August ends - September begins

Institute Closing Social - Thursday August 28th

Our last summer in Berlin ended with picnics and parties. The closing social for the summer Institute program was a picnic in the nearby Tiergarten.  The Tiergarten is a large (larger than Central Park in NYC) and beautiful park.  We walked together from the church to an open spot.

We arranged our blankets and picnic food and then before eating, we had a special message from President Berndt (counselor in the Berlin Stake Presidency).

President Berndt is the man in the red sweater.

After Pres. Berndt spoke, we enjoyed a picnic of hot dogs, potato salad, chips and brownies.  It was a pleasant evening together.

Tiergarten Ward Sommerfest - August 30th

Our ward gathered behind our meetinghouse for a goodbye to summer ward party.  Two whole pigs were roasted over coals and everyone brought something to add to the feast.

Here we are with our friend Pon watching the pork roast.

Dina, Patty and Pon

Hungry ward members enjoying the food

After lunch - the games began!

Our bishop in his "candy coat" ready to play the east German game with the primary children.  Candy is sewn to a coat and then the person wearing the coat begins to run as the children try to snatch the candy.

It was fun to watch and hear the children run and squeal when they were successful in catching the "candy man".

There was also giant bubble blowing for the younger children.  They loved to run and try to pop these huge bubbles.

A sturdy rope was tied between two trees for the children to try their skills at "tight rope walking".

The Young Women had a fun game where participants would draw a card which described what they must do to earn a special drink of ginger ale with herbal tea.  People had to do things such as recite the alphabet backwards, sing a hymn, tell a story etc.

Institute Opening Social - Thursday - September 4th

First the YSA gathered for a meeting where the teachers and courses for this school year were introduced and the Institute Director spoke.  

Then they presented some skits and played a game in the outdoor area.  Then it was time to eat!!

We had been expecting Jim and Taffy Davidson (Kelly's parents from Roy, Utah) to stop by to visit us.  They were on a European vacation with their daughter Crystal.  They arrived just as we were in the frenzy of getting everything on serving platters for the 'finger food" buffet.  They pitched right in and helped us to present the food on time!

It was fun to see the Davidsons and hear about their trip.  Friendly faces from home are always very welcome.

Crystal and Taffy at work 

After the food was served and eaten, Taffy did all the dishes - bless her!  We had a little chance to visit as we cleaned up and put everything away.  I wish we could have spent more time with them.

Lined up to eat

This shows our buffet of veggies and dip, fresh fruit, little toasted cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, little meatballs, bratwurst bites, cookies and candies.

Enjoying the food

Eating indoors and outdoors

After the food, it was time for more games for those who wished to stay late.

It was a successful evening and we finally arrived home at about 11:30 PM.

Zone Conference -Friday - September 5th

The next day - bright and early - we began an all day Zone Conference with President and Sister Kosak.

Our Zone

After the meeting, we met our friends - Elder and Sister Harrison who are currently serving a mission in Frankfurt.  Both the Kosaks and us know the Harrisons from our time together serving in Russia. President Kosak was the CES Director for the Europe East Area - which included all of
Russia.  The Harrisons served as Mission President and wife of the Rostov Russia Mission.  We also got to know the Harrisons even better as we served together at the MTC in the branch for Russian speaking missionaries.  They are dear friends and it was so good to see them again! We went to dinner together and talked of our days in Russia and now in Germany.  It was a very pleasant evening.