New floors!

Just thought you all might like a peek at our new bathroom floors (both the front and back bathrooms were redone). We are very excited about them. So much easier to clean, and it looks soooo much better than the old linoleum.  

Tim and I were a little distracted doing some reading together when we realized that Micaiah & Miriam's voices were getting a little too distant. They had escaped to our laundry room, and, discovering Micaiah in the dryer, we quickly snapped a picture before making him get out. 

Thirty-four and counting!

Happy 34th to Daniel who is in some foreign country today. Can't remember if it is Germany this week or the United Arab Emerits. I think it is the UAE, where it is very hot! Hope it is a memorable birthday (even though you are away from your family) and you get that ride on a camel!! Happy 34th! 

See Some People You Know?

Who can name the most people?? 

The artist and her creation!

 

The Wedding Cake

OK, here it is. Alicia spent hours and hours making flowers of all kinds for it. They were beautiful. Donna sent the pretty topper out from the states. In the end, it was beautiful, but I must admit, it was stressful. Alicia says it is her first and LAST wedding cake. As for me, if I ever volunteer to make one again, please come lock me up :-) Our biggest problem was the mounting. They started decorating before securing the next leval and then on the top layer, I forgot the plastic screws to secure it. Believe me, my creative juices were flowing...

The Wedding Meal

The main dish of the wedding dinner was catered. It was a speciality of the region called "Aligot." Basically, it is 1 kilo of potatoes to 500 grams of cantal cheese, along with some spices. Matthieu had to show his muscles and stir it with a big wooden paddle! We had duck along with it. It was fun to watch the process and it was good, too. 

Our Team is the Best!

The wedding was really a lot of work. I don't even want to think of all the hours that were put into it by Pessac-ites--before, during and after the wedding. We were really proud of them all. Everyone remarked about how "organized" it all was and how beautiful the decorations were. The cake was a marval to all the French, who had never seen anything like it. ( We have many stories about that cake, but I promised NOT to blog them). Alicia did most of the work on that. Laetitia, who was a "témoin", arrived here in time to give all her enthusiastic energy to helping along with Crystal and Derek. (There were others, too, but you all know those four.) As you can see, Samuel was right there helping, too.

The Wedding is Now History!

Here are just a few shots of the wedding. The first one is at the Mairie--which is actually in the chateau in Jeanine's town. During the summers, she was a tour guide there. The second one is going into the building there with her Dad. The third is after the wedding and you recognize the people in the last one! It was very simple but very nice. We were so thankful that the sweet fragrance of all the Christians permeated the whole atmosphere. (For anyone who doesn't know, the bride and groom were both in our church at different times while they were students. They will be living in our home for four months and replacing us while we go to the states on a short furlough. They are two tremendous young people.)

Ben's Birthday

Ben's birthday party was a little bit low key this year. I hope he had fun, though. We celebrated last night because tomorrow is going to be crazy. And I still have a lot to do before leaving on my trip. Love you all. Dan 

Turning 9 and 36 on the 26th!

Happy Birthday to the birthday boys!  

2 (parties) for 32!

We celebrated Donna's birthday on this side of the ocean last night. I think there were about 15 of us in all who gathered to celebrate. The guests you see pictured here are Dave & Becky Wilbur, Michael & Liz Cole, Jeanine Aumiller and Brian Hanson. 

Fun on Saturday

Here are just a couple shots we took on Saturday. Micaiah is beginning to learn how to help in the kitchen, and Miriam was very pleased to be crowned with her brother's hat.

 

More St. Emilion

 

CPBC Skating Party

Last night we had an unofficial church gathering at the skating rink. There were about 20 people there. Please notice Liz and me in our speed skating stance! It was a blast and I stayed on my feet the entire time! 

Dad in St. Emilion!

This is a great picture of Dad, I thought I'd pass along to you all. He took us to St. Emilion on Monday before we left on Tuesday. It was the first day of great weather that we had while we were there, and the scenery was, of course, spectacular. I'll add another "priestly" picture of dad after this, but I wanted you all to be able to see this one as big as possible. 

