Finishing Up

Cookies and Christmas music, snowball fights and fireplaces, hot chocolate and family--it's that time of year once again! That's good because I think the snow is here to stay in Sherbrooke. We're living in a perpetual state of "flurries." Tomorrow we're supposed to get "beaucoup de neige" [lots and lots of snow] thanks to the snowstorm that's hit the rest of the US earlier this week. I'm half-way through my final exams for the semester, only three more tests and then I'm done!



Joy finishes her first semester on Friday as well, and we are hoping to leave Saturday morning for Ohio. I hear rumors of snow along our route...measured with a yard stick, so we'll see how long it takes us to get there. Usually, it should take about 15 hours, but with a baby and the weather, it will probably take significantly longer =) Our classes begin again on January 5th, so we will head back a few days before then.

Kaitlyn got her first taste of snow today; I don't think she liked it. She must have gotten some of that California blood from her mommy. When we come back for the winter semester I'll have to take her sledding and see how she likes that. But I'll have to wait for a warm day around 10 or 20 degrees. We did get an opportunity to take a family photo though right after I finished my oral exam.



We are definitely looking forward to some time off from our studies, and we'd ask you to pray for a safe journey to Ohio and a refreshing time with our family.

Fireside

Grab a warm blanket, a good book, and a tall mug of [insert hot beverage of choice] and make your way to the fireplace...if you have one.

It's one of those days here in Sherbrooke! It rained yesterday, snowed most of the night, and rained all morning. Now the windchill is right around 20 degrees thanks to the 40mph winds. Old man winter arrived overnight and is holding on with an iron grip!

But I was reminded (as the snow plow drove by really early this morning!), life moves on. So I got up and met the guys for a Saturday morning prayer breakfast. Thankfully, it was mostly in English. While we are making great progress in French, it is still very difficult to get much out of our French chapels and church services. We can understand many words and phrases, but our brains aren't fast enough to keep up with what's being said.

Two weeks lay between now and our Christmas break. The plan is to spend most of the break in Ohio at my parent's house. Aside from all the scheduled appointments at the doctor, dentist, attorney, family pictures, etc., we will have a blast! My parents and both siblings now live in Ohio, so it will be great to see everyone, and give my brain a rest!

Speaking of progress, a certain little Kaitlyn is already growing up so fast! She's trying to stand, roll over, and has turned into quite the talker. She is always excited when I come home from school...so is mom for that matter.



Our support has climbed a little bit; it's right around 85% now. Please continue to pray that the rest will come in by the summer so that we can leave for Congo on time! Pray that we will finish the semester strong and have a safe trip to Ohio (we are driving)! We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!



*Don't forget to take a look at our latest newsletter here: www.maf.org/konop

Starting Early

Last weekend I did something I haven't done in a l o n g time! Some of our friends here let us in on a little secret that one of the university's here has free ice skating on Sunday afternoons. Of course I was interested right away; I even brought my hockey skates just in case there were any opportunities to play some hockey while we are up here. Joy didn't have any, but a quick trip to the local thrift store fixed that problem, and we went last Sunday. Most of the time Kaitlyn was bundled up in her snow suit, happily sleeping away. But right before we left, I thought it was appropriate to introduce her to the "coolest" game on earth, and we skated around for a few laps. I even let her feel the ice and stand up on her own. She loved it!



Kaitlyn also really likes bath time--or maybe she just likes to be pampered!



Our French studies are continuing; it seems weird that we only have six weeks of school left before our Christmas break. It's going by so fast. So far we have been healthy, but many of our friends and family have either been sick or are sick. It's been surprisingly balmy here; we've had a lot of rain, but it hasn't really been that cold yet. I have a feeling it's coming though.

Ca roule!

[It's rolling] We've just finished our most recent newsletter, unfortunately I'm not computer savvy enough to get it on here. If you'd like a copy of it, you can email me at ckonop@maf.org and I can send you a copy! You can also find our most recent newsletters on our MAF website at www.maf.org/konop Everything is going well here. Winter is slowing taking over; I think it's supposed to snow for the better part of this coming weekend. We'll see if it decides to stick around for a while this time! Kaitlyn is keeping us plenty busy, along with our studies and required* social events. *That's right, we're "required" to attend at least one social activity each week to help us develop our French communication skills. We're getting sleep whenever we get the opportunity. Even as I'm writing this, I think Kaitlyn is sleeping, so I might go catch a few winks before she wakes up again! We're praying for you!

