First Broadcast from the States

Layover in London.

We made it.  We had a good week packing and getting things ready.  We did a little each day and didn't get overwhelmed.  The boys got more and more excited as the week went a long.  Tuesday Angie met with Calebs teacher who said all was doing well.  Also that afternoon I went to help a friend unload some hay bales.  We unloaded the first but I ran out of time and had to get the kids and so I told him I would help after I got the kids.  When I returned I saw the hay sitting beside the trailer and a missing fence post.  He was going to drive to the other spot and forgot the tailgate on the trailer and the bale rolled out and took out a fence post.  At least we had a good laugh about it.  Wednesday and Thursday were full preparation for the voyage.  Thursday evening we had a fingerfood fellowship with our bible study group.  We enjoyed the fellowship and saying goodbye.  Friday was just a blur.  We got the kids from school at 5.  Lilia and I went to say goodbye to some friends.  Then at 6 we had Andrew's end of school program.  Angie left after a few minutes to go visit with Micah's teacher, who also said he was doing real well in school.  Andrew did good on his school program.  He had some speaking parts and did a wonderful job.  As soon as the program was over I ran to the basketball meeting and found out that I will be coaching three boys teams next year.  That will be exciting.  I then ran back home to have supper with our neighbor who graciously cooked for us.  We had a couple of other friends stop by to say goodbye before we headed off to bed.  Arianna had a rough night and woke up a few times with fever.

Windy and cloudy in London, what are the odds?

We overslept and little and thankfully Andrew woke us up at 4:30 because we were leaving the house at 5.  We made it to the airport and caught our flight no problem.  We had some turbulence landing in London because of 45mph winds.  Thankfully no one got sick.  After a couple hour layover in London we caught the ten hour flight to Dallas.  It went well.  Arianna had fever at times and slept most of the time.  Lilia, Caleb, and Micah sat two rows behind us.  We were met at the airport in Dallas by my parents and my little sister, her husband, and baby.  We had a drove the hour and a half to my parents and had a good visit before heading to bed. 

Getting to see a beautiful Texas sunset.

Sunday we attended the services at our sending church.  We had a good time and a good visit with everyone.  Monday morning Angie and I flew out for the ABA meeting in Fresno, California.  We had a wonderful time.  We got to meet some old friends and make some new ones.  There were approximately 1000 people attending.  747 churches sent reports with mission offerings totaling $10,256,450.38 for this past year, and missionnaries reported 34,539 professions of faith and 11,318 baptisms.  Thursday we flew back to Texas and are planning to get a good nights rest before heading to a family birthday party tomorrow.  God bless, JASON

Another birthday?

Caleb holds Arianna on the pony.

Andrew opens presents.

Well, we had a good weekend.  We celebrated Andrew's birthday on Saturday by inviting a few friends over.  We had a good time.  This was the first time Andrew had his own friends over and he was very excited.  We took them to ride the pony and they played in the yard. The weather has been mild for about the last week, temperatures climbing into the upper 70s for the highs.  Sunday services went well.  After church I we had a visit from a friend who is leaving today for a short vacation in Greece.  We were excited to see her before she left, and I helped her load up her luggage.   Sunday night, I finally started painting the bathroom.  After I got the first coat on, we realized that it was not going to be the "sand" color that the package claimed, but was going to be more of a pink.  So this morning, after we dropped the kids off the school we headed and let Angie pick out a good color this time.  I finished putting on the first coat this morning, and finished the hallway as well.  The garage is cleaned and straightened.  The kitchen is all cleaned and wiped down.  We love to be able to let people use our home and car while we are out, but that means we need to leave things in nice order as well.  Cleaning the car will be one of the last things I do.  The countdown is lowering as we leave on Saturday of this week.  I think Angie did start packing a bag of church clothes.  Seems like something else happens today. . . oh yeah.  Today is my birthday.  34 years old today.  I'm still young!  The kids had a little party for me, I had a neat store bought, French quality cake, and got a new basketball.  Other than that I will spend the rest of the day cleaning and may even do a little packing myself.  God bless, JASON

These two pictures are from the Carcassonne church picnic. 
We had a wonderful view.

Now that's a big sandwich.

Andrew's birthday

Thow boys playing pingpong at the neighbors.

Arianna with her hair up and coloring.

Arianna helps to put up her cloths.

Arianna enjoying her milkshake

Andrew with his new bike and riding a pony.

