Aarhus, DK

Today we got the change to attend church in Aarhus, Denmark.  This ward has special meaning for both Alice and David.  Alice was attending this ward and giving a talk when Walt first saw her and quickly fell head over heels for her.  They were married in that chapel.  This is also the ward that David was baptized in after his father had been away from church for some years.  They started attending church again in Denmark and David was taught by the missionaries there.  David points out that the missionaries were at a little bit of a loss when they started because, while they were english speaking, they had been taught to teach the missionary lessons in Danish.  This was the first time they had to do it in English.  Many years later, can you believe that there was still a lady there that recognized Alice and knew Walt and David when they were there.  We only stayed for the sacrament meeting, but you can bet there was a Primary President that was pretty anxious the whole time. We brought enough kids with us to triple their whole primary (sunday school for the children).

After church we went to a park across the street from the Palace in Aarhus (where the Queen was currently in residence) for a picnic lunch.

The kids got to do some running and playing after having to sit still through church.

 

Then we went to see the school where David attended 5th grade.  Someone had put this monument near the entrance to the school.

They have upgraded the playground since David was there.  We hit a lot a Danish playgrounds this trip.  The Hasle School is in the background.

 

We didn't notice until we had crossed the street away from his school, but there is a Texas Grillen hot dog stand right by the entrance to the school.  Ironic because we had some Texans with us (they may not claim to be Texan, but Mia and crew live in Texas).

This is the parking lot where David's house use to be.

After that walk down memory lane, we met up with the rest of the family at Den Gamle By (the old town).  They have relocated old building from all over Denmark and tried to restore them to their original purposes.  They have created a very large village of this historic homes.  Grandma Gibson had bought lolipops for each of the Grandkids (or Great-Grandkids - Ethan and Edward) from a sweet shop there and Gingerbread cookies from a bakery.

 

 

As if that wasn't enough for one day, we also fit in dinner with David's aunt Birgit and her Boyfriend Bent at her house near Aarhus.  She had a wonderful spread of Danish dishes that we enjoyed in her beautiful garden behind her home. 

Then the kids headed off to a park down the road where there was a really big zip line.  They had a great time.  Whew!