C'est la Vie...Settling back into Texas but dreaming of Corsica. Welcome to our blog, a place to keep and share memories of our life and journey to love and live like Christ. All through set backs and leaps forward. He had us acquiring a taste for goat cheese and strong espresso shots and made us swim through the paperwork of an Ethiopian Adoption. Now we are adjusting back to plateaus, BBQs and Rodeos.
Well, how about The Sadie Dance? As you may have seen in previous posts, Sadie likes to bust out in random dance moves and songs {as most kids}. The other day she just started doing this kick thingy, WITHOUT MUSIC. It was hilarious. We immediately thought of The Elaine Dance, so I put Sadie's dance skills to the the same song Elaine danced to. {she desperately needs someone to play with at hone}
So, Who dances better?
And for those of you who would like to see the video of her busting her moves without music, here ya go!
Don't Forget to check out the Give Away in the previous post!
That 'something special' we are saving for is Adoption! I went back and forth rather or not to let the whole wide world (the 3.5 people that read my blog) know or not. I was scared, what if we get declined, what if we do not pass the home-study, what if it takes 10 years? You know the quote, "Raising a child takes a village." Well from what I have learned thus far so does just the adoption process. The Lord has nudged Matt and I to go forward and we are bringing you along for the ride, where ever it may turn.
We always knew that we wanted to adopt but we never seriously prayed about or pursued it, we just always thought it was for down the road, when we were settled (that is out the window), when we had more money (ummm...never), when this, when that. {Kind of like we thought having kids was down the road...then Sadie came. Did I have a life before Sadie? I am sure I did but I can't imagine it. She has brought us so much joy....isn't she cute, she needs someone to play with, right!}
Back to the big A, adoption. I grew up with out a dad and have learned the struggles and pains it can cause. (not just in the moments of desiring love but how it subconsciously affects you and relationships down the road). Through this I have truly understood why God desires a family to be the way he designed it. There are millions of orphans out there that have it a lot worse then I did growing up and I want to help. They do not have a father nor a mother. Some live in orphanages that can barely feed and care for them.
We do not know the 5w's and h, but we have started eagerly praying and seeking direction. We are open to His timing, putting ourselves out there for Him to use. We have no idea what we are doing when it comes to the process, but we have to start somewhere; right? We know it may take years for the application, paperwork and saving up money. But we also know that God's timing is what we want. We are praying for Him to lead and lend us some of his precious kids for our family!
We have started researching the process, requirements and looking for organizations that will work with US citizens overseas {we know it may not be His timing while we are here in Corsica and that is ok, too} And we have especially started praying for God to provide a way financially. We have seen other families who have gone through he process in awe as God provided funds from the most unexpected places. We will answer His Call to take care of the orphans and Trust in His Provision. Let me just cut to the chase, one of the main reasons that we decided to share on the world wide web is because we need your help. We need your prayers and your spare change. We have started a small fund from our savings (aka + Tax return) of $4500 in a bank account. I have some ideas bouncing around in my head and I have been looking into Grants. If you have any ideas and something that has work for you, pass them along!
If you are going through the process or might be at some point, let us know so we can join with you in prayer. I will try and share Good links and helpful information along the way.
Steven Curtis Chapman has a very helpful site for just beginning, Here.{howtoadopt.org} Lots of info!
and here is a post from owlheaven.com {who has adopted 6 children} about funding adoption.
We still have no idea what she so desperately wanted to tell us..perhaps she is confused by us talking English at home, and her teachers taking French at school. Maybe she is combining the language....whatever it be this is a good picture of how we feel too. Hello, Hello can anybody understand me? A Texan accent with french nasal sounds...it doesnt match up. If I learn French, it will be by God's Grace. Nothing else.
This is our new old blog. After sorting through finances and trying to figure out how to cut back and save {for a very special reason I will let you in on soon}, getting rid of the cool domain was one way. I got it before we moved overseas, in hopes that family and friends would be able to remember it easily and it was only 2.99 per monthly or something like that...but it has since gone up and I am sure it will again.
