Deutschland Chapter V

Tuesday May 19th

Dachau concentration camp memorial-

I am quite embarrassed to admit this but I have never given a concentration camp much thought. You will have to excuse my ignorance. This memorial hit me really hard. I know they teach this topic in school, but somehow I must have either blocked it out or just didn’t quite catch the magnitude of the holocaust.
Some of the things that struck me:
The camps were around for over 10 years. I didn’t realize how long they existed.
The camps were discovered and closed just over 50 years ago. It NEVER registered that the holocaust was so fresh in our history. I guess in my puny thought process, High School history was always hundreds of years ago. Nothing that I could relate to.



When you walk into the camp the front gate says “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work makes freedom) Just walking through the gates gave me an uneasy feeling. The spirit there was intense and sobering.

Most of the camp was torn down or removed but they spared the main admitting building and turned it into a museum. Randy and I read and walked in silence reading stories and prisoner accounts. It was completely sobering.

I will never forget the feeling.

Outside the museum several memorial buildings were built. The church bells were beautiful. Again we sat in silence.


Just outside the camp were the gas chamber and the crematory. Near the end of the war coal was sparse and money nonexistent. They could no longer burn bodies so mass graves line the property.




I can’t even begin to comprehend the relief of the liberation.

What an EYE OPENING experience for me…

...moving on to something a little lighter...

It was my birthday!!! I am pretty sure this was my first and hopefully not my last time celebrating my birthday in Europe.


To celebrate we drove to Munich. This was a bustling city, not to mention HUGE!!! I got nervous when Randy was not within touching distance. There were a lot of people. We walked to the center of town to see the famous coo coo clock tower. It was impressive. We went shopping and of course found more ice cream.


For dinner we took a picture in front of the famous Hofbrauhaus restaurant. A local told us the food was much better across the street. We quickly took a picture then ran like traitors to the competition. My birthday dinner was FABULOUS!!! Wienerschnitzel and spatzle . I could eat it for every meal. The only bad thing about Germany is you can’t order water at a restaurant. You must order a beverage. It costs at least $7 for a sparkling apple juice or soda. Beer is dirt cheap. No wonder Germans drink a ton of beer.

Western Father's Day Party

We came home from our ward camp out early Saturday morning just to repack and head to SL to visit our family for the weekend. We went to dinner Saturday night at a yummy Mexican dive. On Sunday we went to my Aunt Allison's house for her annul Father's Day Bash. It was fun to see some of my cousins that I haven't seen for a long time. As you can see from the pictures the kids had a riot. I could not peel Claire off the tramp and Brad was just too busy to eat anything. (Until the creamies came out)Did you notice my niece's cute little cheeks!!! Aren't they cute??? She gets that from her daddy. Except her daddy's cheeks are not as cute.

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful, amazing, kind, and fantastic husband. I appreciate all that he does for us. He is a hard worker and a great daddy. My kids are so lucky.

Happy Father's day to my own daddy who taught me about life. I think I turned out okay.

Happy Father's day to my grandpa. I have the best memories of him.

Happy Father's day to Randy's father who raised him to be a worthy priesthood holder, father, and husband. I owe you.

Cub River, Idaho

We went to Cub River Idaho for out ward campout over the weekend. It was so nice to get outside after being cooped up for the last few weeks because of the crummy wet weather. It was fun to get to know some of the families in our new ward. We went to bed tired and smelling like campfire smoke. What a great combination.

fam·i·ly : a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation

Deutschland Chapter IV

Monday May 17th

Romantic Road- This is where most of the Medieval Villages castles and countryside still remain in Germany.


Wurtzburg – We of course ate breakfast in a Bakery. This particular bakery was my favorite the entire trip. I had a croissant with cream cheese ham and some other kind of cheese melted on the top. The rest of the trip I searched for a replica of the pastry but could never find one. I will FOREVER crave that particular pastry.
We hiked up to the Wurtzburg castle. The walk was incredible. We weaved in and out of grape vines and gardens. The stone work was gorgeous. Once at the top we could see the entire city.

