We climbed to the top!

Clint and I climbed to the top of the Siegessaeule (Victory Column)... 285 steps!

Boy were we tired after we climbed all the way up, but the view was worth it!

Siegessaeule (Victory Column)

Siegessaeule (Victory Column)

Here are some interesting facts that I found out on Wikipedia. A Victory column is a monument in the form of a column, erected in memory of a victorious war or battle. The column stands on a base and is crowned with a victory symbol in the form of a statue. The statue may represent the goddess Victoria (or in Germany, the goddess Germania), an eagle, or a war hero. There is a lot more information on this specific Victory Column here.

In our hotel room after the Eric Clapton concert

After the Eric Clapton concert

I really wanted to take our camera to the concert but Clint had experienced that at some concerts cameras are not allowed and he was afraid that if we took our digital camera and they didn't allow it, they would take it. So we decided not to take it. However, as soon as we got there, everyone had their digital cameras and video cameras out taking pictures of everything and we regretted not having ours. Oh well, the memories will always be in our minds! The concert was awesome! I can't describe it in words, but he still has it, that's for sure.

Denkmal fuer die ermorderten Juden Europas

Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe

Clint and I were able to go see the new memorial in Berlin that was just opened last year. It was very sobering to see all the information about some of the families and people who were killed during this unfortunate point in time.

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin- at the Brandeburg Gate at the beginning of The World Cup

Since this was during the time of The World Cup, Berlin was crazy during this time. There were so many people there and some kind of festival was going on... probably celebrating the beginning of the games. I have to say that you have not really experienced The World Cup if you haven't experiences it in Germany. I actually watched the games. I didn't see all of them, but I was rooting for Germany all the way until the end. I was sad that they lost, but I was glad that Italy won rather than France.

Our trip to Berlin--- and Eric Clapton!!

For Clint's birthday, I bought him tickets to see Eric Clapton in concert! Starting back in November or December they were advertising for this concert and Clint saw an ad. He didn't stop talking about it for weeks. However, I guess he looked into it only to find that it was sold out in Leipzig. I checked into it further in December and found that they had tickets in Berlin still available... so knowing that this would be the most amazing birthday present for Clint... I bought them! Not only that, but I kept it a secret for 7 months!!! He had absolutely no idea and he was ecstatic to get them.

Update Part II

Here are Karen, Natasha and Nichol making smores at one of the LST parties. Natasha and Nichol are the girls from Cascade that came to do the LST Program.









Clint and I had visitors at the end of May. We had two girls from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. The Harding Chorus was doing a European tour and came and did a concert in Chemnitz. It was fun for me to hear such a great choir singing beautiful music... sometimes I miss singing so much!






The weekend after Clint's birthday we had a game night/birthday party. We played lots of fun games and of course had a lot of junk food. :)












I made Clint a pineapple praline cake for his birthday! And no, I didn't put 29 candles on the cake. I actually shaped the candles into 29. :) I got the recipe from my Mom and last year it was a big hit with him since he loves pineapple.

Update Time

Ok, I guess it's time to do some serious updating. The last two months have been chaoticly busy (if that's a word). They were busy, but they were also really good. I will try to do an overall update with pictures and hopefully it won't be too long.

So here goes May:

One of my fellow HIM workers, Allison Hrezcuch got married! Allison and Grady got married on May 11th at a castle in Dresden, Germany. What a beautiful place to have a wedding! Grady is American and he works for a company in Dresden and has a contract to work there until December so I'm very happy that they will be in Dresden at least through December. Congratulations Allison and Grady!!


Here is a picture of Clint and I at Allison and Grady's wedding. There were beautiful lilacs that smelled so good in the background! I just love Germany!





One day several of us went to visit our dear friend and sister Gisela at a physical therapy/rehabilitation center. She has had several surgeries on her hip and I think she is finally feeling much better after her last surgery. Unfortunately she had some problems with her eye and had to have surgery on that so she could still use your prayers!



We had a Let's Start Talking (LST) Team come from Cascade College for 6 weeks to read with people who are interested in learning/approving their English. Spencer is the guy in the black and he is one of the members of the team. Every week they hosted an LST party and planned games and activities all in English and invited anyone who was interested.


The rest of my update is to be continued...