The White Family

First Day of School

2012-02-16T15:03:00.000+01:00

Gracie started going to a little preschool this week! It is two mornings a week and so far has been just great. It's giving her some interaction with other Western kids her age (there aren't that many here at the moment) and is giving some structure to our week. I've also enjoyed some one-on-one time with little Anna!

Walking to pick up Gracie from school (this is on the compound where we live). Gracie's school is about a 10 minute walk from our house.

Gracie's class

She LOVES this doll house!

And just for fun: Anna, determined to put on her shorts by herself. She is SO independent these days.

How could you not love that face!

Produce

2012-02-13T14:46:00.002+01:00

We are loving the tropical produce of Cameroon! Fresh produce is easy to get and relatively inexpensive, so we are enjoying lots of it. Because of the water and other factors here we have to clean our produce in a special way to make it safe to eat.

First, we soak it in a bleach water for at least 30 minutes.

Then we rinse it well in our filtered water.

Finally, we let it air dry completely before eating it.

It takes a little time and thinking ahead, but once it is clean it is so so yummy!

Loving being with these two!

2012-02-13T14:34:00.002+01:00

Today Justin is at his first day of work at the hanger and I am loving being back to my job of "Mommy." Who wouldn't love hanging out with these two all day?!

I can't get over her cuteness in this skirt!

Making valentine cookies.

Our mission has a children's library which is amazing! Today we picked up this fun game at the library too!

At Home

2012-02-04T14:27:00.001+01:00

Hot and tired!

Gracie is such a big helper in the kitchen. She helps with dishes, sifting flour and many other things!

We got our first package! Thanks, Mimi & Pa!

Family movie night! The girls were more interested in their ice cream & movie than in the camera.

We love to read books . . . and we like to cuddle even though it means we all sweat!

Justin made sourdough pancakes this morning! Yummy!

Bamenda

2012-01-31T15:36:00.001+01:00

We took a trip up to Bamenda at the end of last week. We were supposed to stay there for a couple days then head out to a village for 4 nights. Unfortunately, Anna got really sick, so we had to stay in Bamenda instead of heading out to the village. We will likely have a chance to spend time in another village sometime in the near future and we are thankful that Anna is now healthy and back to herself. Here are some pictures of our journey!

More from Around the House

2012-01-22T14:33:00.000+01:00

We now sleep under a mosquito net too. Little did we know when we brought a blue mosquito net (all that was available in the size) that the walls would be blue too!

The guestroom - it's all ready for visitors!

A zoom shot of trash being burned on the hill that faces our front door.

Anna saw her sun hat and insisted on wearing it at breakfast!

Gracie is proud of her Minnie Mouse nightgown.

Our Home

2012-01-20T06:45:00.001+01:00

We recently moved into our new apartment. The girls are very excited about their "Canopy Beds". We hope to post more pictures soon, but this gives you a glimpse of what our home is like.

Gracie especially loves her canopy bed! Thankfully, both girls are getting used to sleeping under a mosquito net!

This is how we get clean drinking water. You fill the top tank with tap water, and it filters it into the bottom tank. When the filters are clean, it only takes a few hours to filter a full tank.

We are enjoying the extra cupboards and cabinets!

We have a little front yard. The field in the background is a mini soccer field, and that marks the end of our housing complex.

We have some nice clothes lines to dry the clothes. Thankfully it's the Dry Season and they're drying quickly!

Outside our gate

2012-01-11T16:01:00.002+01:00

Here is a glimpse of our new life! These pictures are right outside of our gate.

We love the Ergo!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T06:38:00.000+01:00

We celebrated Christmas with the girls by taking them to the beach for a couple of hours. It was beautiful & a lot of fun! Now we are having lots of fun celebrating with the rest of our family.

We Are Still Here!

2011-12-02T23:36:00.001+01:00

We've been in California for three weeks now. The time is going so quickly! We are just loving all the time with our families and trying to soak up every minute of being together. We've also been busy applying for visas, getting a shipment ready to send to Cameroon and taking care of lots other small things that we could not do while we were out of the country. Since many of the people who read our blog regularly are the people we are with right now, we probably won't be blogging quite as often until our departure for Africa the first week of January. Here are some pictures of what we've been doing!

