More Pics of Poland

Watch out Jamie, Last time you had Grayson!

A car accident in the parking lot at the Restaurant "Under the Walnut tree" makes for a stressful time.  Thank goodness the people were honest and stayed to report it to us.  I have no idea how long they had to wait for our long lingering over meals, family!

More Pics of Poland

Gliwice, doing my thing!

More Pics of Poland

Street problems in Gliwice, which is why my GPS had a melt-down...but we got there.  Where there is a will, there is a way!!!

Polish Pilgrimage Pictures FINALLY!

Fields of Sunflowers everyone I look!  Abt 10 km from Koszecin.

Archive in Katowice

Poland Pilgrimage Day 8 Part 1

It is 6:00 am. And soon time to shower. I had some thoughts come to me and so am writing about them. First yesterday morning after waking I heard a pounding type noise. Later I asked Danuta if she heard it and what it was and she also didn’t know what it was. Later Jan told us that in the morning he had gotten up and chopped wood to heat the water. Wow, I was surprised about that. He says the gas and electricity are too expensive here. Anyway, just wanted to mention that.


Also, in most of Europe they don’t have screens on the windows and the same is here and I have been the meal for many a mosquito. But we must help the hungry or so we are told. Too bad about the type of hungry we are dealing with!

Also, the stork pair we saw in the nest on the day of arrival, I sort of remembered a stork nest 18 years ago and asked if they come back yearly. Jan said it is the same pair for 20 years now. Boy are the a happily married couple! Can you imagine having kids 20 years in a row. The thought makes my feet swell and my backache… Oh well!

Today it is raining and gray. It rained during the night. So, those are my random thoughts and I will continue after the day is gone by. Feel free to leave a comment if you like. I would love to hear from you also! Hope I am not boring anyone.

Just writing at the archives today.  Very busy here today for me because I got the big file that I hadn't been able to get yesterday.  Looks like we will be back here on Monday.  So much to do and see.  So many amazing record types.  I can't believe it. 

By the way, I guess I took my shower before Jan had a chance to chop the wood....so my hair didn't get washed.  Boy that was my fastest shower in history.  Today is rained hard and is still threatening to do some more it appears.  8 people in the archives besides us today.  The helpers have been helpful.  Did my gift put them in a nice mood?  I had been told I was limited but they have not limited my books or complained about all the books I have requested.  Danuta had to go move the car because they are going to cut the grass and it is a little in the way.  I have no book to view as I completed what we had.  I have found a lot of criminals in the court records belonging to my family.  They had verbal, physical abuse, thieves, racial discrimination against a Jewish woman and wood thieves.  Boy I have some black sheep.  Maybe more than I planned on. More later!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7


