Quick update

Today we took our last drive home along the moyen corniche (middle highway) with its beautiful views of the sea; passing all the small sea towns that we've come to love. As we passed above Monaco we could hear the Grand Prix. We pulled over to the side of the road and could see the final race going on! It was so loud as the racing engines echoed through the buildings. The Grand Prix is on regular roads around Monaco and it looked like a video game! We couldn't believe the speed of these cars racing around regular roads! The cars do 78 laps and we watched laps 69 to 48 (we could see a big screen with a few stats). It was really something else to see.

I'm not sure I have much to update here. The biggest news is that Geoff is feeling significantly better. He's about 85-90% of his old self. We feel so blessed for his returned health. It is pretty remarkable how losing one's health puts things in perspective. Suddenly things that were important, or given importance, before no longer matter. Only a few things really merit the time we give them: our family, friends and the health to give/serve others.

France has changed us in many ways. One way is the lifestyle. Yeah, sitting by the pool, the beach, and being together 24/7 has been very nice...but I'm talking slowing down a bit. Enjoying lunch. We often wonder how we'll enter back into real life (school, job, etc.) and keep this joie de vivre alive. People here tell us to watch out or we'll get sucked back in. Sucked into a world dominated by cell phones, doing and having more...instead of doing and having less but feeling more.

We're all sad to go. The girls, who once couldn't wait to get back to an English-speaking country, are feeling a strong attachment. Tennie said, "It's harder to leave here than Washington...it's Europe!" The good thing is that they see that all places will have new things to offer, and they are open to any new adventure, English-speaking or not. We're considering continuing Z School next year (and maybe beyond). While we'll make much greater efforts for social interaction, all of us love the pace. We'll see how things develop for us.

We've decided to not think about the next chapter in our lives until we return to the states. Our time here is so limited, and such a unique opportunity, that we don't want to use it planning, searching and all else that goes along with setting up a more permanent life. Next Saturday we are picking up a "camping car" (RV) from a bishop in another ward. He is letting us use his new camping car for our Davis Tour de France! Sunday we'll go to church and leave straight from there for 2.5 weeks of FRANCE (and maybe one day in Spain). I'm not sure how much I'll have the chance to post our travels during our travels, but I'll post pictures after we get back to California, and continue to post about our summer travels in the states for those who are interested. So, a few more posts this week and you may not hear a peep before the last weeks of June!

Dad's back!!!