Pressing on Toward the Goal

365 Project - December

2010-12-31T09:56:00.001-08:00

This is the last part of my 365 project! When I started I wasn't sure if I would make it all the way, but here I am at the end. It has been fun.

With cousin Abigail

Alethia the Ballerina

I made this little tree for Alethia out of clippings from our big tree. She loved having her own tree.

Counting down the days to Christmas. This chain didn't last long before she tore every link apart at one time.

I heard the water running in the bathroom one morning. When I went to check on it, I found that Alethia had stripped and climbed into the sink.

Mmmm... Ice cream!

It rained quite a bit here, and Alethia had a great time playing in the flood water. That's my girl.

Helping make cookies.

Sorting clothes for "baby brother"

The wonder of Christmas morning.

Learning to rock climb. I'm planning climbing trips in my mind already.

The tide pools at Sea World. I know, I really need to get her out into a real tide pool.

Sea World day 2. She looks nervous, but really she loved the dolphins. She was trying hard to look at the camera like I asked her to while wanting desperately to see the dolphin in the tank behind us.

This needs a little work still, but it is still pretty cool. It is accomplished by shooting through a hole the shape you want the lights to be. I haven't gotten the hole size quite right, and it is really hard to get the foreground subject to stay still long enough for my experiments.

And finally, New Year's Eve 2010 - the final shot of the series. Alethia is practicing on her doll, hoping she gets a shot at bathing her baby brother, who is coming any day now.

365 Project - November

2010-12-04T00:08:00.000-08:00

365 Project - October

2010-12-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

365 Project - September

2010-12-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

365 Project - August

2010-12-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

You can't see Alethia in this one, but it is all I have from the day she swallowed a penny and got her first (2) ambulance ride(s).

Waiting to get the penny removed at CHOC.

365 Project - July

2010-12-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

I am finally posting July's photos! For the most part I have still kept up with my project even though I haven't been posting them. Unfortunately I haven't managed to take a photo every single day, so some days have photos borrowed from other days with more to choose from.

I expect to be posting August through November soon.

365 Project - June

2010-07-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

I am over half way done with my 365 project! Below you will find the latest set that I have put together, and yes Andrew, I know it is a bit late in coming. Enjoy.

Practicing Faces

Not sure what she's thinking here...

Chicken!

Uncle Andrew taught her to eat hibiscus flowers. Just like our old days in the jungle.

This was a fun play space in the backyard of a friend's house.

Hiking in the hills.

Looking for attention.

We spent a few days in Pennsylvania. This is bedtime in the hotel after a long day of travel.

Climbing

Intrigued by her first personal encounter with a turtle.

Watch me, Mommy!

Flying from PA to TX.

Out for a walk. Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to get this child to look at the camera?

That looks like a good toy.

Cooling off on a hot Texas day.

Cooling off on another hot Texas day. I love this shot.

Back in SoCal

We found a caterpillar, let it pupate and hatch into a butterfly. When we took the butterfly outside it flew away before I could take a picture of it, and you can't see the larvae here, so you just have to trust that my story is true.

Learning to dress herself.

Gone fishin'

Exploring the concrete jungle.

Mmmm... fire.

Playing around

"Riding baby!"

Two years old!

Drinking from the hose.

Taking baby for a ride.

The dog gets thirsty too, right?

Alethia likes to say hi to the neighbor's dog.

Helping Daddy fix the trike.

365 Project - May

2010-06-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that May is gone. My parents' visit has come to an end, and they have headed off to Texas before returning to Peru. Alethia sure loved having them here, and it looks from this first shot of the month like my Dad had a good time with his granddaughter too.

Aunt Shelley fixing Alethia's hair.

I don't know what she's trying to do here, but I think it's pretty cute.

All smiles.

The pool has become a favorite hang-out.

Alethia loves her cousin Abigail. Then again, she's incredibly jealous of the attention Abigail gets. Alethia is finding out that she is not the center of the universe.

I love this one. I just wish there wasn't highlighter on her face.

What's going on in there?

Playing with sand toys at the park.

Oh the concentration it takes to hold trash in your mouth and a rock in each hand while walking across stepping stones.

Playing with rice and plastic animals.

Apparently she wants to be alone.

Ready, set, go!

Swinging.

Helping Grandpa.

That water is cold!

I love this one. Alethia watched my Dad holding the baby and got her doll out to try to be like Grandpa.

Aaaahhhhh.

I think she is excited here about Happy Babies. You're better off not knowing what that is.

I love the light here.

Yummy.

Out for a walk, playing with big sticks.

Pennies!

Feeding the baby doll.

Come, share my mess.

Going upstairs to see Mark and Shelley.

Trying to learn how to use a key.

Another smiling face.

Ducks.

I think Andrew was instigating the face-making this time.

She's not quite sure what to do with this snail. Anyone want to take it?

Well, that wraps up another month's daily pictures. Check back again next month for more. Thanks for stopping by. If you have enjoyed this, leave me a note. I'd love to hear from you.

365 Project - April

2010-05-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Another month has come and gone. A major highlight of the month has been my parents' visit. They came last week and will be here a month because Shelley is having a baby. It sure is good to have them around and Alethia loves spending time with them. This month's images are a bit goofed up though. Torrey and Alethia spent a week in Colorado with Torrey's sister, so I used extra images from the rest of the month to fill in the missing days. I cheated a little. Enjoy the pictures anyway.

Here we're watching the ducks on the pond at our apartment complex.

She was very... animated about egg decorating. Most of the eggs ended up broken before the decorating was over.

This was the day before Easter in Antelope Valley.

Easter Eggs!

Playing piano with her Great-Aunt Jane.

Blankies were made to be eaten...

...and kitchen timers make great phones.

Peek-a-Boo!

Whatever is in here can't taste nearly as good as the wrapper.

Out for a walk.

Having fun at supper time.

This is the kind of thing I get when I try to get her to pose for the camera.

We'll make a mountaineer of her yet.

Playing with the bed.

So stylish.

In the car.

At the airport headed for Colorado. Someone needs more sleep.

After this stunt she begged me for days to hold the whole bread herself.

Tickle time!

Low light + moving target = busy blur.

Looks like bedtime. She looks like she could fall asleep at any second.

Examining the flowers.

More flowers to play with.

A little boy was walking by and caught Alethia's attention.

Being playful.

Alethia loves to climb.

How many cups can a little girl carry? She's determined to find out.

Grandma gets to brush the little one's hair.

Boba!

Looking for bugs with Grandpa!

365 Project - March

2010-04-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

The third month of my year-long project is over! Enjoy this latest installment of images.

Brett and Stephanie came over for dinner and Alethia had a great time with their kids. Savannah loves posing for pictures, and Alethia wanted to be like her big cousin.

This Pooh outfit was among some clothes that were passed down from Savannah to Alethia. She loves it.

Bottle time.

Alethia loves reading books.

Making new friends.

What could be more fun than splashing in puddles?

Out for a walk in the park with Torrey's parents who were in town for a few days.

She is already trying to climb trees! Those shoes have got to come off next time.

We had a brief experiment with potty training. Alethia was thrilled about sitting on the toilet, but not particularly committed to the purpose for being there.

Aunt Shannon has been teaching her how to make faces.

Bed time!

Bed time again. This can become a bit of a trend, as I often forget to pull my camera out until she is going down for the night.

I think here she is excited about finding a rock in the parking lot. Ah, simple pleasures.

Smelling flowers.

Patty cake, patty cake...

More ~~photographic negligence~~ bedtime.

The ducks in the pool have captured her attention.

Heading upstairs to see Maka and Shasha (uncle Mark and aunt Shelley).

What could be tastier than a big helping of butter?

A trip to the beach. The sand was great, but the ocean was... a bit intimidating. We heard her say "no waves" a lot for several days.

Out for a walk in the hills.

Our little artist at work.

Bathtime.

Out and about in the apartment complex.

Apparently it is more fun to push stuffed animals on the tricycle than it is to ride it.

Backlight.

Licking the beater (just for you, Mom - there is no raw egg in this).

Alethia loves helping to cook. So when we were at a loss for something to keep her occupied with, I had her help me make some cookies.

Reading again (at bedtime).

Practicing faces in the mirror.

And finally, terrorizing the ducks at our apartment complex.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T13:03:00.001-07:00

I guess it is a little late to wish you all a happy Easter now that it is over. We had a great one though, though I thought I would share just a taste of that here. Torrey and I spent a couple of days in Lancaster so we could enjoy the Poppy fields in Antelope Valley. It was beautiful.

I woke up at 4 am Sunday morning and decided to head out to the fields for the sunrise. In Yarina we had a tradition of spending Easter morning down by the lake for a sunrise service, and since then I have tried to get out for the sunrise most Easter mornings. While I have very fond memories of all things related to Yarina, Easter sunrise services included, I would have to say that yesterday I experienced the most satisfying Easter sunrise ever.

When I got to where the flowers grow, it was dark, windy and cold. The moon was up, but even with the light it gave I couldn't see any of the color I knew was there. The transition to light was nothing less than stunning as the cold dark wasteland came to life with the brilliant orange of the poppies. Equally stunning was the change that I witnessed when the sun finally hit the flowers. In a moment they burst into life with a beauty that my pictures cannot come close to conveying.

The experience was amazing, and it was a beautiful reminder of the glory of our risen Lord who has overcome the darkness and who is the Light of the world. Praise be to His matchless name! He is risen indeed!

365 Project - February

2010-03-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here is another round of pictures from my 365 project. Enjoy!

After I took this picture I also took a video of Alethia eating corn. I showed it to her on my camera screen and she loved it. For most of the month asked for "corn" every time she saw a camera.

Mommy's little kitchen helper.

Alethia dressed herself for bed this night.

She started climbing out of her crib. We cannot thank the Hahm family enough for loaning us this thing.

Learning to eat with a fork.

It is difficult to shoot with any lighting equipment around Alethia because she always manages to get her hands on it.

Bike ride.

We'll make a musician out of her one of these days.

The phone is a favorite toy.

What an amazing family I have been blessed with.

Almost bedtime.

Getting ready for a camping trip.

Out for a walk in Sequoia.

"B's" as Alethia called them, and lots of them. There were literally heaps of ladybugs around the campground we stayed in and Alethia loved playing with them.

We had a great time camping.

She loves her friend Rebecca's bike and get's jealous when Rebecca rides it.

This is what you get when you ask Alethia to smile for a picture.

Helping aunt "Sha-sha" with her puzzle.

Sitting in the "pack-pack".

Picking flowers.

Running.

She loves climbing on everything she can, especially when it give her access to new "toys".

More climbing, more toys.

What could be more fun than the sink in the laundromat?

Perhaps the sink in the kitchen at home?

Some friends came by for supper and brought their dog. Alethia loves dogs.

Another dog.

A trip to the playground marks the end of the month.

365 Project - January

2010-02-01T12:28:00.001-08:00

I decided to try a 365 project this year. The idea is to take a picture every day for an entire year, and my subject of choice is Alethia. I wasn't sure if I would be able to maintain it, but I have just successfully completed the month of January, so there is hope. Below are the shots I have taken so far. Some are good and some are not, but I am enjoying it and I hope you will too.

