Two missionaries home

My truck battery is dead and I am grounded at home because of it. Yes I put the battery recharger on it but it is still a "no go." So since I've done all at home duties already I've come to the blog part and am trying to figure it out again. I tried to write about the trip we made to Croatia to pick up our darline daughter from her mission, that was two weeks ago, but it was above my abilities so I'm trying again now. I hope this goes through. We left on Oct. 11th. and flew to Ljubljana, (pronounced Loob le anna) Slovania. It was a beautiful city. We flew in the day before we picked her up so we could adjust to jet lag and locate the mission home. We were on foot because we were going to pick up the car in Croatia the next day. We had a few hours to kill after we picked her up so we took the bus to the nearest castle. They have castles everywhere in Europe. We took a tram up the hill and the conductor was talking to Kati, since she is the only one who speaks the language and he winked at her. She said that always makes her so UNCOMFORTABLE. Oh the problems that come from being a cute young girl. After we saw the castle and walked around the city a bit we got to the train station. There we took a train into Croatia. The countryside was beautiful. We stopped in several towns on the way. When we passed into Croatia they made us show our passports but other than that it was a breese. When we got there Randy, Kati and Dave left grandma and I at the train station while they went to pick up our car. We had reserved a six passenger car and it wasn't there. So they gave us another one. It was smaller but still fit us five and all our luggage. We found a motel and stayed the night.
The next day we drove to Pula. It has the largest completely standing colosium in the world there. It was going to be torn down several times in it's history but was saved at the last minute by the luck of fate. Now it is a big tourist site. It operated for 500 years before the games were finially outlawed. I hate to think of how many innocent people and animals were slattered there in the name of entertainment. While we were there Dad and Dave braved the ocean and took a quick dip in the Adriac Sea. It was too cold for us girls. But we had fun watching. The water was beautiful and crystal clear. There were no waves or sand but small and large rocks.
We went to the cities Kati served in. Zadar, was the first city. We met up with some sisters Kati served with and had lunch with them. Then we went to Plitvice Lakes National Park. It was so beautiful. There were about 5 lakes all connected by waterfalls. They had built wooden walkways throughout them and you could walk over the water and by the waterfalls. It was kinda like Cascade Springs except about 20 times bigger and more beautiful. Then we went to Varazdin. That is a small town, quaint with cobblestone streets and oldhouses and a castle in the middle of the town. Then we went to the capital, Zagrib. This is where Kati spent the most time on her mission. We visited members she knew and invistigators she was working with.
We flew home and stopped in Dave's mission on the way home. We spent some time in Nauvoo, went through a temple sesson, visited Carthage and saw some members. It was fun too. We got home 2 weeks later on Oct 25th. It is good to travel, but it is also fun to be home.
Here are some pictures, if I can figure it out.

storing food for the winter

8-28-09
This is my first time in creating a blog. This is also my first try in doing it myself without any help from my very literate computer savy children. I don't know if this will work out and it isn't very fancy but what can you expect for a first time. I have enjoyed reading my siblings blogs and it is a great way to keep in touch. So I will try. I will have to get better at this so I can add pictures because that is what I like looking at the most on other peoples blogs.
This is a very busy time of year for me. I have a garden on the lot next door. Yes, it is big, and it supplies all the vegestables throughout the year for my family and my childrens families. But that requires me to bottle and freeze it. This is the time of year that everything matures and is ready to process. So here is a list of the things I and my children have done this year. Green beans, tomatoes, salsa, peaches, corn, raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries, and jam from all the berries above mentioned. My two married daughters help me and we split the bounty. It makes for a fun and wild day as they bring their 7 children with them. The oldest is 10 so the kids run around and play with cousins while us moms work. I have some wonderful daughters because right before they leave they clean up all of the messes that their kids made while they were here.
My husband also loves to archery hunt for elk and deer. That is also going on at this time of year. Usually we all come up to the favorite hunting spot and camp while he is hunting.
So for three weekends now we have spent all our time in the mountains. We go up on Friday after the kid gets out of school and come home late on Saturday night. Then church and meetings on Sunday. This weekend I didn't go up with the hunters. All the other families that go and their young kids couldn't come up so I stayed home this weekend. So now I'm making a blog instead.
I have 2 children on missions for our church. I write them letters every week and forward my letters to my friends and family. They will be coming home soon. My son in 3 weeks and 6 days and my daughter in 2 months. The family has said they will miss my letters so this blog will hopefully take it's place.
I wish you all a great day. Mariedelbeatle