un californien à paris

a border run

we made a run to southern arizona.  with record low temperatures in France, i'm not complaining about the weather in the desert . 

michael's explosive personality seemed to fit right in at the Bisbee copper mine.

Bisbee, AZ is a funky cowboy town.  A great place to disconnect from everything. 

And the sun did come out to play.

And play we did.

grandpa, my dad, picked up an ATV for his grandchildren.  samuel pilots the thing through the desert at about 22 kph. 

we left zboyz and the sunshine with my parents for this week.  karen and i are grateful for the time to get away to the SF Bay Area...the first time we've had to ourselves...uh... since we did this last year.   

Oranges

Oranges are still grown in Redlands, California. My uncle and professor cultivated these in his garden.  I've been making fresh juice every morning.  At least we can drink some of the sunshine because we sure haven’t seen it. 

Rain. Rain. Go away! Come again some other day.

Sorry to those of you who were looking forward to the brotherly Mt Bike rematch.  We've decided not to risk our lives surfing the mudslides. 

pop a wheelie !

We are at play.  It’s good to remember lighter days of wheelie poppin’ joy on the angular streets of suburban California. My friend, Eric, is generous enough to lend me his mountain bike for the whole time we’re here. (That’s also Eric’s freshly painted VW bus classin’ up the photo)

Today, my little brother kicked my frenchy @$$ all over the muddy San Bernadino Mountains. I’m not sure if it was that chicken burrito that I ate, the jetlag or if he really is just riding stronger than I am.  We’ll find out when we go again tomorrow.

Precious Cargo

Jetlag is a well-established theme on this blog. Dividing our lives between nine time zones is much more difficult than you imagine. Los Angeles is a very long way from Paris. I’m not complaining, just stating a geographical fact… a cultural one too, but that’s another subject.

After not having slept for over 20 hrs (12 of those on the plane), the boys took on the quality of luggage, precious cargo. When he saw this photo, Samuel insisted he was “faking it.” What do you think?

des touristes français

Our family of four will be carrying seven (count them) passports, four French and three American.  The main advantage is that we get to speed through the shorter lines in both European and American Customs ..

As promised, I was issued my French passport yesterday.   cool, huh?   

As we did last year, we will again spend the last two weeks of February on the sunny (hopefully!) West Coast of the United States.   We'll try to post pictures of some of the more exotic spots, like these.

i-sight

If I watch closely, I get to see my boys grow up everyday. I don't want to miss a step. Michaël has never actually taken a step. But he does move fast. Like a stealth cammando G.I. Joe, he skids on his belly across tile floors looking under funiture for thiings to put in his mouth.

Samuel took a big step recently. At the time, I was with our partners in ministry at First Baptist Church in Los Altos, California, doing a conference on the influence of non-western (mostly African) Christianity in European cities. Anyway, jetlagged, I got up at 3am and drove around in search of strong coffee and WIFI (aka a wireless internet connection). The café didn't open until 6am but WIFI waves flow freely into the parking lot through locked doors. In a borrowed car with my powerbook -- a gift I could never afford -- next to me on the passenger seat, I set up my newest toy, an i-sight web cam.

Suddenly, Karen and Samuel, nine time zones away in Paris, appeared on my screen: Papa, j'ai invité Jésus dans mon cœur. Il y est venu laver toutes mes fautes! My first-born's voice resonated in crystal digital sound. Instantly, I forgot my pale new toy joy and was transported into celebration with all the hosts of heaven. Before bed, Samuel and I had been reading through a Bible storybook. That evening, Karen read the story of Jesus' cross. Samuel accepted the freedom and forgiveness offered to him..to us all: a gift none of us could afford! To mention technology given us to communicate at a distance may seem trite in the context of the Eternal Life given to my son. And it is, but we are also grateful to God for those of you who provide for us what we could never afford for ourselves. We recognize that all of life is one extravagant gift.

We'd love to see you too on our screen. Stop by anytime.

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