mediastorm.org

If you have some time, watch the videos under the Project section at http://mediastorm.org. Some very real life stories. It makes you think about what you have.

July 28, 2008 - Newsweek

If anyone has a Newsweek dated July 28, 2008 that you will be throwing out, can you let me know, I'd like to get it from you.

A photo I took of Astrid and Aidan in August of 2006 is in a LLU School of Medicine ad. It may be a regional ad.

Here is what it looks like. It comes after page 42.

Jenks Lake

Stephanie and I headed up to the mountains today for some relaxing, cooler weather, and fresh air. Jenks lake was our destination. It is located in the San Bernardino National Forest and is located about 30 miles from Redlands on your way to Big Bear. Very nice spot to relax in. Hope you had a great day.

Reeds Room

Recently I finished up Reed's room. Let me just say, I don't like painting stripes on textured walls. Taping it worked but it was still a pain. Anyway, here it is. We plan on adding some big photos of him on the wall after he gets here so it will not look quite so bare.

And here is a little something Stephanie has wanted/planned for, for a long time. Her family had a fish tank and stand when she and her sister were young and they really enjoyed it. It has a mirror on the back so Reed will be able to see himself while looking at the fish. While Stephanie's dad was here a few weeks ago he threw this together. He works fast:) I finished it a couple weeks ago and got it in the house. Right now we have 8 Barbs in it.
Have a great weekend.

Fireworks on the 4th

Friday evening we spend a few hours with our good friends in Redlands, CA. They have a great view of the fireworks at the University of Redlands. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

God Bless America!!

All these shots were taken with my D200 and my 70-200 2.8. I used a remote shutter release and it worked great.

Fourth

Happy 4th of July everyone. I hope you have a fun and safe day!! We will be heading over to Gina and Ed's this afternoon to watch the fireworks at the University of Redlands.

Take a moment to remember the past, present, and future military of the U.S.A., and for that matter, all those that fight for freedom. God bless America and please God, bless this world.

Very sad

I didn't know this him but his family were family friends of Stephanie's family. While flying in Alaska this past weekend, Shaun Lunt, 34, circled to look at a whale skeleton. His plane stalled and his plane went down. You can read more about the accident here. And you can view some of his adventures and see the beauty of God's earth here. Shaun was an anesthesiologist here in the Loma Linda area.

Here is one of my favorites from his site.

This is the last thing he posted on his blog in August of 2007.

"Three months, but a lifetime of memories and good friends. It's been a better trip than I could've hoped for. Best time spent in Alaska? Time spent with God. He is Good. And the best things in life pale in comparison."

Very sad, please pray for his family.

Centennial Complex at LLU

Today a handful of Loma Linda University employees and students took a tour of the new Centennial Complex. The Centennial Complex is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2009. It will be a state of the art building with many updated labs to assist in the growing needs of LLU. It's an amazing building, I can't wait to see it completed. It is on schedule and on budget...two very good things. If you are ever in Loma Linda, stop by to see what phase of construction it is in.

Here are a few photos I took today.

The Morrison's

My sister and family just moved to the Phoenix, AZ area so they got to come to S. CA for mothers day since Tim's mom is in the area. They came to our house Saturday evening to watch a movie, but before we did that, we played with some lights and white seamless backgrounds that I needed to experiment with.

Aquarium of the Pacific

April 26 took us to the Aquarium of the Pacific. Stephanie and I had never been there and it was very crowded and hot. I'd prefer to go back when it is not so busy. We did see a lot of pretty fish and Isabella had a great time looking at everything and playing in the water. She was even brave enough to pet a small shark in the outside petting tanks.

And look who we found!!
On our way home.

It's been a while

I just realized tonight it has been a whole month since I posted anything so I thought I better just do it. I've been very busy the last few weeks so it has not given me any time to do this. I figured I'd sit down and post a few pictures tonight to get it done with.

The first weekend in May we went up north with Christina, Duncan, and Isabella for a reunion at one of Christina and Stephanie's elementary schools they attended back in the late 80's and early 90's. We met their mom their since she would be speaking that weekend. On the way up we met my sister, niece, and nephew just off of the 5. We spent about an hour there talking and visiting before heading on our way. It was a fun quick weekend. Here are a few random photos.

The Mike Christian Story

Let me tell you what I think about our Pledge for Allegiance, our flag, and our country. I want to tell you a story about when I was a prisoner of war. I spent 5 ½ years in the Hanoi Hilton. In the early years of our imprisonment, the North Vietnamese kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell.

In 1971, the North Vietnamese moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change. And was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans, led by people like Nancy and Ronald Reagan, on behalf of a few hundred POWs, 10,000 miles from home.

