It's hot!! I want the rain back!

We have a lot of different trees in our back yard. Several huge evergreens and a some smaller trees and bushes. This picture is of one of those trees that has blossomed beautifully. It just looked like a small tree until these beautiful blooms started popping out. It's absolutely gorgeous and thought you all might enjoy it too. The blooms remind of a hibiscus. I don't know what it is though. The steps and the door you see lead into the garage.

A close look at the flowers.

This is a Johannes Berry bush. We have several in the back yard with lots of bright red berries on them. I would love to make some jelly out of the berries so they don't go to waste, but haven't been able to find canning jars or pectin. I need to look in some German stores I suppose. I don't think they're the tastiest berries, but would probably do alright in a jelly.

It has been HOT, HOT, HOT in Germany the last few days. Sunday (in the sun) it was 104º. We've been doing our best to keep the sun out of the house by keeping the rolladens down during the day, but even so, these houses just heat up like a brick oven. It'll take a few days to cool off once we get cooler weather again. We have been sleeping in the guest room downstairs because it's about 80º upstairs and that's just not comfortable to sleep in. I'm thankful we have a basement to go to when it gets this hot.

Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for one of the girls that works with Sam in CYS. Those of you who really know me, know that I was not at all excited about spending the whole evening with a large group of people that I don't know. I knew it was important to Sam though, so we went. He absolutely loves going to parties and interacting with everyone. It did end up being a really nice evening. Sam had a lot of fun playing volleyball. It was an interesting group of people. About half American and half German. It was a beautiful place and I should have taken pictures. It was on a farm, way out in the country. They had a cookout and we sat at tables in the shade of a huge walnut tree. It's a place my Mom would absolutely love. Chicken coop, barn, farm house and all.

On the way to the birthday party, Sam wanted to run the truck through the car wash. There was one on the way that he had been wanting to try. He bought a ticket for the car wash at the gas station across the road. I think where we went wrong was putting the ticket in before driving in. It was not a drive through and the brushes started going before we got in there. At one point Sam didn't think it was reaching the back of the truck so he backed up and the wash just stopped. He moved the truck forward....nothing. We were stuck. There was a concrete wall in front of us and the brush rollers were sitting on the back of the truck. Finally, about 45 minutes later the gas station attendant was able to get someone to come help. I'm sure he was thinking "Stupid Americans...." He said that we shouldn't have taken the truck in, but there were no signs saying not to.

Today I went to the doctor. I've been having a lot of pain in my right shoulder. It's hurt on and off for a couple of years. I just assumed it was strain from working at a computer and reaching for a mouse all day. Then it got much worse once we moved to Germany. Maybe I strained it during packing or toting a heavy duffel bag of groceries to and from the Romerhof when we were staying there. Whatever it is......it hasn't gotten better in 3 months. The doctor didn't see anything unusual, so just put me on heavy anti-inflammatory medicine. She's also sending me to a physical therapist for further help. I'm really hoping that this helps because the pain has been keeping me up at night.

Sam and I have finally gotten ourselves back to the gym. It's so hard to get back into it, but we've been going steady now for about a month. At first we were going to the gym at Patch Barracks, but since it's further away Sam wasn't able to come home and shower before work. He would just take clothes with him. It's wasn't very convenient for long term. We tried the Kelley Barracks gym, which is much closer and it has worked out great. It's not very busy and Sam is able to come home before heading to work. I've been a little frustrated with being unable to do any upper body exercises. I'm hoping my shoulder starts feeling better real soon.

Well, that's about it for now. Here's one more parting shot of our baby. Gabby lives for food and going outside. Sam takes her out usually every morning and evening. She complains every time we bring her in.

Visiting castles in Fussen, Germany

Saturday morning we headed out to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle in the town of Fussen, near the German-Austrian border. It is only about 2 1/2 hours from where we live, but for us it turned into a 5 hour trip. We seem to get lost on every trip we take. This wasn't really our fault though. We followed the directions exactly, which took us on a beautiful drive through the mountains, unfortunately that wasn't where we intended to go.

By the time we arrived in Fussen, it was too late to get an English speaking tour of the castles, so we just visited the shops and ate a late lunch.

