And Jason makes 5

Hi everyone,

I'm finally resurrecting the blog after 2 1/2 YEARS of inactivity! I've had the best of intentions but could never seem to find the time. Anyways, this is now Ben, Alex & Jason's blog. Ben and Alex are 4 1/2 and Jason is almost 9 months--how time flies!! Ben and Alex are in their second year of French preschool and really like it (most days!). They're pretty "balanced bilinguals" and their vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds in both French and English, even if they do occasionally borrow a word from the other language when they can't think of the one they're looking for.

The weather here in southern France has been gorgeous and summer-like for the past several days, and we've been enjoying the time outside. Fred's been doing work in the yard since the inside of our house is now finished. He's also been travelling a fair amount for work--to Lithuania, Syria and an upcoming trip to Martinique next week (some people have all the luck!) :-) The boys and I went up to Clermont-Ferrand for a week while Fred was in Syria to stay with his parents; Ben and Alex are always asking for their "Mamie and Papy". I've gone back to staying at home full-time since Jason was born and am really enjoying being with them, even though it's tiring at times! Jason's still an easy baby overall and I cart him around to Bible study, the grocery store etc. while his big brothers are in preschool.

We're back!

Hello everybodee,

We're back in France from our trip across the ocean! We had such a great time visiting with Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle Sean, Kayleigh (who we call Nayna) and family and friends that we didn't want to leave! For those of you who we got to see, thanks so much for taking the time to fit us into your schedules--some of you came from far--and for those we didn't get to see (like our dear family in MA, and Lisa) we're thinking of you and hope to see you next time!

God really blessed our trip from beginning to end. "Grandpa" and "Auntie" especially worked hard to make sure the practical details were in place, like picking us up from the airport and making sure we had enough car seats, strollers and pack n plays. The morning after we arrived we drove for 2 hours to get on a ferry bound for Tangier Island, which is in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay between Virginia and Maryland. If you're looking for a weekend getaway I highly recommend it! It's the type of place that doesn't seem to have changed much in 75 years or so; the 600-odd inhabitants all know each other, work together in the crabbing industry, go to church together and tool around the island in little golf carts rather than cars. We 5 adults and 3 toddlers stayed in a B&B, tried every restaurant on the island (all 4 or so of them!) and had a relaxing family mini-vacation.

After Tangier we went back to Amy and Sean's for a week or so, and then headed north to "Gramp's Camp" aka Dad's house in PA. Along the way we were able to take the 3 kids to the playground, take walks, go shopping, celebrate Sean's birthday, visit with close college/high school friends, ingest 6 months' worth of burgers and fries (Fred), go and see our good friends the Ehsts' just-getting-started organic produce farm, spend time with Grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins, go shopping some more (Jill)... all in all a really great time! I was able to go to a doctor's appt. with Amy and am happy to report that cousin/neiceornephew #2 is doing great. Can't wait to find which it is, but he/she is healthy so that's what counts!

Our trip home was looong but uneventful, and we had just enough time to get (mostly) over jet lag before going to our church's annual weekend retreat last weekend, which was held in a beautiful, rustic(!) old stone farmhouse (known in French as a "mas") in the town of Uzès at the foot of the Cévenne mountains. It was great to jump right back into fellowship and the teaching was really good as well. There are lots of changes ahead in our church--for one we're going to be borrowing a 7th Day Adventist church's building for our Sunday morning services, since our own tiny building is now standing room only. It's definitely a blessing but the situation is not ideal on many fronts; we'd appreciate your prayers to find a new building of our own quickly!