Desert Trip

2010-01-21T19:15:00.000-08:00

Every year the men from our church head out the the desert for a couple days of fun with guns. Here we have Randy's "gun", a scale model canon he made with the help of some friends. Here are some more pictures of the canon and some of the other activities of the weekend.

The hole in this propane tank is, you guessed it, from a canon ball.

Jim plays a blacksmith in civil war reenactments. He brought some tools on this trip to work on some knives he was making out of railroad spikes.

These guys are cooking up some killer steaks for our dinner.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the desert.

John guards the stash of shotgun shells.

That'll do it for now. I have a number of things I would like to catch up on... no promises though. In other news, as I type this there is a great thunderstorm going on around us, the likes of which I have never seen in the years I have spent in LA. It is wonderful!

Shannon's Marathon

2009-11-15T22:23:00.000-08:00

Shannon decided to run a marathon this summer with her roomate Sarah, so together they started training. Part way through their training, Sarah decided she didn't want to run the race, so they both quit training. About a month later, Shannon still ran the race, which took place in Big Bear at around 7000 ft. The most Shannon had ever run was 10 miles during her training at sea level. She did finish the race, and we are all very proud of her for doing it. Way to go Shannon!

We called Andrew to give Shannon a little USMC pep talk at the halfway point.

Alethia tries to lend a hand.

Shortly after this point I joined Shannon for the last 6 miles of the race to help encourage her along, and I left my camera with Torrey who didn't take any pictures.

This is not related to Shannon's race, but later in the summer we went to the LA county fair, and Alethia loved the petting zoo portion of it, so here are some pictures from that event.

Mmmm, hay.

3D Pictures from the Philippines

2009-10-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have another set of 3D pictures to share. If you need help figuring out what to do with them, check this out. If you want to see a bigger version, you can click on the photo, then select the magnifying glass icon at the upper left of the image on the page that comes up. Enjoy, and give me some feedback in the comments.

Visit to the Philippines

2009-10-08T12:27:00.001-07:00

Back in August Torrey and I spent two weeks in the Philippines visiting the LRF where we hope to be moving to sometime in the next year or so. I won't say much or I will never get this thing finished and posted. So without further ado, here are some pictures from our trip.

We flew into Butuan where we stayed a few days at this lovely hotel called Dottie's Place.

Alethia liked the pool

And the mini jeepneys were fun too.

It looks like it may be just about time to get her a butterfly net.

We traveled by bus to Iligan.

At the LRF Alethia made friends quickly.

The LRF's jeepney needed some work done on it, so these guys dove right in.

I was actually pretty impressed when I saw the thing running the following week.

I tried to get Alethia to wear a parrot nose, but she never did go for it.

Scott did though.

Alethia's favorite pastime was kissing the dogs.

Scott wouldn't try that one.

Here is the hill behind the LRF.

And here we are taking a walk up the hill.

I tried Rambutan for the first time.

Tasty lechon manok.

At the LRF they use coconut shells to make charcoal that they use to cook rice with. This was fascinating to me.

The streets of Iligan

Near the village of Tagoloan

And one last sunset from the LRF.

My next post should be a bunch of 3D pictures from the Philippines, so stay tuned for that.

Just for Fun

2009-10-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

Torrey's parents recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, so I made this into a card for them. I had this project in mind for several years, but I hadn't ever taken the time to put it together until this latest event. There is a Leland Ave near us and a Barton Rd a little further down the road. I pieced the Sharyn Ave together from several signs that contained the letters I needed. I would do it a bit differently if I had to do it over again, but that's the way it goes. You live and learn. Overall I am pleased with the way it turned out and it was a whole lot of fun.

Michigan

2009-10-04T16:57:00.001-07:00

In June we spent several weeks in Michigan and thoroughly enjoyed the area, which was a great change of pace from SoCal. Here are a few pictures from our visit highlighting some of the places visited.

One of those was a bird sanctuary.

Alethia wanted to touch everything, but we weren't so sure the geese would be very nice.

We took a long walk through the Kellogg experimental forest.

Torrey's favorite place was a Kellogg dairy farm, where she was sure she could spend all day watching the cows getting milked. Alethia was interested in the cows but not quite sure about them.

There were quite a few flowers in bloom in early June.

Including some massive dandelion-type thingys. It is never too late to act young.

I found this mayfly hanging out on our window, so I invited her into my studio for a little photo session.

And this little guy spent quite a bit of time next door.

Finally, here is a little project I spent a little time working on one evening just for kicks. Good times with milk and cherries.

For Shannon

2009-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Shannon keeps bugging me to update my blog. It isn't that I don't want to, it is just that other things keep crowding it out. Things like spending the weekend in Big Bear to support Shannon's effort to run a marathon. In the picture she is a little over halfway done, and Alethia is offering to help her out by surrendering Chad's phone. That demonstrates Alethia's great love for Shannon, since she refused to give the phone up to any of the rest of us. Anyway, I'm still planning to reinhabit this space some day, but for now, this one's for you, Shannon.

Slow to Post

2009-09-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have fallen way behind on updates here, and now that I am behind it is hard to catch up. I do have some photos to share from our summer activities, but until I get those up, here is a shot I captured last night of perhaps the cutest little girl on the planet.

Sneak Peak at Nick and Jennifer's Wedding

2009-07-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

I shot another wedding on Sunday. This one was for Torrey's good friend Jennifer and her now husband Nick Swedlund. The wedding was at the Lindley-Scott house in Azusa, which added to my pleasure as the photographer. It will be a little while before I can sort through all my shots and put together a more complete set, but here are just a few shots for starters.

Updates Needed

2009-07-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have a number of updates I intend to post here eventually when I have the time. We were in Michigan for much of June, Alethia recently turned 1, and I was the second shooter at my cousin Joe's wedding. I have another wedding coming up this weekend, so I will be very busy with photo editing along with everything else going on in our lives. Hopefully I will get some more up here before too long anyway. Until then, we went up to Newhall to visit Brett and Steph on the 4th. It was Savannah's 4th birthday, so Brett grilled his famous ribs. They were sure good, and even though the birthday girl didn't want to get her hands messy, she still got to enjoy them.

Stay-at-home Mom

2009-04-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently it is even more unusual to be a stay-at-home mom in Southern California than I had thought. Today Torrey was out with Alethia and someone asked how often she babysits her!

A Few Photos

2009-04-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

This post is just for the purpose of sharing a few of my favorite pictures taken over the past month or so. The shot above is a poor-man's-macro shot of a lily, lit using my homemade flash cable. Good times on a budget.

This hummingbird nest is just outside our kitchen window.

We visited the LA zoo a few weeks ago and my favorite photo from the trip was a flower. Go figure.

Another flower; this one at the entrance of our apartment complex.

This heron has been hanging around the pond in our apartment complex for a few days.

Last but not least, here is our little adventurer trying out a headlamp.

Easter Camping in Death Valley

2009-04-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

I get Good Friday off, so we took advantage of the long weekend to get away for a camping trip to Death Valley. Neither of us had ever been before, and we had a blast. Alethia loved it. For some reason she especially loved filling her mouth with gravel, sand or clay, whichever happened to be handy. That first photo is from our campground at Texas Spring, but the picture makes it look much nicer than it actually is. The campground is quite bare for the most part, with nothing more than large stones separating the gravel covered sites that are the majority of the campground. We did have a lot of fun though, especially getting out and hiking around various parts of the park.

On Friday we hiked around the sanddunes near Stovepipe Wells.

Alethia thought the sand was great.

And like I said, her favorite part was filling her mouth with sand.

My favorite was climbing the dunes (and taking pictures). We made for the peak of the highest dune, a trip that is supposedly 4 miles round trip. It would have been quite a trek on a hot day, but the weather was gorgeous for us, and the hike really could not have been more pleasant.

Torrey didn't sleep as well as I did Friday night, so when Alethia woke up on Saturday morning and refused to go back to sleep, I got to take her out for a morning walk while Torrey got a bit more sleep.

We walked out from our campsite and ended up climbing to the top of this (from the back of course)

It was a beautiful morning to be out before the sun.

Alethia fell asleep on the walk, so I let her nap for a bit while I took pictures of the few flowers I could find.

Later on Saturday we went to the Harmony Borax works and to the ghost town of Rhyolite.

While we sat in the car eating lunch, Alethia practiced her climbing skills.

Sunday morning we found a nice hilltop and had our own little Easter sunrise service. The sunrise was glorious, and our time of worship was fantastic.

After breakfast we packed up and headed home, making a stop at Golden Canyon for a quick hike and at Badwater, the lowest point in the United States.

Reading, PA

2009-03-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

It sure has been a long time since I posted an update. So here is a quick update in pictures from our trip to Pennsylvania in January.

We went for a little hike around Hawk Mountain shortly after an ice storm. It was very cold out, and very beautiful. We bundled Alethia up as much as we could, and she seemed to stay toasty warm under all those layers.

We visited the neighborhood that Torrey spent a number of years in when she was younger.

And Alethia got her baths in the hotel sink.

Naturally we did a little sledding, even when the snow was only barely covering the ground (we Californians must make as much of whatever winter weather we can get).

Finally, in closing, here is a 3D shot of the winter wonderland on Hawk Mountain. It is best viewed full size if it will fit on your monitor.

All Things Are Better In Koine

2009-02-25T16:45:00.001-08:00

My brother in law showed me this video made by some Biola students. I thought it was hilarious, but I do think you have to have spent a significant portion of your life, sweat and tears studying Koine Greek (or live with someone who has) to appreciate this video.

Trip to Oregon

2009-01-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Torrey and I just got back from visiting her parents in Oregon for a little over a week. My office gets the week between Christmas and the New Year off, so we took advantage of the break and headed up north for a bit. We had a great visit, and here are a number of pictures from out trip. There are quite a few waterfall pictures, because that is something we saw quite a bit of. It snowed a little and rained a lot, and the creeks were running high, which made the falls nice and full. Since it was overcast, the light wasn't too good for photos, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The picture above is Lower Shelberg Falls, a short hike from Torrey's parents' house.

Our first night in Oregon we tried to feed Alethia some pears. She did not take too kindly to the experience.

After that, even the rice cereal she usually does pretty well with was not a big hit.

It snowed on us when we first arrived, but by later in the night it started raining, and continued to rain until shortly before we left. In the meantime we took a trip to higher elevation so that we could play in the snow.

I believe this is the Santiam River near Detroit Lake.

Fun in the snow

It was nice to come home to a wood stove.

Apple season is over.

We took a trip to Silver Falls, and enjoyed walking around some of the waterfalls in the park. Here are a few shots I took of South Falls.

It was very wet due to the rain and the mist from the waterfall, and many of my efforts to photograph the falls were hampered by wet gear or the threat of soaking my camera. We moved on from there to Winter Falls.

And then on to North Falls.

I spent part of one day, while Torrey and her Mom attended a quilting group, wandering around John Neal Park, looking for interesting things to shoot. I startled this deer as I trekked through a mass of berry bushes.

I saw a whole bunch of Nutria, but I never had my camera ready when they appeared, and they never came out of hiding much when I was ready for them. I did stumble across this California Quail though.

Another day we hiked up to Shelberg Falls. These photos are from the Upper Falls.

