She has settled in very well and is taking everything in her stride.  We have made her bedroom very cozy and familiar with decorations we bought with us from her old playroom and her Grandparents bought her wonderful bed sheets for Christmas that made ALL the difference when it came to settling in at bedtime.

Watch out for our next newsletter because I think we will be sharing some photos from our apartment and the sweet little town we are living in.

Until then here are a few photos that I have snapped of Poppy in the last couple of days.  Poppy is on the cusp of being completely Potty trained and the other day she made us laugh.  Drew was in the living room hanging out while Poppy was watching t.v.  Suddenly he shouts “Emily come here.”  Here Poppy was sitting down in front of the t.v on her potty (Drew says she ran and got it herself), trousers down and everything!  Couldn’t resist snapping a pic.

These days she is all about dressing up like a princess/ballerina.  I need to tell Poppy’s Memaw that Poppy puts her fancy Christmas dress on at least 3 times a week when she wants to be a princess and runs around the house twirling and spinning.  Poppy may have only worn it once over Christmas but it is definitely getting worn now!  These next couple of photos are of Poppy in her ballerina outfit that I actually bought for her to wear at her first Birthday party (which is why you may recognise it.)  When I got it a year and a half ago it was way too big and I had to alter it to fit, but now that I’ve unpicked the stitches it fits perfectly!!   Prior to putting on this dress we were pretending to be cowboys riding our horses, shouting yeehaw and slapping our behinds.  Which explains why she is wearing her cowboy boots too.

Since we have started buying Poppy her own yogurts she will go in to the fridge and help herself, I caught her in their yesterday but she didn’t look like she was getting a yogurt.

Baylor University’s Dr. Scott Carroll, the scholar who oversees Green’s collection, dates the manuscript fragment to the 2nd century, some 1,800 years ago. The interviewer remarks that such a find is “important for people of faith.” Yes, m’am, you’re right. But the fact that this ancient piece of Romans matches our copies of Romans today says a lot more to people of faith and as well as to people of no faith. What a precious find!

Happy Birthday, Peanut! We love you. We won’t reveal your age here, but suffice to say this is your last one that starts with a two.

Emily barely got out the door this morning for class without Poppy grabbing a bite of her birthday croissant au amande (almond croissant). Leave your birthday love for Emily below in the comments.

You can see that it’s not always clear where snow peaks end and clouds begin. But back down on the ground we were pleased to encounter Mr. Donkey, a vineyard, a hang glider, a little village and rose hips. Thank you, Granny, for filling me in on rose hips. =)

L’Epiphanie is apparently a pretty big deal here in France. To celebrate, all the bakeries and supermarkets sell galette des rois or king cake. “King” in the name, of course, refers to those magi we just talked about. Imagine a festival about kings in a country that so cheerfully deposed their own some centuries ago!

Here is the galette des rois I picked up from the bakery just down the street from us. And what a tasty opportunity to practice my French!

The cake itself is a sort of flaky pastry with a layer of frangipane in the middle. Though that’s not all. Hidden inside is a fève, a trinkety little porcelain or plastic prize. The person whose slice contains the fève is crowned king or queen and gets to wear the Burger King-esque golden crown.

All during dinner Poppy could hardly wait to dig into the cake and wear the crown. In fact, she prematurely crowned herself queen of our petite ville.

After dinner and once the cake was apportioned, the lot was cast and and we waited to see who’d be our king or queen for the evening.

Who will it be?

Poppy?

Mummy?

Granny? Granny!

I mean Queen Granny. Grandad was a good sport about it, knowing all along who the real boss is.

Our fève was a mini box of movie theatre popcorn. So, apparently the three wise men brought Jesus gold, frankincense and popcorn!

Meanwhile, Henry longs for the day when he’ll be king and can drink all the milk in the world.

We wanted to blog and post pictures sooner, but it has taken a couple of days to get internet setup in our apartment; our French isn’t that good after all! We went through orientation at the French school today and classes will start tomorrow. Adjustment to life in France overall has been smooth and we thank you for your continued prayers as we learn this language! Merci!

