Dear Friends and Family,
Our itinerary took us from Frankfurt to Los Angeles, where we visited my brother and Mindy’s Grandmother. After a few short days in California, we were
show and a physics demonstration at BYU, had a child wake up Aunt Kristi to say that he had thrown up in her hallway, swam and swam and swam and took family photos at Grandma Strader’s, played with dozens of cousins at a family reunion at Aunt Nadine’s, went to Knott’s Berry Farm with Uncle Gordon, visited, talked, laughed, cried, ate, and occasionally slept. It was a whirlwind tour the likes of which we have never done before, nor likely would ever do again. But boy was it fun!
It occurred to me as I was gathering my thoughts regarding what to provide in this current set of Notes that what I am offering here is specific to my individual perceptions. It may well be that the most memorable events that I convey were hardly memorable at all for the other participants. That having been said, I am fully willing to accept ownership of these thoughts and feelings and I am just happy to have some method to record and save them.
The focus of this report will clearly be the trip home that we took this last summer. It was, at 5 weeks long, the most ambitious vacation we have ever undertaken. During that time we had 2 family reunions, 2 theme park visits, countless meals in restaurants, thousands and thousands of miles covered by airplane or auto, and more memories than I could ever record here. In many ways this trip home was parenthetical; mirroring somewhat the trip that Mindy and the kids took before coming to Germany. Our original plan had us returning home to stay this last summer, but instead we returned home only for a vacation before returning to the place that has become home to us; wild and wonderful Germany.
Our 5 Weeks in America
We have lived in Germany now for more than 3
years. It therefore seemed appropriate that we would plan for a long visit back in the States. It is not an easy thing to leave a job for 5 weeks for a vacation. Folks might think that if the organization can live without you for that long, then perhaps they can live without you forever. I was concerned, though, that we needed to see as many of our friends and family as we could on this trip, so I asked for 5 weeks off fully 14 months before we hoped to make the trip. My boss, amazingly enough, said yes.
Our itinerary took us from Frankfurt to Los Angeles, where we visited my brother and Mindy’s Grandmother. After a few short days in California, we were
to fly to Salt Lake City, where we would stay with a friend in Spanish Fork and
meanwhile visit several of my family in that part of the world. Next up was Twin Falls so that we could visit Mindy’s mom, then back to Salt Lake City to visit Mindy’s other sister. Then it would be back to California for a few more days with my brother.
And then finally, after 5 weeks of non-stop fun and togetherness, we would head back home to Germany.It was an audacious plan, but it included those things that we felt were most important. We returned far more tired than when we left, but we made a boatload of happy memories, and that, I sincerely believe, was the whole point. During our visit we rode ATVs with Aunt Laura’s family, went swimming with Aunt Karen’s family, visited Thanksgiving point and a water park with Aunt Holly’s family, enjoyed a personal planetarium
show and a physics demonstration at BYU, had a child wake up Aunt Kristi to say that he had thrown up in her hallway, swam and swam and swam and took family photos at Grandma Strader’s, played with dozens of cousins at a family reunion at Aunt Nadine’s, went to Knott’s Berry Farm with Uncle Gordon, visited, talked, laughed, cried, ate, and occasionally slept. It was a whirlwind tour the likes of which we have never done before, nor likely would ever do again. But boy was it fun!Burgers
The fact of the matter is that I ate more burgers over the course of 5 weeks than
In my mind the monkeys not taking handouts were even more interesting to observe. We watched an adolescent monkey picking up pieces of wheat that had been strewn by the trail and it was amazing to see the speed and dexterity with which it worked. On occasion, one of the “guides” would stop by and explain some aspect of monkey behavior that was puzzling us. There were baby monkeys that were very, very cute and a bit of a monkey shouting match. Very entertaining.
After spending a good part of the morning at Monkey Mountain we headed about 5 kilometers up the road to a castle called Haut-Koenigsbourg. I have always loved castles, so for me this was the highlight of the trip. The castle was restored early in the 20th century and it was stunning. When I was a kid, every castle I saw in pictures seemed to be either square or rectangular. In real life it’s amazing how very few are that shape. This castle was long and thin as if built to conform to the hill it was built on. It was especially cool to see the photos they had of the renovation and to look over the battlements across the Alsace.
Zig-Zagging Thoughts
Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is the shortest set of notes I have ever done. That’s OK though, because if I waited until I was able to write down everything, I would simply never get to it. I think perhaps I need to start taking life in smaller bits.
School has, of course, started again. We now have two kids in middle school, which seems very, very different. Everyone is doing well in their studies, which makes me very proud. I am teaching Seminary again this year. We are studying the New Testament and I have been absolutely loving it! It takes A LOT of my time, but the payoffs are significant.