Danuta has become a professional “form filler-outer”. She needs a raise. That poor woman filled out forms today till she had writer’s cramp. She is a great secretary, ha ha! Well, today we drove to Katowice. I think Danuta was a little nervous because it is a big city and she was afraid of getting lost, but the GPS got us there before they opened and all was well. We put our stuff in the lockers and noticed that they had some books for sale. Tomorrow I will see if I have time to check the Family History Library catalog to see if we have them or not. Unfortunately, I can’t do it at home at the Ulfik’s because of the fact that I have this dumb internet problem. As we were driving and such we were happy to find that the archive was not in the Centrum, rather on the outskirts so we could avoid the Katowice traffic.
Well, we got in and there were about 3-4 other people there besides us. We didn’t notice any cameras as had been in the Gliwice archives, very visably displayed. There were computer plugs and quite a lot of space to work and many stations in which to sit. No problem there. We had to fill out forms, again. We filled the same 2 page form with all my information on it. One for Danuta and one for me. They were all in Polish and so all I did was sign my name. Then we had to start filling out requests. This archive, although they knew I was coming, did not have my books ready as the other archive did. We had to have our book order placed by 9:30, but because we filled so many forms to do this we were really racing against the clock. They told us the 5 book only rule. I told them that the manager had given me permission for more, but they were still not quite sure how many I could have. Ended up I got a lot and we were working like crazy until closing time. This time the copy situation was much different than in the Gliwice archives. Luckily no post office to deal with, however, all my requests have to be reviewed by the manager because they don’t own the books only are the caretakers of them and so the manager was not in today. (of course..) Hopefully tomorrow. The one item I really wanted to see had been sent to repair and they weren’t sure if I could see it. Another manager problem. So again, there is always tomorrow. I didn’t have to pay yet for the copies. After they determine if I can have everything I requested, then it takes 3 weeks and then after that they will bill me and send them to Danuta on CD.
We worked straight through lunch without a break till we went home,. During the wait times, I did as I had in Gliwice posting my blog entries and emailing and reading emails. And Answering Sylvie’s translation request. So I found some really interesting stuff today. My brain is so full I can hardly think of what they were. First there were moving records, Influenza reports, law suits., arrest forms, foreign workers etc. I had no idea that “flocks” of Galizian people came to Koszecin. There were 2 family names in my line from various towns in Galizien. While looking through the court records, I found in 1894 an arrest record of my great-grandfather, Franz Gralla. He was found guilty of breaking a law (It gave the official law number, not the crime) and fined him 20=== or 3 days in jail. That was probably the start of his life of crime in poaching, ha ha! Npw here is the thing, he wasn’t the only family criminal, I HAD LOTS OF THEM!! Many different family lines. I can’t wait to get the copies to read through these crazy things. I really had no idea, the many crazy types of records that give so much data were available in the archives. I have learned so much already. So then I found travel passes, forest workers from Galicia records giving their former residence and passports. I am just crossing my fingers that I will get those copies. If not, it will be more than a bad thing.

Well, after a hectic day at the archives, we completed the day’s work and decided to eat. A little hard to find a restaurant where we were but finally we did. Nothing fancy, but OK. We then went to the bakery and got a different version of a poppy seed cake to bring home, also some traditional Silesien Wafers. They are quite cool. Then we got in the car and followed Bobby Sue’s (my GPS) directions back to Koszecin where we gassed up our diesel car and we have driven 1 week clear from Warsaw on ½ tank of gas. I kept thinking we would run out and it just never moved. We filled in 149. Zl about $50.00. (sounds better in dollars, I think!) I can’t wait to put some pictures in my blog, but I just don’t get the opportunity, which is a bit frustrating. I know how plain text can be boring… Then we found the market and bought some water and some cool Polish items that I will bring home. No mushroom chips here, although there were some rather interesting flavors, I must admit. Danuta bought some items, too. I bought some Haribo gummy dinos. Now there’s one I hadn’t seen before. Then back to the Ulfiks, where as usual dinner was ready. It was spaghetti and for dessert our Poppy seed cake. I liked today’s cake better than yesterday’s, but Jan preferred the one from yesterday. We all laughed because no one could agree on the best one.

Malgosia and family were all there and she is building a new house and asked about all the modern American kitchen amenities. I told her and she said, she would be having some of them but not all. It is really interesting to me how Polish people linger over the meals, not eating, but talking and talking, laughing and just being together. It is nice, but the dishes never seem to get done! Her little daughter Weronika likes to entertain us with American children’s songs, counting in English and just being a cute little 5 year old. Right now it is pouring rain outside. Theresa said that it had rained a lot during the day, but we didn’t have any in Katowice or driving to and from the archives.

Tomorrow is another day at Katowice archives and we are driving Theresa to Piekarny Slaska which is on the way for her little school friends get-together. So that will be fine. I got some nice pictures today. One of a sunflower field just full of flower…I know, again no picture. Well, I will get to the pictures, too, eventually.

As we were driving Danuta had asked me to turn on the radio. I did and a man’s voice, a very sexy voice came on and I said, wow, what a sexy voice and Danuta said, yes, that is the Catholic Priest on the Catholic radio station talking about confessions…OK, I repent.

As I am upstairs, I can hear the family and Danuta just laughing and laughing, so I am glad that Danuta is having a good time, also. It is very comfortable to be here., I love it.

