at the {French} park

One day the kids were going a little stir crazy at Mamy and Papou's place and starting to drive everyone nuts!  I knew we needed some fresh air and some space to breath ASAP or else things would go from bad to worse.  One thing I love about Lyon (and probably other big cities?) is that there are little parks and playgrounds tucked in wherever they have small plot of unused space.  They are everywhere!  You walk for 15 minutes and pass 3 of them.  On this particular day I just took them to the small park right across from the apartment.  Roland thought it was too small, but the kids did NOT mind at all.  They were so happy to be free for a few minutes!  It was just what we all needed in order to be a happy (extended) family again!

back to France!

I still have so much to catch up on! Tonight it's more of our Fabulous, Fun, French Family! Unfortunately I could not find my camera in the dark, quiet room where our twin nieces were sleeping on the afternoon of the visit we had from Mamy's side of the family. Thank goodness Aunt Lucille forwarded her pics, but since they were all taken by her we don't have any of Lucille herself!

Flavio is Mamy's only brother. He has one son, William (did you notice that Roland has one cousin on each side?!). Flavio is a truck salesman. I love that he makes family a big priority. On the day he and Lucille and William were supposed to visit us there was a snowstorm. They live a couple hours away and when it snows in France the country just shuts down. He called to tell us that things weren't looking good, but rather than just give up he promised that they would hit the road as soon as they could. They arrived 2 hours later than planned and weren't able to stay very long, but they really wanted to see us and the rest of the family for Christmas. It was great to be with them.

Florent is Mamy's cousin. When they were younger, Florent was partially raised by his Aunt, Mamy's mother. He is like another brother to Mamy. He and his wife, Pascale also made a great effort to come and see us. There were so many people there that day and it was a little chaotic. Our only regret is that we didn't have more time to talk with Pascale and Florent!

While they were there, Emilie and Lydie were showing off their dolls and Aunt Lucille saw them and mentioned that she had some doll clothes at home that her grandmother had made for her when she was a little girl. She had been saving them all these years not knowing who to give them to. When she saw Emilie and Lydie with their dolls she knew they needed to have those clothes! I couldn't believe it. 50-year-old handmade doll clothes! And, the amazing thing is they fit perfectly! These pics are the ones I took to send to her of the dolls in her doll clothes. Lucille is someone who always tries to do good. I had a great time visiting with her!

A great day!

We are so proud of Eric and his decision to be baptized today.  It was truly a great day.  We are so grateful to all the friends and family who have influenced our sweet boy and supported our efforts as parents.

Lego love

This year is special for many reasons. 

One of them is that Eric had his first friend party. 

Above is the Lego centerpiece, Lego-guy-head treat bouquet, and the guess how many Legos game. (there were 300 and Brayden won!)

They were each given the same little set of Legos in their party bags and they had a race to see who could put it together first.  Zach was the champion this time!

For this game they each picked a partner and had a bowl full of Legos.  They took turns carrying their Legos on a spoon to an empty bowl across the room.  They all finished really fast!  Charlie thought is was so funny to watch them.  He was giggling and giggling. :)

Eric is lucky to have such great kids to call friends!

Brayden, Chase, Josh, Isaac and Zachary

The cake was not very pretty to look at (I was trying to do too many things at once today and the frosting suffered for it) but it tasted good!

Hooray for friends and parties and especially FRIEND PARTIES!

The BIG birthday...

How we got to this point I'm not exactly sure. But, we're here. Our buddy boy is 8 years old. He was invited to Cub Scouts yesterday (one day early!) and I just couldn't believe it! How can I have a Cub Scout? My brother is a Cub Scout, not my son! Oh goodness.

Things we love about Eric:

his creativity

his tender heart

his sense of humor (and his great laugh to go with it!)

his appetite!

the way he treats his siblings (most of the time)

the way Charlie already adores him

the way he adores his Dad

We love you, buddy boy! Happy Birthday!

French family part II-Papou's creche

Every year when Roland was a child he remembers helping his Dad set up their very special nativity.  His Dad made the little houses from medicine boxes.  It is a tradition we have in our home too.  When they heard we were coming for Christmas, Roland's parents saved the nativity so that the kids could help set it up with Papou.  They loved looking at all the pieces Papou had made so many years ago.