Teeth are still a really big deal at our house. Mose has finally had the brackets installed on his bottom teeth. He still doesn’t have enough teeth on the top for brackets there yet. Cory finally lost his two front teeth! Granted it took a great deal of pulling, twisting, yanking, and tugging for Mindy to get them out of his mouth, but it was a price she was willing to pay. Sara will possibly get her brackets off this year. The difference in her teeth is pretty much miraculous. It has cost an arm and a leg, but it has been worth every single penny.
Amazing as it may seem, we are still just as pleased as punch to be living in Germany. Winter is coming and the leaves are changing and the whole world seems to be beautiful. Mindy will be going home for Thanksgiving so that she can be at her brother’s wedding. Me and the kids will be having Thanksgiving with our friends the Lamoureuxs. For all of our friends and family, know that we love you and miss you all.
OK, let’s just get this thing right out of the way. In 5 weeks I gained 10 pounds. Given the amount of physical activity in which we engaged, that is nothing less than extraordinary. How did I do it, you might ask? Good Old Fashioned American Hamburgers! Oh, and lots of other stuff, I’m sure…but it’s the burgers that I remember and dream about and long for…
The fact of the matter is that I ate more burgers over the course of 5 weeks than
I probably have eaten over the course of the last 5 years. The reason is simple: there were just too many good burger options available. I ate burgers at In-N-Out in California. I ate burgers from Easy Take Out in California and Utah. I even discovered that 5 Guys, my favorite
burger joint from Virginia, had opened a place near Salt Lake City. So I even had 5Guys’ burgers a time or two (or three…maybe four). All of that, plus the occasional BBQ with family or the burgers that we shared with Mindy’s Grandma (served with fresh guacamole made with avoca
dos from the tree in her back yard…YUM) made burgers the most memorable part of the trip for me. My wife and kids might remember this trip as the time when we spent most of our summer in America, but I will always remember this trip as 5 weeks in hamburger heaven!
Monkey Mountain and Haut-Koenigsbourg
Shortly after returning from our marathon trip to the states, we took a trip with our friend, Doreen, to Monkey Mountain in France. Monkey Mountain is essentially a nature preserve where they keep and study Barbary Macaques. The place is really quite interesting. You park your car, pay the entrance fee, listen to 30 seconds worth of instruction (designed
Monkey Mountain and Haut-Koenigsbourg
Shortly after returning from our marathon trip to the states, we took a trip with our friend, Doreen, to Monkey Mountain in France. Monkey Mountain is essentially a nature preserve where they keep and study Barbary Macaques. The place is really quite interesting. You park your car, pay the entrance fee, listen to 30 seconds worth of instruction (designed
to keep you from getting into monkey trouble), pick up a handful of popcorn (a favorite monkey treat), and then wander around a park full of monkeys. Every once in a while you encounter a monkey lounging by the path looking rather like an apathetic panhandler. When you do you can place a single piece of popcorn in your hand and present it like a gift to a king.
In my mind the monkeys not taking handouts were even more interesting to observe. We watched an adolescent monkey picking up pieces of wheat that had been strewn by the trail and it was amazing to see the speed and dexterity with which it worked. On occasion, one of the “guides” would stop by and explain some aspect of monkey behavior that was puzzling us. There were baby monkeys that were very, very cute and a bit of a monkey shouting match. Very entertaining.
After spending a good part of the morning at Monkey Mountain we headed about 5 kilometers up the road to a castle called Haut-Koenigsbourg. I have always loved castles, so for me this was the highlight of the trip. The castle was restored early in the 20th century and it was stunning. When I was a kid, every castle I saw in pictures seemed to be either square or rectangular. In real life it’s amazing how very few are that shape. This castle was long and thin as if built to conform to the hill it was built on. It was especially cool to see the photos they had of the renovation and to look over the battlements across the Alsace.
Zig-Zagging Thoughts
Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is the shortest set of notes I have ever done. That’s OK though, because if I waited until I was able to write down everything, I would simply never get to it. I think perhaps I need to start taking life in smaller bits.
School has, of course, started again. We now have two kids in middle school, which seems very, very different. Everyone is doing well in their studies, which makes me very proud. I am teaching Seminary again this year. We are studying the New Testament and I have been absolutely loving it! It takes A LOT of my time, but the payoffs are significant.
Teeth are still a really big deal at our house. Mose has finally had the brackets installed on his bottom teeth. He still doesn’t have enough teeth on the top for brackets there yet. Cory finally lost his two front teeth! Granted it took a great deal of pulling, twisting, yanking, and tugging for Mindy to get them out of his mouth, but it was a price she was willing to pay. Sara will possibly get her brackets off this year. The difference in her teeth is pretty much miraculous. It has cost an arm and a leg, but it has been worth every single penny.
Amazing as it may seem, we are still just as pleased as punch to be living in Germany. Winter is coming and the leaves are changing and the whole world seems to be beautiful. Mindy will be going home for Thanksgiving so that she can be at her brother’s wedding. Me and the kids will be having Thanksgiving with our friends the Lamoureuxs. For all of our friends and family, know that we love you and miss you all.