The trail here wraps around the back side of the waterfall (it does the same at South Falls, but I couldn't get any pictures there because it was far too wet).

Thursday night a huge wind storm swept through the area, and at least a dozen trees came down in our neighborhood.

Several of them ended up across the road, and since this is a dead end road, the only way for us to get out was to cut and clear our own way out.

Two cars on the street were crushed by falling trees. This one had five trees across it! From the street all you could see was the turn indicator flashing away. Notice where the radiator ended up.

A friend of the Barton's brought his Bobcat to help us clear the road. Without his help we may not have made it out in time to get to the airport Saturday morning.

Lee hard at work

This is Harry. He is quite a character. His house had a couple of trees come down on it, and he spent the day clearing them off as he puffed away on his pipe.

We did get out, and we even got home the next day. Now we are back to work and preparing for Christar's Orientation coming up soon. We'll let you know how that goes. Here is one last shot from our trip. Regrettably I rarely had my camera out in the house, so it wasn't until we were on our way to the airport (at 4:30 in the morning and without electricity because of the fallen trees) that I snapped this shot of Alethia and Baron. She loved the dog and got very excited every time she saw him. Baron, on the other hand, never seemed to know quite what to do with her.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

May your day be filled with joy as you celebrate the Advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Christmas Cards and a Quick Update

2008-12-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

I grabbed this shot of Alethia while we were in Neff Park to shoot portraits for some friends. It has been almost a month now since I last posted. Life hasn't seemed all that busy, but we have quite a bit going on. Christmas is always a busy time. Here is another shot of Alethia (a rare one with me in it). She is wearing a dress that her Grandparents sent from Peru for her.

Can you believe Christmas is only a few days away? I will post some Christmas pictures eventually, but I'm not sure when I will be able to. We are heading up to Oregon on Christmas day to spend a week and a half with Torrey's parents, and hopefully we will even get to see a little snow!

In the spirit of Christmas, anyway, here are some Christmas card shots I took this past month. First, Torrey's brother Brett and family:

I also took pictures for our good friends Jeremy and Sara with their daughter Johanna, who is just a few months older than Alethia.

Thanks to the Brett and Steph and to Jeremy and Sara for the opportunity to photograph your families. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Alethia is 5 Months Old!

2008-11-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

(and Happy Thanksgiving, too!)

Here's one from Thanksgiving. Alethia is enjoying her Great-Grandpa Nystrom. We have been blessed with such a wonderful family.

And this one is from this morning. She is getting so big, and wants so badly to be running by now, even though she hasn't even figured out crawling yet. She is so attentive though, and fascinated by everything she sees around her. I wish I knew what she is thinking about...

Andrew's Visit

2008-11-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

We all enjoyed Andrew's ten day leave very much. Now he is off at combat training, where the last I heard from him was that he was enjoying grenade throwing. But while he was around here, we had a number of opportunities to get together for meals and activities, including a great camping trip to Point Mugu State Park near Malibu (sorry you couldn't make it, Mark and Shelley), a delicious dessert at the Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney (Mmmm, double chocolate bread pudding...) and a grand night of lomo saltado and games at Mark and Shelley's. Here are a few pictures from our time together.

This amazing tree was by our campsite at Point Mugu.

Everyone enjoyed sitting in its branches (even Alethia)

Alethia had a bit of a meltdown after a couple days of constant stimulation without enough rest or food, but when we figured out what was going on, we got her into the car for some time to quiet down and rest. Other than that, she had a fabulous second camping trip.

The weather was awesome! It was warm most of the time, and we even got a little rain! In So-Cal! Imagine that!

Alethia is fascinated by cups. She sees us drinking from them and longs to try it herself. It is hilarious to watch her tremble with excitement when she actually gets her hands on one.

Um, Andrew... that's the cream for your coffee.

Alethia with uncle Mark

What can I say? My wife and daughter are amazing.

And to close with, here is uncle Andrew with his niece. What a happy family.

Thank you for the time you spent with us Andrew. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

Andrew's USMC Graduation

2008-11-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Andrew graduated from boot camp on Friday, making him an official Marine. We went down to San Diego to celebrate with him this momentous occasion, and of course, I took some pictures.

I introduce to you Private First Class Nystrom!

Andrew was the tallest in his platoon (not a big surprise)

I'm sure he got some extra flack for making his Drill Instructor look up so far to yell at him.

Here he is marching with his platoon

And standing in the background while the Color Guard marches past

The band was good, and apparently knew it

Lightening up for the first time after 3 months of boot camp

So there you have it. Andrew is on leave for ten days before heading back for combat training and then on to some job training in Florida. It has been fun to have him back around for a bit. I have some pictures of a camping trip we took over the weekend to Point Mugu, but I haven't had time to process those yet, so I will post them another time.

A Late Halloween Post

2008-11-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

We were out of town for Halloween at Andrew's Marine boot camp graduation, but we did get together with Brett and Steph a week early to carve pumpkins and generally spend some time together. We had a great evening, and here are a few pictures from the night.

Torrey complained that I didn't get any pictures of her, but that is in fact her on the right of this image.

This is a long exposure of the backside of a pumpkin with a candle glowing inside it.

Torrey chose a challenging pattern for 'us' to work on and then let me have most of the fun with it.

In closing, here's one more shot of the three pumpkins we carved.

Bradley Reunion

2008-10-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

Torrey and I attended Danielle Centeno's Bradley class before Alethia was born. We actually got started a bit late, so we missed the last couple of classes because Alethia was already born. It has been about four months now since our class was last together, so we had a reunion so that we could meet all the others' babies and enjoy the group's company once more. Here are a few pictures from the evening. Thanks to everyone for the chance to see you all again, and especially to Lan and Monica for opening up your home. Enjoy the pictures.

Alethia Grace, Age 4 Months (Almost)

2008-10-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

Alethia's First Camping Trip

2008-10-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

We headed back out to Joshua Tree for a camping trip a little bit ago after quite some time. We hadn't been camping since our trip to Idyllwild back in April. That may not sound too bad to you, but after nearly five years of camping on average once a month, we felt incredibly cooped up. So Alethia finally had her first chance to enjoy the pleasures of camping at the ripe old age of 3-1/2 months.

She spent a good chunk of our time out there like this:

Preparing for the trip took much longer than we had anticipated, so we didn't actually get to the park until late Saturday and we left on Sunday. There were tons of people in the park - more than I remember ever seeing (in terms of cars driving through, at least), and it is amazing we found a campsite. Granted, it was probably the worst site in the whole park, with no flat ground for sleeping on, but it was our sloped patch of dirt, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

We took some a number of pictures of Alethia while we were out, and since she is so incredibly cute I will post a number of them. Here they are in no particular order:

Of course I took some landscape shots too, and here are a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

The Fruit of Torrey's Labors

2008-10-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Torrey put the apples from our apple picking trip to good use.
I just ate the slice of pie pictured below, and I must say that it was well worth the work. Great job, Torrey! Your pie is amazing.

Apple Picking at Riley's Farm in Oak Glen

2008-09-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

As I write this, I am eating a bowl of delicious raspberry ice cream. Well, actually, it isn't raspberry ice cream, it is vanilla ice cream with a bunch of the raspberries that we picked yesterday mixed into it. And it is wonderful.

Here is Torrey (and Alethia) picking the berries

And here is the result of our labors. The fields were quite well picked over this late in the year, so it took about two hours to get this many, and although we could have fit more in our baskets, the fading of daylight (and stiff backs) drove us to end our day in the fields and head for home.

But there I go getting ahead of myself. I've started with the end of the day. The main reason we headed for the hills yesterday was for the apples. We stopped in at Riley's Ranch, a quaint little place with staff running around in colonial outfits. They told us that the apples we were picking were Glen Seedlings (we did pick a few Golden Delicious too). Apparently the Glen Seedling is a variety of apple developed right there in Oak Glen, and it is supposed to be great for cooking. The pies have yet to be made, but the apples are ready and waiting. I don't know what varieties of apples are in these pictures.

Alethia thought she was a pirate, me thinks.

I suppose even pirates need naps.

I love berry picking. I mean, I really love berry picking. I think it may have something to do with all the hours I spent as a child up the fruit trees that were all over Yarina, but whatever the case may be, I was thrilled to find that there were wild blackberry bushes along the paths through apple orchard. Yum!

Riley's farm grows a number of edibles, like this sunflower.

They also grow strawberries and pears and cherries and corn and pumpkins and... well, that reminds me of something we saw at the farm. I hope this woman was joking, but I saw no indication that she wasn't seriously... horticulturally challenged. She was walking along when she called out to a friend "hey, I just found a pumpkin. It fell off the tree." And she picked up - a watermelon. I really hope she was joking.

So our day in the hills was great fun. It was so nice to get outside for most of a day after several months of being mostly home bound with Alethia. Here is a shot of the setting sun on the hillside behind the farm reflecting in a window.

And a parting shot: Fall is coming.

Catching Up a Bit

2008-09-26T11:53:00.001-07:00

The past few weeks have been quite busy. We drove up to see Torrey's Grandma over the Labor Day weekend. Torrey's sister flew in from Buenos Aires to see us and meet Alethia, and Torrey's mom came down for a bit as well, and we spent several days with Brett and Steph as well. Since then I can't quite formulate what it is that has kept us moving at breakneck speed, but it sure seems like that has been the case. I did teach in Sunday School last weekend, which took a good chunk of time to prepare for. I had 45 minutes to go through the book of Jonah (and I had it easy - before my turn, Alan Hultberg had two weeks at 45 minutes each to teach through the entire book of Isaiah). Anyway, let me share some pictures from the past few weeks.

Torrey's Grandma, catching up on the news. I love this shot.

This was from the drive up to Rossmoor

Alethia looking like a natural phone conversationalist

Ethan meets a lady(bug)

Playing in the pool

More pool play

The Cousins play together

Alethia loves the outdoors (no really, she does)

This is just a tree outside our apartment that I used as an exercise in balancing ambient and strobe lighting. I like the way it turned out.

Another fun one... Keep an eye on sugar in the toaster oven.

And a parting shot - Alethia loves the Alpaca teddy bear I gave Torrey when we were dating.

Ryan and Kenlynn Floyd Wedding

2008-09-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

This has taken all too long, but here are a few pictures from the other wedding we went to a couple of weeks ago. On August 23rd we attended Ryan and Kenlynn Floyd's wedding. Let me clarify that statement. We attempted to attend their wedding, but we had complications getting out the door, so we missed the wedding and attended the reception. This time we were there simply as friends, and it was fun to see a number of people I knew in Peru but haven't seen for many years. Here are just a few pictures from the event.

First dance

Rick watches Ryan dance with his new wife

Mike Miller dances with his daughter Kaitlyn

Co-Best Man, Erik

After the first dance, things got a little more... upbeat

Ryan and Kenlynn, we wish you all the best. May God bless your marriage richly.

A Wedding for Nate and Linsday!

2008-08-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the pleasure of photographing a wedding. My coworker and friend from LeTourneau, Nate Deibler, married Lindsay Huson on August 22, 2008. Nate, I have never you happier, and I wish both of you the very best as they grow in their love for each other. Thank you, Nate and Lindsay, for letting me be a part of your wedding in this way. Now for a few pictures. You can see a slightly bigger set here.