So please update you blog feeds with, www.mattandkellysummers.blogspot.com {make sure to check out our 'get-aways' in the previous post and Sadie's birthday video in the post before that one!}
Last Saturday, Matt I had a separate get away! What? yep. Matt was invited to hang out in Antisanti, with a new friend, Delphin. (who is also helping him a Lot with French) and Sadie and I stayed with Lucie and her grandmother in Linguizetta. I was so excited to go back!
It was rainy and nasty all week and in the forecast for the next week...BUT on Sat and Sunday God provided beautiful Sunny days, clear views for miles. Coincidence. Nope. I believe that God is most revealed in the little things, like a sunny days. He knew it would refresh my soul and give me a happiness and peace that only could be explained Through Him. He let me enjoy it.
Lucie had to be at work early Sunday morning, so Sadie and I had breakfast and hung out with her grandmother until Matt came to get us around 10. Talk about full-on Immersion into French! Since she was widowed, she has traveled all over Europe in the last couple of years, so she showed me all of her photos....I love the ones of all the Tulips in Belgium!
Matt said it he had a great time as well, although he slept on a clicker-clacker (futon) half his size! Delphin attends the university in Corte and has a small flat there for during the week but he has such a strong tie to his family village, that he would rather go back there on the weekends then hang out in Corte. {There are maybe 40 residents there and only 1 or 2 his age}
This was their view from their balcony. Beauty.
I woke up to God's beautiful creation...if you can say that this just 'happened'...email me. I tried to explain to Lucie's grandmother that morning, that it was like staying at a B&B for me, a voyage (vacation)...I hope she understood!
excuse me mom...I am trying to enjoy the view....Oh Sadie, if you only knew!
And Matt's photos from Antisanti. They hiked up to a point where you have a 360 view of the Island. Delphin said that his village is one of the 3 best 'views' of the island. how cool. Antisanti is also the home of Annette's Dad and some cafe owners that we have gotten to know in Corte. Matt was able to visit their houses. I think we know everyone in Anitisanit now...ha!
Dalphin
he took a video from the phone, of the view but he said it doesnt truely capture it...
Dont forget to check out Sadie's Birthday Video in the previous post!
We used Sadie's Birthday in January as a good excuse to have some people over! We had some friends over from Bastia (about 1 hr north of Corte), who we met at the New Years Eve party I posted about a few weeks ago. As well as our new Egyptian Friends that are here attending the university here for a few months. After Sadie had her fun and was down for bed we got to play cards! We still do not speak much French and our Friends from Bastia do not speak much English, so the Egyptians, who speak English, Arabic and French...translated for us.....The joys of learning a new language! One of the games we played constituted of a Queen who got to tell the loser what to do...well Matt and Mina "loss together" and so they had to sing and dance. Mina sang a song in Arabic while Matt "Danced like an Egyptian". It was hilarious!
Sadie better not say her parents never did anything cool for her because she was sang Happy Birthday to in French and Arabic....all for her 2nd birthday.
While I as sitting behind them at the desk studding French, I looked up and saw this. I had to steal a quick picture with the camera phone. Caption Please...
Through our Friend Annette, I met a university student, Lucie and we have become really good friends. She is commuter student and stays at Annette's B&B a few days during the week. She is also my language helper...thankfully she has a lot of patiences! Her grandparents are Corsican but moved to mainland France for work when they first started their family. After their kids (Lucie's mom) were grown they moved but to Corsica and then Lucie eventually followed. She says that she loves it here and wants to raise her family here, one day. Over the holidays we went to visit her and her grandmother in Linguizetta, an amazing village on the coast and up in the mountains! (about an hour east of Corte). Her mom, dad and sister where also in town visiting. I am glad that we got to meet them as well, despite the language barrier! Lucie and her mom gave us a tour of the village which is quite small. They said that during the winter only about 30 people stay there, the rest go to the bigger towns for work.
