Better Together

Silly Seni

2012-02-04T20:55:00.000+01:00

We made Valentine cards this week for our family members and she tells me: "mommy take a picture of me".

Her Valentine's.

While she is enjoying her bath, she tells me again: "mommy take a picture of me"....gotta love it!

We came home from a date on Friday night to this. This girl absolutely loves to read!

She is learning how to take pictures. Of course she took a shot of Cinderella's glass slipper and ...

her toes.

LOVE this girl

2012-02-01T14:51:00.001+01:00

Seni makes us so happy! We absolutely love and adore her!

Showing me her dance moves!

Fete de St. Marcel-Barjols

2012-02-01T14:39:00.001+01:00

In January we went to the village of Barjols to check out their Fete de St. Marcel. The town's patron saint. This festival commemorates the survival of the town after a siege in 1350.

This town is also known for their tanneries. After 400 years, in 1983 they finally stopped producing.

Champignon fountain.

My hot babe and baby!

Another view of the town while walking around.

The parade

Poor ox he was supposed to be slaughtered and roasted the next day. (I hope they really didn't do this). He even has gold painted horns and hoofs.

Christmas Recap

2012-01-27T14:53:00.002+01:00

Hello all! I hesitate posting this because we sincerely feel bad we were not able to see everyone we wanted to while we briefly visited the US for Christmas. So, I apologize in advance to those we missed. Hopefully we can visit again soon and catch on the next go around.
We were very grateful to have the chance to come home for Christmas. It was a needed trip that I had been longing for for quite a while. Although, I love having the chance to live in France and experience new things as well as get to know my family, it is just different than home (The US). I had been very depressed since the summer time and really didn't have any idea why...my goodness there are so many wonderful, beautiful things here to see. But nonetheless, I was. I've reached out to my expat friends who helped me understand that this was normal...whew! The one thing I realized in talking with them is they all returned home freuquently (couple of times a year) to help with their homesickness. So, when we were given the chance to come home, we took it.
Our first stop was California where my family is currently living. We enjoyed a few days of fun with the entire family! It was great!The one bummer here is we didn't get a family photo with everyone :(

my mom with seni, jason and zara

again...the cute grandkids

matt and i on a hot date

danielle, baby jason at the grave sight for my brother Jason

After this we headed to Utah to visit with Matt's family as well as my extended relatives.

Group shot of everyone.

all of the grandkids

We had a wonderful trip...thank you to everyone! We didn't realize how much we needed this until we were there! Again, I apologize if we didn't get to see you. We hope we can next time. Have a wonderful New Year!
Until next time!
Ciao!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-06T19:20:00.001+01:00

It’s been a busy year but a great one for our family. Hard to believe that we’ve been living in France for almost two years now. We’re blessed to live in a beautiful, quiet area of Provence that has enabled us to get to know some wonderful locals and allowed us to feel like we’re getting into the culture. At the same time, this area affords us the opportunity to also have friends from all around the world because of a strong expat community. We continue to love to travel at every opportunity we get, though our list of “must sees” seems to grow more quickly than we’ll likely ever have time to visit. That said, we’ve very much enjoyed the visitors we’ve received so far and would love more anytime!

Matt: continues to work for the ITER Organization and enjoys the challenge of the project and collaborating with people from all over the world every day. Mesia: I still feel I’m living a dream and am eternally grateful to have the chance to be here to get to know more about my heritage, my family who lives here, and to learn the language and customs. Seneca: now 3 and has (already!) started at the international school here and attends 2 days of school in French and 2 days in English each week. She is a perfect mix of girly and rough as she loves to dress up and carry her purse around everywhere but is never afraid to play hard and get dirty. She is such a gift and we feel blessed every day to have her in our family!

We appreciate your love and friendship and hope you have a wonderful Christmas. We are grateful for this season and the opportunity to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Matt, Mesia, and Seneca Rae

Lots to catch up on...

2011-12-06T18:28:00.001+01:00

It has been a very long time since our last post....I will try and up date you all!

In October my sister invited us to Jason's (my nephew) first birthday party. Since she lives relatively close (in Germany), we thought it would be a great opportunity to go and visit.

We decided to drive and checkout the sites on the way to and from her village.

This is Basel

Danielle had a pirate birthday party for Jason! It was so cute! Everyone dressed up as pirates. My dad flew in town to surprise us all! So cool!

Seneca snuggling with her Aunt Danielle

On our way home we make a few stops. Our first was Rheinfalls, Switzerland.

Stein am Rhein

Zurich

Mountains of the Chartreuse just North of Grenoble

Seni snuggling with Daddy!

Seni being silly

Silly again.

Fall Time...and Halloween!

2011-10-24T22:57:00.000+02:00

I must say I love living in an area where I can experience seasons. I love Southern California, but you didn't really get a feel of seasons changing. I really love living here in Manosque, because we truly get a great feel of the seasons. It really makes you appreciate each of them. Right now, I just absolutely love the Fall/Autumn. The leaves are changing and finally the temperature is dropping and today we've a lot of rain. I also love squash and luckily we hit a small village that was having a festival of squash!...so fun! Anyway, we have done a few things over the past month or so....enjoy! (sorry they are not in order)

With our International friends, we organized a trick-or-treating activity where we had people handing out candy along a trail in the forest. It was a lot of fun!

We had our Hungarian friends over for dinner again...they are great!

Seneca painting her pumpkin! She was so proud of this!

Fete de la Courge a Rians

C'est la meme chose

Seneca tying herself up with her panties...love that!

She did not want to have anything to do with this....Just wanted to watch.

Seneca's First Day of School

2011-09-26T19:44:00.000+02:00

Here in France you start school at 3. It's a bit young, at least for what I am used to in the States, but felt it was good to have her go. We decided to put her in the International School; which consists of two days English and two days French. I really wanted to send her to a French to school learn the language quicker, but for some reason, it just didn't work out.

She enjoys school, especially the English days and still is having a bit of a hard time with the French ones. We hope she gets used to it soon.

Airplane

Pictures of various people in our family

Trip to the North

2011-08-31T22:06:00.000+02:00

Matt had a week off from work and so we decided to explore a bit of the North West. Here is our route:

#1 Château de Chenonceau within the Chateau de la Loire valley.

#2 Blois, France. We stopped here on our way to our hotel. Cute little town.

#3 Fougeres, France. Very cool fortress town close to the Breton border.

#4 Mt. Saint Michel

#5 Normandy...very sobering...

