Miriam's Birthday in Paris

Well, we have a little 7-year-old who thoroughly enjoyed her birthday. Once again, it fell just after the start of winter vacation, and so she didn't have any school. To top it all off, we had a guest from the States, Mark Ring, with us for the day who hadn't yet seen any of the sites in Paris. So Tim and the "big kids", a.k.a. M & M, got to spend the day visiting the Eiffel Tower, walking down the Champs Elysées, and taking a boat ride on the Seine. It was a birthday present that fit just right for this little girl!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mommy stayed home to care for the "little ones" and to make the birthday meal and cake. The chicken pot pie was just coming out of the oven as they walked in the door. So we had a great evening fellowshipping together, and a highlight for Miriam was receiving her very own Bible in French (and it's PINK, to boot!), something for which she's been asking for several months now. The timing fell just right as she is becoming quite the little reader. She has read the first several verses of Psalm 107 to us several times since. (The verse she is memorizing for Sunday School comes from that chapter, hence the immediate attachment! :) We all adore our sole little princess, and are glad for all the rose-colored pleasures she brings to our mostly blue home.

La grande roue de Paris

A few pictures of our big family outing.

Le cinéaste : Michée

With the very patient help of Wilfried, Micaiah has produced his first film. Still working on the copywrite.

Happy Birthday, Tim!

33! Wow! How time does fly. I still remember when you were the "new" baby in the family :-) You have become a wonderful young man since that day. We love you and are so thrilled that we get to celebrate "for real" with you tonight.

Pizza Picnic at the Park

Tim and I had our last exams last Thursday, and so we all decided to celebrate that evening by ordering Dominoe's Pizza and taking it to the park. It's only the second time we've had Dominoe's since we've been here, (I think Mom and Dad said it was their first!) and that made it extra special. It really was like good ol' American pizza! And as you can see, Zacharie (following Papi's careful teaching) learned to thoroughly appreciate his pizza. ;)

Tooth Action

The Tim Bixby household has had some serious tooth action this week. Miriam knocked her chin climbing a tree on Sunday, and I think that might have given a slightly loose tooth the added impetus it needed to quickly become REALLY loose, and she lost her first baby tooth then on Wednesday. She had an advantage in this whole thing of having seen her brother lose his teeth, and realize that it really isn't any too scary, and after all, one might find a little something special under one's pillow after such an exciting experience, so she was pretty thrilled!

Micaiah's tooth action was a little less natural. We got an afternoon phone call on Tuesday (actually, it was Papi who took the initial call as he was keeping the younger kids while we were in class) that Micaiah had had an accident at school, and we needed to come pick him up to take him to the dentist. Somehow he had been spinning around with a classmate at the end of recess time when he slipped and hit the ground mouth first. Some of the school workers were still cleaning up the blood when we arrived to retrieve him. After calling three different dentists, we found one who was immediately available and we took him in. He agreed that Micaiah's front two teeth had received a pretty terrific shock, and wanted us to go get an x-ray taken to make sure there was no fracture (see picture below). It was a pretty cool machine that went around his head, and we now have a REALLY cool picture of all his hidden permanent teeth yet to come in. In fact, the dentist was even able to tell us that Micaiah will only ever have one wisdom tooth to come in. We are grateful that there was no fracture, and it seems like the teeth will heal fine, although the dentist did say that those front two teeth are not completely out of the woods yet, and wants us to come in again next week for a check-up. He had a seriously swollen lip, but after three days it is looking much better, too. So there you go. There's a summary of some of the toothy experiences we've had in this Bixby household this week. :)

Greetings from Toulouse

Ruth and I, along with the Coles, attended the Baptist church in Toulouse on Sunday morning. There was a good crowd of more than 100. It was my first time to ever return since we moved away from the city. The only two people I recognized were Muriel and Michelle. Michelle's two children were also there that morning. Her son Benjamin is married with children and an integral part of the church. Mmes Monzon and Prukop were on the prayer list, but I did not see them. Both Muriel and Michelle send their greetings to the whole family. It was good to see God's preserving grace.

