Melina's Birthday Cake

Today Melina turned 12. Over here in Germany there is a new film with Vikings.
The main character of the film has a blue helmet with horns - just like her cake.

Bike tour along the Stor river

Ramona beside the Stör river during a break on our bike tour

The boot wharf on the Stör river that we rode our bikes to

The Island of Rügen

Ramona in front of Jason's tent and our eating area

The chalk cliffs viewed from our boot excursion

Jason at the bottom of the chalk cliff on the island of Rügen

close up of Jason at the bottom of the cliff

The "Kaiser Chair" from the Victoria view point

Ramona at the end of the day with a nice beer

Ramona's Birthday

Ramona and her homemade birthday cake and her presents for her 37th birthday

To celebrate her birthday we went out for diner and there she got her big present. A gift certificate for a weekend seminar with Gordon McDonald in September. I will take care of her kids and she will hopefully get some good high-quality spiritual input.

Cleaning up in Lübeck

Most of the debris from the building was just dumped out in the yard.
Today we tried to clean up the yard somewhat.


We basically filled up this 40 feet container with all of the building site rubble that was littering the front yard of the new church building in Lübeck

This a how the church looks from the outside

London - day one

The London Eye is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom. It is also the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe at a height of 135 metres (443 ft).

The Millennium Bridge is the first new bridge across the river Thames in London since Tower Bridge opened in 1894, and it is the first ever designed for pedestrians only. The bridge links the City of London near St Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern art gallery on Bankside.

The Lloyd’s Building was innovative in having its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside, leaving an uncluttered space inside. The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the UK.

Behind the Lloyd´s Building is the Gherkin. A building designed by Lord Foster, and completed in 2004, which has changed the skyline of London forever.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the south bank of the River Thames was a highlight on my tour.

In 1949, Sam Wanamaker came to London for the first time and he looked for the site of the original Globe Theatre and was disappointed – since it had burned down in 1613 and was never rebuilt. In 1970 Sam Wanamaker founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, and in 1987 building work began on site when the six-metre deep foundations were laid. In 1993, the construction of the Globe Theatre itself began. Sadly, Sam Wanamaker died on 18 December 1993. The Globe Theatre was completed in 1997.

Tower Bridge is a draw bridge with two massive piers, containing over 70,000 tons of concrete, that were sunk 1886 into the riverbed to support the construction. Over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the towers and walkways. This was then clad in granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the bridge a pleasing appearance.

After reading that Tower Bridge is just a steel construction covered with stone I felt cheated, since I always thought the bridge was made entirely from stone.

The Tower of London’s primary function was a fortress, a royal palace, and a prison. It has also served as a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

The Museum of London documents the history of London from the Prehistoric to the present day. It is a few minutes walk north of St Paul's Cathedral, overlooking the remains of the Roman city wall and on the edge of the oldest part of London, known as the City, now the financial district. It is primarily concerned with the social history of London and its inhabitants throughout history. Admission was free - as all museums are in London.

This guy bent a postcard holder with the name Melina from a thick wire in about 45 seconds; a great personalized souvenir for Ramon's daughter.

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, is the seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons). The palace contains around 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 5 kilometres of corridors.

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large Gothic church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster

At the end of the day Ramona picked the restaurant and she wanted to eat Chinese and it was one of the best if not the best Chinese food I’ve ever had.

Flight to London

A wonderful meal at an Italian restaurant before we flew to London

Our plane had unfortunately a one hour delay due to thunderstorms.

Finally - we were allowed to board the low budget plane
Ramona is the person reflecting

Kevin´s Graduation

Kevin and me right before the ceremony



Kevin receiving his diploma from his principle.
The school secretary in foreground.


Kevin waiting on stage with some of his classmates


Kevin´s graduation present - with the engraving
"With love from Mom and Dad"




The graduation T-shirt
Class of 2009
Motto: "We've earned it"

Cycling along the Elbe River with Ramona

July 4th - Ramona and I went cycling along the Elbe River

Mike´s colorful school party

At Mike's school it is tradition for the graduating class to color
everything and everyone with finger paint on thier last day of school

Karl May in Bad Segeberg

Once a year the church in Lübeck attends the Karl May
ourdoor theather in Bad Segeberg

All dressed up

Ramona's sister got married and this is how we looked for the wedding

Jesus Connection

The group I-Themba from South Africa in Itzehoe

Mike's Birthday

Mike with his birthday present (his laptop) and
Maggie in for a short visit from London

Mike´s congradulating his father for cutting
my finger with a hedge trimmer

my god daugther - Jonna

Jonna with her birthday present - volume 3 of her 6 part picture bible




Jonna and I reading her birthday present with the other children

Celle, Germany

The final and last day of our long weekend we spent in Celle

Celle has a picturesque old town centre with over 400 timber-framed houses

and a castle built in the renaissance and barock style.

The castle has one of the most elaborate chapels I have even seen

The flower plant in the park is over 8 feet tall.

Madgeburg

Today we are in Magdeburg, the capital city of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, lies on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe. Emperor Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor, lived during most of his reign in the town and was buried in the cathedral after his death.

The Green Citadel of Magdeburg, a large, pink building of modern architecture designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser and completed in 2005.

Ramona on the roof of the Green Citadel of Magdeburg.

We enjoyed a boots tour on the Elbe River

The 918-metre Magdeburg Water Bridge is a navigable aqueduct water bridge in Germany, completed in October 2003. It bridges the River Elbe to connect two important German shipping canals; the Elbe-Havel Canal and the Midland Canal.