List of soldiers they could not find bodies for.

Pointe du Hoc where US soldiers climbed the wall to attack the Germans

Huge holes from the bombing

"mommy, i look at a telescope"...so cute!

Seneca stopped and prayed at some of these head stones

More pictures of the American Cemetery

#6 Disneyland Paris!! Yahoo! So much fun!

#7 Paris...so, this was funny. our camera died and we forgot to bring our charger. so we bought a disposable. so, stay tuned for these pictures later.

The first thing we did was take the Bateaux Mouches tour down the Seine river. This was the best! We were able to really see the highlights of the city this way.

Next we went to the Notre Dame, les Invalides, la Tour Eiffel, Palais de Chaillot, Champs-Elysees, and the Arc de Triomphe.

#8 Versailles. Unfortunately, by the time we got to this location is was Saturday. We were pooped and needed to drive 8.5 hours back home. So, we just looked around the exterior of the chateau and then made our way home.

We had a great trip but know we need to head back up to explore Paris and Versailles.

Happy Birthday Seni Rae!

2011-08-27T21:48:00.000+02:00

We cannot believe that our sweet Seni Rae is 3! Oh, she is such a doll. We are so grateful to have been given such a wonderful gift.

Here are some fun pictures of her special day!

Friday morning breakfast with her princess dishes and yummy cereal!

On Saturday we had a party with her friends at a local park. It was a lot of fun. The theme was Dora. So we had the children go on an adventure. The first stop was a "hold hand" race (instead of three legged race). The second stop was to have a water balloon toss; which turned into a water fight. The third stop, they shot their water guns at Swiper (Matt).

shooting Swiper

love that she has been able to wear this shirt three years in a row!

after shooting Swiper, we hit the pinata.

Then the adventure was over. We had fun give-aways, cake and ice cream.


a friend of ours who loves making patisseries, made seneca's cake. it was amazing! (sorry it's sideways...not sure why. the original is not.)

Anyway, we had a great time! Thanks to all of our friends who came and shared this fun day with Seneca.

fun during the summer

2011-08-05T12:39:00.000+02:00

we went to a friends house for a bbq and matt loved the hammock

seneca's good friend emilie...she is being silly

she and her good friend again at mcdonald's playing

at a moules et frits festival

watching a movie together

before matt and i head to bed we check on seni and usually we find her naked

the centre ville was offering free pony rides...

seneca loved it!

This is how we Finger Paint

2011-07-30T22:09:00.000+02:00

Need I say more?

Our most recent get-away!

2011-07-26T13:37:00.001+02:00

We went on another road trip in July. My aunt Linda and her husband have been serving a mission, for our church, in Genova, Italy for the past 18 months. July was the end for them! A few of my cousins came to Italy to tour around a bit before, bringing Linda and her husband back home. We decided to join them on some of their adventures! This is what we did....
1. Turin, Italy. About 4 hours from us is Turin. We decided to stop here and check out this old Olympic town to see what it had to offer.

2. From here we went to Milan, Italy. I remember going here when I was 17 years old with my mom. My grandfather served a mission here.

love this duomo!

3. From here we traveled to Como, Italy to meet with my Aunt Linda, her husband, my cousin Stacie and her husband. This was a wonderful experience as we have family living in Como from my maternal grandfather's side. We didn't know them very well, nor did we speak any Italian, but we were able to enjoy a wonderful evening with them all!

4. Afterward, we headed to Zermatt, Switzerland! Oh, this was also amazingly beautiful! Unfortunately, we were not able to see the Matterhorn. It was too rainy! :(

the people used to build here homes like this to keep the mice from entering.

rain..rain...rain

cemetery for those who had died trying to climb/descend the Matterhorn.

view from our hotel

5. From here we were going to go to Venice, but the trip was getting a bit too long for Seni and I so, we decided to head towards home. On our way, we stopped in Chamonix, France, briefly.

Matt with a large glacier behind him.

Picture of the cute town.

6. From here we went to Grenoble, France.

shout out to daddiooooo!

Bastille Day fireworks!

Seneca was not comfortable with the fireworks and wanted to wear her glasses.

"les bulles" we took this up to the top of the mountain to get a good view of the city.

beautiful!

7. whew! we made it home! c'etait bien!

:)

Seneca's Purse

2011-07-08T22:39:00.000+02:00

So, Seneca got this cute purse from her friend Emilie. She absolutely loves it and usually it never leaves her side.

She also loves to accessorize with it...

So, a few months back we started to go on "Nature Walks" to collect "Nature Treasures". Well, this fun little has turned into everywhere we go we (Seneca) is on the look out for "Nature Treasures". Now, she has this cute little purse to put it all in. Well, the other night, while she was sleeping, I had to see what she had inside. She wouldn't let me do this if she was awake...so, this was the best time to check out her treasures. So, this is what we found...

The purse was really heavy so, I emptied it out, to try and "thin" it out without her knowing it because she refused to do it.

She is a collector...

baby jason

2011-07-06T13:35:00.000+02:00

my sister invited us to come and stay with her for three weeks to help care for jason while she worked on a project. we were so happy she asked us! i am so grateful to live so close to her....love it!

now, my sister doesn't want him posted on the internet...but i will just post just a couple of the little man. he is just so cute! he has a wonderful smile and an infectious laugh!

seneca talking to daddy at night just before going to sleep.

seni being such a good big cousin.

our trip to heidleberg

jason and matt

silly...

you are my bestest bestest friend, uncle jeff

2011-07-02T20:43:00.000+02:00

well, i am way behind on blogging so, i will try and catch up in the next couple of days....

the first to mention is uncle jeff! uncle jeff came to visit us at the end of may beginning of june! having family visit us is always so good! we really enjoy living where we live but we truly miss our families and friends who are back home.

in preparation for uncle jeff, i made sure to show seneca many pictures of him so that she would not feel uncomfortable around him.

then the big day was here...matt went to pick up jeff from the train station and brought him home. we greeted them both at the door and uncle jeff said hello to seneca and then picked her up to give her a hug. all seneca did was just stare at jeff and did not say a single word. i recognized this look...it was a look of gauga! our little seni rae has a crush on her uncle jeff. poor jeff....from this point on for an entire week, if was all about him. "come sit by me, uncle jeff", "i hold uncle jeff's hand"...etc...etc. it was really funny to see this.

still to this day, she asks..."where is uncle jeff? is he at school?" Jeff, she absolutely LOVES you!

well, during his brief stay we visited a few places. here are some pictures documenting our time with him.

