Erzgebirgische Holzkunst aus Gahlenz

The title for the day is roughly translated into Ore mountain's folkart located in the city of Gahlenz. We visited our first place that makes and sells nutcrackers, smoker men and other wood art. Oh, it was so exciting for all of us. I need to reiterate my previous post on "made in china" nutcrackers are forbidden in our house and only Erzgebirge "original"nutcrackers are allowed for Christmas decorations. After visiting Gahlenz, it is very easy to agree with Mitch. They are fanstastic and you want to buy everything in the store. I think that is the point. hee, hee, hee

For years Mitch has been telling me that he always wanted a wooden figurine of a german woman holding a plate of kloesse (potato balls). The wooden figurine is what we call a smoker man/girl. You put a type of candle in the figurine and then smoke comes out of her plate of kloesse or potato balls. Guess what we saw today? Yep, we bought the kloesse gal. hee, hee

We took a few pictures of the factory and nutcrackers outside. Apparently, Gahlenz had the largest nutcracker made in the world in 1994? How cool would it be to sell all these Christmas decorations year round? Enjoy the pics!

Weimar, Germany

Yesterday we drove about 2 hours to the famous city of Weimar, Germany. The city is famous for a variety of reasons. It was the home of Goethe and Schiller and for a period of time the famous pianist/musician Franz Liszt. Goethe was a famous poet and playwright and Schiller was a famous author. The statues of them are in front of the city theater where the kids happen to be eating yummy Italian ice cream. The town square pictures are of the city hall and of the famous Elephant Hotel. Look closely at the balcony. This is the place where Hitler gave a speech so long ago. Weimar has a famous music school and has been the home for a period of time to many famous musicians like Bach. It is a beautiful city. We also learned that just outside of Weimar is where the concentration camp, Buchenwald, was liberated on April 11th, 1945. The city of Weimar has been in a lot of ways a center of German culture in the arts. It was interesting to learn so much history and it was a great day. The state of Thueringen which Weimar is the center of is known throughout Germany for its bratwurst which we HAD to take a picture of. We also had McDonald's on our way out of town. What a way to wrap up the day!

Church in Freiberg, Germany

Today was one of Mitch's highlights. We attended church in Freiberg. Mitch loved singing and speaking in German. We also met all these wonderful people including President and Sister Appel. President and Sister Appel had Mitch in their home about 18 years ago for dinner when Mitch was a missionary. Years later, Daniel (Mitch's brother) served as a missionary in Germany with President Appel being the Mission President in charge of all the missionaries in the area. It was just delightful to finally meet and see the people Mitch and Daniel have talked about for so many years.

So Daniel.......President and Sister Appel remember you and we told them about your family. He also said that the missionaries were sometimes......rascals. hee, hee, hee We thought you would like that!

Klein Erzgebirge in Oederan, Germany

Yesterday we went to another small town called Oederan. There is a place called Klein Erzgebirge where old churches, castles and historical buildings are made and displayed into small replicas. It was really interesting to see all these small buildings on display. The kids loved it! Mitch and I then made a list of all the "neat" replicas that we wanted to see. Now we have a working agenda to go and visit the actual location in Eastern Germany. Here are only a few pictures of the replicas.

Side note: The Erzgebirge Region (where we are) is the area that the original nutcrackers are made. I was informed almost 14 years ago when Mitch and I celebrated our first Christmas together that the "made in china" nutcracker decoration that I had displayed in the house was FORBIDDEN and could not possibly be in the same house with his "orginal" nutcrackers from eastern Germany. Ofcourse, he bought some on his mission. Well, after all this time.......I now know why! The wood carvings and nutcrackers are absolutely beautiful and numbered. There is NO comparison.

This place also had a great playground, sand box and toys that the kids could play with. There was even a sprinkler system for the kids to get refreshed. Glori finally got a picture as the princess in the castle. Germany has been hot, hot and hot and the locals say it is a bit unusual.

While we were having fun in the sun and eating yummy soft serve ice cream cones, we couldn't figure out why it was so quiet and no people around. We came back to the farm and realized Germany was playing Argentina in the world cup. Germany won 4 to 0 and cars were honking and German flags are displayed everywhere.......on houses and in cars. Way to go Germany!

More pics of Freiberg, Germany

More pics of the city. Look at the cobble stone streets and the old architecture. It is a beautiful and CLEAN city. Most of the pictures were taken of the old town of Freiberg where a brick/stone wall surrounded the inner circle. Some of the wall is still standing as well as various towers. We also visited a grocery store. We had fun walking all around, had fun at a park and had the best strawberry ice cream sundae ever. Yeah, it was great day!

