Beauty of Sunsets

To compliment Anna's recent post on the beauty of sunrises, I thought I would post these pictures of sunsets that I have taken. The verse that comes to mind is one that we memorized as a family when I was young.

Psalm 113:3: From the rising of the sun to its settingthe name of the LORD is to be praised!
This photo was taken on the plane on the way back from camping in Alabama last fall.
This photo was taken recently overlooking Mount Vernon from the Wal-Mart parking lot. The
parking lot is at the highest point of Mount Vernon. This makes for a nice view.

Valentines Day

This article about Valentine's Day is written by Miriam's Valentine :-)

Most of the Valentine's Days that have come and gone have meant very little to me. At least compared to the last two Valentine's Days. Valentine's Day 2008 was certainly special. I visited then my girlfriend, Miriam, and we both attended a church Valentine's party hosted by some very close friends of Miriam's. The atmosphere of that event was very nice, the food was excellent, and there was much fun in fellowship.

This Valentine's Day was the most special yet, being now married. I knew Miriam was up to something in getting me a gift. So I knew had to give a gift too. So what do you give Miriam as a gift when it is Valentines Day? Any guesses? Well, there is only one answer -- chocolate!
I thought about those big heart shaped chocolate boxes. So running to the Valentines section in Wal-Mart, I found a good selection. I bought the biggest box this year. I might not buy this big all the time, but certainly this is a special time of life - being newly married - so only the best and biggest would do. I enjoyed presenting the suprise to Miriam when I got home!
Miriam and chocolate -- the two go together!

Look at all of that chocolate!! Dark chocolate for Miriam, and lighter chocolate for John. John and Miriam at a recent church Valentine's banquet. We hosted a session of the
Not-So-Newlywed game that Miriam's church did at their banquet last year. It was a hit!

Miriam's passion

One of the joys of life has been getting to know Miriam as much as some of the readers of this blogspot. The following pictures are worth a thousand words. They were taken at Cedar Point Roller Coaster Park in Sandusky, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. Besides me :-) , this may be the second greatest benefit of Miriam's moving from Alabama to Ohio.

As you know, Miriam loves roller coasters (I like to call them carnival rides, this effectively annoyes her). If you do as well, I am sure Miriam would love nothing more than to take you here should you come to visit us here in central Ohio. If you are a Miriam fan, you should definitely add these timeless pictures to your collection.

New Years with Miriam's Family

After Christmas, we went down to Alabama to visit my family. When we got there, John immediately got out his camera to record our normal family life.



Jubilee was busy reading a book (but John caught a picture of her by surprise)!

Anna was busy making pasties (a family favorite)!

Lydia was helping out and hanging out with everyone.

As soon as the pasties were in the oven (shown cooked here), there was enough time for a game.

We begin with take-2 - a great, much faster alternative game to play with your scrabble pieces. John enjoys the game though he has had to learn a little humility as the girls typically with fast games like this.

(What are they looking at?)

Soon the game was over and it was time for some supper!

Fun with Family

We enjoyed our time together with family over Christmas. We ate a lot of good Indian food!


I don't remember if everyone was trying to ignore the camera but me during this picture or if I had just eaten fast and was telling a story while everyone else was finishing their food.

Anita and I

Lisa and I enjoy the Apple Crunch

Hiding behind a book!

Suri during family devotions. Each evening ended with a reading from the Bible and prayer.

Christmas with John's Family

I know that Christmas is long gone, but as I haven't yet blogged my Christmas picutres, here they come! We were able to spend Christmas in Southern Illinois with John's family which we enjoyed immensly.

Wrapping the last few presents.

Anita precisely (and beautifully) wrapping a gift. She has great style and a love of detail that comes through even in the gift wrap.

John illustrating the family tradition of pickout presents and delivering them to their recipient (at which point the recipient does the same thing).

Once all the gifts are delivered, then the unwrapping begins.

Lisa ensures that we're not without music!

We enjoyed a few walks in the 'warmer' weather with our family.

John was eager to be of service when I needed a footrest!

First Visit from Family

It's been some time since I've updated this blog. Somehow the days keep slipping away. The outside world no longer has its layer of snow as the temperatures reached the 50s last weekend and melted it all away.



This past weekend my parents and sister were able to come for their first visit to see us in Ohio. After a short night of rest due to getting here really late on Saturday night, we had a "sibling-breakfast type" breakfast. Of course we were missing five of my siblings (and John's three siblings as well)! Then we were off to church.

Some church friends invited us all over for dinner after church which was really nice! My family enjoyed the opportunity to get more acquainted with some of our Ohio church family.

That day quickly passed and on Monday John and I had to be at work so my family took the opportunity to visit our workplaces and see the products being manufactured.



We enjoyed a quick supper of chicken curry which I had made and frozen some time ago.



I received this bowl with side containers as a wedding gift and have found that it's perfect for all the curry fixings.

After dinner we had some fun learning a new card game from Jubilee, playing ping pong and . . .

having John show off his speakers with some good classical music!

Soon the night was getting late and we had to head to bed. It was a nice visit!