Group photo from the Alaska reunion

It was so wonderful to be with ALL of you in Alaska.  It would be hard to say what was the highlight of that time together.  We are still learning how to use our new smart phones, but Grandpa is attempting to send a message via his.  I am going back to the good old Grandpa Garold Herald.

One way or the other, you should get this.

Happy rest of the summer!
Grandma

Update from Gwen

I am so excited to see you all in a few days, but in the meantime I thought I would put some pictures of my trip to Germany on the good old family blog.  I took off with a group of 28 other German students from my school, my German teacher, and two parent chaperons on May 30th.  We spent two days in Berlin, took a train to Meissen where we lived with host families for two weeks, and then went back to Berlin for three more days before flying back to the U. S. of A.   In the meantime I had a lot of great adventures and met a ton of interesting people!

Our first two days in Berlin were incredibly wet.

A Davis family classic, being honored in a modern art museum in Berlin! In another room of the same museum the 'All You Need is Love' scene was playing on repeat.

Conquering the Subconscious by Pierre Alechinsky. I think.

This is part of the view of Meissen from the top of a hill near my host's house.  

Moritzburg Schloss after climbing around in a ropes course/Kletternpark in a forest. 

Some funny museum of old German lifestyle in the Spreewald

Paddling in the Spreewald

Hiking in the Sächsische Schweiz with my host family

This beverage was my Lebensblut for two weeks.

My host, Marie, and I at the top of some part of the Sächsische Schweiz. Tired but happy.  Also, you could see Czechien from here.  

These are my host parents.  They found my fascination with all the moss there hilarious.

Altstadt Dresden

The Elbe flooded really horribly while I was in Germany.  This picture is of the third day in Sachsen, which I spent mostly in Dresden.  THIS IS NOT NORMAL, and very sad.  

Some more flood wreckage.  This is the street below my host's house, where ground water came up and destroyed a garden center.  Luckily, my host's house was completely fine, with no flooding or damage at all. 

My host and her step dad in Kaufland, the local grocery store.  This is an entire wall of Sauergurken.  

One of my friends in a Doener Kebab store in Meissen.  The wegetarians ate falafel.

More of Dresden.  By this time, the river had gone down a lot, but was still far too high.

A monument to the flood in 2002.

Dresden with my school group

This was part of a street festival in the Neustadt of Dresden.

Neustadt street festival

This was also the street festival in the Neustadt.  It was supposed to be a multicultural celebration.  

Sunset on the Altstadt and flood

My host family wanted to see the temple in Freiberg, so we took a day trip there.  We also met up with the Bartsch family, some friends of Grandma and Grandpa's, there.  Later I went to church with the Bartsch and Menzel families in Dresden.  Denise Bartsch and I also walked around the shopping district of Dresden one day.  

'Wir sind das Volk' mural in Leipzig

Bach statue in Leipzig. 

A happy cat at the Felix Mendelssohn House (also in Leipzig). 

Part of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.  This time we were there, it was on average 95 degrees and very humid.  

This trip was a lot of fun, and my German improved tenfold while I was there.  I'm still thinking just a little bit in Denglisch.