Sommer

Basically my summer consisted of nothing, because the girls were always gone and there was just nothing going on. When they were home, it was just play time. So I didn't photograph a lot of that, but it was a lot of fun. Here are some pics of us having a small little fire in the backyard next to the tent the girls slept in for a week. We roasted marshmellows, although they were weird marshmellows so they tasted funny. But it was fun. And it was raining while we did it, but that was fun too!











Majlie turned 11! So we had a little party for her with family. She said she didn't want to have a party with her friends. She is hitting puberty right now so she is a little moody and she often tells us that she doesn't want anything to do with this person or that person on a particular day. So we just gathered as family and has a little cookout and gifts and such.


I spent a lot of time in Kiel with the YSAs and the missionaries. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed spending time up there and I made some really good friends, some of which will be in Utah with me next year! So I hope we stay in contact! I met Sina a few months back as she investigated the church. She always wanted to speak English with us as she is planning on being on of those at BYU next fall! So she got baptized on August 9th. It was really cool. I had gone to her apartment earlier that day and we had popcorn and watched chick flicks. Then I drove her to the church and helped out with the baptism. It was a really neat experience. It made me kind of feel like I was helping out Michelle too at hers, so it made me feel better about not being able to be there for her. I love you Michelley! She was investigating for a long time so a lot of missionaries had helped with her, and they all got permission to come. So we had 6 sets of missionaries. And I knew at least one from every set! So that was a lot of fun! Sister Taylor (the one in pink) was transferred a while ago, but I always felt like her and I would be great friends. So it was really nice to see her again!

After the baptism we all went out to eat at a little Turkish place. It was a lot of fun. This was the last time we were all together before the big transfer where most people were transferred. We spent a lot of time with the missionaries in Neumünster since they were so close, so I always think of the area with 3 sets instead of 2. Almost everyone was transferred. Sad day.

Sister Durham and I are planning on rooming together when we get back to Provo!

Some interesting things came out that night. I have some videos as well...

So other than that, it was pretty much uneventful. I got a package from my Michelle and my mom which was amazing! I enjoyed everything very much! So it was nice to have a few things from the good ol' US of A that I missed. I still dream about that beef jerkey...

Bremen

So we went to Bremen for the weekend 2 weeks ago and it was awesome. I finally got to see some of the city. It was so beautiful!

I also had my first train ride!!! It was pretty fun. Nerve wracking, but fun.



So Bremen is absolutely stunning in it's architecture and history. It was absolutely amazing. If I could spend everyday looking at history like that I would! So here are just some pictures of the city.





The whole town was just teaming with statues and old beautiful buildings. Pretty much all of the buildings had statues like this at the top.

This is the town hall. You should have seen it up close! It was so pretty!







Roland. There is a whole history of Roland, but this is Bremen's Roland, protecting the city with his unbreakable sword, Durendart.



There was an area of the city that used to be the sailor quarters, as Bremen is a port city. Right of the big river, there is what's called the Schnoor. It's where all the captains lived and where all the sailors stayed when in port. It's now a historical alley. All the streets are extremely small and tight, and these days, filled with tourists.


This was the main sailor hotel sort of thing. Now it's a restaurant.


This particular street was 1.8 meters wide. That's 5'9''. Pretty tight.



The river runs right through town so it is quite the area to see. There are shops and little stands and restaurants and all kinds of little things to see all along.

A Pirate ship turned into a restaurant.

Along the bank, people set up little tents and tables and sell things like a big garage sale. It's called Flohmarkt.

A watertower. I thought it looked cool all nestled into the trees.

Mimi played assistant to the magician on the steps of the town hall.

The Grimm Brother's fairy tale of the Bremer Musicians. I had a book on this when I was young. Now I have seen it in person!


This old church was built in the 1300s by a poor munk. Later it was the place in which "Lobe den Herrn, den Almächtigen König" was written. In English it is "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty". Every 15 minutes past the hour, it plays on the bells.

Every hour on the hour, another set of bells plays. These bells are a HUGE tourist attraction. It was also the first time for the family here to see it. It was pretty cool.



This part of the building turns while the bells play.


There are 10 pannels that rotate throughout the duration of the bells.


There were these 2 guys that painted themselves all silver and had a camera set up. Then they would pose like statues and not move until someone put a tip in their little jar. Then when someone put a tip in, they would chase them down and tell them that those who put in a tip got a discount picture with them for 2 euro. It worked like a charm. The girls wanted it so we took a picture with them. I will scan it and put it in my collection later. But it was a very good idea.

That night in Bremen there was an annual music festival playing on the name of Mozarts "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" which means 'a little night music'. This was called "Eine Grosse Nachtmusik" which of course means 'a big night music'. Pretty cool. We didn't get to see any of the concerts since it was way late and it was very expensive. But they lit up the whole main part of town and it was quite the spectical!