Kindergarten Fest!

Jacob and Owen's Kindergarten celebrated its 125 year anniversary on Sunday. Here is a video of Jacob's class doing a dance. Owen's video is below!

Kindergarten Fest

Jacob and Owen's Kindergarten celebrated its 150 year anniversary today! Here is a video of Owen's class dancing. I'll but Jacob's up tomorrow.

Bogenberg Medieval Festival

We had a great time at the Bogenberg Medieval Festival. Lots of old costumes, jousting, sword fights, horses, and of course...GOOD FOOD! That is one certainty of a German Fest.

A Good Word To Ponder

Psalm 34:1-10

I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.

The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

TWATGH

In a world of too many acronyms, one more can’t hurt: TWATGH—This Week At The Graf House. (FYI—The “G” is silent so it is pronounced “Twath” with a short “a”.)

Friday Night Dinner and Study: Potluck theme is All-American. We will also have a guest speaker: Dan Hash. Dan is a missionary with Josiah Venture serving in Poland. We are excited to have him share with us. Click here to read a little more about Dan and his family.

Saturday: Picnic at the Eschenbach lake from 4-7pm. Come join us for a chance to hang out, play sand volleyball, swim if you’re brave, rent paddle-boats, play corn-holes, and any other yard game you bring! They have plenty of grass if you have horseshoes or another fun yard game. They also have a small playground for kids. Bring your own picnic for dinner. There might be a minimal entry fee (1-2 Euros).


Upcoming:
20 June: Bogner Raufentage Medieval Fest:
In the Straubing area (just south of Regensburg) is the suburb of Bogen, which every year holds a Medieval Spectacular (in German, the Bogener Raufentage) on the nearby mountain, the Bogensberg. It’s held the weekend of June 19-21, and it’s all FREE!
It features a Medieval Market; a large display area showing how soldiers, nobles and peasants lived in the Middle Ages; lots of people in period costumes, demonstrating many different medieval handicrafts; falconry demonstrations; a variety of activities just for kids; sword-fighting and battle reenactments; and a medieval pilgrimage.
For further info (again, just in German), visit their website.
(Thanks to Margaret Bartlebaugh for getting us the information on this!)

27 June: Help Laurel Move In!Many of you know that Laurel Hoyt is moving from Heidelberg to minister specifically to single women in the Grafenwoehr-Vilseck area. God has blessed her with a wonderful apartment. However, the furniture cannot move itself into it. She has wonderful friends helping her move out of her apartment in Heidelberg. We would love for her to see that she has wonderful friends here that are willing to help her move in. Would you consider joining us in serving her? We will have more details in the near future. Read a little more about Luarel by clicking here.

3-6 July: Camping in Bertchesgaden
Info sent out earlier this week.

18 July: Bike Riding with the Howertons!

No Activites

Just a reminder that the Graf House will not have any activites going on this weekend. Please join us next Friday (May 29th) for our next Dinner and Bible Study!

Gut Genug

While I don't think this is an acutal German expression, it literally means "good enough" which also happens to be the weather forecast for the day! Good enough to go sand-boarding. There may not be a lot of sunshine but at least it is not raining which is gut genug for sand-boarding! See you there.

Sand Boarding Saturday!

Saturday we are going sand-boarding in Hirschau (south of Vilseck) at Monte Kaolino. There is a lot more than just sand-boarding though. There is a rodelbahn (alpine slide), outdoor pool (probably too cold this time of year), sand-sledding, and playgrounds for the kids. We will be there over the lunch hour so you can bring a lunch with you (they have picnic tables) or get lunch at the café there. Please also bring money for the activities. You can rent sand-boards and sleds there or you can bring your own sled and see how they work!

We will meet at the Graf Chapel at 11:00 to caravan. If you are from the Vilseck area you may want to just meet us at the site. If you drive to Hirschau (zip code 92242) you will see the large “white mountain” as well as signs pointing to “Montel Kaolino.” Follow these signs south of town on Wolfgang-Drossbach Strasse and you will see a left-hand turn to Montel Kaolino.

Web Site for Montel Kaolino
Map Quest Location
Phone Number: 09622 81502

If it is raining we will have to cancel the event. I will send out an email Saturday morning around 10:00 if that is the case.

Weather Encouragement and This Weekend's Activities

We hope your week is going well! I know the rainy weather isn’t as cheery as the sunshine, but it too is part of God’s grace for our lives. Read what the Psalmist says:

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.

PS 147:8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.

PS 147:9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.

PS 147:10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;

PS 147:11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
--Psalm 147: 7-11

While we may think that he supplies this part of Germany with a little more clouds and rain than others, we can and should be thankful for it. It is part of His goodness to us. Sometimes it is more a matter of perspective and looking for God’s goodness in things. I imagine a few of our family and friends downrange would love to have this weather. They would consider it a blessing from God!

We hope to see you this weekend. For Friday night’s Dinner and Study we will enjoy Pizza (and salad if you want to bring some). Please cook your pizza’s at home and then bring them unless you call and talk to Aimee ahead of time. However, she will be baking her pizzas in the oven here so there probably won’t be much extra room! Our study is going to be on John 5:16-30 if you would like to read ahead.

On Saturday we will have a BBQ and games at 5:00pm. The grill will be going around 6:00—please bring your own meat and a side dish to share with everyone. We plan to play outdoor games if it is not rainy but will move inside if that is the case. We hope to see you here.

Not all was lost!

We got rained out last weekend but not all was lost! Bowling was fun and The Princess Bride was "inconceivably" good!

Next weekend (2 May) we are hosting a BBQ and Game Night. If the weather is good we will play some outdoor games such as ladder golf, croquet, and whatever else you want to bring! Bring your own meat and a side dish to share. You're welcome anytime after 5:00 and we'll get the grill going around 6:00! If the weather doesn't cooperate we will just play some inside games! Hope you can join us!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain...

Which is exactly what it is doing in Nurnberg! The forecast is for it to rain in Nurnberg on and off all afternoon and so we are going to cancel our trip there this afternoon. However, not all is lost…

We have decided to meet at the Graf Bowling Alley at 12:30 for a couple hours of bowling. Feel free to go early and get something to eat or eat while you bowl. Please bring money for shoes and your games.

We are also going to show the movie Princess Bride here at the House at 7:00. (That’s the start time of the movie not the arrival time, mingle-time, get you coffee-time. If you want to do those things come at 6:30!)

We hope to see you at some point today!

Nurnberg Fest

Tomorrow (April 17th) we will be going to a fest in Nurnberg. It sounds like it has a lot of rides for the kids and some booths and shopping for the parents. We will meet at our house at 11:00 and leave at 11:15. The fest doesn't open until 1:00 but bring a sack lunch and we will eat before it opens (and then we might find parking easier!!).

There is suppose to be some light rain so pack an umbrella, rain jacket, stroller, and whatever else will make your time more enjoyable!

Please also check back here in the morning around 9:30 to make sure that we haven't cancelled the trip because of too much rain!