Picking Flowers

We met Ilke through another family.  Ilke and her husband and 4 children are German but she and her husband speak English really well.  She was going to pick flowers and invited us to go along.  We drove to a little village very close to Göttingen.  Joshua and Seth were out getting ice cream so Brooke, Luke and I went.

This is her youngest son beside Brooke and Luke.

There was a very pretty view.

This is Ilke.

You put your bouquet in this piece of wood to know how much to pay.  They also had vegetables you could pick too and there was a separate sign for the price of pumpkins, salad, beans, etc.

There was no one there collecting money you just put it in this silver thing on the left.

These are all of the flowers we picked.  Brooke and Seth both took a bouquet to their teacher.

Friends We Met at Church

Katie, Elizabeth and Michael Law

They are here so Michael can do a post-doc but they are originally from Florida/Georgia.

Collin, Nathaniel and Rachel 

Collin and Rachel are research scientists.

Rachel Is the first Australian I have ever met and Collin is from California.

IKEA

This is Amy to the right.  Her house is across the street from our apartment.  She is an American married to a German.  Her children are 10, 8, 6, and 2.  She has been a huge help to me.

She needed to go to Ikea so Luke and I happily went with her. Our apartment is furnished but there have been a few kitchen items we have added.  We didn't have a muffin pan, casserole dish of any size, a can opener, a loaf pan or spatula.  I am still looking for a pie pan.  They don't really eat pie here so I am not sure if I will find one.

Like our kitchen?  We're at Ikea but it looks pretty convincing doesn't it?

Playing and Shopping

Our Friend Nicole

One day while Luke and I were playing at a park we met Nicole and her two small children.  She recently moved to Göttingen from another German city.  When I told her I didn't understand much German she started speaking in English.  I have enjoyed getting to know her.  She brought fancy chocolates to us today when she came over for the morning.  It was very, very kind of her.

Time With Brooke

We went to Cörtes for the first time.  We both had hot chocolate and she got these pretty little desserts.

Then we went to the bead store.  She Really likes the bead store.

Joshua in the Kitchen

He made this calzone for dinner tonight by cutting the sheet of pizza crust.  I was very impressed and he just got his loaf of bread he made out of the oven. 

September 17, 2013-Olga and Julian

This morning Olga came over and her youngest son, 15 month old Julian.  I met Olga at church.  She is actually Russian.  She speaks a little English that she learned in school but said she hasn't practiced it.  I invited her over to read the Bible with me each week.  So we started today in the book of John which is Johannes in German.  We read John 1:1-18.  She read a verse in German and I read a verse in English and we talked about what words meant as we went. There's not a word in German for every English word and vice versa so it's not so easy to translate.   She brought me a beautiful flower and even gave me my own German Bible.  I am so encouraged.  I am really looking forward to my time with her this year.

Bikes, Bikes and More Bikes

This is what you see when you arrive at the train station in Göttingen.  There is not a parking lot full of cars but there are LOTS of bikes.

Joshua was able to buy his bike from our friends the McKenzies who lived here last year while Tracy was on sabbatical from Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina.

Luke was given this bike and helmet from an American family at church that left 1 week after we arrived.

My Australian friend, Rachel had an extra bike she is letting me borrow this year and we found the wagon on eBay.de for a good price so Luke and I can get around a little more quickly. We rode to church Sunday.  Have I mentioned we live on a hill?  Definitely getting exercise.  I never thought I would be riding a bike in this dress.

Riding to a park one day.

The mail is even delivered on a bike.

Two more pictures at the train station.

Most mornings we see Brooke's teacher riding her bike to school.  This is Frau (rhymes with brow and means Mrs.) Immer.

I got this bike for Seth at a Flohmarkt (Kind of like a garage sale or flea market in the U.S.) They were asking 20 Euros and I offered 15 and he took it-yeah!  Then I just had to figure out how to get it home since I was quite far from home and I had ridden my bike there.  So I put it on my bike and pushed it home.

September 14, 2013-Burg Plesse

Our adventure today was to see The Burg Plesse castle which is only a 30 minute bus ride outside of Göttingen.

This is by our bus stop when we arrived in the village.

We could see a tower of the castle. We just had to get there.

Seth decided to lead us and we passed some chickens along the way.

Here we go through the forest.

Isn't it so well marked ?  :)

 An outer wall of the castle.

Through the outer wall headed inside.

The castle appears to be well guarded.  These 3 soldiers are sieging an intruder.

Thankfully, I got him back.

The tower had fresh flowers on the steps.  Perhaps there was a wedding recently.

Looking up to the top of the tower.

Outside on the top of the tower.

The building on the left is a restaurant and the tower is the one we were just in.

We got hot chocolate for a treat.

Another picture inside the restaurant.

Exiting the castle

Another picture by the bus stop.  I think it would be easy to call it Home Sweet Home-if I wanted to live in Germany.