Celebrating Zacharie's 1st birthday

Thank you all for the birthday wishes for Zacharie. We had a great evening celebrating together as a family. While Zacharie didn't exactly start talking on the very day he turned 1, he sure did start becoming more active! I'm not sure whether it was turning 1, or his new "BabyHaler" (see us administering his medicine in the small picture in the collage where he is crying :( ), but he has definitely all of a sudden become more interested in all the little things in the world around him! Tonight, we even caught him picking clementines out of the tiered fruit basket and tossing them one by one into the nearby trash can! And this afternoon he removed Papi's hearing aid for the first time ever from his regular perch. He is fast becoming Mr. Busy-Body! It's a good thing. :) Just keeps us on our toes. And for the record, he did like his marble birthday cake with chocolate frosting. (Did anyone really doubt?) We love our little Zacharie, and sure are glad he's a part of our family.

Happy Birthday, Ruth Renée!

Joyeux Anniversaire, Happy Birthday, etc. etc. etc. We hope that the day is special (sounds like it started off that way and there is more to come!) We have so enjoyed having you as our next door neighbor and getting to know you even better. You are a wonderful daughter-in-law as well as wife and mother. Be spoiled :-)

Anniversary trip to Scotland

Had a fabulous time on our 10th anniversary trip to Scotland. Here's a link to the pictures of our trip.

La Rentrée !

Today was the big day!!! We dropped off Miriam and Zacharie at Papi & Mimi Bixby's house at 8:10 this morning in order to take Micaiah to his first day CE1. He was very exited about his new "cartable" which can be rolled like a suitcase or carried on his back. Since it was the first day, we were able to walk into his classroom and meet his teacher. After this it will be back to dropping him off and picking him up at the gate. While he still had a small case of the nervous jitters, this year was definitely easier than last. Right after our parting hug, he eagerly jumped into a French conversation with the other kids at his table, all of whom he already knew from last year. The report at lunch time was that his teacher is really quite nice, and he seems to be settling in well already.

Miriam had not the slightest hesitation about staying at home. She was very thrilled to be able to have the same teachers that she had "met" previously when Micaiah did HomeSat K-5 two years ago. Just before vacation we found a used desk to put into her room that really works perfectly, and now she is all set up! In fact, she completed two full days' work and then some.

In other news, yesterday we enrolled the kids in some music classes (not formal lessons, just general music), and those classes will start in two weeks. We are excited about this new realm of education for both of them, and are hoping it will give Miriam another avenue to keep honing her French skills while she is schooling in English.

Tim's Birthday Party!

Delicious meal (he grilled pork loin!) and beautiful cheesecake made by his wife. Fun evening.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Happy birthday, Tim. We hope it's a fun-filled day even though you will be doing some entertaining.
I'm sure the cookout will be delicious and sure wish I were there to share it with you.
Have a wonderful day and don't eat too many double stuff oreos!

Happy half-birthday, Zacharie!

Six months old today. Unbelievable.

Celebrated by going into town to do some scouting for MMT. It was rainy and cold!

Enjoying spring

Though it has rained, rained, and rained, we have enjoyed moments of sunshine that remind us that spring has truly arrived. Last evening the sun came out for a bit and we enjoyed a few minutes in the park.

We were especially glad to have our camera back after two months in the States on furlough for repairs.

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Our little man is 3 months old!

Repas Agape 2010!

Repas Agape 2010 is history!! In spite of the quick planning, it went over great. Our theme was
"Je cours vers le but... le prix céleste." We used the Olympics idea. Completely different than the usual repas but with a smaller crowd (we served 29 in the salle), it was great. We even played the 2010 Vancouver ski slopes via Wii which was a big hit. (Didn't know your parents were so up to date, did you? We aren't-- we borrowed it!) Dad emceed the evening and Tim preached. Ruth and a German girl sang a beautiful duet. I made Brenda's Beef Burgundy so the meal was relatively easy.

Our Early Valentine's Party

Micaiah and Miriam came over on Wednesday for lunch and to prepare for our Valentine's Party (we had to have it early because we couldn't find another free night :-( ). Anyway, we had fun making cookies and blowing up balloons! The ticket to get in was to wear something "red". You can see that Tim got out his Tintin ties for the big occasion!


After supper we went down to the salle and played some games-- girls against the boys. The boys won the first game (finding the candy) but Tim seems to have suffered for the victory. However, when it came to speed and skill, the girls tromped them!





Back upstairs for dessert and some presents. Mimi was spoiled with a watch, necklace and earring set from Papi! Wish the rest of you were close enough to have joined us!

His smile has finally broken free!

New pics of Zacharie

Lala loaned us one of their old cameras. So here you see what Zacharie looks like as a one month old. (He'll be five weeks old tomorrow.) Took these pics yesterday and today.