Another Graduation

Chad likes learning.  When I met him 18 years ago, he was just entering University on the Pre-Med track.  Shortly thereafter, he decided becoming a doctor would take too many years of school, so he switched majors to Ag-Bio Tech halfway through his first year.  We got married that summer, & moved to Alberta, so he switched schools.  For his third year, he switched majors again to Economics.  When he finished his Bachelors, I figured he was done with school, but he felt the lure of further education.

The next year found us in England while he pursued a Masters in Philosophy.  After that he had to choose between 2 opportunities: go back to Canada & farm, or get a Doctorate in Logic.  After weeks of trying to decide between the 2, he felt the call to go into the ministry.  A few months later we had moved to Michigan so he could get a Masters of Divinity.  When he completed that degree he had gone to school for the same amount of time it would have taken for him to become a doctor!

He got his first job!  A few years into it he heard the siren call of education once again, this time for a Specialized Masters (MS) in "Consulting & Coaching for Change" & 2 years later I found myself at another of his graduations!  Will this degree be his last?  Probably not.

Here he is, all ready to go!

Chad receiving his diploma

Hooray!  He did it!

Proof of where he graduated from... the sign around the corner advertised for the coffee shop & said "HECoffee".  He opted not to get a photo by that sign.

His classmates opted not to get their class photo taken by the professionals & have to pay 30 Euros for a photo.  Instead they comandeered a picnic table & had their loved ones take photos on their phones.  It was quite comical! 

Total Distance walked: 4 km

The Parisian Flat

We had left booking a place to stay til the last minute because we weren't quite sure if we wanted to stay in Paris the whole time, or be closer to the school for the graduation.  We ended up deciding it would be nicer to just stay in one place the whole time, so I set about looking on AirBnB, Hotels.com, & VRBO.  Hotels were pretty much all expensive if we wanted to stay central (which we did), so I perused the sites looking for flats we could stay in.  There ended up being a glitch in the VRBO system, so I was quoted a really low price for one awesome looking flat.  When the owner got back to me he told me he couldn't give it to me for the price I had been quoted, but he would still give me a discount from the regular rate.  By the time we finished negotiating, it was only 2 days before our trip!

If you are going to stay in Paris, this is the way to do it!  There were 2 days that Chad had meetings all day with some of his classmates, so I was left to my own devices.  I'm not one to go out alone in a city I don't know, especially when I don't speak the language, so I mostly stayed in the flat (except for when I went out in search of chocolate truffles!).  I was very thankful that I wasn't stuck in a tiny hotel room! 

The flat had a loft area which had the washroom & a bedroom.   The flat sleeps 6-8.  The only downside is that there is only one washroom, & it's off the upstairs bedroom, so you'd have to know the people you are sharing the flat with quite well. 

The bathtub was huge & it was awesome after getting caught in the rain one day!

Here you see the entrance to the flat & the stairs up to the loft area.  Just to the right is the entrance to the kitchen.

Nice big kitchen.  There was also a futon in this area.

This is the entrance way again, looking toward the living area.  

This is a futon, there is also a double bed to the left of the TV, & across from the TV is a hide-a-bed couch, which I was sitting on in yesterday's pictures.

Off the living area is the terrace.  When it wasn't raining, we enjoyed sitting on the terrace & having our coffee.

The owner of the flat also has places in Rome & Istanbul.  We may have to go check them out too!

We Arrived in Paris!

Chad & I went to Paris for a week so he could attend his graduation for his (third) Master's degree, & so we could enjoy the city.

 Here we are in the airport, ready to go!

This is the little street that our flat was on.  It was quite close to Notre Dame which made it easy to walk everywhere.  when we arrived at the flat we could leave our luggage, but we were too early for check-in time, so we had to go exploring for a bit.

We walked along the Seine for awhile, but we were thwarted by all the mud that was covering much of the walkways due to flooding from the week before.

You can see on the bridge how high the water was, just under the circles. 

The sun came out when we got to Notre Dame, & we were delighted to discover they had free wifi in the Square Jean XXIII behind the cathedral.

After being up for 23 hours & walking about 5 km we were tired & glad to be able to get into our flat!

Pre-K Graduate

Friday night, Asher had his graduation from Pre-K.

They put on a little program, sang some songs, & then we all had some snacks.  I forgot my camera at home, so I had to settle for using the camera on my phone…

Asher & a few classmates sang a song (Asher’s on the left)

 

The whole class

 

Asher doing a small wardrobe adjustment before getting his diploma

 

He spotted me & we managed a decent picture.  I had him all lined up for when he got his certificate, but someone walked in front of the camera at just the right time, so this is the best I got of him.

Little Graduate

A few weeks ago, there was a childcare course being held at the local highschool.  They were looking for kids to watch, & one of the students participating in the course asked if I’d like to bring Chancery.  Of course I jumped at the chance for free daycare for two weeks.  Chancery had a great time, & constantly talked about going to school with the big kids.  On Friday she had a graduation party at the school.  I never thought she would have a graduation before Asher, but it was a cute little program, & there were cupcakes!