Anna has just about mastered the stairs!

Loving time outside with Grandma.

Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's house (where we are staying right now)

Boxes of things to ship to Cameroon.

Getting to know Sam & Zoe!

Helping Grandma in the kitchen.

LOVING winter in CA (cool but not cold!).

Thanksgiving. Lots of yummy food and lots of amazing people.

COUSINS! We love being with our cousins!

And more family! Anna was a happy camper with her Mommy & Mimi.

One more week

2011-11-04T09:35:00.000+01:00

We are down to our last week in France. We are saying lots of good byes, visiting some special places one last time and doing LOTS of sorting & packing. It feels quite strange for us to be leaving what feels like "home" to go "home" to then move on to a new "home." We are continually reminded of our eternal home during this process and are thankful for God's goodness each step of the way. And of course we are just thrilled to be seeing so many people that we love very soon!

We love Fall in Chambery

Saying good bye to our sweet friend Claudia

Saying good bye to the cows the girls like to visit

Visiting our favorite parks one last time

Visit from Mimi & Pa

2011-11-04T09:28:00.002+01:00

We had a really fun & special visit from my (Jamie) parents! It feels lonely here without them even though we know we get to be with all of our family in just one more week.

2011-10-29T20:19:00.002+02:00

Jamie and I got to go to Chamonix last weekend and had a great time. The girls, meanwhile, had a great time with "Mimi and Pa."

The fall colors were beautiful

The Mont Blanc range from the town

Mont Blanc

Anna's New Fav.

2011-10-12T20:19:00.001+02:00

Anna is so into her rain boots these days!

Singing

2011-10-06T10:13:00.002+02:00

Anna singing until Mommy gets home from school.

Frenglish

2011-09-30T14:53:00.001+02:00

Here is a little glimpse into the mix of languages in our house these days!

Gracie speaking English (This video could have gone on for about an hour. She loves to talk!)

Gracie speaking French (with a few made up words in there)

And finally Anna speaking, well, her own language

At 18 months, Anna says words like Mama, Dada, wawa (water), Grace, more, hi and bye. She is definitely talking less than Gracie did at this age, but she is also hearing two languages at the same time. Anna finds ways to communicate what she needs to and she understand everything we say (French or English). And once she really starts talking we may never have moments of silence in our house!

Skype Babies

2011-09-27T16:57:00.000+02:00

We spend several hours every week on Skype with our family in CA! The girls LOVE Skype. In fact, if Anna hears Skype turn on and there isn't anyone to talk to, she gets so upset (throw herself on the floor kind of upset). Our family is so great; they actually play with our girls via the computer! Right now the girls love to play kitchen (feed whoever is on the other side of the computer), hide-n-seek and read books. Oh and extended-family birthdays are the best! The girls get ice cream with candles and we have a little Skype party. We are so blessed by the huge effort our family makes to stay involved in our lives even over the distance!

Sunday morning cuteness!

2011-09-25T14:47:00.003+02:00

Hanging out before Church this morning.

Aa

2011-09-25T14:45:00.005+02:00

Gracie is starting to learn her letters!

Apple snack on "A" day.

Play

2011-09-25T14:44:00.001+02:00

Under the desk? Why not!

With Blankie (Gracie) & Paci (Anna)? Normally, no . . . but lots of travel vaccines have made it necessary a couple of times recently!

With water? Always fun!

Fun with Auntie

2011-09-25T14:33:00.001+02:00

These are a few weeks old, but still lots of fun!

Love Them!

2011-09-20T13:32:00.002+02:00

Annecy

2011-09-18T14:01:00.000+02:00

Another fun day trip!

Anna helped us document the day, sunglasses & all!

So beautiful!

Lyon

2011-09-18T13:56:00.004+02:00

While my sister was here we took a day trip to Lyon (about a hour and a half train trip). Beautiful!

The old & the new side by side.

