Today our Daddy left for the Perspektiven camp. It is was raining steadily, as it had been the last two days. We worked around the house. And when the work was done, the kids enjoyed playing, for example building a long tunnel for their matchbox cars with our milk cartons. I caught the snap shot of Derek and Devon through the window from outside. Derek's room is in the basement, next to the outside steps.
Danika pulled out her princess dress from her Uncle Kirk and Tante Alex and kids and enjoyed it all day. Donia fixed her hair special (like our recent bride, Tante Natascha)! Even princesses experience normal things, though, and today Danika was happy to show off her upper tooth that she could twist around! It wasn't long after the picture that she had twisted it out completely. :) Danielle loves books, and she seems to be looking for an empty lap as she moves about, many times dragging a book almost as big as she is (the I SPY books for instance). Here she was successful in getting Derek to read with her for a little while.
All of the kids have had turns going to Miss Amber's house this month already. Lynette and Doreen, along with Donia, even enjoyed an overnight last week-end. We are so thankful for all of Amber's help. What a special blessing she is to our family!
Today on her birthday Donia and Bradley left to enjoy a special lunch date at "El Gauchos", an Argentinian restaurant in Magdeburg! Donia was born in Tübingen, four months before we moved up here, into the former East.
Dustin was born three days before Donia turned 6, so we have been celebrating their birthdays together for the last 8 years. :) They decided to request sloppy joes for supper, with a special cake mix from Grandma Matthia (including the frosting and funfetti). Doreen, Dustin and Danika had fun decorating the cake. Between supper and dessert we enjoy the gift opening. Eddie is sitting next to Dustin. It was a nice evening of fellowship with family and friends.
our third son, Dustin Rhodes, was born. We thank the Lord for his precious life. Yesterday we got to celebrate that special occasion. For lunch he went on a date with his Daddy to............McDonalds! He still thinks that MäcD's is his favorite special place to eat! :) The playground is a nice plus!
This past Sunday Evan and Micah sat sweetly on the little children's chairs at church while Doreen was having fun taking their picture.
In typical German fashion the couple stole away for some pictures down at the river in Magdeburg, but they were fast, and got out to the farm within an hour to start off the coffee and cake time! Here five of our teens (three of Matthia's, two of ours) are having die "Qual der Wahl!" (the pain of choosing! :))
After awhile the couple took pictures in various combinations with friends and family. A German "Abendbrot" (breads with cheese and meat platters) and salads, along with several hot dishes were set out around 7 p.m., and then a varied program of special music, games and poetry was presented.
Danika loved being near Natasha. This picture was squeezed in between some family shots. :)
All of the dishes (for 120 people)were done by hand. Here some of our girls and Carol were helping out for coffee and cake time.
All of the children did well considering the fact that they all missed any kind of naps. By late evening they were getting cold and tired. :)
The final contribution was a fire-works display out on the road behind the farm. Natasha used the beautiful red blanket they had just been given inside during one of the games to keep warm while we all watched. It was a very special way to end the evening. Though various people had left earlier, the bulk left at this point.
Doreen and Lynette during our pre-service wait. One shot to show the full church. There were unsaved family members in the service and throughout the afternoon and evening.
After everyone was gone we worked on some of the clean-up. Here Dustin was helping to take down the beautiful flowers the florist had pinned to the end of every other row of chairs.
My better half on his way out the door. Definitely my favorite picture of the day. :)
One of my extra projects this week included making a wall hanging of their wedding verse. I was so thankful to the Lord for a steady hand and no glitches. In the picture it is already on the wall at church.
At the wedding rehearsal on Friday evening Bradley went through the ceremony with everyone while I practiced taking pictures. :) Donia helped me practice shots of coming down the aisle. :)
The wedding started right at 2 p.m. and went a little bit over an hour. Her little nieces were darling flower girls. Natasha's pastor did the ceremony, but Bradley and Kevin each had a part. The receiving line was outside in front of the church.
The boys and men spent quite a bit of time moving chairs, tables, helping hang a huge tapestry from the local theater of the groom's family, cleaning the barn and the courtyard. Sebastian and Natasha were having the celebration of their marriage there on Saturday.
Earlier in the week the kids enjoyed the sandbox with Miss Amber. On Friday they got to go along, when I went to drop off kitchen things and had an opportunity to take a few pictures. The three little girls are Danika, Brigitte (niece of the bride) and Helen Brüggemann, whose family farm was the center of much of the preparation. Donovan is standing in front of a barn door which was covered by a festive tent. He also visited their rabbit.
In typical German fashion, but just a week later than the rest of this year's school children, we had a party for Danika today. Bradley had requested to be home to help us celebrate, so we waited until today.
German school beginners are given a cone filled with goodies---sweet goodies to make this new adventure more tolerable, and then items to use during school. For example, she received nice pencils and pens, some paper, and a number of other things for which she is thankful.
She is off to a good start already, and greatly enjoyed today's special occasion!
Last night we hung up our sign in front of the house. Then at shortly after 6 a.m. we left for the two hour trip to pick up Bradley. He had left the camp ground at 4 a.m. to get to the airport in Girona, Spain, and then fly the two hours up to us. It was a very happy reunion. It is a joy to be together again.
We had lots of fun making a "Welcome Home" sign for Bradley last night. We were so busy creating that we didn't get the camera out until it was Danielle's turn. She couldn't imagine what we were painting her hand for, but she was a good sport and let us print her hand prints, too. After that we kept the camera handy :)
Doreen captured this beautiful moment out our kitchen door yesterday evening.
Psalm 113:3
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised.
Donovan, Danika and I were running errands on Thursday. They recognized where we were and asked to climb up to the top of the Middle Land Canal to see the barges. There were none on the water that day, but we got a good work out, well I did, anyway. They ran up and down again with little effort. :)
