Messel Fossil Pit

Our Out and About crew went together for a tour of the Messel Fossil Pit, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

What's unique about the fossils from the Messel pit are 1) the quality of the preservation - not just entire skeletons, but soft tissue (skin and muscles), fur, feathers, and intestinal contents, 2) the quantity, and 3) the diversity of species.  Each of these can be found separately at other fossil sites, but not all together.  The fossils date back to the Eocene period, 50 million years ago.

Here is the pit from up top.

We hiked all the way around the perimeter and down into the middle of it.  The pit used to be filled with a lake and looked like this.

It was drained so that it could be mined for oil shale in the mid 1800's.  The pits wealth of fossils was discovered around 1900, but it was still mined until the 1970's when oil prices fell.  Even then, it was slated to become a landfill - A LANDFILL! - but thankfully they didn't meet some requirements or something, and the Hessian state bought the land in 1991 to secure scientific access, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995.

 Our tour guide, standing by a well that collects and purifies water from the pit, which then gets pumped to the village.

 This was one of the active collection sites we passed.

 And this is one of the fossils they found right when we were passing by.

 They have to keep the fossils wet until they can preserve them in resin, because the shale breaks down and deteriorates so quickly.

 Cora wasn't with us because she was at FSY at the time.

Above is Alex holding fossilized poop - love his face ;)  And here are a few more fossils that were in the museum.

Camp, Camp, and More Camp

First Camp:

I got to go to the Young Women's camp for our church, because first I was called as the ward camp director, and then I was called as the Young Women's president!  (I also called by assistant camp director as my new secretary)  What a great way to start out being the YW's president and getting to know all the girls :)

We spent the week in Schneppenback, Germany, a teeny tiny little village which is about an hour away from where we live. 

We stayed in cabin - CABINS!  I never did that as a young woman ;)  Cora was actually disappointed, because, like me, she doesn't consider that "real camping", hahaha.  But it was still a cute little camp, and we had so much fun.  Here's a picture of the girl's cabin (leaders stayed in their own cabins), and our ward flag that we made.

The theme for the Youth of our church this year is "Embark in the Service of God", so for camp each ward picked the name of a ship to represent them - we chose Lightship.  On our flag we used the girls' handprints as the beams of light coming from the ship.  I thought it turned out great.

Every morning we came out into this field with a beautiful view.

We would have our morning devotional, and then they would give us 1/2 hr. of "solo time" - we would all move our chairs away from each other, so that we could be alone, and then we could sit and pray, and read our scriptures, and write in our journals, and just ponder.  It ended up being the favorite thing for a lot of girls, and for myself as well.

The week was filled with crafts, and archery, and personal progress, and water fights, and a first aid obstacle course, and much, much more.  A highlight was the hike to Burgruine (castle ruin) Schmidtburg (built in 926, destroyed in 1688). 

Here are some pictures from our hike, which was about 7 miles for those of us who went the longer way, and the castle.

 

  

 

 

  

One of the not-so-highlights was the snipe hunt.

 It started out fine, as you can see by their smiling faces about....but what's that on their faces?  Toothpaste.  Why?  I have no idea.  Some girls have sensitive skin, and...well...the tradition of snipe hunt may continue, but they're going to have to come up with a different plan next time ;)

Final pictures.  Here's our ward.

The whole stake.

And some weird ladies with glow sticks.

Second Camp:

The very next week after Girls' Camp was Boy Scout Camp.  Since our stake decided to do it as just a stake, instead of with the other Boy Scouts from the area (because it would have cost each boy an additional $200), the boys got to have their camp in the exact same location as the girls.  Good thing we left it so clean for them....good thing WE WENT FIRST!!! :)

The boys started their camp with a bike ride into camp. 

Some did a 50 mile ride in, some did a 20 mile ride in, and some just went as far as they could go.  It was a good lesson in being prepared ;) Joseph ended up riding about 9 miles.  We were really proud of him.  He had been practicing a bit with Joe beforehand, because before this summer he REALLY was not very steady on a bike, and he didn't think he could do it.  We pushed him, and I think he was glad he participated.

