Last Stop in Charleston:The Battery

Everyone got to see what we have only heard about in the past: dolphins jumping by in the water below. What a treat!

Glimpses of Charleston

Charleston's trees and plants are lovely. While they were in town they visited Pamela's oldest niece, walked through the market and along the charming streets lined with stately homes.

Glimpses away from Greenville

Dalene and Danae had the special treat of spending a few days with their Uncle Kent, Aunt Pamela, Andrew and Rachell down in the Charleston, SC, area. They enjoyed the beautiful ocean with the exception of one "electric" moment when a jelly fish got too close to Dalene! It was a very painful experience, but didn't diminish the wonderful time they had there. Walking around at various times of day, they saw a large variety of wild life on the land, in the water, and in the sky! Dalene and Rachell enjoying a cuddle. One very special message on the sand reached me when they got home again!

Shared Pictures

Sunday evening Rebecca very kindly sent me pictures that she had taken while at our house that afternoon. Here she is holding Danielle. (Before that she had already helped make the salad.) Her "Babylein" is due the middle of August! The children sat in the living room to eat this time. It rained all night and most of the morning, so we moved our seating plans from outside into the living room. What a special blessing when the Lord cleared the skies in the early afternoon, and after a little time of hot sun, the children were able to play outside the last couple of hours. Last Thursday afternoon (the same day our campers left) Mommy arrived to spend about two weeks with us. What a selfless worker, in spite of her re-occurring pain. It is a real treat to have her here with us for these days. Malte and Anne-Dominique (far left and back) drove up from Heidelberg so Malte could minister the Word on Sunday and Wednesday. I invited Kay, Susan and family over for dinner with them, as well as Rebecca and Andrea. We had a very nice time of fellowship. Susan, front left, was spared in a car accident on Saturday evening, in which she hit a tree head-on. (Another young driver took her right-of-way.) How we thank the Lord for His gracious protection over her, and their youngest son, Jacob. Both were spared any injuries.

Dschungelfieber 2007 Begins

The camera is gone to camp, so this will be text only. :) We have been swamped with preparations, but departure time arrived today, and the vehicles are rolling. The van with 3 ladies, 3 babies and Donia and Lavonne arrived safely in Altenburg (two hours south of here) for their 1c-plus-10€-for-taxes-flight to Spain. They left at 5 a.m. this morning. The VW van and two cars left from Niedern just a half hour ago for the 6 1/2 hour trip to Tübingen. There they will meet up with most of the other campers and workers and continue the trip in a tourist bus and several VW buses. That leg of the journey starts at 6 p.m. and goes through the night, lasting about 16 hours. We are having Jungle Camp here at home and the door signs are already up. We printed the place cards up which we will use at lunch. Kevin made attractive place cards and included team colors this year! We are only having two teams here at our Niedern Jungle Camp: The Alligators are blue (Dustin, Edwin, Danika and Donovan), and the Tigers (Lynette and Doreen) are green.

Overnight with Saturday Morning Excitement

Maria, a rising college Senior, who is here helping the Matthias with camp preparations, and will also be helping Carol in the kitchen at camp, invited the three teen girls for an overnight. (Some of you might recognize Amber's kitchen from other pictures! :) Maria is staying there.) This morning they were all surprised to see fire trucks pulling up to the school right next door to their apartment building. Donia took pictures from the 5th floor apartment (Yes, Amber has quite a hike to take every day!) as the firemen went through what turned out to be a fire drill!

Choir and Cannon

You probably figured it out, but the celebration was set up in the huge barn that had been mostly cleared for the occasion. Devon helped get some chairs for extra seating. Dr. B. addressed the guests as well. Some of you may remember that we met him when we took our dog, Ria, for her first set of shots. Bradley left some evangelistic literature there, which was picked at some weeks later by Kay. Several months later, after reading the Bible and accompanying booklet, Kay accepted the Lord. He called Brad and came for a visit in which he told of his decision for Christ, and desire to attend the church. He has been faithful ever since. The local choir sang a special number of "Volksmusik". The cannon was also shot three times in his honor. Derek was standing next to it for one of the shots, and said he couldn't hear out of his right ear for about 3 minutes after that.

Dr. B. turns 70

While we were shopping today we came across these "people" in an exhibition on Germany's social system in the past 100 years. Derek is wearing his new glasses in this picture. We are so thankful for them. He is finally able to see things beyond just a book right in front of him. When he put them on, he felt like he had telescopes on.:) He could see and read clearly down the length of the inside of the mall. It reminded me of the man who no longer saw "men as trees". Kay's daddy turned 70 today. As the mayor of two villages, the local vet of many years, and part of a long family line in the village of 300 residents his birthday was celebrated in a big way. During the day family members spent time together. This afternoon he was also visited by the elementary school kids with a program. Dr. B. lives right there at the farm the boys work at, so they see him most every day that they work there. He likes to refer to them as the "farm hygienists" :) Both Derek and Devon attended his party this evening. Derek climbed up into the loft to take some of these pictures. The lighting down below was more difficult to work with.

The Animals for the Table Decorations Arrived Today

Since the theme of the camp this summer is jungle, we found some nice hard-rubber animals to use as center pieces. There will actually only be three animals per plant, since we will have 11 center pieces at camp. The kids had tons of fun helping to unpack them all and set them up for some "show and tell" pictures. :) The baby monkies are especially cute. Dustin, Donovan and Danika just loved playing with them this afternoon. Tomorrow we will pack them away for transport to Spain.

Spotlight on Danika Ruth :)

Danika is our resident monkey. She is enjoying the fact that our trees are getting strong enough to support her. :) This is the maple in front of our kitchen door. Bradley and the kids gave it to me for Mother's Day five years ago. Danika also took lots of pictures of her German Bible today. I liked this one especially well, because she found another little Bible story book with the same story of the wise and foolish man to set beside it. She is coming along well with her letter recognition, and should really take off with reading when school resumes the end of August.

More Cherries!

We were given two huge bowls of sour cherries today by Werner, the widower in our church. Donia spent over two hours pitting, and then switched to making five pies while I finished the rest. We also were able to make a German cherry streusel cake, freeze enough for five more pies and make a batch of freezer jam. Last year someone sent us several packages to help us make freezer jam. I have enjoyed using them for raspberries and now cherries.

Finished Project

The last mascots were "framed" with their team colors today. Lorraine was letting Danielle get acquainted with the newly acquired tiger.

Saturday in Niedern

Our table seems so empty these days. We have set too many places on several occasions. :) Danielle, Dustin and Donovan were enjoying a quiet time listening to a tape. Danika loves to take Danielle for a ride around the yard in the wheelbarrow. Derek filled up our sandbox today. Our new neighbor had some left over after building his home and had kindly offered it to us.

Greenville Glimpses: The CDC's Patriotic Parade

Thursday the CDC had a big event: The Patriotic Parade around campus. These four cuties are Dalene's class. The kiddies waved flags and balloons. Danae with one of her cute little charges. The parade heads towards the administration building.

Greenville Glimpses: July 4th Celebration

After grilling together on July 4th, some of the family went downtown to hear the concert and then watch the fireworks. Kirk, Alex and 3 of their kiddies