Trinity International Retreat 2011

Almost two whole months since my last post... embarrassing. After multiple reprimands from friends and family, I have decided to make a desperate attempt at getting caught up, at least somewhat. As a side note, praise the Lord for Mother's Day Out (which, of course, is where my son is today, allowing me my only shot at a little computer time). Anyway, I posted about the Trinity Retreat last year, and this year's retreat was no-less wonderful. Forgive me as I post unedited pics with relatively little commentary in my attempt to catch up... but know that this weekend was important enough to us that we specifically designed our departure to the US around being able to attend the retreat. No joke. And we were not disappointed...

The retreat center (also in Normandy, though a different location from last year's stay) was beautiful:

And included a volleyball court:

Which we made very good use of:

Fabulous playground equipment:

And peaceful places to walk and appreciate the beauty of God's creation:

I got particularly carried away when Oliver found the old horse fence... fun to play with the light and angles, though I confess I wish he were not in sweatpants and his giant coat. Ah, well:

Though I was negligent in taking pics during many of the activities, I did catch Aubrey and Peter looking adorable in the dining hall:

And Tim and Rachel singing Billy Jean during karaoke:

We had the blessing of childcare provided by a sister church, so we enjoyed incredible worship and teaching from Al, Tim, and Todd; we visited a nearby antique/junk sale (which was so fun!); we played some seriously fabulous group games (organized by yours truly ;), and we even enjoyed a salsa lesson from one of our church members who is a professional instructor. Overall, it was a time filled with joy, laughter, encouragement, challenge, and (for us) great sadness that we were leaving this family we had fallen in love with over the past two years. To all of our brothers and sisters at Trinity, may God bless you richly and continue to give you the grace to love Him and others... until we see you all someday in heaven (and hopefully before!).

Velib Paris

As one last hoorah before we left Paris, Chris and I decided to take a morning date while Oliver was at school. We dropped him off and then walked down the street to the velib station, the place where you can use your metro pass to get a bike to ride. I've always wanted to do it, but since I was either pregnant or carrying a baby the entire time I've lived there, I never had the opportunity. So we headed off towards the river. We took a beautiful ride past Les Invalides, along the river by Pont d'Alexandra III, and crossed over the Seine at the Place de la Concorde. The feeling of the cold November wind on our faces as we raced down the quai was ironically a balm on the wound of our coming departure from the city of lights.

While crossing the river, we brought out the camera to document our little outing, and Chris promptly asked to take a picture of me with the river behind. I foolishly thought he was taking a picture of me and the city... alas, I was wrong:

Oh well, we remedied that as we took more pictures crossing the bridge:

With the Place de la Concorde:

And the Assemble Nationale:

We then continued on the other side of the river...

Past the Musee d'Orsay:

And other beautiful views:

We finally turned when we reached the Louvre where we attempted a shot together:

And then parked the bikes and headed for some incredible hot chocolate at Angelina's. Such a fabulous morning!

After our "day date," I returned to pick up Oliver from school and finally took those pictures I've been promising of the charming alley where his school is located. Could this place be any cuter?

Despite the yucky, cloudy morning, it was one of my favorite memories of our time there... So glad we had the chance before we left!

Gabriel's Birthday Party

Just a couple of weeks before we left Paris, we had the privilege of celebrating our friend Gabriel's second birthday. Is this little man cute or what?

I was too slow on the cake, but you can still see his mom Mila's adorable work:

And Oliver's dirty face asking for more... I guess he liked his first taste of chocolate:

We enjoyed visiting with our friends Isa and baby Louis:

And Isa and Mila take fabulous pictures, as always:

Baby Louis was just too cute to pass up:

Aubrey and the balloons were a favorite with all the kids:

And Gabriel, of course, loved opening and playing with his new presents:

Joe, Louis' daddy, was kind enough to entertain my little one with his excellent guitar skills:

And Gabriel decided he wanted to play along:

Best of all, Gabriel and Oli did what they always do best: run, play, and laugh until the cry...

We will miss you guys!

Play Group Brunch

My fabulous Paris play group (which was formed from our parenting/birthing class) had the privilege of getting together one last time for brunch before we left Paris. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, and as you know if you've read my blog for long, I am TERRIBLE at taking photos with my iphone. But it had to suffice...

The restaurant was great. They even had two high chairs (not enough for our group, of course, but that's two more than most Paris restaurants have!), a fish tank, some stairs, an almost-empty room for us, and a courtyard. How could a toddler not have a blast?

We started with some attempts at a group photo on the stairs:

But Oliver quickly found the fish tank more fascinating:

So the others decided to join us (he's such a trend setter!):

And we finished with a group stroller photo in the courtyard:

Yay for this precious group and all it's been for us over the last two years... I will miss them greatly!

