Day 1 of Family's Trip to Germany

As most of you know, my family came to visit in April! My parents and sister Amy arrived in Dresden on Sunday, April 15th. We figured they would be hungry so we took them to lunch in Dresden and then headed back to Chemnitz. We let my parents into Karen's apartment to put their suitcases and to get settled. There was a men's meeting going on at the Sullivan's so they also got to meet several of the men from church as soon as they arrived. Our goal was to keep them awake until at least 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. so that they could get a good night's sleep and get over jet lag quickly. Once my parents were done at Karen's we went over to our apartment. Even though my parents have seen the apartment before it is very different since we were not married then and Clint didn't get any of his shipped things until the week my parents visited back in 2004. Amy had never been to Chemnitz so it was exciting to show her where we lived. We tried to keep them awake and occupied until 5:00 when we went to a local gym to play volleyball with a group from church. I couldn't convince my Dad to get up from the recliner however, so he stayed and slept for awhile. :( Oh well, I think my Mom and Amy enjoyed watching us play volleyball and meeting people and talking. I think they had fun. We came back and ate dinner and decided that the next day we would go to Seiffen. It wasn't long after that when everyone was ready to go to bed.

My Nieces

It has been way to long since I have put up pictures of my nieces. It has been even longer since I have actually seen them. :( It has been over a year now since I have been able to hug and kiss the sweet girls. Ashlyn turned 2 in March and Claire is 19 months old now. They have grown so much since I last saw them and have learned many new things as well. I hear that Ashlyn is a little bundle of energy and she is never sitting still. Claire is picking up new words so quickly and at the moment she loves to say "uh oh". Lana told me that she dropped something in the car one day and she continued to say uh oh the rest of the way home. :) I just thought I would share some of the newest pictures I have of them. Aren't they sweet?! When Mom was here she bought Claire the backpack and necklace and apparently she loves carrying it around the house even though she doesn't know how to open it yet. Back in February Jonathan and Lana got to take a trip to Houston to visit Doug and Amy so the girls got to play together a lot and I heard they had fun, but were also wanting all the toys to themselves and didn't want to share with each other. I guess it is about time for that phase. If you can see Ashlyn's car, it says Princess on it and I think that helps define her pretty well. Look at her with her purse, baby and car. She is such a cutie. Claire loves to get inside the baby bed that is at Mom's house. She is still small enough to get in it. For Ashlyn's birthday she got a play kitchen and her grandma made her a little apron so that she could play "kitchen." I love you Ashlyn and Claire and I will get to see you soon... in August!

The Joys of Marriage :)

It all sounds too familiar...

Spring Is Here!

Spring is definitely here in Chemnitz! We have really been enjoying the sun and beautiful weather. I especially love this time of year because of the blooming trees and flowers. It is so amazing here in Germany.

Around Easter time it is a big holiday time in Germany. Karfreitag/Good Friday is a national holiday and no one has to work or go to school. We were able to relax and enjoy the day.

We started out Friday by going to Jacqueline's house. I have been reading in English with her for almost a year now. She and her husband invited Clint and I over for breakfast. We had a really good time eating all the wonderful food and talking with them. After breakfast Jacqueline and I read in the Let's Start Talking Luke book.

Later in the day we went on a walk with the Sullivans and enjoyed coffee time together. The picture is the Sullivans in front of a beautiful blooming tree right next to their house. Even Snickers was smiling! :)

On Sunday we were invited over to the Sullivan's for lunch and it was nice to share a meal on a holiday with our coworkers. We always enjoy the time we have with them. After a short nap (it's a must on Sundays, right?) we met with the Sullivans again along with Stefan and Martin, a friend who came to visit us. We went on a walk (which is a Sunday afternoon tradition with the Sullivans) and had coffee. (Do you see a trend here?) After coffee we headed over to Jacqueline's house again. She and her husband had invited us over for dinner. We made Russian food with them and their friends and played games as well. We had a lot of fun and got a lot of German practice. :)

Ostermontag/Literally translated- Easter Monday is also a national holiday so once again we had a nice relaxing day. We went to work out at the gym with Stefan in the morning and then we went to Stefan's house for lunch. In the evening we grilled with the Sullivans and Cantrells for the first time of the season! It was so yummy, but the weather was actually chilly that day, maybe a little too chilly for grilling outside. But, it tasted good and we had a good time!

