parlez-vous français ?

Well neither do I, but there is a new family in our ward that just moved here from Paris. The dad is going to the U to get his masters degree. They have 4 young children with the oldest being 11. I've watched them in Primary and can't help but think how hard it would be to move to a new country and all the sudden be submerged in a new language. Their oldest child is a girl and for some reason, I've taken a special liking to her. She gave a talk a couple of weeks ago in Primary and it was so neat to hear her accent and it must have taken a lot of courage to get up and speak in English in front of so many kids. She has 2 younger brothers in Primary and they speak even less English than her.

This last Sunday during singing time, we were learning some new songs for our Primary program and I happened to notice her writing something down in a notebook. Being the nosey lady that I am, I had to lean forward and see what she was writing. At the top of the page was "Primary songs to learn in English". I was so impressed by her desire to learn. After Primary, I kept thinking about it and about the pocket size children's songbook I had in my scripture bag. I went up to her after Sacrament and asked her if she had a copy of the songbook in English at home. She sadly said no and sort of looked down. I asked her if she would like to have my copy so that she could practice at home. Her eyes lit up and she was so appreciative. It was a small thing for me to do, but it made me feel so glad, and I'm sure she was happy as well. Just thought I'd share my fun experience.

Just had to share-

New York, New York

Ok so I'm late in posting about our trip, but my camera ate all of our pictures from the trip and it took me awhile to get some from Matt's friend. Anyway we were able to go to New York in the beginning of June. Back in Matt's days as a groupie for U2 he met John at one of the U2 concerts in England. John is from Scotland and currently lives with his wife, Laura, in Australia. They were going on an around the world trip and we were able to meet up with them in New York. I really enjoyed getting to meet them and was completely overwhelmed with everything in New York. There is always so much going on all at the same time, lots of sights, smells and sounds!! Times Square at night is amazing, so many lights! Not to mention its pretty cool to see things in person that you've only seen on TV before.
We did a TON of walking. So much in fact that by the time we came home my feet hurt so bad I could barely walk. We took one day and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, by the time we got across, I was done walking, so while John and Laura walked back across we went the subway route. Little did we know that by the time we actually found the subway station, we ended up walking more than we would have if we would have walked back across the bridge. Oh well I guess you live and you learn! Here's a picture of John and Matt walking across the bridge in style.

And for your viewing pleasure another shot of Matt and John -

Our trip ended the same way it started with a first class flight between New York and Salt Lake. I'm totally spoiled now and never want to fly coach again!