Mellidelphia

Introducing the New and Improved Mellidelphia

http://mellidelphia.blogspot.com/

 

New because it's got a new web address; improved because I figured out you don't have to pay for blogs. 

Just a few more Europe pics...

Well can you tell school started back up again? January happened and it's hard to believe I'm almost to Spring Break! I suppose when your semester finishes up at the end of April they have to fit it in somewhere. Silly semester system. I've been taking OB and really loving it. Lots of baby-holding and diaper changes and contraction counting and trying desperately to count a baby's heart beat. You should try it sometime, it's quite difficult! Can't say it hasn't made me want one! I've seen amazing wonders of modern medicine though am positive I'd like to try to give birth as naturally as possible. However, I've also learned that as strong as natural intentions can be, it's still wise to be open to interventions if needed. 

Anyway, enough on nursing for now. I just wanted to post some more pictures from our European trip so I can move on to posting about our Philly winter. 

In between Christmas and New Year's, Ben and I had the opportunity to drive up to Frankfurt to meet up with my dear college friend Valerie and her fiance David. Valerie and I lived together all three years that I was at UCLA. She was and is my bosom friend (as we liked to call each other A of GG style) and no matter the time or distance between our reunions, we always seem to pick up where we left off. It seems like only yesterday we were freshmen and making fun of ourselves for going to dormal....

I can hardly believe it's been almost 7 years since graduation when we parted ways...

I know she'll be a lifelong friend. I just wish there wasn't quite as much time or quite as much distance between us! It works out quite well that both her's and Ben's parents live in Germany at the moment, giving us a nice meeting place. 

Reunited at last!

Frankfurt

Loved the chance to spend more time getting to know her future husband. He's wonderful.

They had to explain to us the meaning of all these locks on the bridge. Apparently, when two people fall in love in Germany, they buy a lock, have their initials engraved in it, attach it to a bridge and throw away the key in the river! So cute. One of V & D's Christmas presents this year was their very own lock which they attached to the bridge in Cologne, where her parents live. Love it.

Thanks for spending your special birthday with us, Valerie! I love you and miss our late night fro yo runs, Friends marathons, De Neve adventures, and the laughing that made us tear up. Mostly I miss processing just about everything with you. Can't wait to see you again.

 

Another very special part of our European trip was spending so much time with our niece. She has grown a lot since we saw her last and will have grown even more by the time we see her next. We loved getting a two-week snap shot of her life as a 2-year old. We moped around for days after saying goodbye to her =)

Playing with Elmo on the iPad

Looking forward to the fall when we get to see her and her parents again =)

Valentines Day & Marriage

God gave me the gift of a wife and Kristin is her name. She teaches me lots of things, she is patient with me when I am selfish. She makes me laugh, cry and everything inbetween. God gave me her to make me more like Him.

Europe Installment 6: Kandern: Then and Now

Tucked away in the gently rolling hills of the southwest tip of the Black Forest in Germany, there is a small town of major significance. 

To say that Kandern is where Ben attended high school would be factual, albeit a gross understatement. However, there are few individuals who can explain exactly what Kandern means to him. Every time I visit, I understand a little more.

I visited Kandern for the first time back in 2002 when Ben and I had just started dating. 

I came over with a group of our friends from Mount Hermon. We had an awesome time exploring the little town where Ben grew up and visiting various places in the region. Looking at the picture below just now, which was taken 9 years ago,  I realized some fun details:  four of us were in Annie's (friend to my left) wedding this past June! Actually, since this picture was taken, Annie and I became sisters! (in-law) Kim (friend to Annie's left) and her husband Dave (not pictured but he is my friend from home and Ben's roommate at Mount Hermon) were among our best friends in Millbrae. Jake (crazy hair) and Ben were each other's best men. Forever thankful for Mount Hermon friendships.

Ro 1 from 2002!!

From wild and crazy rides in the catering van to adventures in Europe, this guy could always make me laugh.

That year was the first time I met some of Ben's closest friends from high school...John Walker, Peter Barrett, Matt Cruse, Phil Storrs....friends I now get to call my own. 

I actually still remember the moment the picture above was taken...I remember ordering my first beer and I remember Annie taking a sip of her drink and saying, "tastes like Hawaii!" and I remember Peter (who is sitting to my left) telling me about a girl he loved a whole lot back then. She went to their high school too. Her name is Kara, he loves her even more today and I am now lucky enough to call her my friend too. Peter and Kara are the amazing friends we visit when we go to D.C.

