Happy holidays!

My friends and family often receive a letter from me at Christmastime updating them on what the Wall family has been doing throughout the year. Since moving to France and keeping this blog, I haven't felt like a Christmas letter was needed - anyone who wants to know what we are doing can log on and follow our adventures here. Since I included my blog address on my Christmas card, I thought it might be nice to post a Christmas letter here so if you do log on over the holidays, you can get our latest.

The picture of Lucie and Kathleen that I used for our Christmas card was taken in Amsterdam when we were there for the day during a recent trip to Belgium. The weather was beautiful and we were playing at a park outside of the Van Gogh Museum...it was a wonderful day for the four of us and just one of many memories we have made during the past year and a half while living in France.

Feel free to scroll through the blog to see some of the places we have visited and some of the wonderful people we have met. We have made many new friends and done lots of new things (i.e. we are now chicken owners) and I am sure that our blog posts don't do the entire experience justice, but you can at least get a taste of the adventure. Over drinks one evening in Eygalieres, one of our new friends said that he thought we were brave to sell our house and move to France. Most people thought we were crazy...I think we were probably a little bit of both, but right now what I feel is proud. I am proud that we made our dream come true and that we introduced this opportunity to our family. I am most proud, however, of my daughters. With barely a word of French in their vocabulary, Bucky and I signed them up for French school and they went without complaint. They made new friends, figured out a new culture and mastered a new language all while successfully navigating the first fragile years of adolescence.

They continue to do well in school (both making the French equivalent of the honor roll this semester). Lucie is in 4eme (the equivalent to 8th grade) and has a number of trips planned this spring with her classmates. In February, she heads to Northern Germany for two weeks with some kids from her German class where she will be staying with a German family and going to German school. In April, she is then going to London, England for 6 days with another group of 4eme students. She is really looking forward to that trip because she will have the leg up on the language! Kathleen is now attending the same college (France's equivalent of middle school) as her sister and is happy as a clam there. The academics (especially French) are challenging, but she is a conscientious student and works hard so she is doing well. Kathleen's class travels to the French alps in March for a week long ski trip. It should be lots of fun since it will be Kathleen's first time skiing!

In addition to being a wonderful father and husband, Bucky continues his job search, hoping to find a Release or Project Management position with a software company in Europe. (Feel free to check out his info on Linkedin!) If nothing comes to fruition this spring, we will most likely head to Charleston where we are sure to be welcomed home by our friends and family. (Stay tuned for updates!) In between job interviews and networking, Bucky stays busy working in his vegetable garden and trying to outsmart our chickens! He has also renewed his love for photography and has taken numerous breathtaking photos that help to document our adventures while living in France.

I am staying busy with the basic demands of motherhood and life (ie. keeping up the household, taxiing girls to and from friends' houses and dance classes, and helping with homework!), but I have also added teaching English to my schedule! I have a group of students from the local elementary school who come to our house twice a week for "Lunch in English." They spend an hour and a half at our house every Tuesday and Thursday, eating a yummy lunch and learning English! I am finally putting my CELTA certification to work and love the enthusiasm the kids have for learning English. It is very rewarding! So rewarding in fact, that I started an English lesson for adults as well. It is a few of my friends who wanted to learn English and I now look forward to it each week.

We had a wonderful Christmas at home in Charleston, and look forward to the beginning of 2011 in France. We hope that everyone enjoyed the holidays and would love to hear your news as well. All the best, Jean and family