(Rentrée)

Back in Paris, we are in the midst of "rentrée", which is the French phrase for "back to school". It also means back to work, coming back, re-entering. We have re-entered Paris and see the stores re-opening and Parisians returning to the city, after 3-4 weeks of being on holiday. The French do know how to take time off....and it is very apparent in August when Paris eerily feels like a ghost town at times. Well, not quite. But when the local dry cleaner, the baker, the corner grocer, etc. are all on "vacance" for the month, it leaves us looking elsewhere. Even our local grocery store was closed for the month for a complete remodeling.

So why the parentheses? Well, because I was in the midst of telling about our Norway trip, and have, myself, been on vacation from the blog. So I, also, am re-entering, but will delay the end of the trip to catch up on our other trip......a trip back home.


It was busy, of course. A memorial service for my mom, who passed away in April, brought
relatives and friends together.....good to catch up with everyone, but also a hard day for many of us. Weddings and funerals...they bring us together.

Our cousins from Virginia came in two carloads, with parents and five kids!

We had birthdays....and we celebrated FIVE of them! My step-dad turned 80, both of our first-borns now into their 30s, and then Lyle and me. Celebrating continued with barbecues and a party for me, given by my thoughtful husband. Do I dare say how old?




A baptism brought more family together, as the youngest grandchild, Emmett, had the attention for the day. What a little blessing he is!


A wedding shower for Ashlee and Eric, Lyle's nephew, was celebrated at the annual Tollefsrud get-together at the lake home of Lyle's brother Paul. Over 15 cousins played in the water, went for boat-rides, and had an "inside" picnic when the rains came. It didn't stop the fun.




With all of these events, we still squeezed time to spend with grandchildren, sometimes with sleep-overs, sometimes just going to the beach or zoo. Yet, there still seems to be never enough time, and the three weeks went too quickly, and we still were not able to connect with special friends too. That is the tough part about returning home for visits. The time flies too quickly. We couldn't do it all.




When we thought about the priorities of the trip home this time, we put family first. I think we did that. We also did a few of the things we miss when we live in an apartment in Paris....like grilling, a little golf, and relaxing "at the lake".



One thing we didn't expect? How about a tornado? Yes, it went right down my son's street! Thank God Rachel and Ava were lunching with me at the Mall of America. We headed back to the house to see the damage, but were thankful that it was minimal....just some roof shingles, some uprooted plants, electricity out, but no trees down (unlike, unfortunately, at the neighbors' houses).



It was a full vacation, filled with so many good memories, some painful (as two of my friends also passed away during the time home).  Saying au revoir gets harder each time, though, and tears from kids and grandkids always touch my heart. But we are heading towards the end of our French assignment and look forward to embracing our time here, as well as to our next visit home.