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 Store your treasures in heaven,

where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty

and where they will be safe from thieves.

Matthew 6:20 New Living Translation

Jordan’s Birthday Party

We just got home from celebrating his seventeenth birthday.

His sister, Jenna, arranged the candles in the upper left in the shape of a number seventeen.

Guess what we had to go with the cake?

Who wants to lick the paddles?

Nathan said, “I will.”

~~~

My body clock is still not in sync with Eastern Standard Time, which means I am quickly fading and having trouble thinking clearly, so it’s time to give up and go to bed.

Birthday Wishes!

 A short “family commercial” before continuing our trip.

Happy Eighteenth Birthday to Josiah

He is our third grandchild, and celebrated his birthday on August 1 when we were in Germany.

Happy Tenth Birthday to Diana.

She is our eleventh grandchild and also celebrated her birthday on August 1.  She was happy to show us her new BB gun last night, and cannot wait to be old enough to go hunting with grandpa.

Happy Seventeenth Birthday to Jordan.

He is our fourth grandchild and celebrating his birthday today.

The Lord delights in his people.

Psalm 149:4 New Living Translation

Our Homeland

Minutes after our 10:35 a.m. departure, it was time to leave the beautiful Alps behind us.

~~~

The return trip seemed to go by more quickly than our flight to Berlin almost two weeks ago – maybe because it was daylight for the entire eight hours.

~~~

 We knew we were “home” when this skyline came into view.

Then we saw her – our own Statue of Liberty.

~~~

The entire day went smoothly – check-in, security, flight, and customs.

After getting home, we decided to visit our sons and their families (who live locally), my youngest brother’s wife, and my oldest brother and his wife – in an effort to stay awake until 10:00 p.m. 

It has been a long day, and my body clock thinks it’s 4:00 a.m. Friday, but give me another day or two, and my body will be in sync again.

~~~

Thanks for all your kind words and prayers.

my  

Our Flight Home

It’s 9:50 a.m., and boarding has just begun!

Zurich and Einsiedeln

Our day began with a combination bus and walking tour to places of interest on this heritage journey.  The first stop was the University of Technology, Zurich.

We had a colorful and interesting guide.

Overlooking Zurich from the University of Technology.

On today’s tour we learned about Felix Manz…

Christoph Froschauer

Konrad Grebel

and Ulrich Zwingli.

Zwingli’s study

~~~

Following our guided tour, we had several hours of free time.

~~~

Cerwin, me, and nine others chose a one-and-a-half-hour cruise on Lake Zurich (Zurichsee).

Our other goal was to have coffee and dessert – and buy some Sprungli chocolate at a shop near where we would be meeting the bus.  In the above photo, Cerwin is deciding on the dessert.

Back on the bus.

Then we went on an interesting trip to the Benedictine Abbey in Einsiedeln.  Zwingli spent two years here as a monk, before leaving and becoming an active part of the Reformation.  We stayed to enjoy evening vespers before returning to our motel.

Back at our hotel, we enjoyed a grilled salmon dinner and farewell activities.  Gordon Hoffert (tour guide) gave special thanks to Jim and Pam Hardenbrook (tour hosts) and Bruno Lenhardt (bus driver), before he and…

Pam Hardenbrook read poems and prose that were written to honor each person on the tour.

When it was Jan Stroup’s turn, they blindfolded her to see if she knew which was her husband – Don Stroup or Stafford Frederick (right).

That is because the funniest thing of the trip happened today on our city tour when Jan thought Don was standing next to her and reached out to take his hand – however, it was Stafford’s hand.  He didn’t say anything, but waited to see how long it would take before she realized she was holding the wrong hand!)

She was rubbing his back, when to her embarrassment, she discovered it was Stafford!

~~~

Tomorrow we head back to the USA.  I’m sad that the trip is over, but getting ready to be home again.

Wish I Knew the German Word for “Wow!”

After breakfast, our bus driver took us to Lauterbrunnen where we boarded a cog wheel train.

The train took us to Wengen, where most of us got on this gondola, went up an Alps’ mountain range, and began an hour-and-a-half-walk to Kleine Scheidegg.  A few who were not comfortable walking that distance stayed on the train and met us at Kleine Scheidegg.

The clouds were low this morning, but it was the most fabulous walk of my life.