Weddings

2008-08-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Friday and Saturday we were out at weddings. Friday I was the official photographer for a friend from work (who I went to LeTourneau with), and Saturday was just for fun at the wedding of a friend from Peru. I'm still working on the pictures, but I will post a set when I get through with my post-processing.

Oh, and Alethia is two months old today!
And happy birthday Shelley, too!

Tehom and Tiamat: The Concept of Chaos in ANE Cosmology

2008-08-10T16:03:00.000-07:00

I was looking back through some of my projects from school the other day and I came across a paper that I wrote for an Old Testament backgrounds class. The concept is a fascinating one, and the sources in Ancient Near East cosmologies are interesting for sure. One of the challenges Christian apologists are confronted with is the dating of these documents. Many claim, for example, that because the Enuma Elish predates the writing of the Genesis account, Genesis borrows from the Babylonian account and is nothing more than legend. Dating, however, does nothing to prove this point. It is the stories and themes contained within the texts and the contexts within which they are written that mean more than the dating. Some of those issues are addressed in this paper. There are certainly some similarities between the accounts, but the differences between them far exceed those similarities. In reality, the similarities point to a source in reality that is shared by these accounts. Genesis records the events of creation according to those who walked with God, while Enuma Elish records a pagan peoples' attempt to understand those same events through a pantheistic worldview. We can have great confidence in the truth of God's Word despite attempts to discredit it. God's Word will always remain firm, and in the end, God Himself will be the one to vindicate it before all men. In the meantime, here is my paper:

TEHOM AND TIAMAT
THE CONCEPT OF CHAOS IN ANE COSMOLOGY

Genesis 1:2 describes the earth following the initial creation event of 1:1 as being “formless and void”, and adds that “darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”¹ The word translated “the deep” is the Hebrew word tehom, which fundamentally means “flood.” ² Some, however, have claimed that it ought to be understood as being synonymous with concept associated with Tiamat, the Babylonian name for the goddess representing chaos. ³ According to this view, the writer of Genesis borrowed from Babylonian cosmology the concept of a personified chaos who is opposed to God’s creative efforts. ⁴ On the other hand, many scholars do not see Babylonian motifs in the Genesis creation account, which brings up the question of whether or not the author of Genesis borrowed the concept of conflict between God and chaos in the composition of his cosmology. The answer to this question is typically sought in three different areas. First is the use of the word tehom and its connection to Tiamat. Next is the thematic similarity between Genesis and the Babylonian account known as Enuma Elish. The final area of investigation is the nature of cosmology as well as the context in which the creation account is found.

One of the primary arguments that is used in favor of a mythological “borrowing” on the part of the author of Genesis is the close connection between the words tehom and Tiamat. This trend began at the end of the 19th century with the work of Hermann Gunkel, who claimed that the Hebrew word is a direct derivation of the Babylonian. As a result, Gunkel also argued for a purely mythical interpretation of the Biblical text. ⁵ The connection between the words, however, is not one of simple dependence. Morphologically it is impossible to demonstrate tehom to be adapted directly to Hebrew as a loan word. ⁶ This does not, however, rule out the etymological connection that exists between the two words. It is most probable that both words were derived from a common Canaanite root, but the similarity between the words is by no means proof that one mythology is dependent on the other. ⁷

Those who argue that the author of Genesis borrowed themes from pagan mythology appeal not only to the similarity of the words tehom and Tiamat, but also to a number of similarities that can be found in the cosmological accounts in which they are used. The Babylonian creation account known as Enuma Elish tells of how Tiamat raged against the gods by creating “monster-serpents,” “roaring dragons” and the like for the purpose of waging war to avenge the death of her husband at the hand of the other gods. ⁸ Although these themes are not explicitly stated in Genesis 1, the creation Psalms are frequently cited as evidence that the idea was present in the Jewish cosmology. ⁹ One specific example where this is found is Psalm 74:13-14, which states “You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.” The problem with this comparison is that these passages do not elaborate on any tension that exists between God and chaos, rather, they merely show God to be triumphant over His enemies. The lack of real conflict is a significant departure from the Babylonian text, in which the gods are deeply troubled by the rebellion of Tiamat. ¹⁰

Another comparison has been made between the account of Genesis 1 and that of Enuma Elish regarding the means by which chaos is controlled. The Babylonian account tells of the god Marduk’s victory over Tiamat through the use of “the Evil Wind.” ¹¹ Genesis 1:2 may also describe God’s triumph over the deep by means of a wind. They typical translation of verse 2 says “the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters,” but it could equally be translated “a wind from God swept over the face of the waters” (NRSV). It is perhaps the wind, then, that suppresses the rebellion of chaos, thereby allowing God’s creative acts to be completed. ¹²

A third element of similarity between the two cosmologies is the action of separating the waters into upper and lower halves. In Enuma Elish, Marduk completes his victory over Tiamat by splitting her “like a shellfish into two parts,” with one half creating the sea and the other the firmament. ¹³ The parallel in Genesis is found on the second day of creation in Genesis 1:6-7. “Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.” The division of the waters is, according to some, the “only substantial similarity” between the two accounts, ¹⁴ but it is also significant to note that Genesis gives no indication of a connection between the creative act and the vanquishing of a foe. ¹⁵

The final area of investigation into the question of whether or not the author of Genesis incorporated elements of pagan cosmology into his own account of the creation must address the context in which the account is found. The general purpose for writing cosmologies is addressed in several different ways. One understanding of their purpose relates directly to the issue at hand. That understanding is that all creation accounts are fundamentally an attempt to show how the gods created order out of chaos and maintain control over chaos and evil, which continually seek to undo the created order. ¹⁶ This definition, however, seems to be motivated by the question of the relationship between tehom and Tiamat, and is perhaps too narrow. In more generic terms, the ancients used mythology to explain the origins of the natural world, to define the relationships between men and gods, and to reflect the culture’s values and worldview. ¹⁷

It is very important to take into account the culture that developed each worldview. Palmer credits the lingering effects of Abraham’s youthful pagan worship with the incorporation of Babylonian mythological themes into the Jewish cosmology, ¹⁸ but there is far too much emphasis throughout Scripture on the uniqueness of God to accept this position (cf. Exodus 8:10, Deuteronomy 6:4). The fact that there is no personification of tehom in Genesis is significant to this discussion as well. ¹⁹ Unlike the Babylonians, it was not the intent of writer of Genesis to show a hierarchy of gods or metaphysical beings, but to show how the one God created all things and subjects all things to His will.

The word tehom is used eight times throughout the Pentateuch, and reviewing these uses reveals that the concept is devoid of personification or power of any kind. The first occurrence is in Genesis 1:2 as noted above. The second and third occurrences are found in Genesis 7:11 and 8:2, where they are clearly subject to God and used by Him to exact His justice. The next instance of tehom is found in Genesis 49:25. Here Jacob is blessing Joseph with promises of blessings from God. The promised blessings include “blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” This use is also found in Deuteronomy 8:7 and 33:13 in similar contexts of blessing. Finally, tehom is found in Exodus 15:5 and 8, both describing the crossing of the Sea of Reeds and the subsequent destruction of Pharaoh’s army, according to God’s wrath, in “the deeps.” Clearly the Pentateuch does not present the idea of tehom as an entity opposed to the Creator.

It is clear that there is no need to see in Genesis 1 the influence of Babylonian mythological conflict. In fact, “to suggest that there is in Genesis 1:2 the remnant of a latent conflict between a chaos monster and a creator god is to read into it from mythology.” ²⁰ The linguistic argument is primarily influenced the work of Gunkel, whose argument has been shown to be indefensible. Therefore it does not support the idea that tehom is simply a synonym for Tiamat. ²¹ The similarities between the accounts in Genesis and Enuma Elish do not support such a view either, but they cannot be disregarded completely. In this case, the similarities between the two accounts reveal the differences, rather than the similarities, between the Babylonian and Jewish worldviews. The fact that Genesis contains echoes of the Babylonian account, while retaining none of the conflict and resulting hierarchy among gods that motivated the pagan cosmology, speaks volumes about the purpose of Genesis. The author of Genesis presents to his readers anti-mythical teaching in his presentation of creation. ²² The worldview he presents is governed by the existence of one God who has created and controls all things, using even the most unruly of elements for His purposes both in judgment and in blessing.

¹ Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
² Ernst Jenni, “Tehom, Flood,” Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, 3 vols., ed. Mark E. Biddle, (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 3:1410.
³ Smyth A. Palmer, Babylonian Influence on the Bible and Popular Beliefs: “Tehom and Tiamat,” “Hades and Satan”. (London: Strand, 1897), 6.
⁴ Ibid, 17.
⁵ Jenni, 1413.
⁶ David Toshio Tsumura, The Earth and the Waters in Genesis 1 and 2. (Worcester, Great Britain: Billing and Sons Ltd, 1989), 46.
⁷ Ibid, 47.
⁸ James B. Pritchard, “The Creation Epic,” Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, trans. E.A. Speiser. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), 62.
⁹ Bruce K. Waltke, “The Creation Account in Genesis 1:1-3. Part 1: Introduction to Biblical Cosmogony,” Bibliotheca Sacra 132, no. 255 (1975): 32.
¹⁰ Pritchard, 63.
¹¹ Ibid, 67.
¹² Palmer, 8.
¹³ Pritchard, 67.
¹⁴ John H. Walton, Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context: A Survey of Parallels Between Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Texts, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 26.
¹⁵ Ibid, 35.
¹⁶ Leland Ryken, ed. “Cosmology,” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP, 1998), 169.
¹⁷ John H. Walton, “Genesis,” The NIV Application Commentary, ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 27.
¹⁸ Palmer, 2.
¹⁹ Walton, “Genesis”, 73.
²⁰ G.F. Hasel, “The Polemic Nature of Genesis Cosmology,” Evangelical Quarterly 46, no. 2 (1974): 84.
²¹ Jenni, 1413.
²² Hasel, 85.

Waking Up Is Hard Work

2008-08-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Alethia has the greatest faces when she is waking up. I haven't managed to capture nearly enough of them, but this one was pretty good. She has a tough time waking up when we try to keep her on schedule for eating but she is in the middle of a nap. But then again, she does the same thing to us in the middle of the night. Maybe we should start taking pictures of each other and the faces we make when Alethia wakes us up. Then again, maybe not.

I got inspired with our Boggle game to try to arrange the cubes so that it shows all three of our names, and it worked.

Bath Time!

2008-07-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

Alethia's first few baths were unpleasant experiences for everyone involved. She hated it, so she screamed and fussed and squirmed, and generally made the process more difficult. That of course made the whole thing take even longer, resulting in an even more miserable child. Five weeks later she does quite well with baths, and one might even gather that she likes them. Last night Torrey was kind enough to let me out of my bathing duties to take a few photos of the happy girl getting her bath. Enjoy!

Felices Fiestas Patrias!

2008-07-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was having a bit of fun taking pictures of my Peruvian coins today since they are one of the few very obviously Peruvian articles in my apartment. Anyway, I hope that all my Peruvian friends enjoy this day of celebrating the veintiocho. If you happen to be in Peru, have some anticuchos for me. Shannon came over last night and we had ceviche, but we didn't plan in advance enough to track down any Inca Kola.