Here are just a few of the things that we’ve been experiencing:

• Goat cheese pizza
• Pink toilet paper
• Gendamarie (police) with machine guns
• Bonne année – “happy new year”
• Granny and grandad’s help with the kids
• Princess bubble bath–Disney princesses no less
• Chocolate milk (called “Candy Up”), cheap cola
• Letting agent made the mistake of telling the landlords that we speak French well
• Landlady speaking French 100mph
• Big block of cheese and cakes from our landlandy
• People wanting to practice their English
• Women on bus asked me how to get to the prison
• 2 and 12 sound similar thus we’ve accidentally said we have 12 kids!
• Pizza place across the street from us!
• Lots of dogs as pets
• Fresh bread on the cheap
• Shoot in the cupboard for trash

2011 was a big year, not only for us but all around the world. If you need to remind yourself of all this year’s happenings, check out Google’s very moving 2011 year in review on YouTube.

For us, 2011 has been a year of seeing God do marvelous things. We welcomed our beautiful baby boy Henry into our hearts and home. We sold the vast majority of what we owned and moved to Texas about halfway through the year. We lived in Dallas for sixth months, completed a course in linguistics, and said goodbye. And then just before the year’s end we are moving to France.

This year God has also allowed us to share with you our hearts for Bible translation. This year God provided us with a group of supporters who give and pray for us regularly–you! This is truly a miracle. Thank you and merry Christmas from the four of us!

O children of the forest free, the angelsong is true;
The holy child of earth and heav’n is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy,
who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Jesus your king is born, Jesus is born. Gloria!
— Jean de Brébeuf
trans. Jesse Edgar Middleton

Last night was sort of a fitful night because not only was Friday the last day of my classes at GIAL but also the day we needed to get our apartment cleaned and ready for the housing inspection. The cleaning wasn’t too much trouble but I was awake nonetheless thinking about how we were going to manage all of our belongings and two kids at DFW airport early Saturday morning. We had five suitcases packed and Emily was still trying to stuff them with the last few bits and pieces that kept coming out of the woodwork. I had gone to bed after Emily assured me she’d be able to cram it all in one way or another. Still, at 2:30 I found myself awake (like tonight) and unable to sleep (like tonight).

One thought that came to mind while lying in bed was of the first question of the Heidelberg catechism: What is your only comfort in life and in death? I love catechisms because they ask questions that really get you thinking before they provide at least one possible, well-thoughtout biblical answer. And I love the answer to the first question that Heidelberg asks. It’s the answer to the question that puts a ballast in your belly, as John Piper would say. If you can answer this question–your only comfort in life and in death–you will find yourself fully reoriented to face anything, whether that’s depression, anxiety, stress or a move to a foreign country with two kids. So, the answer. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but I belong to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.

Amen! And to report on how everything went yesterday with luggage and flying and kids, it really couldn’t have been smoother! Poppy and Henry both slept the duration of the flight from Dallas to Pittsburgh. We were immediately welcomed into the loving arms of Memaw and Papaw Maust. We drove to Bob Evans and were treated to delicious comfort food. Later in the evening, my brother Matt and family came to spend the night at my parents’. Poppy enjoyed terrorizing the house with her cousin Lily, who by the way gets more beautiful every time we see her! Thank God for family!

So, what does the rest of our year look like. We’re here in Greensburg, PA, until December 29 when we’ll leave for France to start French school. My first day of classes is January 3. Instant immersion! We’ll do a post when we’ve arrived.

In the next two weeks, we’re going to get ready for and celebrate Christmas probably much like yourself. It’s Henry’s first Christmas. He’ll be almost four months old on Christmas day. Poppy is really looking forward to opening presents. She’ll be exactly two and a half years old on Christmas day.

If we don’t see you over Christmas, know that we miss you and wish you God’s richest blessings on your family this year and next.

Merry Christmas!