Visiting my ancestor's village in Germany!

I am sorry it has been so quiet over here on my blog!  Here is the reason - we have been traveling in Europe; the trip of a lifetime.  For five lovely weeks we enjoyed the countries of Germany, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.  The biggest motivation for this trip was to meet newly discovered relatives in Germany; certainly a highlight for me as I have been researching my genealogy for about 20 years.  We are so thankful for the warm welcome this group of folks gave us as they took upon themselves to share themselves with us for 4 days, thinking of what may be of interest to us.  It was fabulous and I am still just basking in the glow of the experience.  Words cannot adequately express what those days meant to me.  Thank you, thank you!

 

So here is the big reason for the trip - the gentleman in the red jacket next to me and I are related to each other.  He would be my my "second cousin, twice removed" which may sound like no big deal to you but to ME it was a very big deal.  Very.  My great great grandfather Adam Herlich left his village of Sehlen, Hessen, Germany in 1857 as a young 16 year old man and immigrated into New York City.  Adam's youngest sibling, a sister named Helene, was born a few years after he left and we believe that they never met.   When I began researching I had no idea if Helene grew up to adulthood and if she did and married, what her surname would be after marriage.  Last year, 2015, with the help of a good contact in Germany (now a good friend), Helene's marriage was learned and I then located her grandson still living in the same small village of my ancestor's birth.  To meet him in person felt like coming full circle for the siblings Adam and Helene.  It was wonderful.

 

We ate together. Often.

 





 We walked the village.

 

 And photographed the homes.

 

 We toured the city of Marburg.

 

 And posed for more pictures.

 

 We attended my ancestor's church in Grusen.

 

 And walked the cemetery.

 

 

We ate brats!

 

 And wiener schnitzel.

 

 It was hard to say good-bye...

 

And to this gal - my heartfelt appreciation and thanks!!

(more posts of the trip coming; next up, the village of Odenbach and more wonderful relatives.)

Abundant blessings

We are abundantly blessed.  14 sweet grandchildren all together!

Relaxing at IPoint

 We just spent a relaxing extended weekend at our Bible camp (Inspiration Point Bible Camp) and our eldest son and his family joined us.  (The other sons and their families were unable to come this year.)

 

A highlight for me was getting to try paddleboarding.

 

 I totally loved it and because of fabulous weather got to do it both Friday and Saturday afternoons.  Did I say I love it?  It was fantastic.

 Lots of time for games for the children.  Lots of things to do!

 

Along with outdoor and indoor activities, delicious food and good visiting with friends and family were great sermons and Bible classes.  Here our little group is having devotions together with some Bible verses chosen by the camp staff to coordinate with the sermons.  While we relax and enjoy the warm air, blue sky and beautiful environment at camp we take time to focus on the most important reason we are thankful!  We are thankful for God's love and unmerited grace to us!



Sweet #14 grandchild

It is always fun to see each grandchild grow. With each stage it seems amazing as they explore the world around them.

Birth order behaviors vary...

We just enjoyed some wonderful family time together - our three adult sons, their lovely wives and our precious 14 grandchildren!  It was fun, chaotic and grand all at the same time.  Last year we purchased these silly shirts because they were just so accurate regarding our sons!  They were kind enough to pose for a picture... 

Sit still, says Grandpa....

I captured this little video of Grandpa with young Samuel.  The grandchildren love this game; they are to "sit still!!" but grandpa opens his legs and they slip down.  He admonishes them saying "hey, I said 'sit still'"... and over it repeats.  So cute. 

Whole30

 

 30 Days ago my hubby and I began this food eating plan.  I am not sure why we decided to do it as we are so fortunate that we feel well almost all the time, no "inflammation" or other "issues."  None-the-less, we entered into the world of "whole eating" for 30 days, no wavering, no going "off" the plan.    What could we eat?  Lots of meat, seafood, eggs, nuts, vegetables and fruit.  What could we not eat?  No dairy.  No bread or grains or gluten.  No sugar or anything at all that had any amount, however small, of added sugar in the list of ingredients.  No alcohol. 

 

So, how did it go?  It went very well, though it was not really easy.  One has to be more intentional about each meal, more careful with what to buy and I learned to make my own mayonnaise, for instance.  And the sad fact is that it cost more to eat whole foods then processed food.  Strange, no processing should result in a less expensive product but then again there is the shelf-life to consider for the store, I suppose.

 

At any rate, I learned to eat three meals every day, no snacking.  I did not feel hungry though I was desiring some things that were not allowed.  But hey, it's only 30 days. 

 

So, why?  Well, the premise seems to be that after the 30 days of only whole foods, that as one re-introduces foods back into their diet, one can access how they feel about when, say for instance, dairy comes back into their eating; or breads, etc.  This is not really an issue for us, but we did/do feel better, we both did loose some weight (though it is not considered a weight-loss diet plan.)  I feel less bloated, happier with the way my clothes fit, and more in control of my eating.  That is a good thing.

 

 

So, my quiet spouse surprised me yesterday when we hit the last day with beautiful roses as a way to celebrate completing the program!  He does not do this often (ever?) so it was a lovely surprise!

 

Will I continue to eat like this?  Yes, for the most part I will.  I will introduce dairy again, I will hold off on breads for a while, as I wish to drop a few more pounds. However, I am looking forward to a big trip next month and I will happily eat all the wonderful foods that are offered!

 

Bring it on. 

Up north.

One of the popular features of Minnesota is the outdoors - and the "north shore" which is north of Duluth and the shore of Lake Superior.   So much fresh air, beautiful scenery and rushing rivers...

We enjoyed hiking and the views.   The flowers

 

Our campsite was in one of the many great state parks in this area.

 

This view, with our Scandinavian flags, didn't last too long as our first night included high winds and heavy rain!

Fortunately for us, we have a cozy dry location and some good books!

 

Sitting around the campfire is always special.  And relaxing together with our books was quite nice.

 This trip coincided with many flowers in bloom.  Everywhere one looked was a profusion of various colors.  Wonderful.

And we're off.  Heading home. Until next time.  :)

 

A little camping

 Summer is lovely and camping at our state parks in Minnesota is so enjoyable.  This is year 3 for us to own an RV and we are still quite new to the whole experience.  We anticipate a longer camping trip later this month and decided we might be well served to take our camper out for a short little camping venture to remember all that is necessary to have a success experience. 

 

 There are any number of things to remember the first time out camping and we can report that we managed quite well after all!  We went to a state park about 2 hours away from our home, enjoyed the campfire, the bike trails and just being.  Just being. 

 

 Just being with a morning cup of coffee and the fire starting.

 

 Just being with a hearty breakfast.

 

Fresh air breakfast. 

 

Just being.