Well, whomever is reading this, till next time. On the weekend there may be a little silence on this end, unless I find a internet spot somewhere. On Saturday night we are going to some kind of a cultural event at the Palace. With folk dancers and so forth. Sounds nice.

Oh, I can’t remember if I already wrote this or not. But the tornado in Koschentin that occurred about 2 years ago, which was on the US News and happened in Koszecin was 1 km wide and when it happened it blew over the bus or van that the Polish dance group Slask was traveling in. I think a couple of people died if I remember. I remember hearing it while in the kitchen listening to TV while cooking and thinking that I had hoped none of my family was too near this. Well, it took out the farm of my great grandfather, Franz Gralla. I am so glad that we saw it while it was still intact in 1992. I had just hoped to get some good photos and I got photos, but the old stuff was no more.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 6

Poland Pilgrimage Day 6


Exhausted already. It was a good day today. Was not feeling like I would like with a little back pain, actually quite a bit and it is still hurting. I am hoping that it will improve overnight… Anyway, today Danuta and I drove to Gliwice to the State archives. We got there in about 1 hour and when we got to Gliwice the GPS got confused because of the complete ripping apart of the roads due to construction. We had no idea where to go and how to avoid the mess. Danuta decided to ask a taxi driver if we could follow him to the needed address and he said yes. He charged us $15.00 for the time. But it was worth it and he was very nice. We found a parking place, which looked at first to be impossible, but we got it. We were actually at the archives about 15 minutes before they opened, but they let us in and we got a good start. We were expected by the staff. They were a really nice staff and the man who seemed to be in charge was most helpful. I had thought I had only “a few” fonds, but in reality, I had TONS. I do mean tons. Every Fond had a large stack of items within that fond for which we then needed to pick the “signature” number. So this took a while, as none of this had been on their online catalog. This in itself was a learning experience. First we had to have a form filled out about our personal need to use this information and was it for publication, what was my passport number and about 2 pages of information that was needed.

The we searched through the fonds to request the books and that required many more forms. A form for every book and another form for the needed copies and another form to sign in and out for each book. And we had a lot of books. It took Danuta forever to fill out all the forms. I just kept doing searches for items and samples that I wanted copied. I was not able to get it all copied today. I spent 247 ZL for copies. But there were some really good records and I wanted to have them. Many times I found my ancestors’ in these documents. Of course, I would choose these as my samples.

We took a short break for lunch and we were recommended to the café about ½ block away that served delicious Polish food. And it definitely was inexpensive Danuta said. And I think that she was probably correct as I saw the price list on the wall. We had Pierogi and Black currant juice with mushroom soup.

Returning to the archives, we continued the work. I was happy because I was able to post 2 days worth of blog posts during the times we waited for materials. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time or the camera to post pictures. I will have to go back later to enter them. At least the text was there. I sent a couple of emails and skyped a couple of work friends.

So then here is what we had to do to pay for the copies. The archives is not allowed to accept any cash. So to pay, you have to go to the post office and pay them and get some sort of a voucher to show the money was received. So the post office was about a 5 minute walk. We started walking about 4:-00 and reached the Post Office. They had just closed at 4:00 and she wouldn’t help us. Said that we had to go to the big post office. It was another 10 minute walk away from there. We walked a bit faster and there were lines everywhere. Finally we filled out the “form” and waited to pay. We did and hurried back to the archives, arriving just before they closed. We were out of breath and exhausted. We turned in our voucher, got the copies and spoke to the workers. They gave us directions home and also they just spoke and were very friendly to us. We will be getting the remainder of the copies via CD and the pages will be digitized and sent to Danuta, who will send them to me.

The worker told us about all the construction. The entire town square was torn and most of the surrounding streets. While digging they were finding lots of medieval artifacts and underground buildings, etc. It sounded quite interesting. He explained that they have a lot of Jewish records in their archives and that Heidelberg had requested them and they refused to send them. So I found some samples to copy. He also said that the church was built in the 13th century and the city wall also. A very old city, to say the least.