A little visit to the zoo.

The girls were happier on the way home than on the way there, even without naps. Go figure!

We love our families!

2011-09-18T13:49:00.003+02:00

We had the best visit with my sister! We miss her already . . . and are counting down the days until we get to see all our family in CA!

Playing in the Rain

2011-09-04T20:40:00.000+02:00

Fun, fun fun!

Aunt Jackie is here!

2011-08-31T14:16:00.000+02:00

My sister is here visiting for a couple of weeks! We are loving every minute of it already.

Waiting for the bus to arrive from the airport. Gracie has been waiting & waiting for Aunt Jackie's arrival. She could hardly stand it!

Aunt Jackie brought this! Wow . . . Gracie is in heaven.

Sleeping Beauty

2011-08-31T14:12:00.001+02:00

2011-08-28T14:21:00.002+02:00

L.O.V.E. that sweet face!

2011-08-28T14:15:00.001+02:00

Helpers

2011-08-22T09:15:00.000+02:00

These are the cutest little helpers ever! Since we (along with many people in France) don't have a dishwasher we spend a good amount of time doing dishes during the day. The girls now love to help! It is at least 2x the work to do dishes with them, but it is 3x the fun!

We love stickers!

2011-08-22T09:12:00.001+02:00

New to us

2011-08-22T09:11:00.000+02:00

We got a new (to us) trash can last week and Gracie was SO excited about it. Oh the little things in life :).

And the one sock is because of a small blister on Gracie's foot and her obsession with keeping it covered up!

2011-08-15T13:41:00.002+02:00

Go get your shoes!

2011-08-13T14:26:00.000+02:00

This morning I told Anna to go get her shoes. Two minutes later she came walking out like this!

P.S. We did put a shirt on her before leaving the apartment!

Morning Cuddles

2011-08-13T14:22:00.001+02:00

Fun morning at the park!

2011-08-07T13:52:00.002+02:00

Package Happiness

2011-08-07T13:51:00.000+02:00

Thanks Mimi & Pa!

Serious cuteness. Though it is nearly impossible to get a good picture of the two of them together!

Not sure where she learned to put her feet on the table, but go ahead and relax sweet Anna!

2011-08-07T13:47:00.000+02:00

The other day Justin was doing something in the other room, thinking the girls were playing together nicely. When he came back in the room this is what he found. I guess they were playing nicely . . . with almost EVERY toy we own :).

Sugar Cubes

2011-08-07T13:44:00.000+02:00

Sugar cubes are a big deal here in France. There is a MUCH larger selection of sugar cubes than granulated sugar at the grocery store. They come in all shapes & sizes . . . and they are cheap! Gracie has found a new activity. Sugar cube towers! We were at the house of a French friend last week. She brought out sugar cubes for our coffee. Gracie instantly asked to eat one (what little kid wouldn't??). When our friend found out that Gracie likes to make towers with them she gave her a whole box to bring home. We'll be doing a lot of building!

Merry-Go-Round

2011-08-04T11:35:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we took the girls to the Merry-go-round, and both loved it!

Anna has her little ticket in hand

Gracie is all ready with her sunglasses

Anna's not too sure about it yet

Now she's having fun

Heels

2011-07-31T19:36:00.001+02:00

16 months going on 16 years old.

Capris?

2011-07-31T19:34:00.000+02:00

This is what capris look like on Anna. Her short legs make us laugh! She is too cute for words :).

life with little girls =

2011-07-31T19:31:00.000+02:00

DRESS UP

Gracie insisted on wearing this to bed tonight! We sure love our girls!!

Anna's version of "thank you"

2011-07-31T19:28:00.002+02:00

Counting . . . in French!

2011-07-24T18:22:00.000+02:00

Thankfully, Justin & I learned this skill a long time ago, but now Gracie is catching up . . . with a much better accent than we have!

Growing

2011-07-24T18:18:00.000+02:00

Now that Anna is walking she seems to be so grown up! And her hair is growing SO fast these days! It makes her look more like a kid than a baby sometimes.

5:30 nap time?