It's a really neat area. Lots of shops and cobblestone streets and you look right up the hillsides to both castles.

There are actually two castles very close to each other. The older of the two, Hohenschangau Castle, is where Mad King Ludwig II grew up. The other, Neuschwanstein Castle, was built for King Ludwig as an adult.

From what I understand, Neuschwanstein Castle is what Walt Disney based his Disney Land Castle on. It looks like a perfect fairy tale castle. It's beautiful country there and we'll definitely go back when we have more time. Of course, we'll know where we going next time. Here are a few pictures from Saturday -

Beautiful scenery driving through the Alps. This was when we were lost, but we enjoyed it anyhow.

Sam and I with Neuschwanstein castle in the background.

Hohenschangau Castle

Horse drawn wagon that you can take to the castle.

Me with Neuschwanstein Castle in the background

The restaurant where we had lunch.

One of the shops along the street.

The 4th of July

I'm a bit late reporting on our 4th of July. Actually we didn't do too much. It was a little strange...this being our first year celebrating such a patriotic holiday out of the country. The day before, Sam was talking to one of the German bus drivers who was asking what holiday it was. Of course saying "the 4th of July" meant nothing to someone who is not American. So finally Sam said it was America's birthday.

Patch Barracks was having a celebration of sorts and we planned to spend at least part of the day out there. It was planned to start at 1:00 with the Commander tapping the keg. I hate to admit my ignorance, but I envisioned him literally tapping the keg with a stick or something. I had no idea what it meant until Sam filled me in. Here in Germany to start a celebration they tap the cork into the keg to open it. It doesn't seem like much is done here without the presence of beer (or any kind of alcohol).

Well, we were there at 1:00 (even though it was raining), but then found out it had been postponed until 5:00. That threw a wrench in our plans, so we just messed around the house and went out to eat that evening, then back to Patch Barracks. We had fun on the Bumper Cars and Sam won a couple of beer steins. It would have been nice to see the fireworks, but that wasn't until 10:30 and Sam had to get up early for work. Besides, it was still raining.

I really enjoy living here and we're taking in all that we can, but at times I really miss the USA. I'm American to the core and while I like it here, I look forward to returning home someday.

The picture at the top is the entrance to Patch Barracks. The streets were lined with American flags. It was very beautiful, but the picture doesn't do it justice.

The Plattenhardt fest

I guess I got this from Mom, but I love houseplants. They just make a house look more alive. Every place I've lived I had a ficus/fig tree that would get really nice and big then I'd move and have to give it away. I bought two here, but they are pretty small. All the plants I bought came in smaller pots, so I've been needing to replant them. The dirt at the PX is labeled in German, so I had to take Sam with me to decipher which one to get. We finally got around to it this weekend. We actually got quite a bit done. Herr Muller and his friend, Michael, came Saturday and put the first coat of paint on the shed. Sam and I had to make a run to Obi (German home depot store) and while we were there we found a McIntosh apple tree. All of our neighbors either have cherry, apple, lemon or orange trees and they always look so attractive, so we bought one for the back yard. Sam planted it out back and I got all of the house plants transferred to bigger pots.

Outside of our living room window there is a very large planter box attached to the house. I was going to plant flowers in it when the household goods arrived, so that got delayed. Yesterday, Sam worked at getting all of the weeds out of it. I don't think flowers have been planted there for several years and it was just full of weeds. I'm thinking about planting some Hibiscus seeds that I got from Grandma Thorne. I want something that will come back every year and will flower throughout the summer. The flowers here in Germany are quite expensive so if I have to replant that every year I'd end up spending a lot of money on it.

Gabby loves to get outside any chance she gets.

It seems like there is a small town fest going on every week here in Germany. Plattenhardt had their fest this last weekend. After going to the theater at Patch on Saturday evening we stopped in to see what it was like. They had the main street blocked off and lots of vendors set up. There was a concert going on and of course almost everyone had a drink in their hands. I don't think I've ever felt more like a foreigner here than I did walking through that crowd of about 1,500 people. It was an uncomfortable feeling for me and the first time I really felt like a stranger here. Of course they all didn't know that we were American, but it felt like I had a big bull's eye painted on my back. It was interesting and probably not that uncomfortable for Sam since he could understand people talking. This next weekend we're going to the fest in Bonlanden (the next town over) with Michael. He and Herr Muller wanted us to go with them to Plattenhardt's, but we already had other plans, so we said we'd go next weekend. From what I hear the Bonlanden fest has been around for a long time (100 years??). Should be interesting :)

Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to see what's going on downstairs. It's too quiet. I think my husband must have fallen asleep reading the newspaper.

