26Jan2014-2

We left Bremen and now we report on a very nice Christmas 

in Düsseldorf with the Hartzheim family :-)

   We spent Christmas Eve with our family ("kids") and the Elders here in WHV (Wilhelmshaven)...

                                          

    On Christmas Day, we drove to visit Sr Porter's sister, Ursula, her husband, Hellmut, and their kids with their kids:-)  There were 20 of us there that day, overnight and until we hit the road the next day.  There were also 3 missing - Sandra, her husband and their son (Jonas) who remained in Salt Lake City.

                  

Hellmut and Ursula were excellent host                               We were happy to be part of it

and hostess :-)                                                                        with them:-)

                       

The girls had a pajama party! The two                      Ragnar (Rags) and his wife (Lisa) were also

OLDEST SISTERS had the most fun!!!            happy to visit "home" from their home in Houston.

                                                       Rags' sister, Naomi is at the end of the table with her little girl:-)

The day after Christmas we went for a walk along the Rhein River. We walked about 2 Kilometers (a little over a mile) to an area where another giant ferris wheel was placed. This one was a giant compared to the other ones we saw in Dresden and Bremen.  The word in German for Giant is Riesen - this one was Riesen!!! :-)  BUT - it wasn't running until later in the afternoon, so we missed that experience as we drove back to WHV.

Sorry, but my pic of the Giant Ferris Wheel up close and personal didn't pan out. This pano includes (R-L) the bridge over the Rhein, the telephone tower, the Giant Ferris Wheel (YES - I know you will need a magnifying glass, but I don't know how to use this system very well:-( ) - The church steeple (more to follow) and some other buildings.

      The church steeple will look very familiar to our son, Matthew. He did a very nice pencil drawing of it when he was in Düsseldorf during his junior year in High School

   His art work still hangs in our home and looks very nice with its black frame on a white wall:-)

We all had a lot of fun looking at the little creek (River) called the "Düssel", which gave the city its name.

See the DUCKS - it's in the water.
See everyone else - they're NOT - and we wouldn't want it any other way:-)

The kids had a ton of fun - yes, of course they had to jump, but I didn't get a picture.  May have needed it for the police and insurance for 'child cruelty' or parental malfeasence - but we didn't.

So we took a break and all had HOT CHOCLATE with WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP!

Nope - I didn't get a picture of that either. My fingers were too cold and the hot choclate mug felt too warm for me to think of picture taking :-)

The sculpting on the left is a commemerative where the big battle occured where they won the independence to become a "city" or established location of its own.  To the center, is the Düssel, and to the right the wonderful hot chocolate place.  There were 17 of us, and it was a little more than 30 Euros - which would be about $40. I frankly don't know what the exchange rate is, but we are on the lower end of this money value thing - but the investment value for fun as a family and meeting so many young relatives we had never met (other than Rags, Lisa and their children, certainly made it worthwhile.  Watching the Munchkins downing that hot chocolate with the whipped cream reminded me a of a, "Got MILK???" commerical when they looked up.

T

26Jan2014 - Gee -- It seems like only last month that we updated our BLOG!!

Hello ALL - 

   It has been a long time since we updated our blog. Yes - we have been busy, but also have taken perhaps too much time to rest and recharge at the expense of doing some blogging:-)

   Just before Christmas 2013, we took a trip to Bremen to look at their Christmas Markt. We had a couple of members with us - Jürgen Schulz and Amy Woolcott (from Chicago) who are married and have been an enormous help to us in getting started and understanding our new environment. We appreciate their blessing our lives so much:-)

As we walked toward the Bremen Christmas Markt, Sister Porter (Brigitte) stopped to give us a nice pose. Notice the church steeples and streetcars (Straßenbahnen) in the background. And - of course, a part of a very nice Christmas tree.

Another very nice Ferris Wheel (Riesenrad - Giantwheel) which is part of the Christmas Market celebrations.

There are many, many shops here, just like in Dresden, but much smaller.  There are many places to get warm drinks (and when you're lucky, Hot Chocolate:-) ) You can find gallons of Glüwein, but we found a special treasure that we don't find in the U.S.,

This "Heavenly Imbis" had a very attractive aroma for some travellers who were very hungry.  As we were enjoying our Wurst "hotdog" - Wurst in a bun - our friend Br Schulz let us know it was horse meat.  That is unusal to our diet, but common in Germany. Many people survived on horse meat when food was so very scarce at the end of the war -- or in decimated towns/cities where only survivors then lived.  The military had done its thing and moved on to the "front" where the fighting continued.

