Thanksgiving Day Walk

We definitely had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day spent with our son, Dan, his wife, Shihoko, and the kids, Lauren (19) and Daniel (13). The pics in this post are taken from a walk that Dan and I took in Steven's Creek Park. The weather was perfect and the wildlife, particularly the waterfowl, was amazing. I don't think the pictures need any explaining so just enjoy the journey. I'll try to get some pics up from tomorrow with the family.

More Napa Valley Beauty - Home Sweet Home!

The hardest part of all of this is choosing only ten pictures to put up. I know I could just post them all, but then that would take a lot of time and would just make you all want to move here, which wouldn't be so bad!

The first picture was taken just south of Hopland, which is near Ukiah. I took Hanna up to Ukiah to be with Lilli this morning and I'm glad I took the camera along. I love these red clusters on the fence around the vineyard. Next we move down to St. Helena, which is just 18 miles north of Napa. This is along the tree canopied portion of Hwy 29 just coming into St. Helena from the north. Then you see a shot of the entry to Beringer Brother's Winery, which was established in 1876.

The rest of the pictures are just random stops along Hwy 29 heading toward Napa. There are just so many beautiful spots to pick for photos and the beauty is there all year round. The colors this fall are particularly stunning it seems and we never get tired of driving along this highway. Next time I'll have to get some pictures from along the Silverado Trail.

I hope you enjoy the scenery. Wish you were here!

The Beauty All Around Us

I promised you all some pics from the beautiful Napa Valley/Alexander Valley areas and here they are. The first four pics are just a small sampling of the beauty we drive by every day. The next two were taken yesterday, Nov. 15, along the driveway up to Ingrid's sister's house in Ukiah. The colors are gorgeous everywhere it seems. The second of those pics is of her house looking down from the drive.

Then I took a picture of a picture showing Lilli and Bruno in happier days. In fact that picture was taken near Retzow, Germany when we were all there for the cousin reunion in 2005. We lost Bruno one year ago today, Nov. 16, as the last picture illustrates. This is a sad day in so many ways and yet we choose to celebrate the beauty and the joy of all the great years we had with this great man. It is an enormous loss, but we are all so much richer for his example.

I hope you are all having a wonderful autumn as we are. Praise God for the beauty all around us. It is easy to miss it with all the tragedies in the world, but don't miss the gifts God gives you every day.

It's Beautiful Here Too

Thanks for checking back in. I know it's been a week since I posted those pictures from home. It's been a really busy one too with catching up on mail, bills, and visits to church family. I have a funeral tomorrow for a dear friend and church member and then on Sunday we'll drive up to Ukiah to be with Ingrid's sister. Monday will mark one year since we lost her husband and our brother, Bruno. The drive up through the Alexander Valley will be awesome and I promise to take some pictures and post them here early next week so check back again.

We had such a marvelous time in Germany and we look forward to each one of them who comes to collect "payback!"

Life is good and God is great!

Home At Last!

Yes, we are home at last. That doesn't mean that we didn't have a most marvelous trip, but it is always good to be home, back in your own bed, and ready to get back into the "normal" swing of things.

First picture is of Ingrid at the Frankfurt Airport. Isn't is always good to be at the airport in time, rid of the baggage, and through security. Enough to make you smile (after you've had time to go to the restroom!)

The next few pics show our wonderful home as it looked upon arrival. The climbing roses are still blooming by the fountain and the plants are healthy, but looking like they need a little pruning care. All in all, the whole place looks good and we are just thankful to have such a comfortable place to come home to.

God blessed us with safe travel. We drove over 3,000 km without incident (well, except for the three times I got my picture taken via radar!) and we saw so many cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends. Our health was good and we just had a wonderful time seeing so many beautiful places and following the steps of Martin Luther.

Yes, it is good to be home and now we have much work to do, but with it all we have an amazing assortment of memories the cherish. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of it.

Now, keep checking back and I'll update posts of our happenings here once a week.

Tchus!!

I Lied

The pictures loaded fast enough that I will get this up as well and that will finish until I give a report from home tomorrow. On Wednesday we went to Trier, the oldest city in Germany and it was a treat indeed. The first two pics are from the Trier Dom (Cathedral) which we felt was truly one of the best of the trip as it was not so overbearing, but beautiful! You see the courtyard and the pipe organ here.

Next are pics of the city center in Trier and those colorful houses are dated 1605 - 1609! The next pic is of a part of the original Roman wall that was built 157 AD. Quite imipressive! Then we drove with Axel, our good friend through the valley along the Mosel River and this is wine country at its best! Even more beautiful than Napa in some ways due to the higher hills. Just amazing colors and we stopped at this high point to take some pics.

Finally we stopped at a lovely town that I can't recall (or pronounce) the name of, but it was fantastic. We did just a little shopping and, of course, had to have some coffee and kuchen! Notice in the sixth picture the little house in the middle that is no wider than the two windows. Very quaint! Then you see Ingrid and me in front of the Ratskeller, which used to be the city hall, but is now a restaurant of sorts.

One last night shot with the reflecting lights and then the final shot of Ingrid with Axel and Marlies Kreis and their daughter Jennifer who reminded us so much of our granddaughter, Emma! We hope they will all visit next May/June!!!!!

God has blessed in so many ways. I'll share more reflections tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

Last Post before flying

OK, we're at the airport in Frankfurt and I'm getting this last blog post up before taking off. This is a report of last Tuesday as we left family near Aachen and came down to Bitburg to be with friends, which I will show you in the next post. The first picture was taken on the last night as we looked at pictures from way back and shared lots of memories late into the evening. The next pic shows Gabi and Piero. Gabi is one of Ingrid's many cousins. We really had a great time with them as well and the city of Aachen is wonderful!

Then we drove through Maastricht, Netherlands, home of Andre Rieu and just took a picture along the river. We also drove through parts of Belgium and Luxembourg that day. We did enjoy a coffee and a wonderful raspberry torte on the way as you can see.

Can you guess why the next two pics are in there? Couldn't resist pulling off to drive only 1 km to see the town of Marvie, which is really a very cute town. (naturally). The drive along the way through Luxembourg was so beautiful and I chose just a couple of pictures to share of many that I could have used.

We'll be leaving soon and will be home tonight. Many mixed emotions as we leave family here and return to family at home.

Love to all!!