Want some? We have some left over.

And just because I went to the work of taking these photos, maybe someone will enjoy them, so I'll add a few more here.

Happy Birthday, Peru!

She's a Big Girl Now

2008-07-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not so much...

But she is a month old! And it is a great delight to have her. Today we went to the park for the afternoon. We are getting to be more and more able to get around again. There is no backpacking trip on the schedule yet, but we'll get there.

Joy Joy Joy

2008-07-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

We went for a short walk in the park yesterday. That was a great sign of progress. Recovery is on its way.

Don't those two look great?

Fortune cookies are usually pretty dull and meaningless with their ridiculous statements that come closer to describing a person's personality than their future. Every once in a while I get one that is really amusing though. That happened the day we came home from the hospital. On our way home we stopped for Chinese food, and the fortune I got says this: "The evening promises romantic interests". RIGHT!

I should be getting some other things done, so I've got to go. Here's a parting shot.

First Family Holiday

2008-07-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

Actually, this picture is not from any fireworks we saw this year. We didn't go out to see any fireworks at all last night, so I looked through last year's pictures to make up for it. We had a really great time yesterday though, just the three of us. It was a day without visitors, just Torrey and the baby and me hanging out at home. We had all slept really well the night before, so we were rested up enough to have our own little family barbecue and watch the Euro Cup Final. I know, that took place almost a week ago. It was a great game though. Its just too bad I already knew who won. Well, the baby is crying and I need to go make breakfast for Torrey. Hasta la proxima.

Birth Announcement!

2008-07-03T01:29:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it is time I got something up here about the new addition to our family. One week ago, little Alethia Grace Nystrom was born. She is truly a delight despite the many, many hours of sleep we have lost feeding her, feeding Torrey, etc, etc. It has been an exhausting journey so far, but things are looking up already after just one week (seriously, where could things go but up after the first few days with a hungry newborn?). I don't much feel like writing, so here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Playing the Waiting Game

2008-06-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Torrey has been done with work for about four months now. That means she has had a lot of time to eagerly anticipate the birth of our child by now. Today is the official due date, and no baby yet. I know, I know, that's normal. So we wait. And in the meantime it is is nice to have a few more days of just the two of us before our world is turned upside down.

Various and Sundry News and Events

2008-06-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I wrote anything here. It seems life has gotten a bit busy with last minute preparations for the birth of our first, my return to work full time, visiting with family while they are still in the area, and joining Christar. We have done some fun things, though, so here are just a few pictures from a recent trip to Mammoth and Bodie with Dan and Katie, goofing around with my family, and an update shot of Torrey's big belly. Enjoy!

I still have lots to do, so I am off for now. Stay tuned for a bunch of cool 3D photos that I have been collecting for a little while. They are awesome, and I will post them sometime fairly soon.

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Jungle...

2008-05-29T12:07:00.001-07:00

...but you sure can't take the jungle out of the girl! Saturday afternoon Torrey and I swung by Mark and Shelley's place to take them with us to the beach. Mark informed us that while they got ready for the trip he discovered a new talent - gargle singing. "What song did I gargle?" he asked Shelley. "The baseball song" was her cheerful reply. Mark responded through gritted teeth, "That's our national anthem, dear."

A Pair of Graduations

2008-05-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it is finally over. Shelley and I both graduated from Biola/Talbot last weekend. Shelley's grad was on Saturday morning, and it was nice and clear for the Biola crowd. My ceremony was on Friday evening, and we had rain.

Shelley finished her nursing program at Biola.

Two of my Dad's science teachers from his time at Biola years ago are retiring this year, but were still around. He enjoyed seeing them again after all these years.

All of the graduates were given a Bible and a T-shirt like this one.
Bye-ola!

We spent the afternoon following graduation at the beach with my parents, Shannon, Mark and Shelley, Dan and Katie and Joe and Jessica. Even though the weather was a bit off for a day at the beach, it turned out just perfect because the rain the day before cleared the sand, and we had the beach mostly to ourselves.

Torrey is still growing...

and getting lots of attention as usual.

We played a little volleyball

Great dig, Joe, but where's the ball?

Baccalaureate

2008-05-23T09:59:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't officially graduated yet, but all my coursework is done, and the more meaningful celebration - the baccalaureate - was last night. That is the ceremony in which we are "hooded". It really was a neat evening, much more personal than graduation. The evening began with a dinner. Unfortunately there was a mix-up with the reservations and the event ended up outdoors, which should have been fine in May in Southern California... but it rained.

My Dad and my sister Shannon joined Torrey and I for the event, along with Torrey's brother Brett, our good friends Jeremy and Sara McMillan and Alan and Darcy Hultberg. Dr. Saucy exhorted us to be diligent to use the gifts that God has given us, regardless of how we might perceive their value.

The sun finally came out, so we had our processional and hooding ceremony as planned. Each graduate come to the front of the stage with his/her spouse, and while their professor of choice hooded the graduate, another professor read a statement of appreciation written by the graduate. The spouses were also acknowledged for their contribution to the years of Seminary. After everyone had been hooded, the graduates and spouses, along with all the faculty, gathered to share communion together. It really was a wonderful evening celebrating the work that has been done and looking forward to the work that God has in store for each of us who has been trained to teach others the Word of God. May He be glorified in each of our lives as we go out from here to serve the body of Christ! All praise be to God, for He is good!

Here's to the amazing family God has blessed me with. Thank you all for your example, your love and your support throughout the years. I love you all.

Wrapping Up

2008-05-21T12:26:00.000-07:00

This picture is from a trip Torrey and I took three years ago. We spent a month with my parents in Pucallpa, Peru, to help them with some projects. What does that have to do with this week? Quite a bit, actually. We went to Peru to take advantage of a transition in our lives. I had decided to go to Seminary. When I graduated from LeTourneau in 2001 I was convinced I was done with school forever, and glad for it. But just four years later, there I was, back in the books. I have never regretted that decision. Studying at Talbot School of Theology has had its challenges, but the blessings far outweigh the lost sleep, and now that I am about to graduate, I wish in some ways I could go on. Studying the Bible intensely for three years under very godly men has been a profound privilege, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything. Yesterday I took my last final, tomorrow is the Baccalaureate, and Friday is Graduation! If anyone out there is considering going back to school for a theological degree, I would highly recommend it. Talbot, specifically the New Testament / Bible Exposition department at Talbot, has my highest respect, and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to deepen their knowledge of Scripture, their walk with Christ, and their love for the people of God. And if you ever need help with your Greek homework, I would be happy to lend a hand.

Babymoon and Sequoia

2008-05-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

A bit over a week ago Torrey and I got out of town for the weekend for one last little vacation together alone before the baby comes. We spent two nights in a little cabin at a place called Wonder Valley Ranch Resort, in the foothills of the Sierras above Fresno.

Torrey's favorite part of the weekend was visiting the horses.

They did have some very beautiful horses.

We both wanted to go for a ride, but since we didn't want to have the baby quite yet, we decided just to visit. Besides, a dusty trail ride is not quite what either of us really wanted. I really wish I could have taken Torrey up to Half Moon before it closed down.

One of my favorite parts of Wonder Valley was canoeing around their pond. It wasn't a very big body of water, but even so I had a good time, especially since it has been such a long time since I was in a canoe.

Here is a 3D shot I took by the pond. Click here for a larger image.

Sunday morning we left the ranch to make our way home through Sequoia National Park.

It was my first visit to the park, and I thoroughly enjoyed the very impressive trees scattered throughout the forest.

Part of our lunch was a huge quantity of strawberries that we picked up at a roadside stand down in the valley. Delicious!

There is a spot called Morro Rock, where a long staircase leads to an awesome lookout point.

The views from the rock were amazing, even though it was a cloudy day.

After our conquest of Morro Rock, I took Torrey on a longer hike up a closed road. We kept meeting people that told us there were bears in the meadow at the end of the road, and I wanted to see them. Torrey insisted she was fine all along the way, but in the end was quite exhausted from the work of dragging her pregnant belly all over the park. Unfortunately the bears were gone by the time we got to the meadow at the end of the road.

We did see a mother bear and her cub later though, when they crossed the road in front of us. Torrey was relieved that we got to see them from the safety of our car instead of in the middle of a meadow in the wilderness.

Family

2008-04-28T12:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took a substantial study break so that we could head down to the OC to see my Dad's cousin Denny who was visiting from Michigan. The above shot is Denny with my Grandpa, Doyle Nystrom. Here are a few more shots from the day:

I can't remember what Mark was telling me here. It looks like it must have been very interesting though.

Kyle was upset with me for not getting in the pool.

I like the way this shot of Mark and Shelley turned out.

One more shot of the Nystroms - Doyle, Paul and Denny.

Camping with the Family

2008-04-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Torrey and I went camping with my family up in Idyllwild. We had been trying to put together a trip like this for some time, and we finally did it. We found out when we got up there (contrary to information we had received on the phone) that the only site open was the State Park site called Stone Creek. That wasn't our first choice for campgrounds, but we went anyway since it was our only option. We ended up finding a great site that worked well for us, and we had a great time hanging out together for the weekend. My parents came, along with Torrey and I, Mark and Shelley, and Shannon, who brought her friend Katie Hummel. My mom planned the food, so mealtime was quite the event. We tried some hiking, but the baby held Torrey back quite a bit, so in the end, we had some very nice walks in the woods. Here are some pictures from the weekend. A larger set is here. I also got some good 3D shots that I will post when I have the time to put them together.

Our last evening we walked up to a nice vantage point to watch the full moon rise, and as we waited, we watched the clouds come in from below us. It was awesome watching the clouds ebb and flow through the mountains as the air currents from the mountains clashed with those coming from the desert below.

The Girls

2008-04-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is just an update picture of Torrey and her belly. I liked the way the shot turned out, so now I am sharing it with you. There are still two months left until the baby is born - plenty of time for Torrey to grow even bigger!

The Joys of Hebrew

2008-04-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

I had a Hebrew test yesterday. It was a bit more challenging than I expected it to be, but I think I still managed to do well on it. The great thing is that we are done with our mad rush to learn the variations of the Hebrew verb, and now we have the rest of the semester to learn well what we have already been taught. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will be much more confident in my ability to pick up the text and work through it. Ah, the joys of language learning!

Here's your test: can you tell me, without cheating (don't look at the title of the picture), what the bottom line of the picture above says? Good luck.

A Visit to the Los Angeles Zoo

2008-04-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

During Spring Break I had the chance to take Torrey to the zoo. This was our first visit to the LA zoo, and we definitely enjoyed it even though it was not the most spectacular zoo we have been to. I must say that I was disappointed that we never got to see the river otters. But that is typical of zoos everywhere. Check here for more pictures. Or just enjoy the ones posted below.

Below is Reggie the alligator. Reggie was spotted in a Los Angeles park in the summer of 2005, and avoided being captured by a variety of professionals until nearly 2 years later. He was quite popular in the news for a time, and someone even created a blog from Reggie's perspective.

Did you remember the grade-school song about the kookaburra? I don't believe I had ever seen one before, nor did I know that the kookaburra is a type of kingfisher. Fascinating.

