Thanksgiving in Bordeaux

Some more special people!

"La Coccinelle"

On Tuesday, we had a family outing to "La Coccinelle"-- a family park near the dune. It was lots of fun for everyone. We just wished that the rest of you could have been with us to enjoy all the rides!

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. ;)

Miriam Makes Music :-)

This evening Miriam had a recital for her music class. So we got to go see her "play the drum". The class also sang as they drummed :-) It was lots of fun and brought back many, many memories of sitting in the audience watching the prettiest (or most handsome) kids play and sing. Afterward we went to McDo's to celebrate. It was a fun time-- especially the ice cream at the end of the meal. So love having family around...anyone else want to come by for a visit?
BTW, Zacherie decided that if Miriam was playing the drum, he was going to play the big gong!

Miriam's Birthday Party!

Our little six-year-old really enjoyed her day! She had very definite instructions for the meal (taco salad, watergate salad w/ strawberries and red jello with a heart in the middle) and for the cake (chocolate with chocolate icing and strawberries with a large 6 in the middle) which her sweet mother carried out to a "T". It was a fun family evening.

Micaiah's Gift to His Dad

Proof that it is more blessed to give than to receive! Micaiah heard his Dad say a few weeks ago that he wished he had some gloves and he told his Mom that day that he knew what he wanted to get his Dad for Christmas. He kept his secret but was soooo excited to give his gift this morning. Definitely a moment to remember!

Christmas Fun!

Monday night we all took the tram to downtown Pessac to have some Christmas fun! First we went to the Christmas tree maze which unfortunately closed before the kids went through it. It wasn't too bad, however, since Grandma noticed that you could go through it alone and so we did our own run through! Then the kids (with Papi and Zacharie) rode the Merry-go-round. About then it was time for the concert in the church. It was a choir from Pessac putting on a Christmas concert. They were real personable (let the kids come on stage to sing O Beau Sapin! if they wanted-- our kids didn't :-). We all enjoyed the concert. Then it was home for some of Aunt Jennie's White Chicken Chili which was a big hit with the older ones but not so much with the youngsters. It was a great memorable evening! Wish more of you could have been here with us.

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.

Decorating the Tree!

We had a fun and noisy time tonight decorating the tree!!! Along with Tim's family, we invited the Lee children over. We had waffles and hot chocolate. Dad put the tree together and Tim (with Ruth's expertise) did the lights. As to the rest, well, you can see the "finished" project :-) Had quite the "hand bell choir", too-- after almost 40 years, those bells have found another activity. We really enjoyed the "live" Christmas music, too.

SNOW!!! -- in Bordeaux :-)

Don't laugh too hard all you Northeners, but we were all excited to have a snowfall this morning. Especially when it meant we could have coffee/hot chocolate and cookies together. France is not like SC, so Micaiah had to go to school!

Thanksgiving in Greenville

This has certainly been an unusual Thanksgiving!  I have been dying to see Johanna and the rest of the family, of course, so was seriously counting down the hours!  We were supposed to be leaving around 11:30-12:00 to go out to the Bixby Shindig at A. Ruths.  They decided, about 10am, (while still on the road) to change plans and just stay here in order to get the kids down for naps since they didn't sleep well on the trip down.  Since I couldn't stand the thought of not serving them a Thanksgiving dinner, off to Wally world I did fly!  Thankfully, they had thawed turkeys, and I was able to get everything I needed for a simple Thanksgiving dinner.  Turkey was in the oven by 10:30--and small so we could eat around 1!  We had a very simple dinner with just turkey, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, stuffing (which I left in the oven until the end of the meal  :(  grrrr!), rolls and a delicious salad.  It was simple, but so good to sit and chat and be together--while the kids slept soundly! 

