Fall is Here

Has it happened where you live? Has the weather suddenly turned very fall-like? It's certainly happened here.

Here's a look out our bedroom window. Proof that fall has come, and winter is not far away.


And, the chestnut trees are losing their little spiky balls...


...and the chestnuts from within find their way into the pants pockets of our boys more times than I care to admit!


The chestnut trees are definitely the first to turn colors, lose their leaves and nuts keeping the sidewalks between our home and school covered with stuff right now. Watch where you step, those balls can be ankle-twisters!

The little girls are decked-out in their warm weather garb again. Here's the back-side of our Pastor's daughter. (She wouldn't hold still for a photo. One day I'll get her in a pose!)


I just love the little girls in scarves, hats, tights, and fashion boots at the age of 2 even! It's just too cute!

As you might already know, I just took a one-month intensive French language class, which is finished!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!! (Can you tell I am happy about this? We definitely learned that 30 hours per week is TOO much school.)

On our last day of school, our class went to Luxembourg Gardens and played a game of boules. This is the game men typically play in the parks all over France. It's very much like bocce ball. Here are my classmates playing...



It was great fun!

And, one of my language teachers from last year got married last Saturday. It was so fun to be at her wedding ceremony. What a great cultural experience as well to witness a wedding. There were many similarities, and many differences.

For instance, there were no bridesmaids or groomsmen, but they did have witnesses who came up at one point in the service and who also signed the marriage license (or that's what I assumed they were signing during the service).

There was no unity candle. I asked my neighbor about that and he said he had never heard of such a thing.

They wrote out a prayer and prayed it together during the ceremony. I thought that was really neat.

And NOBODY brought gifts! Nobody but us, that is. There was no place to put gifts or cards at all. I asked my neighbor about this, and if I understood him correctly (this was all in French, mind you) the gifts are given personally at the couple's home or other location besides the wedding. They do, however register for gifts at major stores like we do.

All very interesting. Here's a snapshot from the wedding. (I really wanted to get a photo of Mark and I with the bride and groom, but it just wasn't appropriate at any point and time.)


The newlyweds greeting people at the back of the church. Don't they look happy! I love it.

I thought I'd include a photo I took last week. I do this a lot. I was trying to figure out if there was a way to have groceries delivered from a store that is on the other side of town; and how much it might cost. (I've heard this is possible.) So, I went to the store and found a sign on the wall that explained the process. I read it, and was pretty sure I understood it all, but just to be sure I took a photo. Here's the photo. My camera often has photos like this on it. Do you do stuff like this too?


Lastly, I'll include a photo of our whiteboard from last Wednesday. It is like a gift to see something like this.


It's God's grace. It was a good day, and I'm really glad others agreed that it was to such an extent that they wanted to declare it in this way!

So, there you have a quick snapshot look at some things from our lives right now. God bless you and au revoir for now!