a lot of pickup trucks.

Friday evening I ate with my cousin, Andrew, and three of his 5 kids. We enjoyed good conversation and American pizza. It was great to see them again and I was encouraged by their faithful service to the Lord. Saturday, my Aunt Jean and I went to see my Aunt Peggy in Vail. It was a pretty drive and a nice visit as well. We attended early services at the church my Aunt attends. It was great to be present at a ENGLISH worship service. The songs and the message were great, I almost teared up at one point, but held it in. The flight back went good as well. I had a close connecting flight in Washington and just made it without having to run. I only slept for about an hour and a half, and now have been working on trying to get caught up on homework. The trip was great but it is also great to be home with Angie and the kids. Attached picture is of the boys playing with their train set. God bless, JASON

Art and the Bible

The weekend went well. The biblical art exhibit was interesting. They also had some very old bibles on display. Sunday I went to church services with Lilia, Angie stayed home with the boys who all had coughs. Andrew is still not feeling well. After services I went to a Evangelical church conference. It was real good. It took an hour train ride to get there, but it was worth it. There were hundreds of booths set up. I got a good sense of bible literature available in France. Seminaries, language schools, missionary booths, book stores, and gifts are some of the other booths listed.
I am leaving Thursday for a trip to Colorado to get my drivers license. I will be returning Sunday but there are still some things that I need to get done to help Angie. Angie had me laughing hard earlier. She had prepared a meal with some boneless skinless chicken breasts. Caleb found a bone in his first and later I found a small piece of bone in mine. Angie said, "I should have though about checking for bones when I saw the feather in there." She was serious too. Angie stayed home with Andrew today, hopefully he will be all better soon. It is not bothering him too bad, but it is hard to miss school. We watched Evan Almighty this evening with the kids, cute movie. When Micah finds something funny in a movie, he laughs so loud, it gets everyone else laughing. God bless, JASON

Vacation drawing closer.

Another week behind us, which means that we have only one more week before we get a break. That means seeing my parents. We have had a good week. As I already mentioned, a good visit with our guests Wednesday. Thursday we had fun doing our "job interviews" for the class. I think we both did well. Friday night we had all our classmates over at our house for a party of sorts. It was a lot of fun, everyone brought food and we talked for a couple of hours. There was a lot of laughter. We managed to keep most of the conversations in french since our teacher was present.
I am making plans to get our Colorado drivers license so we can swap for a french one. Its a long story, I will explain more later.
Tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to stay here with the kids and let Angie go to the church in Paris for the services as I did last week. We may decide to go as a family, but maybe not. We have been trying to keep some routine in the kids life. I have had a good day today. Did a lot of paper work. Angie gave the boys hair cuts, it will be my turn shortly. Thanks for reading and God bless, JASON

First winter colds,

We are having a little sickness passing around the house. Angie is congested and not feeling good. Andrew has had a little fever on and off for the last couple of days. Micah has had a bad sounding cough. I hope they are all better by monday. I have been able to get several other things done other than medicating. We did our absentee voting finished, sent out some thank-you cards, did some drivers license research, of course went shopping three or four times. We have homework due monday over the book Tintin - Le Lotus Bleu. I have not been able to find it here locally yet. Concerning the driver's license, it costs a couple of thousand euros minimum and several weeks to get you driver's license, if you pass everything the first time. It is a difficult test from what I hear. There are five states that have agreements with France, meaning France accepts there driver's license directly. You show them your drivers license from one of those states and they will give you a french drivers license. So far, it may be faster and cheaper to fly to the US and get a drivers license in that state and then return and get the French one. Definitely something to consider. Attached is a picture of the kids in a pool at Greece. They really liked this one, Andrew as well because it was just the right depth of water for him to walk in. God bless, JASON

Another Birthday.

Angie's birthday was Friday. I purchased some eclairs and took them to school for our class to enjoy. It was a slow day at school thankfully. We had about 3 hours of homework on Wednesday Night and an hour on Thursday night. We started to watch a movie last night dubbed in french. It was about the crashing of a 747. Jimmy Stewart was in it. It was dubbed in French of course and it had been a while since I had tried to watch a dubbed movie. Normally it is just kids cartoons. I was surprised by how much more I caught on to. We stopped and went to bed with only about 30 minutes left in the movie. I imagine they escaped from the underwater plane okay. I am looking forward to my parents coming to visit. Last time we talked to them they said goodbye and see you in a few weeks. I didn't realise that it was that close. I have a lot of things I am looking forward to doing with them. Just sitting and talking with the kids will be fun. My Dad and I are planning to hike into Paris. I would like to take part of the same path we took earlier, walk to the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and La Tour Eifel. It would be a nice walk, especially since we would not have to hurry. Now I am going to see what Angie is doing in the kitchen. Thanks again for the prayers for us and continue to pray. We are in the process of looking toward getting our French drivers license (more on that later), and deciding where we will go after language school. Our prayers go out to those who are having financial trouble in the US. We had several churches that had to drop supporting us because of financial hard times. We know that God is in control and has infinite resources. God bless, JASON