PARIS

This is Donna. Since we had trouble with the blog, I decided to just come in and give you the update, so we don't get any further behind! I tried to do these squares in chronological order. Here goes.... #1-- We started at Place des Vosges-the oldest square in Paris. #2--We walked down the Seine to Notre Dame--#3, 4. It is really majestic. Then we walked over the Louvre--#4, where we saw the Mona Lisa, Napoleon Apartments--#5, items from the kings--#6, and so cool statutes, paintings, etc.--#7 that the kids didn't really appreciate! From there we walked toward the Eifel Tower which took forever, and we couldn't find a place to eat, so since we were starving we bought a loaf of bread at a bakery--#8. French bread, in the rain, with the E.T. in the background--it doesn't get much better!! The E.T. was impressive--#9,10 as always. They stayed up there almost 2 hours. Then we mozied to the Arc de Triomphe--#11 which we were able to get up even though it was 9 pm. We got a good show of the major traffic jams. 12 major roads converge on this one circle with no official lanes--#12. There were between 5-9 layers of cars. One van gave us a great show as he tried to turn from the 5 level in! He succeded with only hitting 3 cars in the process! Quite impressive feat! We finally had supper at a Pizzeria/Cafe on Champs Elysees at 10:15pm!--#13. Boarded the metre--#14 completely exhausted and headed to our smoke filled hotel! Thursday morning we went to Sacre Coeur which allows you to look over 30 miles of Paris. It is a very impressive church and view from the top--#15. Finally, we boarded the TGV and enjoyed 1st class on the way home--#16 (Sorry, somehow it cut off the boys heads, but you get the idea they were sleeping quite soundly!) It was a fast trip, but we hit all the essentials! 

American Girl Daddy

Over on my blog I wrote about my American Girl experience. You guys have got to read the comment section. It's hilarious. Particularly when a worker from the place enters in!

Our Birthday Girl and Friends!

 

Part Two

Laura wrote something to go with this twice and lost it. She has gone to bed now, so I will just send it along and you can get the comments later. You can see where they were! 

Paris, part 1

Hey! This is Laura. Sorry we haven't blogged for so long. We have had a pretty busy week. I think you heard about the TGV experience. As mentioned, we got to Paris at about 11:00 pm. Our rooms were very interesting. Miss Bixby and my room smelled horribly of cigarette smoke. Also, the pillows and blankets smelled bad too. However, at least it was a room to sleep in. Wednesday we woke up very early. We were out of the motel by about 8:30. We went first to La Place des Vosges, (the picture on the left). That was very nice. Then we went to Notre Dame. The architecture there is amazing. However, it was very sad to see all those people praying to no one. From there, we moved on to the Louvre. I think Miss Bixby appreciated that more than the rest of us, but we did get to see the Mona Lisa and the Napolean rooms. (Continued with next picture.) 

Motherless in Minnesota

Well, we're surviving! Can you tell?
The kids played outside for a while after I got home from work, then we made a fort (with kite string and sheets) in the basement. Our modern-day fort included a TV, so we watched a movie, then the kids slept (at least I hope they did) down there. That was after I cooked a gourmet dinner, as you can tell.
Today, they are working hard at cleaning the house. When that's done we'll have more fun!
Hope you enjoy the pics! 

Trash day at 7 Hampshire

For a long time, one of Micaiah's favorite pastimes has been watching the trash man pick up our trash. Every Thursday morning we have to stop everything when we hear the rumble on our street and hurriedly run to the window and watch the show. It must be a love he inherited from his father, who has always said that one of his highest aspirations as a boy was to become a garbage man when he grew up. Now little sister Miriam is joining in the fun. 

Technical Intervention Notice

Family,

I had to delete and re-post Elise's post because it got hit by pornographic spamming. Since blogger is not very convenient for deleting a single comment, I have made some changes in the system that will make all non-members have to have their comments run through me before being posted. This should eliminate spammers, but it will slow down the process just a hair.

The unfortunate thing is that I lost all the congratulatory comments for Elise. PLEASE renew your kind words for our sweet little Science expert. I don't think she had a chance to read them yet....

Bob, Uncle Bob, and Site Administrator of Hugely Popular Bixby Family Blog

Science Fair Winner! (Re-posted by Uncle Bob)

Hello everybody!
I just got home from the Science Fair at school. Guess what…. My project was a winner!! This is a picture of me and my ‘golden medal’ as Isabelle says.
Here is what my project was about:
It was called: H2O Makes Plants Grow?
My hypothesis was that plants watered with microwaved water would not grow as much as other plants. I picked out four plants that were the same size and watered them every day with ¼ cup of: 1) distilled water, 2) microwaved distilled water, 3) city water, and 4) microwaved city water. I had them by an east window for 2 weeks, and then moved them to a west window for 2 weeks. Nothing changed. My results were that the distilled water was the healthiest, then city, then microwaved city, then microwaved distilled. Neither of the microwaved waters did well at all.
There were 4 judges and since I was a winner I get to go to Mankato to another Science Fair.

