So Christmas Eve was AMAZING.  I spent the evening with some of the other AIMers here and a church member named Farid. He took us to some of his friends house which was the most decorated-for-Christmas thing I've ever laid eyes on.  Like I'm going to have to post pictures or something for you to understand.  They had a 7 foot tall Santa Clause that would dance and sing Jingle Bells. The coolest thing about him was that he stood right by the door to the dinning room and was set off by motion. 

The people were a lot of fun and possibly half crazy.  Around about the 3rd course we all were getting VERY comfortable with each other and the noise level actually reminded me of being with my Dad's family at Christmas!  One of the little girls decided to attach to me right away and I was running and hiding from her the whole night (she was rather violent) while laughing and having the best time ever.  She told me I was French! yay :)  We had some definatly cool/weird things served to us; oysters, caviar (red and black), Foi Gras (Goose liver), mousse de canard (not sure really what that is on the duck), beef tounge, and other stuff. After around the 4th course, they passed out presents and the hostess actually gave all the AIMers that came 20 euros so we wouldnt feel left out and with it was a poem about finding strength in God.  It was a little sad to leave but I think we made some good contacts and hopefully will see some of them again.

So after our 12 hour dinner (thats right, we came home at 3am) the girls and I all stayed at Danielle, Jessica and Myriam's house.  We opened our presents for each other since it was Christmas already.  They're all sleeping right now because we only have till 11:30 before the Christmas day events with the church start at OUR house!  Its going to be another long day but I have a feeling itll be another wonderful one.

Yay Jesus for giving me one of the most exciting and fun Christmas's when I'm so far from home.  :)

Merry Christmas,
Kaylin

Hey everyone, I'm back in France.  I got here Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock France time.  It's been cool so far comming back and havn't experienced much homesickness.  I don't feel like I've lost much of my French like I was afraid of so that is really good news to me.  Tuesday night Leigh-Anna and I went to visit one of the church members, Farid, in the hospital.  He was in for some Diabetes tests and we just sat and talked to him downstairs in the cafe.  Neither of us had really ever had the chance to sit down with him and talk too much because he is a much older man than us and is usually fairly occupied at church.  It was neat getting to know a little more about him.  We discovered that he is a very spiritual person and has a lot to say about the Lord and his blessings.  He has been witnessing to people while in the hospital and praying for them. What an encouragement and a challenge to hear his stories from just his week there.  He also told us that he wants badly to be a missionary and go wherever it is that the Lord may call him.  How exciting it is  to see the French christians taking a leadership role like that and having a passion to serve God!  yay! 

Hey everyone!

Well I just arrived back in France today around 2 o clock.  It was a rather long trip but I think i might actually be getting used to it!  I had a wonderful time in the states and feel like God really blessed my time there.  I'm looking forward to getting back to work here in Strasbourg and will be keeping you guys more regularly updated with the things going on here.  Sometimes it's not too exciting because the work in Strasbourg takes a lot of time but I will still be keeping you informed! 

Thanks for all of your support!

In HIM,

Kaylin

Hey Ya'll,

Well I've been back in Texas now for about a week and have really been enjoying every day that God has given me here to be with my friends and family.  I'm so blessed to have been able to come back for this visit and most importantly to see my friends Whitney Bumpers and Justin Roland be married.  The actual ceremony is tomorrow at 2 but tonight we had the rehersal and dinner.  It was pretty unbelievable to watch her up there on the stage preparing to exchange vows tomorrow.  We've all been looking forward to this for so many years.  She's found herself an amazing guy to call her husband and I know that God is going to bless their lives together.  It's so exciting and I don't think I've cried this much in a while.  I put some photos up of the rehersal and I hope that ya'll enjoy them. 

 

To Whitney and Justin Roland - I love ya'll and will continue to pray for you as you begin your lives together.

 

God Bless,

Kaylin

I know it's been a long time since I last wrote.  We moved in the middle of last month and haven't had much access to the internet since.  Our new apartment is gorgeous and we love it tons.  It's so nice to have more space finally to live in and to invite people to. 

 

Last week we met our neighbors who live downstairs.  It's a group of about four who are our age and they invited us over for dinner with their friends.   We know so many other foreigners here that it was actually our first cultural dinner all in French.  Pam was in Paris so it was only Leigh-Anna and I who went.  We were invited over at 9pm and dinner was served promptly at 11:18 (or so).  We were STARVING by then!  After all, I normally eat at 5:30.  We had a lot of fun and it was great practice for our French.  They were very interested in why we are here so we got to tell them all about the work. 

 

We had two dinners this week at our new apartment as well to break it in (it and the new dinning room table that we bought and I got to put together!) I made TexMex enchiladas for one while Leigh-Anna made cookies and Pam made guacamole.  And the other one I had my friend Lisa over from school and we made Tarte Flambee (an Alsacien specialty) which turned out rather tasty!  I think also that she really enjoyed meeting the other girls and told me she is so glad that we all met. 

 

Well my parents are going to kill me when they read this but its 4:45 in the morning.  I got up an hour early out of excitement and wanting to be prepared.  The thing is I didn't got to bed till 1.  Oh yeah, the reason this is all such a big deal is.. I'm going home!  My best friend decided to get married a few months ago and asked me to be in her wedding.  In 2 hours from this moment I will be bording a plane back to Texas.  I'm sad to leave this place that I love so much for even 3 weeks but I know that I will have a wonderful time back home hugging all the necks that I miss so much. 

 

I love you guys!  And I'll see some of  Y'ALL ;) real soon! 

Salut!  Je voudrais faire une petite message pour mes amis francaise.  Merci pour tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi pendent le dernier 5 mois.  Je sais que vous avez change, vous changez et vous changerez plus ma vie eternellement.  Rappellez-Vous a mettre votre esperance dans le Seigneur et il vous guidera toujours. 

 

Je vous aime tant.

 

-Kaylin