Faces of Belle

WARNING ... Cute-Baby-Photos-Only ... (and that's "cute" according to our standards!)

This is simply a "make-it-up-to-Mimi-for-not-remembering-to-Skype-with-her-on-her-birthday" type of post.  In case you were warming up your "tsk-tsk" ... I did make the "Birthday Phone Call" AND 4 out of 5 grandchildren did wish Mimi a Happy Birthday.  This was the one who napped right through said birthday call ...


ChocoBelle

says

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mimi!!

I'm ready for you to come to Germany!"



PS -  I am thankful that our eldest daughter has "the eye" and captures such great expressions!  Thank you, Micaiah.

Christmas 2012

Christmas ... a time of anticipation, expectancy, wild-eyed wonder.  This year a later-than-usual tree-purchase altered our decorating routine a bit, but I must say that it was definitely worth the wait. 

Since Belle is totally enamoured with the tree, we also altered the arrangement and number of ornaments!  Although we hung fewer favorites, there were still some that will always have a special place on our tree.

Dear friends gave us this ornament in 1993,
our first Christmas together.
 

As we fast-forward 19 years, who could have imagined that we would be exploring parts of Europe and capturing some wonderful memories.  Here are a few highlights featured in the 2013 "European Overview" Calendar...

Enjoying the statues around the Liberation Monument, the Castle District, and a vintage VW...
Budapest, Hungary

Noyons, France

 

On the set of "Merlin"
Chateau de Pierrefonds, France

 

Col du Grand Colombier

 

 

Gendarmenmarkt
Berlin, Germany

 

What an Adventure!



As we marvel at the incredible gifts given to us by our Heavenly Father, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the most extraordinary gift ... the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! 

Coburg and Luther and Knights, Oh My!

About a month ago, in a late celebration of Reformation Day and to "kick off" the Thankfulness Season, we hopped into the van, drove a mere two hours while the children watched the movie Luther in the back, and beheld this ...

 

 

This is the Coburg Fortress (Veste Coburg) in Bavaria, one of the largest surviving medieval fortresses in Germany. Just a short history lesson ... in 1530, Martin Luther lived in the Veste Coburg for five and half months under the protection of Elector John the Steadfast. He stayed for the duration of the Diet of Augsburg, which he could not attend as an outlaw of the Holy Roman Empire. Philip Melanchthon attended in Luther's place, making history with the drawing up of the Augsburg Confession.

 

Once inside the fortress, the polite-but-somewhat-stern staff members "shepherded" us through numerous rooms, including what was (until just recently) the royal bathroom.  After visiting several different museums in three castle buildings, we entered one of Bear's favorite rooms ... The "Knight" Room.

Thankfully, this was near the end of our tour or we would not have seen (among others) the Lutherstube (Luther Room), where Martin Luther worked on his German translation of the Bible (most of which was done at the Wartburg Castle) and wrote no less than 26 works on Reformation issues. 

Definitely thankful for another incredible opportunity to journey back through HisStory.



Season of Remembrance

With leaves turning golden and red and then falling to be crunched beneath our feet, and with the smell of chimney's first smoke hanging in the air … it is definitely autumn. And as autumn comes, so does the Remembering Season.  

 

 

At the Lopez home we are right in the middle of two Remembering Times. Just ten days ago we gathered around the table for a birthday celebration – a feast extraordinaire with a menu designed by our now-15-year-old son … cheesy bread, homemade pizzas and calzones, caesar salad, and finally chocolate-chip cookie cake with chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream. While we gorged ourselves on carbs and sugar, we reminisced and laughed with one another as we shared our favorite Isaac memories. Birthdays are great times to remember, to remember the chapters of our story that have been told thus far.

The second Remembering Time will take place in exactly one week. Almost nineteen years ago on a beautiful autumn day in Kansas City, Missouri, the Lopez family had its beginning in an old stone church with a long center aisle. Vows exchanged, communion shared and then a joyous procession into the chapters to come. What an adventure. Only God Almighty, only the Sovereign Lord of all, only our Gracious Heavenly Father could have written a story like this for me, for you, for all of us.

 A few weeks ago at the Kick-off Program of our local PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel), our guest speaker posed this question, “What's Your Story?”   Well, I am going to challenge each of us to ask this question, “What is the story God is telling?”  Consider the Bible.  It is the very Word of God … His Story. He has given us this record of His Story, AND incredibly, He has written us into His Story. Ephesians 1:4 “...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love...”

Before chapter 1, even before the prologue, He chose us and gave us a bit part in His Story. Our scenes are always changing, but the Author remains the same. Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I do not change...”