John (at the bottom of the picture) married Katie, another one of Ben's dear friends from high school. The first time I met Katie, I was visiting Kandern at a pretty awkward point in Ben and my's relationship. In fact, we had just broken up! (It's a long story). Regardless, Katie was so kind and warm to me. I remember thinking how sad I was that I would never get to be friends with her since Ben and I would be parting ways. Fortunately, about three years later, Ben and I figured things out, and I got to be friends with Katie again =) She was visiting Kandern too when we got there this time! AND she is pregnant with their second. So fun to see her and Luca. 

Ben building towers so Luca and Lucie could knock them down.

This time I tried to take some pictures in front of things I knew I had photos of from 2002. It didn't turn out exactly how I had hoped, but that was 9 years ago! Crazy. Here are some then and now shots.

Ben and Annie in Freiburg, 2002.

Ben in Freiburg, 2011.

France in the background, 2002.

France-ish in the background, 2011. (Can you tell from our sweatshirts we are Californians? =)

In the gazebo, 2002.

Gazebo, 2011.

I wish everyone who considers Ben their friend could visit Kandern. He graduated with about 70 kids. I'd say at least half of his friends (including his sister) married someone from BFA (Black Forest Academy...his high school), just to give you an idea of how close they were. Ben is somewhat of an exception in that he married outside of BFA. I think one reason why Ben and I "work" is because I come from a pretty small, close-knit community in Canyon Creek, and so can understand a TINY BIT what it was like for him. Living in France for a year helped me to understand the Europe thing a little. His family and friends welcoming me in helps immensely.

And during trips like these, where I get to spend hours walking the streets and hills of the closest thing to home he's ever known, listening to his stories, trying to see the world through his teenage eyes, understanding more and more why he is who he is...well, what can I say, I just fall deeper and deeper in love.

Next Installment: Feuerbach aka my favorite story Ben told 

Prologue to John

I thought this short study on John was too long and interesting for facebook. Therefore I will blog about it. All translations of the greek are my own.

In the prologue, or first chapter, to John's gospel there are many interesting and deeply theological nuances that come out especially when reading it in the original greek language it was written in. One of the interesting things is John's use of language in verses 17 and 18. While in verse 17a John writes, literally translated, "that the law through Moses had been given", (from Didomi a very tricky verb, but also used in by Paul in Rom. 5:13 "For sin was indeed in the world before the law had been given) He continues in 17b, "the grace and truth through/on account of Jesus the Christ were realized." The last verb phrase "were realized" comes from a aorist active indicative tense of Ginomi, which for those of you who know greek is a past tense with no aspect of completion. So the question now is what relevance does the Law have for us. Should we through out the ten commandments? Through Moses comes the law, through Jesus grace and truth. The best part is still to come!

Verse 18 continues, "God no/not one has beheld ever, the only actual God, who that in the Fathers bosom (think prepositionaly "at side" is a English understanding)  this one has made Him known or knowable." That sounds weird, because it's a literal translation, but let's just review the statment. John writes that no one has seen God, problem. The Bible records that Moses, among others, saw God. So John is lying? No, he is simply stating that the logos (vs.1) has shown God to humanity like nothing ever has or ever will. Jesus has come from God the father to show us God, and this is Logos, this showing, is what John has recorded and what he reveals in the chapters a head. God revealed to Moses, and others before, what He chose to reveal, it was glimpses, shadows, of Himself. He gave Moses the Law, a relationship in covenant to the Jews. He gave general revelation of Himself to the world. (Pslam 19, Rom. 1) But John knows and writes that NO ONE, has shown or has seen God until the person of Jesus. Why? How? Because Jesus was at God's side from the beginning, He is divine, and He is Love. He and the Father are one. John records the how and why in the rest of the gospel. Keep in mind as you read the rest of Johns recording, that no one has ever, can ever, or will ever make God known/knowable but Jesus.

Europe Installment 5: Marche de Noel, Kris Kindle Mart, Christmas Market

The first day we arrived in Germany we drove up to Freiburg for the Kris Kindle Mart. It's possible we ate a little too much a little too fast, but when at a Kris Kindle Mart in Freiburg, Germany...why not?

