Early Friday morning I experienced a tender moment that touched my tough heart. Thursday and Friday nights I slept in a different room so as to avoid hearing Douglas' snoring (I'm a light sleeper and it keeps me awake at night). Around 3:00am on Friday morning I heard Douglas in the other room. He was standing in his crib calling for Mom. "Mom. Mom." Then it was "Dad. Dad." Then I heard him lie back down in his crib and in his cute little whimpering voice he said, "Mom and Dad, all gone." Then he fell asleep again. Wow, I am normally very tough with Douglas (I don't handle crying and whining very well), but in that quiet, early-morning moment, my tough heart was softened a bit.
Late Friday morning we drove to Niersbach, Germany, a quiet village where Ben (my cousin), Jana (Ben's wife), and their kids currently reside.
Filling our bellies with some hearty German food.
We were thrilled when we saw that they have a washer AND a dryer. We have not seen a dryer since we left the States.
We arose early Saturday morning (we are eight hours ahead of Utah time) to watch BYU beat Mississippi State in double overtime. What a game!
Douglas enjoyed playing with the kids and their toys.
Saturday afternoon, after watching Caitlyn, Jackson, and Lauren play in their soccer games (Jackson scored an awesome goal!), we drove 90 minutes to the city of Koblenz, where my great-great-great-great grandfather, Alexander Neibaur, was born. Here are a few details about him:
Alexander was born January 8, 1808, at Ehrenbreitstein, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany (although at the time of his birth it was part of France, so Alexander also noted that he was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France).
The Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein is now part of the City of Koblenz and is situated on a 385-foot cliff where the Rhine and Moselle Rivers merge.
The French destroyed the fortress in 1801, and Alexander was born seven years later somewhere in the fortress.
His parents were Nathan Neibaur and Rebecca Peretz Neibaur (Nathan was an accomplished linguist and a physician and surgeon. Some say he was, for a time, the personal physician of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Nathan was born in Nassau, Deggendorf, Bayern, Germany).
Alexander was the first male Jew baptized into the Restored (LDS/Mormon) Church. He taught Joseph Smith some more Hebrew and German in Nauvoo.
The Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein is on the hill behind us.
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