So that was our Easter weekend! I hope you all had a great time as well!

Birthdays, Engagements and Baptisms, Oh My!

The past couple of weeks have been busy but wonderful! A lot of great things have happened and I would like to share them with you all.

First of all our friend Janine turned 20! We went to her house for coffee, cake and dinner. We had a great time with her. It always amazes me the time that goes by so quickly. Right now Janine is finishing up school and will be taking her final exams soon. She wants to study at the University in Leipzig and I'm finding it hard to grasp that she will not always be in Chemnitz! I will miss her so much! Happy Belated Birthday Janine!

Then we had a visit from our friend Lydia and her boyfriend Brandon. It was the first time we met Brandon and we had a great time getting to know him. Although it was too short, it was great getting to see her again. Just a few days after they came to Chemnitz, Brandon proposed and they are now engaged! Congratulations Lydia and Brandon! We wish you God's blessings for your life together!

Then last Thursday our friend Stefan was baptized into Christ! He and Clint have been studying together for awhile, but he has been friends with and studied with several people from church for a long time and we are all so thrilled that he has made this decision to become a Christian! Welcome to God's family, Stefan!

Switzerland Trip

In March Clint and I were able to go to Switzerland with Larry and Pam. We were there for a little over a week. We left after church on Sunday and drove all the way there.

The first part of the week was a seminar up in a little village called Eriz in the Swiss Alps. It was so beautiful up there. The seminar was led by a man named Evertt W. Huffard from the Harding University Graduate School of Religion. He spoke about leadership and it was a lot of information in just a few days, but it was a lot of good information. We talked about leadership in the church and what we can do to be good leaders.

At the end of the week we went to Lucerne where Larry was asked to speak at a gospel meeting. We were able to stay with a family there that works with the church and we had a great time getting to know Mathias and his family.

The meetings were in the evening so we were able to go out during the day and see a little bit of the city and do some shopping. Thankfully the weather was really beautiful and sunny that week.

On Monday we left Lucerne on our way back to Chemnitz and we made a stop in Basel where Pam and Larry lived for 2 years the first time they came to Europe about 20 years ago. They reminisced as they showed us around the city for a short time. It seems like a really nice city and hopefully we can spend some more time there at some point.

The first picture is Clint and I enjoying a walk in the mountains in Eriz. The second picture is all of us on a walk. The third picture is us enjoying a snack before bed at Mathias' house. The fourth picture is a famous bridge in Lucerne. The last picture is the City Hall building in Basel.

Valentine's Dinner For the Elderly

On Valentine's Day we had planned a Seniorenessen/ or a dinner for the elderly members at church. We did this once before with the young adult's group and everyone had such a great time that we had to do it again!

Since we usually try to do group activities every month which usually involves a Bible study, we had all the girls meet together before all the festivities took place. Janine and Vanessa took part in a class called ETM. I forgot what that actually stands for, but basically it is a course that takes place every Spring and Fall where Christians can look for their talents and abilities and learn how they can use that in the Church. As part of this course everyone has to prepare a presentation talking about a specific topic that involves our Christian lives. Janine volunteered to do her presentation for the girls and she did a great job!

After Janine's presentation we got into our delegated groups and prepared for the evening. There was a group who worked on decorations and of course they focused on the Valentine's theme and used red, pink and hearts as a main theme. It looked really great!

Then of course there was a lot of preparation for food. Many people helped out in this area as well, but honestly Clint did most of it and it all looked and tasted really great!

The appetizer was Belgian Tomato Soup. The main course was a type of salad with salmon and rice. Then the dessert was Tiramasu!

After the appetizer and main course we put on a little talent show and I think almost everyone was involved in that in some way. As a group we sang a couple of songs and others showed other talents as far as playing instruments, doing card tricks and even juggling! I think it was a lot of fun for everyone.

We think that everyone who came and everyone who helped organize it had a great time and hopefully we can do it again next year!

