Story Hour brought to you by Beth

This week our teacher gave us a set of pics and we had to write a children's story in French using the pictures...so just for fun, I thought I would share mine with you.

Il était une fois dans un château pas loin d'ici qu'un petit prince grandit. C'était une vie excitante avec beaucoup de cachots et de douves à explorer. Mais il y avait un grand problème avec le petit prince. Il était trop petit, plus petit que tous ses amis...

et que toutes les princesses dans le pays. Aucune princesse ne voulait l'épouser parce que tout le monde savait qu'un roi devait être grand et impressionnant. Le petit prince avait le cafard. La vie sans princesse ce n'était pas du tout possible. Qu'est-ce qu'il devait faire?

Un jour il reçut "Le Parchemin". C'était le journal d'un pays trop loin de son château. Dans un coin de "Le Parchemin" il y avait une petite annonce: Vouloir un petit prince pour diriger un petit peuple. On va vous donner un petit château avec une petite princesse. Sans hésitation le petit prince décida de quitta son pays pour allait chercher les royaume des petits gens.

Sa famille lui donna sa bénédiction. Avant de quitter, son père lui donna un cadeau. C'était une boussole, un cadeau très utile pour quelqu'un qui allait chercher son destin, le royaume des petits gens.

C'étatit un voyage dur où il rencontrait des animaux féroces et sauvages comme Vinnie le vatour qui le chassait pour trouver une occasion de le tuer. Si son ami, Trois Plume ne l'avait pas aidé il náurait pas survécu. Chaque fois que Vinnie était proche, Trois Plume le prévenait. Finalement, il arriva dans le royaume des petits gens. Tout le monde était content. Ils mangèrent des fruits pour célébrer l'arrivée de leur nouveau roi qui était grand et impressionant dans son nouveau royaume. Toute de suite il épousa la princesse et ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d'enfants grands et impressionants.

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to

But who could have after such a day of celebration!

It started with a 7:30 knock at the door where I was treated to breakfast served à la carte by my wonderful neighbors. This is a Marsh family tradition...birthday breakfast. Later I was treated to the birthday song by all the missionary ladies. Emily Schellhase celebrated her Sweet Sixteenth yesterday with a cookie cake. Debbie had made me my own little cookie cake so I got to be part of another little family tradition. Then my classmates had tried to surprise me with a cake by going to the classroom and setting up early before our Bible Workshop. But being the forgetful one that I am, I went to class instead of the Bible Workshop where I happened upon them preparing my surprise. Oops! Oh well, tis the thought that counts. :) This evening the Marshes had me for dinner. Steak, mushrooms and onions, broccoli, mashed potatoes and of course, CHOCOLATE CAKE! Yummy. There is a verse in Psalm 68:5 that says, "God sets the lonely in families." It's a verse I love because it reminds me of all the wonderful people God has put into my life who have accepted me and loved me as one of their own when I have been far from home. I'm so thankful for you wherever you are! Thanks for making my day extra special!

And just as an aside...here's a pic of the birthday presents I bought for myself. Word to the wise...never buy yourself Buckley's for your birthday! It has to be the most disgusting medicine ever invented.

Chocolate Fiend

Calling all chocoholics! I discovered this cookie recipe on the internet and it has become my new favorite. There is just something about boxed brownies that is inexplicably yummy. These cookies have all the goodness of a boxed brownie. Gooey in the center but that nice little brownie crust on the outside!

Brownie Bites

4 sq unsweetened baking chocolate (12 TBS cocoa)

3/4 C. butter

2 C. sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

Melt chocolate & butter until completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs & vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Refrigerate 20 min. or until dough is easy to handle. Turn oven to 350 degrees. Shape into 1 inch balls & place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 9 minutes or until set. Don't overbake. Let stand 1 min & transfer to wire racks to cool.

Options: Directly after removing from the oven press one of the following onto the top: M&M, walnut half, marshmallow half, candy canes coarsley chopped or drizzle melted semi-sweet chocolate over top.