And all throughout His Story, He reminds us of many things … necessary, life-giving things. The word “remember” appears in over 200 places in the Bible. What does He remind us of? *His everlasting love for us *His good and perfect law that gives us boundaries and provides security and protection *His complete sacrifice – Jesus, God in human form, dying an atoning death on cross, and *The consequences of our choices – Obedience brings blessing, Disobedience cursing, and this will lead to our eternal home, either with Him in heaven or separated from Him forever.

Our Father even set aside specific times, formal Remembering Times called Feasts – the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Passover and even on a weekly basis – the Sabbath.   Today, we also have those built-in formal Remembering Times – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, even funerals. These specific times are not only times for us to remember His Story and what He has done for us; these are also times when His Name is to be made known, His glory to be shown to the nations. Think about those twelve stones taken from the Jordan, the stones of remembrance.  We read in Joshua 4, “And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Again, remember, these times of remembrance are not just for us personally; they are not just for us to share with our children; they are for the glory of God...for making Him known among the nations.

And then there are those informal Remembering Times … times around the dinner table as you discuss and remember the things that happened throughout the day … times of getting to know new friends as you share the previous chapters leading you to this particular time and place … getting together with old friends after long separations as you walk down Memory Lane … even children asking for help on homework assignments – do you really need a common denominator when adding fractions... and then there are treasured family albums bringing their own Remembering Times.

One of Bear's favorite things to do is to pull out his photo album, climb up into my lap, and hear the story behind each picture. Do we come to God's Word the same way? Do we climb up into His lap and turn the page, eager to hear the story behind that snapshot?? My prayer is that our Remembering Times would become more and more frequent. Would we consider each day – would we take time each day to remember The Author and His Story?  Read anew these words from Psalm 145. Picture this snapshot of Our Author:
 

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.  The Lord upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season.  You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.  The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.  The Lord preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.  My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh shall bless His holy name Forever and ever.

Berlin & Beyond

Even after almost 21 months in Europe, I am still amazed that I am writing the following sentence.  Last weekend we squeezed in a quick trip to Berlin between school photo shoots with Dad.  A few highlights of that excursion are pictured below ... the Pergamon Museum, Französischer Dom, and Gendarmenmarkt.  So much history packed into two days.  The only disappointment:  in a city of 3.5 million, one should be able to use the GPS and find a Mexican restaurant. 

 

With three weeks of school completed, here is a look at the students of the Lopez Family Homeschool of 2012-13 ...

 

Micaiah, junior year

Isaac, freshman year

Abigail, 7th grade year

Bear, kindergarten year

Belle, in the second half of her second year

 

Every Day Is School Day

In exactly one week we will be conjugating, solving for "x," balancing chemical equations, and reading (or learning to read, as the case may be), reading, reading.   While I am very excited for our school year to begin, there is a part of me that will miss some of those less-than-formal learning experiences that summertime provides.

Here is one such experience from early May ...

Near the beginning of the walk ...

After walking quite a distance along the path, our 5-year-old son began to whine, “I'm tired … I'm hungry” forgetting that he had just wolfed down his waffles 30 minutes prior.  My first response was to IGNORE and keep moving.  Soon, “I'm super hungry.”  Second response from this nuturing mother, “It's time to suck it up … we are preparing for our hikes in France...”  then out of the mouth of the babe, “I'm really tired and super super hungry.”  Third response - “See that yellow sign down there...that's the goal.  We get there and then we will turn and head for home where you can have a snack.”  Surely this would suffice … but no, the whine continued, and as I pushed baby sister in the stroller and tried to coax my strong-willed boy, I breathed out a prayer of help … and then thanksgiving as this came to mind,

“One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.”  Psalm 145:4

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to the next generation.  If I continue my current path of responses, my child will remain fixated on his wants, his dire situation, his apparent lack.  It was time to adjust our focus.  “I will declare Your mighty acts.”

So I began with “Listen! What is that you hear?”
His quick response “Birds”
“What are they doing?”
Singing
“What do you think they are singing?”
Praise to God.
“Why?”
Because He made them to sing.



Belle, patiently waiting as Bear shows me a "discovery"

Then we turned our attention to the grass...to the green grass and then to the many shades of green on the hill of trees just over there.  Next, the pink flowers who, according to my son, were named “little pink flowers” … we stopped to count the horses, some rolling on their backs with their feet in the air.  We were surrounded by God's good creation … and we praised His works as we sauntered home without a single whine!

The road may appear long, but we will walk it together.

On the Set of "Merlin"

Although the warmer days of August (notice I did not say "hot days" as a small token of respect for those loved ones sheltering in their air-conditioned cocoons back in the Midwest and most of the 48!) beckon my thoughts to focus here...



I still find myself daydreaming of a partly cloudy, cool June morning in France as we hiked up the hill, eyes focused on this...

Pierrefonds Castle

This little gem was just a few kilometers down the road from our Jaulzy gite and one of the first places we explored, much to the delight of one small Bear!  The older Lopez children's delight came in discovering that not only is the TV show "Merlin" filmed here, but on that June day as we crossed the drawbridge into the courtyard, this is what awaited us...