"Mathematically, this shouldn't have happened"

Does anyone else have problems knowing what to say or how to start every single post? I guess I'm just not that creative so I struggle with it every time. Oh well, I am just trying to make my family at least happy to let them know what is going on with me. Hopefully there are some more of you out there that enjoy reading this. Well, right now I am sick. Yeah... yesterday I woke up with my throat on fire and I knew that the past two weeks of trying not to get sick had caught up with me. I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and now I'm at home laying/lying?? on the couch because I don't have the energy to do anything else. Anyway, since I am now out of commission because of being sick and I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would update with some things that went on in February.

First of all I have to tell you about Saturday, February 10th. We had the monthly fellowship singing in Chemnitz. Many of the members of the Church in Saxony all get together and sing together one Saturday every month. It is always nice to get caught up with people and enjoy praising God all together.

That day was my friend Vanessa's birthday so several of us were going straight to her house afterwards for her birthday party. We had decided we could all fit into two cars so Pam drove and Clint drove. As we were leaving I jumped into Pam's car to ride with the girls while Alex rode with Clint. We made it to Vanessa's house and as we were looking for a parking spot on the road across from her house Pam turned on her signal to turn around and park on the other side of the road. Apparently from behind came two guys on a motorcycle who wanted to pass us all because we had stopped. Pam started to turn and stopped just as the motorcycle tried to pass us, but instead slammed into the left fender and fell off of their bike. Thankfully they had helmets on and were not injured at all, but as soon as Pam tried to move the car out of the road we discovered that the tire was flat. The thing that makes it better is that it was cold and rainy that night and Courtney and Pam had both been sick. Anyway, to make a long story short Clint changed the tire and everything was alright. The guy on the motorcycle admitted that he saw her turn signal and that it was his fault.

Thankfully we were able to go inside, get warm and enjoy the party with Vanessa. By the way, I must say I am proud that Clint really stepped up to take care of the situation with changing the tire and making sure everything was OK. :) Anyway, we got Vanessa the blanket/poncho that she is wearing in the photo above and this feet warmer thing from IKEA because she is always cold. :) I think she likes it and will get a lot of good use out of it. The party was fun and we enjoyed looking at baby pictures and videos of Vanessa.

On the way home Clint was leading and suddenly we noticed that Pam had stopped so we pulled over and asked what was wrong. It was unbelievable... the other tire was flat!! It wasn't even on the same side and was nowhere near where the accident occurred. This is when Alex, in his typical mathematic way said, "mathematically, this shouldn't have happened." We got a pretty good laugh out of that one. Basically, the chances of that happening all on one night were so low, but it did happen to us! So, Clint stepped up once again and thankfully our spare tire from our car actually fit her car, otherwise we would have been in trouble. Clint got it changed and on the way home we stopped to put air in the tires at a gas station. We finally arrived home around midnight!

Of course from this situation we realized that God had taken care of us through all of it. I mean, mathematically speaking once again, what are the chances that we would have two cars with two spare tires that work on one car and still be able to get home safely without God's help. After the second tire went flat we stopped and prayed together and I guess we should have prayed before that, but I guess God let us know He was there!

Countries I've Visited in Europe

create your personalized map of europe
or check out our Barcelona travel guide

Ok, so I found one for Europe and I was pretty amazed to see that I have seen quite a bit of Europe. I love traveling so much and I hope to continue to do more!

States I Have Visited

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide


I found this website where you can click on all the States you have been to and it creates a map for you. It was interesting. I had a hard time remembering all the places I have been to on Chorale tour. I think I might have missed a couple that we drove through, but does it really count if you only drove through that State and didn't really stop there or stay there for a period of time? I would really like to do this for Europe. I think that would be fun.

Out With The Old And In With The New

Last week, the building across the street was torn down. This is not unusual for Chemnitz or even for all of Saxony perhaps. There are many abandoned buildings like this one which have set empty for years. Many of them are empty apartment buildings. After the wall fell the population in Chemnitz dropped about 100,000 due to people moving away to other areas of Germany for jobs and better opportunities.

To me, it's kind of sad that so many of these old buildings are being torn down, but at the same time it provides a new beginning to the city. Now where there have been old, empty, falling down buildings there will be open space for grass to grow, or even new buildings that are used and lived in. The old buildings sometimes make the atmosphere of the city dark and depressing. I hope this change will make Chemnitz a brighter, more hopeful city!