Weekend Excursions

2011-05-11T13:15:00.000+02:00

This past Saturday we took a short ride north to Lurs to check the poppies. We didn't see poppies here but the village was very cute.

Matt would like a garden like this...lots of green trees with a beautiful view in the background.

On Sunday we went for a walk after church to this field of poppies! I love these wild-flowers!

The weekend prior we went to Marseille to visit with my cousin Sandra, her son Hugo and boyfriend.

Sandra and her copain

All of us being goofy. I'm bummed to miss Hugo. He was playing in the water at the park.

Sandra and I

Quick Trip to Switzerland

2011-04-26T23:57:00.001+02:00

We took a quick visit to Switzerland for Easter weekend and absolutely LOVED it! I had never been there before...wow!, is all I can say! We left Thursday afternoon and got to Bern later that evening. We wanted to get there as quickly as possible because our youth, from our Church, had gone to Bern for the entire week for what we call a "temple trip". We knew they were leaving Friday afternoon so, we did our best to get there in time to at least visit with them.

Our fist visit was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Temple, Bern. This Temple is so beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with people who spoke German, French and English...in addition to a multitude of other languages.

After the Temple we headed to old-town Bern

The Zytglogge clock tower

After Bern, we headed toward Interlaken. Matt really wanted to see the beautiful mountains. I wanted to see the mountains, meadows and cows!

We decided to take the route towards Interlaken on the North side. I am so glad we did because we ran into Thun and a bunch of other little towns that totally blew Interlaken out of the water...

Seneca so happy she can drive (pretend).

After this we took the Juanpass toward Broc; which is through the mountains and absolutely breath-taking. I felt like I was Maria from The Sound of Music...I wanted to run around in a circle and sing..."The hills are alive..."

We made it to Broc! The Cailler-Nestle Chocolate and Gruyere Cheese Factory. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do both...so we chose the Cailler/Nestle Choc. Factory Tour. This was THE best factory tour! This is why....


After the tour, we got to sample their lines of chocolate! YUMMY!

After Broc, we visited Lutry and had dinner then headed to our hotel in Lausanne.

Then we headed toward Geneve.

We did an Easter egg hunt for Seneca. She loved it!

Us in front of the Jet d'Eau

Our last and final stop was Annecy.

Well, I had more pictures but the server rejected uploading them....does anyone have any idea why?

Anyway, our trip was nice but too short. We want to return and hit Thun, Juanpass, Broc, Geneve, Chateaux Chillon and Annecy.

medieval festival

2011-04-19T12:30:00.000+02:00

In another village not too far from us was having a Medieval festival. It was very interesting...

not exactly sure what this is....

seneca thought the lady behind her was real and wanted to also peek through the window.

Weekend with Mamie et Papie

2011-04-05T22:23:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we decided to head down toward the water to visit with my grandparents. We had not seen them since Christmas, so it was a well needed visit.

I have to say we really messed up. On Friday, I picked up Matt after he got off work. It was about 6:30pm and we were all hungry. Unfortunately, fast food is not so common around here; however, pizza trucks are. So, we decided to hit the next town up for take out pizza. Since we were getting in relatively late, I thought my grandparents would probably not have dinner waiting for us. Traditionally, they eat a larger meal during lunch (siesta) than they do at dinner time. So, we pretty much eat our yummy pizza in the car and try to eat as much as we can so we don't waste it AND have any evidence of food in our car for when we arrive at their home.

Well, we arrived and of course, they waited for us to eat dinner....yikes! It was not a huge dinner by any means, but it was large enough to set our tummies out of whack for the entire weekend! I was so bummed I made the decision to buy this crazy pizza...ugh! I felt bad for my grandparents...I bet they were wondering what was wrong...but all we confessed to say was we had upset stomachs. Again, dumb mistake...Gilbert (papie) loves to cook! So, there was not enough lag time in between meals to help our tummies re-set themselves....anyway, we are at home now and still recovering from heartburn. At least I will remember for next time....

before heading to my grandparents we hit the local nursery to buy something for them. we saw these little grocery carts and seneca just lit up in excitement. so, she pushed this cart all throughout the store directing me where to go as she put stuff in her cart. so cute!

there is a beautiful hilltop village called bormes les mimosa near my grandmother. i really wanted to visit this place because most of my relatives were born here. plus, when the mimosa's bloom it is absolutely gorgeous!

dad pretending to get on seneca's shoulders.

mamie at saint claire beach

mamie and papie with delicious paella.

they were so sweet! they got me a "le poisson d'avril cake" (april fool's cake) for my birthday.

walking along the boardwalk at le lavandou beach

this is fashionable?

2011-04-03T23:10:00.002+02:00

jeans...i love them but hate trying to find ones that fit right! ugh! since moving here and seeing the chic looking jeans here i realized i needed to find my "right" pair of jeans. i have yet to find THE ONE and ONLY JEAN! i want to find something that is sexy, and fun at the same time. matt just laughs at me when i talk about jeans. he says i have so many pairs of exactly the same color and why do i need more of the same kind. he's right in the sense that they are mostly the dark denim, but they are not the same. i have many different fits for different moods and occasions. you know what i mean...right, girls! :)

twice a year here in france you have sales...huge sales. so, i decided to take this opportunity to look for THE JEAN. i started off big. i went to a little boutique called Tandem in town where they have expensive, chic jeans like 7's, guess, and many others i cannot even mention because i have no clue! so, i asked the saleswoman to please help me with my size since i'm not yet familiar with the european sizes and to help me find something chic and sexy. she hand me a pair of jeans; which i think look WAY too small, but was reassured they were my correct size. so, i headed to the ladies room and start trying on my first pair which i could barely get over my thighs. next...then i finally get another pair on which are so uncomfortable that i feel like my tights and bum have no form at small. flat and smashed! yet the waist was loose. i walk out of the dressing room to check out my smashed body parts to which a male salesman says, YES! those look great! i'm thinking "really?" because i don't feel so hot and sexy. i told him "i think they are too tight" and he proceeds to say no!

not the greatest picture from the internet, but i felt it really expressed how i felt when i tried on the tight pair.

then, i see another gal next to me in a pair of pants which i think look good on her so, i try them on. i come out again and the same guy salesman says: no...there is too much material on the jean...there needs to be no baggy material. I started to laugh because there was very little extra material and the pair felt very comfortable. probably something like this....

after trying on more i was not convinced on spending over 80 euros on a pair of tight jeans that made my body parts look and feel funny. i especially didn't like that fact that every time the saleswoman bent over i could see her g-string. what kind of fashion is this?

so, i took a break...then, i went into Esprit a few weeks later. my new favorite shop. they seem to have my style of fashion. i go inside and pick two sizes. one tighter than the other. i felt more comfortable in the larger one, but the sales gal said..."no, the smaller size looks better." i started laughing because of the memory i had created at the last boutique. so, the point is, the tighter the better, and yet less comfortable! ah! well, not really....i did buy the tighter pair and they actually do fit great! now i look and feel hot!

what would also be awesome....is if this body was really mine! ha!

