Ceci has knocked her front teeth so many times it is a miracle she hasn't lost them both. One has been declared dead by our dentist at home. It is gray, and permanently loose. At a check-up right before we came we were told to watch for a blister-like bump on the gum that would indicate an abscessed tooth, and it MUST be pulled. Of course, it is better to have the tooth to hold the space for the permanent tooth that will come when she is six or seven. Sure enough a blister has formed. (Never a dull moment!) We found a pediatric dentist in Monaco. We all piled in the car curious to experience a French dentist; hoping for friendly fish tanks and post visit prizes. The office was in an apartment building and we had to ring to get in. There was a waiting room with some toys. It was a separate room, and the receptionist (and possibly an assistant) closed the door after us when we went in. After about 10 minutes we saw, through glass panes in the door, a woman rushing in looking totally frazzled, peeling off her purse and doing a superman-like change from street clothes to a white jacket and white shoes. It was the dentist. I didn't like how frazzled she looked, and when she came in and called Ceci's name she acted like she was going to fit our 30 minute appointment into the next 5 minutes. She was gruff and abrupt. She took us to a big, empty room with a dentist chair and a few tools in the corner. I guess we were spoiled in Redmond. Our dentist office was like going to a spa. This dentist was no frills. Ceci got in the chair expecting sunglasses and cartoons but the dentist ordered her around in French, every once in awhile giving a forced smile and making her voice sound cutesy in a crazed, "I'm a mean nasty witch but I'm trying to fool you into thinking I'm a nice kid dentist HA HA!" Seriously, she scared us. After one quick look she said the tooth must come out. "Impossible to save it!" (Impossible is a word that doesn't exist in Geoff's vocabulary and I could sense the hairs raising on his back of his neck!) Had the spa dentist (and another pediatric dentist's second opinion) not just told us the same thing 2 months ago I would of thought this lady was hasty and a complete wacko.
Thursday morning we go back, and Ceci will only have one front tooth. Pray for her!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sounds of Menton
There are some common sounds in Menton that I'm writing for our memory and laughter later...
1. On the weekends there are "festivals", many of which are near the beach right below us. The announcers use a loud speaker to communicate to the crowds. Here on the hill it's like hearing a football announcer a block away, unintelligible but loud...on and off all day.
2. On the weekends, when the announcer is taking a break, loud music is played over low-quality speakers. Every other song is American; something like, "Set Me Free Why Don't You Babe". All songs are Casey Kasen favorites from 40 years ago.
3. It seems to me that in all Latin cultures there is a direct correlation between a man's masculinity and the rev of his engine. There are a lot of engines that rev here. (Maybe it has something to do with the main road going along the beach.)
4. Teenagers are only allowed to drive the smallest engine mopeds and they like to drive them fast, like...full throttle. This combination sounds like a manual car going 70MPH in second gear. The high pitches are excruciating!
5. When all the mopeds are finally parked in their little spaces and the coast is asleep we can hear the waves come and go. It is distant, but there. It makes me feel like I'm floating in bed!
6. Church bells are one of my favorite sounds in Europe (accordions on the street is another). There are two churches in town that play their bells a few minutes apart, maybe out of respect for the chiming of their bells. They chime every hour on the hour and half hour. The first several weeks we were here there were weddings on Saturdays and Sundays and the bells would ring for 5 minutes straight. They are so solid, and reliable.
7. Lastly, and my favorite here, are amazing songbirds that live in the palm trees right outside. We first heard them on Ceci's birthday and remarked that they had come to sing to her, but they stayed! There are a few of them, and they sing back and forth as if French lovers. Sometimes when I'm rushing around forgetting to use my senses it is the only thing to snap me out it...and it always pulls me back to a calmer place.
1. On the weekends there are "festivals", many of which are near the beach right below us. The announcers use a loud speaker to communicate to the crowds. Here on the hill it's like hearing a football announcer a block away, unintelligible but loud...on and off all day.
2. On the weekends, when the announcer is taking a break, loud music is played over low-quality speakers. Every other song is American; something like, "Set Me Free Why Don't You Babe". All songs are Casey Kasen favorites from 40 years ago.
3. It seems to me that in all Latin cultures there is a direct correlation between a man's masculinity and the rev of his engine. There are a lot of engines that rev here. (Maybe it has something to do with the main road going along the beach.)
4. Teenagers are only allowed to drive the smallest engine mopeds and they like to drive them fast, like...full throttle. This combination sounds like a manual car going 70MPH in second gear. The high pitches are excruciating!
5. When all the mopeds are finally parked in their little spaces and the coast is asleep we can hear the waves come and go. It is distant, but there. It makes me feel like I'm floating in bed!
