Élagage des arbres - Pruning the trees

Spring really must be in the air because all the city workers have been out cleaning up the flower beds and trimming, or skinning all the trees. They strip them down to almost nothing but the trunk, then they just burn what they cut off right there. Easiest way to get rid of all those branches I guess. Many days when we walk outside there is a lot of smoke in the air because of people burning their leaves or branches. Just on your short walk home you can smell like you have been camping.
The workers were kind enough to stop long enough to give me a smile. I see them all over on the backside of town now they wave at me whenever I go by.

Cygnes - Swan

After school on Tuesday, Sophie and I headed to Nemours to do some grocery shopping. We took the scenic way home and passed over the river and couldn't help stopping to look at all the beautiful Swan. They immediately came towards us because I am sure they thought we had food. I wish we would have had food to feed them. Sophie wanted to feed them the fresh bread we had just bought for dinner.

There were many of them and they just kept coming and coming. It made it feel like spring.

Sophie à l'école- Sophie at school

When I picked Sophie up from school today- there was the perfect opportunity to snap a few pictures of her morning life.
The rooms are small, but so are the classes. These are the little tables they do their work on and the bookcases are full of books. There is an upstairs where they do their English class and where they dance and play. The other day she told me her school was "huge".

I think it's an old house that has been converted.

This is the entry where we take off her coat and say good-bye! She is very happy when I drop her off and she has some cute friends. The french is coming as well. When I ask her if she can understand her teachers when they speak in French (they all speak French, no English) she tells me, "They don't speak French, they speak English" so either she understand everything the French say or she understands nothing.

The Mahé Family

Today after church we went to the Mahé's home. Julie Matté is Annie's friend and her mother Valérie has been so kind to us. We spent the

better part of the afternoon with them. We ate galette and got the tour of their fantastic French farm house.

I actually ended up with the feve as well as Julie, but I made Logan my king.

After Galette Julie's sister Milena played the most beautiful music on the piano. It made the house feel so warm and inviting.
They showed us their feve collection-after todays they have 69.










On the way home every turn felt photo worthy. The sun is out longer and the air is a little warmer and the moss and grass is coming back greener than ever- It is so beautiful!
The drive from their house takes you through the greatest villages-we just enjoyed the scenery! It must have seemed so beautiful becuase I felt much relief after having given my first talk in French at church. I was given the difficult subject of a budget. These people are the most budget concious people I know (they save everything). I prayed for days that I might know what to say. I don't know that they understood a thing I said, but it was good practice for me and they seemed happy that I had tried. I don't believe anyone in the audience got much, becuase the English speakers couldn't understand me nor the French. The poor missionary who does the translating was very cute about it. Logan gave the scripture in Primary as well today. He did a very nice job!

Guimauves- marshmallows

My neighbor Gèraldine brought us these delicious homemade marshmallows. She is an artist, painter and a very good cook, I have my first lesson with her on Friday. We immediately put them in some hot chocolate and ate them up.

They reminded us of all the snow we are missing in Utah.

Samedi- Saturday

Today was a great day around the house. It was a beautiful day and everyone was happy it was Saturday and glad to come home after school. I decided to make cinnamon rolls- I felt like a pioneer mixing the flour in by hand and kneading the dough. The kids decided to count the rolls-there were 51. It was fun to have hot rolls and give some to our neighbors. Dallas' friend Thomas was over and he ate two just out of the oven.

DS - the international language!

Annie and Olivia played the flour game and came out looking like clowns ready for the circus.

That night we had a sleepover with the Randalls. The girls made up beds in the family room and watched High School Musical 2 in French! We're happy to have our good friends close by. When they all woke up in the morning- we showed Clara & Olivia the lineup for breakfast. Just turn a few chairs into tables and that way everyone can sit close to the radiator. Can you guess what we had? you got it- cinnamon rolls.

Faire la cuisine- Cooking

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Magali at her home cooking. She is in the ward and has been so kind and friendly. She is such a delightful person with a contagious laugh. She is a dedicated wife, mother and servant of the Lord. She is from New Caledonia and told me that the US Army made a great impression on her after WWII. She speaks very good English and helps me with my French. We made crêpes, chocolate mousse and a quiche. Her cute daughter Alissa was right there cooking along side us. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon! Thanks Magali.

La Grève- The strike

French is famous for their strikes. The trains strike, teachers strike you name it. The strikes have been good to Logan however, his teachers jumps at every chance she gets to go on strike. Today he had another strike day. By the hair and his pj's you can probably tell he is one happy camper. In the morning when all the kids were at school it was just the two of us. We worked on puzzles, went to the bakery and just had a great time kicking back. He knows what the "La grève" note looks like when his teacher sends it home now and there is much excitement every time it happens.

He is doing very well in school and is a very conscientious student. He always has his homework done and makes sure he knows all of his spelling words. His spelling words are not easy either, some of them are une boulanger (bakery) un cadeau (present) une fille (girl) une tableau (chalkboard) etc. It's been fun to watch his brain really start to figure things out.