 

The one exception I will make for pork....wurst.

Gluehwein!! (Vin Chaud)

Fried cauliflower with cream sauce and cherry dumpling with vanilla sauce....yes please.

For some reason there is a Coastal Redwood Tree planted infront of the church in Freiburg so of course we had to visit it and take a picture with it (which proved to be more difficult than anticipated)

The day we drove home from Bergun we stopped by Basel to hit up its Kris Kindle Mart. After walking around the market/downtown/Rathaus area Ben and I snuck up to the Munster Church and caught part of an evening service. Seeing the church again reminded me of being in Basel with a group of our Mount Hermon friends back in 2002. Good times.

 

Christmas tree in front of the lovely Rathaus

After Christmas we drove over to Colmar in France. This was my favorite market (and not only because I got to converse in French :). Colmar is straight out of a storybook. And let's face it, it's France so the food's awesome, the people are charming, the children are adorable and the wine is uber cheap (wish we could have taken more advantage of this last detail).

Gauffre au Nutella (Nutella waffle!!)

Brought me back to my Grenoble days

This is the landmark building in Colmar...it's hard to tell from the picture but it is very unique and beautiful.

This building contained some of my favorite French things such as....

and....

AND....

Buche de Noel, Alsace style

Eclair au chocolat

Very thankful for the chance to spend some time in my favorite country with mon amour

 

Installment 4: Bergun wrap-up

Here are a few more of my favorites from Bergun...

There were a few of these little huts where you could buy fresh Alpine cheese, milk, yogurt, meats, etc. but there wasn't anyone there to take your money. Swiss honor system. 

Ben teaching our niece how to use the Elmo app on his iPad. She was a very fast learner.

The moment where you realize you are in the Swiss Alps with your best friend

Ice bars

Ice chair

Even Lucie got to sled

He takes after me

Delicious

Mickey Time!

Double Binkies!!

Playing dress-up with some of Aunt Kristin's accessories

Reading books with Grammy

Beef Bourguignon! Fun to make, delicious to eat. Will definitely try again. Thanks, Julia.

Berry trees covered in snow

I love this one of them. 

 

After lots of practicing in Botswana, Lucie was an expert angel maker.

I just love our niece

Unforgettable week, now ready for some Kandern time!

Thanks Art and Beckie for such a treat!

Next Installment: Christmas Markets

Europe Installment 3: Latsch aka Heidi's village....literally

Two words: barley soup. When I think of the stories Ben told me about Latsch, the tiny village up the mountain from Bergun, barley soup comes to mind. According to Ben and his family, there is a little, old lady with a tiny cafe in the back of her house who serves the best barley soup in the world. You wouldn't even know it was a cafe unless you had been there before. The other unique detail about Latsch is that the original Heidi was filmed there. The closing scene with the grandfather in the church takes place in Latsch's little chapel. I was very excited to experience these two things.

We set out for Latsch on one of the days it was too snowy to sled. Ben was not kidding when he described the hike up to Latsch as basically straight up. It felt great to breath in the fresh Alpine air while making our way to Heidiland.

This wooden post just shows how much snow piled up in the few days since we had arrived!

The creek almost completely covered in a fresh blanket of snow

The path on the right is our trail, here we go!

Made it!

Relative to the rest of the town, this was a brand new fountain (c. 1991)

We loved how there were barns built on to the back of all the houses

Ben's sister, Bethany, and our brother-in-law, Jason, in front of one of the unique doors in Latsch

Weary hikers ready for some hot, delicious soup

Success. Thanks, Art!

The precious church

This one's for you, Mom

After exploring for a while, Ben and I decided to continue on to a place called God. 

Since there wasn't much to do in God, we had a contest

Ben clearly won (although one could argue who took the picture at the right moment...)

So thankful to have laid my eyes on this

Next Installment: Bergun wrap-up

Europe Installment 2: The Darlux

When Ben told me we'd be sledding in Bergun, I pictured the kind of sledding I've experienced before...dragging a saucer up to the top of a hill, turning around and plopping down on the sled, still able to see the bottom of the hill I had just climbed. I'm sure he mentioned how long the sled run was that we would be using. He might have even told me that we'd be taking a chair lift or a train to the top of the mountain that we'd be sledding down, but again, for some reason I just pictured the kind of sledding I knew. Boy was I in for a treat. 

