John and Becky

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T18:34:00.000+01:00

Helen arrives in Stuttgart. Let the party begin!

Helen ventures into the city - a familiar scene

Her first glimpse of our new shopping "mall"

John begins the task of attaching wood for the tree stand

Hey Steve, This is for you - superior German quality screws! Wenn schon, denn schon!

New LED tree lights

The master at work

The apprentices at work

The Christmas Eve service - our orchestra!! (Rebekka, with the violin, is also an angel in the skit, thus the elaborate outfit.)

The play with Susanne and Dietmar as Mary and Joseph; they made a very cute, sweet couple!!

A bearded Joel as the innkeeper; his sister Caren is the little angel

Super spread!

Steffi's new addition to our traditional meal - cherry pie!!

The little old man and the little old woman - very happy and blessed!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FREYA!!! Our favorite 34 year old child!

2011-12-22T11:43:00.000+01:00

Our first baby to be born in Germany - rather dramatic in almost every way!

Grammy visited us between Christmas and New Year's. In addition to presents, she even brought the traditional Christmas feast - ham, Greek bread, cookies, etc. (not nearly so many airline/agricultural restrictions "back in the day")!

Monica watching over her baby sister, who is asleep in a cradle that Grampy made.

Taking Freya with us to a European field conference in France. (Also, "back in the day" - where are the safety seats?)

Freya's first birthday

Even as a child Freya was looking for apples to process.

I love music!

Who is this new little guy?

I love Legos!

My first summer in the USA - corn on the cob!

At Grammy and Grampy's - the great suppliers of OshKosh jeans!

Freya with her own version of Corduroy

Having fun on the balcony of our apartment in Leinfelden

Summer 1981

November 1981 - the St. Martin's (Lantern) "parade"

Hmmm?????

Celebrating her birthday at the kindergarten

On the cliff of Solutré in France

First day of school - first grade

7 years old!

9 years old!

4th grade school photo

In the airport on our way to the U.S., with Pia (who shares Freya's birthday) and with Helen

Freya's "space" has always been creative!!

Afternoon for the Family

2011-12-17T21:21:00.015+01:00

Welcome sign and arrows to our church entrance. Notice that a bicycle shop is now under our rooms (the owner bought the whole building).

We started with cake and coffee/tea/cocoa/juice. One boy had his 6th birthday - so the Pauls made him a special cake.

Different projects located throughout our meeting room

Eagerly awaiting guests (on the lookout)

This father quickly removed his suit coat and got very involved with the baking.

Block of the Month Progress

2011-12-14T17:02:00.007+01:00

I started this Block of the Month quilt in May. The Quilt Trends store forwarded me (via John) all the months' segments up until March 2012.

This was the first block!

Once I got to sewing the setting triangles, I had to carefully label the fabrics.

This week I finished all the packets I had received so far. There is still a thin, dark blue border between the main section and the other borders. And then another wider border around the whole top.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THOMAS!!! Our favorite 32 year old child!

2011-11-14T10:06:00.028+01:00

The 1,000th baby to be born in 1979 in that Stuttgart hospital - earned us a huge flower bouquet and special congratulations

Welcome home, little brother!

Okay, so maybe my DNA doesn't include the "standing-in-my-dad's-hand-agility", but sitting is good!

First haircut - happened at Grammy and Grampy's during my first time to the USA

Learning all about those American sports

Osh Kosh b'Gosh forever

So happy for a little brother . . . I think!?

A trip to the zoo

Fun with Freya - no jumping on the beds!

One of many pictures of the inseparable brothers

Fashion forward?

Always helpful

I love Legos!

Is that a flannel shirt?

First day of first grade (flannel forever)!

Thomas and his Kreuel oboe

And then there were 3 brothers!

November - Falling Leaves and Thanksgiving

2011-11-02T12:50:00.015+01:00

After the nuts, now come the leaves!

Working hard. . .

. . . or hardly working?

Oreo cookie crust for the peanut butter pie

Pumpkin pie

Apple pie

Steffi's first attempts at pie-making were super successes!

The peanut butter/whipped cream/cream cheese filling

Perfection!

