More and More Fruit

Today Donovan climbed our plum tree in the front yard to check out the plums. They are within a few weeks of harvest. The plum tree in the back is full of fruit. One of our neighbors preferred a different kind of plum and gave us the tree about three years ago. This is the first year it has borne so much. Our black raspberries grow along the north fence of our property, to either side of the raspberries. We had checked on them several times, but they weren't quite ready. Danielle discovered the plump, ripe ones first today! And she loves them. Dustin then went out and picked what was ripe. We froze them until we have enough to make a batch of jam.

A House of Twigs and Branches

Danika and Donovan were the main builders,though Doreen joined them for awhile,too. Their little abode was complete with TY birds that they gathered up.

The Removal of a Tree

Our apricot died somewhere along the way this past year, and there was never any sign of life this spring, so today was designated as "Tree Removal Day". Unfortunately, our camera went the way of Humpty Dumpty and took a great fall, so many of the pictures have funny lines in them. Maybe the lines won't be so obvious in the small version. All of the kids got to have a turn at sawing, though I don't have pictures of all of them. Danika and Donovan immediately had the idea of making a "Bude", the German word for "hide-out" and set the branches up in the shape of a teepee.

Niedern Camp Update

We had fun during our 12 days here at home,too. Helene, Danika's friend (and Kay and Susan's oldest) spent the first Friday and Saturday with us. We had saved our t-shirt painting for that afternoon. We had the pool out the first three days, but emptied it as it was raining on Saturday night. We had also planned to have a "Jungle Night under the Stars." We wanted to sleep on our deck, but that didn't work out either, because we had rain every day and/or night from there on out. So we set up the tent in our school room instead, and each little group of two got to spend two nights in a row sleeping there. We got in visits to two large playgrounds in Magdeburg. We went down to the Matthia family's backyard and harvested fruit: apples for applesauce which we enjoyed with a favorite German dish called milk-rice, and Mirabellen, a tiny yellow plum which were "grounded" through the break of a heavily-laden branch. We made yellow plum butter with those. The kids cut out all the seeds. We even found some plums that the wind had brought down and made a combination apple-plum cake. In the evening we enjoyed a special book of missionary stories which the kids read. They were true stories with good applications. We also had fun singing together, and Danielle practiced sitting still on her little yellow chair during devotions and did a great job. She really can wave her little arms to "Rolled Away." She holds her little finger up on "This little Light of Mine," and even gets out a "No," albeit about two beats later. :) We learned the camp verse in German and then switched to working on it in English. It was on the place-card. We also started working on Psalm 37. We got a good start on it. The kids had lots of fun playing together. Doreen, Lynette, and Danika played dolls and took the dogs on walks. The boys played Lego, Playmobile, and some on the computer. If the sun came out for a little while, they would find their way to the trampoline. All of them did a lot of coloring and enjoyed finding jungle animals on some coloring sites. Our bulletin board was flowing over. Eddie and Lynette took some of theirs home as welcome-home signs. Some of ours were posted on doors of returning family members as well. In our own yard we did some yard work. The ground was so moist that it was ideal for pulling weeds. :) Mommy and I worked on getting the laundry backlog taken care of and were successful! That is a huge blessing. In fact, as of today even the dirty camp clothes are processed. Well, that gives you a little idea of what filled our days here at home. On the last morning I drove down to an airport about 2 hours south of here to pick up the adult ladies and the babies that had flown down and back again. Lavonne and Donia came back on the bus. The Lord gave safety again, which is such a blessing every time.

Camp Pictures Galore!!!

These two pictures (the group at the fountains in Barcelona and the leaders,staff and counselors) are published here courtesy of impact. I wanted to suggest tonight that any of you wishing to get a good glimpse of the first camp go to the third link (in our list on the left side). That will connect you with the impact website, on which has been posted a great selection of camp pictures. The website is all in German, but you will find a camera on the right hand side, towards the bottom. If you click on Sommer Sensation Juli 2007,the album for the camp will open up. These pictures will give you a wonderful idea of the variety of activities the campers enjoyed during their 12-day camp. What a blessing to have such dedicated leaders and staff.

A double Farewell

Tomorrow morning Mommy will be driving to Berlin with Kevin to see if there will be an open stand-by seat back to the States. We have loved having her here. She is always a great encouragement and joy, not to mention a wonderful help around the home. Maria arrived a little over a month ago to help with camp preparations and camp. She did so with enthusiasm and helped with many projects in the process. Her flight is actually scheduled with Continental, the airline my brother Kirk flies for, and the one Mommy and Daddy are able to fly stand-by with! We wish her the Lord's continued leading and blessing in her last year of college.

Happy Birthday, Lorraine!

What an enjoyable evening we had celebrating Lorraine's 15th birthday (one day late:)) Here she is with her Daddy before the meal started. Another shot of Lorraine surrounded by cousins and siblings. "Better make sure that frosting is OK!" Evan, the taste-tester. :) Lorraine right before she successfully blew out all 15 of her candles. The little kids especially enjoyed the trick candles she had to contend with.

This is the Way we hang our clothes :)

Since the campers returned we have been keeping the washer going and processing 12 days of camp wear in a hot climate with lots of fun and sometimes messy games. Thankfully we have been able to hang out most of the loads on our deck. Mommy has been a great help in ironing these past days. Dustin and Donovan enjoyed the hoola-hoops for awhile this morning. Danika was trying her hand at a sand-based apple cake. In the afternoon the five youngest and I went shopping together. The boys enjoyed climbing in various cars. Danielle had fun just being in the buggy.

Happily Re-united

Yesterday,after 25 hours of travel and 36 hours since getting up in Spain, our weary campers arrived home around 6 p.m.. After carrying in and a little supper, Bradley and our Niedern Campers enjoyed a few minutes with a book and devotions. It is so nice to have our Daddy (and the 3 other D's) home again! We thank the Lord for safe travel over those many miles! There will be more to share about the last two weeks, but for now I close with the camp verses that we have been memorizing, "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil." (Ecc. 12, 13-14)

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.