Tchad

Nope, it's not a typo.  "Tchad" is the official French spelling of the country we are learning to call home.  We can hardly believe a month has passed since we landed in the African Sahel!

What have we been doing?

We gave ourselves a week to settle a bit -- unpacking, organizing, orienting -- the usual post-move stuff.  And then, well, we dove in head first...

Sunset
(Actually looking over at Cameroon)

Not literally...

G is finishing her 3rd week at her new (still in French) school and has enjoyed every minute!  We are thankful for the new friends she has made, and we are happy that she can spend her mornings in a French-speaking environment.  She's also really enjoyed getting to know other English-speaking kiddos who live nearby and to her delight many afternoons are spent playing with them.

1st day in 4K

Courtyard of G's school

School playground

S has really taken off...literally...he's improved his crawling speed although still mostly using "army-style," he's pulling up and trying to cruise along furniture/table/etc, he's discovered cabinet doors and to his delight the contents within...

G enjoys the more advanced "play" that S can join in now.  Get the two of them together with a couple empty Nido (powdered milk) tins and wooden spoons and you have quite the show!!

And the adults?  Well, we have become children again.  At least it feels that way for 3 hours a day while we learn Chadian Arabic -- our latest linguistic adventure!  We are VERY thankful for A, our talented and patient language tutor; she is truly an answer to prayer.

Enjoying a little "green" space
(NOT the normal sight here...this is taken on the river bank)

We appreciate your continued prayers for us.

DDG&S

Bon voyage!

We are off!!  Prayers appreciated.  Next update from Tchad...
DDG&S

Preparing to say "Au Revoir"...for now

Now that our official French coursework is complete, we have entered into a transition phase.  What does that mean?  A LOT of sorting, pruning, packing, repacking, ordering, gifting, and cleaning balanced around enjoying our last weeks in France.  

As you may have noticed, blogging has taken a bit of a backseat...but we thought we would share some recent happenings:

Last week G was able to participate in McDo's (yep that's French for McDonalds) "Kids Sport" Day.  Apparently McDo is sponsoring a touring "Kids Sport" festival that travels to cities across France.  Kids receive a free t-shirt (G was thrilled that her's was pink!), a sport journal and a "Pass'sport."  There were various stations set-up (hand-ball, judo, break-dancing, biking...) for the kids to visit, participate in a 15-20 minute hands-on lesson/practice and then get a stamp in their "pass'sport"!  Actually a great way to get kids excited to be ACTIVE!!

Judo

Learning moves with her good friend S

Break-dancing

Proud of her Pass'sport stamps

We've also done some celebrating...

Sims turned 8 months!

we had our 9th wedding anniversary, and...

Di turned 30-something : )

Decorating cupcakes to celebrate

And we've said "good-bye-for-now" to some friends...

S & A playing during our final lunch-date

We find exploring new parks to be a good way to cheer us up after parting ways with loved ones.  Everyone enjoyed this park in Thônes after we dropped Nana, Papa & Nanny off at the airport:

It is a bittersweet time but we know staying in France for this transition phase was a good decision.  It's given us time to rest, to play, to complete the tasks above, to explore new places while visiting some other places that have become favorites and to say good-bye (for now)...

Stay tuned for highlights from our 3-day road trip around Mont Blanc!

DDG&S

Nanny in France!!

Yep, we were blessed during July to have Nanny, Dianna's 87-year-old grandmother, in France with us!!  We are very thankful that God gave us this special time with her, and we are grateful that Dianna's parents (a.k.a. Nana & Papa) could help make this dream a reality.  "They" kept "us" hopping the 3 weeks they were here : )

While Dean & Dianna were completing their summer French conversation course, Gracie and Sims kept Nanny, Nana & Papa busy, busy, busy.  And we all made the most of all the free moments in between.

Here's a photo journal of some of our July highlights...

Sims & Nanny getting acquainted

G playing with a very special gift:
original Barbie furniture that belonged to Nana's 1st cousin
(Thanks Aunt Sarah Grace!!)

Ice Cream Cone SMOREs...YUM!!

Saying "au revoir" to our dear friends the B family

THANKs to ALL who showered us with clothes!!
G & S are well prepared for the upcoming 2-3 years : )

G showing Nanny & Nana the "fish"
at our local grocery store

Picnic at Lake Roseland

Lots of snuggles with Papa

Visiting Conflans

Our favorite local artist's shop in Conflans

Conflans' gardens with panoramic view of Albertville

Picnic -- despite the rainy, cool weather -- at Fort Tamie

Lyon, France

Biking in Lyon
(one of Dianna's highlights)

Special moments together

D&D enjoyed a date lunch at the local creperie

Turino, ITALY

Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour for our day-trip to Italy

Exploring a medieval city in Valentino Park
Turin, Italy

Castle de Miolans

Enjoying our self-guided castle tour

G wasn't so sure about the costume...

Our mentors from Wichita, KS came for a visit, too!

Four generations

Birthday Tea Party
Thanks again to Aunt Sarah Grace for the lovely tea set!!

Dianna & Nanny's joint birthday party

A double rainbow on our last night together!

We are truly grateful for God's many blessings to us throughout this year in France.  Being away from our family and friends in the U.S. is definitely the hardest part of our journey.  We are thankful for the moments we share with them (in person, via skype, on the phone, emails, "snail" mail, etc.) and look forward to more...

Resting on HIS promises,
DDG&S

Graduated, again!

Well, we are happy to report that by the end of this week, we will have all graduated from our "French courses" -- Dean from Level B1.2, Dianna from Level B1.1, Gracie from 3-K and Sims from the nursery!!

Here are a few pics from last night's graduation ceremony and some pics of our classes...

Certificates of Language Competency

Dianna's teacher, Anne, and school director, Ambroise

Majority of the graduating students...

Dean's Class

Most of Dianna's class awaiting one of many exams...

Dianna's Class...including the babies

Sims' Class, AKA the Nursery
(He's to the right of middle in light blue onesie)

AND here are some pics of G with her class at the preschool's end-of-the-year celebration...

G's class
(She's in the middle of the row in red t-shirt pointing)

Getting ready to sing and dance...

One of the older classes
but picture shows off the beautiful Alps behind the school!

We've all had wonderful experiences throughout our 10-month French study AND we've all learned a TON!!  Dean & Dianna still have a 3-week summer conversation course to complete before we start packing up and preparing for our next big move in mid-August...

Grateful Graduates,
DDG&S