Natalie's 4th birthday party

Last night Natalie had her birthday party with her friends. We had a Strawberry Shortcake theme, the girls made necklaces & bracelets and also did a strawberry craft! We enjoyed pizza & muchies for dinner. Natalie love all of her birthday gifts (she told me after that opening gifts was her favorite part!) We finished the evening with a delicious cake. The girls all had a wonderful time and Natalie is ready for another party she said!

p.s. I used the same cake pan that my mom used for my 4th birtday party. I plan to frame the pictures side by side!

I know what you're thinking... "Where has this family been? I've been checking their blog and no new posts." Life has been busy around here. But I am making it my new years resolution to post one new blog every week (and now that I am publishing this, you can all hold me to it!)

So, what has been keeping us busy? I know you are wondering. We have finally gotten all the boxes unpacked in our apartment. That didn't actually take too long as I made it my goal to get settled as quickly as possibly before life here started moving- and moving it does! We have had many interesting experiences trying to find stores and shops, navigating the roads (parking in a city), and many other daily chores for me are now much more adventurous now that I am in a foreign country! For example, grocery shopping... alwasys a unforgetable experience! Think Walmart, but everthing in French and items that are completly new you have never seen before. Also, there is a huge fresh fish area and Natalie always scrunches her nose and says "its so stinky!" We also have wonderful smaller grocery stores in our neighborhood that the kids and I often walk to during the week as well as a outdoor market (3x a week) that has fresh produce and goods!

I have recently joined a online group for English speaking moms and families called Message Paris. I am excited about this new avenue and way to connect with other English speaking moms. They organize playgroups, coffee times and community activities. I am going to my first moms night out this Friday and hope to build some new friendships. We are always looking to build relationships with the English speakers here in hopes that we can introduce more and more people to the Bridge.

Stephen has been busy doing numerous things. His role is to connect with the students that are interested in the Engage internship program, as well as constant contact with with the MA's on our team, coordinating the setup at our new facility and connecting with people that visit the Bridge website.

The kids are both doing well! Natalie just had a birthday. She is now 4! She is in a constant state of pretend...she loves dressing up and is always pretending she is sleeping beauty, cinderella or some other princess. She often tells me she is not Natalie she is sleeping beauty or a ballerina! She has a very big immagination! Landon is such a content little guy! I am not sure I could have handled 2 busy Natalies. He has begun really playing with his toys. He is so happy just to sit and move animals and blocks from one container to another. He has yet to crawl on his knees (hoping he will get this soon as his first birthday is coming up) though that hasn't stopped him from getting around. He has mastered the "army crawl" sitting on his bottom. Its very amusing to watch, but he gets where he wants to go doing this. He has started trying to pull up to things too! He is such a happy little guy... always smiling and excited about everthing. We are so blessed to have two amazing kids.

Last week we went to Paris to explore the Christmas market they have set up. I have attached some pictures of our outing! Enjoy! I hope to post again before Christmas, but if not, I'll see you again after as I have now committed myself to a weekly post (what's your new years resolution?) Love to all of our friends and family this holiday! We pray you have a wonderful Christmas and blessed new year!

Click on picture to enlarge...might be a little fuzzy (sorry)!

Our First Week In Paris

I am not sure I could even begin to blog about what our family has learned and experienced in our first week in Paris! From the cultural things like learning to eat with our fork in the left and knife in the right to parking in very small tight parking places, learning many new French words, observing cultural things and enjoying tasty foods like pastries, coffee, and French bread.

A few fun high lights:

-Natalie thought the VERY small sink in the Bradford's bathroom was super cute and wanted one in our house!

-Soon after we got to the Eiffel Tower Natalie had to go potty. So we went searching for restrooms only to discover there small "restrooms" that you go down under the city to use. There is a small charge to use these toilets. We decided it was a fancy port-a-potty restroom that was actually clean...and worth the change!

-Parking seems to be a matter of seeing a spot and taking it. Even if you park on the opposite side of the street in the wrong direction. If your car will fit, take it! Stephen's truck would have never fit down some of these amazingly small streets. And Stephen is getting really good at zipping in and out of the round-a-bouts and tight corners. I plan to stick to my "back seat driving" and give him directions a little bit longer!

-We have explored Saint-Germain-en-Laye. This is the district that we are looking for an apartment in, mainly because of its location to the bus stops and RER (train system) to the center of Paris, but also because so many internationals live in the area. What an incredible opportunity we have as a family to live in a area where God has brought the people of the world to live so close together! We have also observed that there are many students in this district and we are excited about the opportunity to reach out to them.

On Sunday, we attended our first core meeting! It was so great to finally meet the team members that we had been facebooking, hearing about, and praying for this past year or so. We had our team, plus a few other people from the city that want to join the core group and help begin the church. What an amazing morning it was! Natalie jumped right in and loved playing with her new friends and Landon enjoyed all the attention he was receiving!

We are excited about all the new things that are ahead for our family in the coming weeks and months! Below I have posted some pictures from our first week. Enjoy!

1. Natalie at the Eiffel Tower- she was SO excited to see it!!
2. Stephen and Natalie enjoying a baguette

3. City Street

4. View of Saint Germain

5. Natalie & Stephen in front of the Chateau de Saint-Germain. Yes, Natalie was excited to see a real castle, and wanted to know where the princess and her carriage was!
6. Landon and I looking out over La Defense (business part of Paris). The Eiffel tower is just to the right, but did not come out clear in the picture.
7. Stephen demonstrating the very small parking space in the parking garage. Its important to line up just right as we found out today, so that you don't hit the brick walls that divide each space.

8 & 9. Eiffel Tower pictures

10. Flower shop in Saint Germain

Dance Me Daddy

A month ago I purchased the book Dance Me Daddy for Natalie. Her and Stephen have been reading it every night. It has now become her favorite book. We often hear her quoting the book but the other night she read it from memorization- the whole book. Today I asked her to read it to me and I got it on video.

so enjoy Dance Me Daddy, read by Natalie.

Where did my summer go?

Summer has just flown by, like I am sure it has for everyone! We have spent many days traveling, visiting with family & friends, and speaking at churches.
The kids are both growing and getting the opportunity to experience new places, sights and even foods! Natalie has tried and loved shrimp and salmon, while Landon is learning to like his veggies!
Here a a few pictures from our summer so far!

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Happy 6 month Birthday Landon!

Landon~

6 months ago today I was waiting for your arrival!  Waiting to see your tiny toes and beautiful smile!  I can't imagine my life without you in it!  You have brought so much joy to our family and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you and how much you will grow!  

Love you lots!  Happy 6 month birthday!

Mommy

new favorite food

French bread sliced thin, warmed + Nutella spread on top + sliced strawberries = just about the best thing I have ever tasted!

Try it tonight!  You just can't have one slice!