He is the one who keeps track of everything. How many more weeks we have here, how many more days and weeks until our cousins come to visit (every morning I get the report, I think today there are 42 more days) and how many more days until the weekend. He cracks us up all day long!

Mark Drives a World War II Tank

On Saturday, I met Garth and CayLynne and their boys down in Alpine, Utah, to check out CayLynne's brother-in-law's new purchase -- a 1943 World War II era tank. It was pretty amazing to see what it could do and how it just moved right along through the snow and sagebrush.

Below are some photos of the outing along with a video of me driving. Garth is on top of the tank with his niece and nephew and his brother-in-law in the co-pilot chair on the right. The other photos show Stephen driving, Caylynne driving and a family photo of Garth, CayLynne, Jeffrey ans Stephen. I hope I get invited when they take it out to the west desert for some real action.

Mark

À jouer- to play

After the dentist we headed to the big Playmobil park in Paris. Yesterday Logan and I found a few things we could do since we would be in town for his appointment. His first choice was the sewer, but it is closed on Fridays, so he decided on the Playmobil park. He wanted to keep it a secret from the other kids, and he did a very good job. He didn't say a word until we got there.

The set up is very creative inside and totally hands on. They have different sections full of all the playmobil toys you can ever imagine. They have castles for boys and girls, cranes, airplanes, pirates, hospitals, houses, zoo, safaris etc. The kids went crazy exploring and playing.

What fun big sisters, Annie & Jesse helped Sophie set up the houses with all the furniture.

Le chirurgien-dentiste-The dental surgeon

I feel so blessed that we have not needed any medical care since we have been here. But two nights ago poor Logan had a toothache that was really bothering him, when I looked in his mouth I could see why. I called Kirsten Zott and asked her for dentist recommendation and she gave us Dr. Perikles Dimitriou's number. I called him and lucky for me he speaks very good English, told him of the situation. He told me he was all booked for a coupld of weeks, but I could bring Logan the next day at 9:00 a.m. before he opened for the day becuase he could tell this needed to be addressed soon. The biggest problem is his office is in Paris. So we left this morning at 7a.m. with all the troops and arrived at 9:00 on the nose (thanks to Clarisse).

He was very kind and gentle with Logan. He explained everything he was doing or about to do so Logan would know exactly what was going on. Logan was so brave. I could tell when he got his shot it hurt ,but he didn't even move or say a word. The dentist was very impressed with how good Logan was.
I was very impressed with Dr. Dimitriou and his office. What else would be better for me than a red dentist office? I loved it! It was so clean and orderly, it felt good to know we would be well taken care of.
Logan needed a pulpotomy but it was all over in about 50 minutes.

The other kids were so great while they waited for their brother.
We decided this dentist must love red even more than I do-he had a red toilet seat. (honey it may be my next purchase, ha, ha)

In case you were confused where to go just look here.

Dîner avec des amis- Dinner with friends

Our friends Heike and Eric had us over to their beautiful home for dinner again. She is German he is French, and both speak English. They are some of the nicest people we have met here.

She is a great cook and has cooked us delicious meals both times. We were fortunate to get a German meal this time. She made Sauerkraut, meat, potatoes and a stew. The girls loved the Sauerkraut, Jesse had three helpings.

They have three girls Leah, Litza and Deborah. Leah- the oldest speaks a little English as well.

Their home and estate are breathtaking. They have done a great job "fixing it up" as we may say. The home is very old and needed some attention, and they have given it that. I asked her how difficult it was to get things fixed here and she told me it is very difficult because no one really works. They show up at 9:00 and then take a smoke break, then a coffee break, then it is time for lunch, a few more breaks and then it's time to go home. She said, "that is why I only hire Germans".

The tree in their yard is enormous! I love it. They do too, but she said, "I hope we don't get

any big winds".

For dessert we had a Galette des Roi. Sophie got to go under the table and decide who got what piece. Annie and Dallas were the king and queen of the night.

After dinner, the kids enjoyed a movie on their huge projector TV. They watched Home Alone 2 in French. It was a very fun evening.

We feel fortunate to meet people such as the Chaouat's.

Chasse en Cours - Hunt in progress

The Hunt is on. Hunting season was in full swing during Mark's stay. What could make him more happy? He was fortunate to see a group of about 15 deer a couple of times, buck included, and several boar. He decided to take the kids and check things out.

Not to panic, the hunt here is very controlled. They post signs so you are not allowed in the forest during the hunting hours.

The forest is beautiful right now with all the moss and bare trees. Mark says he likes it that way so he can see what is in there. It would be pretty difficult to find anything with all the leaves.

They still use the dogs and the trumpets, it seems pretty formal.

For all you hunters out there, call Mark he found some pretty funny video clips of the different hunts in France on the web.http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3fm1u_sanglier-et-chevreuil-en-battue_sport