More Switzerland!

Hi.  Brad here.  We really did have a super time in Switzerland in November 2016 (Nov. 3-10)  We flew into Zurich, and spent a few days with new friends with VBG (Vereinigte Bibelgruppen in Schule, Universität und Beruf; if I have the translation correct, this is "United Bible groups in school, university and profession").  In short, this is a campus ministry in Switzerland--centered in Zurich.

Before heading to the retreat center, we spent some time in Zurich.  It was a real treat.

At the retreat the Green children enjoyed playing Ultimate Frisbee with the university students.  Here Caleb and Daniel (on opposite teams) go for the disc.

And here Victoria is in fine form.

The retreat center was in Mannenbach, overlooking Lake Bodensee (or Lake Constance).  This is the view from our room.

Here is our small group at the retreat.  A great group!

The setting was super.  I had the opportunity to speak to students in a very cosy venue--a Swiss chalet of sorts.

When the retreat was over, we drove through the beautiful town of Stein am Rhein.  It was stunningly pretty.

Here we are in front of the House of the Red Ox--the oldest tavern in town.

As we prepared to leave Stein am Rhein, the sunset was very pretty.  We were here just outside an old Benedictine monastery--Koster St. Georgen.

Thankful to see this beautiful country!

More Netherlands

Brad here.  Okay, more Netherlands.  We really did have a great time in the Netherlands (October 22-28.  We took the ferry over, and had a great time in what we could call in the states a "campground."  But not quite a campground with tents.  More of renting a house in the woods.  Simply wonderful.

We enjoyed a number of walks around the campsite, which was near Doorn.

Here are Dianne and Marion enjoying a walk in the woods.

A nice picture, I do say, of my bride.

This is a nice shot of a road through the property.

The name of the location where we stayed--"De Maarnse Berg".

Our Switzerland Trip--Zurich

Greetings!  Brad here.  Our family had a blessed time in Switzerland, from November 3-10, 2016.  Switzerland was a beautiful country, and we were there to speak at VBG--essentially one of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship ministries in Switzerland (the German-speaking branch; there is also a French-speaking branch).  I was thankful for the opportunity.

Before heading to the retreat at which I was speaking, we had the day to spend in Zurich.  In terms of the Protestant Reformation, Zurich is famous for the fact that Ulrich Zwingli ministered there.  Here we are posing in front of the Zwingli statue.  A lot of fun.

Here we are at the church were Zwingli preached.  Heinrich Bullinger was another Swiss reformer.  This really was a blast.

When we travel, I enjoy simply exploring the cities.  We enjoyed time walking around Zurich.

Here are Dianne and Victoria, when we stopped for a snack.

Victoria has a very cute face she makes, as in below.

And both Dianne and Victoria have very pretty smiles, as seen here!

I could not resist getting a picture at "Augustine Street."  Very fun.

The children having fun as we explore Zurich.

More to come on our Swiss adventure!

Geneva, Switzerland!!!

              Hey peeps, this is Dan. So we recently went to Switzerland and we went to Geneva for 2 nights! And 2 world changing things happened on the same day while we were there! The 9th of November. The most world changing thing was that I turned 16! Mom and Dad have to hold the ladies back. Kidding. Well a close 2nd is that we found out Donald Trump is the next president. Wow. Anyways so the way we got there was a pass in the mountains

It was very strange because you would be up in the mountains and it would be winter then you would go in the valley and it would be a very fall day. 

But yes we got there and it was a very reformationary city. 

Dad is really loving the wall of the reformation. The wall is about 200 yards long and includes a lot of statues of minor reformers in Geneva, but these four bros are John Calvin, Will Farel, Theadore Beze, and John Knox, the four most well known reformers that had connections to Geneva.

Ok the next day we went to this very very elaborate museum that was very cool. 

Tori is, umm. 

Watch out for Caleb and this 6 foot claymore :)!

When The Beatles meet the Green kids at the United Nations Headquarters :). 

One of the many conference rooms where all the countries' representatives gather and talk. 

Well goodbye from Switzerland, and auf wiedersehen! :)

Corrie 10 BOOM.

This is Dutchess.

A couple of weeks ago mom recommended "youhavenochoice:readit" The Hiding Place for us to read. None of us were super enthusiastic about reading about an old lady's biography. We were so wrong. I was captivated by Corrie Ten Boom's story and awed when we saw her house, with THE Hiding Place, in her home town, Haarlem, in the Netherlands. TEN BOOM WATCHES is now a nice TEN BOOM JEWELERS.

 It was surreal saying, "Oh, that's the cupboard where they hid the food rations."

 "Those are the stairs Opa went up every day, and on which the Nazi soldiers tromped up and down looking for Jews and young men." The most impressive place of all was the actual Hiding Place, of course:

It didn't look like this when the Jews hid in it (the big hole in the wall, I mean.) Six Jews hid in that 7 by 3 ft space (length by width) for 48 hours. They all survived.  Even though the Nazis patrolled all entrances to the house. The Jews kept ready all their essential belongings in there, and they climbed in, one by one, into that little space on the bottom left, having 70 seconds to get in there from eating a full meal on the first floor, or from whatever they may have been doing from anywhere in the house. 

This is where the piano playing took place, entertainment, chatter. The living room.

Corrie was crazily risky. This city hall  was occupied as the Gestapo headquarters...100 feet down the road from her house!! 

Then right across from Gestapo hdqs., the church Corrie attended with her family:

Here we all are, arguing over the Dorito. They only eat weird flavored ones over here. Tangy cheese, anyone?

Talk to you soon...doei! (Bye in Dutch.)

We'll see you later! Sorry for the delay.

Our trip in the Netherlands.

              Hey this blog is by Dan the Man. So Caleb talked how we got there, which is important, but i will talk about our first few days. Ok there is something we need to understand. The Netherlands is the second most densely populated country in Europe, so therefore there really is not a lot of places where you feel secluded.  Our friends, the Jongkinds, found a great place in the woods. It was pretty cool. 

 It was chill a lot of the time, and there was a park nearby so we had some killer times.

We took a walk almost everyday sometimes through fields, or woods or whatnot. And yep those are three stud boys.

              

We also had this very long, fun, and intense Risk game.  Very long:).

              That summarizes our first few days in Netherlands. It was a lovely time and was very relaxing. See y'all later:).



             

The Netherlands!

By: C of the Green

This last week we went to The Netherlands. I stopped calling it Holland after my freinds told me that Holland was a REGION of the Netherlands.(Which was helpful considering I had been calling it Holland my whole life). We woke up at 4:45am, got into our rental car, and drove to Harwich where we boarded a ferry with our car to go to the Netherlands. Here are just a few pictures from the ride over:

We drove in to the boat with a MILLON other drivers

Harwich, England, view from sea

Bye, Bye England. Hello Netherlands