The igloo

We had a white Christmas this year!!!! No one can remember the last time that happened, but it was definitely a LONG time ago!

The kids (that includes Philip and I when it snows...) had a blast building an igloo to rival all igloos.

Click on one of the links below to watch a video that gives you an inside look at the igloo and the fun we had.

The video with subtitles for those of you whose French is rusty

French video with no subtitles

First we built a snow woman, African style.

Then came the igloo...

 Then it snowed again and the igloo got a second room.

Then the cousins (the ones who live nearby) came over and everyone enjoyed the igloo.

Jérémie is home!!!!!

Monday we went to the Brussels airport to welcome home Jérémie. We, meaning all of us, minus Peter and Mélanie who couldn't skip school. The kids hoped to totally embarrass Jérémie at the airport and I think we succeeded.

Here I am, Jérémie's personal assistant with his body guards and his chauffeur.

 These body guards would scare off any paparazzi.

Jérémie's fans couldn't be stopped however!

He even had to sign autographs!

 Jérémie safe and sound and well protected.

Home again at last!

 Supper as a whole family again! Mélanie was taking the picture.

Happy Birthday I

We celebrated birthdays in 2010. I don't mean the usual birthdays, but the ones that end with a ZERO! My sister turned 40 in July, and her birthday gift from her husband was a Bahamas cruise in April for her with her sisters!! So that included me. Cruising was a first for me, but my sisters already knew what we were in for. It was lots of fun to be just the three of us, hanging out in exotic places and catching up since we are only very rarely together.

The only downside to our trip was the volcano in Iceland. After a week far from my hubby and children I was ready to get home, but with the closed airspace over Europe, I spent an extra week in Chicago. I was very glad that I had a sister's home to spend it in and didn't have to sit in a hotel like so many other people!

 I learned that dinner on a cruise ship is a dressy occasion. Luckily my sisters brought along all the fancy stuff I would need!

 The beaches and waves were incredible.

 Hanging out in the adults only deck. We don't get to do that very often! We have 15 children between us.

Celebrating 25 years

Philip and I celebrated our 25th anniversary on March 2. But since Philip's dad got married in March, we had no chance to really celebrate. But the children wanted to make sure we didn't let the occasion slip by, so they purchased tickets to a surprise destination (well, Philip knew where we were going, but I didn't).  So on June 18th, I got on a plane with Philip for... Pisa, Italy! We spent an afternoon in Pisa, and then went on to Florence by train. This was a special destination because we had visited Florence quickly on our honeymoon 25 years earlier, and had always planned on going back.
Stéphane has a friend from the Doulos living in Florence, so she met us at the train station and took us to the church that was letting us use their apartment for missionaries. And the next three days were like a dream! Florence is such a beautiful place! We have lots and lots of pictures, so just stop scrolling down when you are tired of seeing photos of Florence!

Battistero in Pisa (the tower is in the back right)

Copy of David in Florence

 Ponto Vecchio

 Being silly!

 Battistero and Duomo in Florence

 Church on Sunday (couldn't understand much, but singing to God in Italian was fun!)

 We enjoyed trying the famous gelato

 Scooters are everywhere, and always parked like this.

 We are used to open-air markets in France, but they were beautiful in Florence!

Back to blogging?

I have decided that I should catch up on blogging, but am not sure how. I am a very chronological person. (Can I say that?) I can't imagine putting pictures in an album in any order other than chronological, almost down to the minute they were taken! So how do I go about catching up on 8 months of life on the farm? Start where I left off? Start in November, and go backwards?
I think I will just start with the most exciting things that happened this year and go from there! But it will be a real stretch for me to blog "out of order!"

Meet the Newlyweds

We hoped to surprise a few people by putting up the wedding pictures without too much information. It worked!! Of course, the wedding date was picked and the wedding prepared in short order, so it's not like we had lots of time to get everyone up to date!

So, now for a bit more info. Bill is Philip's dad, who was a widower after Sophie, his wife, went to heaven in 2008. He is 81 in case anyone is wondering! We are both hoping to be in as good of health as he is when WE are 80.

Stella went to Prairie Bible Institute at the same time as Bill did 60 years ago. Bill even proposed to Stella back then! But it was not to be. (Philip had to be born, or this blog would not even exist!) Stella was a missionary, lived in Quito, Ecuador part of her life and sang on the radio in Ukrainian.

They met again last year when Bill was in Canada, and decided they ought to get married. So they did! They probably set some kind of record! Getting married 60 years after proposing!

Wedding in the family

Weddings are great times to take pictures!!! We were missing Jérémie and Peter so we couldn't take any good family photos, but here are a few taken on March 6, 2010. If you didn't know someone was getting married, that is normal. We only had about a month to plan this wedding. And if you don't know WHO got married, the pictures tell the story!

 Of course the girls were thrilled that someone was getting married. Finally a chance to be flower girls. The boys played along, but they were a little less thrilled.

They sang several songs in honor of the bride and groom.

In France, the church has no authority to marry a couple. So a wedding in France has two steps. First stop, the town hall, where the couple is officially married by the mayor.

Bill and Stella with the mayor.

Bill and Stella with 6 boys.

Instant Grandma!!! Bill and Stella with some of the 31 grandkids.

Cousins! If there is a baby in the room, Mélanie is probably holding it!

Stéphane with his uncle Timothée.

The happy couple.