Doing Girl Stuff in a Girl's Dorm

 The "Couch Area" is the heart of Palmgarten dorm.  Homework is done here, silly talks happen here, usually there is quite a bit of laughing and we can't forget eating!

 Here K and K enjoy a big bowl of cereal.  Notice that they have chosen to eat their cereal with ladles...you ask me why...and I have no answer.  Teenage girls have a mind of their own.  Cereal is probably the most eaten food in our dorm.

I realized that the mild probably looks strange to most Americans.  We get our milk in liter boxes.  And when we are finished with the milk, we flatten out this box and recycle it.  We are good German residents...recycling is a big part of our daily lives.

Here H is blessing all of us with a random song.  The Couch Area is rarely quiet.  Unless it is study hours...and even then...it might not be quiet.

The girls just become silly when they are at the Couch Area.  Here we have Miss Indiana Jones with a lantern to lead the way....  Again I can not explain this.

Now we are truly girls and part of that is the joy of face masks.  We made up some all natural face masks for the girls.  We got quite a big response since our Valentines Day Party was the next day.

These super models can look good even with chunks of oatmeal and flour stuck on their faces!

I even joined in. First I applied the masks...and then I too got my very own mask.  Now my skin is very happy.

Masked Beauties

Here two of the girls are making signs for the home basketball game.  GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Sunny February Day in Kandern

 On Thursday February 10, 2011 I was walking to my small group meeting in Kandern and I came across this stork.  There are actually quite a few storks that live in the nearby village of Holtzen, but they do not normally come to Kandern.  He seemed to be enjoying the sunshine as much as I was.

My walk was delightful.  As I turned the corner I was able to capture the Kandern clock tower on the local church.  This tower has a bell in it that rings every 15 minutes.  When I first came to Germany, I really noticed the bells, but now I barely hear them...and when I wake up in the middle of the night, I know what time it is without even looking at a clock.  The bells ring more often on Sundays as they call people to worship.  The bells are a lovely part of Germany.

No School On Monday = A Busy Day

 After the Super Bowl Party, was at school by 10am.  I am the assistant director of the middle school play, "The Mouse that Roared."  We had practice from 10am until noon.  When I returned to the dorm, the girls were just waking up.  Since it was a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the 60s we went for a walk up the hill.

Up the hill we go. At the top we can see the French Alps.  R, O, myself, Stephanie the dorm mom, and P are enjoying getting our heart rates up.

It feels like spring so much that R thinks it is okay to wear shorts...well in American culture it is fine, but in the European culture, they dress for the season, if it is warm or not.  Since we are in February, it is still winter, so every German person we saw had their winter coat on even though it was very warm outside.

The girls and I take a rest break and enjoy the beautiful scenery and sunshine!

Look at these girls in their already made picture frame.  I am not sure what this is for, but it works well as a picture frame from P, H, R, and O.

Chillin at the top.  From this point we are looking as the snow capped French Alps.

After the walk I warmed up some soup for lunch and then we had a delightful game of Apples to Apples. We played until it was time for the girls to get read for the Sadie Hawkins Swing Dance.

The girls asked the guys to the dance.  Then all of the students had swing dancing lessons together.

P with her date, E.

H (in the white) with her date G.

After the dance we had dinner and then the girls had to do their chores, finish up their homework for Tuesday and finally it is time for bed.  Over all it was a great day...a busy day, but a great one.

Super Bowl Party In Germany

 Even though the staff at Palmgarten Dorm lives in Germany, we are all Americans.  So we decided to show the missionary kids and dorm staff from Maugenhard Dorm what an American Super Bowl Party looks like. The dorm parents in the boys dorm, Maugenhard, are from Australia, so this was a fun event.

 Since Germany is at least 6 hours ahead of the USA, the kickoff did not begin until 12:30am.  Here you can see the guys and girls from Palm and Maug waiting for the kickoff.  Since we were watching using a sling box, we could see American commercials.  Small things like this make those of us who live overseas feel like we are at home...well that and McDonalds and Starbucks.

The crowd gathers around the big screen. We used a projector to enjoy the game.

We also made a lot of American junk food to enjoy.  P & N, my freshmen, enjoy the yummy goodness.