Elise

Trip to Paris preview

This is Donna. Because of the Bible study tonight, the "kids" are not going to be able to blog about our trip to Paris, so I am just going to give you a preview of the trip and let you know that we made it back safely. We had an eventful trip up with the "manifestations" in Poitiers, and a LOT of very damp and cold weather in Paris. It didn't dampen their spirits though, as much as the Louvre did! They dutifully survived that experience. (I loved it!) We had a very good experience overall, and they slept very soundly for over an hour on the train ride home. Tomorrow we are off to Carcassonne--the only surviving completely walled-in medieval city remaining. We are taking two cars as there are several others going along. Hopefully we will have time to blog on Saturday after we get home. We walked many miles and thousands of stairs so we are all very tired tonight with sore feet. 

American Girl Place!!!

Here we are shopping and getting bows for baby Zoey, shopping and smiling!!I think even Dad enjoyed himself, although he tried to be casual about his joy and delight of being at the American Girl Place!

Tea at the American Girl Place!!

American Girl at last.... Patience has waited for a long time for this wonderful experience. We were greeted at the door by some workers that did a great job of welcoming the birthday girl with lots of ooo's and ahhh's. And remembered both her and Zoey's name each time they saw us. Zoey was very good and never cried once! And they both made out well with a new baby carriage!!! It was a fun memory, one to last a lifetime I hope. 

Birthday Morning!!

March 7, 2006, Can it really be 5 years ago already?? Time flies and little bundles of joy grow up to be fun five year olds. After a lazy morning at the hotel we finally made it out into the big city. As we walked one delivery man even stopped and sang "Happy Birthday". The big colorful bag that Daddy was carrying must have given it away! Well, our first stop was the Hershey's Sweet Shoppe. We all celebrated with a cup of hot chocolate and the birthday girl was treated to a cupcake and song, compliments of the house. Patience got to open her birthday package, it was a "My little Pony" thing and a new dress for Zoey to wear to AG.

Birthday Eve

Daddy met Patience and Mommy at the Knickerbocker Hotel Downtown Chicago monday afternoon. We (P & Mommy) had gone to the Children's Museum with the Metras for the day at Navy Pier and had a wonderful time playing at all the fun things there. But the hightlight was getting the first hug from Daddy! We had a nice little quaint room and celebrated being together again at the Cheesecake Factory at the bottom of the John Hancock building on Michan Ave. **Notice the bunny ears, Isabelle? It was COLD in Chicago!

TGV Woes!

Donna and her kids left this afternoon for Paris on the TGV. That means "very fast speed" but this train was the opposite. There were some demonstrations before Poitiers and they sat on the train out in the countryside for almost 4 hours. According to Donna, the kids were "hyper" and it wasn't bothering them a bit. They called at 11 pm and said they were finally in Paris and ready to take the long metro ride to their hotel. C'est la vie---that is life-- at least in France!
(The picture is of Tim and kids who had a much more enjoyable experience with the TGV a couple of weeks ago!) 

Happy Birthday, Patience

Wow! Another whole year has passed and you are five years old! Grandma and Poppa wish we could be there with you, or better yet, you could be here! God was so good to give you to your Mommy and Daddy. I am sure this is a special day for them, too. We love you.
Grandma and Poppa

Dune de Pyla

Day 5: Hi, this is Chip. Yesterday we visited the Dune de Pyla in Arcachon, which is near Bordeaux. We arrived in the rain, but we were determined it wouldn't stop us. It eventually stopped raining on the way up the Dune and the sun came shining through the clouds. But, in the distance we could see other storm clouds heading our way. We took some pictures and went wading in the Atlantic Ocean which is down the other side of the Dune. The water was very cold, but it was fun. Some of us went searching for shells and found some very interesting things. We ate lunch right there on the beach and then...it started raining and hailing. We decided to head back and so started the long ascent/descent to the car. By the time we got back most of us were soaked and sand covered. All in all, we had a great time and will never forget the experience. 

GMT--Good Missionary Training

Here are my illustrious students hard at work. They are learning that life on the mission field is full of mundane duties which demand a servant's heart. They are doing a great job of working (and eating new foods) with a cheerful spirit. (I have to say that I think the work part is easier than the new foods part!) All are doing well. They had a lot of opportunity today to practice their French. They are doing well, though facing the reality of some very rapidly spoken French! 

Sunday

Day 4--
This is Ethan!
Today was our first Sunday in Bordeaux. The morning service started at a little after 10:00 A.M., and there were about 50 people in attendance. Chip, Laura, and I sang a special in the service before Mr. Bixby's sermon. After the service, there was a potluck lunch at the church. In the evening, we had an informal service in English. We sang a few songs (Chip, Laura and I had to sing our song again in English), then Mr. Bixby gave a short challenge. For dinner, we ate a good meal in which we got to try about 6 different cheeses. My favorite was the Gouda cheese.

Presidential Library

Clockwise - 1. Airforce One, 2. Exact replica of the Oval Office, 3. Airforce One, 4. Grave of Ronald Reagan