No Rhyme or Reason

Well, dear people, we're finally getting back to a blog! There will be a little of this and that, so be up for a little variety, okay?

This little setting is right as you enter our apartment, and it gives me a warm feeling to come home to.

On the 28th of February, it was Elder Call's 70th birthday, so Hank and I had fun going in early and trying to make the office festive for him! He's a pretty quiet guy, but he even condescended to wear one of the hats! Pay particular attention to our candle!!

And, of course, Dad personalized a balloon for him, and the likeness is remarkable! Sorry we didn't get a picture of him. I took these before they came in, and then his wife took others of him. Sorry I didn't get one of him in his hat!

Back to the Bad Homburger schloss on a frosty February 7th morning. We needed a long walk, and this where we ended up, except we approached it from a totally different direction, and what you see is from the back (the "park" area, which must be really lovely in the spring and summer. That particular day we were very glad for our coats and gloves.

This picture lacks the blue sky, but I wanted to show you the lake behind us--it was frozen except for where the ducks were swimming under the tree in the background.

The following are some of the friends we encountered along our walk, including some cute little ladies and some birds. I don't know which were cuter.

This little lady typifies how the women dress up on a Saturday, hats, gloves, furs, only the best! We were in sweats and ear muffs. Oh, well.

This little lady looked in deep thought as she mosied through the gardens around the park.

This is typical of a lot of walkers, out with their ski poles to get upper body exercise as well.

Just two more left...another beautiful arrangement in our chapel in Offenbach. Someone had also planted different flowers in the foreground this week, one a lovely pink and the other purple.

And these good men make up our branch presidency. Very diverse, very good men. The Black fellow is single, from South Carolina, and has lived in Germany for 16 years. He was the ideal "contact," as he was tracted out at his apartment 3 years ago and baptized. President Schott is in the center. He just lost his job, so we are praying for him to find something quickly. I'd hate to see them have to move somewhere, although his wife has a good job working for the church in Frankfurt. The third guy has a cute, active family, 3 teenagers that keep his wife and him hopping. Dad was just set apart today (Sunday, February 22) as First Assistant to the High Priest Group Leader. He will be a real asset to the quorum; they need him, and he needs them!

Well, that's all for now. We had a good, but short, trip to Berlin last weekend. We'll try to get some pictures off to you soon to share a little of what we saw. It was all kind of a blur, but we clicked a lot of pictures through the windows as we left town....

Love you all!