Notre Dame

Notre Dame does not disappoint! I am in awe of all that this cathedral includes.

Last weekend we were very excited to get to sit in on a service inside Notre Dame. The cathedral was packed and we felt so blessed to get to experience the cathedral in this way.

We visited the Place des Vosges the other day. It is the oldest planned square in Paris. It was built in the early 1600s and was a fun place to go. The inner square was full of people relaxing, sunbathing, and kids running around. We walked around the outside of the square (see picture below) and then played a bit in the center.

Sacre-Coeur

The area of Sacre-Coeur contains the highest point in Paris as well as an amazing view of the city. We climbed up the streets and arrived at this point. Beautiful!

This is Sacre-Coeur Basilica on top of the highest point in Paris.

At the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the basilica, we found slides and a carousel awaiting us. There are parks for kids all over the city! We're loving it!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Out and About

What is a trip to Paris without a visit and a picture of the Eiffel Tower! Here it is!

We learned about this large department store, Printemps, and the fact that it has a great view of the city from the top (thank you Jason L.!) We thought the outside was very impressive and enjoyed taking the journy to see the view.

Here is the view from the top of the Printemps. You can see the Pantheon in the distance. It's not the best picture, but it give you an idea of the city.

This is Pompidou Square. The Pompidou is a very unique building in its own right. It resembles a large hamster cage and contains a wonderful art museum. We had a small picnic outside and enjoyed all of the people as well as a spontaneous puppet show.

An outing with Mommy!

Our last post contained a picture of the Jardin de Luxembourg here in Paris. We went there with friends and played in the VERY large playground with the kids. A couple of days ago, Dan and I decided to go on our own while Daddy was in class. We had such a great time. The park is one of the largest, if not the largest, in Paris and has so much to enjoy. We have already been back on our own a second time and I imagine will make several more trips in the mornings before we leave Paris. It's beaufiful!

Our self portrait!

This is the beautiful, large fountain in the middle of the park. We watched the ducks and threw rocks into the water for quite some time.

The grounds have so much! In one spot we found large sandboxes and kiddie pools. There were lots of other kids Dan's age, so I put Dan in his swimsuit and he had a blast! (He's the one bending over in a blue swimsuit).

Dan continues to love balls. When we saw the tennis courts and the tennis ball going back and forth, he had to take a look :)

Welcome to Paris!

Our time in Paris has been wonderful so far. Joe is loving learning French (and getting quite good at his pronunciation :). We are having a blast exploring the city. Thus far we have been to the Louvre, Notre Dame, Jardin de Luxembourg, Jardin de Plantes, Arc de Triomphe, Opera House, Pantheon.....the list goes on! We hope to get deeper looks into many of these spots. Dan has been such a trooper. He is loving all of the parks throughout the city and we have several close to our apartment that he loves. The first two pictures below are of the entrance to our apartment. We are off of a quiet street and love walking through this courtyard to go up to our temporary home. Our bedroom window is right above the archway.

Last Days in St. Andrews

During our last few days in St. Andrews, we tried to make the most of our time. We visited friends, visited favorite spots, and treasured all the memories we have made. The day before we left, Dan and I went to the beach to meet up with other St. Andrews moms and kiddos. Later in the day we went to town for a local festival. Dan got a blue balloon and loved the jazz music in the center of town. We had a great time enjoying our last day in this special way. We made our way from St. Andrews to Paris the next day, but this is not goodbye to Scotland!!!





This video was taken at the park behind our house. We made our way there just about every day and it has given us so much joy. We will definitely miss this park!

Family Update

I realized that most of you probably know where our family is headed in the coming months, but some of you may not!!! Our time in St. Andrews has been wonderful and such a blessing, but the Lord is moving us to new and exciting places. First of all, we are currently in Paris for a month! Joe received a bursary to live and take intensive French courses here for the month of August. We are having a great time so far and loving all that Paris has to offer. We are living in District 10 with two other families from St. Andrews. Our apartment is great and in such a lively location. Fun bakeries, beautiful sites, parks for Dan AND very close to the Metro. We've been using our afternoons (Joe has class in the mornings) to jump on the metro to see all the different areas of the city. More to come on Paris........

Our other big news is that as soon as we return from Paris, we are moving up into the Highlands of Scotland. Joe has accepted a preaching position at a very small church in Kiltarlity. It is a very small town about 12 miles west of Inverness. Joe will be preaching weekly and continuing with his PhD thesis through the University of St. Andrews. This means that he will sometimes commute weekly to St. Andrews for seminars or meetings with his advisors. We will be living in a cottage provided by the church on an old croft (farm). It is just a half of a mile from the church and "town" (post office and town hall). We can't express how excited we are about this opportunity. We made a trip to Kiltarlity about a month ago and met the church members and got a feel for what would be our new home. We loved it! The people were so kind and welcoming, the cottage was much more than we hoped for, and Joe is thrilled to get to preach. The Highlands of Scotland are absolutely beautiful so we're really looking forward to spending time in another beautiful landscape.

We expect life to be very different in Kiltarlity in comparison to our life in St. Andrews. For starters, we will have a car :) We will still walk to town and church; however, we will do all of our shopping in Inverness or Dingwall. The biggest change will be the addition of our new little one roughly two months after our arrival. We can't wait!

We'd really appreciate all of your prayers as our family makes this big transition. Also, please pray for Kiltarlity and our ministry there. Thank you so much!