Blog 27 June 2009
Man it was great to see all of you again. We had a great time, if somewhat hectic. Life hasn’t really slowed down for me yet. I had to go back to the UK earlier in the week on business so I got some pictures. There is Wellington’s Arch, the Duke of York’s column, and Lord Nelson’s from Trafalgar Square.
Lyn has adjusted well to Germany, in fact she loves it here. I love having her here, and going for walks with her and just having time together. She has quickly transformed the house into a home with and sense of peace and order. More flowers are appearing in the yard as Lyn unleashes her energy in the direction of establishing a garden. I don’t think the landlord will mind.
I’ve received a promotion of sorts at work. I’m switching jobs to a position with greater responsibility and autonomy. I look forward to new challenges and the extra pay. The Lord has blessed us greatly.
Amanda and Erika seem to be doing pretty well. Erika put Amanda to work painting as soon as they got to Arkansas and I say”good for Erika!” I don’t think Amanda minded. They also had a big bbq with Travis’s family and Amanda said everyone was incredibly nice. We’re grateful Erika and Amanda have this summer together.
We miss all of you and love you.
Don and Lyn

These are my flowers. Not quit like the yard Lyn and I built in Utah, still adds nice color to my porch.

I loved the mix of old and new in this picture.

Gargolyes are cool rain spouts.

Great place to stroll, shop and eat. I look forward to brining my sweet Lyn here.

Blog 30 May 2009
I can almost taste the airline food I am so close to coming home! Wow I can’t wait to see everyone again! Today I finally got around to walking around central Kaiserslautern instead of just driving through it. You all really have to come over and experience just strolling down the shopping plaza and stopping for refreshing drink or snack at an outdoor café in the cool shade. As normal for me I snapped pictures of a couple churches. All German towns, not matter the size seem to have at least two churches; on Catholic and one Protestant. The Jehovah Witnesses that stop by occasionally tell me that Germans are not a real religious people anymore, I can’t say one way or the other, but I can say that no matter the size of the town there are generally two churches.
This week I have had the blessing of visiting an older sister in my Ward that fell in her garden and badly broke her leg. She has been in the hospital for a week now waiting for the swelling in her leg go down so the surgeons can rebuild her knee. I took he husband to visit her Tuesday and after I fed the missionaries last night I took them with me to visit her again. She is worried about how the operation will go, but always expresses faith in Heavenly Father. She is from this area of Germany, and as a young woman married an American GI, and they are still married. Last night we talked about how important it is to work hard at having a good marriage and trying to make your spouse happy.
31 May
Today I was called, sustained and set apart as the 1st councilor in the bishopric. I really did not see that coming, but I guess you never do. I am grateful for the chance to serve the Lord and the members of the ward in this capacity.
See you all soon,
Don

These are pictures of my Memorial Day hike

Did prehistoric man shelter here?

It’s been a few weeks since I updated the blog. Life has settled into a routine and I doubt most of you would care to hear about that. Last Saturday, 16 May I drove to the Frankfurt temple by myself and I didn’t get lost, which was really cool, but sort of disgusting when I saw how close I came the first time I tried and never found it. Doubly disgusting when I noted that the road signs I drove past the first time actual have “Tempel” (that’s how it’s spelled here) on them and I just drove past without noticing the first time around. Perhaps it was the odd spelling that threw me off. Of course I forgot to take my camera. I helped with youth doing baptisms for the dead which I always enjoy. It’s a good feeling. Seeing the youth involved in temple work.
Of course to keep me grounded after the success of finding the temple I went to the Frankfurt airport and picked up a new employee yesterday. Now this is a drive I know pretty well due to the fact that I’ve flown out of there three times AND you drive past it going to and from the temple. I still managed to miss a crucial exit on the way back and had to take a little longer jaunt with some twists and turns in unknown territory, but we still made it back in good fashion. A car GPS is sounding better and better…
Today’s photos are from a little hiking area about 20 minutes from my house. It’s a beautiful place and the photos speak for their selves. I kept an eye out for fish in the stream, but didn’t see any. This would be a fun place to visit with any of you that should choose to come see us here.
I’m finally allowing myself to be excited about coming home and seeing my family (all of you) again. Early on in the separation I simply don’t think about it, too far away to torturous, but now it will happen next week and I can’t contain the excitement!
See you all soon,
Don

I spent all of last week in London. I got sent on a short notice trip to help with some pre-award survey's for some new fuel contracts. I've always loved London from the time we were stationed in England, so I didn't mind going on short notice. My hotel was across the street from Hyde Park. It was right above the tube stop. Of course I didn't realize it was literally right above the tube stop. So when I got off the tube, I starting walking down Bayswater road in the direction I thought the hotel was. I went as far enough to be sure it wasn't in that direction, and then went back up Bayswater, past the tube stop and down the road a little further. Still no Hilton Hotel. I knew the hotel was on Bayswater Road, but being a man I wasn't about to ask for directions. I had viewed it on google maps, I knew the hotel had to be close by the Queensway tube station. So back up Bayswater Road I trudged to get back to the tubs station. This time I looked up and say "Hilton" above the tube station. I sighed in relief and checked it. Once I had my room I went in search of food and found paradise. My hotel sat on the corner of Bayswater Road and Queensway. Walking down Queensway I found almost any culture or cusine I could ask for. Chinese, Japanses, Indian, Persian, Brazillian, Lebanese, Italian. I settled on a little Russian cafe in the Queesway market. I had some stuffed cabbage rolls that were tasty in deed. I ate a different country ever night. London is amazingly diverse. On my strolls through Hyde Park I heard foreign language being spoken more often than English. Now not everything about London is great. Traffic is horrible. I didn't get a car since I could use the tube to get to the office and a train to and from the airport. But since I had to ride around with a coworker to go do the job I got to experience several long traffic queues. On Friday I took the office vehicle and drove to the Air Force bases. When traffice is good it takes about 90 minutes. I left my self about four hours to get back and get to the airport. I needed every minute because traffic was so backed up. If lived in London I would rarely drive. In all it was good trip, and I hope to go back with Lyn this summer and enjoy some straight vacation time there instead of trying to smush in some sight seeing after work. All in all I had a lovely time of it! There are three blog entries that follow that are pictures of my sight seeing efforts. It was amazing how many different places I could get to in 20 minutes that were grand sites to see.

Buckingham, St James Park and Parliment Square

This is Westminster Cathederal. It's a beautiful church inside, but since there were people in the praying I only took one picutre inside of a small side chaple where taking a photo would not disturb any one.

Buckingham Palace. The flag was up which means the queen was there.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abby and Big Ben

The flower beds at St James were beautiful!