6. Church bells are one of my favorite sounds in Europe (accordions on the street is another). There are two churches in town that play their bells a few minutes apart, maybe out of respect for the chiming of their bells. They chime every hour on the hour and half hour. The first several weeks we were here there were weddings on Saturdays and Sundays and the bells would ring for 5 minutes straight. They are so solid, and reliable.
7. Lastly, and my favorite here, are amazing songbirds that live in the palm trees right outside. We first heard them on Ceci's birthday and remarked that they had come to sing to her, but they stayed! There are a few of them, and they sing back and forth as if French lovers. Sometimes when I'm rushing around forgetting to use my senses it is the only thing to snap me out it...and it always pulls me back to a calmer place.
Darwinism
Must have been a slow lizard. We saw this on our stairs on our way to church yesterday. It was gone when we got home.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Is this a dream?
It is difficult to describe the beauty of this place, or capture it with our little point-and-shoot camera. It is no wonder that artists of all genres have come to the Cote D'Azur that speaks so colorfully to the soul. Thankfully they have penned and painted what I can't hope to articulate. Day after day we stop in our tracks to take it all in and ask ourselves, "Is this a dream we are living?" The colors of the sea, the light, the drifting sailboats and rocky cliffs, the spectacular views at every turn...this place is paradise!
This afternoon we went to Monaco to the Exotic Gardens. This hillside garden was full of, well, exotic plants, and windy paths with little bridges, and little lookout points that made your heart stop!
Adele captured this picture right before I escaped a man-eating plant...This week the girls learned about what archeologists do. Adele was fascinated and, after confirming that wearing jeans was not a job requirement, she made it her new professional goal. There is an anthropological museum in the exotic garden (this is really why we went) and we saw lots of bones, pottery, spears, etc. Adele, while looking at a skull, declared she would wear gloves when an archeologist.
Many of the artifacts are found in various caves in this part of Europe. One of these large caves was a part of this exotic garden, and we went deep into the earth to see where bones are sometimes found. The cave was damp, and when a milky drop landed on Adele's arm she freaked out like a poisonous spider had just landed on her, and was looking at me with frantic bug eyes that said, "QUICK, WIPE IT OFF!!!" At that moment the romantic idea of an archeologist quickly faded away.
One area looked like a carmel river with falls. Tennie licked a stalagmite to see how it tasted...not like carmel!Friday, October 10, 2008
A few straggler pictures
I took this while following Geoff and Tennie. I love her barefeet!
We have several jars of collected sea glass. These were taken on a cool afternoon's hunt.Self-proclaimed holiday
After a long week of schooling, and feeling bound up inside when that sapphire blue sea is just 10 minutes away, we decided to declare today a holiday! We pushed a day of school and our planned field trip until tomorrow and went to the beach! It was a perfect day. 73 degrees, clear blue sky, and no breeze.
There is a really fun little park right off of the beach on a bit of land jetting out into the water. The girls love to play on the castles and boats, both of which are in view of the real deals!
There is a really fun little park right off of the beach on a bit of land jetting out into the water. The girls love to play on the castles and boats, both of which are in view of the real deals!Monday, October 6, 2008
A voice of warning
We watched General Conference (a semi-annual conference where our prophet and the twelve apostles speak to us concerning what is happening in our day) this past weekend and heard a voice of warning! Like Noah tried to warn the people of the impending flood coming to destroy the wicked, we felt we were being warned of rough(er) waters ahead, and given great counsel about how to prepare ourselves!
These faithful saints here don't use the internet like we do. They camp out at the church all day. They bring food to share among spread out blankets on the church lawn. We watched the Saturday morning session live online at home at 6:00PM Saturday night. Sunday we went to the chapel for Geoff to watch a rebroadcast of the priesthood session. We stayed to watch a rebroadcast of the Saturday afternoon session, and came home for the Sunday morning (last evening). We plan to watch the Sunday afternoon session tonight after getting the girls to bed. I love the French member's dedication; there willingness to live so completely separate from their culture. I guess we all do that in our own cultures. We are definately becoming a "peculiar" people!
If you missed any session make sure to look it up on http://www.lds.org/ and read or watch it all! We can't wait to see the rest tonight!
These faithful saints here don't use the internet like we do. They camp out at the church all day. They bring food to share among spread out blankets on the church lawn. We watched the Saturday morning session live online at home at 6:00PM Saturday night. Sunday we went to the chapel for Geoff to watch a rebroadcast of the priesthood session. We stayed to watch a rebroadcast of the Saturday afternoon session, and came home for the Sunday morning (last evening). We plan to watch the Sunday afternoon session tonight after getting the girls to bed. I love the French member's dedication; there willingness to live so completely separate from their culture. I guess we all do that in our own cultures. We are definately becoming a "peculiar" people!
If you missed any session make sure to look it up on http://www.lds.org/ and read or watch it all! We can't wait to see the rest tonight!
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