2011-07-18T11:42:00.000+02:00

After a fun, full afternoon at a French friend's house, the girls crashed on the way home in the stroller (our "car").

We woke them up shortly after taking the pictures to make sure that they would go back to sleep at bed time. They were a little out of it and needed some mommy cuddles!

Haircut

2011-07-18T11:35:00.000+02:00

It was time for another haircut for Gracie. Her hair grows so fast! I'm not naturally the "do it yourself" haircut type, but I know it will be necessary in Africa, so I'm learning!

Anna's New Favorite Activity

2011-07-17T18:47:00.000+02:00

Not only can Anna now walk, but she LOVES to push the stroller around!

She CAN walk . . .

2011-07-15T14:31:00.000+02:00

. . . though she usually would rather crawl. Please forgive the lack of shirt & rolled up pants. It was the end of the day, just before bath!

Jump Session

2011-07-15T11:35:00.000+02:00

This was Friday morning in our home. Jumping was the exciting activity!

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000+02:00

Thanks, Aunt Kirsten & Uncle Chris for the awesome stickers!

They were used up within minutes!

The girls love to decorate their room and make it "fancy."

Story time with daddy before bed (and, yes, fighting over the crackers).

A Package Saves The Day

2011-07-12T19:52:00.000+02:00

A package from Mimi & Pa saved the day on Saturday! The girls were having a rough morning. One of those days where you feel like everyone just needs to go back to bed and start the day over again. The package arrived and made the rest of the day so much better. Thanks Mimi & Pa!

Puffs!!

Hanging Out

2011-07-08T20:08:00.000+02:00

Lac du Bourget

2011-07-02T15:46:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning we took the bus to the "beach" at nearby "lac du Bourget." A couple other families went with us, and all the kids had fun playing.

The girls were excited to take their sand toys!

Gracie loved building sand castles!

Daddy had fun playing in the sand too!

Sisters Having Fun

2011-07-02T15:37:00.000+02:00

Anna is giving Gracie a back massage...

Who is having the most fun?

Baking

2011-06-30T15:21:00.000+02:00

I made (cinnamon sugar) bagels for the first time this week. So yummy!

Glider Flight for Father's Day

2011-06-26T10:06:00.000+02:00

For Father's Day, Jamie arranged for me to go on a glider flight at our local airport where every weekend dozens of gliders soar over the mountains, catching the local thermals. They can stay aloft for hours. While my flight was an hour, we probably could have stayed up until sunset!

This was our glider - "Mike Tango"

For takeoff, they use a giant bungee-cord slingshot that "launches" the gliders up almost a thousand feet, and then they go searching for thermals to get even higher.

My view from the backseat. My instructor pilot even let me fly a little bit - that was a blast!

We would "soar" over a peak or hilltop and circle higher, then fly over to another spot and climb higher.

From a visibility standpoint, the weather was as clear as could be.

A view of Chambery

One of our fellow gliders

Mont Blanc - the highest peak Europe

Croix du Nivolet - one of the most prominent landmarks that can be seen anywhere in Chambery

A view of "our castle" that we can see from our side of town

After landing, the gliders stop in the grass and then get towed or pushed back to the launching area.

Play, play, play

2011-06-23T16:26:00.000+02:00

Painting with water on the balcony.

The girls & I went to a (French) friend's house today. They had a swing set. Such a hit!

Gracie and a friend.

Recently . . .

2011-06-20T13:56:00.000+02:00

For throwing away her pacis (whew! big deal for her!) Gracie got her first Barbie.

And of course Anna wants to play with the Barbie too.

The ONLY time the girls sit still like this is when they are watching a movie. This day it happened to be in French (educational for me, fun for them!).

Awesome sandals, thanks to Daddy!

I sure love that cute, blurry face!

Birthday fun (part 2)

2011-06-14T20:22:00.000+02:00

Butterfly cake (Gracie's request)

Watching Mimi & Aunt Jackie sing on Skype.

Happy birthday, Sweet Gracie! We sure love you precious girl.