During WWII 90% of the city was destroyed. The city was rebuilt to its original structure by women, because most of the men had been killed or were POW. I must say they did a pretty dang good job.

The bridge over the Main River was beautiful. It was lined with huge statues. It was quite surreal. We then walked through the Palace gardens and cathedral.











Our next stop was Kitzingen. We saw the crooked tower. I guess they used wine instead of water in the mortar which caused it to lean. Town legend says Vlad Dracula’s heart is contained in the gold ball on the top of the tower. If he ever tries to retrieve it, the gold post will fall and pierce his heart. We then walked across the street to Dracula’s grave site. I loved the graves in Germany. Each plot has a small garden in front of the headstone. They are so much more beautiful than in America. This is also where I tried my first European ice-cream. It was so good. After that I had at least 2-3 cones a day. I have had gelato in America but it was still way better there. We then found a little café in the fuss and had schnitzel for lunch.





Rothenburg- This was my favorite city on the Romantic Road. The entire city is surrounded by a giant wall. This was one of the few cities that was not completely destroyed during the war. We were able to walk on the rampart along the wall. It was kind of scary to walk on because it was high and REALLY uneven.
In the evening we took a night watchman tour. He described the city in medieval times and walked us around the city at dusk. The cityscape was incredible. I would take a picture and get so frustrated because I could not do it justice. It was 100x more beautiful than the picture.



(All of the Germans knew we were American because of Randy's big white shoes and baseball cap. They were always so surprised to hear him speak German.)

Actions speak louder than words...

I think she is trying to tell me I am an amazing cook. Or maybe she wanted to secure a cookie after eating ALL of her dinner.

Bears #1

Brad had his first Tee Ball game today. We were so glad the weather cooperated for a little so the kids would not get a rain check for the game. He had a riot and made lots of new friends.




A true pro- player. Just checking to make sure it is still okay!!! He must have picked that up from one of the Bees games.

Deutschland Chapter III

Sunday May 17th
We drove into downtown Frankfurt. Everything was closed on Sunday. Even the malls, shops, and Bakeries were doors were shut. There was a surreal hush over the entire city. I wish America would catch on to this little trend. Everyone was at home. We had the whole place to ourselves. Randy was relieved to not have to drive in all of the traffic. We found great parking and walked everywhere. We walked out onto the Bridge over the Main River. Because it was Sunday all of the bells from every church were ringing. I will miss the music from the church bells. I have never heard anything like it before.





After lunch we headed to Worms. A city Randy served in for a few months. It was Christi Himmelfahrt ( the celebration of Christ’s ascension) so almost the whole city was at mass. We had to wait until it was over to walk around the cathedral. Out of all of the cathedrals we saw this one was my favorite. It was so old. Maybe it was the incense lingering in the air or a the congregation but I was really in awe when I walked in. Most of the cathedrals were so elaborate and ornate that it was almost distracting and sometimes disturbing. This one was uncomplicated and simple. All of the gardens and stone were aged. This was also where Martin Luther stood trial for challenging the authority of the church. I wanted to stay there but we still had a lot of ground to cover that day.






We visited Randy’s branch house and touched base with the Busam family that Randy worked with. Their family was again so nice. The oldest daughter remembered Randy and pulled pictures out of her diary of Randy giving her piggy back rides. She remembered Randy as being the fun missionary. I got a kick out of that. Sister Busam injured her ankle so the girls made us a strudel and we sat outside and visited. Brother Busam requested that we send him beef jerky and Bullseye BBQ sauce. I got a kick out of that as well.



That night we met up with our friends Morgan and Tiko who both served a mission in Germany. We stayed the night in a guest house in a little village. It was EVERY cliché that I had in my mind about Germany; the beautiful homes, gardens, right down to the old German Farmers. It was so quaint and old-fashioned. Even the key to the door was a skeleton key. I LOVED it. We stayed up late with Morgan and Tiko recounting the events of our separate trips thus far.



The view from our bedroom window.