I can't believe I did it!

2011-04-02T13:02:00.000+02:00

Matt and I have been married for almost nine years! Yahoo! However, during this time I cannot remember ever ironing a shirt for him. I HATE to iron for myself let alone someone else. I know it was from trama I received as a child...he...he..my parents made me iron my dad's work shirts because it was cheaper than taking them to the cleaners...oh, did I hate this chore.

Well, Matt was trying to find a shirt to wear the other morning and said he needed to iron and really didn't have much left to wear. So, I said, pull them out and I can iron them for you...he replied with something like "I can do it later" (knowing that I hate doing it). I suggested again..."no, I can do it"....and yes, I did it! I still shock myself sometimes!

I know he appreciated it! And yes, I probably need to help him out more with this kind of stuff as he ALWAYS does a lot at home for our family.

International experience---FOOD

2011-03-27T14:55:00.001+02:00

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to move here to France, especially Manosque. Matt works with ITER, a nuclear fusion project that involves the European Union, US, Japan, India, China, Russia, and Korea. As a result of the project there are many people living here with various cultural backgrounds. We have met friends from Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Holland, Germany, Belgium, England, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, China, Japan, India, Mexico, Argentina, and Kyrgyzstan! I'm sure there are many more but these are the ones I know of personally. The other joy in this journey learning about the various cultures associated with where all of my friends come from; which includes food, religion and other social customs. All of this has been a great learning experience for me. I'd love to highlight today, the food!
I've learned how to make a number of things while living here such as:

Traditional couscous with chicken. A meal the provincial people have adopted from Morroco, Paella: adopted from Spain, Raclette: a meal served in the winter time, the tradition of serving a variety of cheese after dinner, before dessert, Hungarian dishes, Turkish, and much much more! I need to document these experiences with a camera...Anyway, most recently we had dinner with my friend Aiperi again and her friend Aynur. Aiperi is from Kyrgystan and her friend is from Uzbekistan. They cooked us a traditional meal from their countries. I was so happy to arrive early and learn how they prepared the meal. Loved it!

manty (not sure how to spell in their native tongue)

mimosa salad with crab, sardines, carrots and other stuff...can't recall.

eggplant with dill, tomato, and garlic

fried bread

La Camargue

2011-03-27T14:13:00.001+02:00

There is a beautiful wetland just west of Marseilles called The Camargue (Plaine de la Camargue). You can find salt marshes, lakes, pastures, and sand dunes covering a vast 346,000 acres. I love this area and have been twice not only to see the landscape but to see the wild life. There are a number of beautiful WHITE horses, bulls, birds and Flamingos.

The reason for our second trip was to see the Flamingos. My friend Aiperi and her friend Aynur wanted to go and see the Flamingos while they were here to breed. So, we piled in the car and drove about two hours to check them out.

Here are some pictures from the day.

aiperi, emilie, seneca and i

this photo is really funny. the birds on the right are doing there mating dance while the ladies on the left sleep...:)

see the large birds in the trees?

the beach at stes. maries de la mer

aynur was doing much of the photgraphy...

A few random things this month

2011-03-24T18:47:00.000+01:00

some good friends of our here. we get together frequently with our kids.

seneca's little buddy emilie

our cute baby

in our church we have a woman's organization called "Relief Society". this woman's organization was established 17, March 1842. each year we celebrate this great organization. these are the ladies here in our local branch.

while living here we've met quite of few ladies from ireland. they invited seneca and i to a great! st. patrick's day party! i love the spirit!

these are our hungarian friends. this is a funny picture because the boys were coloring all over seneca and she did not like it! :)

so seneca has no desire to wear panties and use the potty, BUT she loves to play with them. one day matt came home from work and she said "daddy, do you want to play with my panties?" and matt said...NO! :)

We're going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo, How about You You You

2011-03-09T21:06:00.001+01:00

We went to La Barben Zoo this past weekend and had a wonderful time! It was a small quaint Zoo with cool animals, a large playground and lot's of picnic tables! Loved it! Here are some fun pictures.

Love that these monkeys were picking at each other.

Here is my monkey!

This is Chateau de La Barben! Absolutely beautiful!

Picture of the garden at the Chateau

C'est tout!

Little Weekend Get-Away!

2011-03-03T13:27:00.001+01:00

We headed to Nice this past weekend to attend a church meeting for all the members living in Southern Provence. After the meeting on Sunday we decided to explore a few places before returning home on Monday.

our little road trip

After our meeting in Nice we headed to Menton, France which is on the border of France and Italy. They were having a citrus festival!

By the time we arrived we missed the parade and other festive activities but we enjoyed walking around the town.

everything here is made out of oranges and lemons...(except for the statue :))

LOVE the mimosas

seneca loved playing with the confetti on the ground.

what a babe!

From here we decided to head West towards Monaco/Monte Carlo to Eze.

eze at night...can't see much!

bubble bath at the hotel....she LOVED this!

View from out hotel

exploring the centre ville of eze


view from the top of the gardens

After Eze, we started to head home. We decided to go a different way than we normally do to explore other areas of Provence. We drove through Grasse. Unfortunately, we didn't get out because Seneca was asleep.

Afterward we stopped for lunch in Draguignan. We thought we'd walk around...but we didn't. We ate and then left again!

It was a beautiful road trip...quick, but fun! The best is this:

Enjoy!

Seneca's first birthday party invitation!

2011-03-03T12:12:00.000+01:00

Seneca was invited to her first real birthday party! I know we are total dorks---by hey!, we were so excited about this! We asked our friend if parents were invited as well. (I think we were WAY more excited than Seneca).

Seneca and the birthday girl doing a running type race.

A potato run...so funny.

