The End and the Beginning

Finally! After a little more than a year of drivers training John Baptiste Sauvé has finally done it. Yesterday afternoon by successfully completing the driving skills test, I ended a 13 month saga of driving classes and hours, that has had its ups and downs. A year ago March, I started segment 1 of drivers training. Unlike some of my sisters I was quite eager to start driving and so it was both with excitement and apprehension that I entered my classes. I was a whiz in the class room and scored top in most all written tests. Yet in the words of my instructor, I had "some rough edges to work out in the actual driving." Unlike most kids in the class I had never been behind the wheel of anything, ever, and the first time out I mistook the sidewalk for the road. =) Thankfully I can say that I have progressed since then and have become quite comfortable behind the wheel by driving 2 hours up to the Lapeer area on Sundays. You don't get practice in parking while driving freeway though, so dad and I had to get creative to practice that for the test. Using my exercise weights with metal poles stuck in them and a cone on top, we made an interesting sight, simulating the parking section of the road test.

So the day finally came and at 1:15 yesterday, dad and I drove over to the testing sight. I was praying the whole time but with my eyes open since I was driving. The instructor was kind, though she continuously used the terms dear and honey with my name and as any of you who know me can tell, that didn't exactly ingratiate me to her. But any ways we got going and started off on the parking. God helped me and I came through without a single point off which was great because as I said this was supposed to be my weak spot. The on roads test went well also, despite my tendency to the disease "heavyfootitis" (DeL's can sympathize) and as I pulled into the parking lot I breathed and smiled for what felt like the first time as I heard the instructors "you passed". So that is the end, and yet also the beginning; the end of all the training and the beginning of new responsibilities that with God's help I will use properly. So, a little encouragement to you who start off your driving careers with a bang (literally); there is still hope. If I did it, then I am sure you can too.

May God bless, and I thank all you who were praying yesterday
John B. Sauvé

P.S. Now you need to start really watching your rear view mirrors for that big blue bus with that big foot boy (I mean young man) behind the wheel.

Healthy Living on a New Level

From the early days of the Sauve family, even B.C. (Before Children), caring for the bodies that God has given us and thus healthy eating has been a concern. White refined, bleached flour and white refined sugar were eliminated from the diet, although there was the occasional exceptions, such as ice cream, which was hard to give up. Through the years, pop and coffee were replaced with water, chocolate with carob, cows milk with soy milk, and food coloring with natural colors. Fruit smoothies were a healthy start to two mornings a week and an occasional vegetarian meal made it to the table. In all, healthy eating was the goal as the family grew from two to nine members.

For the last two weeks we have experienced healthy eating on a new level. Charity has worked very hard to serve more "living foods" and meals with the best combinations to aid digestion; this meant not mixing our starches and proteins. We have had fresh fruit each morning, which included large bowls of mixed fruit, apple-strawberry juice, pineapple-orange-strawberry juice (done in the juicer), mango-peach smoothie or orange-grapefruit juice. A mid-morning snack of apple slices, grapes or banana was available to those who wanted them. The goal at lunch was to be careful not to mix our starches and proteins, so our regular affair of peanut butter and jam, or lunch meat and cheese on bread were out for the time being. Instead, we have had different but tasty helpings of harvest soup, vegetable toasties, tomato sandwiches, etc., all with a large salad. Suppers, having the same goal in mind, included Mediterranean rice, carrot hash browns, fish in lemon dill sauce, pasta in a wok, shepherd's pie (bread stuffing topped with mashed potatoes), or a chef's salad with chicken. Other than the chef's salad, all meals were served with a large salad and cooked vegetables.

The meals have been very good and we are getting use to the idea that you don't have to have pasta or potatoes with your meat; vegetables can taste good with either meat or starches. The challenge has been keeping enough fresh fruits, lettuce and vegetables on hand. Juicing or making a fruit or lettuce salad for nine people has been a lot of work, but Charity has done a fabulous job and presents a pretty hard act to follow for Faith who is the cook for the next two weeks. In any case, we are thankful for the variety of foods God has given us to enjoy and we acknowledge His blessings in giving us such an abundance.

