Lydie Josephine

We had a special celebration of our

sunshine-girl Lydie today.

  Eric and Emilie made their own wrapping paper

(a little Léporé tradition)

The sisters joined us for cake and ice cream and they even brought their birthday banner to share with Lydie.  She LOVES the sister so she was thrilled that they could come over for a bit!

Eric and Emilie made the darling banners on the cake

soeurs Layton and Stanford

They brought her a pair of rubber gloves so that she can help mommy with the dishes and then those sneaky girls said they would show her how to use them and in the process washed my entire sink full of dishes! :)

Mamie and Papou came over for dinner and stayed all afternoon.  Lydie played and played with Papou.  What a great birthday!

We love our Lydie Jo. We love her enthusiasm for life and her fearless way of attacking it head-on.  We love her ability to find friends and to show love and affection to everyone she meets both young and old.  She is full to the brim with love and pure joy!  She infects us all with her happy spirit!  Love you Lydie Jo Jo!!!!

p.s. my computer died so I'm posting from Roland's which is why I am signed in as Roland....

Happy Fourth from France!

It was hard to be so far away on this very important holiday.  Roland and I were both a little emotional all morning long.  But, we knew it was important for us to celebrate somehow so that our kids will not miss out on the tradition.  We donned our red, white and blue and headed to the park for a picnic and some family fun!

The park we went to is one of the biggest city parks here in Lyon (to run the circumference is about 3 miles) and after our picnic we rented one of these fun pedal cars.  Emilie is the only one with a bike (so far) which worked out perfectly.  Roland and I sat on either side of Eric where the pedals are and Emilie rode along side with her bike.  We rode around the lake and through the zoo!  

Eric had control of the camera during our little ride.  Here's a sample of what we saw: 

Over-all it was a great afternoon although it was definitely not the same as being in the states for the festivities.  Our time here has helped us appreciate even more how grateful we are for the good old U-S of A!  **************