Flower Art

Just looking through some photos from this summer, and found this, which Haley put together.

Guitar Small Group

Kit Kittredge - An American Girl

So, I've now seen Kit Kittredge - An American Girl. Haley has been wanting to see it, so we rented it tonight. It was actually quite good. While I often look forward to other genres of movies, a good kid-flick with my family often ends up being most enjoyable.

And, in fact, I've seen all of the other American Girl movies, too. Yes, Felicity - An American Girl Adventure, Molly - An American Girl on the Home Front, and Samantha - An American Girl Holiday were all quite good, as well. The latter, especially, was a very good story and very touching. Haley is already looking forward to the next AG movie. I'm sure I'll get to watch and enjoy it with her.

Andrew Peterson music

This evening we attended a free concert of Andrew Peterson at Southgate Church (formerly called Calvary Temple). We enjoyed his music and personal thoughts and stories. I found a way to play some short clips of some of his songs. Some of the ones I especially like are the following, though the short clips don't do them justice:
Don't Give Up On Me - a love song to his wife
I've Got News
The Good Confession
Just As I Am

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (As is usual and customary for me, I waited for it to come out on DVD to watch it.)

I had heard some negative reviews of the movie from some friends prior to seeing it myself. A main point of contention with some was the story line itself, with the the current movie's focus on an ancient legend mixed in with aliens not quite living up to the standard set by such previous pursuits as the ark of the covenant and the holy grail. Granted, this installment does require us to suspend belief more so than the previous films, and, I guess I wish the story itself would have been more believable. But, I didn't go into the movie expecting reality, and knowing the general idea of the story in advance, I was able to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Another friend, also watching at home, chose to turn off the movie part way through. After seeing the movie, myself, I find this hard to imagine, and wonder at what point in the movie he gave up on it. It kept my apt attention the whole way through.

Based on the previews I had seen, I was also a little wary, as several scenes seemed too obviously computer animated and "cartoony" to evoke the expected realism. However, upon viewing the movie, I'd say that this is not really a concern. Perhaps they touched things up further after the previews and prior to the final release, or perhaps I am just too forgiving. I did still notice a couple scenes in particular (where we first see the expanse of boxes in the warehouse and the chase/fight in and with the military vehicles along the edge of a steep cliff) where this was somewhat obvious, but I did not feel that it was too overt or took anything away from the experience.

Given that several personal reviews that I had heard were fairly negative and my own personal expectations were mixed, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this fourth installment to the Indiana Jones series. Notwithstanding (I'm not sure if I've ever actually used that word before), I maintained fairly high expectations and hopes for it. And, I'm glad to report, I was not disappointed.

Yes, I enjoyed this new edition to the Indiana Jones adventures! I feel that it brings back the original look, feel, and excitement of the previous films quite faithfully. And the action and adventure fit right in with what we've come to expect from Indiana Jones. I personally enjoyed the movie quite a lot.

That said, I would probably have some difficulty putting it in the same category with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, I would contribute that more to my nostalgic feelings towards the originals than the failure of the newest to live up to its predecessors.

As Roger Ebert said in one of the few reviews of this movie that I have actually read, "I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one...". I would have to agree. (Whether you feel the same or not, feel free to post your own comments and opinions.)

Amy's Yearbook Photos

Here's some of my favorite yearbook photos of Amy (from YearbookYourself.com). There's a couple of them that I kinda dig.

My Yearbook Photos

Here's some of my favorite yearbook photos (from yearbookyourself.com).

Landscaping Changes

Yesterday we spent basically all day working on our front door walkway landscaping. We took out all of our strawberry plants, rearranged some existing plants (mainly hostas), added some new ones (asters and crocus bulbs), removed/replaced warped wood edging, and finished with some mulch. We did some minor work in other areas in the yard, but focused on the front entryway. It was dark by the time we were adding the finishing touches and watering the plants. Here's a few before and after photos:

Before...

After...

And we are glad today is a day of rest.

Last Physical Therapy

A couple weeks back, on 8/29, Amy had her last physical therapy appointment. She met with the doctor, and he said she did not need to continue physical therapy, though she still should continue doing arm exercises and stretches at home for further progress.