Warm Weather Modesty – or the Lack of it . . . .

from:
Mountains of Mourne
"I believe that when writin', a wish you expressed
As to how the fine ladies in London were dressed.
Well, if you'll believe me, when asked to a ball,
Faith! they don't wear no tops to their dresses at all!

Oh, I've seen them myself and you could not, in truth,
Say if they were bound for a ball or a bath!
Don't be startin' them fashions now, Mary Macree,
Where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea."

I really had to chuckle the first time I heard those verses sung by one of the Irish Tenors. The author's blatant descriptions of the clothing fashions in London, are quite humorous, to say the least, but they are also (unfortunately) descriptive of some of the dresses that are worn these days. The words to the above song, came rollicking through my mind last Sunday as we were driving home from church. The reason for such un-pious thoughts on the Lord's Day? . . . . Well, the weather happened to be gorgeous, warm, sunny, and 70's. As we drove through one of the more densely populated cities, we couldn't help but notice the great number of people that were out taking advantage of the nice weather. The only problem was that it looked as if most of them had left half their clothes at home!

I recently read this amusing yet frightful quote, "It use to take a whole sheep to clothe a woman, now a silk worm can do it on his lunch break!" (1)

My dear sisters in Christ, as the weather gets warmer, and with it our wardrobes become lighter, can we all try to keep in mind Whose child we are? We are daughters of the King ~ princesses! And therefore should be dressing so as not to bring shame to our Father, but to honor Him and give Him glory. He has told us to dress in "modest apparel." Now don't start getting worried that Faith is going to tell everyone that they have to wear long dresses and skirts all the time. I know many of you do, and that is the boundary line that God has drawn out for me also, but I am not going to impose it on anyone. All I ask is that each of us look carefully at our wardrobes, with God's leading, and each time we get dressed, ask the question: "Does my appearance bring glory to my Heavenly Father, or will this, shirt, skirt, pair of pants etc, perhaps cause a dear brother in Christ to stumble?"

Enjoy the lovely Spring weather, my friends! Take pleasure in all the beautiful flowers, and tiny new leaves, the birds' trilling songs and the sweet, fresh air. Revel also in the seasons of change in your own life, as you grow more into the image of your dear Savior, and strive to glorify Him in everything you do.

Yours Truly,
Faith

(1) His Chosen Bride By: Jennifer Lamp

Baby having a grand time at Josh's party!=)  

Joshua with his new Bugle! (thanks to Doug Phillips and Vision Forum!)
Between Faith learning to play the violin and now Josh trying to pick some notes out on his bugle... well, let's just say that cottonballs are going to become a new fad and also with the lovely weather and the windows being open, our neighbors are starting to really hope our house will sell soon!!!=)

Yesterday was Joshua's 15th birthday!
Here he is with his eagle cake that mom made.
At the Sauve house there is almost never a dull moment if Josh is around! God has truely blessed us other siblings with such a talented, creative, funny, loving and God-fearing brother!
Happy Birthday Joshua!

A Feathered Phenomenon

"Faith! Come here quick!" This invariably is the call when a bird in the backyard cannot be identified. The call is usually followed by Faith rushing into the room and, (depending on who the caller is) 60%of the time identifying the bird in question as a common visitor such as a Chickadee, Sparrow or Mourning Dove. A few days ago however the unknown bird turned out to be anything but a common visitor. Grace had the honors of sighting the feathered phenomenon and, rushing into the room where Faith, Josh and a few others were reposing, blurted out that "there's a big bird out back and I think it might be a Bald Eagle!" "A what?" If true, then this was a sighting of the highest magnitude. This occasion was large enough to excite not only Faith and Josh, our main birders, but also the rest of the family, the result being a general rush to the windows. The verbal exclamations that followed proved that Grace's eyes had not failed her and that her original conclusion had been correct. There, in a tree about 100 feet from our house was a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle, enjoying a high protein meal of what turned out to be an opossum, which must have tasted delicious considering that it was warmed by the morning sun and that it had been alive less than 5 minutes ago. For the next 10 minutes the house was filled with gasps and exclamations of, "O my word," "Look at how huge he is," "Isn't he beautiful" and Grace moaning that she couldn't get a good picture of him. We were able to watch the Eagle for about 15 minutes before it flew off, giving us a great view of his enormous wings. Now, for those of you who are not bird fanatics I will give you some information about our national bird. The Bald Eagle has white head and tail feathers while the rest of its body is brown. It is about 31 inches long and has a 6-7½ foot wing-span which is the 2nd largest of all birds. Besides making it large, God also gave it sharp curved talons, (the trademark of raptors) perfect for gripping its prey. After seeing all these wonderful aspects of the Eagle close up, I firmly decided that the raptors are my favorite family of birds. I don't know about you but I think that birds are some of the most intricate, amazing and wonderful creatures in all of God's creation.