Time approaches our departure date, faster and faster.  We had a good weekend, things went well at church Sunday with me leading in the services.  We met a young lady who is doing an apprenticeship in Limoux at church.  She joined us Tuesday night for Micah and Calebs end of school music program.(thankfully this year it only lasted an hour).  Tuesday was Andrew's birthday.  After the music program we took them to McDonalds for ice cream.  They had a good since several of their friends  were there as well.  Andrew is a big 6 year old now.  We took a cake to his school on Tuesday and gave him one present.  Wednesday, I went and let him pick out a bike.  This was the high point of his life so far, I believe.  He has wanted to be like his brothers and have a real bike for so long.  He took right too it, and learned without falling down. Wednesday we also took the boys to let them  break in the pony.  That went easier than I expected.  The only complaint by the pony was that he would plant his feet and not want to more.  That's when he would get a "spank" on the rear and lurch forward once again.  The first time this happened scared Andrew, the second time the pony planted his feet and wouldn't move, Andrew immediately said, "Please no spanking".  Thursday before Bible study, my basketball team had a meeting.  Those who have been running the club are resigning and they needed more people to step up and take up roles for the club to continue.  I might end up being the president, secretary, or treasurer, and there is a chance that I might be doing some coaching next year as well.  Bible study was good, we had our guest with us.  Angie has been continuing the Bible study with her friend and they have both been enjoying it.  The weather has been cooler this week, with rain here and there.  We are starting to get ready for this summer.  I have been doing some odd jobs around the house, but I still have not painted yet.  Saturday will be Andrew's official birthday party.  We are going to our friends house to let him and his friends have pony rides.  (That's right, the pony that was in the back of the SUV).  He is excited because this will be his first time having his friends over.   The market was well attended this morning. I met several tourists.  I like having to opportunity to share with them, because I hope it plants a seed in their life as well.  Enjoy you weekend as well. God bless, JASON

Field Trips and pony in the trunk.

Caleb in back with the pony.

See.

I took Arianna to the play ground during the ladies
prayer meeting.



We had a great weekend.  On Sunday we enjoyed the special anniversary service with the church in Carcassonne.  We had a picnic after services and had some great food and fellowship as well as getting to meet some first time visitors.  We ended staying all day.  Monday was a national holiday here in France. . .no, not memorial day .. . . but Pentacost.  That's right, it is a national holiday here in France, leftover from the catholic influence.  The kids had no school and so we enjoyed a day with them.  Tuesday morning we had the ladies prayer meeting at our house.   Wednesday, I went with a friend to buy a pony.  We took Caleb along with us.  He didn't believe us that when we told him we would be bringing the pony back in the trunk.  He was sure surprised to see that we were not kidding.  I'm sure we got some funny looks while we were driving back.  Wednesday night at basketball practice, I sprained my ankle.  It is not as serious as the last time, but it is sore and swollen.  At least I made the lay-up and the it is the end of the season.  My congradulations go out to my big sister who gave birth to a baby girl, Elizabeth Rose, on Monday, and also to my little sister who annouced that she is expecting her second.  I have been trying to take it easy on my ankle the last couple of days.  The bible studies are going well.  I met several people at the market this morning, praise God.  This weekend I will be leading in the services at the church in Carcassonne. One day we will start packing.  Everyone seems to think that we have already started, but that is not how it works.  If we started packing now, we would not have anything to wear.  The boys all had field trips at school today.  Andrew when to the walled city of Carcassonne, and Caleb and Micah went to see the Chateau at Chalabre.  Micah had a special treat, as his group won a trivia game and he was knighted.  I pray that you are having a good week as will and enjoy a good weekend.  God bless, JASON

Kittys in the kitchen

The boys playing in their new "kingdom" - the
back yard.

Discovered that this is Arianna's guilty look - the "I found the
coffee cream that was left on the table and helped myself to it
as well as using some to paint the floor, aren't you proud of
me" look. 