I love the technique here (holding the potato).

Fun day!

just a few things...

2011-02-13T00:06:00.001+01:00

It's been a while since i've posted so here are a few randoms posts i will put together...

The first set of pictures are of Seneca. She is getting so big! So sad to see her growing up...she's not our baby anymore. I laugh everyday because of how funny she is. Here are some random quotes: "mommy you have a mofawk" (my haircut), "just two more second minutes", "not today" (when she doesn't want to do something or "i good", "i feel much better" (after you kiss her owie), "mommy, no speak french"...I am truly amazed with her ability to process things and talk. I picked her up the other day from school and asked her how her day was and she said "what's her name again mom, ummm, i forgot". she was trying to tell me who she played with. It was such an adult thing to say...so funny. She also has inherited my "mmkay". Oh, one last one is I asked her if i could use her blanket for yoga and she said "no mommy, my blanket needs to stay here". anyway...cute for us...maybe not for you...but we love it!

One of our friends put make-up on her...she loved it!

February 4th we went to Ancelle to go skiing. This was Seneca next to a snow cat


Me on the lift with our friends

We went to Apt for one Saturday afternoon and it was pouring rain! Seneca loved it!

Another shot in the old town of Apt

While we were walking through the town of Apt, I ran into this Galerie. My maiden name is Grossi and so I went in to talk with the man to learn his family is from a village close to where my family is from in Italy.

Okay the following pictures are so funny! I was cleaning the house and at one point I was using Windex. Seneca said "mommy i want dis". So instead, I gave her a spray bottle full of water with a wash cloth. She was having such a great time "cleaning". This is what she cleaned....

daddy's socks

our pillows...

We do lots of crafts! Seneca loves them...as you can see

I caught her coloring on her body and asked what she was doing and she said "i (am) like Mulan, mommy". I couldn't help but laugh at her and now she will not stop coloring on herself.

Making valentines!

Enjoy!

Orcieres

2011-01-12T20:54:00.000+01:00

This past weekend we were invited up to the mountains with our good friends. The snow was not good, but the company was great! We had such a wonderful time!

one of her favorites...EATING SNOW!

trying to make a snow angel

sledding

yeah!

the only pic with dad...he was enjoying what little time he had skiing.

views from the gondola

at the top of the gondola lived a pack of huskies. they were there to give sleigh rides. i felt bad for them because they were all chained up.

yes, more snow...with her little buddy julia.

they had about four or five igloos near the pack of huskies. they looked like they were lived in.

seneca saying "hello" to les chiens

in the igloo

That's it! It was a fun day! Thanks again friends!

Vacances de Noël sans Chevy Chase

2011-01-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

Matt had two weeks off from work so we decided to take advantage of this time and do some exploring again. Here is a map of what we did over a week. Please enjoy the following posts:

Le Lavandou and Barcelona, Spain

2011-01-02T22:51:00.000+01:00

On Christmas day we started our adventure in La Lavandou where my grandparents live. We stayed the night with them and had a wonderful traditional French Christmas dinner. I hate to say that we didn't take many pictures....I need to do better with this next time.

Seni watching a movie while Matt and I visited with my grandparents

After our stay here we headed to Barcelona. What a beautiful place!

Sagrada Familia

The Passion

The Nativity

View from one of the spires

La Pedrera (Gaudi)

This one and the following are pictures from the Mercat de la Bocqueria

Barri Gothic

Arc de Triomf

Beautiful sandy beach

View from the hills

Madrid, Spain

2011-01-02T22:29:00.000+01:00

From Barcelona, Spain we headed to Madrid. We wanted visit our good friends who just recently relocated here. This was a great stop! Thank you to Bev and Mike!!

Our first stop was the LDS MTC in Madrid. We have a French missionary currently training here before he heads to Malaga, Spain.

Madrid, Spain LDS Temple

In the streets of downtown Madrid

Awesome street performer

Plaza Mayor

La Almudena

La Almudena

Bev and I with the kids

This was a fun little maze the kids ran through.

Seneca's most favorite part of the trip; the metro!

We had to grab some TBell...haven't had any in 8 months....

El Retiro

Crystal Palace

Fountain of the Falling Angel

Thanks again to Mike and Bev! We had a wonderful time here...never long enough!

Pays Basque

2011-01-02T22:01:00.000+01:00

This was probably my favorite spot because of the beauty and what little history I know of the Basque Country. The Basque region covers a small area of Northeastern Spain and a small area in the Northwestern part of France. The native language spoken here is Basque which is an isolated language nothing like anything around them. From what I learned there is no other language like it. The words are comprised of a lot of consonants and very few vowels...so crazy! Of course these people speak their country's language as well; French and Spanish.
Here in this region we visited two Basque towns; San Sabastian, Spain and Biarritz, France. Due to limited time we spent most of our energies in San Sabastian. I loved this town! It was the perfect size for me and the culture was screaming FUN! I loved it! After checking into our hotel we were guided to the old part of town to find a bunch of Tapas bars open. The tradition here is to grab a tapa and a soothing beverage and then head to another tapas bar and do the same thing...The food was amazing and the atmosphere was very uplifting. The people here were very happy! I seriously could live here and maybe I would even consider pushing Seneca's bedtime back a few hours since dinner here in Spain starts at 8:30pm. :)

There were two Gothic churches in this old part of town. Here is the inside of one.

and the other...

The best outside our hotel! I loved this! Totally reminded me of the beaches in Southern California. sniff...sniff

Another shot of the Ocean. Out hotel is on the far left.

A bay on the other side of the town.

Same shot as above without the boardwalk.

After our brief stay here we drove up the coast of Spain towards Biarritz, France. Next time we'd love to stay in both of these two places longer!

Toulouse, France

2011-01-02T21:35:00.000+01:00

After visiting the Basque country we decided to head home towards Toulouse. On our way, Seneca and I took a nap and Matt noticed this at a rest stop:


Picture of the Pyrenees in the background

After this rest stop we continued on toward Toulouse. Initially we were going to stay overnight here but decided to just have lunch and continue on. Here are some pictures we hope caught the feel of the city.

Here in Toulouse we ate at a great "hole in the wall". It was a Greek/Turk restaurant...LOVED IT!

After this, we made our final stretch home safe! Yhew! We made it home after a week of traveling.

I know there are many more beautiful places around the world; however, I feel so grateful right now to have this opportunity to see what is around us.