~ Josh:)

Crocuses in Tree Root Watercolor Painting By: Faith Ann Sauvé 

Crocuses

Little spears of green
Pierce the lingering snow,
First flowers to be seen
I wonder how they know?

Who tells them Spring is near
That it's safe to venture forth,
Of Snow they have no fear,
Nor of cold winds from the North.

Tender drops of color
Brightening the barren land,
Formed by God's great power
Placed there by His hand.

Vivid purples, each unique,
And petals of pearly white,
Yellows with their sunny cheek
All fresh and pure and bright!

~ Faith

(This is a poem I wrote last year. Thought it kind of went with the painting:-)

Presenting the Hats!!! 

Hilarious Hats!

What do you get when you put a lot of household odds and ends and a group of somewhat humorous people together, and tell them to make a hat? Well, when our family did just that at a friends house, we had an enormously hilarious and fun time, that will not be soon forgotten.
We and two other family's got together recently at the Bezeaus (one of the family's) house, for a good time of fellowship and fun. After stuffing us with pizza so we were to slow to realize what she was going to do to us, Mrs. Bezeau introduced to us "the hat game". She split us into 5 teams of 4 and gave each team a bag. In the bags were an assortment of items, from baskets and buckets to flowers and badminton birdies. Each team was to use the things in their bags to make a hat. Bursts of laughter came from the teams as they formed the hats out of the interesting and sometimes outlandish material. When Mrs. Bezeau finally called "time up," the five teams, each with one of their members wearing their creation, filed into the family room.
Amid giggles, snorts and some less discreet forms of mirth, the hat wearer for each team took a seat and the contest began. Each team in turn stood up and a presentation was given by another team member.
Team 1 had a widow whose husband had just recently died in the war. She wore on her hat different memorabilia of her late spouse along with the black veil of mourning.
Team 2's contestant after being introduced by a teammate, lifted his veil, which he said was for keeping off bugs and gave an entertaining and lively presentation of his hat. (yes, that is right, he was wearing a veil =) ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies about who he is.) Anyway, the "French man" rattled of a heated presentation of the many attributes of his "Tropical hat extraordinaire". Another added attraction for team 2 was that all the other team members also wore small hats, acting as the French mans "assistants."
Team 3 brought on a lot of laughter for a top heavy flower girl who sold flowers from her hat while being accompanied by her pet parrot.
The room erupted as team 4 stepped forward. This specimen was a sailor who lived in the ocean all the time ( or so his presenter said) and enjoyed fishing and swimming, of course. Sunglasses, latex gloves, and a donut for an earring were only some of this fellows outlandish accouterments. While for any other needs he had a handy tool that could be used for eating, fixing his ship, and really anything else.
Probably the least weird of the contestants, team 5's was a fashion model, showing off the newest style in ladies hats. In the words of team 5's presenter. "A must have for stylish mature ladies".
So now it was time for judging. The three areas to vote on were: 1. Best looking or best made hat. 2. best presentation. and 3. least likely to be a hat fashioner. The audience was to applaud for their favorite one, as the contestant stood up. The contestant getting the loudest clapping won. The first category was a very tight race. It took five times to decide for this category, and even then it was a tie between team 1 and team 5 for first place. The presentation category was a thunderous (literally) victory for team 2, team 4 was a distant second. Teams 4 got revenge in the last category, taking a blowout win over team 2 who was a far off second.
So ended an extremely enjoyable game that gave everyone involved a good dosage of the joyful heart medicine.
John Baptiste III

P.S. Beware! Anyone who our family invites over in the near future better watch out. We now have an excellent, fun way to embarrass you.