  However, it still tasted very good, but the thought was provocative:-)  I was glad that My Friend Flicka was dead and gone, but not to this heaven:-)

The nativity scene at the base of one of the churches was being enjoyed by a young girl and her family. The family had gone ahead, but the little girl was still enjoying the scene, colors, and artistry.

Some very nice buildings on the square.

       

               

So farewell until our next installment - coming very soon (Trust Me) :-)

  

20Dec2013

 

Hello all - our apologies for being so slow in updating our blog :-(

 

We have had a very busy December. Aside from our weekly district or zone meetings, we also enjoyed a 'senior retreat' with the older folks who are serving in so many ways here in the Berlin, Germany Mission.  We appreciate ALL the well wishes via email and usual postage (we assume we got it all, but never know:-) ). We enjoyed hearing from so many during this Christmas and Holiday  Season.  Germany is really special during Christmas time, and we were pleased we were able to share so many things together and with friends and family.



However, FIRST - Sister Porter wanted to thank the grandkids in Lantana, TX for sending her a 'get well' card while she was a bit under the weather with a cold. The card was better than anything I could come up with as a misplaced pharmacist :-)

 

This is our Senior Missionary Group - 31 of us (15 couples & 1 Sister). We met at the Stake Center in Dresden and it was a very uplifting and spiritual experience. However, it was even more outdone the next day when we went to the hilltop where President Monson re-dedicated the Dresden Mission to missionary work.

 

 

 

 

 

The place where President Monson said the dedicatory prayer was just  below this water tower that has been in place for many years. It was a very picturesque place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Kosak read the dedicatory prayer to us while she stood on the hillside overlooking Dresden.  We are working on getting our own copy of the prayer as a keepsake for our mission and experiences.

 

Brigitte met Sister Kessler while at this retreat. She is from the State of Washington, but met her husband in Duesseldorf. Her parents were building missionaries there at that time, and her husband to be was in the German Air Force. In any case, she knew Brigitte's family quite well and Sr Kessler also met Brigitte in Salt Lake many years ago. Did someone say, "It's a SMALL world."?

She is now serving in Rostock where Sister Porter has a cousin, Jochen. We have visited them in the past during our trips to Germany, and Jochen and Heidi came to stay with us last May for a few days. We have high hopes we can open their hearts to listen to the Plan of Happiness/Life/Salvation:-)  They can enjoy all of what our Father in Heaven has for us.

 

 

You can see Dresden down below us in this picture on the hillside, but - as you can see - it was overcast and foggy.  You can't see the wind, but take our word for it, it was an attention getter:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later this same day, we visited the Dresdener Christmas Market. What a place and what a crowd. Here are some pictures we took - and no, these are not ALL of them:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dadblasted PHONE - at least I'm not a technonerd.  Techno just doesn't apply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the great pyramids from the Erzgebirge - Dresden is in this area and the Germans there make wonderful wood workings - especially for Christmas.  The nutcrackers, pine trees, nativities, and a ton of etceteras of fine workmanship are all over the place during this market season.

 

We will try to find some of it during the off season and see if it fits our budget better, but it is certainly fine things to have to decorate the home with.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

You get another great insight into their craftsmanship with this little 'shop' in this market place. Some of you may know that this is a Gluwine and Schnapps stop. A lot of people are busy getting into their sense of the Christmas spirit there on the left. There are high table tops where you can stand and enjoy your warm Gluwine, etc.and even get lucky to have a tabletop near an outside heating unit:-)  It smelled wonderful, but we just sniffed and looked:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very nice opportunity it get some nice pics while walking in the market place.

There are also some excellent works of art in many buildings in Dresden. Sadly, we didn't have time for them, but hope to put them on a 'bucket list'. If you look on the internet for Dresden, you will see what we mean:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And no - we didn't go away empty handed. However, I used to be able to hold my arms MUCH higher without difficulty.

And - YES - I could say the same thing about my tummy:-)  I knew you would ask yourselves that question.

 

We had to head back to the North Sea and our part of the vineyard, as we had meetings to attend and a lot of people yet to visit -

 

Love you all and miss you - but the work is picking up fast now - we are about to finish our 4th month in the mission field:-)