In case you're wondering...

... we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!!! :)

My great intentions of keeping the blog updated while we were in Germany failed once again, but at least I had a good excuse this time - our computer crashed again!!!

We now have it fixed and I no longer have the crashed computer excuse for not blogging, but it is still going to have to wait just a little while.  That being said, I thought I'd give you a quick update with the promise of hopefully posting pictures at a not-to-far-distant date!!!

First of all, we're very thankful that the tornadoes this past weekend were all quite a ways from us.  We are grieving for the terrible devastation though and the people whose lives were changed forever.  I encourage you to remember them in your prayers.

We have been back in the country since the end of April and quite a lot has happened since then!  We've celebrated two birthdays (mine and Sayers!), worked in the garden, enjoyed some of the produce from Sabrina's garden endeavors (delicious salad greens and radishes!), added two bee hives to our apiary, had three goat kids and then lost one of them (which was especially hard for Sabrina), done some property clean up, helped some friends from church with a fencing project (church family work days are so much fun!), helped put on a Mother's Day tea for the mothers in our church with some of the other young ladies (and brothers too!), and so many other things that I know I'm forgetting right now...

I hope everyone is doing well and that you have a safe and blessed Memorial Day.  Be sure to remember those who have given their lives for and served our country!!

For the King!

~ Savannah

Our First Week Back

Day One

Back on the autobahn.

We had been looking very forward to doner!!!

Poor Shenandoah - trying to recover from jet lag.

Fries with mayonnaise - I never thought I'd say I like it, but I do!!

Our land lady, Ms. Jennie, from last year has been such a huge blessing to us!  She is letting us stay in one of her homes.  Ms. Jennie and Ms. Ruthanne had some goodies on the table for us. 

Ms. Jennie also stocked the kitchen for us.

Plenty of RitterSport bars!!! :)

We went out with Ms. Jennie and Ms. Ruthanne for a traditional German dinner our first night in town.  It was delicious and they helped us stay up late too!!!

(It's best to stay up late to adjust to the time change.)

Seth and Ms. Jennie

She found Seth a special hat in England!

Day Two

Family picture - not bad for daddy taking it with his arm stretched out!! :)

Climbing up the hill by our house (our house is right on the edge of the village).

Looking down into the village below.

We have 'our' van from last year!!

Back at the BX.

Shenandoah liked the bubble blowing bear.

Donar again!!

...and of course some German pastries!

Enjoying our German treats!

Day Three

France once again.

Those are familiar places!

The city gate in Metz (this is a better picture than the one we got the last year!).

Narrow streets.

'Our' patisserie!!

Lots of different goodies.

It was so good to have a real French eclair again!!

She got her own. :)

Metz Cathedral.

Admiring the cathedral.

Inside.

We were able to get a few homeopathics which was a real blessing.

The indoor French market.

Wow that fish is strong smelling!!

The fruit doesn't stink though. :)

It was interesting to see where all the different products come from.

Back on the road, we were trying to get a scenic picture down the river, but this car pulled up next to us.  It was funny because these young French people thought we were taking a picture of them - which ended up being rather humorous and slightly embarrassing!! :)

We were able to 'do' Strasbourg much better this time and really enjoyed the evening we spent there. 

Interesting buildings.

This church is so pretty.

The Strasbourg cathedral.

In front of the Gutenberg memorial.  

The memorial shows many of the ways that the printing press changed the world in circulating the written word at a much quicker pace.  Daddy shared with us some more information regarding this including the old saying that the pen is sometimes mightier than the sword.

The printing press in Europe.

Brahmans exchanging manuscripts for books, and Chinese people reading Confucius.

The Declaration of Independence.

Wilberforce and other abolitionists bringing freedom and enlightenment to the slaves.

Place Gutenberg street.

Scenery of Strasbourg.

Dinner in Strasbourg.

Heading back to the van.

This is one of the churches that John Calvin preached in.

It was too dark for me to capture this picture like I wanted to, but it shows the street name - Rue Martin Luther - in front of the church where Calvin preached - I thought this was interesting.

Strasbourg cathedral at night.