Sweet potatoes with pecans

Now, how did we do the turkey the last time???

Improvised roasting rack (those are cookie cutters)

Following a strict schedule, Steffi faithfully basted the turkey with melted butter.

Nadine created the napkin decorations and made name cards.

Cooking the potatoes for mashed potatoes

Lookin' good!

Green bean casserole

The gang's all here. . .

Plus - Steffi and Lukas and Micha at the "VIP" table

Steffi's delicious creations!

This is the peanut butter pie - tasted like a Snickers candy bar - but better!

"Millions of Cats"

2011-10-18T13:03:00.011+02:00

Some may remember the story of the very old man and the very old woman . . .

We have a new version:
Once upon a time there was a very old man and a very old woman.
They lived in a nice clean house which had yellow tulips all around it.
But they couldn't be happy, because they didn't have anything to eat.

The very old man and the very old woman decided to plant a walnut tree in front of the house.
Before long they were saying,
"Nuts here, nuts there. Nuts and nutshells everywhere. Hundreds of nuts. Thousands of nuts. Millions and billions and trillions of nuts!"

The very old man and the very old woman exclaimed,
"We have never had a harvest like this before! We shall never go hungry again."

And they lived happily ever after.

Showing the Sights

2011-10-10T19:53:00.014+02:00

The hosts and hostess with the "most-ess"! (We should also have a photo of Steffi and Dietmar here, because they contributed greatly in caring for our guests on Sunday!) First stop, Neresheim

Our guests John and Shari from Marion, Ohio

A day's outing to the concentration camp in Dachau

Train platform where the prisoners arrived

A memorial to depict the color patches prisoners had to wear to represent their "crimes" or reason for imprisonment

Ashes of the unknown concentration camp prisoner

For those of you who know German - the Dachau song

Memorial to the dead/warning to the living

Crematorium ovens

A second crematorium was added, including a gas chamber, but the gas chamber wasn't used for mass extermination (as in Auschwitz). Possible that individuals or groups might have been gassed, but Dachau was a "work" camp (with its own atrocities)

The ovens were used.

In a wooded park area there were places where different kinds of execution had taken place.

Main camp road - the barracks are no longer there, but their outlines are marked

Two reconstructed barracks give an idea of living conditions

A quick stop in Ulm

Saying good-bye to John and Shari!

Fall decorations

2011-10-06T16:51:00.007+02:00

Summer's End

2011-09-21T13:26:00.014+02:00

Saying good-bye to Erika

Trimming branches off the walnut tree

Children's church "object lesson" project - The 4 soils in the parable of the sower and the seed

IKEA purchases - a step stool

This is in the bath accessories section - a wooden hand towel rack; I'm using it for displaying/storing John's sofa quilt (idea from the Oh, Fransson! website, which Gina had recommended a while back)

Steffi and Dietmar wanted to mark the beginning of Zach's last high school year in a special way, so at breakfast on the city festival weekend, they presented him with a filled-with-goodies school cone. The cones are traditionally carried by first graders on their first day of school. Zach's holding the one he actually received back in 2000.

Moved to tears?? (I think he was getting the sleep out of his eyes.)

Steffi and Dietmar, you are crazy!!

The puppy Zach always wanted!!

Finishing touches to special cupcakes for a niece's birthday party!

These cupcakes are very mini for Dietmar's hands.

Scenes from the café-bus/city festival weekend

First, parked at the church, and then to our location in the city

Storm is brewing; dark clouds and lightning moving in. We'd started to consider "closing shop", but the sudden swing in weather ended all deliberations and forced us into frantic action!

Our little boy heading to the train to travel with his class to the Stuttgart airport and then to ROME!!!

John and I, in a deep depression after sending Zach off, sought comfort food.

Extreme Weather

2011-08-28T07:40:00.011+02:00

A sudden summer storm

It brought some of the largest hailstones we can remember

Our tree got shredded and the "sandbox" filled up

15 minutes later the sun came out and revealed a beautiful double rainbow

The pot of gold was just behind Vogt's house - but we didn't get it!

