My brother Kirk and his family arrived in Niedern late Tuesday afternoon. They had spent some time with friends and family in southern Germany. Now we get to enjoy their company for a few days.
Donia and Danielle enjoyed singing during family devotions.
Miss Amber and Danika having a great time "flying" on the trampoline.
The good amounts of rain have kept things green and in beautiful bloom. Here the plants growing up around our deck.
Monday was a project day for awhile. Doreen is cleaning the basement steps,Devon mowed the yard, Dustin was sweeping up old leaves, as well, and Derek, Donovan and Bradley changed the tires on our little car.
The girls still had off on Monday to take care of errands to get Danae set up for life in Greenville--a summer ID card (no picture until school starts), a bank account, a trip to the book store to pick out a graduation gift from us (a small Bible), getting to know the post office, and in the afternoon a double physical (one for working at the CDC and one for entering BJ). Danae was thankful that Dalene was able to "show her the ropes"! They experienced much of this sprinkled with a good amount of humor. Finally, that evening Danae started her driver's ed course which goes over the next three weeks. They sure packed a lot of things into their first week in the USA!
Dalene and Danae went up to Virginia to attend the high school graduation of their cousin, Geoffrey Todd. Geoffrey loves animals and here you see them holding two roosters he took to sell at the flea market.
Geoffrey with Dalene and Danae after the graduation ceremony.
Both sets of grandparents attended, as well as my brother Kent, his wife Pamela with Andrew and Rachell.
Rachell is doing quite well. She has gained some weight recently, and we praise the Lord for all His grace in her precious life. It has been just over a year since the hemangiomas were discovered and she began getting the treatments. She is 15 1/2 months old.
On Tuesday, May 29th Dalene and Danae flew from Berlin to Greenville, SC, with a stop-over in Newark. (Here Dalene and Doreen saying good-bye.)
The Lord gave them a safe trip and good "girl"ship over the 4,500 miles. They got in around supper time, and were picked up by their McKenzie grandparents. They settled into their dorm room, and slept a good night. The next morning they were at work by 7:30 a.m. for their 10-hour shifts (minus lunch) at the Child Development Centre. Both girls enjoy their work there very much.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the great variety of rides.
The park also offers several animal shows. The dolphins were waving at us, and the seals had an amazing ability to balance!
We had decided to take this last opportunity for a family outing at Heide Park, an amusement park a little south of Hamburg, and not quite two hours away from here. We have driven that Autobahn on numerous occasions, but never has it been so empty! In Germany most trucks are prohibited from driving on Sundays and holidays.
The first picture shows Danika, Donovan, Dustin and Danielle waiting for Daddy to get the tickets. Our first ride was an old merry-go-round. The middle girl is Cassandra F.. We enjoyed the day at the park with Stephen K. and the Fueller family, as well as our teacher, Amber, Danae's boyfriend, Manuel, and three of the Matthia teens. Most of my pictures are of the younger group. The older kids headed off for the "Big Rides", and our planned group picture at our lunch meeting was rained out. We got pretty wet as it rained for several hours in the afternoon, but the lines were short and everyone had great time. ;)
Today was the last Sunday in church for Danae and Dalene before they fly. As a farewell party we invited anyone who was able to come, to join us for dinner and the afternoon. It was a very good time of fellowship, and we were thankful to the Lord that the rain held off until the last guests were leaving around 7 p.m.. When we first got home after church today we took pictures of everyone. This first set from top to bottom shows our family, the Matthia family, Christian and Rebecca (with "babylein" due in August), and Hans, Paul and Svetlana.
Derek and Devon have been working for Kay since last fall. Generally they put in two afternoons a week. During this vacation they have been able to work every morning. Much of their time has been spent on weeding in huge fields.
In the background you will notice many windmills that have "mushroomed" in the last several years. We have wonderfully strong winds that sweep over the huge flat fields and make it ideal for this form of energy transformation. The first set of mountains coming down from the North Sea (to the West of us) and the Baltic Sea (to the North of us) are the Harz mountains one hour south of us.
Tonight we enjoyed a beautiful summer storm, including rain and hail.
This is obviously a very biased title. :) Those of you who have visited our home may have seen the gallery of one-year-old pictures hanging over our bed. Yesterday we picked up Danielle's pictures which were taken a week ago and will now be able to bring the picture wall up to date.
This coming Tuesday Dalene and Danae will be flying back to Greenville to work for the rest of the summer. We took the opportunity last night to eat together at a very traditional German restaurant in our village. The first picture shows Danae and her dog Rookie Dane.
Bradley and the girls standing in front of a huge wagon filled with dry flowers and veggies.
Danae...getting eager for her food in a "non-fastfood" restaurant.
Wednesday nights we have fewer children than on Sundays, but the responsibility of keeping children happily occupied during their normal bedtime is equally challenging. Here Derek is holding Jacob Brüggemann in the front and Joel King in the back.
Derek and Danae gave their best to that end last night. Dalene taught the older group in the room next door, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of her.
Danielle was trying to go up the wrong way. :)
Andrea invited Dalene, Danae, and Amber to a yummy brunch on Wednesday morning. Later they walked part-way and rode the street car to a park on the east side of town.
In the Rotehorn Park, the ladies claimed two boats for an hour of boating. I'm not sure what they are called in English, possibly a paddle boat. They move forward by pedaling as you would a bike.
They enjoyed various wildlife, including the duck-family here, which was being chased by an otter. Dalene and Danae played interference by coming between the otter and ducks with their boot, until the mother duck had gotten them safely onto land.
Dalene, Danae, and Danika were invited to spend Tuesday afternoon with Amber, our teacher. They met at Matthia's house, where they tended to Lacey, Star (2 labs)and Misty (the mouse-chaser). The Matthia family is gone for a few days of vacation. Later they enjoyed fellowship in Amber's apartment.
This year the rose bushes in front of our house are full of buds. Danika brings me in roses almost every day to decorate our table.
We are once again enjoying hot weather. We set up our inflatable pool on our deck.
Derek and Danielle enjoy the trampoline.
