Nearing the End

Well, this is the last Month of Class for Joe.  Amy will begin her three week speaking course next month right after exams for this last semester.  We are at the level that the Field asked us to be at, and are looking forward to moving to Africa by the end of this Summer.

Devotions in French

This last week I had the opportunity to do the Devotional time at the school.  Each week one of the students gives a short 15 - 20 minute devotional.  The video and audio is not the best quality, but I am posting this for those who are interested in hearing our progress.
Devos in French

Exams

Things have been a bit crazy here as we have been taking our unit exams.  These will determine whether or not we move up to the next level in French.  Though my grammar and spelling leave something to be desired, I am happy to announce that both Amy and I did very well, and will be starting in a new level of French this next week.
Amy's parents are coming to visit, so we are looking forward to spending time with them.
Sorry for the delay on the boys latest video, I was wrapped up with French and couldn't help them with final editing... you can find it under the boys videos.

The Boys

The boys have been looking for a way to stay in touch with their friends.  This gets especially tough for MK's as the weeks turn into years.  Typically by the time furlough rolls around so much time has passed that it is difficult for their American friends to relate to them, much less maintain any type of relationship with them. 
We decided that one way to bridge the time and cultural divide is to put out videos of what the boys are up to and some of their adventures.  Hopefully it will help you keep in touch with them and you will get to know them even better instead of loosing touch with them.
This is the first video, and we hope to post a new one each month. 
In this first video the boys are visiting a medieval city located just out of our town of Albertville.  It actually overlooks the town and is about a 5 mile trip from our home.
Hope you enjoy it, and we hope to add a section for the 4MK'S videos as we have more to add.

Life in Albertville

 This is the house that we share with the Landlord.  It is actually 4 levels, we get the ground floor and basement, which translates into a nice 4 bedroom home for us.  They have the second floor, and they have a small apartment in the upstairs that they can rent out as well.  Amy will be able to homeschool the boys in the front office, and it is only a 10 minute walk for me to get to language school.

 Grocery store is right around the corner... Literally!!!

 

Behind us is where the '92 Winter Olympics were held, and the Alps surround us.  Will and Logan went on a walk with me and decided to pose for pictures!

Flying to France

We were able to spend a day of much needed rest and prep in Montreal before boarding the plane to Geneva.  Our plane left in the evening, and by that time we were rested up reorganized and ready...

Of course we needed to help Logan as there was lots of walking involved.  The boys were troopers and helped carry the small bags.

Traveling at last!!!

Well, our traveling always seems to include a healthy amount of Drama.  We enjoyed a quiet Christmas morning, headed over to the Camp to finish cleaning up... that lasted until Midnight.
Of course we weren't quite finished so I had a great plan on getting up early and finishing while Amy got the boys ready.
5:00am came early, but I was running on adrenaline, and had a mission to complete.  I worked steady until I realized it was almost 9:00.  We had to leave no later than 10:00am in order to make it to the train.
Jonathan and I left with the baggage, and Amy had the boys, Reagan (a friend who we met at camp over the summer as a counselor), with the Van.  Jonathan and I made it too the train in the nick of time, but it became apparent that Amy was not going to make it.  With the help of the ticket agent we redirected her to the Saratoga train station so she could still make the same train.
Praise the Lord all worked out and we made it to Montreal with all our baggage... and 4 kids

Here are some pictures that we managed to get...

 

Amy catching some shut-eye

Boys watched a movie on the train after it got too dark to enjoy the scenery