50+ years of memories! Wading in (Part 1)

2011-07-12T19:27:00.025+02:00

Becky saying good-bye at the Aalen train station on Wednesday, June 29, always prepared to man the home front while I'm off on the next adventure. This time to Worthington, Ohio to clear out our parents' home of all their personal belongings and prepare it for new renters to move in.

After a routine flight, a stop at McDonalds before taking on the project. Thanks, Clara and Nick, for bringing your mom and dad along to pick me up at the Columbus airport.

337 Schrock Rd. What a wonderful place for kids to play!

The Varner family arrived on Thursday and wasted no time getting down to serious work. The first project at hand: build a front for the carport with two large swinging doors. This would be the storage area for all the items we wanted to save. Steve was more than capable for the task.

We loved the gun that literally fired nails into the concrete.

Meeting the new renters, Mike and Molly Kremnitzer and their 4 teen children. They stashed their belongings in the house and graciously headed off for a week's vacation giving us time to clear the house.

Erika was in from Marion, Indiana for the duration. She and I pulled the door shut on July 7 before she dropped me off at the airport.

Entertaining the Varner kids for a minute.

Elizabeth and Erika carefully packing all the items from the beautiful oak corner china cupboard.

Framing in and getting the doors placed.

Max and Henry offering expert counsel.

Chris Day brought his two boys, Tyler and Bradley, and we quickly took advantage of the muscle power to begin getting the large wood-working machinery out of the basement. These young guys did man's work!

Maybe we should have removed this door BEFORE we tried to maneuver the band saw out into the garage!

During the first days, master chef Freya took over the entire food service for all the workers - planning menus, shopping, food preparation, serving and clean-up. With many willing hands to help.

We ate like kings to keep our strength and motivation up.

Nobody had to go home hungry.

Starting to look like a wall.

Chris managed to get the mower running, but alas the mowing deck was in need of more extensive repair than we could accomplish in the time we had available.

So much to see and do . . . on various days there were anywhere from 4-5 on up to 10 or 12 kids exploring the place, re-connecting with one another and having the time of their lives. They added a delightful dimension to the whole project.

Hinges in place, the doors are ready to open wide and receive the first items for storage.

A surprise visit from friends Sy and Renessa Belohlavek.

Lots of delicious fruit and healthy vegetables.

Organized chaos! With only 1/2 day of rain (thank you, Lord!), we were able to use the driveway as the processing area for sorting and repacking dozens and dozens of boxes. Items to be discarded were placed on piles waiting for the dumpster to arrive.

With the enclosure completed and the doors hung, there was one last structure to be built. Thanks to Sy's encouragement and practical help we received the necessary motivation to press on into the night Friday and construct a loft on the back half of the carport to allow for more efficient use of the available space.

In the end, without the loft we would have been hard-pressed to finish the task.

50+ years of memories! Getting serious about disposing of items (Part 2)

2011-07-12T19:12:00.021+02:00

Due to Elizabeth's superior and persistent negotiating skills, she accomplished the almost unheard of feat of ordering a dumpster on Saturday morning that was delivered that very afternoon - on the 4th of July weekend - at the best price in town! That girl's going to run the country some day!

It was so very damp in the back basement pump room that we discovered these creatures thriving in the darkness on the floor and gingerly removed them.

Now for some serious trash removal.

Time to begin clearing the basement of nearly 60 years of accumulated treasures.

Kara, after missing out on the "fun" on the previous day brought the girls along and joined Monica and Erika as they sorted and packed box after box of items pulled out of drawers, boxes and cupboards.

The first items for storage - the heavy machinery from the basement and garage.

Fearless budding young naturalists.

Beginning to fill up.

With plenty more needing to go in.

What in the world are these things? Grampy creations.

At the end of a good, hard day's work, lots of smiling faces.

Daniel and Elizabeth along with Erika performed the amazing feat of emptying the attic in a single day . . .

. . . under the watchful eye of Lena Mae.

It soon became apparent that we were going to have to conserve on dumpster space. Taking the sledge hammer to bulky items.

Christmas in the air.

I'm pretty sure the attic hasn't looked this way since the fall of '57, the day we moved in.

As quickly as things are sorted, packed and stored, more items appear for processing.

The only way to eat a piece of garlic bread: smash your face into it.

