Our Trip to Paris!

So, for all of those still keeping track: yes, I am still playing catchup with the blog posts. At this rate, I estimate that the blog and the events of our lives will be in sync about the time the twins leave for college. ;) Until then, you all who keep up with us through this will always be about a week (or two or three...) behind. Oh well...as we always say in the Nelson family, better late than never, right?!


So, anyways, last Tuesday night, Michael and I flew back home from a wonderful few days in Paris for our anniversary! What a dream come true for me to be there with Michael! There are really no words to describe how perfect, how fun, how romantic, and even how blessed (we were absolutely covered in prayer) our time was. Michael was traveling all over Europe for work for the five days before I got there. And when he finished up with his boss, I flew over to meet up with him.

On my first day there, we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower, and a river boat ride along the Seine River. The skies were overcast, the wind was definitely strong and there seemed to always be the threat of rain. But that didn't deter us at all from adventuring all over the city almost entirely by foot.

On the boat ride, you can choose to stop at any one of ten major Parisian landmarks. We chose to hop off at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Now, I don't know if it was the fact that we did this on the first day, or if it was because I had had so many discussions with God about getting me back home safely to take care of my boys, or if it was because it was the most beautiful church I'd ever been in. But this was, for me, such a moving experience. I couldn't get over that so many people had worked with their own hands so long ago to build a place of prayer and worship. People who - granted - don't believe the exact same things that I do, but nonetheless are my brothers and sisters through our Lord Jesus. It was so moving to be in prayer, and at the same time think that all these other hundreds and hundreds of people might be praying too. And He's not stressed out, He knows each language, He knows each heart, and is just as active as He always has been. In many ways, it's not just a church...it's a tourist attraction. But we asked ourselves as we were leaving (and passing by all the trinkets you could buy that said "Notre Dame") "would Jesus come in and overturn the tables, or would He be glad so many were in His house of worship?" I don't know. But He met me there in a powerful way.

This statue of Jesus letting the little children come to him made us think of and miss our boys because they look to be twins. Had to snap a picture.

In front of the Louvre...we could have spent the whole day here. We loved it! We took over 100 pictures here alone.

Though I didn't put any boring museum pictures from it, we also hit Musee D'Orsay and got to see a special Picasso exhibit that was pretty cool. Michael made sure to point out at every piece that "he could've done that too..." ;

After Musee D'Orsay we walked (and walked and walked) till we found the Luxembourg Gardens. They were even more stunning than I anticipated. Here is the Fountain of the Medic.

I don't speak enough French to translate what the plaque said about this statue. But I love this picture that Michael took (he's a waaay better photographer than I am). And I love that you can see the top of the Palais Royale behind it. On our last day there we were just strolling around, and realized that we could see the Arc way behind us. So we asked a lady to take our picture. I think it turned out pretty well.

We really did have such a great time. I cannot believe that I am lucky enough to be married to this wonderful man. And that he places importance on us spending time away together by ourselves is just icing on the cake.

So, now we're back home, all settled back in, and just enjoying being back with our buddies. Stay tuned....more on them to come soon (hopefully!).

Thanks for checkin in on us!

Halloween

I know, I know...I'm so far behind in updating this blog. I mean, my goodness, we're already halfway through November, and I'm just now putting Halloween pictures on here. But, for the sake of this being our scapbook for the boys, here goes a quick game of catch up.

My parent's were in town for one of my 2nd cousin's wedding. So, what do you do to kill time on a beautiful fall day before the evening wedding? You head on over to our favorite pumpkin patch in Nolensville. Here they are pumping water from the well. Ben had zero desire to get such a cute picture. But - to no one's surprise - Drew did! Pretty cute little punkin, if I do say so myself!

Digging dilligently through the troughs of corn.

Our favorite girlfriends Daily and Maisey invited us over for a costume/birthday party since Maisey turns three the week of Halloween. Once again, I couldn't persuade Ben to get in front of the camera (regardless of how much candy was in the negotiations). But Drew loves to have his picture taken...especially when it involves two of his girlfriends.
Here with a few friends from church at Trunk or Treat.
Our favorite superheroes

We also went trick or treating for the first time in our neighborhood. The Belvilles came along with us, and though we didn't get many great pictures, we all had a great time. ....except for trying to get the boys to come down off that sugar high so they could get some sleep that night. Oh well...it's only once a year, right!