Where do I begin?

I just spent an entire week in Garmisch with my husband and kids and my in-laws (Erick's mom and dad, his sister Annie, his aunt Nancy, and his sister Kim along with her husband, David, and two kids).

We have had so much fun and have done so much that I don't even know where to begin. We stayed in cabins at  Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, a US military resort. Here is a picture of the nice cabins that Grandma and the cousins stayed in. Ours was called a rustic cabin, and it was much smaller. But still perfect:

This has become one of my favorite places. I could live here (as long as I could have my own mattress). Here is the view we woke up to every morning: 

Day 1: We just stayed at the cabins playing and catching up with everyone. We had a little devotional that night where we learned from Grandpa and Erick about the importance of Baptism. 

Grandma and Grandpa gave cousin Jackson a nutcracker. It was a soldier to represent to Jackson, who was baptized last month, that he must stand up to defend his faith in Christ:

Grandma gave Joey a white baptism dress to wear for her baptism which will happen after her 8th birthday in October. She also got matching shoes and a headband:

We were very spoiled on this trip. Grandma and Grandpa brought books and crafts and toys for all of the grandchildren. This gift, however, was my favorite. This is a blanket that Grandma made for the new baby:

Day 2: We went to Berchtesgaden, a beautiful town in the heart of the Alps. We first toured the salt mines in these lovely jumpers:

The tour was a lot of fun. It included a ride into the depths of the mine on a little train. Then as we walked through the mine, we went down a few wooden slides. The kids had a blast! Unfortunately, TJ's pant leg rode up, and the first wooden slide rubbed off the top layer of skin on this calf. He didn't complain once, but his leg looks pretty nasty. It hurt much more the next few days after it had scabbed up. Yuck.

We couldn't leave Berchtesgaden without visiting the Kehlsteinhaus or "Eagle's Nest." This building was built for Adolf Hitler, although he didn't use it very much. It is on top of an insanely high mountain top and has amazing views on a clear day:

Here is a view from the bus before we drove into the clouds:

By the time we reached the top, we were completely engulfed in the clouds and couldn't see anything below:

Here is TJ at the top of the mountain showing off his newly bandaged leg:

Day 3: We went to Neuschwanstein. I opted out of the tour and the hike up to the bridge. But the rest of the family got some great pictures:

After the castle tour, we found a great little park where we could picnic. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the park also had an alpine slide. All of the kids and most of the adults went down the slide several times:

In the picture above you can see (starting from the front) Bailey, Annie, TJ, Erick, and Kim.

While the kids were enjoying the alpine slide again and again, Grandpa, Erick, and I decided to take a ride up a tram to the top of the mountain. The views were outstanding. If you look carefully in this picture, you can see the zig-zag of the alpine slide below:

Erick and his dad at the top:

Paragliders were taking off from the top. It was fun to watch them run off the side of the mountain. A little scary though:

When we finally went back down the mountain, we found that the rest of the family had headed back to our cabins, which were located about an hour away. They left us Erick's car, but forgot to leave the keys and cell phones. After being stranded for a couple of hours, we were finally saved by our brother-in-law David.

While we were driving through Austria on our way back to the cabins, Erick and I noticed these ruins from the freeway:

We decided that we needed to stop and get a closer look. We hiked up to the top, and were pleasantly surprised. I think this little stop was one of the highlights of our trip:

We learned that these are the castle ruins of Ehrenberg and that they were first constructed in 1290. The castle grew and had many parts added on throughout the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. Mainly the additions were for security. This castle saw many battles and was taken and retaken. It was a wonderful stop on our amazing vacation:

Day 4: This was a lazy day. We stayed at the lodge and went swimming. Then in the afternoon, the ladies and David took a drive over to Oberammergau where they are currently performing the Passion Play. This city has performed a musical play about Christ every 10 years since the time of the Black Plague. Unfortunately, we were unable to get tickets, but we still enjoyed the small town which is renowned for it's wood carving and Christmas shops.

Day 5: We headed off to see the Herrenchiemsee Palace. It is located on an island in the middle of Bavaria's largest lake. We took a ferry out to the island. Here is a view of the palace from the ferry:

This castle was designed to look like Versailles in France. All of the detail inside was very French. The fountains outside looked very much like Versailles as well. It was a wonderful stop:

On our way home from the palace, we took a little detour to Innsbruck, Austria to see the Swarovski crystal factory:

I stayed behind with Nancy and TJ, who was sleeping. I learned later that I had made a wise choice because the tour was quite disappointing. But outside the factory there was a park, and the kids had a nice break playing outside for a while:

Day 6: We left the girls with Kim and Dave and the cousins and headed up to Munich to see Dachau Concentration Camp. It was such a neat experience for me. I have never seen a concentration camp, but I know that Erick's ancestors from Poland were persecuted and sent to camps during WWII. It was a sad place, but I felt so close to the people that suffered there. I can't really explain it.

Grandma and Aunt Nancy at the entrance. The gate says "Work Makes You Free:"

Erick with the fence line and a guard tower:

Erick and TJ in front of the crematorium ovens:

The gas chamber:

It seems like this should have been a depressing visit, but I just kept thinking about the love God has for men and the fact that He has a plan for us. People suffered dreadfully in this place, but their suffering is now over. We must remember this sad time to keep it from happening again, but we are not required focus on it. We can focus on the joys that life can bring. We can be grateful for the small blessings in life. I think having TJ with us helped me to remember the blessings of life despite the dark moments depicted in this place.

On our way back from Dachau, we stopped at a little shop that sells traditional Bavarian clothing. We couldn't resist getting this outfit for TJ:

I tried to get a picture of him standing in front of the alps, but it was too dark to get a good view of the mountains.

TJ calls this his cowboy outfit. He loves it so much, he has worn it all day for the last two days.