So we had a successful day, no more car accidents etc. For which we were happy. We stopped at the little store, got some Poppy seed cake to take home with us and chips. Guess the flavor???? Only in Poland –and just for Spencer—MUSHROOM flavored chips. Believe or not, they were great. Danuta says that they are really hard to find. I don’t find that too hard to believe. Anyways, when we got back to my relatives, they were already cooking and we had potato pancakes for dinner along with the poppy seed cake that we bought. I called Jamie and Spence and it was hard to get a hold of them. Now I am logging in my day and soon I will call it a day. I am really tired. But it is a beautiful country with some great things to see.

Pictures when I am able.

Till later!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 6

This is only the start of the day.  I am at the archive in Gliwice, waiting for books, etc.  So, I posted the last 2 days, while I had internet.,  Sorry cameras are verboten and so my sd cards are in the lockers.  It was an amazing archive, can't believe it.  I am in heaven, which I told in English to Danuta and the helper said in English, I know exactly what you mean.  It is great.  They are very helpful here and were expecting me and had quite a stack of my books ready when we arrived.  But other fonds were not so clearly explained in the online catalog and so we had to request the signatures within each fond, which is what we are currently waiting on.  We are requesting lots of samples of different types to show when I get back including the 1840 census.  Fantastic stuff here! More later.  Excuse typos, am rushing!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 5

Poland Pilgrimage Day 5


Today was an interesting day, to say the least and an adventure of sorts. OK, so we went early to the Piriest in Koszecin and only the lady that worked for him was there and she said he would return by noon. And he did not. In the meantime we went back to pick up Jan Ulfik and we went to Irki, a town 5 km away where my great-grandfather’s farm was. I remembered in my mind what this place looked like back in 1992. It was a very old “Hof” and I had pictures of it and my mom and Jamie were with me back then. The place was owned by a Gerard Soballa at that time. So Jan wanted also to go to Irki and find his family’s house. We drove and thought maybe we had found my place, but it wasn’t quite right. We knocked to ask directions, we got them and I said to Danuta, maybe she also knows where the old Ulfik place was. Well, we were there, It was so funny. So he took some pictures and it was really interesting to him. He says now his father is gone and he has this interest.

Then we went to my family home. It looked strange to me, not at all as I had remembered it to look and strange somehow. It was indeed the right place and the owner was still Gerard Soballa, now 82 years old. He told us that he remembered our visit from years ago and apparently the tornado that hit it Koschentin, which I heard about one day on the news in the US, of course, had actually destroyed the old buildings on my great grandfather’s farm. It was now all rebuilt and what we saw was no longer there. The property that Franz Gralla had owned he sold to a Jewish man who later sold it to Soballas. Franz owned 16 hectors of land there.

We talked and took pictures and then we left. The farm was the very next farm by the old Ulfik farm. My relatives were neighbors. The Ulfiks sold their farm in the year 1910, probably just a little after the Grallas. So that is really funny to me.



We tried the parish at Sadow, also, again no luck as the Priest was not around nor was anyone in the office. It had a big cemetery and Danuta and I got the family name stones all photographed. It was nice to have two cameras and two people. It went really fast that way. Then we went home to the Ulfiks and all went together for lunch at a place in Ruschinowitz. Here was an adventure…We went to a place out in the country, away from everything. When we got there, there was only one other car there. The place was very Silesien and the music was old German “Schlager” music. We had Roladen, red cabbage and Klöse, gravy and black currant Juice. I also had hot cucumber soup. It had cucumbers, carrots, tiny pieces of potato, dill, seasonings, of which I am not certain of and celery. It was sort of a cream base soup and was really delicious. The food was great and there were all 8 of us there, Jan, Theresa, Marysia, Robert, Ewa ULfik’s son, Malgorzata, and Weronika, Danuta and me. We then went to the car and there was a car parked so strangely by ours and the people spoke to us and Danuta said that they were telling us that they had just backed into our car…great. There was very little damage, but they had a little more. So Danuta called the Avis number and Avis said to call the police, which she did and they came after maybe 20 minutes. We did an accident report and the others admitted that they were completely at fault. Thank goodness they didn’t just leave and leave me with the bill. That would have been something…It wasn’t a big thing, but the car was only 1 month old. So, a little ding would be noticed. Anyway, so that was interesting and then we were able to leave and go while the others had to stay. We then tried the parish in Koschentin again. And finally found an old priest and the priest said the other priest was moving away and he was retired and was just giving the mass that night. He had no keys to the books, unfortunately. So, I don’t know what to do. Then we went over to Sadow again and there was a man that gave us the church numbers and told us the priest would be there tomorrow night around 7:00. So after the archives tomorrow in Gliwice, we will go there. Or at least try to call.

