Seated (from left to right): Grace Caspermeyer, Vanessa and Martina (Caspersmeier) Sander, Verena Caspersmeier, Matt Caspermeyer
Showing posts with label Caspersmeiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caspersmeiers. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
The German Caspersmeier's
Seated (from left to right): Grace Caspermeyer, Vanessa and Martina (Caspersmeier) Sander, Verena Caspersmeier, Matt Caspermeyer
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Matt's Grandfather
Matt's Grandfather was born in Hovelhof, Germany and emigrated to the US in 1923 when he was 24 years old. He left everything and everyone behind to seek the American dream.
Here is a picture from the grand send off at the train station when he left.
The woman whose hand he is holding is NOT Matt's grandmother. :)
And that is a band in the background!
He returned once in 1950 to visit.
This is the farm where he was born.
But all that was there when he lived there was this building.
The family lived upstairs, the animals downstairs.
Since we had the picture above from the grand send off at the train station, we wanted to see it for ourselves.
Maybe a little updating....but not much....
Can't wait to take George and Judy to visit!
Here is a picture from the grand send off at the train station when he left.
The woman whose hand he is holding is NOT Matt's grandmother. :)
And that is a band in the background!
He returned once in 1950 to visit.
This is the farm where he was born.
But all that was there when he lived there was this building.
The family lived upstairs, the animals downstairs.
Since we had the picture above from the grand send off at the train station, we wanted to see it for ourselves.
Maybe a little updating....but not much....
Can't wait to take George and Judy to visit!
Trip to Germany
Monday we set off on a 4 day adventure to Paderborn, Germany. Paderborn is where Matt's grandfather was born, and he still has relatives that live there. We were going to visit and stay with Matt's cousin Martina, her husband Burkhard, and Grace's new best friend cousin, Vanessa.
Paderborn is about 4 hours from Brussels. We left a little before 10am, and got a good 2 hours in before we needed to stop and feed Audrey. So we made it a lunch date for all, and had our first McDonald's in Europe. And it tasted just about the same.
We got to Paderborn a little after 2pm. After a quick introduction to the family, we took a walk around Lake Pader. Grace needed to let out some steam from being cooped up in the car, so it was good. I wish I could say the weather was good.....but I guess that's Europe in the winter for you.
When we got back to the house, Martina's Dad, Karl-Heinz, her Mom, Auguste, and her sister Verena were waiting for us. Verena and Martina speak very good English, but their parents do not. But that didn't stop them from talking to us! With some translation help, we were able to understand them ok. Karl-Heinz is Matt's father's first cousin. They are also Caspermeyer's, but spelled Caspersmeier. It is likely that Matt's grandfather adopted the new spelling when he arrived in Ellis Island, because his cousin John, who was already in Illinois had changed to Caspermeyer.
Everyday at 4pm they eat cake! Isn't that awesome?! So we all sat down and had some cake. Yum!
After cake, we sat around and sang Christmas Carols. Verena played the guitar, and Martina and Vanessa played the recorders. It was so nice. And some of the songs are universal. A few were unfamiliar, but most we knew....in English, at least.
Afterwards, Martina's parents and sister went back to their house (which is right behind theirs), and we had dinner, put the girls to bed, and watched some slides of their trip to Australia.
Tuesday, we toured Paderborn with Martina and Vanessa.......see next series of posts (4 in total).......
Paderborn is about 4 hours from Brussels. We left a little before 10am, and got a good 2 hours in before we needed to stop and feed Audrey. So we made it a lunch date for all, and had our first McDonald's in Europe. And it tasted just about the same.
We got to Paderborn a little after 2pm. After a quick introduction to the family, we took a walk around Lake Pader. Grace needed to let out some steam from being cooped up in the car, so it was good. I wish I could say the weather was good.....but I guess that's Europe in the winter for you.
When we got back to the house, Martina's Dad, Karl-Heinz, her Mom, Auguste, and her sister Verena were waiting for us. Verena and Martina speak very good English, but their parents do not. But that didn't stop them from talking to us! With some translation help, we were able to understand them ok. Karl-Heinz is Matt's father's first cousin. They are also Caspermeyer's, but spelled Caspersmeier. It is likely that Matt's grandfather adopted the new spelling when he arrived in Ellis Island, because his cousin John, who was already in Illinois had changed to Caspermeyer.
Everyday at 4pm they eat cake! Isn't that awesome?! So we all sat down and had some cake. Yum!
After cake, we sat around and sang Christmas Carols. Verena played the guitar, and Martina and Vanessa played the recorders. It was so nice. And some of the songs are universal. A few were unfamiliar, but most we knew....in English, at least.
Afterwards, Martina's parents and sister went back to their house (which is right behind theirs), and we had dinner, put the girls to bed, and watched some slides of their trip to Australia.
Tuesday, we toured Paderborn with Martina and Vanessa.......see next series of posts (4 in total).......
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