Torrey and I ate our lunch in front of the kookaburra cage, hoping the merry, merry king of the bush would laugh for us. He never did.

These guys were fun to watch. As he ruminated you could see the lump of cud moving up and down his long slender neck. Cool!

I've always loved these cranes.

This guy looks like he had a rough day.

Desert Blooms

2008-04-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I took these, but I wanted to put them up anyway. Over two weeks ago Torrey and I went out to Joshua Tree with my parents and Shannon to see the wildflowers that were blooming out there. Our trip was not at the ideal time, but it was still gorgeous out there when we visited. We were a bit late for the flowers in the lower elevations, so while many of the blooms were still fresh, there were lots of dried up plants and old blooms, suggesting the peak had already passed. In the higher elevations of the park, there were lots of small green plants, but few flowers. I think the bloom hadn't yet hit there, but I can't say for sure. It sure was fun though, and here are a few of my pictures from the day. As always, if you are interested, you can find a larger set here.

It runs in the family, I suppose

And this last one is probably my favorite from the day.

More on Ben Stein

2008-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday night Torrey and I went with Shannon and Mark and Shelley to a Biola Apologetics event featuring Ben Stein and the film Expelled. I was actually disappointed by the event, since the way it was advertised led me (and everyone else I talked to) to believe they were showing the film. In reality, they showed six clips from the film. They did, however, have three of the people involved in the stories told in the film there to tell about their experiences. I can't yet say what I think of the movie, but it does seem like will be worth watching. That said, although I am convinced that the premise of the film is correct, I don't think the producers have dealt with the opposition very well. I am writing at lunch time, so I don't have time to go into details on this, but if you are interested in this topic, check out the expelled blog. There you can find their attacks on their opponents as well as links to the articles they are interacting with. The film comes out April 18. It will be interesting to see what comes of all this.

Here is Ben Stein

And Stephen Meyer

After the event, the five of us went out for coffee. Well, I got coffee anyway. Mark and Shelley enjoyed a green tea shaved ice, Torrey and Shannon had smoothies, and Shannon tried to compete with Torrey's belly. Sorry Shannon, but you are just too thin to look like you are pregnant.

Just for Fun

2008-03-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo just for kicks. This is from our trip to Oregon last March when we helped Torrey's parents move. I like the shot. I hope you do too.

Quick Update

2008-03-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is a photo I took a number of days ago at my parents' house. It is a model airplane that my little brother (ie younger brother who happens to be four inches taller than my 6'4") made. He is studying aviation at LeTourneau, so he made this thing from scratch for my parents for Christmas. Way to go Andrew! It is awesome.

The above picture is of John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, and founder of the Shepherds' Conference, and annual event that seeks to encourage pastors to be faithful in teaching the Word of God. I got to attend the conference last week with Torrey's Dad and brother. The event began with John MacArthur speaking on the dangers of contextualization and the need to stay true to the message of the gospel. Then Tom Pennington preached on Psalm 1 and the importance of living a holy life before our holy God. Next, John MacArthur gave a fascinating exposition of Luke 20:45-21:4. In short, he disagrees with those who say that the widow's gift is an example of generous giving. If you are interested in knowing more you really should spend the $2 to download the mp3 here (2008 General Session 3). Rick Holland did a great job with the story of Nadab and Abihu, expressing the great importance of worshiping as God desires rather than for ourselves. Al Mohler spoke on the importance of preaching the Word, Steve Lawson got the audience fired up as he spoke of the seven characteristics of the Word of God. Phil Johnson spoke on Paul's encounter with the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill and argued against those who seek to use Acts 17 as a prescription for contextualizing the message of the gospel. Finally, MacArthur closed with a convincing argument for teaching that in Scripture a doulos is a none other than a slave; not a servant or a bondservant, but a slave. I had come to that same conclusion when I wrote a paper on that subject for my 2 Corinthians class a few semesters ago, but he expanded the concept to include postures and attitudes that are found throughout the Bible apart from the word doulos, but bearing the same meaning. Overall the week was a very good one. There is now a lot to process, and though I specifically recommended session 3, they were really all very good and worth the cost of the mp3s.

Here are a few more pictures from the time we spent with Brett and Steph.

On Saturday after the conference I went on a hike with Lee, Mark, Jeremy and my Dad. Here is a 3D shot from that hike. Even though the right image is blurry, it shows up quite clear in the 3D composite. If you need help, read this post. Then view the full size image for best results.

Expelled!

2008-02-25T12:41:00.000-08:00

Maybe I am way behind the times on this, but I just found out about a movie that sounds quite fascinating. It is called "Expelled", and it is about the agenda to silence those who oppose Darwinism in the academic arena. The movie was put together by Ben Stein, who is himself very interesting, and should be in theaters in April. It looks to me like it will be worth checking out. Since I haven't seen it yet I don't know how much to recommend it, but again, it does look like it will be worth seeing. Watch the trailer and let me know what you think.

What A Way To Start A Semester!

2008-02-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I got to go up Baldy with Alan Hultberg and his friend George. Alan has quite a reputation for leading very difficult hikes, and this was definitely not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It isn't so much the speed at which he hikes, but the consistency of his stride. He sets a good pace at the beginning of the day, and never slows down until he gets back to the car. Well, I'm always up for a good challenge, so when he asked if I would be interested in joining him on this hike, I quickly rearranged my schedule at work to make sure I could take the day off to go along. I always love getting up into the mountains, and better yet, this would be my first opportunity to use crampons and climb a mountain in the snow. I wasn't disappointed. The hike was strenuous; in fact, I didn't quite make it to the top of the mountain before we turned around. But the weather was perfect, and the mountains were absolutely gorgeous. I think my companions probably got tired of hearing me express repeatedly how beautiful it was up there. It was truly an incredible day. If you are interested in seeing even more pictures from the hike, you can find them here.

Alan and George shortly after we hit the trail

The summit is in view

And for a parting shot, here is another 3D one. I will repeat my viewing instructions for anyone who is new at this. First of all, you should view the full sized picture. Next, the idea is to look at the picture in such a way that your left eye sees the image on the right and your right eye sees the image on the left. That sounds complicated but it really isn't. I find it works best to find an anchor in the picture; something that you can recognize even when it is out of focus. In this picture, the tree on the right works pretty well. Then start to cross your eyes, and you will see the two parts moving together. You want to form a third image in the center that is an overlay of the two parts, so watch that anchor and use it to bring the two together. Then comes the most difficult part. Normally when you cross your eyes, you are focusing on something close to your face, but for this exercise, you need to focus on the computer screen. It can be done, but it may take some practice. When you get it, it will be well worth it. Enjoy!

It's About Time

2008-02-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

So it is about time I got around to announcing our exciting news on here. It's a Girl! And Torrey is due at the end of June. Those are the details in a nutshell. We are excited, and we realize that our lives will never be the same. So while I have time, I must study Hebrew. Chao for now.

The Beginning of the End

2008-02-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

Interesting... now my Philippines pictures are back, but now my older pictures are gone. Oh well. They will be back eventually.

So a new semester has begun at Talbot, but this one is quite unlike the rest. This is it. The last semester of my Master's program. I have mixed feelings about that, but I will say for certain that this has been an incredible experience and I am so glad I have been able to study here. Part of the frustration of coming to the end is that I have finally gotten past all of the required core classes that I took because I have to, and now that I am only taking classes I am really excited about, I'm finishing. This semester is indeed really exciting. I am taking Hebrew II (languages are cool), Romans (it is a great class I hear, and I get to use some Greek), Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles (more Greek; great professor), and I am auditing a class on the life and thought of Paul (fascinating topic; another great professor). I realize that I still haven't really shared any insights from last semester's classes. I still hope to do that, and hopefully I will throw in a thing or two from this semester as well in the months to come.

And of course I had to throw some pictures on here. So here are a couple from a trip Torrey and I made last weekend to the local mountains to enjoy the storm that had swept through Southern California.

We stopped along the road at one point, and I jumped out of the car to take a few pictures. It was cold.

We found a place to park along the road and then hiked down to Jenks lake.

Torrey felt sorry for this lonely duck and wanted to take it home.

Photos from the Philippines

2008-01-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

For the first two weeks of 2008 I joined a group from our church on a trip to Mindanao. There, nestled in the hills above Iligan lies the Life Resources Foundation, "a training center established to help mobilize the Church in the Philippines to reach the least-reached peoples with the gospel of Jesus Christ." The group I went with had a variety of goals for the time, including performing surgeries, teaching at a Bible conference, children's ministry, and encouraging the staff of the school. My task as a member of the team was photographer, but my main purpose in going was to meet the people there and see the work they are doing, since Torrey and I are interested in possibly joining that ministry after I finish my degree at Talbot. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, and it was great getting to talk with everyone. I feel like I did get a good impression of the people and the ministry and the work God is doing in the Philippines through the LRF. Now for the decision part... As for the trip though, we attended the Bible conference for three days, and a number of the following pictures are from that time. We spent a few days in local villages, offering dental work, minor surgeries, and activities for the children. The doctors also spent three days in a local OR doing more involved surgeries. I bounced around and participated in a little of everything. I enjoyed spending a morning in the OR photographing surgeries, and one day in the village I got to be the circulating nurse for the surgery team. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. For a much larger set, click here. If you have a strong stomach and would like to see the bloody pictures from surgery, click here.

Waiting in the airport in Manila for a plane that wouldn't come

The view from our hotel room in Manila where the airline put us up for the night

The view of the LRF from above

Recent mudslide on the LRF property

The village of Tagaloan

Cleaning teeth

In the grasp of a master storyteller

Our hotel in Iligan - Cheradel Suites

Removing a goiter

Waiting to have a hernia fixed

Checkup time

The mayor sent the police to make sure nothing happened to us...

So the commander took advantage of the opportunity to get his teeth cleaned

And a parting shot

I hope you have enjoyed these. Again, check here for a larger set.

S.M. Lockridge

2008-01-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

I am almost ready to post pictures from my Philippines trip, but before I do, here is a video for you to enjoy. I had heard this when I was in high school, and I enjoyed it. Yesterday it was played at church, and I decided to put a link to it here. I like this because it is such a powerful doxology, so passionately delivered. Let the name of the Lord be praised!

As I Work on Pictures from the Philippines...

2008-01-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Before I headed off to the Philippines, Torrey and I went camping for a weekend in Red Rock Canyon, near the town of Mojave. I enjoyed the place much more than Torrey did, but we were both very glad to be able to spend the time away from the city. Here are a few pictures from that trip.

Philippines

2008-01-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a trip to the Philippines. I went with a group from my church to visit some of our missionaries in northern Mindanao, with the primary purpose of learning more about the work they are doing so that Torrey and I can decide whether or not that is the direction we are going to go after I graduate from Talbot in May. But for now I have much to do, so check back again for more details and pictures from the trip.

They Are Married!

2007-12-23T21:21:00.001-08:00

Well, the wedding is over; Mark and Shelley are married. My parents are headed back to Texas for the next month, and Torrey and I have finally had a little time to rest. It is about time for bed now, so all I will do now is post some of the pictures I took at the wedding. Enjoy!

