Hungarian Dinner!

We were blessed to eat a delicious hungarian meal made by two friends who were visiting us in Germany. Nori (girlfriend of Janos...a hungarian baseball player for the Atomics) and her friend Auggie got to stay in the girls apartment for a week before they returned to Hungary. Before they left for home they decided to cook us a traditional Hungarian meal. It was quite a treat and everyone enjoyed it!

Auggie on the left and Nori on the right.

Potatoes and sausage stew.

Nathalie even ate the sausage....I could hardly believe my eyes!

Thanks girls for the great meal!

Tennis Lessons

Just a quick picture of the girls. Anita (a friend from the softball team) spent the night with us Monday and wanted to play some tennis. Tuesday before we had to work at the European Championships we hit the courts. It was fun to teach everyone the basics and they caught on really fast. Anita has a great forehand and Heather has only played twice but is getting pretty good. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the sunshine.

Please be praying for Anita that the Lord will soften her heart for the Gospel and His call. Her birthday is next Wednesday and we are going to have a birthday party for her at our house. I am excited to see how the Lord will use us. Thanks.

Lately!

It has been a fun-filled week here in Germany. We had the pleasure of hosting Caleb and Whitney Galloway for a little over a week and they fell right into step with all our activities. Last weekend we worked the Nepomuck Festival here in Neuenburg and this week we are gearing up for the European Championships that will be held on the Atomics field. In between the two we won a softball game (15-9) which Whitney was able to help coach.

Caleb was able to preach for our church in the Sunday Morning Worship Service and he did a wonderful job. Of course, we were able to squeeze some lunch in as well.

And lastly we visited a couple new sights: the Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle (a French castle that was restored in the 1900's)

and the Monkey Forest!

Please be in prayer for the team over here as the European Championships start on Friday. Rob and the guys have been working night and day to get everything ready and it is a large undertaking for such a small club. It will begin Friday and run until Tuesday. We will be in contact with a majority of non-believers so I am sure the Lord will be working. Thank you for your prayers and I will try to post pictures of the championship soon!

Here is a link to the website in case you want to know what it is: http://www.baseball-em.de/

Amsterdam

Well, Stephen and I had a short visit to Amsterdam to see the team coming back from Uganda. It was a blessing to see so many familiar faces and hear about their adventures in Africa. While we were there we visited Madame Tussuad's wax museum and met some new friends.

Nicolas Cage gave Stephen the cold shoulder,

but this guy (I am not sure who he is) liked him so much he let him talk on his radio show!

This guy was hitting on me,

but Beyonce said "all the single ladies" needed to stick together.

Michael got me dancing

and JT made me laugh,

but I only had eyes for George....(he didn't even look at Julia...what an attentive gentleman)!

Even with all the movie stars the best part of the trip was seeing Pastor Aaron and Chris! Thanks for the invitation, we had a lot of fun!

The Clubhouse.

The Atomics baseball club is a big part of our work here in Germany. It is an important outlet to reach the lost and build relationships with people in the town. As you may know baseball in Europe is equivalent to professional soccer in America.....many people have no idea it even exists in Germany! With that mindset come challenges but also benefits. It is amazing how far the club has come in the past 10 years and most of that is due to club members hard work and dedication. Because the town has little interest in the club a strong sense of community is created through the members hard work to make the club successful.

Last year the Atomics began to build a much needed clubhouse. It is a labor of love for everyone connected to Atomics with little involvement from the town or anyone else. Josef Widmann (a retired gentleman that is very involved with the club and our church) is the head builder and has spent countless hours over the past year on the clubhouse. It was very exciting to come back this year and see how far the construction has come.

Ground-Breaking (May 2009):

Josef (September 2009):

(October 2009):

(June 2010):

Sorry the picture is not better, I will try to take some more when it gets even further along!

Here is Janos and Zach during a work day.

Girls can do it too, even if the gloves are sized for giants!

Icecream and the Milkshake Cowboy!