Au revoir, Paris!

As I sit on the airplane to Houston, I confess that I’m a little numb emotionally. My toddler is thoroughly enjoying Baby Einstein on the ipad (thank you David, Tracie, and Elisa!!), and I am finally finding a moment to answer emails and process our move. Sad? Definitely. Excited? I will be when I have a little more energy. Feeling abundantly blessed beyond all I could imagine or deserve? Undoubtedly.

I have quite a few posts to catch up on, but I am going to break my usual m.o. and post my thoughts today. Now. At this moment. Or I guess they won’t actually post until I connect to the internet this evening, but still… almost real-time coverage. Though I could share a million sentimental or profound thoughts (or so I’d like to imagine), I think a more fun closure to our two years in Paris would be some top 10 lists… So here I go in my sleep-deprived, nausea-laden, toddler-distracted, hormone-imbalanced state.

10 things I will NOT miss about Paris (in no particular order):

1. Required swim caps at the public pools. Need I say more?
2. Being bombarded by but not being able to consume salads, or French wine, or coffee, or cheese, or most of the spectacular French delicacies because I’m pregnant.
3. Having to carry home anything we buy.Note: In order to do this, I had to transfer the contents of the stroller (i.e. my son) to my hip, tie him there using a sheet which happened to be under the stroller, and walk home in a zig-zag line as I pushed the two-handled stroller with only one hand.
4. Having to process and translate mentally (and often research manually) EVERYTHING before I can do it: what are peanuts called? How do you pronounce them? What do I plan to use them for? And any other imaginable question someone might ask me when I’m trying to find them at the store.
5. Going into a situation feeling confident that I am ready for any and all said questions concerning the topic at hand, only to have my morale crushed by a mumbler whom I can’t undestand to save my life or a nosy busybody who insists on asking questions outside my scope of preparation and comprehension, forcing me to be the stupid American who has lived in Paris for two years and still can’t buy a package of peanuts for a summer salad.
6. The lack of decent Mexican food.
7. The way they look at me like I’m crazy when I ask for ice in my drink.
8. The difficult task of finding clean, accessible restrooms with space to change a baby’s diaper.
9. The Frenchies’ incessant need for paper work. Despite incredible advances in some areas, the French want multiple hard copies of everything. Twice. And then they want it translated into French. Twice. And you still have to appear in person.
10. Metro stairs. While pregnant. While nauseated. While carrying a 30-pound (yes, I said it, 30-pound) 17-month-old. And my purse. And the diaper bag. And sometimes the stroller, too.

10 things I can’t wait to do in Houston (also in no particular order):

1. Hug my family.
2. Eat Mexican food. Lots of it. Daily.
3. Sit on a comfy couch.
4. Let Oliver play in the backyard.
5. Wear flip flops outside the house and not have someone look at me like I walked out in my underwear.
6. Throw all my necessary junk (PLUS a whole bunch I don’t even need) into the back of my SUV and drive around with it just in case we might need it later that day.
7. Eat LOTS and LOTS of Sonic ice.
8. Grill out on our screened porch in December while wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt.
9. Visit the big HEB and listen to the hosts of angels that sings each time I enter.
10. Take Oliver with me to the gym where a bunch of nice ladies and cool toys are waiting to play with him.

10 things I will miss terribly about living in Paris (again, no particular order… though I’m sorry to be breaking my previous promise not to get sentimental. Sue me.):

1. Trinity International Church: the incredible mixture of age, ethnicity, background, interest, occupation… a little taste of “every tribe, tongue, and nation.”
2. Being a mere 10 minute walk from the Eiffel tower, with a fabulous playground, lots of dogs to entertain Oliver, running paths, and (of course) the view.
3. Tartes citrons (lemon tarts).
4. Tartes framboises (raspberry tarts).
5. The fresh produce at the outdoor market.
6. Being a mere 2 minute walk from said outdoor market.
7. Our friends (i.e. my regular vendors who adore Oliver) at the outdoor market.
8. Fresh, cheap bread available on every corner. And the pain au chocolat at the same place. And the pastries. And did I mention I like boulangeries?
9. The beauty of the city, the ease of the public transportation (when you aren’t toting a toddler), the numerous public parks, the eclectic mix of people and languages, the museums, the obsession with good food. In a word, the culture.
10. The gorgeous, precious, fascinating, loving people I met. My friends from the US, France, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Egypt, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Nepal, Cambodia, Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, South Africa, Columbia, and whatever country I’m sure I’m forgetting at this moment. Thank you for enriching my life over these past 2 years.

A bientot, Paris!