More Odds and Ends

Okay, this has to be quick! Our Würzburg ward had a Saturday outing to a small village about an hour from Würzburg. This village is now part museum, and it is quite fascinating. The minute I saw this ancient yellow cupboard, it reminded me of the one that was our kitchen cupboard in Vernal and which Jim refinished and now stands in our kitchen in Providence! I loved seeing it in its typical surroundings. Thanks, Jim!! Just wanted to show you a bit of the influence of the Catholic church in these parts. There are statues everywhere, in the streets, the fields, on houses. Watch on...

Oops. I stuck in this skinny house out of order. I showed you one other skinny house from Trier. Isn't it fun?

This house is really a barn/house. The red bricks represent the house, and the rock represents the barn. This is located right in Rimpar not far from our house. A bit smelly...

I just went walking one day and tried to take pictures of as many Mary statues as I could find. There are many more, but this represents just one walk...

These are just normal houses, not government buildings. It seems really important to the people.

This one is painted instead of plaster.

Now we go for a walk into the country. This little place is a "hunter's blind." Someone can sit up there totally obscured by the bushes and wait for his prey. There are lots of them around.

Now to the benches. It doesn't matter where you walk, you will find a bench to rest on. Notice the "legs" of this bench. This bench is at the top of a wheat field next to a grape vineyard. Just sitting and waiting for someone. The statue to the side is representative of how the farmers ask for blessings on their crops, etc. Nearly every large field area will have the Virgin watching over it.

This was a sad little sight. Two trees are out in the middle of hundreds of acres of fields, and naturally with a bench underneath. The marker indicates that a man fell from his horse in this spot, and he died 10 days later. His wife put up this monument to him. It's complete with candles and a statue of the Virgin and flowers inside.

That's all for now. Love you all!

Odds and Ends till the Time Runs Out!!

This angel belongs with other pictures down below--isn't she something?

In order to get pictures "tied up" before we leave Germany, I'm just going to throw some in and not worry about order or meaning. So, here goes: As I've said before, in Germany "Dogs Rule"! It's true. As far as the population in general is concerned, dogs are the most beloved creature on the planet as far as we can tell, and this is just a simple example of the treatment they get. Just outside of this window at Ikea sit two doggie bowls, kept filled and fresh all day long so IF (and I emphasize IF) the dog doesn't go into a store with its owner, it can have refreshment while it waits outdoors!! Most stores have dogs walking through all the time, or at least in the owners' arms. "Dogs Rule"

This is on our way home from a district meeting in Bamberg, and Elder Webber (brand new from Ohio) and

Elder Hobbs (New Mexico) just couldn't make it all the way without a nap. They're such great elders!

And this is our district just before last transfer (the week before Elder Webber arrived). I wish I really had a picture of the TV that our cameras were sitting on--stacked two high with three of the elders holding their fingers down on the various "timer" buttons before they FLEW to the sofa for the picture. It worked!

Remember, Matt, how you always threatened to send a box home every month or so from Japan filled with beautiful Japanese kids? Well, these are my first choice so far--be looking for some parcels!! They belong to our Second Counselor and his wife, the Pinders, and they are sooooo fun! While waiting for their dad and Hank to get out of a meeting last Sunday, I just snapped and snapped and snapped pictures--couldn't help myself! Aren't they something? Bro. Pinder is from the Bahamas, thus the coloring, and he speaks perfect English, and their mom is German, served a mission in London, and speaks perfect English. Stalwarts of the ward. They also have a tiny baby boy.

And this is just one of the ancient brick barns that dot the countryside everywhere. Reminds me of the Daines.

Did We Really Unpack?!?

This will prove to be totally out of order, but I'm sitting in an archive in Nurnberg (2-1/2 hours from home) while Hank searches for some names for Andy's and Katie's neighbors. We've been here since 9 a.m., and it closes at 4 p.m., so I only have a few minutes more to try to post some things. And they're all backwards!!

Here we go...we hardly have any pictures of Wurzburg per se, 'cause we thought we'd have a year to do that. So, here are our three so far: A beautiful church, one of about 4,000 (at least)!

Flowers everywhere. These are outside our bank in downtown Wurzburg, with Hank posing as a tulip!

Same...

This is one of the gorgeous forests that are about 20 minutes from our Rimpar estate. There are paths everywhere. We would have been a year exploring all of them.

This was our one finished wall--I loved it!

This is Michelangelo in disguise. He's quite the guy, painter's cap and all. We just needed to fumigate after he left, 'cause he just leaves a smoky trail wherever he goes, even when he's not smoking!!

Fun guy.

This was our first 2 or 3 weeks while we waited for the kitchen to be put in, etc. You can survive anything with a microwave!

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That's it, folks! That was Wurzburg and Rimpar at a glance!