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| Aug 31, 2008 KING UPDATES TO CLOSE This is likely the last posting This webpage will expire when we don't renew paying for it next month. We hope you have enjoyed it. We will archive all pages in case you would like back info. |
| EMAIL US: |
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| If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:9-10 |
| LOCAL LINKS TO VISIT: |
| COME SEE WHAT ELSE WE'VE BEEN UP TO (Click on links below) |
| Rachel: [email protected] |
| Trier, Germany and Luxemburg (02/06) |
| Rachel: [email protected] |
| The Netherlands |
| Family Pages |
| PLEASE EMAIL US: |
| European Travels |
| Jul 29, 2007 We have good friends, Tim and Wilma Omalla, who moved to Uganda this July with their two young children, Jamie and Eugene, to be missionaries to orphaned children. Ralph is serving on the Board of Directors of their charity, Child's Destiny of Hope (CD Hope), and Karen is supporting in various ways. Please send us a note if you would like more information. We ask that you pray for this ministry and consider a possible donation. |
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| July 29, 2007 We just finished a trip to Switzerland. On the way we visited Namur, Belgium and Colmar, France for one night eacht before spending five nights in the Swiss Alps. After that we spent 2 nights in Rothenburg, Germany followed by 2 nights at Ramstein Air Force Base near Kaiserslautern, Germany. Then we dropped Rachel off at Girl Scout canoe camp north of Frankfurt. The Alps were beautiful and Rothenburg was the most picture-perfect medieval city we have seen. Namur and Colmar were also worth the visit. Earlier in June, the family spent part of a week in Paris while Ralph worked at the Paris Air Show. Highlights of this trip were a canal tour and a national music festival that meant free music was performed at locations thoughout the city. |
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| One of the views from our chalet apartment in Hasliberg Rueti, Switzerland |
| The Bremers in Paris |
| Noah: [email protected] |
| Aug 13, 2007 We just had a nice long weekend in Paris with our good friends from Northern Virginia, the Bremers, whom we have known since our early Air Force days. The Bremers swapped houses with friends in Paris and invited us to come for the weekend. We spent a lot of time catching up and the kids had a great time playing together. We also visited the Eifel Tower, the Arch de Triomphe, the Rodin Museum and Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried. |
| Noah: [email protected] |
| Oct 9, 2007 School continues to go well for the kids. Noah finished up baseball season and is beginning basketball season. Rachel is taking voice lessons. Karen is doing fine but refuses to allow anything to be put into print. We have been fortunate to have visitors. First, we were visted by Karen's sister Megan and her husband Cliff. Then we were visted by Allison Raygor from Ohio who was exploring Europe on her way to spend a University semester in Spain. Ralph has been travelling a lot. The band he plays in played at a church in Brussels, Belgium (see picture on the right). Then, he was in Germany for a week to take a seminar about transtioning from the Air Force to a new career. Then he was home for a week. After that, he spent most of a week attending a meeting in Estoril, Portugal. The next week he went to the US. He spent most of a week in Washington DC and was able to catch up with a lot of our friends there. He then went to South Carolina for the weekend where he saw his parents (Ralph & Laurie), sister Kelli, brother-in-law Grant, nephew Bradford, Aunt Helen, Uncle Frank, cousin Brett with wife Suzanne and son Willliam, and Mema and Billy. He saw Clemson get beat by Virginia Tech in football, but was still happy to make a return visit to Clemson. He had some nice trips but we are all glad that he is home for a while now. We are all looking forward to a trip to Tuscany, Italy in a few weeks with Ralph's parents. We are also spending a lot of time thinking about what we want to do once Ralph's time in the Air Force is over next summer. |
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| Jonathan, Emily, Henk, Albert and Ralph after a gig in Brussels |
| Noah gets on base |
| Rachel and good friend Carly get ready for a school social |
| Noah behind the plate |
| Cliff & Megan at the Leiden train station |
| The King family at the Escher Museum with Cliff and Megan Sutton |
| Allison Raygor gets to see the Knight's Hall on a rainy day |
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| Nov 12, 2007 Last week, our friends Christopher and Stephanie Elmerick stayed with us for a family vacation. Stephanie was in our church youth program in Dayton, Ohio when we taught Sr. High Sunday School and organized youth retreats. She and her husband Christopher are now missionaries in East Berlin. They have two beautiful children, Grace (3) and Caleb (1). We enjoyed their company. They had a lot of exciting stories to tell. On the left is a picture of the Elmericks in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague. |
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| Nov 12, 2007 This year, Noah was an ice cream cone on beggar's night. |
| Nov 12, 2007 Yesterday Rachel turned 12. She returned from a youth church retreat in time to attend a special evening baptism service. As an expression of Christian faith, she and 11 other people were baptised. She still plans to have a small birthday party this week with a few of her girlfriends. Tonight, Karen is making her a special birthday meal with some of her favorite foods: Schnitzel, Spinach Salad and Cheesecake Tarts. On the left is Crossroads Ministry Leader Anne Nicole Hofman preparing to immerse Rachel at the baptisim service. On the right is Rachel and good friend Anna Ruth after they were both baptised. |