The Sugar Shack

Last Friday we took a little visit to the Cabane à Sucre otherwise known as the Sugar Shack. This was an interesting experience for me having never been to one before. I think I was expecting a little more of a tour than we received but as my French teacher pointed out, I guess there isn't really a whole lot of explaining to do. So here are the pics of us indulging our sweet tooths and taking a romp through the forest. This Sortie was made more fun by Katye who came to visit for the week. smoothing out the ice

pouring the candy me and my french teacher posing together

Katye inspecting the buckets

hiding out

having fun in the woods

A Story That Made My Day

When in Atlanta, I love hanging out with my friend Jennifer and her family. They just take me in as one of their own. Jennifer shared this little story with me about her nephew and it was just too cute, I had to share it because it made my day.

True story: Travis came to visit Sunday for brunch and a hockey game. When he came in the garage door he saw my brown sandals at the door area. He comes into the kitchen saying oh wow, is it really true. I said, is what true, he says is she in the bathroom, I said who, he said Ms. Beth. I said no she still is in Canada. He said but her brown shoes are at the door. I said sorry no she is not here, but I know she wishes she can see you and how you've grown. He smiled and asked if he could call you sometime. :)

How sweet it is to be loved! :)

Holiday! Celebrate!

Well, I guess the celebrating is over since the holiday is over but I thought I might go backwards in time and just tell you about my week off. It really was more of a "week on" in a different context. I'm sure many of you will know what that means. At any rate, I arrived in Toronto on Saturday to a nice welcome from my Mom.

Sunday morning, we headed off to church where I unexpectedly had to go up on stage and say something....totally not prepared for that. Thought someone was going to be reading something I wrote while I stood in the audience! Very exciting. That same morning the hostess of my Mom and Dad's care group asked if I would come and share something that evening. It sounded kind of informal so I agreed. During the special luncheon for missionaries later that evening, one of the pastor's asked if I would lead the Bible study on Wednesday. Yikes! A little less informal and something I've never really done as I prefer children to adults when teaching. :) But I just felt like God might have something for me to share so I agreed.

Mom and Dad's care group was amazing. They just spent time asking me lots of questions. Their interest was encouraging! Monday and Tuesday, Mom and I hung out and Tuesday evening I had Swiss Chalet with my friend Michelle...she knows me too well!

Wednesday morning I woke up and started putting the ideas that had been floating around in my head for the Bible Study into a structure. God brought me to just the right passage in my devotions. It was truly amazing! Normally, I'm worrying about the perfect words and so on and so on...so I'm telling you it was just God who helped me. I felt like it went really well and was thankful for the participation of those who answered questions and involved themselves during the actual study.

Thursday morning, Mom and I had about 10 ladies from her apartment building and the SIM community come for tea. These are ladies who are supporting and praying faithfully for me. It was such a blessing to see their enthusiasm and to have an opportunity to thank them. They had all kinds of questions and wanted fuel for their prayers which I was happy to provide.

Friday, I had breakfast with my friend Jennifer and got introduced to Wii Golf by her 5 year old son who totally whipped my tail!

Saturday, my mom and I headed out early to Buffalo for a little cross border shopping...hit all my favorite craft stores plus Target (even got to eat some Panera...YUMMY) and then we went to pick up my Dad from the airport. He had just spent two weeks down in New Orleans helping out with a reconstruction project. I was glad I got to see him for a bit before heading back to Sherbrooke on Monday.

Pretty amazing how a week of nothing much turned into a whole lot of something. I'm thankful for the opportunities that God gave me to connect with people and his very clear help in the areas I find most difficult.

When a "Ralentir" might be a good idea?

Ralentir - to slow down, to decelerate

Driving back to Sherbrooke today, I was passed by a car with it's hazard lights blinking away. It was probably going about 75 to 80 miles/hour. Upon being passed, I got a good view of the muffler which was twisted quite abnormally and was, in fact, being dragged along the ground. Call me crazy! But I think that might have called for a slow down. Perhaps the driver was hoping to remove the muffler by the application of speed and friction???