Homemade pizza - like I said, we ate like kings.

Max sculpturing patterns into the lawn with the mower.

50+ years of memories! Packing and cleaning, seeing light at the end of the tunnel (Part 3)

2011-07-12T18:39:00.031+02:00

Immediately after returning from her camping vacation Jennifer called and said they were ready to pitch in and help as well. On Sunday she and Dean along with Mia and Leo were welcome additions to the "party."

Wheelbarrow rides for all just before the Varners had to head back to Indiana on Sunday afternoon. We lost our chef cook and master designer/builder, but by then we were well on our way to completing the project.

For the next couple of days Dean and John spent many hours in the sweat box piecing an intricate puzzle together.

With the simple instruction "pack as efficiently as you can" the men mastered the fine art of making every cubic centimeter count!

With packing and sorting moving along smoothly, Elizabeth and Erika were free to turn their attention to cleaning to prepare for the new tenants. They also took over kitchen duties, making sure the workers were well supplied with food and drink.

Beginning in the attic and moving down floor by floor they transformed many a window, wall, floor and carpet - and a refreshing "clean" smell began to prevail.

Meanwhile Tyler and Bradley with the slightest hint of reluctance (they were hoping for a riding mower!), but with willing spirits, tackled the enormous job of getting the over-grown yard into some semblance of order.

While the scary job of removing items overgrown with dust, spiderwebs and mildew from the corners and crannies of the back basement rooms continued.

And the sorting, sifting, organizing and packing continued.

Susan Ritter's comment: "Where did all those chairs come from!?"

The puzzle takes on recognizable form. The question remained, "Will they be able to get everything in?"

Nearly every person who went into the basement made the same comment, "I never knew there was a fireplace down here!"

And the sorting, sifting, organizing and packing continued.

With the help of Craig's list we were able to sell and give away several items.

Refreshing popsicle break on a hot afternoon.

And the smiles still shining brightly, evidence that in spite of many days of hard work, a good time was had by all.

The master packers and their work of art.

To their great delight, Leo and Nick found an entire set of toy soldiers on the back part of the property. Those kept them busy for hours.

Jennifer and Dean provided all of us with the "makins" for ice cream sundaes! Did I already say that we ate like kings?

As the driveway began to reappear, the dumpster filled up and the carport started to bulge at the seams. The end was coming into view. We started to believe that the job could be finished.

Good friend Phil Smith came by for a couple of hours and got the thankless tasks of compacting discarded cardboard boxes for recycling pick-up and shifting things in the dumpster to "create" more space.

John and Dean finally carried the large and heavy TV from the upstairs room - a job everyone had been avoiding for several days.

Craig's list came to our aid once again and at some point the TV disappeared.

The next dilemma - what to do with the nearly 100 cans (I'm not exaggerating!) of partially used paint that had accumulated in the basement over the decades. The city of Worthington would pick up certain types of paint if they were mixed with dirt or sawdust and thoroughly dried. But what about the rest?

To our surprise and delight, the man who picked up the dumpster said he'd take ALL the paint. So we quickly loaded up everything in trash bags and placed them in his truck. Apparently he can get some money out of them somehow. A relief for us and a bit of profit for him.

Good buddies!

Quiz question: Whose awsome calf muscle is this?
A. Nick
B. Kara
C. Dean
D. Lena Mae
E. None of the above
F. All of the above
G. A and C

First correct answer wins!

Could anyone but a dentist be interested in carious lesions of a rat's molars?

We felt a bit of plastic security netting was in order - just to be on the safe side.

Calling it a day.

50+ years of memories! - Final days (Part 4)

2011-07-12T18:14:00.019+02:00

With the original dumpster filled to capacity, we quickly arranged for a "bagster" to accommodate the last items to discard.

The refrigerator was barely cooling and in a vain attempt to resurrect it, I spent a few minutes on the floor trying to coax it back to life.

On the last full day, pictures of amazingly empty spaces where just a few short days before the accumulated treasures of half a lifetime were stored.

We filled the "bagster" and it was picked up shortly after I returned to Germany.

A coat of paint would complete this carport wall and give it the appearance that it had always been there.

