Bienvenue!!

Bonjour!!

Splendid scenery surrounds us here in Albertville, France -- absolutely splendid!!  The views from our 3rd floor apartment are spectacular, quite a refreshing change which we are happy to soak in over the next 10 months.  We look forward to watching the landscape change with the seasons.

Our travel was smooth.  Thanks for praying!

Gracie starting out the trip by watching a video on
"Fee," her stuffed ipod holder.

Family plane shot...early in the journey

We arrived Thursday evening and were greeted by a few other students who were truly a blessing -- they happily carried all our trunks up 3 flights of stairs, made sure we had basic essentials in place (food, internet code, etc), and warmly welcomed us to our new community.

Dean and G with all our bags navigating Geneva airport

Gracie slept her way through our arrival and on into the next morning.

On Friday though, she was thrilled to learn that there are MANY new friends living here on campus with us -- a few who are just her age, too!  The sandbox and scooters are her current favorites.  As is wearing her PINK boots -- great pick Aunt Michaele (even though we've had NO rain, these boots are already well broken in)!

The last few days have been a hodge podge of activity: unpacking, exploring, stocking our kitchen and getting other odds and ends.  Many families have vehicles and have been kind enough to let us tag-along on grocery store runs and even an IKEA trip!

Another highlight for Gracie was touring her new school -- one of the local French preschools.  Her first day is Tuesday, and she is ready!

School director giving all the new
 "non-French" parents and kids a quick tour

Today we attended a church service nearby, mumbled our way through some French hymns, and tried to follow the sermon (at least reading the corresponding passages).  The congregation is small but their love for our Lord was vibrant and alive.

Tomorrow is our last day before scheduled school activities begin, so we hope to spend it exploring more of Albertville!

Street just outside the CEF (our language school) campus

Lovin' the PINK boots!!

Merci, Au revoir --
DDG + K5

Are we THERE yet?

Well departure day is here at last!!

Sorry for the lack of updates these past 4 weeks.  Much has happened since completing Phase 4 training at TEAM and making our way eastward for our last month in the US.  And since this post is being written enroute to Atlanta airport there will be no pictures : (  Perhaps we will be able to post some highlights of our pre-departure weeks once we arrive in France -- although by then you'll be more interested in seeing pics of the Alps!

True to our usual M.O. -- we have packed the last month full.

• TEAM Phase 4 -- with special visit from dear friends heading to SE Asia
• TN visit with Dean's sis and bro-in-law
• Nona & Boppy visit complete with celebration of our 8th wedding Anniversary
• Time with Granddaddy & family
• Journey to Healing conference -- time of spiritual renewal and prayer
• VA trip to:

•  meet Eliana the newest member of "JAME" (nickname for Dean's bro's growing family...previously "JAM")
• visit the Ledfords -- our flower girls have grown UP
• visit the Chas -- ministry partners we met at the Crescent Project

• SC family and friend time at Nanny's, Nana & Papa's lake house, Nona's, Uncle Darol's lake house (a special time for Dean with some prayer warrior men)
• Skype dates -- unfortunately we were unable to complete them all (Sorry Uncle Johnny!!)

• PACKING!!!  Thankful to have our 9 checked bags + carry-ons packed to the max : )

WHEW!!!  So if you wondered what we've been up to, there are the "Cliff Notes."

And now we are nearing Atlanta where we will say our final farewells and let the adventure of our first term truly begin...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your faithful prayers, generous support and consistent encouragement!!  We are blessed that we do not do this alone -- we go out as an extension of family -- our family, your family, GOD's Family!

For HIS glory!

Bon voyage...
DDG + K5

Circle of Life

This past month has truly been a time of celebrating the circle of life.

On July 28th our new niece, Eliana Mae, made her birthday debut!  We were so glad to meet her and visit with her proud parents and big sis, Anabel, as well as Nona during our Virginia trip, August 12-17th.

On August 4th our dear Granddaddy went to be with Jesus.  We were blessed to spend his final week at his bedside along with Dianna's family.  A bittersweet time to let him go -- but clearly time given his long fight with multiple health issues.  Please continue to pray for us all, especially Nanny, his sweetheart for 66+ years!

And our sweet little baby has entered into his 3rd trimester -- rolling, kicking, tumbling all the while!

We are reminded of the Lord's gift of life to us and the sweet blessing of sharing life with others.

Celebrating through tears,
DD&G

Peoria-Chicago-Wheaton, IL

Since leaving Wichita last week, we made our way to Illinois where we have made several stops.

First Stop:  Peoria, IL

We were VERY excited to reunite with the Carrigans!!  Hard to believe a year has passed since our families were together -- especially since we lived in close community from July 2011-June 2012 during Dean and Marc's fellowship training.

AND we got to meet baby Isaac at long last!!