That's all for now; here are some photos from Tangier--I'll put others on our next post.

love, Jill (for napping Ben and Alex)

watch out America here we come

Hi everyone,

We're coming! Mom says in just a few days (whatever that means) we're all going to get on a big airplane and go visit Grandpa, Auntie Amy, etc. We're so excited! We're staying a couple of weeks, so our next post will either be from over there or after we get back. We don't have too much new to report; the weather hasn't been that great lately so we haven't been to the beach in awhile. Tomorrow we're supposed to go to a waterpark called le Grand Bleu with Mom, some "big kid" friends from church and their moms. We really hope it doesn''t rain! Our Papy, Mamie and Auntie Celine are on vacation in Spain and they're coming to visit us this weekend on their way back, along with Uncle Mathieu, Auntie Emilie and Vike the dog. It will be a full house! Mom and Dad got a brand new bike trailer that we use to go on bike rides; it's fun to ride in. It converts to a jogging stroller so Mom says she has no more excuses! We hope you're all having a great summer and can't wait to see some of you soon! love, Ben and Alex

birthday pictures

Hey everybody,

Ben and Alex are napping away as I write this (they didn't sleep very well last night because of the heat). So I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to take over their blog and put up some pictures of our combined birthday parties. The first picture is of a get-together we had with some friends to celebrate 4 birthdays: the boys', mine, and my friend Marie's, whose birthday is around the same time (we celebrated turning 30 together last year). The other pictures are of the following weekend when Fred's parents and sister --plus his cousin and family--were at our place. As you can tell, Ben and Alex enjoyed the chocolate cake! The last picture is past their bedtime on the same day (it's only your birthday once a year, after all!) watching a video with their second cousin Tifanie.

It's been pretty hot here lately--the boys and I went to cool off at a friend's pool Friday afternoon. We've been having some car troubles: Fred spent most of yesterday fixing a leak and then when we were ready to leave for church this morning the car wouldn't start. This time it seems like the battery is dead. Nothing major, but problematic when you only have one car! (Since I don't see Fred carting the boys and I around on the back of his motorbike.)

Hope you all are having a great summer; we're looking forward to seeing you and/or talking to you soon!

love, Jill

more photos

Ben the future computer junkie and Alex the purse snatcher. :-)

summer and birthdays

Hi everybody,

Sorry it's been awhile! We're loving summer now that the good weather is here and we spend most of our time outside (except when Mom makes us take a nap). We also love going to the beach and digging in the sand, even though we're not too sure about the water. This past weekend our Mamie and Papy were here visiting again, along with Tatie (Aunt) Celine and Aka the dog. We celebrated turning 2 and also Mom's birthday with a big meal and some yummy birthday cake--we got chocolate all over us again!

Other than that there's not too much new to report; Mom and Dad are still waiting for the construction permit from the town hall so that the builders can start work on our new house. We spend our days playing in the backyard, taking walks with Mom, and sometimes going to the beach and getting together with friends to play. We're getting ready for our next big trip over the pond on Aug. 28th--we can't wait to see everybody! If you're available and can make a trip to the Richmond, VA or Lancaster, PA area we'd love to get together (well, Mom and Dad would anyway!) Here are some pictures of us at the beach a few weeks ago; we'll add some pictures of our birthday to the next post. Talk to you soon! love, Ben and Alex

summer, then rain, then summer

Hi everyone,

That's pretty much how the weather's been for us the last month or so. We've had some beautiful weather (in the low 80's with low humidity) interspersed with days on end of rain, clouds, and cool. (By now you might be thinking, how did Ben and Alex learn a word like interspersed??) OK you figured it out, this is their mom writing for them (this time). They are off happily playing with friends at the child care center, and I have a few moments before I head off to lunch with Fred and then the grocery store for a megashopping--since I only go once a week!

We're all doing well, it's hard to believe Ben and Alex will hit the big 02 in just a couple of weeks. We've invited their Mamie and Papy, as well as uncle Mathieu and auntie Emilie, to our house for a little party. Last Saturday morning Fred and I took the boys to the beach in the morning, and we stopped for lunch at the new KFC that just opened near us (had to see if it would be as bad as in the U.S.--it was). Sunday morning I sang with the worship team at church, and Sunday afternoon we had a visit from a good childhood friend of Fred's from Clermont-Ferrand and his girlfriend, who is expecting their first child (VERY common in France these days to have baby first, get married later). We had a good time catching up and they ended up staying until after midnight--getting up Monday morning was rough!

That's all for now--talk to you soon! love, Jill (for Ben and Alex)