Reclaimed and transformed basement rooms.

After two scrubbings with a steam cleaner, a sparkling clean carpet and cavernous living space above the garage.

A tidy upstairs hallway with bedrooms left and right.

337 Schrock Rd. Presentable and livable again.

What a good feeling to finally pull the door shut one last time.

Leaving Port Columbus and heading home. Mission accomplished!

Columbus skyline through the haze.

Settling into my seat with a cool drink for the long flight home.

It was an incredible experience and couldn't have been accomplished without the participation of many helping hands. Thanks to all who made it happen.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of our dear friends and neighbors Dick and Susan Ritter. They do, however, deserve HONORABLE MENTION for their frequent visits, encouraging words, oohs and aahs at the progress being made and runs to the store for packing supplies and groceries thus allowing the rest of us to keep to the task.

We were also encouraged by visits from Linda Sexton, neighbor from across the back yard and long-time friend of Mom and Dad from former years.

Steffi's Grand Adventure

2011-06-25T10:43:00.013+02:00

Steffi at her destination (Liebigstr. 7/1)!!! On Thursday she had taken the S-Bahn from Ditzingen to Waiblingen and then traveled the circa 45 miles to Aalen-Unterkochen. (Her blog post will give a better portrayal of her amazing journey!)

The sunset!

The next best thing to being there - Skype anniversary celebration! Happy Wedding Anniversary, Steffi and Dietmar!!

Next day (Friday) - after a shopping "spree", lunch at Subway (with coupons)

"Steffi, just tell me what you're ordering. That's what I want!"

The raspberry whisperer and his apprentice

Already heading back to Ditzingen (Friday evening, this time with the train and S-Bahn). Shortly before, we had picked up Zachary from the youth orchestra practice week. He was one tired little boy!

If you look carefully, you can see Steffi's white helmet close to the pole under the Krings' balcony. She's heading up to the path.

If you look very, very carefully, where there is a teeny-tiny speck of magenta/fuchsia near the middle of the photo, you see Steffi headed toward Aalen on the "cow way". Thanks, Steffi, for letting us share in your exciting adventure!

Church Building Renovation Progress

2011-06-25T10:37:00.001+02:00

After papering the stairwell, now the painting begins!

Time with our guests

2011-06-21T17:42:00.010+02:00

Sarah and Laura - singing on Sunday

Taking Sarah to the Stuttgart airport

Visiting the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart

Short stroll on the Königstraße

Working hard. . and rarely hardly working!!

2011-06-21T16:48:00.025+02:00

Laura cutting up the trimmed branches from our tree

Helping organize my children's Bible teaching materials

Counting small coins and filling a jar for an activity

Filing lots of stories and ideas

Invited to dinner at the Kolsters, before the Bible study

Salome likes her presents!

Bible study at the Kolsters

The raspberry whisperer

Work day at the Kolsters!

Putting together a pavilion

Taking Zach to the regional youth orchestra practice week on the Kapfenburg

After delivering Zach to his orchestra project, we returned to Kolsters to finish our painting job (we'd run out of paint on Thursday).

My assignment was to take Salome and Grace on a long walk!

Grace and Laura

On Saturday, Nadine and girls invited Laura and me to see the Steiff Museum.

"Under the sea"

Piggies!

More Piggies!

Nadine and Salome coming down the huge snake slide

One more pig for you, Erika!

Inge and Annika, standing beside their masterpiece

After church, the youth packing Harald's van for their trip to the Chateau in France

Dennis, the packer and the driver and the only guy amongst 8 girls

Vanessa, Vivi, Joana, Leonie, Dennis, Loraine, Melanie, Angelika and Laura

Last minute check

Ready to pile in

Our Favorite 35 year old Child! Happy Birthday, Monica!!!

2011-06-18T08:20:00.019+02:00

Our only child born in the USA - Goshen, Indiana

Grampy and Grammy stopped by on their way from Oregon back to Ohio to meet Baby Monica

Older and wiser people like Grammy brought "balance to the force" of our rookie child-raising efforts!. Not that we were from "the dark side", but some of the popular books on child care certainly were! With Monica being born only weeks after we graduated from college and seminary (thankfully, she was 2 weeks late!), I think we were still in academic mode, and needed to quickly accelerate into "real life" gear.