The Darlux is a sled run in Bergun. Ben said that on an average day, he remembered going down this run 3 times...that's how long it takes to get up the mountain and down (not to mention how tiring it can be). We did it 6 times on the first day! Our poor knees paid for it the next day but it was so worth it. Here is a panoramic view of the top of the Darlux:

http://www.360cities.net/image/panorama-in-darlux-bergn-switzerland#153.75,12.44,70.0

I have to admit, I was pretty nervous going down the first time. The sleds seem so old and incapable of safely delivering us to the bottom of the mountain. And how many times have I ever taken a chair lift to the top of a sled run? Never. The whole way up Ben was pointing out the run below us. I kept thinking, "gosh, that looks narrow" or "isn't that turn sort of sharp?" But after I got the hang of it, I could not believe that America has not picked up on this kind of sledding (or maybe it does exist, just not where I have been). The Swiss are so serious about sledding, they wear cow bells to let you know they are coming so you can get the heck out of the way. They lean back on their sleds as if they are louge racing. Hilarious. Here are some shots from our day on the Darlux:

Hiking out to the chair lift

The little building in the bottom of the photo is the base of the chair lift

We sled beneath bridges like this (but closer to the ground) a few times on the way down.

Couldn't have asked for better weather!

Still a little apprehensive at this point

Good thing my German tour guide was there

Here he comes!

So fast

One-handed!

Swiss cow

Our faithful steeds 

Darlux = SO MUCH FUN. The next day it started to dump snow in Bergun. We still thought we'd try to sled the Preda, the run where you take a train to the top of the mountain and sled down. Unfortunately (or fantastically, depending on how you look at it) there was SO much snow that the Preda turned into more of a hike than a sled run, but it was still beautiful and I could get a good picture of what it was like for them in the past.

Next installment: Latsch aka Heidi's village....literally

Europe Installment 1: Bergun

How do I sum up spending two and a half weeks in the Swiss Alps and the small German town where Ben grew up? 

Blessed.

(And the 1,000+ pictures we accumulated between three cameras constantly snapping away will help).

Don't worry, I won't post them all. I figure the easiest way to describe the trip is through the lens of Ben's stories that he's told me over time and how they came to light on our trip. Over the next few days I'll try to tell some of them and give you a glimpse but as usual, the pictures don't do many of the stories justice. Which is why I feel so blessed to have stood at Ben's side for these experiences, to understand a little bit more his world. I have been to Europe before, I've even been to Ben's small town several times. But there was something intentional about this trip. It's not that he wanted to relive memories...I think he just simply wanted to remember. 

Many of the stories Ben has told me over the years about Bergun, Switzerland, the small village in the Swiss Alps where Ben's family went every Christmas with many of their friends from BFA (the MK school he attended), came alive for me. During our last family dinner in Germany we joked about how Ben had given me the impression we'd be staying in a dormitory in Bergun. I wasn't quite sure how that was going to work out with meals and privacy and whatnot, but he just loved Bergun so much that I tried not to doubt him. It turns out that we stayed in an unbelievably gorgeous, historic, Swiss hotel....but when Ben went there in high school he and a bunch of the guys slept in a bunk room on the bottom floor...he just forgot to mention that there was this whole beautiful hotel attached to the bunk room. Here's a few pictures of it (and I have to give credit to the Farmer and Melli cameras/photographers that were also on the trip because often their shots caught the scene better than ours!)

There was even a room just for ladies...

A little ways down from the hotel is the main part of the village. The architecture is very unique and beautiful.

One of my favorite windows

The church at Bergun (there are beautiful mountains behind it but the snow clouds had moved in by then!)

Inside the church was amazing! They have preserved the original frescos...

From the balcony in the back

When we weren't sledding (I'll explain this later) we enjoyed strolling through the town and checking out the cool buildings. In the evenings we cooked together in our little kitchen...fondue, beef bourgingnon, and chili to name a few dinners, and Ben and I engaged in a week-long table tennis tourney. Movies at night, reading with blankets, a puzzle, and hanging out with the fam. I was the only one in our party (besides Lucie, our niece) that had never been to Bergun before and it was so special for me to spend a week there with Ben's family, creating our own new memories of the place that is so dear to them.

Next installment: The Darlux