Rumors and rumors of rumors. Are the Black Eyed Peas preforming tonight at the city wide musical festival (mostly consisting of Native American groups, tango music, and a salvation army band as far as I can tell)? Will there be a museum strike for this week in Paris. Best as I can tell- NO and maybe. We just wandered home via Notre Dame (the supposed location of the BEP concert) and there were hordes and hordes of youngins milling around. Quite a large group for the chorale concert I enjoyed, and no signs of imminent singing of a lady hump. Then again the chorale group was singing in Latin and French- so I may have been surprised.

Other highlights of the day- a cruise on the Seine- a lot of second guessing of self. Hind sight is 20/20 and I could have planned the day a lot better. Lots of strange music, a very short nap, too little shopping, crepes with nutella, and just being in gorgeous Paris!

We are well- Coen only took a week to leave California time behind- but we are finally going down by 11 instead of some time between 2 and 4 am. We net with the rest of the crowd today paid a TON to do two loads of laundry and are trying to adjust to busy city life after a week in the Loire Valley. Here are a couple of favorite shots from the last week. Just a brief peek- and maybe if I am not like my usual self I will actually post about the trip when I get home.

A couple of quick little memories- after four days Coen started to ask to go home. He misses California and all of his animals I wouldn't let him bring. The boys have been troopers- just amazing. The french love little children and the boys got lots of attention where ever we went. Lost of good food- but my favorite so far is the Nestle extreme Pistache- much more on this later and a meal in Blois- squab stuffed with rabbit served with a pumpkin souffle and root vegetables. Being told my french was very very good- HAHAHAHAHAHA. (twice) My mind is mush right now so I will write more as I remember. I must be off to bed if I am going to do anything fun before lunch tomorrow.

Okay I am finally finishing this later in the week. We have been blessed with good weather. And I think if it weren't for the boys and universal love of children I would have visited these amazing places without really talking to anyone, but kids are a great way to make a connection with a stranger. Here in Spain- especially the old men love the little boys and Coen wearing his FCB jersey gets attention where ever we go. We are starting to get tired, but I hope my love for Paris will rekindle my energy- or the lbs and lbs of pastries I plan on eating. We have some amazing pictures- but the internet in our room is SLOW- and it is too distracting to sit in the lobby watching the train of American Hussies some in and out of the hotel. So hopefully better internet in Paris.

Went to the plaza (or placa) outside of the cethederal tonight and watched local Barcalonians dancing some Catalan folk dances, we were right next to the band and it was just wonderful. Coen stood in front of the band and danced with Charlie- he broke danced. I think it is the only dancing he has seen her in Spain (on the Rambla) and so it made sense to him. It was mostly only middle aged and elderly people dancing- and I was a little sad there wasn't more kids and young people. It made me think of college- and the folk dance class that I failed. I will post videos when I can upload them in less than 2 hours.

Well off to finish more high priced laundry.

Sorry for spelling- the spell checker is in Spanish- so not much good to me.

A couple of weeks ago I had one of those tremendous spiritual experiences. I was sitting in primary- substituting. And the chorister asked the kids to pick a favorite song. A boy sitting behind me raised his hand and asked to sing "Armies a Helaman". I glanced over my shoulder to see who it was and I saw Michael sitting there. I took a deep breath and looked again and realized the boy was really my nephew David.

As we sang one of Michael's favorite songs I felt his presence right beside me singing along with our primary. And tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt his love and peace. In fact I am crying those same tears as I remember what it felt like to feel his presence.

When Michael first died I know he was instrumental in helping me gain the unshakable foundation of my testimony. There have been several times in my life I knew he was with me. But it has been a long time. And I was just so touched to know he still loves me- that he saw my precious little boy- that he joined us in singing one of his favorite songs. Just so grateful for those fleeting moments when the veil is thin.

As a side note when looking at David a little later I was struck by how much he looks like Michael- definitely a similar build. And I also realized that he is the same age now that Michael was when he died.

Michael is the closest thing I ever had to a brother growing up- and I loved him dearly. It is so important to me to know he lives on- that we will be reunited some day.

I miss you.

This is just to prove that Michael and David do look alike- it is much more striking in person.

Beckett what did you do for your 2nd birthday?

This would have been done much sooner- but Beckett is a horrible procrastinator. There was a reason for the sombrero- we were having the Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa salad (I made way too much! So there is still some in the freezer) and David decided to really run with the Mexican theme. I also think someone wore this outfit on Halloween.