Displaying her happy, good-natured mother's side

But every now and again, the wild, passionate Greek influence broke through

Look at me! Look at me! Look at me now! It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how!

Celebrating Monica's first birthday in Oregon with Grammy and Grampy (we were at Kitty's place)

"Transplanted" in Germany

I love nature (and sticks!)!

Easter egg hunt in the Peughs' backyard

Monica loved riding with her dad, exploring the area around our village near Tübingen

Freya and Monica, around Easter time

We love nature (and sticks!)!

Easter egg hunt in our Stuttgart apartment

Vacation in Holland (1981)- Daniel in the carriage

Tradition?!?

Monica and Steffi - Osh Kosh jeans forever!!

Advent, advent!

First day of school

This lonely little girl would like to have some companions.

She enthusiastically welcomed sister Freya. . .

and brother Thomas. . .

and brother Daniel. . .

and sister Stefanie. . .

and sister Erika. . .

and sister Helen. . .

and brother Zachary!!!

This is Monica with Zachary again - I like this photo as well!

And is still know for her radiant smile!

Our Favorite 25 year old Child - Happy Birthday, Erika!!!

2011-06-15T09:19:00.014+02:00

The baby born with an unbelievable head of hair!

I hate passport photos!! But my family is flying to the USA in two weeks - Yikes!!

Thomas holding Erika

Steffi holding Erika

The gang's all here!

Look at me! Look at me! Look at me now! It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how! - The Cat in the Hat

Safe with my dad

The hills are alive with the sound of music! Erika in the Austrian Alps

And the sound of cow bells!

Erika and Steffi (You weren't jumping on the Hide-a-bed, were you?)

Daniel, Steffi, Erika and Monica

Are you talkin' to me?

I wish I could ride a bicycle!

Pappas family reunion in America - 1989

Steffi's first day of school

Fifth birthday - waiting for the village parade

Erika holding Helen

It's nice to have a little sister!

Summer 1992 on Grammy and Grampy's back deck (Are those mosquito bites on your legs?)

6 years old in America (Grafton, WV)

Erika's first day of school

At the Chateau

Eighth birthday

Entertaining Zach while the rest of us finish getting ready to leave for church

Erika and Helen at Doris' wedding

Early baking efforts with Carolina at Edna's

Erika with her pal Zachary

The company CEO - communicating capitalistic principles (just kidding!)

Who would ever cut this beautiful hair?

Night in the Big City and Other Activities

2011-06-06T13:14:00.014+02:00

Excited about our outing in Stuttgart with Steffi and Dietmar

Zach preparing his devotional for youth group

Country bumpkins in the big city

Urban savvy - Steffi and Dietmar waiting for us when our train got in

They guided us to the S-Bahn to reach our destination

A steak house!!! Unbelievably delicious!

Dessert!

Very satisfied and happy - on our way back home

Minor home improvement project - the wallpaper panel in Helen's room, especially vulnerable spot and irresistible temptation for many little fingers over the years

Still have the surplus wallpaper from 1995

Preparing the border strip - this is sorta like quilting

We also pasted down all the peeling places

Table runner - finally finished the quilting

Current project in the church - the small children's room (painting still in progress)

May Madness - Miscellaneous Moments

2011-06-02T12:15:00.019+02:00

May 1st birthday

Can you guess the passage of Scripture Harald was preaching on?

Dennis - the living object lesson

Kolsters, Lukas Schurr and Dietmar

Birthday meal

Steffi - the cake creator

May sunset!

May spider!

May bouquet -surprise for Mother's Day from Steffi and Dietmar!

Peeps in May!

And other treats from Thomas

Annika and I preparing for the next morning's "handbag course".

My finished product

With a zippered pocket on the inside!

May marriage counseling - Steffie and Hans-Martin

Flourishing little flower that once served as a table decoration for Helen's 18th birthday.

Grill party to celebrate Nadine's May birthday

Now, who could (would) have brought this specimen of "Americana"-gone-by, a nostalgic "springboard" into his distant childhood memories?

Refreshing smoothies