The McNalley family became good friends while we served in the Darmstadt English-speaking branch. The branch was closing because the US Army base there was closing. Madison turned 8 and her mother asked if Dad would baptise her. I spoke on Baptism and brought refreshments. Julie McNalley is a woman of great faith dealing with a lot of strains now.
Dagmar & Bjorn's wedding celebration gave us a chance to participate in a beautiful LDS wedding. In Germany everyone has to be married at city hall first, then you can go to a church afterward. This ballon launch was a colorful alternative to throwing rice. We had just attended a ring ceremony in the chapel next to the temple. That evening we joined the wedding party and around 100 friends for dinner at a restaurant.
Braunfels is one of our favorite castles because they still have a royal famiy living there continuing the 500 year chain. We went for the summer night Opera Fest and enjoyed seeing the young tow-headed princes jumping on their trampoline! The castle, grounds, museum and village are all charming and seem like a place out of time.
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The best part of August was that Christine and Hillary came through twice. When they were here between London & Greece, we took them to Frankfurt's Old Opera House to see "Carmen." It was the unforgetable Flamenco version! The opera story was told through Flamenco dancing! The next time we saw our accomplished travelers they had added Italy to their travelog and were ready to go back to BYU.