Freiberg, Germany

Today, we drove to Freiberg. This was Mitch's first city he served in on his mission. He drove straight to the temple grounds with no mistakes. Believe me, I was impressed after 17 years. We visited the grounds with the kids and met some sister missionaries from Texas and Washington. Ofcourse Mitch and the sister missionaries had to talk "shop" about their missions. Mitch was so excited to tell the sisters his "entire" story. hee, hee, hee

Mitch kept saying that he could not believe that he was finally there with his wife and kids. It really has been a dream for him for so many years.

Then Glori and Eli were playing tag on the grass and then down they went with Glori getting a bloody nose. Luckily, I was semi-prepared with wipes and hand sanitizer. Glori is fine and Eli felt really bad when he saw the blood. hee, hee, hee He made Glori cry louder when he said, "oh no, look at all the blood!" yep, that did it. So that ended our temple grounds tour.

Stay tuned for more pics tomorrow!

Frankenstein, Germany

After 17 years, Mitch FINALLY gets to take his family back to where he served his LDS mission in Eastern Germany. We have been married for almost 14 years and I have heard soooooooooooooooooo many stories about his mission, I felt like sometimes I was there. We decided to make our homebase outside of Dresden and then make some visits to the various cities he served in for 2 years.

Yesterday we arrived in Dresden by train only to rent a car and drive to a little town called Frankenstein. There are no monsters here and it is like stepping out of the hustle bustle of city life into a nice, clean, refreshing, country life. We decided to stay about 45 minutes outside of Dresden on a small farm where the kids can feed the chickens, sheep, rabbits and eat fresh strawberries and other veggies right out of the garden. We also can drink some nice clean, well water. Oh, can you just picture it?

Here are some pictures to show you just what I mean.

The large white and brown, barn looking building is the house. We are staying in a nice renovated apartment upstairs.

The green field is where Mitch and I ran this morning first thing along the path through rolling hills of GREEN. We even ran by the forest that looked as if Hansel and Gretal were trying to find their way home.

Ofcourse, we had to take a picture of one of Frankenstien signs.

The first picture is of Mitch eating what we would call a "gyro" but it is really called a dooner (this is not how you really spell it, but it is close.) Mitch wanted to take this picture especially for his brother Daniel. You see, Daniel served in Germany also and wants to come back to visit, but hasn't had a chance to. Daniel loves dooners. So this picture is of one brother rubbing it in to another brother..........how I get pooled into these "brotherly love" antics is beyond me. Anyways, we had a dooner in Freiberg today and it was hmmmm good! We love ya Daniel!

The picture of Mitch standing in front of a whitish building is a sentimental one. This was Mitch's first apartment that he lived in on his mission in his very first city, Freiberg. He literally drove right to it after all these years. Way to go, babe! The building was drab grey back then since it was only a year and a half after the wall came down.

So stay tuned for more pictures. We are having a ball!

Working with the Missionaries

Every month or so I have the privilege to work with the missionaries. We visit other members in the branch or visit non-members. Last week, we drove aways to see a family with 2 daughters who are in my primary class. Kalkidan and Beeza are wonderful, bright girls and it was nice to visit with their mom too!

Mitch's B-Day

We celebrated Mitch's birthday with a yummy dinner and a peach pie.....I had two cans of peaches left. You can't get peaches in Addis. The pie was still hot when we placed the candles in to light them. Note: Mitch does not like cake for birthdays. He is a pie man. The candles started melting.........we laughed so hard. Oh well, we ate the pie like there was no tomorrow and it was good....colorful candle wax in all. hee, hee, hee

Lalibela, Ethiopia

Over the Memorial Day weekend, our family took a trip to northern Ethiopia to see Lalibela. We have been told that you can't live in Ethiopia for a few years and NOT see Lalibela. It would be just a shame. Even the children's atlas has details about Lalibella, Ethiopia. All I can say is it was fantastic to see all these rock-hewn churches, to learn about the culture, the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church and the history. This is why people all over the world visit Ethiopia.

The churches are believed to be built in the late 12 century or early 13 century by King Lalibella's direction. Just google Lalibela, Ethiopia. Go to the wikipedia website or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalibela,_Ethiopia to learn more of the history and details. We took a ton of pictures. Here are just a few.

We had a great time with the kids climbing through tunnels, going inside the churches and seeing the architecture. It was fascinating. If you are ever in Ethiopia, it is a must see.