A little bit of this....and that.....

Today is July 30, 2015.......our 13 month mark.  When we look back to this time last year, it is amazing how far we've come and how much we've changed.  We are pretty comfortable now with this new way of life.  BUT......we are glad it is temporary and we look forward to HOME next June.  Until then we will keep on keepin' on!

For now, this is home.  That's Keith up there in our garden.  See those two planters on either side of him?  That's the garden this year.

And this is to show you how cosmopolitan our building is!  I'm guessing there are at least 12 to 15 nationalities represented here.  

These darling cards came in Tuesday's mail from Kennedi.  She is such a sweetheart!

She saw the idea on Pinterest and had to make them for us.  So cute!  The pictures on the right are our grandkids holding words that say, "We love our Grandpa".  We are so lucky!  And so blessed in that our families are doing so well without us!  The Lord is truly blessing us.

Earlier in the month we went to a festival in Budengan.  About 5  senior missionary couples went.  We had dinner, some ice cream and saw some lovely old buildings.  The castle was closed.....strange!

 On a FHE, we went with the Hanks to see Jurassic World at the Metropolis in Frankfurt.  First movie we have seen in a long time.  You have to look at the ads to find OV.....original version to make sure it is in English.  We had a good time....and hamburgers across the street from the theater .

Then on the 18th, we and  about 15 senior missionary couples rode the train into Frankfurt to have dinner at The Chicago Meat Packers' Restaurant.  It rained like crazy while we were on the train, but by the time we got to Franfurt, it had stopped and we sat outside on the patio.  Elder Smith found a place to "freshen up".  It was hot and oh so humid.....I felt like I had been rained on.  We had a wonderful meal......the most American I've had here......California chicken with sweet potato fries!

Then we walked down the street to The English Theatre to see the production of Alice in Wonderland.

We really had no idea about the play, but when the producer announced that "one of the Alices had broken her leg, so they would be performing with just 7 Alices instead of 8", we got the idea this wasn't going to be what we were expecting......and it wasn't!  It was WEIRD !  It was dark, not suggestive, but not the Disney-type I was hoping for!  I was afraid I would have nightmares about the Mad Hatter.....he was that creepy!  It was quite the theatre-going experience.....but at least we can say we saw a live play in Frankfurt !

After Tuesday's temple night, we walked down the street to a great Italian restaurant.  Sister Ezard, at the other end of our table, is a single sister from London.  She is going home in two weeks.  I really admire her.  She felt it was time to serve a mission, quit a great job, has been serving in the Area Presidency's office for 18 months.....and is going job hunting as soon as she gets home.  

I was helping set up the Conference Room for a meeting the other day and had to find some plates in the lunchroom area.....and found this mug!  Who knows how it got here, but it sure gave us a little taste of home!  Well, home the way it used to be!

Time to close, so we send our love and continuous prayers for you to stay healthy and happy and true to the gospel of Jesus Christ.    Love to all!!  Elder and Sister Saunders

50 Golden Years

50 Golden Years.........June 30, 1965-2015

When we realized we would be on our mission when our 50th Anniversary rolled around, we thought spending it in Germany sounded pretty exciting.  We had heard from other missionaries that Salzburg, Austria was only about 5 hours from Frankfurt, and a really amazing place; we decided to go there.

We dropped Chris off at the airport for his flight home, and took off!  Trusting in our GPS, and the recommendations of friends, we enjoyed the beautiful drive through southern Germany.  Lots of road construction, so we felt right at home.  Had to buy a "vignette" (permit) at  the Austrian border, saw the Alps in the distance, and there we were.  Our GPS took us right to our hotel and we had plenty of parking places to choose from, so Keith was a happy traveler.

On our special day, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and walked the 5 or 6 blocks to the Panorama Tours meeting place.  We were early, one of Keith's prerequisites, so we waited in the Maribelle Gardens.  Our first tour took us to the Salt Mines....they are actually in Germany.  A little train takes you into the mine and then you slide down further into the mountain. You end up in a huge room with a lake that distills  the salt and you glide across the lake in a boat while a light show entertains you.  A nice guy offered to take our picture by the beautiful river......look at that water!

The bus dropped us off in Berchtesgaden for lunch and a walk through the tourist part of town.

 Back to Salzburg and our next tour.  This is the 50th anniversary for The Sound of Music, and we enjoyed seeing many of the places that we recognized from the film.

The Von Trapp house.....and the lake where the canoe tipped over............

....the gazebo where Liesel got her first kiss, and I got one, too....it was our anniversary!

The church where they got married..... they used this shot, but they actually  got married at another church.

Remember Julie Andrews walking down this aisle?

It's a beautiful area!  This is the garden where they filmed part of Do-Re-Me....and these are the steps.

We had our anniversary dinner at the hotel.  It was a great day and we were tired.....went to bed before the sun went down.  Of course, the sun doesn't go down until after 10 in this part of the world!

July 1st found us on our way to Hitler's mountain retreat, Eagles Nest.  What a view!

Back to Berchtesgaden....this time for gelato.

Our fourth, and final tour was a van ride through Salzburg and a boat ride up the Saltz River.

A "lock bridge" .......there are thousands of locks fastened on the bridge by couples who then throw the key in the river.   There are lots of lock bridges in Europe.  The fortress on the top of the hill is impressive, too.

We had to walk back to our hotel, and I was glad Keith wore the pedometer.......we walked over 8 1/2 miles in those two wonderful days!

We drove home on Thursday and it was back to work on Friday.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 50 years together......Keith told me not to expect this next year!

 

Chris' visit

Chris arranged his business trip to Europe so he could spend two weekends with us.  We picked him up at the Frankfurt train station on the  Saturday  before Father's Day.  He came from Paris on the high speed train.  We took him on a little walking tour of the city.  First stop.......a great mall with interesting glass architecture and a good Chinese buffet.  Downtown was filled with protesters and police, so we didn't get to see some of the sites we had planned.

He got to see the Frankfurt Temple, which is actually in Friedrichsdorf, and the area around our office and apartment

He brought a little bit of home with him......American food!   36 pounds of love!!

Our pantry never looked so good.

He brought Father's Day presents for Keith and early birthday presents for me!

He went to church with us......we were the envy of many Senior Missionaries.  Had to take him to the airport Sunday night....but knowing we would see him in 5 days made saying goodbye much easier.

The next Saturday we left our apartment about 7:15, in the rain, to go to Rudesheim.  GPS took us to the wrong side of the Rhine River.....but my navigators put their heads together .......

........and got us where we needed to be for our river cruise.  When we got to the parking lot, the sun came out and we had a great day.The delay caused us to miss the 4 hour tour, but we took the 2 hour tour and got to see 4 or 5 beautiful castles.

I love the quaint little town of Rudesheim.....and Chris enjoyed a "doner" for lunch.

 We drove home in another rain storm, but by dinner time, the sun was shining and we walked down the street to the Berliner for dinner.  We sat at the same table where we had dinner with the Cahoons last November.

We wish we could take all of our family and friends here.  They know us and always bring us a pitcher of tap water....this time it had a few ice cubes in it!  They must really like us!

We took Chris to the airport Monday morning so he could fly home.....and we took off for Salzburg, Austria ..........stay tuned for that adventure!