Goodbye to Crystal

This weekend, we lost a member of our family. Anna and Jacob both got some fish for Christmas; Crystal and Spot. They took very good care of them. On saturday night when Jeff and I returned home from an event at school, we were informed that Crystal went up to fish heaven. The next morning, anna asked if we could have a burial service for her and have dad say a special prayer. So that is what we did and here are the pictures to prove it.

Crystal in the ground. The kids have since added a headstone.

The kids bowing their heads as Jeff says a prayer about Crystal. Anna wore a tie for the formal event. Here is a hint when you buy a fish, never place the fish tank on the window ledge in the room. I guess things got too hot for poor Crystal. Fortunately for Spot we moved the tank.

A Beautiful Day

We have been blessed with a very mild winter for us here in Germany. So far, we only have had one day of snow all winter. Spring is on everyones mind around our home. Yesterday, it was so nice out that we went to a local park for the afternoon. Sarah was beside herself with excitment. It felt so good to sit in the sun and enjoy the scene around us. Here are a few fun pictures of our outing.

Sarah got too tired to walk back to the car, so I carried her after a long afternoon of playing.

Off We Go- Chug Chug Choo Choo!

Our Sarah has decided to get on the potty train and work on her potty training skills this week. Well, so far no real success stories to report. She received some training pants from Grandma. She proudly wears her big girl pants only after she has a messy diaper. Last night, she had her first accident in her big girl pants and never recovered from the shock so we put her to bed early. To be honest, I can't remember how to do this. It has been seven years since I went through this with Anna. Any advice? I will have to go through this again with Joshua! Help!

Valentines Day

Yesterday, Jeff and celebrated Valentines the same way we do for the past eight years, by helping with the High School Valentines party. Although it isn't very romatic for the two of us, we are still able to spend time together which I guess is what the day is all about.

Kristlyn and I were in charge of the drink table and decided to make a model of the U.S.A using the cups. unfortantely, the kids were taking them away faster than we could pour. This is the best that we could do. We were trying to working on Florida when Jeff took this picture.

Other staff working hard to feed over 200 hungry high schoolers.

Jeff decided to come over and help me with the drinks he pretended to be into it, but he really was more interested in...

Eating! This is how we shared our "romantic" meal standing up and shoveling food in our mouths in between helping the students. Actually it was a fun evening and many students came up to us and thanked us for helping out and just wanted to chat with us. One girl spent about ten minutes asking us how Joshua and Sarah was doing. These kids are such an encouragement to us! Top notch students that we get to work with.

AWANA and Walks

Well, the title of the blog expalins really what all we did this weekend. We have been experencing real consistent weather here, very mild and sunny for winter. So on Saturday, Jeff and I took the kids to a local park and walked over to the Rhine river. The Rhine is what seperates Germany, Switzerland and France. So you can see the other countries on the other side. If someone fell into the river, what language do they yell for help? Here are a few pictures of our outing.

Sarah loved the playground. Jacob was a great help and tolerated her cries of "more" when she wanted to climb up the slide just one more time!

Joshua enjoyed the sunshine and ride in the stroller. Speaking of our stroller, we bought this double one in November and had my parents bring it over with them. We like it alot but boy does it stand out over here in Germany!

There is the picture of the Rhine river. France is on the other side. Bon Jour France, Guten Tag Germany!

Anna was gone all day on Saturday. She was able to compete in the AWANA bible quiz in Heidelberg. She had to leave at 6 am to travel up. When she got home, she excitedly told us that she got thrid place for her group ( book 1) out of thirteen other teams that competed. Way to go Anna!

Two months

Well, Joshua is now two months old. He is sleeping through the night he does the best sleeping on his tummy we found out. He smiles alot when he is "playing". Although every time I run to get the camera, he suddenly stops and stares at me as if to say, "mom leave me alone." This is the best shot that I have of him with a smile.

Here are some other various pictures of our "little man".

BFA from the air

Here are a couple shots of the BFA campus taken this summer. You can see the lay out of the main campus and all of the buildings.

These photos were taken this summer. The red roofed building houses our gym, auditorium and cafeteria. The silver roofed building is our new classrooms, library, and music studios. The flat grey building houses classrooms, and administration this is where Jeff's office is. That was the original building that BFA used. We have now outgrown that one building.

See how everything is so green around the campus. I just love summer in Germany everything is so fresh and the flowers are all in bloom. I really miss those sunny days during our dark winter days that we have now!