SEPTEMBER 2021

Back to school 

I love all of the pictures we have of Luke reading.

Luke and Tessa going to an American school for the first time.

We love going to this lake with the Harshbatgers.  It has a big trail around the lake with a peddle boats, a mega slide, and sand and water play feature.  We brought Tessa's friend, Tiffany, who had never been on a peddle boat before.

Ryan took Luke to Paris and so I took Tessa to Disney Paris.  The boys are not big fans of roller coasters or even rides so it was a fun trip for just the two of us.  Unfortunately, the night we got there I went to see if I could get tickets early and I was sloppy with bringing my whole wallet and backpack purse.  I am always careful with only bringing one credit card and not my purse but I was cocky and in a rush and so off we went to check to see if we could get tickets the night before so we wouldn't need to wait in line the next morning.  We couldn't but stopped at the gift shop to look at all of the Stitch gifts from which Luke could choose.  We waited to take the bus back to our hotel.  The train comes from Paris to Disney Paris and brings riff-raff.  So, when getting on the crowded bus, I felt a tug on my backpack and when I pulled it around, my wallet was gone.  I freaked out and Tessa started crying.  How are we going to pay for our tickets?  How are we going to pay for gas to get home?  I immediately called Ryan and realized that I thankfully still had my passport.  I could Western Union myself the cash so that the trip wouldn't be wasted.  We spent the next morning going to two different Western Union places to finally get the cash.  I begged the lady at the ticket desk to except a picture of Ryan's military ID so we could get our amazing discount of 70 euros a piece for a 2 day ticket.  She agreed and we were off to a magical 2 days.  Tessa was a dream and it was so fun to ride the rides and see the characters together.  I was in awe of Cinderella as she would guess the nationality of each child and seamlessly speak their language.

I brought an umbrella stroller and would zoom Tessa around from one park to the next.  She was game to ride all of the rides.  I got a little nauseous with the Star Wars 3D stimulation ride and we both were not big fans of the new Space Mountain ride.  I remember being a huge fan so I dont know if it has become more spinny or just that my equalibrium has gone to pot.  It really was a magical time with my little girl.  

Our Landstuhl Library is the very best.  They put on events and activities every month that are so impressive.  This was a Harry Potter theme and we met the Paynes there.

Rachael and Ned went to Norway and we watched their kids.  This was all the kids before church.  They all get along swimmingly.  Here the kids ages are:  Sam and Addi are 11, Luke and Liv are 9, Tessa and Walker are 7 and Jules is 4.

Here we are in Bulgaria.  We have been looking forward to going here since before COVID. 

 We flew into Varna, rented a car and our first stop (after the resort) was the Aladzha Monastery, a medieval (12th century) Orthodox Christian cave complex with still existing colorful murals. 

CAPE KALIAKRA- not far from the Romanian border, a long rocky headland, that juts out into the Black Sea from the coast of northern Bulgaria. Beautiful as it may appear however, Cape Kaliakra nevertheless conceals a brutal history of suicide, siege and warfare.

Carriage crossing

This was such a fancy resort, Therma ECO- Spa and mineral pool.  

It was off season and we would walk to the grocery store and the only restaurant still open.  

I love seeing a horse drawn carriage

We drove 3 hours to Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396).  

 

Veliko Tŭrnovo was adorned with great splendour, but most of the relics were destroyed by the Turks or by the earthquake of 1911. Ruins of the medieval town have been excavated on the Trapezitsa and Tsarevets hills; the latter, the home of the Bulgarian tsars, is surrounded by thick walls and defenses and accessible only by a drawbridge.  At night, a light show appears on the fortress and the whole town and visitors come out to watch.

Sunday, we went to church in Varna.  This was one of Nathan's areas on his mission.  It was a sad little branch and we doubled its attendance.  It was in the center of the city and accross from a cathedral.  We spoke to a young man who hoped to move to Germany like most ambitious Bulgarians.

We then walked out to the pier and lighthouse, a place that Nathan remembered and would go often.

HIGH ON THE HILLS OF Varna so that its majesty could be visible from the sea,  concrete faces of The Monument of the Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship, or more simply referred to as “The Russian Monument” was constructed in honor of the Soviet Army, as a symbol of friendship between the two often war-torn regimes In the typical bombastic style of communist-era Bulgaria.  The monument was built on Turna hill, a place that had seen its share of bloodshed as a battlefield where many men had died fighting capitalism and fascism.  Tessa and I climbed to the top to see the soviet propaganda.

We took pictures of typical apartments, imagining where Elder Jones lived.

flying home

HOME SWEET HOME

I think our home is the gold at the end of the rainbow