Bonne année!

gros bisous

Homemade Raviolis

2010-12-21T14:21:00.000+01:00

Every Christmas it is a tradition, in my family, to have yummy homemade raviolis. Ever since I can remember, all of us grandchildren would head over to grandma's and grandpa's house to assemble the ravs! I was very close with my grandparents and loved them so much! So, not only is it our family's Italian tradition, it also reminds me of them and how we celebrated Christmas.

This year Seneca and I brought in the spirit of Christmas with homemade spinach and cheese raviolois.As you can see...she was very helpful! :)

This year I purchased a pasta roller. She was totally into this!

Love this! Never to early to teach your kids how to clean!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

2010-12-07T19:53:00.000+01:00

Seneca totally getting into Christmas this year! So fun to watch her!

She is so excited!

It was difficult for her to hang the ornaments on the tree so she placed them all here on a branch.

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and other fun stuff...

2010-12-02T10:25:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago we had the chance to go back to Nice. We decided this time to stay over night in Frejus; which was about half way and then drive the coast the rest of the way the next morning. It was a beautiful drive!

This was just absolutely beautiful because you have the red rock in the background against the blue Mediterranean sea.

Walking the streets of Nice (Old Town)


Random statue

This past week we headed to Germany to spend Thanksgiving with my sister's family. We joined my dad and grandparents. It was a lot of fun!

While we were there we went to Eppstein, Germany. Matt lived here for one year while he was in high school.

This is where his family lived.

Town of Eppstein

On Thursday we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. My grandparents made an amazing dinner!

The following day we briefly visited the Christmas Market...but it was soooo cold we decided to grab some dinner inside.

The following day Matt and I were grateful to be able to head to the Temple in Frankfurt.

Random shots from the week.

Seni with Papie Gilbert

Seni with mamie and papie

Seneca put this towel on her head and said, "mommy I get married". So cute!

That is it! It was a wonderful time to spend with some of our family in Germany. We sure did miss the rest of our families in the states!

"Meet the Parents" Moment

2010-11-14T21:15:00.000+01:00

So, we were invited to an indoor water park not too far from here. We were very excited and quickly changed into our suits to get in the water. As Matt was getting into the pool the lifeguard blew his whistle at him. When he came over to talk with us, he explained that Matt's board shorts were apparently too modest for the French pool. So, Matt was not allowed to get in until he changed into something more suitable--which of course we didn't have. LUCKILY they had a vending machine full of all sorts of chic swim suits to choose from. After a LONG time waiting for Matt, he finally made his entrance to the pool, looking a bit like this...

While very normal here in Europe, his new suit had about 1/4 of the material he's used to with his California bathing suit. I really thought he looked great! But he just wasn't used to it...YET. :)

Afterward, we walked around the small village and got distracted by the leaves on the ground...

you think she is trying to tell us something?

2010-11-14T20:32:00.000+01:00

Whenever Seneca naps or goes to bed at night this is what she has been doing lately before she falls asleep.

Armistice Day

2010-11-13T21:46:00.000+01:00

This Thursday was Armistice Day here in France. Matt had the day off and so we decided to tour around the area. The first stop we made was to Saintes Maries de la mer. This is located in the Camargue region, just west of Marseilles.

It was cold outside, but Seneca cannot keep her socks and shoes on!

The main reason for going to this place was to see this...."L'Abrivado", the running in of the bulls.


They has a small live band in the community. Seneca loved it! Here is some footage as well.

Seneca Dancing

Afterward, our next stop was to Arles. One of the most well preserved Roman arenas in France.

Here is another ruin...Roman amphitheater.


Pretty shot of the Rhone.

Life....

2010-11-09T22:19:00.000+01:00

I cannot believe we've been here for six months. It feels like an eternity since we've seen family and friends from the States, but with regards to the French language it seems as though we've only been here a couple of months. When we first moved here it was tough. Initially, we felt this was the right place for our family...but the challenges we faced often made we wonder. The culture, language and being somewhere new took a toll. I'm glad as time passed, little by little, we have become more acclimated to the point of really enjoying it here. I feel that a few contributing factors helped: Expats, Church, Natives and getting involved!
We were lucky in that we moved to an area where many expatriates live from many different countries. I have met some wonderful friends whom I love spending time with. These women are amazing! They are from countries like Holland, Argentina, Ireland, England, Hungry, Poland, China, Japan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Belgium, Scotland, France, and US. (I apologize if I forgot a country :) All of these ladies speak their native language in addition to English and French. I love it! The potpourri of cultures, languages etc. is so fun to be around. While being here a few of us have instituted play-dates in addition to fun excursions for us and our children. In addition to this, we've also stared a Ladies Night Out once a month!

September LNO @ Indian Restaurant


October LNO @ Moroccan

Initially our LNO was about 10 people and now it has grown to 20+ in just a couple of months. I've also started teaching Yoga on Thursday evenings to get some exercise and for another opportunity to visit with the gals. While our spouses are working hard during the day, us ladies felt we needed some "US" time; hens the reason for instituting yoga and LNO.
Another help has been our church. I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. I love the gospel. I love that anywhere you go in the world the teachings and organization are the same. I know and believe the teachings to be true. This was one of the first interactions we had when we arrived. The members of our small congregation were and still are very supportive and loving! Their kindness is genuine and makes us feel very welcome here!
Other ways we've been getting involved is through Patati Patata. An indoor play area where native ladies bring their children to play. I go here frequently to practice my French. I've also met many wonderful ladies here whom have become my friends. Seneca is in "La Garderie" (daycare) 2 days a week for three hours a day. The purpose for this is for her to learn French and play with other children. This has been a fun experience for her. It was been so exciting to see her grow and progress not only with English but with French as well. She mixes her French with English unknowingly. The other night at dinner she asked "tu veux, mommy". Which mean "you want". The following day she offered me a drink from her little tea party set by saying "un petit peu"; which mean "a little". She can also count to 10 in French and will often tell us "no speak French", when we read to her in French. She is so funny! So, needless to say, we have been very blessed while being here! Life is good. I am so happy to be here.
One last thought...please know these posts are fun! My intention is not to offend or make people jealous. I believe each place is unique and special in its own way. Of course, we love the conveniences the US provides, but also love what we've been offered here. There really is no comparison. We love both places. Yes, we get to see new places along the way but that is because we live so close to many places.
After going through this experience and living in California, Utah and Pennsylvania, I've realized more of what I love. Our town's population here in France is about 20,000 and I feel it is just perfect! Small but close to large shopping areas! :) I need to be close to fun shopping but don't necessarily live in it. Anyway, I love seasons, the mountains, the trees, and I love animals (cows, sheep, horses, deer, pigs, etc.). I'm not exactly sure were this adventure will lead, but I do know when we are done wandering the world, I'd like to settle in a petite ville living in a cute villa with some animals. I do like the whole farming thing...but having no knowledge of this would make it difficult to come to fruition. Anyway, I love the earth we've been given I thank our Heavenly Father for this wonderful gift as it is beautiful---at least what I have seen; which is not much!

