Münster

On Saturday morning, we got up and ate Brötchen (yummy rolls), that we got at the bakery. Then we drove to Münster, parked, and rode the bus in. We went to the market first. That's where we bought these tiny strawberries. They tasted great to. The market had cheese, meat, baked goods, fruit, vegetables, and some other random stuff. It was really fun to see everything.

This is the Aasee. That would be Aa lake. Interesting name. There were people sailing on it, and it was pretty.

This is the Lamberti-Kirche. It was really pretty. Now I'm going to copy a text Kirsten sent me about this church: Here, there is also the market and city church, St Lambert’s, the most gorgeous late Gothic sacred building in Westphalia. A night watchman still "sounds the hour" between 9.00 pm and 12.00 am from the balustrade. Below it, there are the three hanging iron cages where in 1536 the three bodies of the leaders of the Anabaptist Revolt were displayed.(modern art in the city) By simple means Lothar Baumgarten alludes to the "Kingdom of the Anabaptists". The artist mounted a light bulb in each of the cages at the South side of St Lambert’s spire. At the onset of night a photosensitive control switches the lights on. Flexible copper wires allow for swinging movements. The installation lights up at a height of 60 meters and can be seen from many locations. After their execution in 1536 the bishop had the bodies of the Anabaptist leaders displayed in these cages. Kirsten's Dad said that they were executed mostly for their communist ideals, rather than because they were Anabaptists.

This is a castle. For real. They use it for a university building now. We couldn't really look around inside, because they were having an event that involved driving fancy cars around. They let me in to use the bathroom though. So I used the bathroom in a castle. There is a sad lack of bathrooms there. So when I saw one, I used it. Especially if it was free.

This is the Überwasser Kirche (over water church). It is easy to remember because it is Romanesque, rather than Gothic. Also it isn't named after a saint, so the name sticks better in my head.

This is Kirsten under a bridge that leads to the Bishop's garden. This is also the water referred to in the name of the church above.

This is the market, with the Saint Paulus Dom in the background. I think this is the one with the cool clock I wasn't allowed to take a picture of. At noon, it had a bunch of moving parts and played a song.

This is what every street corner in Münster looks like. There are thousands of people riding bikes everywhere. I was slightly afraid that I would be squished by one. That would have been a really undignified way to go. I was trying to explain my fear of one hitting me to Kirsten's Father the next day, and he thought I DID get hit by one. A testament to my bad German.

This is a cool bear statue in Münster. We did some shopping and sightseeing, and had a great day. Our feet and legs were SOOOOO sore the next day!!!! That night we went to Kirsten's sister Verena'a choir concert. They were great, and it was fun. They sang a couple Wise Guys songs, and I knew the words to one of them even better than Kirsten did!!!

Yay!!!!!

The technician took about five seconds to tell me the baby is a girl!!!! I said "really?" She said, "yes, definitely." I said, "show me!" She did. We're soooooo excited!!! I had to buy a couple of things, but I'm trying not to buy too many yet!

I was lazy about posting the sonogram results, because I'm totally intimidated by all the posting I have to do to catch everyone up on my trip. I don't have the pics at work, So I can't start, but I'm gonna do a day by day recounting of the whole thing, complete with pictures. Right now, I'll just say it was AWESOME, and leave you with one little tidbit. Americans are NOSY!!!! I never had one stranger in Germany (or Denmark, or the Netherlands) ask me about my pregnancy. Germans mind their own business. It was a lovely relief. Just today at work, a lady said "oh are you going to have a baby?" I said "Yes in January." She said, "is it your first?" "No, my third." "You don't look old enough to have three kids." Sigh. I used to get defensive and tell them how old I was, but now, I just say something like, "yes, it's a blessing to look younger than you are." Grrrrrrr.

Baby number three is..........