Please notice the many empty pans.  This is maybe 15 minutes into the game.  We definitely had high school boys enjoying the midnight snacks.

This was my couch of football fans.  We were cheering for the Packers...who did WIN!  I did not make it through the whole game.  I went to bed after the half time show...and it was 2:40 am. 

Weekend of Rest in Lausanne

 At the end of January, I had a four day weekend break.  With my two good friends, Erin and Anna, we loaded up the car and drove 2 hours to Lausanne, Switzerland.  There is a guy, Denton, who is a friend of fellow BFA missionaries.  He let us use his apartment as a place of rest.  You can see it had a great view of the lake and if you look closely, you can see the Swiss Alps.

 It was literally a weekend of rest...we didn't leave the apartment.  Erin is modeling a very cool Swiss apron. This was the most work we did, load the dishwasher.  After cooking for 30 on a regular basis, cooking for 3 is a bit challenging.  Cooking is small amounts just seems wrong.

We also spent a good portion of our time playing games or watching movies.  Like I said, we did not do much.

 The three of us: Anna Swanson, Erin White, and Bonnie Spallinger.  We had a great weekend and we laughed a lot.

As you can see....Erin and I are having a portrait done.  We think we are so funny.

40 Years of Marriage!

On January 1, 1971 my parents, Mark and Kay Spallinger were married.  So on January 1, 2011 they have reached the amazing mark of 40 years of marriage.  

Sharon, Paulene, Elaine, Karen, Kay (Mom), Pastor Cannon, Mark (Dad), Tim, James, David, Charles

 

 Mom and Dad chose to only have their siblings in the wedding party.  This was not to challenging since my dad is one of nine and my mom is one of seven. 

My father always had a beard since my mother had known him.  But, he decided it would be a nice surprise for Mom if he shaved off his beard...so he surprised her at the wedding.  She says that she told him to grow the beard back!

Bob & Leola Stemen, Kay & Mark Spallinger, Ellene & Paul Spallinger

 Off they go ready for the next 40 years of life.  This is my favorite picture of my parents.  I love their expressions.  My dad was 22 and my mom was only 20 years old.

 Forty years later, all of us kids took Dad and Mom to Steve's Dakota Grill in Findlay, Ohio.  Here they are with Julian, one of their grandsons. 

I am the oldest child and then Steve is next.  He married Amy and they live in Fort Wayne, IN.  They have Julian who is 5 and Josiah who is 4 months in this picture.

Ann is the third child.  She married Bob Watkins and they live in St. Marys, OH.  They have Eli who is 3 years old and they are expecting the first granddaughter in May.

Finally there is Caleb, the youngest.  We are the single siblings.  Caleb lives in Dayton, OH and currently I am enjoying life in Kandern, Germany.

While I was home, I was able to connect with my friends from Alaska.  I was so happy that there were so many of us old school people around.  Ralph Kasier was on a road trip since Sept. and he stopped by Ohio.  Rick and Pat Shaner were visiting supporters "down south" and they came by.  I was home from Germany.  Nick Powell, Courtney Cole, Erin Clegg, and Denise Pritt all live in Ohio when they are not in Alaska.  It was wonderful to connect with old friends.

Stemen Family Fun

My mom is the proud great aunt of little Eden Snow.  Eden is the daughter of my cousin Dusty Snow.

Dusty is proudly wearing an Indiana State Troopers hat...he hopes it will help him get out of a ticket if he ever gets one in Indiana. 

My Aunt Karen is enjoying her time with her parents, my grandparents Leola and Bob Stemen.

I finally got to hold baby Eden.  Dusty almost didn't come to the family get together...but after a few calls from me, he came with his daughter. 

Julian's Belated Birthday

As a family we celebrated Julian's 5th birthday late so that everyone could be there.  In order to get ready for the fun, I gave Julian a Euro Hawk!

                                                 I also gave Eli a sweet doo.

                                    I am  not sure if he loves it or not with a face like that...

                                      My sister Ann is bonding with our nephew Josiah!

                                           Julian and his cool cupcakes for the party!

Finally Julian gets to open his really cool birthday gifts.  The 5th birthday party was a success!