Ciao!

Mom & Ray

2010-11-09T16:50:00.000+01:00

Since our last post we decided to spend a day in Forcalquier, a small village not too far from us since Matt had the day off.

Later on that week we were happy to receive a visit from my mom and Ray! We had such a wonderful time with them! We miss being so far from our families.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T22:26:00.000+01:00

We weren't sure what to expect for Halloween this year...but surprisingly they do celebrate it here! So fun! We were invited to two parties...thanks gals!

okay...not halloween here...but i had to put this in...she was eating Acini soup and clearly thought it was much more fun to play with than eat! not fun for me...

Friends of ours

Party #1, Seneca was Boo from Monster's Inc.

Baby Lyra

Liam and Seneca (Ballerina this time)

Friends of ours

Seni

Seni with her friend

Seni loves to read and will read with anyone...

Pin the Hat on the Witch

Jason Raffaele Ciminiera is HERE!

2010-10-27T20:49:00.000+02:00

I am so excited! My sister Danielle and her husband Toni just had their baby tonight! It's official!

Jason Raffaele Ciminiera made it! He weighs 7lbs 8oz and 20.5 inches long.

Flying over Provence

2010-10-12T21:02:00.000+02:00

Before we chat about flying...I had to insert the latest pictures of Seneca. She loves water and was washing the dishes...NAKED! Love that bum! Then she pointed out to me that their was a rainbow!

We have met some wonderful friends here in the area and one of then happens to fly planes as a hobby. He invited the guys to go flying this past weekend. Matt said he flew up over Gap toward the French Alps. Based on the pictures it looked like an amazing flight!

The little plane

The leaves are changing...

Co-pilot!

A lake near Gap: Lac Serre-Poncon

Matt said this is a small church on this little island. I guess there used to be a village here which was flooded when the lake was created. An now this is all you see.

Matt had a wonderful time!

Encore

2010-10-04T10:32:00.000+02:00

A recruiter from the BYU-MBA program came into town this weekend to visit with ITER and other organizations out this way. We offered to entertain him for a day and knew of a great spot---Moustiers Sainte Marie and the Gorges de Verdon. Here are more pictures of this place...if you didn't get enough from the last post...he...he.

This is a path that takes you up to an old church on the top of the hill.

View of Moustiers from the path...

More views of the trail

View of Lac Saint Croix

The day before was busy for both Matt and I. Matt was working and I was teaching Seminary and watching the Relief Society broadcast. While I was away Matt was watching Seneca....(see below)

The best babysitter...movie on the I-Pod.

Moustiers Sainte Marie et Gorges du Verdon

2010-09-28T21:28:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we explored a beautiful hilltop village, Moustiers Sainte Marie; which happens to be near Les Gorges du Verdon. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show a bit of the actual beauty...but hopefully it will give you a little glimpse of what we saw.

Moustiers

We took a ride around the rim of les gorges du verdon.

These are random pics from the week...

Seneca came into the kitchen and started to get into the cabinets. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "mommy I drum". I said okay...let me help you. We got the pots out and two sticks and she had the largest smile I have ever seen! This is her true smile! She was in Heaven!

Beautiful sunrise from our deck.

Have a great day!

The day to day....

2010-09-21T20:08:00.000+02:00

Well, we've been here for about 4 months now and still feel like we are getting acclimated. We're all trying to get help with our french so we can get better adjusted. Other than that, we've made some wonderful friends here. The weather is also great! It's starting to cool down...which I love!

I went to a expatriate function the other night and came home to Seneca's bedroom door open. I went inside and did not see her...So, I asked Matt if he had seen her and he said she was in bed. I told him she wasn't. We were a little worried as we didn't know where she went until we looked in our room. (Initially, we thought she was hiding from us.) This is what we found:

So loves our bed and insists it's better than hers. She was out! So cute!

Last weekend we headed to Nice for stake conference. What a beautiful city! We need to go back and spend more time.

Seneca watching a movie on dad's i-pod...love the head phones.

Pretty cathedral in Rians.

Première journée d'école

2010-09-15T20:00:00.000+02:00

Matt and I decided to put Seneca in school (more like daycare) two days a week for three hours a day to help her learn french and give her the opportunity to play with other french children. When I dropped her off she seemed fine. When I came to pick her up they said "elle s'est mis en colère". I didn't quite catch the entire sentence but I knew the word "colere" well enough....She was very angry with me when I left and cried for a bit. However, when I picked her up, she didn't want to leave. So, we will try again tomorrow and see how it goes.

While Seneca is in school Matt and I are both taking private French lessons to help us with the language here. We really want to learn it and have found we need help. We've done a lot of independent study, but feel we both need more direction. So, hopefully we will all be fluent by the time we hit our year mark here.

She was not interested in taking pictures so I asked her to put her hands up...make it fun...

Again, not interested. She was sucking her thumb. So I asked her to stick her tongue out....:)

This is the gate that goes to her school (small house).

So camera shy....

Papie visite avec nous

2010-09-14T19:23:00.000+02:00

My dad came to visit us this past week! It was so good to see him. It had been about four months since we'd seen each other.

My dad flew into Nice and then headed to Le Lavandou where my grandmother lives. So, Seneca and I met him in Le Lavandou. We spent the night and then returned to Manosque the next day. On our way to Manosque we made a few stops. The first was St. Tropez.

Our next stop was Brignoles. This is where my dad was born and raised until he moved to Utah at the age of 16.

View of Brignoles.

This is the house he lived in.

This is the room my dad, JJ and mamie slept.

I think aunt danielle slept in this room.

This was the landing between the two rooms (they didn't have in-door restrooms at the time) so they would have their port-au-potty here.

The elder lady in the background is the current owner. It was her parents who rented the place to my grandma.

Dining room

Kitchen

Tree my dad would play in.

Side view of the house.