Anna and Sam

The path was lined with beautiful, alpine flowers. 

As we enjoyed the beauty, we also kept an eye on the sky for a break in the clouds when we could see mountain peaks.  It was partially sunny and cool.

Before long we heard the most fabulous sound – cow bells!

Cows were everywhere – and each bell had a different sound.

Notice the different kinds of bells.

This cow was on the path for awhile.

The end of the trail for us.

After shopping and lunch, our group is waiting for the train to take us down the mountain.

~~~

After getting off the train, we drove a short distance to Trummelbach Falls.

Nothing prepared us for the sound and force of 20,000 liters of melting glacier water blasting down the inside of this mountain.

The light area in the rear is the waterfall.  It was very wet in there!

Words that come to mind when trying to describe the sound:  roar and thunder, but neither give the sound justice.

~~~

From there we headed to Zurich.

It was a day of fabulous sights and sounds – much more than eyes and ears can take in.

As we drove into Zurich this evening, it was evident that a street fair was in progress.  Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, and since it is quite warm here, the windows are open, so I am listening to a variety of city sounds as I make this entry.  I just stepped out onto the balcony to check out some of the sounds.

I took 678 pictures today, so you will see many more photos after we get home.

Germany to Switzerland

Our first activity was seeing the Rhine River Valley from a chair lift.  Some chose to see the Rhine by taking a short bus trip.  Notice the chair lifts in this photo.

The group that went to the top of the chair lift area.

A beautiful view of the valley below.

Crossing the Rhine on a ferry.

The mill which was owned my Alexander Mack’s family

The church Alexander Mack attended as a boy.  He was also married in this church.

Our very capable guide in Schriesheim, Dr. Hans Jorg Schmidt (right) told us about the history of Alexander Mack and his family.  He took us to the mill, the church, then to the town hall where we learned more about the Mack family and saw some historic records.  He did some fabulous research.

The man on the left, Wlademir Starowiecki, happened to be in town, and was curious about us.  As I talked, I realized we needed Hans Jorg to interpret.  When I asked Wlademir a few questions about his life, he told about being imprisoned at Buchenwald concentration camp for three years.  We visited there last Thursday!  He was there when the American soldiers arrived and freed the prisoners.  We could have spent hours with him!  

Our last stop tonight was a hotel near Lucerne, Switzerland.

Don’t you feel sorry for us?  This is the view from our motel room.

During our cheese fondue supper, we were entertained by a wonderful Swiss Folklore Show.

At one point, these four men played a game exchanging their hats – as the music got faster and faster.  If they did not get the hat on the next man in time, they were out of the game, until only one remained.

Then they chose four of our men to play the game – Sam, Gordon, Cerwin, and Ken (with his back to the table).  Cerwin was declared the winner!

It was a fabulous day, and it is now 12:30 a.m. – time for this lady to get to bed.

Our Last Day in Schwarzenau

To me, the highest of today’s highlights was our tour group’s morning devotions at the Eder River.  Singing “Shall We Gather at the River?” was more meaningful than ever before!

The morning worship was quite meaningful and challenging.  This is the lineup of people who spoke, prayed, or read scripture.

There were an estimated 800-850 in attendance.

We enjoyed a lunch of stew and a hard roll, and a short break before going back for the afternoon service.

The afternoon consisted of introductions and greetings from dignitaries, of which the most impressive was Bernhart, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein.  There were many other government, local, and church dignitaries who spoke.

Then the church delegations from foreign countries were introduced one-by-one.  This one is from Africa. 

We enjoyed the afternoon, but I think each speaker went over their three-minute allotment, and the main speaker’s message went overtime – turning two hours into three – meaning our bus had to leave before the closing program at the river.  We were disappointed to miss that, but needed to be in Rudesheim by 8:00 p.m. for dinner.

Soon we were back on the Autobahn and within two hours were seeing signs to Frankfurt. 

Our first sighting of the Rhine River…

…and lots of vineyards.

Our motel in Rudesheim.

We met our eight o’clock dinner appointment right on time – an outside garden a few blocks from the motel.  It doesn’t get any more delightful than that!

If I can get on the Internet tomorrow night, I’ll tell you about our chair lift ride over the Rhine River Valley – which is on schedule for the morning.

It’s midnight here, so I better get to bed!