Heidelberg, Fireworks ,Oh MY!

Hello friends!
Thank you for taking the time to read about our life right now as we are learning new things and excited to share them with you, please feel free to ask questions, leave comments and the always needed prayer that we can see how we can honor God in what we are doing!

Having time throughout the day while the boys are in school has given us much needed time to prepare for our mission trip coming up very soon to Poland! We will be teaching (ah!!) a group of students from ages 14-19 English for a week. Working with a team from Colorado to spend time making relationships with these students and looking to share, serve and act out the love of Christ in everything we do. We are praying for opportunities to start conversations that stir up questions within these students hearts, that we will be able to teach english in a comprehensive and fun way so that they will learn english finally, that our team would be cohesive and have the same goals in mind in order to do what is best that glorifies our Lord.

So, a couple of weeks ago at church we had heard a rumor about a outstanding firework display in Heidelberg within the next few weeks. Intrigued we decided to do some further detective work and found out that indeed there was a firework show to remember the 3 times the Heidelberg castle burned down a long time ago (kind of ironic since they used fireworks to remember a fire it but never the less sounded awesome!).

This past weekend we took a train out to the beautiful city to visit the ancient castle and witness this amazing fire display along with our group of friends from church we were set for a great day. Starting out we climbed up the steep and seemingly never ending staircase toward the huge Schloss (castle), after walking around and perusing the ancient but beautiful grounds of the monument we walked back down the stairs (way easier than going up!) and to the cities main street.While having fellowship over lunch and ice cream we took our seats next to the river and across from the castle. Having an excellent view of both the city and castle with the lovely river as our reflecting spot to see the fireworks we watched in amazement at the stunning light and colors presented before us. The show was definitely worth the wait, effort and build up that had been given to us. We enjoyed all of the time spent in Heidelberg and getting to know our new friends even better while there.


Off to find adventure today!-xoxo

Paige and I at the top of the Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg castle from the side bank of the river where we watched the fireworks.

Paige and friend Meleia on the train towards Heidelberg

City Dwellers-Cologne, Germany.

Hello from many cities!

These past four weeks have been some of immense change for us. Today marks the one month we have been with our host family in Stuttgart, Germany. These past four weeks are ones that have brought many tears of homesickness, laughs with new friends, and the excitement of new places. We are so grateful for the family God has placed us in while we're here in Germany. After speaking with a few past Au Pairs and their experiences of work, we have come to learn how God has His angels truly watching out for us so we can have the most fun here in Europe. We are still excited to see how He will use us to bring Him glory in the family, at the new church, and in Stuttgart.

Last weekend we drove with the host family to Cologne, Germany (they have extended family there, and we got to go site seeing )! Our two favorite parts about Cologne were The Dom and the Lindt chocolate factory.

Paige enjoying watching the chocolates being made.



One of the workers who made 'special ordered' chocolate bars for museum goers.





In the chocolate factory there were many stages displayed of the beloved chocolate bar. First we got to see in what regions cocoa beans are grown, what regions produce the most cocoa, and how they are harvested. Then we moved onto the advertising history of Lindt chocolate, their old molds for chocolates, and antique chocolate boxes. We also got a taste of the chocolate fountain they had running that day! And in the end caved into buying some compelling sounding truffles (raspberry mango, cappuccino, and champagne). After a delicious pizza from a local restaurant and waiting out the downpour of unexpected rain underneath an umbrella we headed towards The Dom in Cologne.

paige hiding from the rain

A very eventful day in Cologne with so much that we saw, we were very tired that night. The atmosphere in Colognes downtown area is vibrant, and jammed with lots of people enjoying the environment. We loved being able to just walk around and take all of that in all while enjoying some ice cream :]
Much more to write about to come and more adventure to seek out as well.

Off to find adventure!-xoxo

Summer Festivals

Say hello to Summer!

Earlier this year we traveled to Chicago while there we visited The Science and Industry Museum (so interactive!). During our exploring of this loved museum we saw a small display of a bigger collection called The Body Worlds exhibit. We later found out that this full exhibition would be on display just a short train ride from us in Germany! This past Saturday we saw in much detail how God put us together through Gunther von Hagnes  plastination of the human body. (a strange concept, but the outcome is like no other)

Paige and I were both so excited to have the rare chance to go and see this exhibit!








After our lovely homemade picnic we had enough energy to trek up to the palace in Ludwigsburg. What we didn't know however was that they were having the annual Ludwigsburg festival in the main street! What a great surprise for Paige and I, we stopped listened to some new bands, and looked at what Ludwigsburg has to offer. :]

We saw the church and its greatly detailed bell tower, and we then finally made it to the palace. This is an amazing palace, and is beautiful. At this point in the day the tours had stopped, but we were free to look around. While we were there we saw FOUR weddings going on. There was also an artist who had a project that has been traveling around Europe in different cities to display the piece. We came (unknowingly) on the ONLY day he was in Stuttgart area, what an amazing time to be in Ludwigsburg! There was much to do in Ludwigsburg this Saturday, and we hope to have many more things to discover while in Germany.

This week has even more in store for us as we have plans to visit Cologne, Germany. Hopefully as previously mentioned to also visit the Haribo outlet store or factory! :]
Please leave any comments or questions.

Well, Off to find adventure! -xoxo

(Palace in Ludwigsbug, Germany)