The yard is very large. They have olive trees....

This is the school my dad went to.

Where he exercised.

This church on the top of the hill is right next door to where he used to live.

Matt, Seneca and I went to Rian. They have a beautiful cathedral here.

Our baby is TWO!

2010-08-30T13:05:00.000+02:00

Wow...two years ago was a very special day for us! We reflect often on the sacrifice Allison made to bless Matt and I. We love Allison and her sweet daughter Emma. They are a very special family that will always be close to us. As a result of this sacrifice we get to be the recipient of the blessings Seneca brings to our home. Our most sacred joy is being parents to her here on earth. We thank our Heavenly Father for entrusting us with this sweet spirit. We love Seneca very much! It is so sad how quickly she is growing! I hold her at night to sing her a song and realize I cannot hold her anymore...she is getting so big. So, she tells me "mommy sit, sing song"....so cute! She loves to sing, dance, play on the computer, watch RobinHood & Peterpan, play in the water, dirt, anything with rocks...etc. She loves make-up, Anna's shoes and many more things...Oh, we love her so~

For her birthday we took her to an indoor playground. She was in Heaven!

Seneca trying to smile...

Thanks to papie for the cute ballerina dress, crown, wand, coloring books, books, crayons, and card...she loved it.

Mom, thanks for the "Hello Kittie" lunch box, clothes, coloring book, books, etc....she also loves the Tinkerbell card.

Thank you to mama and papa for getting Seneca a computer.
Thank you to Uncle Toni & Aunt Danielle for getting Seneca "sassy" shoes!
Thank you to Megan for making Seneca a cute hair bow!

Thank you all for the phone calls, web-cam chats, and personal videos (andre).

Love, Mesia

Our trip to visit Aunt Danielle & Uncle Toni in Germany

2010-08-30T12:46:00.000+02:00

Seneca and I traveled to Germany to spend some time with Aunt Danielle and Uncle Toni. In the 8 years she's lived here I've never visited the place. The main mission, of course, was to throw Danielle a baby shower. Here are some pictures of our trip.

My beautiful sister! I am so excited for her and her husband...they are having their first child---Jason---. It is a special time. Plus a special name.

Here are pictures from her baby shower....

The following pictures from Darmstadt.

Here are pictures from Heidleberg.

We went to a "beach bar" with their neighbors...it was fun...totally rained!

Our Holiday to Italy

2010-08-16T21:20:00.000+02:00

This past week we headed to Italy for the holiday to visit Danielle & Toni at Toni's parent's house. We had a wonderful trip! Here are pictures and such documenting our trip.

As you can see from the map we left Manosque and headed towards Italy....on our way we first stopped in Monte Carlo.

Absolutely beautiful!

Okay....SICK yachts!

I love Grace Kelly...wish she was still alive.

Our second stop was to Genova, Italy to visit my Aunt Linda and her husband Cal. We had a wonderful visit with them...I will post pictures later of this.

Afterward we headed to Bologna, Italy.

I love these ceiling shots...they are just breath-taking!

The next stop was Ravenna, Italy. I read an article about this place having amazing mosaic art in their Basilicas. This was totally worth the stop! I love mosaic art!

Here is an up-close sample of the mosaic art.

From there we started heading South towards Santa Lucia.

Seneca using her toes to eat a cracker! So talented...just like Grandma Sue!

After hitting crazy traffic we finally made it to Santa Lucia, Ortona, Italy.

Seneca with Alina, and Myla (Desi's daughters)

Dad and Seni watching a movie before bedtime.

Love this pic of the girls....

Seni & Aunt Danielle

Sasha & Uncle Toni

Us at the "Old Town" Festival in Ortona

Danielle & Toni

Our big group! So much fun!

Danielle and I hitting the market!

In Ortona they have Saint Thomas Basilica. He is supposedly buried here.

Love the ceilings...

Danielle & baby Jason cooking....

Danielle, Toni and Seneca

Spending time in Ortona with Toni's family was awesome! As most of you know my heritage is French (25%), English (25%) and Italian (50%). My grandfather ate pasta every night for dinner. We have a yummy homemade pasta sauce with homemade raviolis we make for Christmas. Other than this, I really didn't know the Italian food culture. Aparently, your first course is pasta, the second is some sort of protein and then dessert. I can't even get past the first dish-pasta....We have amazing pasta, fish, pork, gelato, etc. I need to totally exercise.
After basking in the sun for five days and eating great food we made our way back home.

Our first stop was Florence. Oh my gosh! I LOVE this town! So romantic! Matt and I decided we needed to come back without children.

Seneca kept playing with this door. She said "bye"...shut the door sat down and folded her arms.

The last and final stop before heading home was Pisa, Italy.

The leaning tower of Pisa!

Whew! We made it!

Lac de Sainte Croix

2010-08-04T08:50:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we were invited to go to lac de sainte de croix. This lake was formed in 1975 from a dam in the Verdon river. Unfortunately, I left my purse (with camera) at our friend's house...so, I didn't get pictures of the place. Here are some stock pictures from the internet to give you a feel of the place.

The one bad thing about heading to places around France and probably most of Europe are the tight, windy roads...normally I don't get car sick but here is it usually given. On this road trip, as we approached Ste. Croix, Seneca got sick in the car...poor girl! I was not prepared for that....so, we had to borrow some clothes from our friends...this is what she wore.

Besides the crazy roads...we had a wonderful time. We rented a paddle boat and the boys played on a catamaran.

Random stuff....

Seneca playing with her stickers.

Below is a goofy video of us doing yoga...
Mom & Seni doing Yoga

Have a great day!

Sunday--Wild Animal Parc

2010-07-27T18:06:00.000+02:00

On Sunday afternoon we decided to take a drive towards Vinon sur Verdon. On our way we decided to check out an animal parc...it was closed but on the way we did see some animals:

Dad let Seni drive

This picture has nothing to do with the wild animal parc but I needed to take a picture anyway. Seneca loves putting these plastic containers, that once held fruit, on her head...so funny.

Pont du Gard

2010-07-27T17:42:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we visited Pont du Gard. This is where a large aqueduct was built back around 19BC to transport water from a spring near Uzes to Nimes. Here are some pictures from the day.

Friends of ours, the Popes.

Seneca eating the wind...yeah...funny girl!

Seneca and her buddy Liam.

Seneca and dad playing in the water near the canoes.

Typical for our Saturday excursions....she was very tired by the end of the day.