Amy has made additional progress in the last two weeks, we have seen. She can now stretch her arm out almost fully straight. It's just slightly not yet fully extended. She's making progress at bending her arm up toward her body, too, but has more room for improvement in that direction.

When Amy met with the doctor, he was quite surprised by the progress she had made in gaining movement back. He indicated that, based on the severity of the injury and the surgery he had done, the improvement Amy has seen is very significant. He actually said the word "miracle", and he's not one we would have ever expected to suggest divine involvement.

To what degree Amy's improvement can be attributed to a miracle of God, as opposed to just physical therapy, genetics, etc., I can't say. But, I know we were praying for God's help in healing and improvement in range of motion. And, I know that God is the giver of life and of breath and is the sustainer of all things. Thus, I believe that God was involved in the healing and improvement of Amy's arm, even in and through physical therapy and through her genetic makeup (which He gave her). I don't think we need to choose between natural and supernatural reasons, but believe that God is at work in it all.

Though it hasn't been easy, and though there's still more to go, I thank God for the impressive improvement that we have already seen, which has far exceeded the doctor's expectations. Praise God! And we will continue to hope and believe for eventual full range of motion... complete healing.

Weekend Update

After listening to Toby Mac at the World Pulse Festival...

At our church's Sunday evening Tour De Grille...

The mosquito bite song...

sorry excuse for a...

...post

I don't have anything interesting or clever to share at the moment, but I just added a header image to my blog that I spent some time working on. (I used Paint.NET for the image editing, which is basically a free Photoshop alternative that I found recently.)

The Chocolate Cupcake Dress

Short version... Amy got a dress. Her mom said she looked like a chocolate cupcake. We're pretty sure this meant she didn't like it. Amy returned the dress. This got me thinking...

Dog watching, Free Chicken, and Free Slurpees

Today our family was charged with taking care of Nifty, our neighors' dog. This was, of course, fun and exciting, especially for the kids, who ask almost weekly, or so it seems, for their own dog. Around 5pm, Amy and the kids went over to let Nifty out for the second time today, and to feed him. Somehow, after getting in the neighbors' house and letting the dog outside, the sliding door locked behind them, and most unfortunately the key had been left inside on the table. They were locked out of the house! I received a call at work, just as I was about to leave, with the news. Since they hadn't fed him yet, and the food was locked inside, I stopped at Meijer on my way home to buy some dog food. After verifying that the neighbors' house was very secure (...we tried every way we could think of to get in...), we settled on bringing Nifty home with us. We gated him in our kitchen while we went out for dinner.


We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, for Cow Appreciation Day. Because we dressed like cows, complete with the "Eat Mor Chikin" slogan, we all got free combo meals. I guess this is a yearly event every July 11, so get your costumes ready for next year.


We then went to 7-Eleven to get some free 7.11 ounce Slurpees for 7-Eleven day, August 11 or 7/11. (Supposedly the same promotion is done on November 7 in many other countries where the date is notated in DAY/MONTH format.)

We decided to head home after that, since it was already getting late, instead of stopping to redeem a free movie at Family Video for the kids' report card A's. We came home and had fun playing with Nifty.

The Cubstiva

Check out this Ford Festiva turned Cubstiva!

This litte car helped the owner, who I happen to know, become fan of the week on a Cubs site.


Then came a segment on the local news.


Great job on the car and the interviews, Derick... and, go Cubs!

Brace yourself

Amy got her cast off today and replaced it with a hinged brace. She will be going to physcal therapy at least twice a week for a while, beginning Tuesday to help get the movement back. She can't move it much, presently. But, soon... soon.

Amy's Arm Update

I'm sorry I haven't provided a more timely update, but for those of you who don't already know, Amy had to have surgery (later in the week after the accident) to screw a couple bone fragments back into place. The fragments had tendons attached to them and needed to be reattached to the main part of the bone. Here's the x-ray showing the three screws that she has.

After the surgery, she had a splint for about a week. Here's her arm after the splint was taken off, right before the staples were removed, after which she was given a cast.

