Opening Day

Today, the first day of school got underway for the 2007-08 school year. I don't who was happier for it me or the kids! Jacob is in grade 5 this year and Anna is in grade 3. I barely made it into school in time with about three minutes to spare before the start of the ceremony. I was able to get this picture of Jeff and the kids in the auditorium before everything began. Don't they look ready for another school year? Jeff was responsible for all of the seating in the auditorium. He had to make sure that everyone from the students, to staff, and parents all had a place to sit. He was only off by a few with the staff, but everyone had a place to sit.

After the opening address by the director, the kids couldn't wait to get on their bus and head off to their school a few miles away. Jacob was sent to wait for the bus and let the driver know where to park.

Anna and other students listen to a teacher read a story while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Once the bus arrives, the students eagerly get on and ride off to their first day of classes.
Now it is back to Sarah and me- Yipee! Back to a routine I am ready for it!

Year number 8 !

This week,we have been enjoying another round of staff conference before the school year begins on Tuesday. Our Eighth year here in Germany is about to begin. So hearing the normal progress reports from the various departments and meeting the new staff who are all eager to minister and serve here at BFA always brings feelings of excitment to us. It is amazing that we still feel so passionate about our ministry here to MK's but they are a great group to work with. In reality, they are an encouragement to us and they give back so much. So when we feel burned out or weary from all the activities, someone comes up and give us an encouraging hug and smile just when we need it. Here is to year number 8 about to begin and hopefully it will be great.

Here is what we look like at the begining of our eighth year, lets see how much we

age after this year!

Last of the Summer Company

On Sunday, our last batch of summer guest left. I realized after they had gone what a full and busy summer we had. So, we had a nice visit with Harold and Ute, a family from Halle Germany that Jeff has known since 1993. This was their first visit to see us and their first trip into France and Switzerland. We are happy that they had such nice weather during their time here.




On Saturday, we took them into the Alsace region of France to some quaint towns. They really liked all the flowers there. For lunch we had some Flammkucken a specialty in the area.

Anna on You Tube!

Last week, a neighbor of ours called us up and asked if he could use Anna in a short mission video he was making for GEM (Greater Europe Mission). So on Tuesday I brought Anna to the "set" and she spent about an hour there taking part in the video. She was very excited and already now wants to be a movie star when she grows up. As a thankyou, they gave Anna some books from the Focus on the family Christian Heritage Series. Anna wanted to know if real movie stars got paid this way. I told her probably not. I have attached a link here for you to view and see for yourself.

http://www.gemcreativeworks.org/ Go to "What Ever it takes" and click on the link to view the video.

America's favorite pastime comes to us

We had heard at church today that there was an international baseball playoff game in a nearby town. Yesterday, there were four teams that competed. Today, the Americans were playing the German team in the final game. Of course we were very curious about this so after some naps, we ventured out to the ballpark. We didn't even know any baseball diamonds exsisted in Germany. Well we found the diamond and the two teams playing.

By the top of the 8th the American team was leading by one run but then the Germans came back with four runs to win the game. It was a nice summer afternoon to sit out and watch a good old game of baseball. Jacob was very excited to go. He sat there the whole game and intently watched hoping that a pop fly would come his way. As we left he said, " Baseball is the second biggest "chunk" outside of America for us!" I asked him what the first one was, and he said that going to an Army base was the first because you feel like you are in America. He wanted to know when we could go see another game. Jacob declared this a fun afternoon but admitted that the only thing missing was some rootbeer!

Two cute babes

My mom sent a small package last week to us. Anytime we get a package it is exciting- something special from back home to get us through the month is very fun. This time the package was addressed to Anna and Sarah. Inside we found two matching outfits in their sizes. As Anna pulled hers out she exclaimed with great excitement, " Ooh this is sooooo adorable!"

What do you think? Thanks Mom, they are perfect!

Bye to Uncle Jim

Yesterday, we took Jim to the airport and said goodbye. It was hard for all of us to see Jim leave. The kids really had fun playing and spending time with him. With Jim gone, it marks offically for us that summer time is over. Now we are cleaning house, buying school supplies and soon, attending meetings for the new school year. So one last parting picture to remember our fun time we had this summer with Uncle Jim!

Where have we been?

It has been awhile since my last entry. We decided to go away at the last minute and take Jim on one more trip. Can you tell where we went with some of the pictures that I posted?

We decided to drive up to take Jim to visit the sights of Normandy on the Northern French coast. This was about an 8 hour drive from our home. The weather was beautiful and the history of D-Day was very interesting to follow and experience first hand. Jacob and Anna enjoyed running in the large bombed out ditches at Point- de- hoc. As well as seeing the tanks and bunkers that still are there.

The bridge behind us is part of the famous Pegaus bridge stong hold that the British troops captured in order for the millitary to cross into Europe. Many British soliders died trying to capture this bridge from the Germans.

I think this was the most memorable trip that we have taken in a while. The history is still recent and makes you appreciate the sacrifrice of the troops to keep us safe. Anna admitted that she got depressed seeing how many died but she said that her future is now better for it.