Snow again.

Our internet was down Tuesday through Thursday. We talked to the help desk on Tuesday but could not get the problem resolved. The repairman came Thursday and pushed the reset button to fix it. I wonder why myself or the help line people did not think of that. That was a $150 just for him to push the reset button. The prayer meeting in Carcassonne went well yesterday. All the ones who showed up spoke English so they gave the option for speak in English, but I stuck with the French. Also, it started snowing yesterday afternoon and we currently have about 3 inches of snow on the ground. The kids really enjoyed playing in it last night (pictured). They still had school this morning. We left early so we could walk a third of a mile to where we had parked at the bottom of the hill. We are about to go pick them up for lunch. We will probably eat in town somewhere to avoid the drive and walk back. I imagine that the bible study will be canceled tonight because of the snowy weather. God bless, JASON

Week End Beginning

Saturday I worked on getting the garage cleaned up. We hauled off a load of cardboard to be recycled. It still needs some arranging. I also vacuumed out the car. Caleb, Micah, and I went on a walk for a few hours and got some good pictures of Limoux that I will post later. Services went good Sunday, we had a visiting preacher who did a good job. I spoke with my parents for a while last night on skype. It has been nice having internet again. The next couple of days will be spent straightening up and getting reports done. Congratulations to my older sister who just found out they are expecting a boy, which I accurately guessed. Pictured is a rainbow we caught last week. God bless, JASON

Fall

The weekend has gone well. We are enjoying the fall weather, cool at night pretty during the day. Most of the early part of this week was getting the internet completed and getting caught up on emails. Saturday, I planted some flower bulbs in the garden. I finished reading two books this week as well. One dealing with answers for Muslims, the other was dealing with atheism. They were both in English, which is how I got them read so fast. I forgot to mention that we took Lilia and Caleb to the doctor last week for a check-up that they had to have for the swimming program. We found out that one of Caleb's legs is longer than the other and that Lilia could have scoliosis, abnormal curvature of the spine. Nothing serious, but we will probably take Lilia for x-rays just to make sure. Tomorrow I am leading the prayer meeting again and am looking forward to it. The kids have been cute and funny the last few meals. The stories are too long to include and without context it wouldn't be the same. So, just trust me, they are funny. God bless, Jason

We got connections.

Finally we are connected to the internet. I called this morning to see what the hold-up was and they said it should be up and going by Monday. This afternoon I went and visited with a couple who help in an English speaking church that meets in a town about twenty minutes from here twice a month. I volunteered to be available to fill in if needed. They were a really nice couple and oddly enough a man was there working on there internet (same company as ours). On the way back to get the kids, I called Angie (who had a friend over) and found out that internet company called and we were online. After getting home and setting up a few things, here we are. YES! I will wait until tommorrow to get the internet phone and TV hooked up. I am anxious to see how everything will work with this slower speed. Tonight is family night so we will work on it tommorrow. We turned our heat on last night. It seems fall has arrived. Last night it go down to 35. Pictured is one of our house plants that bloomed recently. God bless, JASON

Internet search.

Friday was an interesting day. I picked up Lilia's desk without problems and then we went over to check on the internet. They found out the order had never been placed for the equipment. Thankfully they had one in stock. I took it home and started setting things up. It would not work, so I called the help desk waited on hold for 10 minutes to find out that our line had never been activated for the DSL. Evidently that order never was placed either. I was transferred to the person to help get it set back up who immediately offered me the “English number” to call. I hung up and tried the number to find it didn't exist. Nice move. I had to call back and wait on hold for 15 more minutes and explain everything again. The final person was very helpful and we should working in 4 or 5 days. She reminded me that at least we have two months free. Sunday services went real well. The pastor has been bringing a series on Peter. We enjoyed some good fellowship after. The key seems to be letting the kids color in another room, leaving us open to talk. Monday we did our weekly grocery shopping, involving three different grocery stores. It has been a rainy Monday but we at least got to see a good looking rainbow. I didn't get those pictures loaded, but as a replacement, Escargo, that I made for supper a few days back. Oddly enough, I was the only one who at any. God bless, JASON

Today is Monday.