Our mundane week

There's not been much going on with us lately, but I thought I should try to post at least once a week. We didn't have much of a weekend. Or I should say my poor husband didn't have much of a weekend. He ended up working around the house all day Saturday and we didn't do much besides go to church yesterday. Herr Muller and a friend came over Friday night to discuss painting the shed out back. Sam and I wanted to put it off until the end of summer because ivy has covered a couple of the walls and we knew it would have to be cut off. We thought if we waited perhaps it would have already started to die for the winter. We really like how it looks, but knew it would have to come off. Anyhow, they decided to come back Saturday morning. They arrived at 8:00 in the morning and were busy until about 4:00. I puttered around the house most of the day and rode along when Sam took truckloads full of tree cuttings to the dump. It made me feel bad that he didn't get a full weekend, but they sure got a lot done in the back.

Today, Herr Muller and his friend came back to sand the shed. I think they'll be back again on Friday to paint. It'll look different without all the ivy, but it should look good having a fresh coat of paint.

Finally last Friday I got most of the house together. I still need to hang pictures and decorate, but at least it looks like a home. I still need to clean up the office too. That's where I put everything for now. I'd rather have it all in one room where I can work on putting things away as opposed to having boxes all throughout the house. So, it's slowly coming together. I'll post pictures once it's done.

I've been amazed at the frequency and intensity of thunder storms here in Germany. Back home (Alaska and Hawaii) we would have them occasionally, but here it seems like once or twice a week we have LOUD thunder storms. I really enjoy them though. It feels great to snuggle down in a warm house when it's storming outside. Well, that's about it for now. I'll talk to you all later.

Our weekend in Paris

Sam had Friday off, so we decided to do a quick trip to Paris. While we're here in Germany we plan to take advantage of being close to so many countries.

France was our first visit to another country outside of Germany. We made sure to take our passports and international driver's licenses, which we ended up not needing. We were surprised that there was no border crossing. It took us awhile to figure out we were no longer in Germany, but in France. I thought we would have to go through customs or at the very least there would be a sign saying we were passing into France. Probably what frustrated me the most was that I didn't get another stamp in my passport :) I really wanted that France stamp!

The landscape of France was very similar to Germany, but we kept noticing how many more cow there were in France. We stopped at a truck stop for lunch along the way, but other than that we (Sam) drove the whole way. We printed out directions to our hotel from Mapquest and they were great until we got into Paris (where we really needed good directions). As a result, we ended up lost for 2 hours and finally, 9 hours after leaving home, we arrived at the hotel. It takes quite a bit to frustrate Sam, but he was sufficiently frustrated.

After checking in we went for a walk to see about getting some dinner. What we decided on - Pizza Hut. I know...we were in Paris with wonderful French restaurants and we ate pizza. I think we both were so tired we just wanted to take something back to the room and chill. I did find the Pizza Hut bag interesting though. I'm not sure if the corners were cut out to save plastic or for the fit of the box. Probably a little of both.


Saturday morning we were up early and took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. I don't really know much about the Eiffel Tower other than it was built in 1889 as an entrance arch to a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. I found that out on Wikipedia. It's also the tallest structure in Paris and, according to Wikipedia, the most visited monument in the world. I was a little surprised at the number of English speaking people visiting the Eiffel Tower. It was rather nice for me to hear other Americans.

Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

Sam on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower

Me and Sam at the top of the Eiffel Tower

It was very windy and rained on and off throughout the day, so instead of trying to find our way to Notre Dame church we hailed a taxi. By the time we arrived it was getting to be lunchtime and we hadn't eaten all day so we stopped in a little cafe for lunch. The line to go to the church steeples was very long and we decided not to go there this trip. We did go inside the church. The detail on this building is amazing. It's covered in carved images. The front of the church has scenes carved into it. It was built in the 1100's and was built mostly by the town people who donated their time and money. This statue of the Huntchback of Notre Dame was in the little cafe we ate lunch in. It's said that the real Huntchbacks of Notre Dame were the workers who hauled all the huge stones from distant queries to build the church

Carvings on the front of the Notre Dame church

Carved scene of "The Judgement"

Next on our tour of Paris was the Louvre Museum. Before this trip I really didn't know what it was. Now I know that it was once a palace, but now is an art gallery and museum. There are lots of famous paintings and sculptures. This is where the Mona Lisa is hung. We were not suppose to take pictures where the paintings are hung. It was funny seeing the Mona Lisa. You hear so much about it, but when we saw it both of us felt like it just looked like another painting. There were so many beautiful paintings I would have loved to get pictures of, but was afraid to get caught. Of course other people were taking pictures, but I know I would have been the one to get in trouble. I don't get by with cheating.

Statue of mother and child

Sam did manage to get a picture of this painting

We bought the most delicious cherries I've ever had on Rue Cler. Rue Cler is a stretch of road, about 2 blocks long, with lots of open markets. The fruit was delicious and we tried a couple of pastries. The fish market and cheese market (directly across from each other) didn't smell so pleasant, but it was a neat experience.

Sam at the Rue Cler fish market

Rue Cler cheese market

Overall, we had a nice trip. We were done around 4:30 on Saturday and decided to just come on home instead of staying that night. We wanted to get home to Gabby and be in our own house. We really enjoyed seeing the attractions in Paris, but I much prefer Germany to France. Paris seemed pretty dirty. The Metros had a bad smell and quite a few of the French were not at all friendly. Those of course were just our impressions from spending one day in Paris. We'll most certainly go back at some point, but I'm really glad we're in Germany.

Happy Father's Day!

We're back from Paris and I'll post some pictures from that tomorrow. Today we slept in because we decided to drive home last night and got in late. Gabby was so happy to see us again. It's very hard on her to be left alone when we leave.

Today is Father's Day and I want to say thank you to my Dad. He's always been a wonderful example of a Christian father and husband. I appreciate the way I was brought up and how he has been there for me. I always felt like I could call on my Dad when I needed anything. We never doubted his love for us. He's always been very patient, loving, kind and tenderhearted. I've said quite a few times that I married someone very much like my Dad. Sam is incredibly patient, sweet and loving and I know he'll be a wonderful father when we decide to have children.

I'm thankful too for my father-in-law. I haven't been in the Thompson family for all that long, but I have felt accepted from the first day. Higgins is someone we can go to for sound advice and I respect his opinion. I appreciate the man he raised Sam to be. He obviously was a wonderful example of a husband and father.

So, Happy Father's Day to both of our Dads. We love you!

Tonight I just wanted to share some pictures that we took of the sheep up the road from us. Every time we drive by we enjoy watching them. So, tonight we decided to walk up and visit. There are so many babies among them. We love where we live. It's not too far from town, but we are still out in the country enough to have sheep right down the street. It's a beautiful place.

We're going to Paris!

We've decided to go to Paris for the weekend. We wanted to get our international driver's licenses before going to other countries and we finally did that yesterday. Through working for the Army we're able to get our regular and international licenses pretty easy. Unfortunately for the Germans it cost them about $2000 to get their licenses.
It'll be fun and interesting seeing Paris I think, but I really don't like leaving Gabby. She'll be fine, but I know it's hard on her to be alone when we're gone. Well, I better get ready. We want to get an early start on the trip. Talk to you when we get back!

Berg Hohen Neuffen

I just returned from a run to Patch and the PX at Panzer. I wanted to get going early this morning, but the chimney sweep was scheduled to come by and clean the furnace. I like it when Sam can be here for those sort of things because I don't speak German (yet), but he had to be at work early to get some new summer help in processed. The chimney sweep and I managed to communicate sufficiently and he was out of here within 15 minutes.