My friend Mindy and I drove some of the boys to the starting point for the 20 mile ride, and then we manned one of the checkpoints all day, handing out water, making sure the boys were using the buddy system, and giving words of encouragement.  Our check point was at the top of the steepest climb (I definitely would have been walking my bike up it), and we were near a great look out point, so we encouraged the boys to stop and rest a bit, and enjoy the view.

I don't have any more pictures, because after that first day I was, well, out of the picture ;)

Third Camp:

Cora was able to go to FSY this year, and what a GREAT opportunity it was for her! 

For those of you who are familiar with EFY, FSY is basically the same thing, but EFY is run by BYU, and FSY is run by local area presidencies, and is what most international groups do now.  This particular FSY was an international one, meaning that there were kids who came from all different countries, and it was English speaking, to facilitate the most people (there were a few kids who still needed translators). 

This year it was held in Blaubeuren, Germany, about 3 hours away from us.  I'm pretty sure that all of the kids from our ward went, and they all came back saying that it was one of, if not the most spiritual experience they had ever had.  Here are some of the pictures that were posted online - the one's we could see Cora in ;)

 Above is Cora in line to register.  You can see her wearing her new Marvel hat - this is what we did her Marvel nails for.  If you hadn't seen them already, here they are.

 They learned some fun new dances.

 Cora said they had the best food ;)

 Below is the family or group that Cora was assigned to.

One last thing.  We hosted a couple of girls who came from Iceland.  They came with us to church on Sunday, came home with us for the night, and then went with the kids from our ward to FSY, and I picked them up when it was over and drove them to their Grandfather's house, which is here in Germany about an hour or so away.  Luckily they spoke very good English ;)  Here they are.

They came with one other boy (who stayed with someone else), and they are literally the only 3 Mormon youth (ages 14-17) in all of Iceland.  Can you imagine what that must be like?  They were the sweetest girls, and even brought us a treat from Iceland.

One Day

Thoughts that one might have during the course of one day (not in any particular order)

Do other people lose as much hair as I do in the shower?  Is this normal?  Do I need to buy Rogaine for Women?  Is it strong enough for a man, but made for a woman? Should I shave my head?  Should I start wearing a hijab?  Do I have to convert first?  I totally blame having kids for this.

Hey, I think I'll try this new facial moisturizer that someone gave me.......WHAT. HAVE. I. DONE?!  What is that smell?  Can moisturizer expire?  Is there poop in it?  I need to check the ingredient list because there might be actual excrement in this moisturizer  Is poop good for your face?  Is that a thing? 

Why do all four of them, individually, ask me what's for breakfast every day?  Why can't they consolidate their efforts, and send one representative?  They could campaign and hold elections - may the best child win! 

OOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!! My Toe! :(

The highway is closed?!  My GPS did NOT warn me about this.  My GPS is NOT re-routing me another way.  I have NO idea how to get where I am going - hence the using of the GPS.  I am in an unfamiliar area of a foreign country, and I don't even know if I should go right or left.  This is fun.

Why do they call it olive skin?  Olives are black, green, and reddish-brown.  There are no tan colored olives.  Are there?  Am I being politically incorrect?

Ugh, this line is taking forever.  Oh look, there's only one person in that line - I'll switch........Oh Ruth, Ruth, Ruth.  Rookie mistake.  This is a nice little old lady that smells like Avon, so OF COURSE she's going to pay with a check, and of course she's going to take 50 years filling out said check.  Oh look, there goes your place in the other line, already checked out, while you sit here like a chump.

This is what I hate about binge-watching shows online - they play the same commercial over and over again.  I've seen this commercial so many times, I am starting to have a physical reaction to it.  A violent physical reaction.  I mean, I want to be physically violent.  I want to punch them all in the face.  Even the kids.  I hate them all.  How could this possibly be a good marketing strategy?!  I will NEVER buy this product now.

......and the next day.

Oh good, my face still smells like poop.