Family Photos

We were incredibly blessed by a fellow missionary who is a gifted photographer to get some new family pictures done recently! They turned out great and we're thankful to have some more recent photos to share and hang on the wall. Thank you, Carrie!

Here are a few of our favorites from the shoot...

Family Photos

We had the opportunity to have a photographer come to the house to capture our family of four. We are so thankful for these beautiful photos and for how well the photographer captured the early days of Maya's life. We are enjoyed this cute, snuggly addition to our family!

Amazed by the Ordinary

I have heard it said that photography does two things. The first is taking the experience of truly beautiful places and distilling it into a single image. It takes places about which most people only dream and captures the magic of that experience. The other is taking ordinary places and pointing out how they are extraordinary. Both of these are fun...there is something about finding unique angles to everyday objects.

This is why I love macro photography. It takes small areas of our world that we see every day and explores them up close. It shows us a whole new layer of complexity that is right under the surface of our own world. It gives us a brand new perspective on the objects we interact with all the time. It reminds me that I need to be

Today I came across a blog I follow. Josh posted two macro photos of dragon flies that were exceptional. Click the link to head over there and see them. I had one of those, "Wow!" moments when I saw them for the first time. I have seen dragon flies so many times, but I don't think I have ever seen them this way.

What gives you that feeling of wonder a curiosity?

Lens Cap

I am have too many interests. Bethany says I had a major in college, but I have a lifetime minor in curiosity. Too many things in this world are fascinating! One thing I really love is photography. It's an exercise in perspective. You are either trying to capture the beauty of every day objects, or distill an experience into a single frame.

The thing about photography is there are so many details to remember. You can miss one tiny setting and there will be something wrong with your photo. And the settings are different for each condition. The camera can be perfectly set for one circumstance, and then conditions change and your photo is too dark, too light or completely out of focus. There is a lot to think about. The one thing that is consistent is the lens cap. It doesn't matter how expensive your camera is, if your lens cap is on the lens, you're not capturing anything! Every time you want to take a picture, you have to pull off the lens cap. It is the most basic and obvious step of any photographic adventure.

Today I was watching the Olympics in London. There are always a thousand photographers in the background. It is cool to see them snapping away and capturing those moments. In the background of one of the shots, I noticed a professional photographer checking his camera and trying to figure out why it wasn't working. From my vantage point, I could see that his lens cap was still on his camera. In a minute or so, he figured out the issue and got to work.

This half a second on camera got me thinking for two reasons. First, if professionals can make this mistake, I don't feel bad at all for making the mistake myself and accidentally leaving my lens cap on sometimes. Second, I think we always want to make things more complicated than they really need to be. In photography, sometimes it's as simple as taking the lens cap off to fix the problem. In life, we look for some mystical secret behind having a relationship with God. Really it can be very simple...He is the one seeking intimacy with us. I think there are times when we sit there fiddling with the settings on "our camera" and wondering why it doesn't work. But we aren't practicing the basic spiritual disciplines. We don't seek community with others and have real conversations that really challenge us and challenge others. Often, we get stuck with our lens cap on.

Photo credit: rollingroscoe from morguefile.com

The Arm of the Lord

One of the great things about our time at MTI was the location of the training center. It's in Palmer Lake, CO, which is a beautiful little town tucked right up against the front range of the Rocky Mountains. The property sits up on a hill overlooking the whole valley of Colorado Springs.

While we were there a massive storm roll through. We didn't get a ton of rain ourselves, but there was a lot of hail down in Colorado Springs. It was pretty amazing to see to see these massive clouds right across the valley from us.


One cloud in particular ( the 2nd and 3rd pictures below) looked like a giant fist in the sky. It was pretty amazing to see. It reminded me of Isaiah 51:1 where it says:


Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.


It was a reminder to all of us there how great and powerful of a God we serve. Check out the pictures below to try and get a sense of it. 

(Hint: click on an image to see a full screen slide show)

The giant fist of clouds in the sky

Close crop of the fist

The Beauty of Colorado

It has really been a joy for us to complete our training in the great state of Colorado. When free times come (which sometimes feel few and far between), we have really enjoyed getting out and exploring the sites with our new missionary friends. Here are a few shots from our time here over the last 3 weeks!

 

Posing at the top of Pike's Peak (which we drove up...not hiked!)

Mountains on the way up to Pike's Peak. The tree line you see near the bottom is around 12,000 ft, but the top is over 14k!

Beautiful mountain wild flowers

Our MTI group at the top of the Peak. I have my sunglasses on because this was moments before a bug flew in my eye! The photos preceding this are quite entertaining :)

Did you know Big Foot was a threat in CO?

Exploring Garden of the Gods

Cactus flower

Nate caught this photo of a beautiful butterfly!

Hiking the Reservoir trails in Palmer Lake, just a mile from our training facility.

Photo Blog: Our 2011 Holidays

Every year, the holiday season seems to fly by so quickly! It is amazing to me to think that it is already 2012. We've been raising support for Austria for almost 1 year already, I quit my full-time job nearly 1 year ago, and THIS YEAR will likely be the year we depart for the mission field. Wow! 2012 will be an important and special year.

But before I completely leave 2011 behind, here are some photos highlights from our 2011 Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving in Connecticut

The kids work on making a turkey...made out of fruit and vegetables! So cute.

Kylie and Meg

Posing in front of the Statue of Liberty during our trip downtown.

"Big Nate" and "Little Nate" riding the ferry

Getting ready to ride the train.

Aunt Bethany, hanging out with the girls on the train

Our gift to Erik & Amy this year was a family photo shoot. Here is one of the best shots!

Christmas in Minnesota

Nate went ice climbing with his two brothers one day.

A group photo of us, visiting "A Day in the Life of an Elf" at the downtown Macy's.

Playing games at Aunt Diane's house.

Dad and Neil are excited about the ornaments they received in the ornament exchange!

Grandma, with all of her grandkids and great-grandkids.

Holga Vol 3

I love my holga.  I have had it for a few years ago.  I love getting film back from processing.  I love the adventure of turning ordinary moments extraordinary.  Here are my 3 most favorite shots from my last roll.

from Holga vol 3

What gives you a sense of adventure and exploration?