Easter Weekend Pics

First of all, thanks to all of you who wrote or commented with updates on what's going on in your lives.  We really miss being able to easily keep up with all of you, and it's nice to hear what's going on there.  Keep it up! (For those who don't have a blog/haven't sent an update - take a hint ;)

I don't have a ton of pictures from Easter weekend, but it was a nice time of relaxation and enjoyment of the beautiful weather God sent our way that weekend.  Most of all, however, it was a wonderful time of worship and reflection on Christ's sacrifice for us!

Hope all of you are doing well!  Hugs and enjoy!

On Easter Friday (Good Friday - which we had off work/school!) we went to see the memorial for victims of war and persecution downtown.

There are many steeple towers in HH, but we both agree this one is the coolest, and when we checked it out, we found that it is actually a memorial rather than a cathedral!

Info about the memorial (I took this pic especially for you Mom! ;)

The Grand Entrance! (Sidenote: it is really amazing to us, being from a nation whose national culture is a mere 233 years old, to see some of these truly old structures!)

One of the "windows!"

A bronze in the courtyard of the memorial which represented a child who had lost his family.

After leaving the memorial, we walked along and found a cool little alley which led to a little dock on the edge of one of the small tributaries of the river Elbe (which runs in front of Sidonie's school.)

Sid on the dock with her school in the background.

Closer pic of Sidonie's school: Joop van den Ende Academy.

I took some pics of Sid enjoying the warmth!

Contemplation...

After enjoying the dock, we walked to Rathaus (Townhall) which is a big tourist/shopping area.

Rathaus with the trees getting ready to bloom.

On our way to Rathaus we saw a really cool suit - Sid: You'd look great in that! Me: I'll bet it's expensive (this is the ritzy area of town.) And the verdict...

It was indeed expensive!  Translation of German -> Suit: 2,600 Euro, Shirt: 339 Euro, and Tie: 149.50 Euro!  W O W!  I'm pretty sure I've never worn a suit that costs as much as that shirt!

After our great time in town, we stopped and had dinner at a Thai place we've been wanting to try near our house.  We had set aside some money to go after we found that they have Vegan options!  I got the Thai Curry, and Sid got the Stir-Fried Veggies - both of which were YUMMY!

On Saturday we stayed around the house and had a picnic at the lake (see previous blog for pics of the lake area.)  We had set aside 5 Euro each to get each other a gift for Easter to remind us of the Gift Christ gave so many weekends ago.  

Here is Sidonie's 5 Euro Easter Basket!  Yes, that is the inside of our salad spinner with tissue paper for "grass!" (Kelley should be proud of my ingenuity!)  I also made colorful IOU-type cards instead of eggs since we wouldn't eat the eggs anyway!  I found this DVD at a Flomarkt for 1 Euro - WOOHOO - four more to go...Then I found, at another booth on the same day, a pair of earrings to match the Amber necklace I got Sid for Christmas, and managed to talk the lady down from five Euro to four!  I did it!

We had a wonderful weekend, and hope you all had a blessed Easter celebration too!

More to come soon!  I've got lots of pictures of my exciting Birthday weekend activities as well as some pics of highlights around HH and my trip to Denmark!  Stay tuned!