Birthday's

I don't think I have ever experienced a birthday with so much crying, tears, laughter, and smiles. Only Lydia .... as Rachael describes her "sweet and spicy". Which is so true!

Getting your ears pierced is a very dramatic event. Especially in the eyes of a five year old. Lydia has been talking about getting her ears pierced for a pretty long time. So this was the day, it was gonna happen! Little did we know it was gonna be filled with crying and begging. But she put her big girl pants on and went through with it. And oh how she loved it!

All her wishes came true! Getting her ears pierced, her bunny cake, hello kitty, and  her Rapunzel movie :) She was one happy five year old!

It's only necessary...

That I blog about the three most supportive women in my life. Considering yesterday was mother's day. 

This is a little shout out to my mom and grandma's for loving and supporting me even an ocean away!

Happy Mother's Day

p.s. It's Lydia's birthday today so I am sure I will put up photos shortly about all the exciting plans we have today :)

Borders of the Heart

This book was about romance and suspense. It was a pretty good choice to read while at the beach. 

Desperate to escape haunting memories, J. D.  travels from Nashville to Tucson and volunteers on an organic farm. The hardened landowner has one prevailing rule: If J. D. sees an "illegal," call the border patrol. But when an early morning ride along the fence line leads him to a beautiful young woman named Maria, near death in the desert, his heart pulls him in another direction. Longing to atone for the choices that drove him to Tucson, J. D. hides her and unleashes a chain of deadly events he could never have imagined. Soon they are running from a killer and fighting for their lives. As secrets of their pasts emerge, J. D. realizes that saving Maria may be the only way to save himself.

A very good book and it's by a christian author so you know it's gonna be clean. I would give this book a four star rating out of five. 

Abbaye De Hautecombe

Yesterday was Wednesday so naturally we had it off but it was also a holiday. Celebrating the end of World War II. So yesterday we went out with a couple of the other missionary families, went to go check out a local Abbaye. 

To get to the Abbaye, we had to ride a boat across a lake. 

The view was so pretty.

This abbaye is considered a historical abbaye in France. It has been around since 12th century and was build by a Queen and King of France. 

Even though this abbaye is home to many monks and studying students, we didn't get to see any. We did meet a young American who was taking her vows later to become a nun. I guess that is pretty cool. 

This abbaye mark church number 20 for me here in Europe. I only have 80 more to go to reach my goal of 100. 

Friends & French

Many who know me know that I enjoyed watching the show Friends. I find it very funny. And I ran across a clip of Friends the other day that I feel like I can relate to a lot. 

Oh. How I can so relate to Joey and how I very often I feel like that. I hope you all got a little smile over this video. 

Sisters ♥

This post is a little call out to my sisters...

Even though we are miles apart. We find a way to stay connected. Right now it just happens to be through blogging. Andrea blogs about family and friends, Rachel blogs about politics and I blog about traveling. Even though there all different, it's our way of staying connected. Check out their blogs from the link on the left side :)

On a cold cold wet day!

I am sure it is beautiful bright and sunny back home. I know this because I checked the forecast :)

Unlike our forecast which is mostly rainy for the rest of the week. And on a rainy day like this there is nothing more perfect then to grab a cup a coffee and a couple of books. Josiah and I read the "Cat and the Hat" and a few Berenstain Bear books. But with having break this past week and Rachel being in Holland I have had a lot of down time. So I have got a lot of reading done myself. One of them being, "Fatherless Generation". 

This book was very good. It was recommended by my mom who had read that it had a really good review. This book is about our generation growing up without Father's and how it is affecting our family lives, society, and even our government. I would recommend this book to anyone working with kids. It helps us understand why our society is the way it is and how we can prevent it from getting worse. This book was also a really short read. I read it in less then a day. It was very interesting and had my attention the whole time. Have you read any good books lately? Let me know I wouldn't mind reading them myself.