Henri's ABC's

Charles was gone all week for work and when he got home on Friday Henri was in Heaven! He was so happy that his daddy was back! Even today on the way home from church he looked and me, smiled and said, "daddy, home." The night Charles got back Henri was pretty wound up for quite awhile, but he was really tired, so as the evening wore on he was pretty calm. One thing he likes to do with Charles is watch some children's music videos in French (Henri Des is the best!) and also recite the ABC's with a youtube video. Here is a video of Henri saying his ABC's in French, with a little help from dad.

I LOVE the end of the video!!! Doesn't he look so grown up??? Doesn't he sound like a little French boy???
I am so glad that Charles is home and that Henri loves him!

Thinking of Gipper

Today is Veteran's Day and I have been thinking of my grandfather. I grew up next door to him and saw him almost every day. If I saw him walking down the lane I would run out and give him a hug. One of these days I had recently had a haircut. He said that he liked it and I told him I was going to cut it even shorter. He patted my head and said, "not too short."

Today, though, I have been thinking of him flying in WWII. I have been thinking of my grandmother, who let him go fight for his country, while she, pregnant, was left behind to write letters everyday and pray for him. They were both so brave! I have been thinking of their reunion. My Uncle Paul, who was nine months old at that time, recognized my grandfather from pictures that my grandmother had faithfully shown him. I wonder what my grandfather felt as my uncle walked to him at their first meeting.

There is so much I could say about my wonderful grandparents, but somehow it is hard to feel like I could ever truly express even a little part of how I feel. It is amazing to imagine that this example of sacrifice, that means so much to me, has been lived by so many.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Tricks, Treats and Big Boy Haircut

I have to say that taking trick or treating this year was great! We hit about 10 houses and we were done. We came home and gave all of Henri's candy that he didn't eat away to other lucky trick or treaters.

Trying to get some treats from Daddy. Guess what? It worked!

Besides having fun taking Henri trick or treating my goal was to get meet and get reacquainted with some of our neighbors. Since we moved in and I got sick a week later I didn't meet a lot of our neighbors, and those that I did meet I felt like I lost any connections that I had made with them when I disappeared into our air conditioned house. So, in this way, trick or treating was a success. I was able to talk to two of the girls that I have met before and make some plans with them. I was also able to meet two new neighbors on the street (one of which are the street "grandma and grandpa" and are so nice!) It is so easy, as a member of the Church, to only make friends with other members. Coming to Texas, it was one of my goals to get to know our neighbors too and I was happy to feel like last night helped me get to know some of our future friends.

Henri also got a bug, which he likes quite a bit.

Check out his new haircut! He now looks like such a big boy! I love it, but at the same time I can't believe how old my little man looks!

(Oh yeah, I was the first to try to cut his hair, but it looked kind of funny, so Charles gave me a lesson on cutting little boy hair and he made Henri quite handsome! Good job Charles!)