Sarah's Zukunftstag

Sarah's school hosted a "Zukunftstag" or Future Day, so the kids could experience a job they would possibly like to do in the future. Sarah got to spend the day at her Uncle Hermann's dairy farm and also visited their neighbor's pig farm. Sarah was definitely in hog heaven, being the huge animal lover that she is. Hannah got to go spend the afternoon there as well. Thank you Aunt Siggi and Uncle Hermann for hosting Sarah. She loved every minute!

Webb visit

The Webb family came to visit us during their Spring Break. It was great to see them and Sarah and Hannah were thrilled to be reunited with Hayley. We took a quick day trip to Bremen and Celle and showed them the sites in Eystrup.

Aschaffenburg

As Newlyweds, Thomas and I lived in the northernmost part of Bayern, or Bavaria in the town of Aschaffenburg. On our way home from our visit in Ulm, we decided to stop there and spend a night and show the girls where we used to live. The town had grown, and was bustling, but was still as charming as we remembered. We saw the castle there, Schloss Johannisburg which is just massive! We had a view of it from our apartment balcony in the nearby suburb of Nilkheim. The girls and I did a little shopping at two of our favorite stores H&M and Peek und Cloppenburg. We also drove to nearby Alzenau to visit our old neighbor, Andreas and his sweet family. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to take pics. It was certainly great to catch up with them after 13 years! Aschebesch.... Helau!!!

Rommel Memorial

Der Blautopf.... Blaubeuren

Blaubeuren hat uns sehr gut gefallen!

In Ulm, um Ulm und Um Ulm herum!

Over "Easter break", as the Germans call it... We met the girls' German teacher, Monika in Ulm. She was in town from Georgia visiting her parents and agreed to show us the area where she grew up. The highlights were the Ulmer Munster and "Der Blautopf" in Blaubeuren. The Munster has the tallest church steeple in the world and we climbed the 768 steps to get to the top. The staircase was narrow and curvy. I was thankful it wasn't a hot day! The "Blautopf", or "blue pot" is a spring at the beginning of the little blue river. It is the bluest water you can imagine. There is a system of underwater caves surrounding the spring where several divers have perished during explorations.... We also visited the amazing grounds of a former monastery in Blaubeuren. Monika also took us to a memorial for Erwin Rommel, a famous captain in the German army during WWII. Rommel was one of the accused in the plot to assassinate Hitler. He was given a choice to stand trial, or take his own life. Rommel chose the latter and the memorial is located on a hill where Rommel drank a "Giftbecher" and ended his life. He wanted to be able to see the Ulmer Munster, which is visible from this very spot....
Monika!!!! Thanks for showing us Ulm.... I hope we can visit again one day!

Sarah's birthday

Sarah turned 11 this year... Wow... our baby is growing up too fast! She requested a red velvet cake, which I attempted to make from scratch for the first time. It tasted yummy, but was brownish-pink since I ran out of red food coloring. Oma came to wish Sarah well of course... The following weekend we went to the new bowling alley in Drackenburg for some fun with her friends from school. It is a joy watching you grow up sweet Sarah! Wir haben dich lieb.....