Amy and I went on a company golf outing last weekend (fulfilling my minimum/average golf quota for the year). This was supposed to be Amy's second time golfing ever, but, alas, she was only able to ride in the golf cart.

So, I worked from home for a couple weeks to help Amy and the kids. (Yes, I often worked in my pajamas until quite late in the day.) I didn't shave for a week (and a day, I think). Here's my scruff right before I shaved it off.

X-Rays (and me)

Here's the x-ray photos.

This is me, taking a picture of myself in one of those half-globe mirrors on the ceiling in the hospital, outside the x-ray room while I waited.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Amy Dislocates Arm

About 20 minutes after finally arriving at my parents' house to visit with them, my sister's family, and some cousins who had come for part of the holiday weekend from out of town, Amy tripped over something outside and fell on her left elbow, dislocating her arm. I saw her fall, and it looked bad. Unfortunately, it was. We left our kids with family and rushed to the hospital. They took care of her fairly quickly as far as hospital experiences go. Here are some pictures. You can see the bone where it shouldn't be and see how much her arm swelled up.

We were supposed to watch our neices overnight tonight, but my sister offered to take our kids for the night, instead, so that was nice. Amy didn't break anything, but there may have been a tiny chip off a bone. She will probably need to wear the soft cast and sling for at least a week, and is supposed to see an orthopedic doctor early this week. I'll follow this up with a post including the x-rays.

As I prepare to leave for home...

As I prepare to leave for home, I am, of course, excited to be returning back to family and friends, and to a certain degree, to familiarity.

However, I am also sad to be leaving here... this country in which I have enjoyed being a guest for the past two weeks, seeing many sights, enjoying the food, taking in the culture... in short, experiencing India. Mostly, though, there is a sadness because I'm leaving my co-workers who live and work here, who I have just spent the better part of two weeks with or went on a day trip to Mysore with. I will miss them. Of course, I will be in contact with them, several of them probably pretty much daily during the work week, though even with e-mail, IM, phone calls and video conferences, nothing can match being together or communicating together in person.

I am thankful for the opportunity I have had to visit India and build relationships with my co-workers here.

Now, for about 26 hours of travel... Home, here I come...

(Comments are encouraged and appreciated any time.)

Mysore

Saturday, I went sightseeing with a co-worker from my office and three from the Bangalore office. We drove almost 3 hours to the city of Mysore, where we visited a number of picturesque and historical sites. Among them, one of the highlights was the Mysore Palace, seen in the first picture below. (There are some great pictures online of this place lit up at night by small white lights attached all over the exterior, though we weren't there at the right time for that.) The second picture is on the palace grounds, though the structure was not part of the palace, itself. Part of the experience included paying for them to store both our cameras and shoes, separately, for a small fee while we toured the inside of the palace.

These next two pictures were taken outside of a temple we saw. We decided not to (pay the fee to) go inside this one, but we walked (barefoot, again) through a much larger one earlier in the day.

Food, Sights

Here's some more pictures from my trip. I haven't gotten out much, really. I've either been at the office or at the hotel, which is about 2 mintues away. And, though there is a cafeteria at the office, today I got to go out with a few people for lunch, so I was able to see a little more of the area and take some pictures.

Breakfast at the hotel this morning.

Not sure what this is called, but there's a lot of them.

Just snapped this as he rode by.

Roadside stand.

Arrived in India

I've made it, after many hours and little sleep. I exchanged 50 dollars in the airport for 1850 rupees. It's about 2:30 AM, here, so I'm going to try to get some sleep before heading in to the office.

Our California Vacation

We went on a family vacation to California from February 29 to March 13. We stayed in Twentynine Palms with some friends for a couple nights, and went to Joshua Tree National Park with them. We then visited some other friends in the Indio/Palm Springs area. We went to Disneyland and LegoLand with them, and also made a trip to San Felipe, Mexico (in the Mexican state of Baja California) together. On our own, we visited Hollywood, San Diego, and drove up the coast back to Los Angeles where we departed from Burbank. (Three weeks and a couple days after returning, the airline we traveled on, SkyBus, went out of business.) Here's a few pictures from the trip.