Life's a wild ride

Sorry for the break in posts…we have been having too much fun hosting my family and enjoying the Christmas season. It all started December 20^th when Gideon and Pierce and I took the metro to the Tour de St. Jacques (an old church tower standing in downtown Paris --- the rest of the church was torn down during the French Revolution). There we met up with “Pip” and “Pawpaw” for the start of a grand adventure. We took them on a little jaunt across the Siene and showed Pip the legendary stained glass of St. Chappelle while Pierce and my dad guarded the bags.

The following day I ran up to the airport to pick up my sister while Pip and pawpaw took on the duty of shuttling Gideon back and forth from school. As part of this assignment Pawpaw took Gideon to the store to buy some food for lunch. On this scavenging trip, Gideon picked out a box of breaded goat cheese and pleaded with Pawpaw to get it. He promised it was “REALLY GOOD!” However, when they got home and Pawpaw cooked it up, they discovered it was about what Pawpaw had expected and after two enthusiastic bites from Gideon, even he admitted, “this is not very yummy.” It turns out Gideon believed they were chicken nuggets. Oops!

Meanwhile, I got to pick up my sister and run her all around Paris. We walked around Notre Dame, the Louvre, Concorde and the Galleries de Lafyette. It was so so fun show her around and to get to catch up on her life. We all went to pick up Gideon in the afternoon and then headed over to the Hotel de Ville for some evening adventures. We took them on the epic sledding hill as well as the carousel and even popped over to our neighbor’s chocolate shop just around the corner. Our neighbor was super nice and gave us lots of samples. It was delicious!

The next day after a crazy morning packing, taking Gideon to school, picking up the rental car and going grocery shopping, we all packed in the car for a drive to Metz. We discovered that Metz is a beautiful little town about 3 hours east of Paris. It has a bunch of fun Christmas markets and some spectacular cathedrals and bridges over the river. Unfortunately it was freezing and pouring rain. We were all ill equipped for the weather and poor Pierce was soaked. Looking down and my sad, soaking boy, I was already feeling like a terrible mother when a French lady came up to me and started yelling at me for taking such poor care of my child. “He is just a baby!” she said, “what are you doing?!” I pushed my pousette as fast as I could around her and hustled over to a shop’s overhang to cry. It was just the last straw. Fortunately, Benjin came over and talked me down off the ledge. We kept going and bought some warm heavy winter food to drown our sorrows in (basically everything had potatoes and LOTS of pipping hot cheese). Then we made our way to our final market where we were greeted by a festive dancing band and got to watch a cheese artist pull feet of melted cheese up to the sky on a large wooden stick. Just watching him made you feel warmer. 

The next day we drove to Strausburg (the French capital of Christmas markets). The town was spectacular to walk through. We ate German sausages and sauerkraut, drank hot chocolate and window shopped at the countless vendors. As the day progressed the crowds got thicker and thicker until by the end it was tough to move! My favorite part was working my way though the thick crowds with Christmas lights everywhere while the church bells chimed with big booming, “BONGs.” Magical is probably the only way to describe it. Driving back home to Metz we made a quick stop in Germany (because when you are that close, why not) to pick up some dinner and gummy bears. 

The next day we went to church in Metz at a church building that from the outside just looked like a large house. We raced home to return the rental car and then ran over to the “Arenes de Lutece” (an old Roman amphitheater). For year and years my family has had a Christmas tradition that we call “the Possada.” This year however, we just couldn’t figure out how to make it work. So, instead of our typical walk through the woods with Bethlehem garb on our heads, we sat in an ancient amphitheater and talked about what this place could teach us about Jesus. It was incredible to sit in a place from His era and talk about the reality of the son of God. It was powerful to think about redemption and resurrection as we talked about how over time this place was lost and then found. It was amazing to envision the place being used to display the conflicts of gladiators and now we were using it to highlight the Prince of Peace. While different from our typical Christmas tradition, it carried with it the same feeling of reverence, gratitude and awe.

We then made it home in time to fix a delicious galette dinner, open Christmas jammies for the boys and ship them off to bead with visions of sugar plums. Benjin and I then raced around doing last minute preparations and at 10pm, I took the crew up the street to our local church for Midnight mass while Benjin held down the fort with the boys. What a blessing it was to be able to go to midnight mass at the church that I walk past multiple times a day. They gave beautiful sermons and offered humbling prayers through song. I LOVE Christmas!

The next morning was the typical Christmas craziness… lots of presents and us trying to help our boys not turn into crazy greedy goats. We went for a walk to try out Pierce’s new scooter, had some yummy scones for breakfast and were altogether overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of so many. In the afternoon we went downtown and rode bikes along the seine. Words cannot describe how much I love doing that! I love the majestic scenes of Paris on every side, I love moving my body, I love the little taps from Pierce sitting right behind me and I LOVE watching Gideon just destroy it on his bike! Watching him weave in and out of people and pedal his little legs up hills, I couldn’t help but be amazed by how much he learned this past year. We made it all the way down to the Eiffel tower and then walked over the bridge to Trocadero. It was crazy crowded, but crazy fun.

On the 26^th we took the family up the arc de triumphe (using our handy pass to skip the lines!) and then over to see some art at the Petit Palais. In the evening we went shopping and had some traditional French steak frites, benjin even tried "cheval" (horse). 

Aimee had to fly home the following day to attend a friend’s wedding. So, Benjin and I took her part way on the metro to help her make it to the airport. We then continued on to Versailles and the temple. What a treat to get to actually go to a session in the temple with Benjin!! Pawpaw and Pip came along later with the boys. We then took them home and played with Christmas toys (including an epic Chemistry kit from Auntie Aimee.) while pawpaw and pip went to the temple and explored a bit on their own. That night we met up at Angelina’s (a world famous hot chocolate shop) for Pip’s birthday (she is a big hot chocolate connoisseur.)

On our final day with guests we explored a new portion of the Bois and took them to lunch at our favorite neighborhood cafe. That night Benjin and I went on a date downtown (fulfilling my dream of walking around Paris with the boy of my dreams.) 

The next morning we ate a king cake for breakfast and Pierce was crowned king for the day! Sadly, Pawpaw and Pip then had to leave for the airport and it was back to our little family. We spent the rest of the day trying to get our life back in order after hosting. Saturday we took a trip to La Defence to see the giant thumb and the big square arch. Sunday was New Years eve, so we had a little party with just the 4 of us. We made goofy hats, played some games including the candy game and did a couple of count downs based on the various bedtimes. On New Years day we went for a beautiful walk at the Sceaux Chateaux and talked to the boys about our goals for the year. 

This past week Benjin and I have been trying to go through our calendar and type up a brief summary of what our family was up to in 2023. Going week by week and month by month I have been amazed by how much we have experienced this past year. It makes me tiered just thinking about June, for example, when we were packing, working on VISA stuff, trying to find an apartment, driving to D.C. multiple times, weaning a baby and planning a trip to Alaska! I was talking to my dad recently about how God seems to give young parents a special kind of strength to do all that is required of them. And while I don't feel all that strong in real time, looking back it is undeniable that we have received help from countless sources this past year! There is just no way we could have done it all with out that assistance. 

What a wild ride life can be. We are sure excited to see where it takes us in 2024. 

Cheers for Christmas! Cheers for family! Cheers for a new year!

Love la famille Facer!