some favorites of 2011

enjoy...

Snowboarding the french alps with seb

Italy in January

Nice ferris wheel - February

Snowshoeing near belvédère - March

Easter service - April

Karlsrhue, Germany - May

Quatorze Juillet - July

camping in Italy - July

Backpacking France - August

Austria (where we met 2 years ago) - August

St. Martin Vésubie - September

My parents visit (Cotignac) - October

Lady Face, Agoura Hills - November

Sandovals - November

My family - November

Back home in Nice - December

Christmas in France - December

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad.

--Psalm 126:3

see you in 2012

-Love Lindsey & Tonio

today's blessings

les bénédictions d'aujourd'hui

des patisseries d'une voisine avec un mot super sympa

pastries from a neighbor with a really sweet note

trouver des vrai bois 10cm x 22cm x 142cm dans la rue

finding real wood 4" x 8.5" x 56" on the street

dîner avec des amis

eating dinner with friends

(no picture - we were having too much fun, i forgot)

merci Jésus

thank You Jesus

--L

15 Christmas highlights

15 points forts du Noël

crafted

carved

whittled

hidden

displayed

bacon

presents

paparazzi

egg

drinks

drink friends

assembly line

brunch

family

love notes

the first 5 photos are from Christmas eve day

tonio and i drove 30 minutes into the mountains to Lucéram

every year, they have 400 nativity scenes on display

it was quite impressive

the last 10 are from Christmas morning 

with Tonio, Pierre, Nancy, and Sebastien

Tonio and i made brunch, and after we opened presents

i was glad Seb could be with us before heading back to Paris

Jesus, thank You for Your life in us

thank You for my husband

thank You for my family

thank You for life

i love you

--L

presents and mustaches

des cadeaux et des moustaches

merci rob et cricri :) 

chez rob et cricri

rob and cricri's home

tonio

captain (cousin)

sebastien

moi, tonio, cricri, captain, rob, seb, nancy et pierre

ha !

joyeux Noël à tout le monde

merry CHRISTmas to everyone

--L

Ventemille, Italie

avec tonio, sebastien et captain

j'aime bien être avec les mecs
i like being with the guys

--L

cookie craziness

cookies are a great way to meet the neighbors

{read some of the GENUINE & HILARIOUS responses below}

making chocolate chips

i do miss the ease of buying them in the states, but i've never had such an intimate relationship with my chips o' chocolate before =) ha

bam !

12 dozen = 144 cookies

(minus the ones tonio, sebastien, captain and i ate)

we included the lyrics of a popular French Christmas carol

so far, we've given out 5 plates out of the 12 we made

the neighbors we did visit were legitimately blown away

it's not a very French thing to "meet the neighbors"

our sweet and funny responses:

"c'est vraiment gentil" (x3 or 4) --> that's really kind

"j'ai jamais vu ça" --> i've never seen this

"joyeux noël" --> merry Christmas

"bonnes fêtes" --> happy holidays

russian candies

an invite into one apartment for drinks

another potential job offer for tonio

and an invitation to smoke some locally grown weed - ha !

Our prayer is that in some way, God's light shines a little brighter though tonio and i in our building.  There are 5 floors with a total of 13 apartments.  We look forward to giving away the rest tomorrow.

--Lindsey (and Tonio)