The Night Watches

Oui, je parle français! Enfin! J'ai eu l'occasion de parler la langue que j'ai étudiée à l'université! C'était un rêve viennent vrai! How wonderfully fun it was to speak French, to understand the street signs, to understand what people were saying around you, and to be able to barter in the market!!! Going to France has always been a dream of mine, and even though it was only for 1 day, it was wonderful. We planned a long day trip in the French Riviera, going to Nice, Monaco and Eze . We drove through Cannes along the coast line, seeing the amazing hotels, beaches and shops. Our first stop was at the market place in Nice. They sell flowers, fruits/veggies, oils, soaps, and paintings. We got a painting, and some fruit. One of the funnest things for me, was trying to remember numbers... so that when I would ask how much something cost, I could actually try to talk them down!!! We were able to get a painting for half the amount the seller was asking of the other Americ...

I have been hesitant to post the past two days, in light of the recent passing away of Micah Davis- a sweet 3 year old boy of a family in our church. He passed away after a valiant fight against brain cancer this past Wednesday morning. His family are heroes of faith and joy in the midst of a grieving situation. Our prayers are with them, as we can not even begin to imagine what it is like to loose a child. Praise the Lord, as Micah is now with Jesus, whole and experiencing joys untold! I didn't realize it would take me 2 weeks to get all these posts on the blog... I have some other things I want/need to post on, but want to get through all the vacation ones first.... So back on the boat, two weeks ago.... there was a formal night, where we get all dressed up for dinner... a good excuse to look nice... We don't own any formal clothes for Tyler, but he looked cute none the less... Our maître d' was quite the entertainer. He would sing Frank Sinatra songs most nights, wit...

Our next stop on the trip was to Sicily. We planned to see another volcano, this one we would be driven up, not hike! It is called Mt. Etna, and apparently it is still an active volcano (the largest in Europe). You can see the steam coming off of some of the active spots... We drove up to the top of the Volcano and went into a shop/bar where they offered up "liquid lava." Should have been enough said, for us to not even come close to it.... one touch to my lips and I had tasted enough.... it was like gasoline! The black "road" is dried lava from the last eruption a few years ago. The crazy thing about this place, is that they keep building new restaurants and bars on it, even after they are destroyed in an eruption! We walked down into some of the caters. MY cute mom demonstrating the size of the hole! Lotte and Wes... the colors of the rock behind them are the elements ... yellow is sulfur.... I cant remember the other colors. But it was pretty cool looking! Whe...