We came back a little later and went to the Heimat Museum run by Gerard Myrcik. He has an index of all the births in Koschentin. I was hoping to get a copy but he wouldn’t let us make a copy. Hmmm. Oh, well. I did see the birth of a Gralla there clear back in 1764 and I will have to check that out.



I bought his latest book and 2 older style postcards. So now, I must go to bed.

I am excited about the archives tomorrow.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 4

Poland Pilgrimage Day 4

Pics later!
Today was a really wonderful day. Last night I slept well and Danuta was surprised about that because there was a HUGE thunder storm with lightning and rain that were so loud she was awakened and could no longer sleep. It is funny how I must have slept like a log or a baby or whatever, as I heard nothing and had no clue about rain etc. Except that the clothes I had hung to dry on the balcony were wetter in the morning than when I checked them before going to bed. I thought maybe it had been a really humid night. It was definitely hotter than in the past days.

We went to pick up my rental car this morning. It was supposed to have been a Renault Megane, but was actually a VW Golf. Apparently this is a little upgrade. It is really a nice car and the trunk fits everything with no problems. It runs on diesel and should be less to run here in Poland. We had lunch at a roadside restaurant and the name of it, I can’t quite remember, although at the time I made a point of committing it to memory so that I would remember that it was a good restaurant for a future time, perhaps. That goes to show I have my senior moments, too. We had Chicken Kiev and it was very good. It wasn’t too expensive, either. Maybe about $3.00. Then we got Salads and Black Currant juice. Danuta ate the same as I did. We are now in Koschentin as I am writing this, I am NOT able to get internet. The Ulfiks now have internet, but she says it’s slow. But slow in still better than no… so perhaps tomorrow night I can see about posting this on my blog. Danuta had a little trouble getting things to operate at first, like the mirror adjustment. But now she likes our blue machine.

My GPS was “sort of” working, but not completely. For the amount of money spent on the Euro map SD card, I am really disappointed. Sometimes “Bobby Sue”, my GPS voice would just say, Recalculating, recalculating.” She could make a gal crazy after a while. What a deal. But we got to Koszęcin, formerly Koschentin, where my grandmother Gralla was born. I was so very excited as I saw the familiar signs and finally a sign saying Koszęcin 6 km. Yeah! We were almost there. It was such a wonderful feeling to be in the town where Omi was born in 1899 and lived. A large portion of her ancestors lived here for hundreds of years and we are here staying with my Ulfik cousins. And here we will stay for a while.

When we arrived in Koschentin, the first thing we saw was a large stork’s nest. In an earlier post, I had written a little about my trip to Germany last year and the stork we finally found after our trip was over. And then 10 months later, little grandson Grayson was born. So Jamie, watch out!!! But for sure, this brings me “GOOD LUCK”!

