Day trip to Switzerland

On Friday Tim had an all-day meeting to attend in the same town(and building) where Luke works in Switzerland. I went along and spent the day with my friend, Jungsuk, who was my private tour guide for the day! She took me into St Gallen, the nearby city, in the morning and then to the Bodensee in the afternoon. We had a wonderful time together - what a gracious host she is!

The Abbey of St Gall, St Gallen, Switzerland

The Abbey of St Gall

Inside the Abbey of St Gall, St Gallen, Switzerland

St Gallen, Switzerland

The Abbey of St Gall - built in 613!

Airial view

The library at the Abbey is considered one of the richest medieval libraries in the world. It is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage site. It is quite breathtaking from floor to ceiling! We had to wear slippers to protect the very old floor which has beautiful inlaid wood.

Jungsuk took me to the very scenic Bodensee(Lake Constance) which borders 3 countries - Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Luke can see the lake from his workplace; he went swimming in it the other night after work.

Luke's workplace

Beautiful chalet across the street from Kybun

Man's best friend.....KD loves Luke and goes wild with excitement when he walks in the door on weekends!

BFA Alumni Reunion

Last weekend BFA had its first ever alumni reunion. It was hosted by the class of "88 and included alumni from the classes of '86-'90. We had a wonderful time time reconnecting with former students and reminicing together. The alumni had a great time revisiting old haunts and even staying in the dorms where they once had lived while attending BFA.
Before marrying Tim, I was a dorm assistant at BFA for 6 years - from '81-'87. These are the girls(now beautiful women!) from my dorm who attended the reunion.

Marilee, Mary and Kristin, former "Storch" girls(each of the dorms at BFA has a name and my dorm is called Storchenblick...this is because it is located right beside the village church that happens to have a stork's nest on top. Storchenblick translated means "view of the storks")

Men of HBR(Haus Bad Riedlingen)!

Tim and Patrick, who is now working in Iraq.

Reunion continued....

Ken and Marilyn were on staff here at BFA for many years. They are still involved in ministry, serving with Mercy Ships in the U.S. They are dearly loved, so much so that this group of alumni paid their way to come and be a part of their reunion. We were so happy to see them come back.

Jiska and Jesse, brother and sister from Holland. Jiska was in my dorm, Jesse was in Tim's dorm at BFA. Jesse is in Africa in Barundi working with the repatriation of displaced persons. Jiska and here husband were also formerly serving in Africa - Jiska is a nurse and her husband is a doctor. They are now back in Holland

Sonia, Jiska and Marilee - 3 of my girls!

Don, who was in Tim's dorm, and Melodee who was in my dorm. They have since married and have 3 beautiful daughters.

Some more reunion shots....

Tim giving the alumni a tour of BFA. They were wowed by so many improvements and postivie changes to our facilities since they attended here.

Reconnecting with classmates......

Great times of fellowship with old friends. This is the dining room of the dorm where I used to live for 6 years. It was emotional for me to walk into this room and see my girls sitting around the table like old times!!

Two of the girls who were in the dorm with me back in "84-'86. Sonia and Marian are sisters, both married with children. They live in California and flew over to attend the reunion.

Happy Father's Day!

We are very thankful that Luke and Tyler can both be here for Father's Day this year.

See the sign in the car window? It says, "To Dad: Love, Luke & Tyler" Ha! Ha!

Today our town is hosting a festival which includes plenty of entertainment. Check out this performance! See the "speck" on top of the very tall tower? That is a person! An acrobat......kinda makes you hold your breath and feel a heart attack coming on!

The Shumans are moving......

This summer - in just over a months' time - we are moving.......just across town, no big deal. But it is actually kind of a big deal because we are moving to an apartment that is half the size of where were are currently living. That means we are having to downsize big-time. This has been a real challenge for us because we have lived in Germany for 25 + years, so our "life" and virtually all of of our stuff is here. It has been a little stressful trying to fit preparing for a move into our "spare time"! But it has also been very good to "clean house" and simplify!

I was able to get rid of a lot of stuff at a flea market that BFA hosts twice a year.

We have to completely paint this house before we move out!

Treasures

I have been sorting and tossing and packing and cleaning for weeks in preparation for our move. In the midst of it all I have taken some time to scan a bunch of pictures unto my computer. Here's some fun ones I found......
Tyler and Uncle Jack catching up.......

Dude!

Family news........

Luke came home for the weekend and was able to attend graduation at BFA. He had a great time reconnecting with alumni friends. Here he is with two of them - Phillippe from England and Chris from Canada.

Tyler is now a Senior at Black Forest Academy!

He is glad for some time off from school - almost three months' worth!