 

The graduation caps weren’t cooperating very well…

 

Chancery made a picture frame for a class photo,

& even got a diploma!

 

At this point I hadn’t told her that she was done going to school.  She was a bit upset that she’ll have to wait a whole year yet!

One Sick Kid

On Friday night we had a lovely meal at Arnie's. We picked this restaurant namely for it's delicious desserts. It also has really good sandwiches, but who doesn't plan a meal based around dessert every now & then? Asher ate really well. He had a whole grilled cheese sandwich plus lots of fries. Then came time for the cakes & ice cream. Asher didn't want to be left out, so he partook of the desserts as well. All was fine until we walked into the hotel door & he promptly expunged his dessert & dinner.

Saturday we went off to Chad's Graduation. We stopped by the babysitter's to drop Asher off only to be told that her house had been infected w/ strep throat. So Asher got to see his daddy graduate from Seminary afterall. Chad had said numerous times that he wanted Asher to be there at Grad & I had jokingly told him that would be fine as long as Chad looked after him then. I realized once we pulled into the parking lot that I haddn't really dressed Asher for an appearance at graduation, but no one commented on his dressed down outfit.


After grad we went to Russ' for a light lunch before the party. Asher didn't want his hot dog. He just wanted fruit, so we were trying to get him to eat a few bites of hot dog to no avail. Then off to the party we went. Asher was quite tired & slept for awhile in Grandpa Vos' truck & then just wanted to cuddle w/ Chad or I. Grandma & Grandpa took him back to the hotel for a nap while Chad & I stayed to chat w/ our friends we hadn't seen in the last year.

We all met for dinner at the Grand Rapids Brewing Co. We didn't even get the bread delivered to the table before the trouble started. Chad was talking to his brother-in-law at the opposite end of the table w/ Asher when Asher delivered his hot dog. So off I went to the hotel w/ Asher for a clean-up & early bedtime. We got back to the hotel to discover that we didn't have keys to get in, so back to the Brewing Co. In the parking lot Asher puked some more just so I could learn just how hard it is to clean a car seat.

I finally got him home, washed, & in bed & was just starting on the car seat, & boy was I starting in on the car seat! It is impossible to take the cover off our car seat. You can get it mostly off, but the last few places that it's attached are impossible to remove. I was getting quite frustrated. Who designs car seats, that children sit & puke in, that can't be washed properly? We ended up wiping it w/ a hot cloth & spraying it liberally w/ Febreeze.

So after 2 days of feeling quite hot ( we didn't have a thermometer along). we finally got home & discovered Asher had a fever of 103.9. Chad took him to the Dr last night b/c he maintained a high fever all day as well, & Asher has his first case of Strep Throat!

Grad Weekend is Here!

We arrived in Grand Rapids yesterday afternoon & checked into our hotel/apartment to find a nice cleaned floor. So freshly cleaned in fact that I was treated to soaking wet socks moments after removing my shoes. I believe the carpet must have been cleaned w/in an hour of our arrival. I called the office & they said the room was supposed to be ready at 3 (it was then 4pm) & it should only take a few hours to dry. So we went out for dinner w/ our friends Ben & Melody, & Jacob & Kami, & our 5 kids. We had a great time catching up w/ them all again. We haven't seen Jacob & Kami in a year since they were doing their internship out in California & we were in Ontario.

After dinner we all went to the mall so the kids could play on the "Breakfast Food" play area. They had a great time sliding down the bacon, climbing the banana & jumping on the eggs. Don't ask me why they chose that theme, but it seems to work for the kids! Chad & I did a little shopping as well since it doesn't happen too often that we get to the mall together.

We got back to the hotel about 8:30 & the carpets were still wet, so we opened the windows again in the hopes of drying it out a bit faster. By this morning things were pretty much dry again, there were a few wet spots, but the majority was dry. At least we can't complain that the apartment is dirty b/c it really is very clean.

We took it easy this morning since starting this afternoon we have meetings, graduation, parties, church & family busyness to deal with. The only thing on my agenda today was getting to Costco to buy more diapers for Asher since we were getting low just before we left Ontario.

My parents get in this afternoon & Asher is really looking forward to seeing them again. Chad's parents & their entourage come in tonight so we have to go down to the train to get them as well. I think we're going to have alot of fun all being together again.

Saturday Chad finally graduates from Seminary & this is the first time that he'll be graduating w/o immediate plans to go to school. He's actually going to get his first real job & we are all so proud of him! :) Hopefully in a few months we'll have a church lined up & we can move to a house & plan to live in it for more than a year or 2! I am really looking forward to being settled for awhile, although that means I'll have to change my household cleaning routine of only dusting when we move!

We are really looking forward to catching up w/ all the friends we haven't seen in the last year (or haven't seen often) but it's also going to be difficult to say goodbye to them again so soon since many of them we probably won't see for years. Hopefully we'll be able to stay in touch. It's difficult as a pastor to have friends that really understand what it's like, so I think it's very important to hang on to the ones we've made in the last 4 years since these are probably the ones who will understand the best.