In which we are on an Epic Adventure.

                I'm sitting on a low, plush red sofa in a 5th story living room thousands of miles away from my everyday home. A few feet away, a grand piano that my littles love to play on during the day rests quietly. It's old and unused to all the joyful noise three children bring, but beautiful. The ceiling over my head, graced with 18 in. crown mouldings painted with hints of gold trim in places, occasionally creaks as the family above us settles down for the evening. Down on the street, traffic with all its lights and noises won't stop anytime tonight, making me thankful for our quieter back bedroom. It's finally dark, although light and time here are so strange that 7pm looks and feels like 4pm or 9am. The garden on the other side of our street is locked now, quiet after the days' bustle of tourists and Parisians soaking up the April sun. And in the distance the Eiffel Tower is lit up, a yellow glow now where minutes ago it was alive with sparkling lights my two oldest oooed and ahhhed over. This is Paris; this is our home for the next month.

We've been on the road for over two weeks now, an adventure planned to soak up the last bit of time before Adam starts the craziness of P.A. school. He left his job at the hospital where he's worked the past year and a half at the end of March, and we began the journey to see family before we flew away for a bit. Driving from our home to Durango took one 10-hour day (almost one-year-olds require LOTS of stops. So do three year olds who happen to get carsick....), where we spent Easter Sunday celebrating the miracle of Christ's love for us at our "old" church while seeing many, many dear friends. Adam and I got to spend a day away at the Ouray hot springs the next day, thanks to our sister-in-law's bravery in taking on all 6 crazy cousins (thanks again, Tiff!!) and it was a relaxing, beautiful day filled with deliciously hot hamburgers and fries at a local brewery and sun. We'd forgotten just how strong the sun is on top of a mountain...and so we'd forgotten our sunscreen. Needless to say, we got a bit pink at the hot springs! But it was so needed, our time away. Trying to pack for a 6 week, 3 location, intercontinental vacation while getting our house back in some semblance of order (I love to come home to a clean house!) was busy enough. Then there was the car accident my mom was in the Sunday evening before we left (the 3rd of those your-mom/dad-is-in-the-hospital call I've gotten since Thanksgiving....not loving those. Being so far away in crisis leaves you anxious and helpless!) Blythe, especially, had a hard time; although she couldn't verbalize to me WHY. She and my mom are great friends... have I mentioned that my sweet little girl has a really, really hard time when she can't be in complete control of any situation? AND that she's an epic shrieking meltdown-er? And that there was A LOT she couldn't control that week? Ai. What a week. (Mom is going to be fine, by the way...but while the doctors were discovering that the accident had given her Broken Heart Syndrome, they also discovered an artery that is 90% blocked. So in that way, the accident was a blessing in disguise. She just needs rest, now, and physical therapy-the former must heal before they can deal with the latter.)

       By the grace of God, a fantastic daddy/husband (who was willing to let me fly up to Colorado with the baby to be there if I felt I needed to-therefore taking alllll the packing, cleaning, and driving of the 2 bigs to Colorado on himself...he was very thankful when I decided I was needed at home more ;) ), and an incredible friend who came over with her family and brought us dinner Wednesday night, left us ANOTHER dinner for Thursday as well as breakfast one morning, and then came over on Friday loaded up with her 2 girls, a kiddie pool, four cans of shaving cream, and food coloring to let the kids blow off some steam....we made it the end of the week. Community, friends. It's a BIG deal.

      Anyways. Back to Colorado. We spent 3 days in D-town, capping it off with dinner at Mark and Jill's house where Pax discovered the world of StarWars Legos...and then headed up to Ft. Collins early the next day. The kids did beautifully that day (yay for sleeping babies! Yay for no puke!) and we made good time. The NEXT day was spent baking and baking and baking some more and making sure my mom wasn't overdoing it and then decorating cupcakes....because the day after that, Friday, April 5th, was Blaise's first birthday! Which will have to be a post for after we get back, because I left the camera I used for those pictures in Ft. Fun. Too much luggage already. But it was fun and we loved celebrating our smart, funny little guy! Fast forward a few days of slipping away when we could for some time together, seeing family, snuggling our new niece, and more rearranging and packing....and we headed to the airport for the epic journey to France. Which went very well, actually; although I learned why you should never, EVER fly with a sinus infection if you can help it. The rest went pretty much as well as can be expected with 3 kids. Although Pax didn't sleep AT ALL for about 24 hours and so eventually melted down...but that was after we'd already made it to the apartment an Paris and to be expected, after all, with jetlag and kiddos.

         My inlaws were already here, on the tail end of a week's stay, when we arrived. They took me one day to the Carrefour (France's version of walmart, only nicer) and helped us stock up on some essentials. VERY nice, since in the area where the apartment is we walk everywhere and the grocery stores are small and you get only what you can carry home in your small, portable grocery cart. Jetlag makes a blur of the first few days and nights, especially with kids-the baby had the hardest time adjusting, with Blythe a close second. I've actually been extremely impressed with Pax on this trip. His ability to adapt to different situations, try new things, step up and take on even more responsibility, start speaking a little French, etc. has been so fun to watch! So we're here, and settled, and exploring Paris with three kids in tow...very good times. Saturday night Adam and I got to go out to a 2+ hour dinner at a teeny chic place right around the corner from Notre Dame, which meant tromping across Paris in the blowing rain and wind (in heels!). We experienced several of those movie-esq umbrella-blowing-inside-out moments and just had to laugh...and throw away the umbrella once we got home :) But walking  back by Notre Dame at night, across one of the padlock bridges...the grounds still and dark, the arches and towers lit up against the night-I soaked up the beauty and the other-worldness of the evening. Sometimes it still feels surreal, that this is part of my life now-Paris. Adam and I are constantly aware of the blessing of all this even as we seeking the Lord's purpose for this in our lives is,  as well as for others. 

      Sunday, the last day before my inlaws left, we had an epic family dinner with my father-in-law's Uncle (88 and still sharp as a tack!), Aunt, and 2 of his cousins....which started when they arrived at 9pm. We didn't even enter the dining room until 10pm, after a "appetiser" course of champagne and some chocolates they brought with them. It's a different world, for sure! I have to admit that as much fun as they can be, I always half-dread these dinners, because although everyone is very nice and, of course, interested in seeing us; they speak entirely in French. And although I understand quite a lot by this point and speak a bit, I have to concentrate so hard to understand the flow of conversations that I'm exhausted by the end of the evening! Well, that and the fact that it was after midnight before the dinner was over...but I've done it before, both in Brazil and several times with Adam's family (the first dinner I ever had with his family was one of these epic French-speaking marathons) so I just buckle down and try to constantly pay attention so someone doesn't say something to me when I'm not listening because THEN where would we be??

     And now, I've rambled on quite enough and this is much too long to add any of the other stories I already have to it...so we'll save the story of how Adam almost got us arrested on the Metro yesterday for another night. A tout a'lhuere!