Just the girls

Our photographer, John Lewis’s sister Georgina who visited Paris for Thanksgiving, considers this photo her best work that day.

The runner-up

This is the runner-up photo, showing the family that's spent the fall trying to settle and figure out how to live happily in France, here enjoying a first snow-fall.

Holiday greeting photo

This was the winner among photos taken for our holiday greeting. Yes, the mustaches are real (not photoshopped). As are the baguettes. And the snowflakes. The defiant attitude? Purely manufactured for the photo shoot. We are, in fact, a bit unnerved with how naturally the girls fell into the pose. Born resistance fighters?

How much do you hate the French?

Now, that's a rather impolitic question to ask, but it's not below the scrappy journalists at the only news program we've been watching since moving to France. (This is in part because we don't yet have a TV, but we're working on that.) As loyal fans can tell you, The Daily Show is no no-spin zone. It tells it like it really is. Or isn't. Or is but people say it isn't. Anyway, take the example of the story reported by Samantha Bee that you'll find in the bottom right corner of this page. Just navigate your way down to the thumbnail for "Born Near the USA," click, observe your media player fire up, and watch close as a true journalist goes into action, uncovering what we all really think about the French--and their perfumes.

Our Manphobic Daughter

During our trip to China to retrieve Gigi, we naturally became close with the other families in our travel group who adopted girls in Gigi's graduating class. Among the photos taken during our trip that remain indelible are the following that capture the train of parents exiting the hotel where we were united with our daughters.

And so here is Amy's recent post to a email list for CCAI Travel Group 780, which notes a specific challenge we face here in France with our manphobic daughter:

"Greetings from Gigi's Family!

Gigi and family are doing well in our new home in the far west suburbs of Paris. Gigi continues to out eat her sister at every meal and sometimes her mother amazing family and friends alike. Her favorites are tomatoes and strawberries. We'll know how much she weighs at next week's 18 month check-up. She's trying very, very hard to say words and can say diaper, baby, mom, dad, and several others.

She's now traveled to Andorra and Spain, in addition to France, the US, and of course Hong Kong and China. We're very proud of our little traveler as she just smiles and waves as we stroll along. As long as we have her towel, and now a stuffed mouse that she is addicted to, all is well. Men are still scary to her, and she's afraid of the dark, so we are careful about letting people approach her--especially here since old men traditionally kiss little girls hands or cheeks, even when they don't know them. I've had to explain in my halting French that they can't do that and they are usually very understanding.

We loved hearing about Rebekah Martin, and would love to hear about others in our group. Please take a minute and write."

March of the New Parents

Girls bound for Alabama and Colorado.

March of the New Parents 2

Sara with Clara Slater in the foreground (the family from near Manassas Park, Virginia), Amy with Gigi at the bus entrance.

Supersize Us

Since our arrival in France, where we now live in a wonderful new home that, being new, isn't yet fully equipped, we've come the closest we hope we ever will to replicating the experiment in suicide-by-fast-food documented in the recent film, Supersize Me. With our time consumed establishing a new household and, for John Lewis, trying to stay on top of his many work duties, we've wound up at a McDonald's drive-in or having to drag Cleo from a PlayPlace inside at least once a day during our first 10 days here--twice, on a couple draining days. Being fridgeless, we've also eaten at many other great restaurants--our community has much to offer including, like our former home in Logan, Utah, a peculiarly disproportionate number of Chinese eateries. But McDonald's has been choice of convenience, such that John Lewis has the happy meal request down pat. To test your French McDonaldsese: "Deux Happy Meals avec nuggets; de l'eau fraise pour la boisson; des potatoes au lieu des frites pour l'un, des carottes pour l'autre; et des Pom'Pots pour le dessert."

Speaking of Happy Meals, if anyone out there would like a Hello Kitty pencil holder doll, just say the word--we've got plenty to spare.

"Train up a child in the way of the baguette, and lo, when she is old, she will not depart from the baguette" (to that mushy stuff some call bread).