Birthday fun (part 1)

2011-06-13T15:06:00.000+02:00

We are celebrating Gracie's 3rd birthday today!

What a difference a year makes

2011-06-13T15:00:00.000+02:00

The Lord's Prayer

2011-06-13T14:51:00.001+02:00

Where has the time gone?

2011-06-07T16:11:00.000+02:00

Our sweet Gracie will be 3 next week!

At the park, freaking out over a tiny grasshopper on the steering wheel! We're working on her fear of bugs in perparation for Africa.

The photo is a little dark, but still so sweet.

almost . . .

2011-06-06T14:33:00.000+02:00

Anna is SO close to walking on her own!

Great day at the park

2011-06-01T09:53:00.000+02:00

At this park near our house the roses are amazing right now!

Fun with the fountain.

Snail tracks!

Reading

2011-06-01T09:45:00.000+02:00

Our girls sure love to read!

And dance!

2011-05-22T13:34:00.002+02:00

Play-Doh

2011-05-18T20:26:00.000+02:00

Can you tell what color Play-Doh Anna was playing with this morning? Yum!

Not a great photo, but I love the jacket!

Anna is a pro at using the iPod to look at pictures.

2011-05-14T13:58:00.000+02:00

Anna's version of paint-with-water. The water was clean!

After watching Gracie for a minute she got the idea!

On the patio watching the rain. Daddy's girl, for sure!

Justin's mom reads the girls stories over Skype! They love it. Yesterday, Gracie wanted to be the one reading!

Friends

2011-05-11T09:29:00.000+02:00

We had some new friends over for dinner last night! Tons of fun. I'm not sure that it will ever be easy for me to have so many people coming & going from our lives, but I am getting used to it little by little. I'm thankful that God has given us people to share life with.

Gracie playing with a new friend.

I'm glad sisters can be friends too! Praying that that is the case for Anna & Gracie.

2011-05-10T13:46:00.000+02:00

My girl and her CRAZY hair!

Anna's belly trick.

Gracie put on a show for us this morning.

What we've been up to

2011-05-07T13:38:00.000+02:00

When we aren't studying or practicing French here is a little bit of what we like to do!

We are trying to teach Anna to walk. Well, not exactly. She is teaching herself!

We have been spending lots of time on our balcony.

We ate tacos for dinner last night. First time since we've been here. Gracie loved the "big chips"!

We took Anna on her first merry-go-round ride this morning!

We love our families!

2011-04-30T20:08:00.000+02:00

We had a wonderful visit with Justin's parents the past couple weeks and were very sad to have to say good bye. But we are SO grateful for the awesome families that God has given us. They are amazing at making us feel loved and at staying connected even over so many miles!

Gracie's Aunt Kirsten sent her super fun paper dolls (Already cut out! Awesome!)

Birthday party for Aunt Jackie on Skype! We love any excuse for ice cream & candles.

Paper dolls are endless fun!

And just a couple of videos for fun.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-25T15:50:00.000+02:00

We had a great Easter here in France!

Anna's new trick. She is getting closer to walking.

The outtakes from portrait time before church.

Ready to hunt eggs!

Busy eating candy.

Gracie on a sugar high!

Easter Prep

2011-04-23T20:01:00.000+02:00

Beautiful flowers from the Saturday market (thanks to my wonderful husband!)

Coloring Easter eggs with Grandma!

This was our first year coloring brown eggs (it is all we can buy here), but I actually love how they turned out!

A fun photo with Grandma & Grandpa!

Daddy's girl

2011-04-21T14:47:00.000+02:00

Anna has a new face (frown) she makes when she isn't happy about something. Justin's parents brought us some baby photos to look at. We are cracking up at how much Anna looks like Justin when he was a baby!

Fun with Grandma & Grandpa!

2011-04-21T14:38:00.001+02:00

Grandma & Grandpa are here for a visit & we are loving every minute of our time together!

Hanging out on the balcony

Dessert at McDonalds

Looking at animals

Annecy

Boat ride

LOTS of reading (to the girls!)

Throwing rocks in the lake

We are glad our time together isn't over yet!