We noticed some changes in the Ulfik home from the last stay three years ago. There was no longer the metal gate which opened the back of the property where the last time we parked our car. It was replaced with a very nice stone-type fence. It was very nice, so we stopped in front where a young man was weeding. We entered the front gate and saw Jan, the head of the home sleeping in the patio. We hated to disturb him so we got back in the car and drove around the side and parked in the drive way. There we went inside and Theresa and Malgosia were sitting in the kitchen. They were so happy to see us and we were greeted with the wonderful Silesian hospitality. Malgosia is Jan and Theresa’s daughter that was there on our first visit in 1992. She and Jamie were 2 years apart in age and we had a nice time together. It seems that she and her husband, Thomek and daughter, Weronika, were on vacation and visiting also, as was a sister, Marysia, from Kozylin. So we found out the young man Robert weeding was a relative, also. So there was quite a family all together and a houseful of house guests. We are sleeping all over the house. It is a good thing it is a large house. After we arrived, we had cake and drinks and sat outside in the patio area. As with Polish custom, Cake time seems to go on till dinner time. It was fun to talk there because Malgasia teaches English in a school and so I could speak with her and Marysia spoke German and therefore I could also speak directly with her. After while I would speak German to Danuta, who knows none, and English to Marysia, who also knows no English. With three languages being spoken, it got just a little confusing but funny, to say the least. There was never a dull moment. During this time Spence called on Skype to go, which seems to work well for him. Thomek, Malgosia’s husband asked if I was a Mormon and Malgosia asked me to tell them about the church. So I did without getting in too deep, but telling them basics which was really interesting to them as their family goes actively to the Catholic church and feels church should be really an important part of family life. They don’t drink or smoke so it is always comfortable to be in their home. She says that for most Polish church is no longer important. Weronika, their 5 year old granddaughter, gave us our entertainment of singing English songs and doing multiple dances. She hated to stop but it was getting late and the mosquitos were out. There are two little kittens that have come to the Ulfik home, also and played almost the entire time with each other. It was so funny to watch them and their endless energy. Oh to have it! During Weronika’s entertainment, it was raining.

So, tomorrow we had originally thought we had an appointment at the archdiocese office in Katowice, but the person making my appointments forgot this one! :O( So we had to do some fast calling and arranging and working with them to get the letters and permissions needed to visit this particular archive. So as a result, tomorrow will be a “free” day and I guess we will go to the Koszecin church and do some things and also to Irkau/Irki to see my great grandfather’s place. Jan would like to go also as his father was born there, and he has never been there, yet lived here most of his life. It is only 5 km away. So we will bring him along. He says that even now, there are probably no more than 5 houses there. Isn’t that amazing??? So that was an interesting story. We will see what this brings about. Wednesday starts then our first of many archive appointments. More on that as the time comes.

I am wishing that Brecklyn were here to play with Weronika as they are the same age. They would surely have a blast together! And their moms played together 18 years ago…It is funny. So greetings from Koszęcin and good night!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 3

Today is Sunday and I wanted to go to church, so Danuta took me along.  They are a different locality than where I have been in the past.  This is in a rented meeting hall.  I was happy to be there.  The members were a very diversified group.  Made it interesting and everything was translated into English which was nice for me, of course.  And if you can believe it, I was asked to give the closing prayer in sacrament.  Thank goodness, I could do it in English. I was able to meet Robert Magnusky at church and he was very nice and speaks great English. This is a picture of Robert and I after Sacrament meeting.   He is in charge of the FHC here in Warsaw. It was interesting to note that you could see that certain members did all the callings in every area.  The one that lead the music, gave the opening prayer, then she translated in Sunday School (Old Testament in 2nd Kings) and then again in Relief Society.  And so it was with the others as well.  The talks were given in English and completely translated into Polish.    It was really nice to be there and they were a nice little group and seemed to have a good knowledge of the Church.

I have finally gotten my internet to work and I am happy about that.  I had to buy an external modem and everything works fine.  Now, I have tried to Skype home but no one has answered.  What luck!  Now I realize, that no one will answer because they are in Church, also.   Forgot about that....

We are now getting ready for the drive tomorrow and it was really hot today and of course, nowhere seems to have AC, a least not that I was able to notice.  That is all for today.  Now I can check my mail and call on skype.  Isn't it great?