Mark Watches Shelley Walk Down the Aisle

Shelley Beaming

The Kiss

Dad Watches Them Leave the Church

Torrey the Bridesmaid Frolics in the Park

Cailey on the Swings

The Happy Couple

A Few Peruvian Friends Who Came from out of Town

The Wheels are Turning

Shelley's Work

Flying Headlong Through the Chaos

2007-12-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

The weather here in So. Cal. has been pretty typical for Christmas time, which means that it has been rather warm. We have actually had a couple of nights that may have dipped down as low as the high 30's, but we have also had some days near 80. So I have posted a picture that I took a few years back in Tahoe as a reminder that is in fact winter.

Last night we were at my Grandparents' again. I guess the main purpose of the gathering was for the Hopsons and Nystroms to get to know each other a bit. After the crowd left we did get a little bit done on wedding preparations. The reception location does not allow fire, so we worked on some modified electronic candles. We got a bunch of LED tealight candles, which we are making into taper lights. In the picture above, my cousin Andrew is soldering wires to the spot where the LED used to be. Those wires will run through a hole that we drilled in a normal taper candle with the light at the top where the wick once was. They should look pretty cool when they are done, but the project has at least been a fun one.

Wedding Plans

2007-12-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming quickly, and it has been busier than ever around here. Torrey and I haven't been super involved, but quite a bit of what could have otherwise been free time has been spent with my family making preparations for Shelley and Mark's wedding on Friday. Last night we worked on party favors, and tonight I think we will be putting together center-pieces for the tables at the reception. Friday is coming soon. On top of that, our anniversary is on Thursday, and of course, Christmas is coming shortly thereafter, followed by my trip to the Philippines. Hmm, I don't know if I have mentioned that on here. I am headed to the Philippines for the first half of January with a group from our church. I am going as the official photographer for the trip and as a general helper in whatever needs to be done, but primarily I am going to see if that may be where Torrey and I will be directing our pursuit of missions. So, all that to say, this is a very busy Christmas. May we not get too busy to think deeply about the incarnation and worship the Creator who entered creation to draw men to Himself. Praise be to the Lord our God!

Another Semester in the Bag

2007-12-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

I have finished semester #5 of my Talbot adventure, and now our apartment looks a bit like the room in this photo. It has been a whirlwind of a couple weeks, but now I can relax a little (and help get things cleaned up a bit). On second thought, this next week will be busy with helping prepare for Mark and Shelley's wedding. No rest for the weary... Andrew is flying in tonight though, and it will be fun to see him again. He just finished his first semester at LeTourneau! Congrats, Andrew. I had better get going. The office Christmas lunch is over and I have some work to finish up before the weekend begins. Chao.

Savannah

2007-12-01T22:53:00.000-08:00

Tonight Torrey's Brother Brett, his wife Stephanie, and their two little kids, Savannah and Moses came over for supper. Supper was a disaster, since Torrey had put one of her once-a-month meals in the oven to thaw and then forgot about it when she went to pre-heat the oven to bake a cake. The result was a plate full of meat with bits of melted zip-lock bag coating it. So we had pizza. The best part of the evening though was what Stephanie told us after she came back from changing 2-1/2 year old Savannah. Their conversation went as follows.

Savannah: I ike unca Aaron.
Stephanie: Oh, do you? That's nice.
Savannah: I ike poop.
Stephanie: No, you don't like poop.
Savannah: I ike pee... Sometimes.

And so goes my popularity with children. Apparently I am as much fun as a bowel movement.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

I thought before this past weekend that I had experienced some pretty terrifying examples of bad driving. I think that the taxi driver in Lima who got us to the airport in ten minutes, a trip that usually takes over half an hour, was the previous winner. But on Thanksgiving Torrey and I rode with a friend of Torrey’s Grandma to the house where we had dinner (and back again), and it topped all previous rides. This old woman was all over the road, missed a number of turns and made hair-raising u-turns to get back on track, never looking anywhere but straight in front of her, expressed a desire to make a left turn off the freeway where there was, of course, no exit, and all the while talked about how she is such a better driver now than she was when she was young. Ay ay ay. Watch out for Rossmoor drivers.

And so began our visit to Rossmoor. It was very nice to get away from LA for a few days, even though the road was probably as full as I have ever seen it. We drove up to Walnut Creek on Thursday morning, arriving just in time to head off for Thanksgiving dinner at Torrey’s Grandma’s housekeeper’s house. Friday we slept in and enjoyed the break from our normal busy lives. Friday night we went out for dinner and were treated to the beginning of the Christmas season in a small town. The main street was closed down, and restaurants were serving hot chocolate on the street and groups of people were caroling as the rest of us strolled through the town getting into a Christmassy mood. Saturday morning I woke up early, and after enjoying an apple fresh off the tree, chilled by the night air, I hiked around a bit, mostly to take pictures.

Later on Saturday we drove to Berkeley to wander around and see the campus. Torrey’s Grandma used to work at the school, so she was excited for us to see it.

I tried to get some studying done while we were away, but of course, I ended up getting very little done. So I planned on doing some when we got home, but after a long day of driving in traffic I felt less like studying than I had over the weekend. Here is a shot from our drive home (on the freeway, naturally).

Fortunately, my studies have been coming along well this week, and I have just two more weeks before the semester is over!

What a Mess

2007-11-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

I just noticed this morning that the website I host most of my photos on is having some serious technical difficulties. I hope this gets set straight soon, but until then, the photos on here are quite badly tweaked, and most of them are not even my pictures. Oh well. We'll see what happens.

-Update-

The mixup stirred up quite a commotion in the zooomr community, and it was quickly set right. There are now no more strange Japanese pictures on my blog. Thanks, zooomr.

Torrey's Birthday

2007-11-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

This picture is a bit old, but I am posting it because Torrey likes it. It is from last fall when we drove up to Colorado for one day to join Torrey's parents at the tail end of her Dad's hunting trip. Her Dad didn't get anything that time, but her uncle shot an elk, which we got to help cut up after driving through the night to get there.

But I digress. Yesterday was Torrey's birthday. The day started out nicely, since Torrey is in the process of jury selection and didn't have to show up at the courthouse until 11:00. Tuesday is a school day for me, but my first class isn't until 10:30, so I got up to do some studying while Torrey slept in, and then I woke her up with breakfast in bed. Then last night we went out for dinner - a rare treat for us. Since it was a special occasion I chose a nice little place in Uptown Whittier that serves crepes, which were positively amazing. Even Torrey, who doesn't usually get very excited about food (I know, I know; I don't understand either), really enjoyed our dinner. Other than that the day wasn't terribly exciting since we were both out all day, but we will make up for it this weekend, since we are going out of town for Thanksgiving. It is always nice to get away from LA for a few days, so we are really looking forward to driving up to the Bay area to visit Torrey's Grandma. I'm sure that by the time we get back I will have some new pictures to put up. For now I have to go finish my last day of work before the break. Chao.

Old Strobes

2007-11-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone out there may be contemplating using an older flash with their new digital camera as I have been doing, I thought I should pass on a caution I recently was made aware of. Apparently I got a bit lucky with my experimentation, as this web site reveals. I ran across it on the Strobist's blog (a very nice site for learning about using strobes in photography). Anyway, the first link there is for a list of a whole slew of flashes with their trigger voltages. Quoting from that page,

"Some strobes (and infrared strobe triggers) use high voltages in the trigger circuit. For mechanical cameras, this is fine — but many newer, electronically-driven cameras (especially electronic 35mm SLRs like the EOS or digicams — or for that matter, EOS digicams, like the 300D) can be damaged by excessive strobe voltages."

If you can't read the flash in the photo above, it says that it is a Canon 188A, which, according to the trigger voltage page, uses 4.1V in the trigger circuit - less than the allowable 6V. This is an old flash that I had in my closet from my manual camera collection, and fortunately it is safe to use with my digital camera. Many other old flashes are not less than 6V, and are therefore not safe to use. So, consider yourself warned. Always check to make sure that equipment not made for your camera is safe to use with that expensive new piece of digital technology.

Update

2007-11-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

The above picture is the product of a study break. I am enjoying playing around with off-camera strobing, and this is my favorite of the images I came up with during my break. I have a Hebrew test today, and I have been studying a lot for it. That is really unusual, because typically with my language classes I keep up with everything well enough that I don't really need to study for tests. Hebrew has been a bit different though, and I am way behind on my vocab and paradigms, so I study. This weeks is the annual Evangelical Theological Society's conference, which many Talbot professors are participating in, so I had no class yesterday afternoon or this morning. Yesterday I was able to pick up our 'new' car, and today I was able to study Hebrew. Ah, what fun. It is certainly nice to have another car though and to have that burden no more. Torrey doesn't like the car because it is black. I do like it because as far as I can tell, everything that is not working in our old car does work in the new one. Of course by new I don't really mean new. It is a '96 Camry with 110,000 miles on it - quite a step up from our '92 Camry with 260,000 miles on it. It will somehow be sad to see the old car go, though I'm not really sure why. Oh well, life moves one. Here is another 'study break shot' in parting.

Cars, etc.

2007-11-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I build a gizmo that allows me to fire a flash off-camera. It is a wired device, so I can only be as far away from the flash as my dollar store speaker-wire allows me to be, but it does enable me to take some cool shots I couldn't get otherwise. Take for example the bouganvilla flower above. This nifty shot was taken with a sheet of white paper arched over the top of this scene, with the flash fired at the top of the arch from the left side. Pretty cool if you ask me. I also used it to add some fill light to these crazy purple guayabas that I found while jogging around the block (no, I don't go jogging with my camera. I went back later on a walk with Torrey).

For the last couple of weeks we have been looking for a new car. Our present one has nearly 260,000 miles on it, and a mechanic told us that it shouldn't be on the road and that it isn't worth putting money into. So, we are looking for another ride. That has proved to be quite a pain in my estimation, and I am growing to dislike salesmen very strongly. If at all possible, I will not buy a car from a professional salesman. I guess it can't really be that bad in the end, though. The car we have now has served us well, and I bought it from a one-eyed Mexican with a pirate style eyepatch. Torrey can't believe I did that. But it turned out well.

Back to JT Again

2007-10-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

This past week I had a few days off school, so I took advantage of the chance to escape the city again for a spell. This time the trip was for a day of rock climbing with Josh, a friend from Talbot. Because I put off my homework to spend an entire day running around the desert, I am doing it now, which means I don't have much time to write about the events of the day. Suffice to say it was great to get out and do something active, and it was equally grand to spend the day with a friend I haven't seen much in the past year. Thanks, Josh! I had a great time. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy, and a few more can be seen here.

Climbing Barefoot

Reflections

Rappelling

Serious Climbing

Chalk

Camping In Joshua Tree

2007-10-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

For a very long time, Torrey and I managed to get out camping an average of once a month. But lately we have become far too busy, and before last weekend, we had not spent the night in our tent since our backpacking trip in late May. We finally got away again, and it was soooo nice to be out. We decided to go for just one night, leaving Saturday morning and coming back on Sunday. When we arrived we were told that all the campsites had been full the night before, and there were no guarantees of finding an open site. Fortunately, lots of people cleared out Saturday morning, and we found an awesome site that is far from the road and from other campers.