Blue eyed girls

2011-04-17T14:50:00.000+02:00

balloons

2011-04-17T14:48:00.000+02:00

Fun with balloons!

2011-04-17T14:44:00.000+02:00

This girl loves dress up!

We have a gymnasium right by our apartment. They do real gymnastics inside. Yesterday Gracie watched some of a competition & decided to make up her own floor routine!

Ellie Love

2011-04-17T14:31:00.000+02:00

Here is Anna giving love to cousin Ellie!

Yum!

2011-04-17T14:29:00.000+02:00

Making cupcakes!

Sunday Morning Love

2011-04-10T15:26:00.000+02:00

Yes, the pink skirt came off before we went to church!

Ketchup anyone?

2011-04-09T15:51:00.000+02:00

Anna wants to be in on all the action!

Don't go to sleep yet little munchkin!

2011-04-06T14:03:00.000+02:00

Anna is no longer napping in the morning. Some days she has a hard time staying awake through lunch!

A Sunday Evening in France

2011-04-04T09:40:00.000+02:00

A BBQ dinner then a walk to McDonalds for ice cream! Not a bad way to end the weekend! Today is the start of our 6th month of language school. Hard to believe it has been that long! We are thankful that (in most ways) France feels like home to us now and that we are making progress in our language abilities. God is good!

Yes, her dress is tucked into her diaper. It was seriously cramping her crawling style!

Chasing birds.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

2011-03-31T16:46:00.000+02:00

Ellie, we sure love you and hope that you have a great first birthday!

Love, Uncle Justin, Aunt Jamie, Gracie & Anna

Oh Anna . . .

2011-03-29T21:17:00.002+02:00

We love the sunshine!

2011-03-28T13:49:00.000+02:00

The sun was out on Saturday, so we took a little family outing on the bus to a park that we really like. We all loved time outside in the sunshine!

Yes, we live in France and can see castles all the time! Pretty cool :).

She wants to walk so badly, but first she needs to learn to pull herself up!

SO messy, but SO fun!

Playing in the forest (as Gracie called it).

Spring

2011-03-28T13:43:00.000+02:00

Spring is here and we are loving it!

She looks like she is up to something!

Justin & the girls found some horses on a walk last week.

Play Hard . . . Sleep Hard

2011-03-23T14:27:00.000+01:00

Anna is a busy girl these days! She plays hard and sleeps hard . . . most of the time. No walking yet for Anna, but she can sure get around quickly!

Anna LOVES to be read to. And she is a pro at transporting books around the apartment.

Gracie LOVES to read . . . they can read together for about . . . 30 seconds! Hoping that gets better :).

Sweet sweet girl.

Oh yeah, Anna wants to eat anything and everything we've got!

I've got a cookie sheet!

2011-03-23T14:21:00.000+01:00

My mom is the greatest! She found a cookie sheet that fits in our cute little oven (Justin affectionately refers to it as a camping oven). It is for an American toaster oven, but is the perfect size for what we have here in France!

Fun with Mimi

2011-03-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

Soaking up every minute with Mimi!

Lyon Zoo

2011-03-15T09:57:00.000+01:00

We took a trip to the Lyon Zoo on Saturday (about an hour train ride from our house). It was a fun day. The girls loved the animals!

Psalm 1

2011-03-15T09:49:00.000+01:00

Welcome Home

2011-03-11T15:52:00.000+01:00

Both girls were happy to see us when we walked in the door, but Anna especally was excited. This clip shows a little of her excitement.

Paris Day 3

2011-03-11T15:35:00.000+01:00

This Starbucks became one of our favorite places. It was fun to sip coffee (in large American style cups) and watch the street traffic.

This Starbucks was next door to a GAP

A different Starbucks across the street from the Louvre. Even the McDonald's in Paris were fancy with many of them having upstairs eating areas too.

The Gare de Lyon - the high speed TGV goes from southern France to this train station. And it's only one of several large stations in Paris.

This is only a small portion of the train station. I think there were at least 30 train platforms, and was quite the happening place.