Fatherhood

Hi! My name is Kaitlyn Renee! I arrived on Wednesday, September 30th, at 1:27 in the afternoon. I'm happy to be here; it was getting pretty crowded in mommy's tummy, although it was nice and warm in there! Right after I was born, it was a little hard for me to breathe, so I had to stay in the hospital a few extra days until my lungs healed up. I'm doing much better now that we made it home safe and sound. Some of my favorite things to do are: eat, sleep, and be held close to mommy and daddy. I think it's kind of funny when I fill my diapers because I know daddy has to change me, and he thinks it's yucky. I just smile and wiggle around just to make it more fun for him! I've gotten to see some neat things already too...the beautiful fall colors of the trees, and daddy showed me an airplane and a rainbow! Well, I'm getting sleepy again, so I'm going to lay down for a little while. Until next time!!

Fall Is Here

That's right, fall has arrived in Sherbrooke! It's pretty crisp in the mornings, and they say it will just get colder and colder. The leaves are changing and that wonderful smell of fireplaces and hot chocolate is floating in the air.

School has kept us plenty busy, especially with all the activities outside of the classroom. It's fun to practice what we learn with our neighbors and the checkout people at the grocery store. We're still very limited in our communication, but already we've come a long way. We can pick up bits and pieces of the sermon on Sunday mornings, and those familiar hymns and praise songs we know so well in English are helping to build our biblical vocabulary. French is a lot of hard work, but we're slowly making progress, and it's always a good feeling when you can not only understand someone's question, but also respond to it!

Well, Joy is 4 days past her due date, and still no little girl. Looks like she's taking her sweet time! Just for kicks, we watched Father of the Bride Part II last night...but it doesn't really happen like that (or so I'm told). Everything else is ready for her arrival, we're just waiting and walking and waiting some more, and then walking and waiting, until it's time. I have to admit, even I'm getting a little anxious to see her now. But alas, I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait...and walk some more. If nothing has happened by the end of this week, mother nature will probably get a little nudge from the doctor to help things along. Pray that she will come on her own! Either way, sometime this week we should have a little girl in our arms--kind of an interesting feeling! Hopefully it won't be another month before I get to post something!

Beginning of the End? --or-- End of the Beginning?

We had our first official French class today! The first two weeks are phonetics based, so we're learning how to sound out letters and make humorous noises with our throats. I wish you could see it...a bunch of brand new French students all spitting at each other! Our instructor is very patient and understanding with us. It's very nice that our class only runs from 8:30am to noon. The rest of the day is spent practicing, listening, and making conversation with our neighbors and people we meet. We are listening to French CD's and watching French television and attempting to read French newspapers and magazines. We even try to speak to people...although most of the time we never really get passed, "Hello, my name is ____, I'm learning French!" It should be a very interesting semester!

In other exciting news, today is baby Konop's "birthday"....kind of. Joy is now full-term, which apparently means that our little girl could arrive any day. We had a doctor visit yesterday, and everything looks great; baby is right on target, and should be here in a few short weeks. Joy is getting pretty uncomfortable (I tell her I understand, but I really don't. I just rub feet, do the dishes, and make sure everything is ready to go for the big moment). Any last minute parenting advice would be greatly appreciated!

My younger brother is getting married on Saturday, which means I need to be in Virginia by Friday afternoon. We begin the drive as soon as class is out tomorrow, and hopefully we'll make it in time for the rehearsal! I'm guessing it will take at least 15 hours to drive, especially with a full term mommy lounging in the back seat! It will be even more challenging to make it back up to Sherbrooke for classes on Monday morning. We will see what happens; that's a whole lot of traveling in a very short amount of time. We would appreciate your prayers for a safe journey, and blessings on my brother's new marriage.

--Bon Voyage!