We're all together again!! Happy times!!

We have had a great week - feeling very blessed and happy. We have emptied our suitcases, celebrated a birthday, celebrated Christmas with the FamLee, played, went to the movie, gave talks in church, ate, visited and ate some more.


Happy Birthday!!

Lots of helpers!



Fun littles.

Pure joy!

All of us fit in this living room with a tree!

Food, games, and FamLee = FUN!!

 

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!

Good bye Singen. Thanks for the memories! Hello Home!


Our fellow missionaries. Good bye.



Good bye Apartment.

Beautiful Ulm.

Good bye our dear leaders.

Hello dear sisters.





Hello dear family!

Hello world! Our newest "granddaughter."

Another week of hellos and good byes. Mostly good byes. Lots of eating appointments, taught English for the last time here, taught Sunday School for the last time here and gave our farewell talks in church. Instead of Auf Wiedersehen (good bye) we said Bis Spater (see you later). Wow, good byes are hard but we are looking forward to lots of hellos soon! Thanks for the memories!!

Transfer day - 7:00 am at the train station. One of these sisters
was helping the others get on the train, the door closed and
locked behind her before she could get off. She caught the next
train back to Singen a few minutes later. It added to the excitement
of the day!





Hello and good bye. It was another wonderful opportunity
to meet parents picking up their honorable missionary.

Some will always hold a piece of our hearts.

Love these new grandkids!!



A part of us will stay here.

 

Two of our great men!

Fun lady!!

Wonderful experiences with all of these!

A week of hellos and goodbyes. We went exploring for probably the last time while we are here. We found a castle we have been looking for and were able to enjoy the day with our sweet Sisters (one of whom is going home this week). Our last Zone Conference was this week - we saw Elders and Sisters we've known for a while and met new ones. We were fed a fantastic "American" holiday meal of turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, dressing AND Root Beer! Our wonderful Mission President and his adorable wife conducted an inspirational meeting. The week ended with a street display, a fun dinner with good friends and a Benefit Concert for the refugees. A full and fulfilling week.


We love our President and his wife.

He's been such a great ray of sunshine for us.

Beloved Christmas packages
from home is always exciting.



Sixty of us getting fed. Relief Society knows how to feed.

We also did apartment checks! Look at
that closet! His mom should be proud!



Another hard good bye.

The hills were alive with the sound of our music!



We became immediate friends - he has the same last name
as friends from home.




Part of our glorious world.



Five countries are represented for a lovely lunch.



They were absolutely amazing. The darling girl on the left
has become a cute friend.

Can you name that flag?

Another "typical week" for us - meetings, dinner appointments, Thanksgiving, picking up the repaired car (yeah), fixing the washing machine (yeah), spending time creating with Relief Society sisters - well, not everything was typical but it was a great week. We are grateful for miracles from a loving Heavenly Father, love of family and friends, opportunities to serve others and to be fed physically and spiritually.

Baking pumpkins for fresh pumpkin pie (thanks, Rod, for the
encouragement and directions.

Love these kids and the opportunity to work with them.

After a wonderful lunch appointment.

After Thanksgiving dinner. These "kids" can cook!

Good friends.

It's supposed to hang on the wall, yes,
but he thought it was a frame.

So fun creating with these ladies.



More good byes.

These great girls remembered it was our anniversary and
surprised us with a "car" full of our favorite treats!

Some weeks just don't turn out as planned. The trick is to keep planning and be flexible!! The "fixed" car is kaput again, the clothes washer is still kaput. We visited apartments, just not as many as we had planned. The car sprung a "leak" and we were stranded 60 miles away from home in the rain. Thanks to some willing Elders, whose plans had changed, they were able to get us home. The car was towed to a dealership five minutes before they closed for the week end. We were able to get a rental car without the normal 8 hour waiting period. We took our weeks' worth of dirty clothes to the sisters' apartment and use their washer, we've got clean clothes now for another week. Lots of tender mercies along the way this week - "When a door closes - God opens a window."


They learned the advantages of "Windex." We used an entire
bottle to help their apartment shine. Their future wives will thank
us someday!



German Sausages and American Potato Salad is always a hit.
Especially when it's followed by chocolate cake and fresh apple cake.
This group is always easy to feed!




After lunch and an inspirational meeting there is always time for
pictures before running off to catch a train and go back to work.



Sunday dinner with this adorable family was uplifting.