Dying Easter Eggs and the Hunt for Easter Eggs!

Easter is not until April 4th, but the girls leave for spring break on Thursday, so we had our Easter Sunday in Palm on March 21. "E," "K," and "K" were the most excited girls about dying Easter eggs. They all have this activity as a family tradition and were excited to do it in the dorm.

Look at this very cool masterpiece of the German "shake and dye" egg coloring kit.

The girls had a great time coloring their eggs however they want to. I am excited to enjoy an egg for lunch today!

I too jumped on the egg coloring band wagon and dyed a few eggs (or ei in German) myself.

The beautiful colors of Easter.

Clean up is the job of the RA. We ended up with some good looking eggs. And now it is time of the Easter Egg Hunt.

Plastic eggs are hard to come by in Germany, but we did find some at the Euro Store. Here Lizzy and Stephanie pose with the "Special Egg." Whoever finds this egg get a whole day without doing their chores! We hid this egg in Lizzy's hood of her sweatshirt!

The hunt is on! Girls looked under couch cushions, behind books, and even in the ceiling! Oh where are those eggs?

"L" found the first egg and she is going to Lizzy to get some candy as her prize! Yumm...

"E" also found quite a few. We hid those eggs well and the girls were very excited to look for them! Then we ended the night watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." Which is a great movie!

The McCafe with the Dorm Dad

Luke, the Dorm Dad, loves McDonald's and for any possible reason, he likes to take the girls and himself to the McCafe in Lorrach, Germany. Last Saturday, March 13, Luke and myself took most of the girls who were not trying out for soccer to McDonald's. The girls wait patiently while Luke orders some yummy fast food. The McCafe was extremely busy on Saturday, so we claimed the only table available.

"E" and I enjoy the moment out of Kandern. The "big" city of Lorrach is quite a treat! Not pun intended.

The yummy delights of McDonald's make the girls very, very happy!

Here is Dorm Dad with his awesome selection of coupons so that McDonald's is affordable.

I too and enjoying my meal with "H" and "A". What a fun way to bond with some of the girls in the dorm.

The 2010 BFA middle school play, "Get Smart" was preformed on March 12 and 13. It was a huge hit and the students did awesome. I was so excited to be a part of this event.

Bob and Sue Kummer were our set designers. They did an excellent job. Here they are getting the last touches of the set of the two hotel rooms done.

In a weak moment before the audience has arrived the good guys mix with the bad guy. Here the Chief poses with the infamous Mr. Big and Agent 13.

Susie Stebner, the dorm mom of Blauen, put the final touches on Agent 99's makeup.

Stephanie Welbourne, the dorm mom of Palmgarten works on the hair of one of the blondes. By closing night, we were able to do hair and makeup of 27 students in an hour and a half.

Mrs. Newharth, one of the student's moms, creates a masterpiece do on one of the blonde girls.

Here Betsy Wong who is a Chinese girl, and actually played by a Korean, show the "Get Smart" program.

Hodgkins is the genius scientist who keeps Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, up on all of the latest inventions he can use to defeat the evil KAOS.

The Chief gives Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, a few words of advice before he goes out to protect the American people from KAOS.

Professor Dante is the inventor of the "inthermo" which can incinerate steel. If it got into the wrong hands...imagine what could happen....no it is unthinkable!

Agent 13 poses for the camera. He tends to hang out in a locker in the bus station, just in-case Maxwell Smart needs someone hit on the head.

In this Chinese restaurant, The Fortune Cookie Club, there seems to be something peculiar about the 4th Chinese waitress...she is a blue-eyed blonde!

Oh no! The Chinese ladies have taken Agent 99 and Maxwell Smart captive! Will good win in the end?

In this scene, Mr. Big reveals that Professor Zalinka is really with KAOS and that he has hypnotized the Princess into thinking she is from Hong Kong. Agent 99 and Maxwell Smart are astounded...how will they get out of this mess?

The cast and crew did a wonderful job on both nights! Thank you to all who helped....especially Heather Powers the director.

Get Smart Dress Rehersal

On Monday we had our dress rehearsal for the middle school play. There were some rough spots, but overall it went well and I am confident the students will shine on Friday and Saturday.
Her Miss Finch and two of the "blondes" pose in their cool get ups! Polyester is cool!

Something bad is happening Agent 99 and Maxwell Smart...will it end up okay? We wait in suspense.

The 2010 BFA Middle School Get Smart Play Cast!

Here I am with Professor Zalinka. Isn't she the cutest? Her Mom is my small group leader.

Here I am trying to give a few last minute instructions to the cast as the assistant director.

The Joys of a Weekend Off!

As a full time missionary for a few years now, I realize the value of resting. I guess God knew what He was doing when He gave us a day of rest. Living in the dorm and on the floor with 19 teenage girls, sometimes it is hard to rest due to loud music and screams and giggling...which are great sounds...unless you are trying to sleep!

Over Valentines Day weekend, myself and 3 fellow RAs (CB, Stephanie, & Anna) were able to find some great rates for the train to Paris. It was a blessing to rest with friends and see a new place. It was also the birthday weekend for CB and Anna!



Here CB and I are in front of the Notre Dame, which is a fairly impressive structure. I did not going into the bell tower.

On the first evening there we climbed the 286 stairs to the Arc de Trimphe, which has a huge traffic circle around it with many streets shooting out from this point. It honors France.

While up in the Arc, I got to see the sun set. Here is the beautiful Paris cityscape. It reminds me of the many people who need Jesus Christ. I am glad that Avant has a short cycle team here.

Since I am an art fanatic...I wanted to go and see the Louve. It was slightly overwhelming with the massive amount of art, but I did get to see the Mona Lisa up close. It is quite a small painting. Anna, Stephanie, and I pose in front of the famous Louve glass pyramid.

The Eiffel Tower was the last thing I visited before we jumped back on the train. Stephanie and I are very impressed with this structure. I did not want to climb 1000 stairs since the 286 made me out of breath.

And I am off to the train and back to my wonderful girls in Palmgarten. After some rest and a bit of culture I am ready for another month without a weekend break.

Palms Valentines Dinner

The dating scene at a missionary boarding school is fairly limited...and to be frankly honest, as a dorm staff, I am okay with that. But it is good for the girls to have positive interactions with guys outside of school. So as Palmgarten tradition goes, every year near Valentines day we have a nice dinner and each girls roommate asks a guy to be their roommates date. Now the dates are not revealed until the guys show up and present themselves to the girls. It is a fun time for us staff to watch these interactions take place and an anxious time for the girls.
When "S" walked into the dorm, he went right up to "H" and said, "Hi 'H' you are mine." If that is not romantic...I am not sure what is!

The girls are enjoying their dates, but I think they might be a bit more comfortable around each other.

Smalltalk can be challenging, but "R" and "S" found a way to keep the conversation going.

Yes, we are on a double date, but with 18 other couples! Should be fun.

The table is set behind "S" and "K" as they wait to play the first of the group games.

"Four on a Couch" was a big hit with these seniors. I think they all enjoyed their time together.

This is "B" he was the Palmgarten dorm brother last year as his parents were the dorm parents, and now he gets to be "H"'s date. Lucky him. Everyone had a great time and I got to spend most of my time in the kitchen preparing the feast...which is where I was happy to be.

Those Wascally Nephews!

I am finally catching up and the highlight of my time back in the States was seeing my nephews. This was taken a day or two before I flew back to Germany. Here you can see how ornery these two little boys are...and Auntie Bonnie loves them for it! This is Eli (Ann's little 2 1/2 year old boy) and Julian (Steve's little 4 year old boy) with Auntie Bonnie.