Nathalie and Maxence !

If you read my last post, you probably got a bit sad with me... thank you.  I'm still praying my parents can come soon.  My dad's melanoma surgery is Tuesday, June 21st.  This wedding was such a blessing in so many ways.  One of those being that it kept me quite busy, so I couldn't think TOO much about wishing my parents could be here.

{sorry for the formatting... I'm too tired to fight with blogger tonight}

WE. HAD. A. BLAST.

Mandatory church selfie.

The church.  It was beautifully simple.


The musicians : Léna, Carole, Tonio, moi.

Waiting for the festivities to start.

Mamie keeping li'l Daph busy in the back.

Here comes the bride!

Léna and Carole singing Michael W. Smith's "Grace" while Nathalie and her daddy enter.

Me and my man.  Thanks Pierre for many of these photos.

 The bride is still coming =).

Maxence and Nathalie.

Maxence's godfather, Sam.  He was hilarious.

Leading worship with Carole.

It's so amazing to sing in a church like this with the incredible acoustics.

So fun to have Nathalie and Maxence worshiping Jesus up on the stage with us.

Wedding photo booth.

This guy is my favorite.

Cheese ball.

Fun with Elodie.

We were laughing because we didn't have to smile, but Elodie figured that out after the photo.

Thankful for my friend.

She's so much fun!

 Hanging decoration selfie.

So, this is where the reception was.  Seriously!!!  Pinch me.

Nathanael and Tonio all dressed up in the sand.  The shoes didn't last too long.

We all gathered on the pier for champagne and hors d'oevres.

They are so beautiful together!

Champagne on the water.  Yes please.

Mandatory Med Sea selfie.

My beautiful friend Ismahan.

I'm honored to be at his side.

Reunion of friends : Marjorie, Jeni, Elodie, Anne, me, Ismahan.

The crew.

The sunlight was golden after a nice sprinkle.  The weather turned out to be perfect!

And this is the view from where we were sitting at our table.  Pas mal!  It was seriously a fairy tail wedding.  And the dancing spread to the private beach in front of us.  Dancing at a wedding in the sand... My kind of evening! 

We are so thankful for Pierre and Nancy (Papi and Mamie) who basically watched our sweet little Daphné the whole day.  Mamie even put D to bed at our home and stayed the night, since we got home so late.  Thank you guys!

Also, I'm so thankful for Nathalie and Maxence's marriage, another testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, and another beautiful example of the institution God created.  It's incredible to be married and to see the blessings and challenges within marriage, all to make us more like Jesus Christ (and "to go forth and multiply"... hehe).

Love Linz

Painting & Church visit

Well, today wraps up our painting adventure (for now).  We missed the 3rd class due to an ear infection, poor baby.  And, I'm still so proud of this little munchkin.  She didn't touch the paint at all today, but she did play with the other little girl and giggled and laughed.  She's come a long way.  Also, at home, she now really enjoys to draw with a pen and paper, so perhaps she's been inspired.  Who knows, but I'm thankful for our time together, whatever we're doing!

Observing mama's work.

Today's challenge was to close our eyes and just make marks with the paintbrush, open our eyes, see what our imagination creates and embellish it... so I made a bike, a girl running, a sailboat and a vase of flowers (obviously not planned, but quite fun surprises).  A fun exercise!

This was just fun with color mixing!

And since the princess was taking her morning nap after the class, I thought I'd stop for a visit at the Russian Orthodox church that is just down the street from us.

Thankfully, she woke up, so she got to see the ornate decorations.

Can't take too many selfies with this little one.

And this was her favorite part... she kept looking up!  I don't blame her.  It's quite captivating with the lights and windows.

Again, I thank the Lord Jesus for this gift called Daphné.  She is our joy.  We (me and Tonio) are in complete awe of the treasure we have been given.

Love Linz

L'Abbaye du Thoronet

The Thoronet Abbey

As I type, my friend Jessica is safely nestled back into her Virginia home, but I still have a few more adventures to share with you all while she was still here...

 After everyone left, we sang Amazing Grace.  The acoustics are a little slice of the heavenlies.  Unfortunately, I can't share it here, but if you are facebook friends with me, it's on my wall.

 The lighting and shadows made this place magical.  This saint agrees with a "Halleluiah!"

 Outside corridor.

 Jess in photographer heaven.

 BLUE !  Or in French, BLEU !

 Look into my eyes.

 Arches.

 Why do I see faces everywhere?

Olive tree grove just outside.  They are so peaceful.  Jess and I were talking about Jesus and the Mount of Olives.  It's no wonder He spent so much time there... it's just pleasant amongst the Oliviers, as we say in French.

Thankful for this trip.

Love Linz