My dear friend Joan reminded me - if you want to see the pictures better just click on them and they will enlarge!

We've had another great week in Deutschland! We went to Nurnberg for a Conference and on the way stopped at this Palace. We self-toured through the museum and found this great ballroom - what do you do in an empty ballroom? Dance, of course. On our way out we saw a monitor being watched by the guard - I'm sure he thought we were great ballroom dancers! From there we went to Teufelshohle - Devil's Cave, Google it. Amazing. This beach in Nurnberg is man-made, in the middle of a park. Funny.
It was President Schwartz's birthday so some of the missionaries dressed appropriately and sang Happy Birthday to him. And finally, one of the reasons we are here!

The food on the way to the kitchen. I may have said this before but - if anyone watched our food buying habits they would wonder why we aren't any bigger than we are. OR they would think we are hiding several people in our apartment. Someone reminded me that I'm really not feeding anymore people than my family. I'm glad my famlee gave me the practice.

Our wonderful week end at the Young Single Adult (JAE) Conference in Erfurt. Top - is, of course, our chef. We have found out we are a pretty good team in the kitchen (as long as he does what I say). Left - what all kids do while they are waiting for a bus, spread Twister out on the sidewalk. Bottom left - about 10:00 pm (look how light it is), a great BBQ with brats, marshmellows, cards and singing. Top right - finishing a meal and just hanging out with each other. Bottom right - last minute shots before heading home. Great kids. Great week end. It is a wonderful blessing to be associated with them.

A very sad week end for our family. We lost a niece to a car accident. She was a wonderful mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and teacher. She was 53 years old. Her family has the knowledge and comfort of an eternal family, that knowledge will get them through the difficult days ahead. It reminds us to stay close to each other, take advantage of every opportunity to say "I love you," laugh with each other and spend time together. We know she had a wonderful reunion with her father, baby sister, grandmas and grandpas....... She will be missed.

We finallly made it up to the top of "The Tower." If you see postcards or pictures of Jena they are usually of the area near where we live. In the middle of most of those pictures is a large round tower. These are taken from the top of that 500' tower. Once I got over the dizziness I was able to enjoy the fabulous, although rainy, view!

 The men went bowling one day. It is much the same as in the States except the pins hang on cords. The scoring graphics are entertaining. They had a great time!

Walking home from the car we saw this Booze Bahn; maybe something like a Booze Cruise?

The language is frustrating to me but I love the sound of it, I am learning a little everyday and can understand more but not enough to formulate much of a sentence. All meetings we attend are in German. Duane and I were sitting in a planning meeting (PEC) this last week (everyone there speaks both languages except for me and the Ladies' President) and he was interpretting the things I needed to know. He told me it would be a good time to bring up the sewing class I have been wanting to start. I did my pitch, in English, the Branch President interpreted for the Ladies' President who said she loves to garden. He smiled and told me she is a Master Gardener and would love to help. Wait. What? One of the other men said, "No, no, Sister Lee is talking about s e w sewing, like chug a chug a chug a with a machine and fabric not s o w sowing seeds." It took a few seconds before everybody got it and started to laugh. I still don't know if I'll be teaching a sewing class or a sowing class - they obviously haven't seen my gardening skills. In the meantime I need to learn Deutsch for sewing and sowing.

This was not one of our most exciting weeks but we did get to eat some fabulous food and we worked hard.
Home Evening was spent playing 20 questions with Book of Mormon prophets. Duane was first and I was last but we had fun with some new interns from the US, the missionaries and our regular great friends. Banana bread made like a cake is always a big hit.

THIS is my new favorite food at our favorite place to eat - Schnitzel Salat!! It makes my mouth water just looking at it. Their idea of a small portion - well, they have no idea of what a small portion is. 

We were told we needed new carpeting. When they came to measure we said we didn't think the bedroom needed it and they agreed. We put everything into the bedroom - loveseat, two large chairs, two desks, china cabinet, 4 office cabinets, dining room table and chairs, two coffee tables - packed it all in and left for the day.

We came back to this - they decided we needed new carpet in the bedroom, too, so they moved everything back into the living room including everything from the bedroom except the closets and the bed! Duane is opening the refrigerator to make sure it was still working. So we spent the week cleaning out cabinets and going through papers we hadn't had time to do before. The young missionaries came over and helped move the big stuff to save our backs.We now have organized papers, cubbies, cabinets and pantry and the carpet is lovely.

And our biggest excitement of the week is ----

Grandbaby #14 is a girl!!!!!