.: August 2008

France is definately not the place where you want to be alone. Everything is so magical and romantic. All the tiny little villages here in the south of France perched up on hillsides or tucked away in a quaint valley surrounded by the biggest sunflowers you have ever seen. My heart of course was left in Texas (No you Texans I am not talking about missing Texas) with my 3 angels. Kit and the girls stayed behind so that they could be there for Rachel's and Spencer's farewells. This also has allowed me some time to get into the swing of things(after my late summer calf muscle tear) and get the living arrangements all settled. I am in search of the perfect little appartement either in the town of Hagetmau or Mont de Marsan.
I am currently staying in a Gite which is an experience in and of it's own. The Gite is a very large, but old French house. The room I am staying in looks and feels like a mix between a cathedral and museum. In fact the 1st night I went to bed I awoke to a strange glow coming from the fireplace mantle, after staring at it for a good while trying to figure out what it was, I scurried to get the light only to learn that it was a glow in the dark virgin Mary statue (We are only 30 minutes from Lourdes, a catholic disneyland of sorts). So in order to get better sleep I moved her into the living room.
Saturday we had our first practice game and we learned alot. This year the team is totally new with 8 new players. It will take some time for us to get to know eachother but the coach is great and we have a lot of athleticism. I once again am the only white guy on the team so far, (still recruiting) but I am used to that.
My calf was pretty sore and more so just tired and weak throughout the game I couldn't buy a 3-pointer, but finished with 27pts getting most of them from the foul line and posting up on smaller guards. We led by as many as 15 in the first half but ran out of gas in the second half and ended up loosing by 20! It was the first time we played together and we had just had a crazy week of physical practices, lots of running and weight training. We were all burned out. But the coach and team leaders were very positive after the game and excited to see what happens with a month of practices under our belts. ( a month before our first regular season game)

Our dear friend Michelle gave us the best going away gift ever as she treated us to a family photoshoot. It was so wonderful and I must say has been a lifesaver for me here alone. The pictures she took captured not just the beauty of my little family ( so I am a little proud:) but also each little emotion that I love so much about all three of my girls. Ryn's golden locks framing her dimples and chocolate eyes. Elles penetrating stare and her dainty but firey little frame.And the beauty and elegance of my sweet wife. But most of all, as Michelle mentioned, you can actually see and feel the love we have for eachother in the pictures. So wonderful !What a gift to be able to capture that, freeze it and give that to people. If you wanna check them out click here
http://scenesfromthewild.blogspot.com/2008/08/bon-voyage.html