Sam had to work yesterday picking those same people up at the airport, so he didn't get home until 5:30. We've been told that we're not supposed to cut down trees without going through a lot of red tape here in Germany, BUT....there was a ugly tree/shrub in the front yard that Sam was determined to get rid of. It was sort of a spruce tree (evergreen), but it didn't grow straight and the truck was gnarled and ugly. It also blocked a lot of light from coming in the kitchen window. Anyhow, Sam chopped off quite a few limbs and then finally last night he decided to cut it down. It really is an improvement, but we're just hoping that it wasn't literally a tree and the neighbors don't turn us in to whatever authorities deem it illegal. You may want to keep us in your prayers :)

We had a fun adventure last night. We were just going to drive somewhere to dump the tree that Sam cut down, but we ended up taking a much longer drive just seeing where roads lead. We can see a castle over on a distant hill from our bedroom balcony and as we were driving we noticed that we were getting closer to it. (We've been trying to find this castle since we moved in) So we kept following roads trying to get close enough to see it. We ended up in a town called Neuffen and after stopping to ask several people we learned the name of the castle is Berg Hohen Neuffen. It was getting pretty late, but we were so close that we couldn't help but continue to look for the road leading to it. We finally found the road that went up the hill to the castle and when we parked we met an older German couple that gave us a wonderful tour. We had to walk about 15 minutes to get up the the castle, but it was so beautiful up there. It wasn't near as big as the castle in Heidelberg, but it was still awesome. It was built in the 1100's and fell into ruins around the 1890's. Since then they have been working to fix it up a bit. There is a restaurant in operation within the castle and if we go during business hours we'll be able to see more of it. We got home late, but it was well worth it. Here are a few more pictures from last night.

Sam at Berg Hohen Neuffen

Me with the town of Neuffen in the background

Sam and me next to the Berg Hohen Neuffen

Our weekend and visiting Heidelberg

I haven't blogged for awhile because I've been busy trying to get this house finished up and in order. We had a really nice weekend. Saturday morning, Sam went crazy in the back yard. He trimmed all the bushes and trees. He even cut down a few trees and generally just did a lot of clearing that needed to be done. The neighbor told him he didn't think it had been trimmed in several years. Sam loaded all the trimmings in the truck and we took them to the dump on our way into town.

We were hoping that the rain would hold off long enough for us to get to Ikea, pay for, then pick up the entertainment center at the warehouse and get it home. Thankfully, it did and probably no longer than 30 minutes after we brought everything in the house it started pouring.

On Sunday, we had every intention of going to church. I kept thinking it started at 8:30 (probably because that's what time our church in Hawaii started), but somehow it didn't seem right. We made it to church "on time" and found out that it doesn't start until 9:30 and that day it was going to be held in a different place at 10:00. So...instead of waiting around for 1 1/2 hours we decided to go check out another of the Army posts. We drove to Heidelberg, which is only around an hour from us. Again, I was very surprised by the size of the posts. Very small.

Sam saw signs for a castle nearby, so we followed the signs to this castle. Driving through the old town of Heidelberg, I looking out my window and up the hill I saw it looming over the city. It was really awesome. I was amazed at how big it was. We drove up the hill to find it. I guess I didn't realize how huge the castles were. Almost like a small city within those walls.

One of the corner towers was destroyed I think in the 1600's. You can see the side of the tower that looks like it just fell off and is still there. You can even see hallways in through the tower from where the side of it fell off. It was really neat to see.

Another thing we found really interesting was the large wine vats within the castle. One of them is suppose to be the largest in the world. It holds over 220,000 liters! It's HUGE! They've since made a dance floor on top of it. The picture below is actually the smaller of the two vats. Of course, my dear husband had to be get a picture of him "drinking" from it.

As I've said before, it's really hard to capture all the details on film, but it was a very interesting tour. We did LOTS of walking up and down stairs and hills. We didn't realize how far down we had walked until it was time to go back up. It ended up being a really nice day. We want to take advantage of our weekends here and take the time to visit places like this because we're only here for a limited time. Well, that's about it for now. I've been putting the entertainment center together since Monday. Tonight, hopefully, we'll get it all put together. Here are a few more pictures from our day in Heidelberg.

Getting ready to go down the stairs to the castle

Another view of the destroyed tower

Me standing in the center of the castle

Sam looking out a window with Heidelberg in the background

Sam on top of the huge wine vat

Me and Sam with Heidelberg in the background