Poland Pilgrimage Day 2

I had worried last night that I wouldn’t be able to sleep because I was so overtired. I fell asleep at 11:00 and didn’t wake once till about 8:00 am. So that was very good and I was very glad to get the much needed rest. Danuta didn’t wake up till much later, so we weren’t able to go to the computer places to find out how to get me an internet connection till much later in the day and then we kind of got a lot of wrong information and ended up wasting lots of time and energy in Warsaw driving from one place to another. We got the needed part immediately, and the sales girl put it in and configured it, but it didn’t do anything. It is supposed to give me internet for one month. So, I haven’t been able to post or do anything at all. I have been checking my email.
Barbara, a friend of Danuta’s invited us for lunch and it was my favorite pierogi, Sauerkraut and mushroom. They were absolutely delicious and I ate my fill. She was a very nice lady and is trying to get her grandfather’s death certificate in Detroit where he died in 1950. She stands to inherit a large 5 story house with about 22 apartments if she can prove this. So she is working hard at this. I helped her find some things like his emigration papers and other items and my friend Ceil Jensen gave us the information on contacting the cemetery and receiving the record she needs.
Now it is going towards night. It gets dark here earlier than at home. Tomorrow in the morning is church and I hope to meet Roger Magnusky who has been an email friend for a long time and runs the Warsaw Family History Center.

With Danuta's friend, Barbara.  She makes fantastic pierogi!

Dessert was plum cake and we had a borscht drink, not soup.  It was something new for me!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 1

Day 1
Well, this is day 1 of my Poland Pilgrimage. This, of course, was not a “fun” day in anyway. It was just the “getting here” part. Here is how things went, so far:
Woke up about the same time as a work day. We left about 8:00, and Spence dropped me off at the sky cap. After he left, he took Tyson fishing. Sounds like fun. I headed for the gate and got stopped to have my carry-on and purse searched and completely dismantled. I had organized everything exactly the way I wanted it to be for easy access when I needed something. But the guy was definitely looking for something they had seen in the Xrays. It was my flash drive, they thought it was a knife. Oh, dear… Guess I will leave that home next time. So then naturally, I ended up trying to get out of the way and just basically threw everything back in. What a mess. I had plenty of time to wait at the gate until boarding time. The flight was on time.
The flight was definitely “no frills” being as it was a 3 ½ hour trip with no lunch, unless you consider a small bag of peanuts a healthy balanced lunch…There wasn’t even an option to buy anything, which I was surprised about. You could get an M&M’s expanded snack for $5.00. Didn’t seem too cost effective to me! It was a really bumpy ride. We didn’t get our peanuts for about 1 ½ hours into the flight because the flight attendants couldn’t leave their seats yet. But I survived the bumps despite not having a family member there to whom I would have inflicted major hand damage. The person next to me was lucky I didn’t know them too well, if at all otherwise it really might have been ugly…
Then we landed in Detroit. It was muggy there compared to Utah. You could feel the humidity instantly. It was almost as though you could even smell it. The lady at the counter said my Amsterdam flight was up the escalator and to the train, 2nd stop. So that is where I went and got to the Amsterdam gate about 15 minutes before boarding. Close one. We boarded and I was happy to get an aisle seat so that I could get up without annoying anyone. The young woman next to me was going to Istanbul Turkey. The couple in front of us to Africa, several others to Turkey and a bunch were going to Africa on some sort of Missionary type assign for the homeless. So it was an interesting group of people there.
Then the last leg of the journey was from Amsterdam to Warsaw. This was with KLM and only a 1 ½ hour trip. Although it was a shorty, they served us breakfast (my 2nd for the day) and then a snack and drinks right after that. I was amazed after the Delta no lunch ride. And the service was definitely service with a smile, friendly, helpful and very nice. Probably the best part of the whole thing.
Then Danuta met me and we came to her apartment in Warsaw.
Tomorrow is an easy day and on Monday gehts los!

2 More Days!

Poland is just around the corner.  I hope that it is going to be a successful trip.  I hear its hot there right now, and of course the only AC around will be in my rental car...

I think I will really miss the grandkids.  Am going over to take some pictures of them all before I leave on my camera to share with the relatives there in Poland. 

Well, today I was the pioneer woman shucking 55 ears of corn, blanching and freezing it.  Fixed some for dinner, but after all that, I couldn't bring myself to eat even one ear.  Spencer said it was delicious.  I am sure I will change my mind later. 

Today the AC in the truck quit working.  It was the compressor and cost 1000 to fix.  That was just nice...
Oh, well, as Spence and I say, it's still better than a car payment...I suppose. 