"Notre Nati"

As you all know, Nati came home last week for a short vacation. It is always special to have our Swiss son come back. It is exciting to see how much he is growing in the Lord and maturing in all areas of life. Almost seven years ago when we got a call asking us if Nati could come live with us for a year, we never would have dreamed of all the ramifications--that is why I said "Notre Nati" and not "Naughty Nati." He is in his second year of Bible School. As you can see, he entertained everyone with his piano playing and made them envious when he played a Soundforth arrangement almost perfectly that he had just heard that day on a cd on the way home from Carcassonne! He sends his love to all of his Bixby siblings!  

We got our blossoms!!!

Your snow looks really nice in the pictures, but we are really happy that our plum tree is blossoming! The weather seems to have changed and it feels almost like spring here. You kids should come play outside at Grandma's house---you don't need boots and mittens. 

We got our SNOW!

Patience woke up from her nap to a white world and immediately had lots of ideas. So when Dad was heading out the door to shovel she hurried and got her snow gear on in hopes of a snowball fight and a snowman...

Yesterday with the Miller children

We kept Ashley, Callista and Wyatt Miller for most of the day yesterday and learned what it would be like to have five children! Actually, Ashley and Callista are both old enough to help out with the younger kids, and so the day went pretty smoothly. My kids especially enjoyed it when the girls read to them. And the three oldest kids make cookies together. 

21 for the Dyslexic is 12!!

Since I am leaving just before my birthday, Alicia decided that she would make me a birthday cake so that I could officially celebrate in France. We didn't want to ruin it with a candle, so they just brought in a huge candle! I guess that represents my age! No offense to anyone who has made me a cake before, but I think this is the best cake that I have ever eaten. It was a wacky chocolate cake with strawberry icing between the layers and chocolate icing around the edges. Jo and Ruth.... I expect as well on the real 21st!!

Snow Day!

We finally had a snow day! Yippeee!!!
The kids didn’t have school today and am working from home (don’t tell anyone I only work a mile away from work… I’m pretending I’m from SC).
We’ve had fun day so far. We had about 6 inches when I snowblowed (that’s a verb in MN) this morning and have gotten about 3 more since then.
We had crepes for breakfast. It was fun. We cook them on top of the raclette machine at the table. That way no one has to be in the kitchen. It is becoming a tradition. The kids have enjoyed playing in the snow… perfect for building, throwing, etc. Patience, did you get snow where you are? I’m guessing you did. Michaiah and Miriam? We wish you were all here to play in it with us! 

Downtown Bordeaux

Day 10: This is Ethan. On Saturday, we visited downtown Bordeaux again. We started by visiting St. Michel, an old church. It is one of the only churches in Europe with a steeple seperate from the church. Then we walked around Bordeaux looking for the portes of the city. They are the old entranceways to the center of the city. We also stopped to see the Roman ruins, which have been there since the 2nd century A.D. We then made our way to St. Catherine, which is the second longest walking street in the world. We stopped at a restaurant there to buy some croque monsieurs which are sandwhiches that are special to the region. When we were done there, we went back to the Bixbys' house, but we left right away. Chip and I went bowling with Derek and some of the other people from the church. Laura went to the Bakers' house for a girls' meeting. 

Carcassonne

Day 9: Hello, this is Chip again. This Friday we went to Carcassonne, the only complete medieval city still in existence. We left Bordeaux at around 7:30 and arrived around 11 am. Once in modern Carcassonne, we headed to the medieval city. The clouds looked threatning, but we couldn't help notice the majesty of the architecture. First off we decided to have lunch at one of the local restaurants. Most of us decided to try the local specialty, Cassoulet with duck. Some of us were a bit skeptical, but after eating our fill, decided it wasn't as bad as we thought. After lunch, we walked up one of the streets to the stronghold of the city. Some of us took a self-guided tour of the courtyards and interior and then headed back out to join the rest of the group. We had a gouté (snack) and then did some shopping in the city. It had been raining on and off throughout the day, so we were wet and cold. Nevertheless, we had a great time viewing the medieval architecture and grandeur of Carcassonne.

PARIS--take 4!