Sad News

We found out tonight that a man who worked at the Turkish Imbiss around the corner from our house was found murdered yesterday. We noticed today that the Imbiss was closed and thought that was strange since it was in the middle of the day. He had been working at another Imbiss across town and that is where he was found stabbed to death. He was only 28 years old and Clint and I thought he was such a nice guy. He was always smiling and friendly to us when we went there. To read the article in the Freie Presse online in German click here. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Interesting facts

I got this idea from Courtney.

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birthday (excluding the year). List five interesting facts, four births and three deaths in your journal, including the year. (I changed it a little bit from what Courtney did.)

April 19

Interesting Facts:
1775 - American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Lexington and Concord – British General Thomas Gage attempts to confiscate American colonists' firearms. Captain John Parker orders his band of minutemen to not fire unless fired upon. Random shots rang out among the British soldiers. The minutemen promptly fired back. This was the "shot heard round the world." The British are driven back to Boston, Massachusetts, thus beginning the American Revolutionary War.

1943 - World War II: In Poland, German troops enter the Warsaw ghetto to round up the remaining Jews, beginning the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1993 - The 51-day siege of the Branch Davidian building outside Waco, Texas, USA, ends when a fire breaks out. Eighty-one people die. *This happened on my 13th birthday*

1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, is bombed, killing 168. *I remember this day too well.*

1999 - The German Bundestag returns to Berlin.

Births:
1721 - Roger Sherman, signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (d. 1793)

1922 - Erich Hartmann, German pilot (d. 1993)

1949 - Paloma Picasso, French/Spanish jewelry designer, fashion designer and businesswoman; daughter of artist Pablo Picasso

1979 - Kate Hudson, American actress

Death:
1882 - Charles Darwin, English biologist (b. 1809)

1906 - Pierre Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)

1967 - Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)

New Year and January

On New Year's Eve we had the annual party at the church building. We had lots of good food, games and of course fireworks. That of course is Clint's favorite part about New Year's Eve in Germany. The next day Larry, Clint, Kris and Snickers played with more fireworks.

We hosted a Game Party at the church building also in January. We invited all of the people who have ever been involved with the Let's Start Talking program and had an English evening full of fun and games. We played Pictionary as a big group and then some other board games in smaller groups.

In January we also finally had some winter weather. The snow didn't stay very long, but it sure was beautiful while it lasted. :)

Festivities

There are many Christmas traditions that we have learned since living in Chemnitz. They are all so wonderful and so I want to share them with you all. We have been able to share all of these traditions with the missionaries here. So it was the Sullivans, Cantrells, Karen and us! This year even Courtney's parents, the Wegers, were able to join in on the fun. On Christmas Eve there is always a drive through the mountain villages to look at the pretty lights and of course sing Christmas carols! This year was interesting since it was really foggy and it was hard to actually see all the lights and decorations. We still had fun despite the foggy weather.

After the drive through the mountains it is also the tradition to have a meal of cheese fondue! I honestly had never had fondue before coming to Chemnitz and I must say that I was really missing out because it is so yummy! After fondue we had a gift exchange.

On Christmas morning Clint and I opened all of our presents together. I think it is fun to start new traditions for our own family and I have enjoyed spending Christmas morning with Clint very much!

For Christmas Dinner we joined the Sullivans and Karen. I made sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and Clint made cole slaw. Pam made turkey and ham and a couple of other side items and it was all quite delicious!

One of the fun things we did after Christmas was go on a walk in the forest near Wasserschloss in Chemnitz.

Catching up On December's Activities

Seeing as though it is the middle of February and I never finished updating about December, I thought I would try to do a short overview (#1) of some of the activities that happened in December. One of the fun things that we did in December was go to Dresden. We were invited by the Carrolls to go to the Christmas Market in the afternoon and then to come to their house for coffee and to sing some Christmas carols. We had a nice relaxing afternoon with the Dresdeners. The pictures that I posted were one of Clint playing with Olivia and Chris and the other is of the Martins, Clint and Ed in the Dresden Medieval Market.

The next picture is of the Christmas Market in Annaberg. This is a town on the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) and it was a mining town. They have a traditional Miner's Parade every year at Christmas time. It was a fun day getting to see another village nearby and seeing a bit of history.

The last two pictures are from a movie night that we hosted at our apartment. The "young adult's" group came over and we enjoyed a fun night of watching a Christmas movie (Home Alone).