One of the men moved into my cell was Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was thirteen years old. At seventeen, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He later earned a commission. He became a Naval flying officer, and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation for the opportunities this country -- and our military -- provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.

The uniforms we wore in prison consisted of a blue short-sleeved shirt, trousers that looked like pajama trousers and rubber sandals that were made out of automobile tires. I recommend them highly; one pair lasted my entire stay.

As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a piece of white cloth and a piece of red cloth and fashioned himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he sewed the American flag on the inside of his shirt.

Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of our cell, and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know that saying the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important or meaningful part of our day now, but I can assure you that – for those men in that stark prison cell – it was indeed the most important and meaningful event of our day.

One day, the Vietnamese searched our cell and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, called for Mike Christian to come out, closed the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours.

Then they opened the door of the cell and threw him back inside. He was not in good shape. We tried to comfort and take care of him as well as we could. The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs in each corner of the room.

After things quieted down, I went to lie down to go to sleep. As I did, I happened to look in the corner of the room. Sitting there beneath that dim light bulb, with a piece of white cloth, a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. Sitting there, with his eyes almost shut from his beating, making another American flag. He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was for us to be able to pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.

Duty, Honor, Country. We must never forget those thousands of Americans who, with their courage, with their sacrifice, and with their lives, made those words live for all of us.

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)
Used by permission

Taken from http://home.earthlink.net/~velderkin/powmia/mikechristian.htm

One more of Isabella

I couldn't resist. Here is one more of Isabella.

What a NUT

Before we left work I got to play with my 70-200 lens on Isabella. She loves to sing and the parking lot was the perfect stage for her. She really is a nut.

Marjorie

Some of you might remember Laura from last year. Her mom was down visiting so we managed to fit in a couple hours yesterday morning before she headed home to get some great shots to give as a gift to her husband. It was a nice overcast day which made for some great lighting. Thanks for coming out Marjorie, it was nice meeting you.

Isabel & Nicolas

Last Monday evening I got to follow a couple of cute kids around a park for a couple hours. Well, Isabel kept us running, Nicolas just chilled in his mom and aunts arms. Isabel was so much fun, wanting to find new places to pose at. She had a BIG smile on the whole time. Thanks for bringing the kids out Erin, it was so much fun.

This is the first time I've tried out textures. Just something a little different.

New Photos

I did a shoot of a friends two kids this evening and I have another shoot on Sunday morning. Stay tuned for photos.

It's a BOY!!!

Today we made our way to Baby's First Photos in Riverside, CA for an ultrasound. This ultrasound was to tell us the gender, a month earlier than we thought we were going to know. Stephanie's parents, sister, and niece got to go along. It's a really neat service and the employees are super nice. They do a 3D ultrasound and project it up on a 100" screen for everyone in the room to see. You can have up to 10 people in the room with you to share the excitement. It's really cool so if you ever get the chance to experience it for your baby or to watch someone elses ultrasound like this, do it, it's just too cool.

So we found out we are having a boy. Now we can start deciding on a name and the nursery. We went to Babies R Us after to buy some baby clothes. I got a bib for him that says Chicks Dig Me:)

Anywho, here are some photos that we got from the ultrasound today.

Here you can see his face with his hands and arms up by his head.

This shot is of his back. He got tired of being poked at so he turned over. You can see the back of his head, his back/side, his leg, and his arm.

WooHoo

OK, we are finally letting everyone know. Our baby is due on September 5. We finally got to hear the heartbeat today so we are a little more safe in letting everyone know. If my scanner was not acting up, I'd scan our first and second ultrasound. In about 7 weeks we will hopefully be able to find out what it is. Keep little baby Larsen in your thoughts and prayers as he or she develops. At this point, we don't care what it is, as long as it's healthy.




On a funny note, check out what David Higginbotham of David Higginbotham Photography and his wife Anna have to say about having a kid. Luckily we won't have to deal with the questions anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwng10n6j6c

The Golden Gate at sunrise

I'm finally getting around to posting my photos of the Golden Gate from my trip up north last month. I was pretty tired and I had to do a lot of walking to get what I did. I'm not a landscape photographer but it was fun messing around. The sky was completely clear till the sun came up then the clouds slowly moved in over the city. It was pretty cool to watch. If you ever get a chance to watch the sunrise in San Francisco, go up the hill on the northern side of the bridge. It really is a great view.

And this is Sausalito. Nice little town. I wouldn't mind spending a long weekend there sometime.

Sunday morning in Napa, part 3

Here are the last of the photos from Sunday.

Sunday morning in Napa, part 2

Here are a few more photos from the day. Check back again for a few more photos from Sunday and some of the Golden Gate from Friday morning.