A mystery. The silly kid was sitting bum down with crossed legs. We got a little bit of a nether regions shot, and didn't see boy parts, but we didn't see any girl parts either. The technician said she was leaning towards girl, but wasn't positive. She knew we have two boys and didn't want to say girl just in case. She is gonna check again really quickly on the 25th just to be sure, so stay tuned, and hopefully we will have a more definite answer then. The good news is that everything looks great with the baby. That's what is really important. Now I am excited to meet it. I think any baby who does so little to cooperate deserves to be called "it." ;-)

Alaina and Morten's Wedding

Paina and the Mort

Sisters

Sisters looking silly

The happy couple

We had a dinner at Cracker Barrel the night before the wedding.

Random Summer pics

Gilbert on a playgroup outing to the zoo. I believe he is shirtless because he made a mess eating, but I really don't remember.

Ashton at the zoo touching a sting ray, which is unfortunately the same color as the water.

Our attempt to get a picture of all the kids together. Didn't really work that hot..........

They had a leftover craft from a class at work, so Ashton and I made monster feet one day while Gilbert was sleeping. They had about fifteen minutes of fame before they disintegrated, but luckily I got a picture.

Gilbert and I riding the train at Clint's work picnic. I think he enjoyed himself, although he was rather solemn the whole time. I did NOT enjoy it.

Ashton riding the train at Clint's work picnic. He loved it!!! He wanted one more ride, but they shut it down too fast.

A playgroup outing to the sprinkler park. Before all that nasty Crypto Virus started surfacing.

Gilbert at the sprinkler park. That was as close as he would get to the water. That is watered down orange Gatorade in his bottle, in case you are wondering.

Isn't Ashton the cutest bumble bee ever? His preschool class got to be bumble bees for the end of the year program. It was really cute!!! They sang bumble bee songs, and shook their stingers.

More vacation pics

Grandmother and the boys. I love how happy they look.

Ashton got to sleep in a tent with Granddaddy one night. He was thrilled. Granddaddy was such a great sport to do that with Ashton.

Me and Mom helping Clint put mud room cabinets together. We put all the drawers together ourselves.

Ashton with an ice cream cone for each hand. Aren't Grandparents great? He bumped his head on the window sill while he was getting into bed, which is why he has a band aid on his forehead. He is not especially graceful. A trait he inherited from me, I'm sad to admit.

Clint putting together cabinets with Gilbert's cute, but very unhelpful help.

Ashton got to go fishing with Grandaddy. He had a ton of fun!!!!!

Everybody (except Mommy, who doesn't like curvy roads even when she isn't pregnant), went up to the canyon and cooked breakfast (and then apparently played baseball). From the pictures, they had a great time. And I had a lovely time sleeping in. Daddy is helping Gilbert advance his baseball career.

Gilbert playing in a mud puddle on the canyon outing.

Ashamed....Must post more often

It's very sad. I put more pictures on my flash drive and brought it to work with me. Alas, it was not to be. I think it is something about the way the computer here is set up. It won't recognize my flash drive. I'll try to update the pictures tomorrow during naps. I have my sonogram tomorrow, so I'll need to spread that news anyway. We have had the busiest summer of our lives!!!!! After our trip to Utah, we got our puppy, and then a couple of weeks ago my Sister Alaina got married. They went away for a few days and then came back for a week. She and He Who Must Not be Named (his name is Morten, so you Harry Potter fans should get it. Plus he took my sister very far away. But he's great, we love him anyway ;-) left for Denmark on Thursday, and thanks to Gustav, we got a surprise visit on Sunday from family we don't get to see very often. It's been really nice to visit with them, although I'm sure they would rather be home than in forced exile!!! I know I would be anxious to get back if I were them. Luckily their house didn't suffer much damage, and they got here safely. So anyway, crazy times! I'm more than halfway through being pregnant, and I've barely noticed that I'm pregnant!!! And I leave for Germany in a week!!! I'm very excited, but a little apprehensive about leaving my Hussyband and little boys. I am not very interesting tonight (and rather scattered), so I'll (hopefully) post more tomorrow.