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This is our third picture page (2006).
Click on the camera next to the decription of the event to view our pictures.
NOTE: Click on View Slideshow to see all the pictures with comments. |
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Well Bill turned 50th this year on April 1st. I reluctantly gave up celebrating my 50th so he could take over the celebration. I hosted a German wine tasting at our house for 17 people in honor of his birthday. Many gag and great gifts were given to Bill. Fun was had by all and of course a bit of wine was consumed. Also, the celebrating didn't end there. The next weekend on his actual birthday, some of our friends had a hall party where their band played classic rock all night. It was great. Hey how often do you get to have 200 people sing happy birthday to you!. Boy Bill sure is a lucky guy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL |
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During Easter break while Nicole was in Romania, Shelly and I went with our friends Robin and Kevin Nicholson to tour the Koenigstein Castle. The Castle is a ruin, but has been somewhat restored so it is safe to explore. It was a beautiful day and we could see for miles around when we climbed to the top of the tower. What a wonderful experience.
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Also during Easter break, Shelly and I went with our friend Lisa Doeden on a road trip to buy pottery in Poland. Many Americans here in Germany make this trip. The pottery is beautiful and you find pieces that you could not find anywhere else in the world. However I must say that we were a bit shocked to see the poor housing and conditions in which the people in the small city of Bolestawiec were living. It gave us a glimpse of how much difficulty Poland has had recovering from the devastation of WWII. Many of the houses were still in ruins. However, selling pottery is a thriving industry for this small town, and we did our share to contribute to the economy. We stayed overnight in the quaint Hotel Protea and ate typical Polish food in their restaurant. We had a wonderful conversation with the owner and learned a bit about the town and Poland.
I have a feeling that we will be back for more pottery.
We learned a great deal about the quality of the pottery. If on the bottom of the pottery it says
"unikat", this means that the piece is unique because it has been hand painted. The piece will also be signed by the artist who painted it. There is also a "GAT" number associated with each piece of pottery (numbered 1-6). The lower the number, the less the number of small flaws and the better the quality of the piece. Only numbers 1 and 2 can go in the oven, microwave and dishwasher. We usually could not tell the difference between the GAT number 1 and 2 pottery.
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On the Saturday of Easter weekend, Michelle, Bill and I drove to the wine region of the Mosel River in Germany. The Mosel is call the "little sister" of the Rhine. It has so many twists and turns that it winds along the hills for many miles. It is beautiful country. We did some wine tasting at one of the many wineries in the area. We stopped in the the town of Piesport that makes one of my favorite wines Piesporter. We had a great lunch while watching the barges going down the Mosel. We will definitely go back in the summer when everything is green and the grapes are on the vines. |
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On Easter Monday, Bill had a holiday. We decided to visit the Heidelberg castle. It is very close to us and only took one hour to drive there. The castle is visited by many international visitors every year. We are very fortunate that it is so close to us. For the most part the castle is in ruins, however one section has been restored. It was a great place to visit for the day. |
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We had the chance to go to Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a weekend. We stayed in the city and made side trips to the Tulip gardens and the ancient windmills. The tulips were fabulous. We also visited Rembrandt's house and museum and the Van Gogh museum. Both were fantastic. Click below
Amsterdam
Kuckenhof (tulip gardens)
Zans Schanse (windmills) |
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We had the opportunity to visit my cousins Sepp and Rose and Annie and Peter. We spent an afternoon with Annie and Peter. It seemed as though Annie recognized me (she's had a massive stroke) and we had some time to visit. It was good to see her again. We also had the opportunity to see the town that Rose and Sepp live in (Herrenberg). The next day it was off to Munich. Check out our pictures from the weekend. |
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Many families leave every year at the end of their expat experience. We really enjoyed getting to know the Weddle family. They moved back to Michigan. We know we will see them when we return. |
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We have been looking forward to the big event this summer for several months now....Amy's wedding. We were so fortunate that we arrived on Saturday and her shower was on Sunday. I am so glad that the girls and I were able to be there for her shower. |
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As you all know, the rehersal takes place the night before the wedding. Well we joined in the festivities and were able to meet the wedding party. |
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Amy had everything under control for the wedding day. We helped decorate the hall the morning of the wedding (July 8th), had lunch with our nieces Sara and Emily and even had time for the girls and I to have our nails done. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures from Amy's special day. Click below.
decorating the hall, lunch and nails
getting ready at the church
the ceremony
pictures outside of church
reception |
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After the wedding we went to Troy for a couple of days and shopped until we dropped for all those things that we miss from the states. And of course we bought lots and lots of clothes to take back with us. Then we went to Caseville with our Euchre friends for 4 great days of camping fun. Our friends also gave Bill a surprise 50th birthday celebration at the campgrounds. He was so happy and so surprised. Our friend Marla also made a great video of the "Life and Times" of Bill Dereski. |
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Our fabulous summer continued when the Janness family came to Germany right after we came back. Marla, Hunter and Lauren spent a week with us in Oberursel, while Phil came a few days later.We visited downtown Frankfurt, Oberursel and remains of a Roman fort in the mountians around us. We then took off for a whirlwind tour of Europe. We spent time in Rothenberg, the Tirol area of Austria, Venice and then off to Paris for 4 days. A great time was had by all. We finished their time in Germany with a celebration of Phil and Marla's 25th anniversary with dinner at Kronberg Castle and an evening cruise on the Rhine, with a quick stop at a local wine festival. Click below to see pictures of each part of our vacation..
Around Oberursel, Rothenberg ob der Taube, Dachau (concentration camp), Munich, Neuschwanstein, Reutte Austria, Zugspitz, Venice, Paris, Anniversary dinner at Kronberg Castle,
Rudesheim and Rhine Cruise |
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Second Picture Page |
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First Picture Page |
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