Shopping in the snow…
Today my mom and I went out shopping in rainy, snowy, windy weather. It was cold! It was kind of fun because the stores were so empty. Employees were just standing around with nothing to do. I’ll admit, we were wondering why we hadn’t stayed home along with everyone else (so was my dad), but we had a fun time despite the weather…
When I got home I noticed that we have this thin layer of ice completely surrounding our bushes and evergreen trees producing tiny icicles at the end of each twig. I had to stop and admire it for a while. Beautiful things happen when the rain suddenly freezes!
“God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.” -Job 37:5-6
Stephen Attends Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar
Stephen departing Thursday morning from the Eastern Iowa Airport.
Yesterday Stephen flew to Atlanta for the annual Photojournalism Seminar. I just got off the phone with him and he told me about some of the speakers he heard today. Today he learned about sports, lighting, and documentary. The man who spoke on documentary was the White House photographer for 6 years under President Reagan.
It sounds like Stephen has been learning a lot. He has enjoyed meeting lots of photographers and spending time with the other Cedar Rapids Gazette photographers who are also attending the seminar.
Family Meeting for 2008 Planning
My dad beginning our planning meeting for our 2008 schedule.
Thank you!!!!
Wow– I was surprised to see that Sarah had posted on my blog and even more surprised to see so many comments! It was so much fun to hear from all of you! Thank you SO much for all the kind words. I feel undeserving! But I am grateful for how good God is. 1 Corinthians 4:7.
Since it’s Thanksgiving morning, I spent some extra time thanking God for things. All the wonderful friends He has given me was near the top of the list. 🙂 Words can’t express how much I appreciate all of you!
We celebrated my birthday a few nights ago and had a great Mexican meal. Dark chocolate seemed to be a theme in gifts… so I think I’m stocked up for the winter. 🙂
I picked 1 Thess 4:1 as my theme verse for this year.
In snowed for Thanksgiving! Yea!
In a few minutes our family is leaving for Madison, Wisconsin to have Thanksgiving with relatives.
In the next day or two I’m planning to post some Christmas evangelism ideas so stop back if you are interested!
Happy 19th Birthday Grace!
Hi everyone! This is Sarah. I thought I’d surprise Grace and put a quick post on her blog to let you all know that tomorrow (Sunday) is her birthday. Happy Birthday Grace! Thanks for being such an awesome little sister!
Stephen Shoots a Pumpkin
Stephen is a freelance photographer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Last week they sent him to capture the “Anamosa Pumpkinfest” in the small town Anamosa, Iowa. An Iowan pumpkin grower was excited to find out that his pumpkin weighed in at 1,662 pounds. That ranks it as the second largest pumpkin ever grown! For more info click here. How many pumpkin pies would that make?
Yesterday the gazette told Stephen they wanted him to take a picture of leaves. He thought, leaves?? Stephen’s the kind of person that can capture action (sports, speakers, events, etc.) but taking a picture of leaves for the newspaper wasn’t as easy as it may sound. (Partly because most of the trees haven’t even turned color yet!) Because the gazette has a high standard, Stephen knew he couldn’t just take a picture of a leaf pile.
After two and a half hours of driving around and several phone calls home for more ideas, Stephen finally spotted a little girl raking leaves in her front yard. Guess what? It made the front page of the gazette today! Go Stephen! 🙂
Bikeride and Breakfast
It was a perfect breezy summer morning last Wednesday and my dad and I rode our bikes to a coffee shop. It was great to have some time to plan, discuss future goals, and study the Word together.
Happy 35th Wedding Anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Since we are traveling, the three of us kids went out to eat tonight with my mom and dad to celebrate their anniversary. Wow! How many kids get to do that?
Yes, my mom is laughing, not crying. At the resturant tonight, it wasn’t very easy to get a good picture of mom and dad. We showed mom the first picture we took, which was a really bad/funny picture of dad. She couldn’t stop laughing after that. Actually, none of us could. I think we made quite a scene in the resturant.
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Today was my dad’s 60th birthday. Last week my mom arranged for a bunch of friends of my dad (including several old college friends) to call him and wish him a happy birthday. Mom did a good job arranging it, and the plan worked out great. My dad was surprised to get call after call and enjoyed talking with old friends. We are currently in Clearwater, Florida and this has been the first “free day” of our trip, so it was a perfect day to celebrate Dad’s birthday.
Sarah, Stephen and I thought the best part of the whole phone call ordeal was watching Mom and Dad interact. Mom accidently dropped so many clues about the surprise phone calls that anyone could have figured it out– that is, anyone except my dad, who is usually oblivious to things like that. They make a great couple when it comes to surprises! Quite entertaining to watch, too. 🙂