We all traveled out to South Dakota where my grandfather lives for a mini reunion. Amy flew in from Texas for a short visit and Jon drove into town from his school out in Rapid City, SD. We had a wonderful time together. We even got to see my great uncle who is on dialysis since his kidneys stopped functioning. My grandfather had recently had some skin cancer removed so he is wearing some patches over his face. What a trooper at 92 years of age!

Mom and Uncle Lynn

The three kids: Aaron, Jon, and Amy

The family shot

Shortly before our arrival to MN there was a storm that dropped 12 inches of snow. What fun we would have. Timothy had a blast and wanted to go outside everyday and play in it.

Here is Timothy with his Aunt Amy getting ready to take a sledding trip. Love the smile!

Here I am taking Timothy down the hill. Nice picture Amy!

Here is another animated one of Timothy and I making a big run. Oooo…what fun!

One of our first nights back in MN. A picture of my parents and sister checking out my sister’s new mobile a Motorola RAZOR! Oooo..aaaahhhh!

We met my brother’s finance’ for the first time. She is shown second from the left in this photo. What a sweetheart and somebody to finally take care of my brother! :-)

Here fishy, fishy… It wasn’t quite the season, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Today we went to the Bonneville dam to watch the fish run (not that many running) and then over to the fish hatcheries. What a blast! Timothy really enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Tim at the dam where the fish were running.


Herman the Sturgeon: 11 feet long, 500 pounds, 70 years old


Rainbow Trout – what a colorful fish in comparison to the rest!

How sweet is a kiss? Extremely sweet when it is coming from a 1 year old. My daughter recently learned how to give a little peck on the cheek. The picture below is after such a peck. Ahhhhhh…isn’t that cute!

Some friends of ours took us out to the Seattle Center’s Science Museum. Wow! What a time we had there with the kids.

Outside the center we took some photo ops with some statues including this whale tail.

This is part of a butterfly exhibit which was at the science museum. A moth the size of Ramona’s hand! Amazing colors too.

Here is a butterfly taking a break. Lovely!

Our friends who took us out to the museum. Thank you guys!

Timothy during our lunchtime at the food court at the Seattle center.

It was a wonderful day of fellowship!!

Scripture encourages us not to give up the fellowship of the saints. There is something when we as believers come together and fellowship. Our time in Seattle was such a time. We had sweet fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Below is Timothy with a good friend Bryan. He is and his wife Brenda are so gracious and have always opened their home to us. We are so blessed! Thank you guys again for your hospitality.

We really miss Seattle as a city too. It is such a beautiful city. It has mountains, ocean, lakes, and lots of coffee shops!

Serving with YWAM from 1993-1996 in Krasnodar, Russia I had the opportunity to work with many wonderful people. One person I came in contact with was Tanya. She served faithfully for many years with YWAM in southern Russia. Eventually her family would immigrate to the US. Her family was from Grozny and had been persecuted for their faith.

I can still remember the day when talking to her about her upcoming move. She began to say that she was moving to a small town in the US and that I had probably never heard of it. She proceeded to say that she was moving to Vancouver, WA. I about flipped, since this was only a few miles from where my wife had grown up and where we would eventually be living after returning from the mission field.

These pictures are from a recent visit with Tanya and her husband Joe. They are a wonderful couple and we had such a great time at there place. Joe is quite the chef.