We Wish You a Welcome... Lucie and Her Mom by the water fountain that used to be the only way they would get clean water.
This is the view from down the road, this is basically all the village... (you can see their amazing view to the left, which includes ocean as far as you can see!) They have a monument up for all the men that died, just from this small village during WWI & II. Several villages were completely wapped out after the French military drafted ALL the men and they did not return. Showing us the old bell tower.
Inside the Village Church, it was very old but very pretty.
Lucie's grandmother gave us some oranges and pumpkin from their family garden...so cool!
Here on some of my favorite photos from our visit to Paris! I used by canon rebel with my 50 1.8 lens because thats the only equipment I have! I edited most of the photos with a vintage feel, I guess because when I would picture Paris, that is what I imagined! What about you? As you can see below it was very gloomy and cold but the buildings along the water were so beautiful, there were 1000's of cafes and cool bridges. You can see more about our Trip on the previous post.
Last week we traveled up to Paris for for some language learning training. Due to our situation we are not getting traditional schooling to learn French but we were blessed to get some training on how to Use the BareFoot Method and learn a language on your own. We stayed with another family in our company, who lives south of Paris. Sara is a expert in this Method so she had a lot of knowledge to give! Some friends of ours, Jake & Suzanne got to join us as well, it was good to catch up with them and share in our language struggles. I know most of my blogs make it seem as we get to chase animals and explore villages and soak up this beautiful Island, but the bulk of our day and time is tedious language studding. After the few days of learning the new method, we were able to explore Paris because the Perkins let us stay in their home for the weekend. Paris. What? Living overseas, away from family and learning a new language can have its perks! We did all the main sites, The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre Museum, inside the Louvre, Arce de Triomphe and Notre Dame. (you can click on the names for short, boring video clips that we took) The Louvre was huge and beautiful, how did they build castles like this so long ago? And we visited Notre Dame, again a huge church with so many details and carvings. I wish I could have seen the sculptures at work. Then we walked down the 'most famous street in the world' The Champs-Elysées which has The Arc de Triomphe at the end of it. I think this was my favorite part, we got to go the top and see a panoramic view of the City at night. Now I know why they call it the "City of Lights". Gorgeous! Sidenote - the man working the elevator had lived in Longview, Texas, of all places. Here is everyone working away on Language. And we celebrated Three Kings Day, or Epiphany. And you eat a delicious Kings Cake with a small toy hidden in side. The tradition is the youngest kids hides under the table and calls out who get what piece, the person who has the toy is King for the day and has to bring the cake to the next meal. (it is celebrated all January) On the bus....sadie got to ride an airplane, train and bus. Paris has Great public transportation....if you speak French. Jake & Suzanne Sadie, did pretty well with all the layers of cloths to block out the chilly winds but she would not keep her gloves on. And after 5 minutes she would be crying because her hands hurt from the cold. So we put Matt's pull over on her where she could keep her hands inside of it. I need to do a post on how picky Sadie can be when it comes to cloths. She has to pick out what she wears now and has a few favorite items that she wears all the time. (She is 2!?!) We flew on one of the cheap European airlines so luggage was pretty limited. We rigged Matt's Army bag (thanks Leif, Brad & Tera) to double as a backpack for Sadie. The Arc De Triomphe, my favorite part. I didn't know too much about Paris nor the History be-hide the sites, so it was fun to read about them and learn when they built and why. I didnt realize how big the Arc is....Can you see all the people at the top? And of course, the cliche picture with Mona Lisa...please excuse the hat hair. :) The Champs-Elysées with all the Christmas Lights still up. Exploring the outside of The Louvre. Sadie was a bit of a wimp, like her mom when it came to the cold snow! despite the gloomy weather I was able to enjoy some photography (I was in Paris...) I will try ad post those soon. Sadie's First Snow!
