Special times at home

Oh my gosh, where did January go?  It has been quite a month, and one NOT spent in Paris.  Instead, we headed back to Minnesota for a number of good reasons: family, friends, and ......

 

SNOW???  This is what we arrived to on our deck....

.....and it just keeps coming as I write.  I think I have had enough of winter for one year and am looking forward to being able to take walks again, without the ice, knee-deep snow, and bitter cold.  I have become spoiled, I know.  I thought I would at least walk to the grocery store a few blocks away, but I have not done it once.  Oh, how I didn't want to be so car-dependent!

But we didn't come for the weather.  We have had very special times around here......

  

Enjoying four little granddaughters...

.....like making cookies, having tea parties, sleepovers.  Precious ways to spend winter days!

But there are also the grandsons.....

Emmett celebrated his first birthday, with his sister Anna helping him blow out his ONE candle....

 

......meeting a new grandson, Tyson, just a month old .....

 

But, we had a double blessing with another grandson born a month later!  Jude joined his sister Ava and that now makes SEVEN grandchildren for Lyle and me.  How did that happen?

 

 

It doesn't get much better than this!  So, I am home basking in the many blessings of having them all nearby, shopping, lunches, baby showers.  Lyle had to cut his visit short and return to Paris three weeks before my return.  Well, somebody has to make a living, right?

Being home for a month has brought lots of mixed emotions.  I feel like I have two lives.  I miss the new friends I have in Paris, the exciting adventures we have there, the mild weather (of course), and the healthy lifestyle of walking and healthy eating.  I have all the intentions of carrying that back to my home when I am here, but have found that I easily slip into the American lifestyle of driving everywhere, eating readily available snacks, and not exercising.  I am watching more TV...another consequence of cold, lazy evenings.  But I have also loved getting together with dear friends I have known for many years and catching up on their lives over breakfasts, lunches, and coffee.

I marvel that I can wash and dry my clothes in less than an hour.

I can't get over the cheap prices of groceries, clothes, and eating out.

I get impatient with the lengthy commercials on television.

I miss the cafes and French wine.

I have not been practicing my French.

Such a mixed jumble of thoughts.  We have four months left of our adventure in Paris and will embrace every minute of it.  I am thankful for all that we have experienced......and also that we have a wonderful home, family, and friends to return to.