On the set of "Merlin"

With so much action taking place outside,

it took some coaxing to draw them inside to enjoy this...

and this

I feel compelled to share one more part of the daydream...this glimpse of God's spectacular handiwork as seen through a castle window.

The village of Pierrefonds

As our focus shifts to the exciting challenges of logic, algebra (1 & 2!), ancient (and modern) literature, chemistry, pre-calculus, latin, biology labs and kindergarten that beckon us forward, please forgive us if we sometimes slip into a daydream or two.



"Living the dream" with Mimi

Strawberries Galore

With all the hustle and bustle of our Mimi-visit-preparations back in June, not to mention the need to plan and pack for a fortnight in France, we almost overlooked the obvious ... a trip to the strawberry field.

Imagine, if you will, flying over ten hours into the "future" and then traveling another three hours along the autobahn and then stepping through the doorway to be greeted by five eager, excited grandchildren whose unified purpose (for this afternoon / evening) is to keep you from crawling into bed for some much desired sleep...and then you hear this bit of news:  "We're going to go pick strawberries tomorrow!"  And to top it off, you learn that you will be WALKING to the strawberry field because it is JUST a couple of kilometers away.  Welcome to Germany, Mimi!!

So, the next day (after the mandatory-first-morning-in-Germany trip to the backerei for whatever sweetness you might choose) we prepared for our strawberry excursion.  Baskets, water bottles, sunscreen, hats, plastic bags to line the baskets, euro (you-pick-'em berries in the field are not free ... cheaper by far than the commissary, but not free!), and two strollers -- one for Belle and one for the berries.

Ready to go!

Bear taking advantage of the "extra" stroller
on the way to the field



Teamwork

Inspector Belle

Sometimes you need help letting go...

Good thing we brought those hats!

Just a small portion of "The Haul"

Within an hour and with approximately eight pairs of hands a-pickin', we hauled in about 15 kg of strawberries ... roughly 30 pounds of berries!  Many hands make light work ... many hands also make you unaware of just how much is produced with that light work.  That's where the German gentleman in the pay-here-now booth will enlighten you ... after Husband adds a bottle of strawberry wine to the line of baskets waiting to be weighed!  Thankfully the enlightenment was nearly painless ... total damage was less than 20 euro (about $25).  AND we had berries to feast on for a week!

Snapshots of Paris

This is also me, looking at my Father
who seemed to never stop taking photos...
 till I stole his camera to get the next picture while at a stop light.

<----This is one of our bus signs.

Momma, acting like she is by herself.

One of the few things that makes Isaac look small.

This is a neat building, and we have no idea

 what it is!

 Belle's thinking that the picture I want has been deleted. I agree.

Bear...listening to the tour guide while
 watching Micky take a picture of the aforesaid unknown building.

First Bear chased Belle... but she didn't like that....

SO she chased him!

In the Neighborhood ... Jaulzy

Jaulzy ... north of Paris ... midpoint between Compiegne and Soissons ... small village featuring the pearl-of-a-gite discovered by my dear husband via the internet ... home-base for the first half of our French get-away.

After traveling through a few extra countries along a more scenic route than we had planned (thanks to the non-driver neglecting to check the appropriate boxes on the navigation screen), we turned off the main "highway" and attempted to mimic the windy, magenta path of the little car on the GPS screen.   Upon arriving, we met an older, bubbly, French lady who gave us the grand tour of the gite, explained the keypad outside the front door, and asked us some personal (purely speculative on my part) questions ... all in French.  Not a lick of English.  My "Bonjour, Madame" did not advance the conversation a bit!  Still, even with this incredible lack of communication, she handed us the keys and let herself out the door with an "Au revoir." 

While most of us began to settle in or to prepare dinner, others took to exploring their immediate surroundings. 

The narrow one-way lane running in front of the gite

The church just up the hill from the gite

After dinner, the rest of us joined in the explorations of the neighborhood.  Two cameras snapping consistently still could not keep up with all our eyes beheld.

A small chateau down the hill from the gite

A neighbor's lovely garden and view of the valley

Sometimes seeing is not enough ... sometimes you just need to become one with your surroundings ...

One of the things that I think surprised my mom (yes, she is brave to travel with us!) was how patient you need to be in order to see the sun set in our neck of the woods.  The photograph below was taken around 10 PM-ish! 

View from just outside the front of the gite

Throughout the week, we shopped the Compiegne market, caught a scene of "Merlin" being filmed at Pierrefonds Castle, visited Noyons - the birthplace of John Calvin, and endured the rain to investigate the ruins of Chateau de Coucy.  At the end of the day, it was good to come "home."

Hangin' out at/of the gite