I took lots of pictures of our food, joking about starting a food blog. I won't do that, but we did have really tasty hobo dinners and biscuits from the dutch oven.

It was an absolutely gorgeous night.

The stars were amazing. Here is a constellation I learned to recognize while we were out. Do you know what it is? If you do, leave me a comment and show me how star-smart you are. If I had a prize to give I would offer it, but instead you will just earn bragging rights if you are correct. Here is a clue - late at night in October you will see this constellation setting in the west. It may help to view a larger version.

We spent a good chunk of the evening sitting around the fire enjoying the flames.

In the morning we had breakfast, and while we were eating, a bizarre creature came through our camp. When Andrew was in Junior High here in California he had to make an insect collection, so my Dad and I took him out to the desert to find some specimens for his project. One of the insects we brought back home was a darkling beetle. We killed it and pinned it on styrofoam to dry, and we were surprised to find the next day that it had dripped something out of it's abdomen that melted the styrofoam from underneath it. I have been intrigued by the things ever since. Apparently it is here threatening to spew styrofoam-melting liquids on me for having disturbed it's progress across the desert.

After breakfast we read from Philippians and talked about some of the counter-cultural aspects of the gospel (a fascinating topic that my Philippians class addresses often, and one which I intend to write about here sometime before long). We did a little hiking before we came home, and then our weekend camping trip was over. It was short, but it is absolutely amazing to me how refreshing a night out of doors can be.

I have a few more pictures from the weekend posted here should you have an interest in seeing more.

Mark and Shelley Photos

2007-10-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Torrey and I went with Mark and Shelley to Joshua Tree to take some engagement pictures. It was a gorgeous day out in the high desert, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with the two of them. They are a great couple and we look forward to having Mark become a part of our family in just 10 more weeks. Sounds like a very short time to me, but of course, to Mark and Shelley it feels like an eternity. Soon it will all be a memory, and we created a few yesterday along with some visual reminders in the form of photos.

Here is another for good measure:

And you can see a larger set here.

More 3D Photo Fun

2007-10-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here is another 3D photo for your amusement. In case you have never done this before, the idea is to look at the picture in such a way that your left eye sees the image on the right and your right eye sees the image on the left. That sounds complicated but it really isn't. I find it works best to find an anchor in the picture; something that you can recognize even when it is out of focus. In this picture, any brown branch works pretty well. Then start to cross your eyes, and you will see the two parts moving together. You want to form a third image in the center that is an overlay of the two parts, so watch that anchor and use it to bring the two together. Then comes the most difficult part. Normally when you cross your eyes, it is to focus on something close to your face, but for this exercise, you need to focus on the computer screen. It can be done, but it may take some practice. When you get it, it will be well worth it. Enjoy!

The viewing experience is best if you look at this bigger version.

A Late Night

2007-10-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I pulled an all-nighter. Last semester was terrible that way. I was so busy that any time I had a paper to do on top of my regular work, I was up all night writing it (and that happened nearly every week). This semester has been really laid back so far, and I really should have been able to avoid this, but last night I had a paper to write that took me on another adventure through the wee hours of the morning. So for a study break I played around with my camera a little and took this self portrait of me burning the midnight oil. I did go to bed for a few hours, and now at 9:30 am, I have just finished the paper. My class starts in one hour, which gives me roughly 40 minutes to add a bibliography, do a quick read-through, print the paper, jump on my bicycle and ride off to class. Right. I suppose I should get to it. This break is now officially over.

Disneyland

2007-09-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Torrey and I got to go to Disneyland on Monday for free. Free is, of course, always nice, especially when it relates to an expensive thing like Disneyland. Torrey's boss had given money to a fundraiser, and as a thank you, he was invited to dinner for two at Club 33 in Disneyland's New Orleans district. He wasn't interested in the tickets, and since he had been particularly demanding of Torrey around the time he received the invitation, he gave his invitation to us. Included with the invitation was admission for both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) as well, and even though we weren't able to get off work until 2:00, we still got to go on a whole bunch of rides before dinner. I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes in line for any ride. Oh, and it is Halloween time at Disneyland, which perhaps begins to explain the pumpkin Cheshire Cat and the Candy Corn A's in CALIFORNIA. Torrey loves candy corn.

Then we went off to Club 33, where we had all-you-can-eat tri-tip, prime rib, shrimp, crab, etc., etc. The most interesting part of the whole evening came just as we were leaving the club to go home. As it turns out, the fundraiser was for a church planting ministry being run by someone affiliated with the church Torrey's boss attends. Torrey thought for sure his name sounded familiar, and finally realized that it is someone she had met on furlough in Junior High, and whose daughter had been a great encouragement to her that year. Who would have ever thought that at a dinner with a bunch of strangers in an exclusive club at Disneyland we would meet an old friend? It is a small world indeed.

Bursting with Goodness

2007-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today Torrey was out with a bunch of girls who were helping Shelley shop for a wedding dress. So when I wanted to take a break from studying, I grabbed my camera and went for a walk. The weather this morning was beautiful. It rained last night for the first time in many months, and the sky was filled with white and gray clouds, with spots of deep blue here and there. Now just two blocks down the road from our house is a railroad track, and separating the track from the street running parallel to it is a row of shrubs. Mixed into the hedge are pomegranates, and I had in mind to take some pictures of the fruit and at the same time check to see if any were ripe enough to bring home as a treat for Torrey – she loves the things. In the Middle East where she grew up, pomegranates are a sign of luxury and extravagance, and as I walked along the tracks, I was reminded of the extent to which God has blessed my life extravagantly. As I searched for ripe fruit, I stumbled upon an opening in the bushes, and there, tucked away from the view of all but the closest passersby was the makeshift shelter of a homeless man. I was immediately struck by the vast contrast between my life and his. Last night, as I lay in my dry, warm bed, I was excited to hear the rain come, but here was someone who’s only protection from the storm is a greatly inadequate assembly of plastic bags strung between the branches of the pomegranate bushes. I so often take for granted myriads of blessings that others live without, such as the roof over my head and a lack of concern for the food I eat each day. God has blessed me so abundantly, that my life is bursting with goodness, like a pomegranate that is split open for lack of strength to hold back its own ripeness. I firmly believe that what God gives to us is not merely for our own pleasure and benefit, but that it ought to be used for the good of others. If we truly consider others better than ourselves, we cannot help but give out of our abundance to those who are in need. As I continued on my way I decided that this was one way that I could use a little of what God has given me to bless another, so I returned to offer the man some assistance. He refused, but today was a poignant reminder of the need we have as believers to be prepared to give of ourselves and of the things we tend to think of as our own for the good of those around us.

Baseball and Family

2007-09-21T10:58:00.001-07:00

The company that Torrey works for has season tickets for the Angels, and when they have extras that their clients aren’t interested in, they sometimes give them to their employees. So last night we had four tickets to the Angels vs. Mariners game, and we took Shannon and Shelley along with us.

It was fun to hang out with the girls, and the game was interesting too. The pitcher for the Angels hit one of the Mariners early in the game, and throughout the rest of the game there was payback and tension between the teams. At one point, Vladimir Guerrero (Angels player) was up to bat when he had to duck to avoid being hit in the head with the ball. The photo below shows the chaos that resulted from that. Apparently the pitcher and manager for the Mariners were kicked out of the game after the commotion died down.

Here is Shannon, the Angels fan…

…and the girls goofing around under the big A after the game.

Canasta Caliente

2007-09-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

This summer I exercised my creative powers and I made a deck of cards as a gift for someone in my family. The above image is the cover I made for the box that the cards fit in, and in case you don't know, Canasta means "basket" and Caliente means "hot". The images that follow are the templates that I used to print the cards (I printed them as 4x6 photos, then fixed a basket-weave contact paper to the backs of the photos and cut out the individual cards).

Remembering Yarina

2007-09-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

I have started another blog for sharing stories from Yarina. I am hoping that a bunch of old Yarina types will contribute to the site so that we can all remember and enjoy our old stories and some that have perhaps never been told. Check it out here.
And if you would like to contribute to it, email me or leave me a comment on one of the blogs, and I will gladly allow you to do that.

I have also finally compiled my pictures from the reunion in August. You can see them here.

Jon Reid has also posted a bunch more reunion pictures here.

A Few Photos

2007-09-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

I keep intending to write something on here, but between studying, spending time with Torrey and attempting to finish some projects I am in the middle of, I haven't been able to get around to it. So in the meantime, here are a few photos. These were taken on a camping trip to Andrew Molera State Park in the Big Sur area last new year.

Townsend's Warbler

These little guys were all over the campground, so I took some time crawling through the grass to get close enough to capture this one.

Monarchs

There is a grove of eucalyptus trees at Andrew Molera, and when we were there the butterflies were in town, covering large portions of the trees in the park. Awesome.

Exciting News

2007-09-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

Mark and Shelley are engaged! Saturday night, Mark Hopson got down on one knee and asked my sister to marry him. Quite plainly, she said yes. So now the wedding plans are under way. Congratulations, Mark and Shelley!

The following photos are from Tim and Lydia’s wedding several weeks ago. Shelley went to great lengths to ensure her position as the next bride-to-be, and although Mark also recruited help, Luke ended up being an obstacle instead of an aid. I’m still not sure how Mark managed to beat little Freddy to the garter…

And here is a picture of Mark and Shelley together:

Pressing on Toward the Goal

365 Project - December

365 Project - November

365 Project - October

365 Project - September

365 Project - August

365 Project - July

365 Project - June

365 Project - May

365 Project - April

365 Project - March

Happy Easter!

365 Project - February

365 Project - January

Desert Trip

Shannon's Marathon

3D Pictures from the Philippines

Visit to the Philippines

Just for Fun

Michigan

For Shannon

Slow to Post

Sneak Peak at Nick and Jennifer's Wedding

Updates Needed

Stay-at-home Mom

A Few Photos

Easter Camping in Death Valley

Reading, PA

All Things Are Better In Koine

Trip to Oregon

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards and a Quick Update

Alethia is 5 Months Old!

Andrew's Visit

Andrew's USMC Graduation

A Late Halloween Post

Bradley Reunion

Alethia Grace, Age 4 Months (Almost)

Alethia's First Camping Trip

The Fruit of Torrey's Labors

Apple Picking at Riley's Farm in Oak Glen

Catching Up a Bit

Ryan and Kenlynn Floyd Wedding

A Wedding for Nate and Linsday!

Weddings

Tehom and Tiamat: The Concept of Chaos in ANE Cosmology

Waking Up Is Hard Work

Bath Time!

Felices Fiestas Patrias!

She's a Big Girl Now

Joy Joy Joy

First Family Holiday

Birth Announcement!

Playing the Waiting Game

Various and Sundry News and Events

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Jungle...

A Pair of Graduations

Baccalaureate

Wrapping Up

Babymoon and Sequoia

Family

Camping with the Family

The Girls

The Joys of Hebrew

A Visit to the Los Angeles Zoo

Desert Blooms

More on Ben Stein

Just for Fun

Quick Update

Expelled!

What A Way To Start A Semester!

It's About Time

The Beginning of the End

More Photo Problems

Photos from the Philippines

S.M. Lockridge

As I Work on Pictures from the Philippines...

Philippines

They Are Married!

Flying Headlong Through the Chaos