Comings and Goings of the Reid family

Ok so its been forever since we posted. I'm gonna do better. So I'll just catch everyone up to date from 2009 to current May of 2010. I'll also put up some pictures. We had Kirk, Janelle and Emalee come visit us in late June/early July when we did fireworks for the Fourth of July and went to see Diamond Rio at the Grand Ole Opry. In July all the Tingeys, Froebes, and Aldridges came to a great big family reunion in Island Park, Idaho. Jeff and Kandis Froebe came to visit us afterwards and then we had my mom and dad over for Thanksgiving in November. We spent Christmas at Kari and Dirk's place. During all these things, Chad started masters classes to become an accountant. Adylae has started going to a dance class and will now be starting swimming soon as well.

archives

We have so much to catch up that you have to go to the archives to see the rest of what we have posted. We hope you enjoy.

New Year in Germany

We arrived back in Elder and Sister Tingey's apartment in Kiel on New Year's Eve after traveling along Germany's Romantic Road in the south. They were relieved to have us back safe (this was, after all, my first time driving a car in a foreign country, and there are a number of speedy BMW's and Audi's on the autobahn!). After the new year, we drove around together to look at some local windmills, which originally were used to grind wheat. Space was tight in the little Opel Corsa, so Michelle had to go with the stroller in the back!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our last stop on Germany's Romantische Strasse was Europe's most well-preserved medeival town Rothenburg ob der Tauber (German: Red Town on the Tauber). The Tauber River runs alongside Rothenburg, which is surrounded by thick stone walls and guarded by entrance towers. Inside the walls of this town is a complex of narrow cobblestone streets - sometimes the walls of buildings were so close you could touch both sides at the same time! The architecture was amazingly old, yet inside this town there was a fully-functioning grocery market and lots of souvenir shops (of course!). It was here in Rothenburg where we purchased a traditional German dress for Adylae.

Fussen

Fussen lies in the very southern part of Germany in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border. There were two castles that we were able to see here: Hohenschwangau (German: Highland of the Swan) and Neuschwanstein (German: New Swan Stone). Hohenschwangau is the yellow one which was created on the same site as a twelfth-century castle built by the knights of the Order of Schwangau, whose emblem was the swan. The second castle was created by the "Mad" King Ludwig II near the end of the 1800's in honor of composer Richard Wagner. We took a carriage ride up to Neuschwanstein - it would have taken about 30 minutes by foot. The castle is very beautiful - to be there and see the castle from the Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge) feels like something straight out of Cinderella.

Wurzburg

Wurzburg was our first stop along the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse) in southern Germany. The Residenz is one of Europe's most sumptuous palaces, surrounded by beautiful gardens and decorated with ornate architecture. It is forbidden to take pictures inside, but there is a gigantic staircase with a vast painted ceiling overhead which symbolized the heavens (the one who commissioned the painting and the bishop, of course, are included in the great painting, reserving places for themselves in heaven). Halls for entertainment and dancing were on the upper floor, along with a historical documentary of efforts to preserve the Residenz after severe damage during World War II. Wurzburg has many other ornate cathedrals which are neat to look at for their architecture, and the medeival Marienburg Fortress lies across the river near the center of the city. If you look closely you can see the vineyards underneath.

Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt

The Christmas market of Hamburg (or "Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt) was quite a place to see. Everyone sets up little shops to sell all sorts of stuff - everyting from roasted chestnuts to bird houses to music boxes to decorative nutcrackers. Lots of green boughs, red ribbons and white lights decorate the tops of these temporary structures which are taken down shortly after New Year's. The Weinachstmarkt is a German cultural thing, and at night the lights and decorations make the place feel enchanted. The gigantic pyramid with the windmill was located in the center of the Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt. Elder and Sister Tingey, Michelle, Lisa, Adylae and I had a good time looking at the little trinkets for sale and trying out the various pastries and cakes!