Another Week Begins

After a wonderful weekend we are back at the work again. Well...when I say weekend I actually mean we worked a full day on Saturday wallpapering, sanding, cutting, and evven tiling. Then we enjoyed an evening of relaxing around the house with Richard and Lorette( our hosts). On Sunday we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a local church which happens to be the church of our hosts and many staff/faculty at Collage Daniel where we are serving. Although a very charismatic with constant dancing, music, and very much spirit led we all enjoyed it greatly. With Sunday being a beautiful day here we all headed out to a nearby village for a flea market. Nobody really seemed to find anything too interesting but wandering through the tiny streets of a Small French village is unforgettable.
Which once again brings us to today...Monday. We continued to wallpaper and sand the main classroom we have been working on. In fact, had we not run out of wallpaper, we would have finished with wallpapering today. Nonetheless, with a lack of wallpaper many of us moved on to paint the classroom where the walls were otherwise done. Michael, Caroline, and Isaya began tiling a small bathroom and did a great job on the first of 4 walls in there. Pictures of both the classsroom and the tiling are below. Veronica, Nicole, and Phil (EuroTeam Leader) tackled another task we have undertaken here which is fixing up a rotten floor. They began by doing some good ol' fashion demolishion today. It sounded like alot of fun.
Tomorrow looks to be much of the same for us. However, we are all looking forward to a visit from Pastor Brett on Wednesday and Thursday. It is wierd how way over in Guebweller, France we have found connections and see people we know.
Most importantly of all of this. We are doing great. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. We miss Winnipeg but we must be honest - a few of us are thinking of moving to France already - half way done and we've already grown fond of the place. It is hard for your heart not to go out to these people who are stepping out in a dark world to make a difference. just that we can be a part in this no matter how small is amazing.

First Picture: Isaya and Michael at work tiling the bathroom wall.
Second Picture: Veronica working on painting and wallpapering.
Third Picture: The boys wallpapering the roof.

July 2- the paper hits the wall and we become prince & princess

Pic one the castle Pic 2 at the festival pic 3 Doug and david nearing the end of the sanding
Today was another amazing day. We worked, and went to two wonderful places that we did not want to leave!! Working was great, as usual, and we got to start putting up wallpaper! It's looking awesome, and the team has taken to each task like ducks to water. New supplies have come along with the wallpaper, so that Isaya and company can keep hard at work on the siding of room 2. The bathroom that Doug and company have been insulating is ready to be tiled, which seems to be an exciting task because everyone wants a chance to try it! God has definitely put excitement in our hearts along with a zest for service on this trip. After working, we drove very long up a mountain to a castle called Haut-Koenigsbourg, and went on a guided tour inside. We took lots of pictures and even climbed on cannons! It's really amazing how God has woven such fun things into this trip for us. After the castle, we drove to a village within our district called Riquewihr, and Veronica says she found her home there. It is beautifully coloured and landscaped with cobblestone roads, blue, pink, yellow and green houses and ancient narrow roads. One building we saw was from 1694! Yesterday was also great because we went to a festival after work in our town of Guebwiller, with street venders and a traditional band with dancers built in. We all tried head cheese...and we think it's safe to say it's not Andrew's favourite! Tomorrow is a full work day, and we will be attending a church in our district on Sunday. Much hard work and fun to come!

Signing off, Veronica and the boys. God bless sunscreen and waterbottles.

Day 3- Sand and Sand a Little More

Happy Canada Day!! The sun is shining again today! After our normal French breakfast it was back to the site to continue work on the classroom, room 2 and the washroom. At this point the classroom is being mudded again and sanded again... homefully overnight it will dry well and our wall paper comes in so we can start hanging it tomorrow morning. Veronica has found her calling in mudding and can make it very very smooth = less sanding for the rest of us! Charissa, Isaya and I continued work on the outside of classroom 2, and we are waiting for our next shippment of borads. We have been able to start on the inside of the outside wall with insulation and dry wall. Andrew and Doug have worked on the bathroom insulation but are now sanding in the classroom. We had a great on-sight lunch today; French sausage, Fench bread, vegetables and a bean salad. During our lunch the school teachers and staff were haing their afternoon lunch, home made pizza baked in a wood oven, and a glass of wine. To us this was a little strange... but there is this amazing sence of comunity and felowship amongst the staff here. We get to stop early today as we are off to a festival in town this eveing. The posted pictures are of the wood stove that the pizza was made in, Isaya and Charissa cutting a board for classroom 2 and the video is of Veronica and David talking about one of the many spiders that we have seen in the classroom. Ah!