"Today is Monday". That was the phrase that Caleb got to teach his class in English this morning. His teacher has been helping him teach the English classes a little. He seems to really enjoy it. I asked him if he knew all the days of the week in English and he did not, neither did Micah, so we will spend the next few car rides practicing the days of the week in English. We had a good weekend. Saturday, Angie and I worked on the yard all day. We transfered some cactus (aloe vera) and cleaned out the flower bed to get ready for some flowers. The new cactus garden looks really nice. I will try and get a picture of it posted next time. Sunday services went well. Being the first of the month we treated ourselves to Dominos Pizza. We saw it a few weeks back and it was great to get to enjoy some finally. Sunday afternoon I got some good studying done, spent almost and hour looking into one Hebrew word. Afterwards I was even able to get a small nap with Andrew. Hopefully this is the week that our internet will arrive. God bless, JASON

The Bug

This past weekend Lilia and Andrew had a cold and now Angie seems to have caught it. As heard a lot in Texas, there is a "bug" going around. She felt pretty tired and congested all day yesterday and today. So I have been trying to run things, which means the kids are really praying that mom gets better faster. Angie's birthday is Saturday as well. Yesterday I took the kids on a little hike in the hills near our house to give Angie a little quiet time. Caleb enjoyed it. Micah enjoyed it. Lilia . . .not so much. I plan on stopping by the sous-prefecture tomorrow to see about our visa status. We would like to stay in France until June to give the kids a chance to finish the school year. Our visas, however, expire in February and since we are own student visas for this term, but not in school we hope they can extend them. At the office in Massy they said that this would not be a problem, let's hope they say the same thing here. We have learned a little about time differences in France. We ordered Lilia a desk two weeks ago and it said it would arrive the 20th. We went the 2oth to check on it and they said it would be two more weeks. We are still waiting for our internet stuff to come in as well. So a warning to all who are praying for patience, God may call you to France. Attached picture is one of my favorite recent picture of Lilia, she is holding another missionary kid, Samuel Taylor, while we were in Greece. Now I need to go and by some more Kleenex for Angie. God bless, JASON

Back in School.

The kids have started back to school. It was almost like starting all over again. The same excitement and nervousness was experienced. Angie and I went yesterday and signed up with an internet, TV, and phone provider, it should arrive and be hooked up by weeks end. Thankfully it comes with free calls to several different countries. Today we have been searching for a stove. We found some good prospects online (leboncoin.com) and will call them this evening. Now it is about time to go get the kids. The attached picture is the head of Nike (click the picture and read the plaque) what are the odds of seeing him in Greece. God bless, JASON

Internet

I have spent the last few days working on getting our internet and phone service turned on. Monday we went and found out that you have to have your phone line turned on with France Telecom before getting internet. Tuesday I went to France Telecom and found out I needed some documents. Today I went and turned the documents in and the phone should be activated Monday. Then we should be able to start the process to get our internet. We went to the Bible study last night at Carcassonne. There is a group visiting this week who is going to do some evangelism in Carcassonne and I plan to go help tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes. Attached picture is of the Basilica in Barcelona. God bless, JASON

Sick Day

I am at home this afternoon with Andrew who is a little sick. Angie takes the mornings and I take the afternoons. He is not very bad but we didn't want to spread it the rest of the daycare. Interesting that French people do not like the Euro. It made all of the prices go up and was very confusing to the elderly because one Euro is 6.57 Franks. I asked the German students and they didn't like the Euro either. One other noteworthy tidbit, French has no word for home, they have a word for house but not home. The closest thing to home would be "chez moi" or "my place". Same in German. I guess that English speakers value their home so much they would have their own word for it.

I had to fix our cable the other night, it was up and working, but Angie pushed a button. I tried to fix it to no avail. I looked it up online and got someone to translate for my, what I had to do was unplug it and plug it back in 4 times and then let it come all the way up. I have a degree and several years experience in computers and electronic devices, yet I would have never thought of that. Tommorrow the phone should be working and we have free calls to the US, some of you may be receiving a call tommorrow, if we remember you number. It is nice we have phone, internet, and cable all coming through the phone line for 29.99 euros a month. (about $44). Not a bad deal. It is high speed as well. Direct connect at 100 Mbs or Wifi at 54 Mbs. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts, JASON.