What a beautiful day we are having today.  It is about 80 degrees outside with clear sunny skies.  Last weekend went well.  We had a good time at our friends house on Saturday and had a good conversation as well.  Lilia was sick and stayed home.  She still wasn't feeling good on Sunday, so only Caleb, Micah and I went to Barcelona.  We had a great time there.  The services went well.  We had a wonderful Mexican food lunch, complete with Tamales.  On the way home we ran into heavy rain and hail that slowed traffic down, as well as traffic as everyone was returning from the four day weekend.  It took four and a half hours instead of the normal three.  The rain continued on monday and tuesday, along with moments of high winds.  Our house is somewhat sheltered where we are now, so we did not notice it, but there were gusts of up to 70mph in some places.  I worked all day monday on some computer problems which I still have not resolved.  I did finally finish my web site, http://chevalcatharelimoux.fr , and it is in English as well.  Translating the French to English was more difficult than I expected, because of the horse vocabulary.  I knew what certain things meant in French, but did not know the English equivalent.  I'm sure there are still some things that do not make much sense.  If you find something, let me know.  Bible study went well last night.  The market was well attended this morning, I had a man stop by who was interested in the Bible study.  We talked for a little while and he said he would like to come to it.  This weekend we are celebrating the anniversary of the church in Carcassonne, there will be a picnic lunch after services on Sunday.  Some people have asked, and the answer is "no", we have not begun packing for the states yet.  We still have several weeks to go and many other things to work on.  Tomorrow I need to paint our bathroom and the back hallway, to name a couple.  We will have some cherries ripe shortly, if the birds do not eat them all.  Sunday morning, the stray cat the we have half-adopted had her kittens in our sun room.  We let them stay in the kitchen for a few days, but they are back outside now.  I have to admit that they are cute and she is a good mother. Caleb has already started worrying about who will take care of them while we are gone.  I assured him that she was doing fine before we arrived and will do okay while we are gone.  Have a good weekend.  God bless, JASON

This past week in pictures

We have had a good week.  I will try to let the pictures tell the story.  Below, Lilia had a school swimming competition this past Wednesday, and it was in Limoux, so the whole family went.  She did well, competiting in three different races, and winning 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 

 The boys had their final basketball tournament on Sunday afternoon.  Their team has grown some with some new additions, so they did not play as well, but at least got to rest some.  Micah made his first basket, and Caleb made one as well.  The picture below shows Micah passing the ball to Caleb.

 We have found some time to clean up around the house.  Monday and Tuesday I spent some time on getting the house prepared for our absence and the possibility of others staying in our house while we are gone this summer.  I had to repair some holes, and replace the caulk around sinks and bathtubs.  I hope to be able to paint the bathroom, and a small back closet in the morning.  I also worked in the back yard.  We have some the seeds  I planted already coming up.  Arianna, below, is actually kissing one of the roses that bloomed.  Roses do really well here.  You do not have to trim them back and they will be filled with roses. 

 We have not had the Bible Study this week, because Thursday was a day off.  Lilia invited two friends over to spend the night, and we played Monopoly with the boys.  I do try and keep contact with everyone by phone.  Arianna came up and snuggled to me while I was on the phone, and I think it was Caleb that took this picture. 

 I do not remember sharing about taking a trip to Rennes-le-chateau.  Seems like it was last Saturday that we went to the village of Fa for a garage sale and on the way back decided to stop by and visit the village Rennes-le-chateau and see the fortification on top of the hill.

 We enjoyed the brief visit, especially since the kids got in free.  The boys enjoyed wandering all over.

 We had another wonderful view from the top and the weather was just lovely.  It has been cool and sunny most of the week.  It started raining last night and continued today, so I was unable to go to the market.  I have been able to get a lot of work done on the website.  You can check it out at http://chevalcatharelimoux.fr . 

Andrew was invited to a birthday party at McDonalds on Wednesday as well.  Tommorrow we are invited to spend the afternoon with some friends, pray for this opportunity.  Sunday I will be preaching at the church in Barcelona.  Hope that you enjoy your weekend as well, and that Sunday morning finds you praising the Lord with fellow believers as well.  God bless, JASON

Long distance

Andrew and I running for 6 minutes.

Micah and I running for 12 minutes.

Caleb running and me, trying to stay caught up.

I forgot to mention in the last blog about last Saturday morning.  Last saturday we participated in "Le crosse de mille enfants".  A long distance race involving thousands of kids from local schools.  There were over 5 000 present this year.  This year I ran with our three boys who were participating.  I ran 6 minutes with Andrew, 12 minutes with Micah, and 15 with Caleb.  At the end I was pretty tired out but had a lot of fun running with the boys.  We also had the opportunity to visit with the other parents who attended.  Things are still going well.  I have made a lot of progress on the website that I am working on.  But I still have a few bugs to work out.  I hope to have the home page up tonight. We had three present for the bible study.  The market went well this morning.  The weather was lovely and there were a lot of people out.  Looking forward to a busy weekend.  God bless, JASON