Well, hopefully my next entry will be from Poland.  I am sure going to try to keep up the blogging while there.  That way I will have a nice record of my "adventures".

Poland Countdown

Well 9 more days till I am there.  I can just smell, feel, and inhale the pierogi.  Well, this is a work assignment in Poland but the archives aren't open 24/7.  So, I will be Most amenible to trying wonderful foods.  Maybe the plane won't be able to take off when I return.  I might just have to stay...how sad...  I have had some glitches in my "perfect" trip plans.  I had the perfect flight with the perfect connections, the perfect price and etc.   Well, during my vacation with the grandkids, I was informed my return flight was cancelled so had to reschedule but I would have to stay overnight in Frankfurt.  Well, that works, my relatives live close by and it was a nice opportunity to see them again.  Then I had someone in Poland arrange my appointments and he forgot one archive.  This caused all kinds of schedule changes and some other strange problems.  But we are still working on it all.  Hopefully, it will turn out as I have hoped. 

Well, it will all work out in the end.  Right?

Dresden LDS Branch Photo.

Here amongst my pictures collected from my dad and other relatives, I find this picture of the Dresden Branch.  It must be around 1951, maybe.  My parents, grandmother and Tante (Aunt) Ruth are in the back about 3 rows from the door and kind of in the middle.  Don't know who the others are in the photo, but perhaps someday someone will be looking for earlier Dresden LDS history and find themselves in this photo.  If so, would love to hear from ya!

Signs of Summer

It's hot, that's a sign, of course, but I remember summer as a young girl in California and everyday after school was out, the ice cream truck was there at the bus stop to greet us as we got off the bus.  We would dig in our pockets and find the money for the choice of the day.  I usually got a drumstick or 50/50 bar, which was 1/2 vanilla ice cream and 1/2 orange sherbet.  And  this was our  "routine".  Tonight on my daily walk, guess what I saw!  The ice cream man!  Hadn't seen one in ages.  But there he was in the same looking truck and the same music playing loudly to get the children's attention. (Probably the same man, but wait, he would probably be dead by now, right?)  Well, he got my attention and it made me hungry, although I was walking for exercise, not to find some ice cream.  Luckily I have no money with me as I walk, otherwise I may have gained all the calories back that I was trying to lose by my walk.  Remind me to put a buck or two in my pocket tomorrow.   Did I really say that??? Shame on me!  I have to save my extra calories for my pierogis in Poland in a couple of weeks and my Polish Italian Ice Cream.  There are just some things I can't do without!  I will be thinking about you as I enjoy them.  MMMMMM!

I will try to post my "Pilgrimage to Poland" as regularly as I can get internet connections.  So keep watching From Aug. 19-Sep 5. 

Till later!

Grayson's Big Day!

Today was Grayson's blessing Day.

Here he is with his parents, Jamie and Jake.

And here is the gang after the fact at Jamie's house to have a little grub.  Greatgrandma is holding Grayson.

The food looks and tastes wonderful.

The kids eat outside, saving lots of clean-up!

The Guest of Honor enjoys the festivities in his own way!

The proud parents with their little son.







Jay, me and little Grayson

Father and Son.

The group picture didn't happen...Maybe for the next big family gathering...hmmm when will that be?  Maybe when Breck gets baptized!

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No Words Needed-Woo-Hoo!!!! Staycation 6 is a Big Success!!!

Tyson meets KARL MALONE!!!!!
What a great Staycation day 6!

The other 2 kids went with me to the movies and to the splash pad.  The splash pad is the coolest!  It is about 1 mile from home and the greatest fun for a summer's day.  When Ty, Jamie and I were in Germany last summer, we saw one in Freudenberg.  However, there many of the kids splashed sans bathing suit... oh well, not in Highland!

So Staycation was a success.  And we had lots of fun.  And Monday it is back to work for me.:(

I guess good things always have to come to an end.  Then reality checks in. Life is great though and we all need to take time to enjoy the good STUFF.  In other words--don't be work-a-holics, there is too much out there and you don't want to miss it!  Even in your own backyard!