Ladies Retreat

My amazing husband let me leave on a five day, four night getaway to Paris, while he watched our sweet little bundle.  I'm so thankful.  It was refreshing and inspiring and fun!

Bye bye Nice.

Hello forest in the outskirts of Paris : Écouen.

Exploring with these ladies.

Corinne and Marie-Christine.

Le Château d'Écouen.

Panoramic view of the courtyard.

Took this one to send to Daphné and Tonio.

No crocodiles.

Groupie.

BAM.

Hi! (My earring is falling out - ha!)

Must be nice to have this as a backyard.  Royalty.  Wow.

Panoramic view from the castle.

The sleepy little town of Écouen.

My favorite tree EVER!!!

From underneath.

Cathy Taylor from Calvary Fellowship teaching how we are God's work of art.

Some of my notes.

A visit to the local church.

Spring!

I like the aqua colored bricks.

On a forest promenade with my friend Caroline.

Nature.  God's Creation.  It just makes me feel alive.

I'm a sucker for old French cars.

The outside of the church we visited a few pictures above.

My room.  I had 2 really cool roommates, Rachel and Caryn.

Inspired to finish a song I started in 2005.  Thank You Jesus.  I'm still not done.  I'd like to write a bridge.  One of the gals said, "Please don't wait 12 more years to finish it."  HA!

Cathy, Nancy, me.  Thankful for such a wonderful time being encouraged in God's Word.  I just can't get enough.  Good thing I get to read my Bible everyday.  God wrote us a love letter, and it's ours to read.  I feel so privileged and loved.  Because I am.  [And you are too!]

Love Linz

Daph Daph

I should rename this blog... HA!  Every once in a while, I do what I like to call a "Daphné Drop."  So many single moments with this little precious being.  Here are a few recent ones all clumped together.

Sometimes she sleeps like this.

She wanted pink toes like mama.

This is a picture of Grandma Kathy, Auntie Chelsey and cousin Rowyn in Mailbu, California.

Chillin' with Papa.

Preparing communion with Mamie.  She'll take another round.

A guy at church took this, and you'll see a striking family resemblance with the photo below.

Taken in December 2016 (me and my friend Crystal).

Enjoying a chair we are looking to buy.  No joke.

Walking with friends.  Maki, Juli, Daphné and Toma.

Giggling at Astor's Papa.

Playing with a plastic puppy, but treating him as if he's real.

And sometimes she sleeps like this.

Tiny tea cups!  She loves all things tiny (and don't tell her, but so does the vacuum cleaner... ha!)

Fries and kebabs with Papi and Papa, while Mama was gone.

She loves herself some French fries (who doesn't?!)

I imagine she's laughing at Papi here.

And this photo beautifully captures her gorgeous eyes!

More laughs.

Our water girl.  She can't get enough.

And sometimes she doesn't sleep.   Tonio told me this was just after he had sneezed and heard, "Bless you Papa" from the other room.  Such a sweet little bug.

 Hanging at Papi's house, while Mamie was gone with me.

Her Papa takes such good care of her.  Five days and four nights without Mama.  I'm so thankful to be married to such an amazing husband and papa to Daphné.

Love Linz

Morning in the snow

Two Mondays ago, we headed up to the French Alps for Daphné's first time EVER experiencing snow!  It was delightful!  And it's only 2 hours away... we are so blessed to live where we do.

Can't leave out the gross parking lot slush.

She didn't care.

Oh, but how the squeals of joy came when she first stepped in white, fluffy snow!

Exploring her independence.  See ya Papa.

She's ready for her first sled ride.

I'm so thankful we had this time together as a family.

Walking back up the hill.

Just look at that weather!  (And that man is quite handsome.)

Panoramic view from the top of the sledding hill.

Carrying the bundle of cuteness.

She wore a smile the whole time (just about).

As you can see my Tonio's short sleeves, it was really warm.

Her arms were in front of her face for the picture, so this is her after I said, "Move your arms."  She did move them... too cute!

Weeeeeee!

Going down with Mama.

Family Selfie.

Drive down the mountain.

Stopped at a park for lunch.  "No pictures please."

And then she slept the rest of way home =).  Tired baby girl played hard.

I put all the videos together so you could have a little glimpse into our morning.  Enjoy!

Love Linz

a little video

As you all well know, the age of the smart phone has made "home videos" so easy!  I mean come on, point, tap the little round button, shoot... voilà!  Share with the whole world if you want to in a couple more taps.  Too easy.  In fact, I'm running out of storage space everywhere... a good problem to have I guess.

Well, we have a family group on WhatsApp where we share videos and pictures daily (of Daphné, of course!).  It's like a never-ending tennis match of documentation and commentary.  I don't share it all publicly, but when I do, it's either here on the Blog or on Instagram (which, then links it to my FaceBook).

Listen to all this lingo.  Speaking of lingo, our daughter knows words like swipe, download, charging, Face Time, etc...  The grand challenge of parents today is to keep a healthy balance of it all.  Pray for us!  Hehe (but no, seriously).  Anyways, here's a few recent videos put together for your enjoyment.  So, enjoy!

Love Linz