Sorry that its been so long since we've written. We are alive and well. This afternoon we just returned from a church picnic. We found that even pot luck picnics in France have courses- bread, wine, then the meal, then cheese, then dessert, then coffee! It was nice to get the chance to chat with many people we have seen, but haven't gotten to know well.
So, starting from recent, to beginning of May, here's to another blog that is told by pictures.....
Yesterday we drove up to a nearby ski resort and were able to hike all around on places we had earlier skied. The views of Mont Blanc, right behind us, (and 360) were exquisite. We went with our friend Lisbeth and another family from school. What a joy to be in the Alps and wildflower covered meadows. Surprisingly, Luke hiked a good bit of it. And Patrick found some big snails that he is hoping to eat...yum!
I've continued to enjoy going to play group on Monday and Friday mornings. I've gotten to know quite a few of the moms and nanny's who frequent the gathering. You can see Miriam on a mat in the background in the shade of the red umbrella. They love the youngest member of the group! Luke isn't wanting to speak french with the kids, but at least is interacting more (playing in sand table on left- in red shirt)
As always, big brother is still loving helping his sister, even when it comes to taking baths. We've been enjoying our 8 month old Miriam. She's army crawling everywhere. Luke has been sweet and empathetic as of late. Asking hard questions about things that can't be seen....Every time we see a cross he asks if that is the cross that Jesus died on! We're learning how to be parents of a curious (and VERY persistent) 3 year old!
Our visit with 'Nana' (Anna's mom) was wonderful, despite some less than ideal weather. We can't wait to see her and Baba in just a few weeks.
Lake Annecy is about 30 minutes away (in-between where we live and Geneva)- when we have a car we go straight there, its gorgeous!
Luke celebrated his 3rd birthday a couple of weeks ago. We took him over to a local park that has a carousel with old cars, motorcycles, etc, and he had a blast. Do you see the pride in his smile as he rides the motorcycle?! We also had a BBQ for his birthday with about 65 friends. It included a snail race, water balloon toss and lots of good food. Luke of course was elated that he got to have 'a lot a some' cake!
There are no words to describe these boys....
Briancon is a beautiful alpine town 2 hours south of here. It's the highest town in Europe and we were able to hike into the mountains directly from the house we stayed in. We did AirB&B with a wonderful French couple and greatly enjoyed spending time with them and practicing French. We'll go back to stay with them for a few days before we head back to the US.
Cherry season in Albertville was amazing. There are hundreds of cherry trees around town, and Patrick lived up to his calling (and dream) of being an extraordinary forager!
Proud brother and happy sister.
Those 4T PJs aren't quite fitting over that belly nowadays :) P.S. Thank you Mati for most of Lukie's clothes, he still remembers you every day when he puts them on!
We'll miss the Alps! This spectacular hike is about 45 minutes from our house here.....
We finally got to Geneva with the Popovichs when they visited. It's about 1.5 hours away.
We had a wonderful visit with Amy and Stephen Popovich! During the visit we celebrated their 10 year anniversary, Luke's birthday, our 5 year anniversary and almost Amy's birthday....
The old city of Briancon (where we'll be returning before we leave) is a beautiful walled city with cobbled stoned streets. Given that it's with 15 miles of Italy it was a perfect place to eat some gelato.
That's all for now. We can't believe that we are leaving in less than 3 weeks! We will miss the friends we have made here, French food, and of course the Alps. On July 1 we will brave the jet lag and fly back to the States for 2 weeks in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. For all you Californians reading this, we are so sad that we cannot make it out there to San Diego. We miss you all! The day we have been waiting and preparing for for the past year and half comes on July 15 when we will fly to Uganda, then (on the 17th) to the DR Congo. We are so excited about this adventure, though not excited about all the goodbyes that it will entail...
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