After the Evening Worship Service on Sunday we went to the icecream dealer in Neuenburg for a refreshing treat and a break from the hot summer weather.

Not everyone can be a milkshake cowboy....only the truly gluttonous!

HIllary is Engaged!!!

Hillary and I have been best friends since the sixth grade when she took me to an Auburn Football game with her family. We have had many a late night giggling at her house while eating brownies and icecream and talking about the newest issue of Instyle. We made it through the Avril stage and ended up at Auburn giggling in the dorm together.

Over the years I have always wondered who would come along that was good enough for my friend and someone finally has...John Mark!

(I heartily consent as long as you take good care of her and provide

Chik-fil-A milkshakes when it has been a really bad day!)

Love you Hil and can't wait for the big day!

Lady Marmalade!

Heather and I had the opportunity to make strawberry marmalade (or in the south "jam") with a lady who attends our church...Frou Widmann (Frou=Mrs. in german....it is not her first name). Little did we know the process is relatively easy when you own a "therma-mixer." I had never heard of this contraption and do not think they are very popular in America but in Germany if you have one you are very lucky. They can do all kinds of things from blending, mashing, chopping, boiling, simmering, stewing....and whatever else people do in the kitchen. It was fun to actually make something that turned out good!

The only ingredients in our strawberry marmalade were strawberries and sugar...how can you go wrong with those two?! Heather and I were sneaking a couple strawberries while we removed the tops.

Our fingers turned red from all the berry topping!

Steffi was our fearless translator. Frou Widmann does not speak much English and we have not mastered the German language yet.

More sugar!!!

We of course had to have something to eat the marmalade on so Frou Widmann made a recipe called:

"Baguette auf die schnell"= Bread on the fast!

I kept saying it in German because I thought it was such a funny name for a recipe. Can you see how horrified their faces are that I am holding the bread?!?

The Results!

It was a lot of fun and the jam was delicious!

Enjoy!

Tuck and Run!

The softball team has been working hard to improve with the help of our new coach "Heather!" She is doing a great job motivating and pushing the team to be better. One of her ideas to help the outfielders learn to tuck our gloves and run after the ball was to tape our gloves in position. It was a fun drill that gave us all a good laugh and made for a cute picture.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement as the work here increases in quantity and frequency. We are blessed to be serving the Lord and pray that He will provide the strength we need to complete the tasks He puts before us.

JT we love you!

One sad note about being in Germany over the summertime is that I miss a number of beautiful weddings. Fortunately the internet gives me a glimpse of what it would have been like to be there. This is from Emily and Jim's wedding and I love all the faces of my friends. Some are horrified by the thought of the bouquet, while others look like Justin Timberlake is serenading them with his newest ballad. Love it girls! Hope the wedding was fun and CONGRATULATIONS to the happy couple!

Photo by ABryanPhotography

Sunday Night Fellowship.

Sunday nights when we don't have church we sometimes head to the bowling alley. It is a fun activity that is not hindered by bad weather or lack of talent! Our last visit was quite the party. A couple friends from the Atomics club came with us which made our group strangely large. I think we almost used half the lanes in the building!

We had to take two pictures because we had so many people. Here is one half.

Now for the extra talented half!

Brain and Danellen Dehuff were visiting as well which was a great encouragement to everyone. Brian was giving Stephen a run for his money.

I am sure you can see my perfect form!

Stephen and Rob are really into bowling and have been collecting gear over the past year. Their most recent addition....WHITE bowling shoes! They have a slide pad on one shoe and a traction pad on the other. Fashion takes no priority when boys and sports are involved.

I must also add they are getting pretty good. Rob's high score is a 279 (the highest possible is 300) and I think Stephen's highest is a 249. Not bad for baseball players!

"Sous" is one of Stephen and Rob's good friends from way back. He likes hanging out with us on Sunday nights. He is a bouncer at a club and head-butted someone. Ouch! I am glad I am on his good side!

So tough!

Sweet Leonie. She is surprisingly good at bowling!