Article About Bulgaria

It was recently brought to our attention that there is a short article about us in the Christian Chronicle. Click on the link to read it.

Fun with German

At the Christmas coffee time at the church this funny poem was read. It is a mixture of German and English. I thought some people might get a kick out of it. Those of you who know some German will really enjoy it.

Merry Christmas!

Ein englisches Weihnachtsgedicht

Welche Sprache sprechen die Engel? Englisch natürlich, ist doch klar! Und das ist gar nicht so schwer zu verstehen...

When the snow falls wunderbar,
and the children happy are,
when the Glatteis on the street,
and we all a Glühwein need,
then you know, es ist soweit:
she is here, the Weihnachtszeit.

Every Parkhaus ist besetzt,
Weil die people fahren jetzt
all to Kaufhof, Mediamarkt,
kriegen nearly Herzinfarkt.
shopping hirnverbrannte things,
and the Christmasglocke rings.

Merry Christmas, merry Christ-
mas, hear the music,
see the lights, frohe Weihnacht,
frohe Weihnacht,
merry Christmas allerseits...

Mother in the kitchen bakes
Schoko-, Nuss- and Mandelkeks,
Daddy in the Nebenraum
schmücks a Riesen-
Weihnachtsbaum,
he is hanging auf the balls,
then he from the Leiter falls...

Finally the Kinderlein
to the Zimmer kommen rein,
and es sings the family
schauerlich: "Oh, Christmastree!"
And the jeder in the house
is packing die Geschenke aus.

Merry Christmas, merry Christ-
mas, hear the music,
see the lights, frohe Weihnacht,
frohe Weihnacht,
merry Christmas allerseits...

Mama finds unter the Tanne
eine brandnew Teflon-Pfanne,
Papa gets a Schlips and Socken,
everybody does frohlocken.
President speaks in TV,
all around is Harmonie,

Bis mother in the kitchen runs:
Im Ofen burns the Weihnachts-
gans. And so comes die
Feuerwehr with tatü, tata daher,
and they bring a long, long
Schlauch and a long, long
Leiter auch. And they schrei:
"Wasser marsch!"

Christmasbaum is now im...

Merry Christmas, merry Christ-
mas, hear the music,
see the lights, frohe Weihnacht,
frohe Weihnacht,
merry Christmas allerseits...

Weihnachts Kaffeetrinken

Coffee time- a pyramid
Originally uploaded by Clint & April.

Every year in December we have a Christmas coffee time at the church. I know I have written about how coffee is a big thing here in Germany. It's also part of the Christmas tradition of the church here. It's a nice time that we all come together with pretty Christmas decorations and yummy cake and cookies and drink coffee and enjoy the fellowship together.

Another part of the tradition is to sing Christmas songs and other songs out of the church songbook. Also there are a few people who will read poems or read funny stories.

This year the small group that I sing with sang two Christmas songs as well. We have been meeting together on a more regular basis (every Monday night) and practicing for our upcoming Lieder Abend (song evening) on March 4th.

Twister Fun

Twister
Originally uploaded by Clint & April.

One Saturday in December Allison and Grady Maass invited us over to their apartment for a fun evening of games and fellowship. Earlier that afternoon was the Saxony fellowship singing at the church building in Dresden.

After the singing was over Ed, Courtney, Clint and I headed over to Allison and Grady's apartment. We decided to order Indian food and split among all of us and it sure was tasty. Not only did we have Indian food but Allison had prepared all kinds of tasty Christmas cookies and treats.

After stuffing ourselves us girls decided to play Twister. This is one of those games that I really haven't played since I was young, but Allison really enjoys playing it. In fact the only other time I remember playing it in the recent past was at Allison's birthday year before last at my old apartment. We had a good time then and Allison asked me specifically if I could bring it again.

Even though Allison is pregnant and she said it was getting more and more ridiculous to try to get her body to move in those ways, I think she had a good time... we all did. Here is the most appropriate picture I could find of us playing.

The guys played poker while we were playing Twister. I'm sure they just enjoyed laughing at us rather than playing along. :)

The evening was a lot of fun and we ended up all playing a little poker just for fun and drinking some yummy egg nog that Allison had made.

Thanks Allison and Grady for having us over!!