All the kiddos

The kids were fast friends and played GREAT together while the adults enjoyed catching up and sharing from our hearts how God is leading us.  Truly a sweet time!!

Second Stop:  Downtown Chicago

The French visa process has definitely been a new experience for us.  It has been far more involved than any previous visa application, AND it required appearance IN PERSON to submit the application.  We were assigned to the consulate in Chicago which is a blessing since we were coming to Illinois for training at TEAM anyway -- so we made our appointments for the Friday before our TEAM training started.

Actually there have been MANY blessings throughout this visa process:

--church member fluent in French to help us complete application (several parts required in French)
--friend who is a notary and was able to notarized all required documents (since bank refused to notarize anything that was not in English)
--replacement marriage certificate received within an hour of requesting (truly an amazing story -- ask us to share it with you sometime)
--Priceline hotel at a GREAT price that was 0.3 miles from the French consulate

And these are just the highlights!  Thank you to ALL who have been (and continue) praying for our visas.  We repeatedly saw how God was answering your prayers by overcoming obstacles.  Our applications were successfully submitted -- hopefully next week we will learn if they have been approved so please keep praying!

Gracie enjoying the downtown view from our hotel room

G's preferred mode of travel while downtown

After the consulate appointments -- which were VERY efficient and ended earlier than expected -- we took Gracie to nearby Millennium Park as a reward for her excellent behavior.

At first she was bummed because this "park" did not consist of the "playground" she had been imaging.  But thankfully there was a Family Fun Festival complete with a tent full of crafts and games -- and she quickly changed her tune!

Decorating a "link" for a paper chain

Watching her link be added to the chain

Once her craft attention span reached its limited, we wander over to a fountain so she could cool off -- with nearly every other kid in Chicago (so it seemed)!

Playing in the water

Although we don't consider ourselves "big city" folks, we enjoyed our 24-hour adventure downtown.

Third Stop: Wheaton (Carol Stream), IL
TEAM Headquarters

After completing our visa task -- and before the 24-hours was up on our fixed rate spot in a downtown Chicago self-park garage -- we headed for TEAM headquarters which will serve as our "home" for the next 9 days.

Gracie has truly taken all of this transition very well.  Several times a day she asks, "Where are we going next?"  Since arriving at TEAM, she seems quite satisfied to stay put.  Our training, however, did not start until a few days after our arrival, so we found some fun, free, family activities to fill our time...

Kline Creek Farm -- a living history farm fashioned and run in 1890s style

Collecting eggs

So proud -- NONE cracked!!

Watching the bee-keepers

Loving on a little lamb

Helping "Mr. Farmer" scrub the water tank

Visiting the horses

Trying her hand at the plow

 

Willowbrook Wildlife Center -- an education and animal rehabilitation center

Saying "Hi" to a bunny

Butterfly Garden

Exploring the different exhibits

Bobcat

Paw print stamps

Deer print

Yes, this is a RAT!!
G's comment:  "He's SOOOO Cute!"

Admiring the dove

Both of these activities were perfect fits for Gracie -- and us!  It is particularly fun to watch as she discovers new places, people and things...we are thankful for her extroverted, adventurous spirit!

Refreshed in the midwest,

DD&G

Family, Friends, Farewells...

The past several weeks seem quite a blur.  They have been FULL weeks, and the highlights (at least) are worth sharing.

As mentioned in our previous post, we managed to squeeze in a South Carolina long-weekend for July 4th.  In addition to gender reveal parties, we had lots of outdoor fun with family!

G & Papa fishing

Nana's turn to help G catch fish

"Cheese"

Savoring the sweetness of summer

Picking flowers at Nona's...
especially a treat since G planted these flowers with Nona in May!

Loving the horses

Airplane ride with Boppy

We returned to Wichita late Monday night, July 8th -- just in time for one final week of work and school before leaving Wichita on Tuesday, July 16th.

Gracie's last week was a fun one.  Her class took two field trips -- one to a nearby bookshop for a special story time and another to the Children's Theatre for "Peter Rabbit."  We have been blessed by the loving staff at Jacob's Learning Ladder and will miss them!

Cookie Cake for G's last day

 Dean & Dianna were both blessed by farewell luncheons at work as well as sweet gifts -- candies for us as well as special things for baby boy!  It has been a privilege to serve and minister at GraceMed this past year, and we will miss our GraceMed family.

In the midst of packing and moving -- which would NOT have been completed without the help of church family and special friends -- we were able to savor our final moments (for now) with some dear friends.

Gracie & Gabi at Heartland's VBS

We also said to goodbye to our Heartland family.  Thanks for the prayerful send-off!!

Heartland Goodbyes

Final "Mr. Stan" snuggle

And, we squeezed in a little exercise-decompression time, too!

Whew ... DD&G