| Nov 25, 2007 This year Ralph actually didn't have to work on Thanksgiving. We went to the house of his Army colleague, Carl Kimball, and his family. All of the families from Ralph's office except for one were able to make it. We had a great time eating, socializing and playing Foosball. We hope all of our friends and family with American connections were able to celebrate and have an enjoyable day. |
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| Dec 17-24, 2007 MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We are busy preparing for Christmas. To the right is what we woke up to a couple of mornings this week. The kids had fun playing on the frozen canals. Below is a picture of Noah telling Santa how good he has been. To the bottom right is a picture of Ralph's office which they sent out with their official Christmas cards. We plan to hang around the local area this year. We went to the Christmas Market in Cologne, Germany a few weeks ago with some friends and had a great time. The shoppers enjoyed the shopping and the eaters enjoyed the eating. Last weekend Karen and Rachel prepared and sold baked goods to raise money for our missionary friends in Uganda, the Omallas. They helped raise over 1000 Euros to renovate quarters for the ophans the Omallas will be caring for! They already have 2 children identified. More about the Omallas is on the far bottom left of this page. We have also added a picture from the Marine Corps Ball, hosted by the brave Marines who protect our diplomatic missions abroad. The annual Marine Balls are a social highlight in US Embassies around the world. |
| Oct 30, 2007 Last week we went to Italy with Ralph's parents. We had a great time. We stayed in a rustic house on the top of a hill overlooking the towns of Liscone Niccone and Mercatale which straddle the border of the famous provinces of Tuscany and Umbria. We visited Cortona, Perugia, Rome, Assisi (below), and Siena together. On Friday after we dropped Ralph's parents at the airport we visited Volterra and Sam Gimignano. Saturday morning we visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa before going to the airport. |
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| Marine Ball November 2007 |
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| The Alps around Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany |
| Feb 2008 - The kids had their first experience skiing and it was FANTASTIC! We are now back on more level ground and all are doing well. Come see the pictures of our ski week in Germany. |
| Noah had a great Pinewood Derby on Feb. 2nd placing 3rd in his Den and winning the vote by the boys in the Pack for the "Funniest Car". He had glued comic strips on the car ;-) |
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| Apr 05, 2008 At the end of March, we took what we expect to be our last big trip in Europe. We spent a week in the south of France. We drove and it was a long drive (12+ hours each way). We left in a snowstorm and later hit a 2 hour backup on the way down. We stopped at the same hotel in Metz going to and fro. We spent one week at a cottage in the medieval town of Sablet which is in the Cotes de Rhone wine region in Provence. It was cold when we arrived (low 40's F) and gradually warmed through the week (to high 60s F). We visited lots of cool hilltop towns and saw quite a few Roman ruins including the Pont de Gard aqueduct. We also biked through La Camarque, a river delta famous for flamingos and white horses. Another highlight was a trip to Carcassone, the largest walled medieval city in Europe. |
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| COMING?? More Pictures from South of France..not likely..Sorry about that..it was great..you should go |
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| The Roman Theater in Orange, France |
| Pont de Gard Roman Aqueduct near Uzes, France |
| Carcassone, France |
| Vineyards outside Sablet, France |
| Jun 12, 2008 We are spending our last month in Europe living in a mostly empty house. It is hard to believe that the grand adventure is almost over. We are looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends in the US. At the same time we are sad to be leaving all of our friends in Holland. The kids last day of school was today. |
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| Noah had his birthday party this year at a place called Ayer's Rock. There he and his buddies ran an obstacle course that was guaranteed to get everyone muddy. |
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| Rachel at the barre. |
| Noah and his friends receive their Bear awards from Ralph. |
| Rachel in Mulan. |
| THE LATEST NEWS: We are slowly adjusting to Midwest US living. We have enjoyed catching up with family since we moved back to Ohio. We are still church shopping and reconnecting with old friends. We like our neighbors. There are lots of kids on our street and families seem to enjoy interacting with each other. We have already had a block party and an Ohio State/So Cal footbal party is coming up. Ralph accepted a job offer with a company called Xcelsi and expects to start work on Sep 15th as a project manager supporting the US Air Force. He will be working on the B-2 stealth bomber program. The kids are in school now. The schools appear to be a good fit, however making new friends is a slow process. They both designed their own rooms. Rachel has a unique artist space and Noah went with a baseball theme. The rest of the house is in various states of order. Karen has been working on her nursing license paperwork. We have space in our new home for visitors. Please come see us. |
| HOW TO REACH US: We still have the same email addresses listed below. |
| HOW TO KEEP UP WITH WHAT WE ARE DOING: Ralph and Karen both have Facebook accounts and post to them regularly. Facebook is an easy way to stay in touch and network with your friends. Ralph also has a LinkedIn account that he posts to regularly. LinkedIn is great for professional networking. We recommend that you get a Facebook and/or LinkedIn account as more and more people you know are joining every day. It is easy to post messages, photos and more. |