Putting Pete's French to the test & eating chocolate cake

July 6, 2008

We had a lot of rain today, but that was okay since it’s Sunday, and we hadn’t planned any big outings anyway. We’ve actually been lucky on the trip so far (knock on wood since we have a couple days left), but we’ve had good weather most of the time. It hasn’t been too hot or too cold; in Normandy we had some drizzly weather but nothing terrible, and it even dried up before we had to pack the tent up. There have been thundershowers three days, but two of them were Sundays and the other we driving the whole day.

Liz had invited us to come back up to Bienne, but we wanted to stay down here because Maria was having a final big dinner with Fabio, Elodie and Elodie’s family. Her family (pictured above) is leaving Switzerland tomorrow to travel around Italy for a couple of weeks in an RV (her dad is a man after my own heart), and Fabio and Elodie are leaving the next morning for the US. So since there was going to about 25 people at Maria’s house anyway, we invited Liz and her grandson down here to join the party.

So this morning I dropped my family off at church, and then I went over to the train station to pick up Liz and her grandson Louie (I don’t think that I mentioned before that Liz has never driven a car in her life, but I guess that’s just part of being a crazy Irish woman).

At church on the first Sunday of each month, there is no set program for the main meeting; anyone who wants to can get up and share their testimony or a spiritual experience. Becky kind of nudged me and encouraged me to get up and say something. When I speak in church at home, I don’t get nervous anymore, but it’s been about fifteen years since I spoke to a large group in French. I think that Heavenly Father blessed me because afterward everyone claimed that they understood what I had said. Among other things, I shared how much it meant to me that Maria, Memo and Franco and family had come up to Northern California and sang a hymn in French at my mom’s funeral. It really feels like we have an extended family because of the support and love we receive from each other within the church community.

Dinner was supposed to be finishing leftovers from the reception, but of course, Maria had to make a little pasta too. It sure was a houseful. There was Maria, Memo, Franco & family (6), Noemi & family (5), Elodie’s family (5), Fabio & Elodie, Liz & grandson, and our family (5). It was quite a crowd but a lot of fun, and you could tell that Maria was truly happy to have everyone there. To top it all off, we had the best chocolate cake that I have ever eaten in my life. If I thought it would keep, I’d bring some home with me. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll be back in another decade or so. (Man, I’ll be in my mid-forties by then; that’s a scary thought – no offense intended for anyone who may have already reached that milestone.)