We then loaded up and went out to Easley.  (I forgot to get my camera out until I was leaving!!)  Several had already left by the time we got there, but it was nice to visit with those who were there.  I think there were a total of 34ish today.  Jordahls: A. Faye and U. Ron, B.Bixbys: Jo's fam and me, S. Bixbys: US, Amy, and Na and David (who is expecting, for those who didn't know!), Alfaro: Ken and wife (who is expecting, for those who didn't know), Hutcheson: U. John, A. Lois, Esther, and I think 2 of the boys?  one was leaving when we got there and the other had already left--I think, no P. Bixbys, no Gambrells, Marshalls: A. Ruth, Vanessa and husband-to-be, Scott (pictured below), David (left before we got there), Kingston and family, Dierking: 2 boys (left before we got there), Renee and husband and Cara (pictured below in deep conversation with U. Ron!), no Whites.  I think that sums it up!

Johanna and Brian left to spend the rest of the evening with his family, and were home by 7 and in bed by 8!  So, I'm sitting here blogging to you all and getting ready to go run off some of these extra calories inhaled today!  It has been a lovely day--would have been better if we could have all been together, but I am soooo very thankful to have the Hansons here.  It's been so long (if ever), that anyone has visited me, that I'm sure I'm going to do some excessive spoiling, but... the rest of you need to make it down here so you can experience Auntie Donna's joy in having you here!  hint hint hint!!  =)

Love you all and eager to hear about your days in your parts of the country and world.  Pictures would be nice!

Ruth's Party!

Thursday night the Seelys came over to help us celebrate Ruth's birthday. We started off with a fancy dinner (the kids' choice). The hit of the evening was Tim's homemade cheesecake-- both beautiful and delicious.
There was lots and lots of good fellowship but the most important was the equal time that Papi was able to give Zacherie and Elliot!
It was a great evening and we were all happy to party with Ruth on her 34th birthday!

To Switzerland and back---

nd
Just a few "people" pictures. We all had a wonderful, memorable time! More to come :-)

Ok-- here you go:
top R to L--
Dad and US on cable car at Reutli, US at the top, sitting on bench at the Guetli, US and Ad's room at the Guetli.
AD looking at Jane Elizabeth Taylor's grave (Hudson Taylor's 2nd wife, Blonay, Switzerland), with Nati and Rebecca, Dad and US at the top (there was a 360* view--fantastic), US with M. Peter Lippuner at the Guetli (used to be the head).
Dad meditating :-), US and AD at Domme, AD at the bottom where we got on the cable car and two sisters at St. Emillion.

Uncle Steve and Aunt Donna in FRANCE!!

Uncle Steve and Aunt Donna arrived in Paris this morning. Dad left here at 4am to go get them and they were back at 6:30 tonight. Uncle Steve hasn't been in France for over 20 years. We are excited about their two weeks with us. We have a Romanian boy staying with us and he prepared their room. I thought you would enjoy seeing how he fixed the bed.

Just to Prove--

That I really did get to Savage to see the Dan fam--


and I really did get home, too!



I had a wonderful visit with each and every one of you. Thank you so much for all you TLC. Donna, you better come home this summer or I will really be upset that I didn't jog over to SC! And in case you are wondering, it is 2:15 am! :=)

Spring Concert

Tonight was the Spring Concert at Patience's school. It was special for several reasons: she had both of her Grandmas there, it made two concerts that this Grandma had attended in one year!(what are the chances of that ever happening?), and she got sweet kisses from her little brother afterward. Mommy and Daddy were both there too :-) Good job, Patience! We were all proud of you!

Special Treat --

Mother's Day with my oldest and my youngest and their sweet families!!

A little bit of this, A little bit of that...

Here are a few shots of some of the things we have been doing. Patience's school had "Moments with Mom" on Friday morning, so Grandma got in on that special breakfast, too. Playing outside at Aunt Jo's was fun while it was warm and then when it turned cold we had supper at Aunt Jennie's ! Fun, Fun.

Lunch At Swedish Pancake House

It was great to spend some time with B & J and kids, also.
I took Patience out for an early b-day, but unfortunately I forgot my camera. We had a good time though.
Patience was able to be at lunch because she had pink eye! Good timing, Patience! ;-)