Marriage Congratulations

Liana... congrats on your marriage to Clay yesterday! May God's blessings be upon you two all your days!

Graduation is Here

It's so hard to believe that this day has finally come... the completion of the degree... it's actually been 5 years of college work to achieve a Bachelors Degree in Business... and really... as hard as it is to believe that this day is here... all I'm really reminded of is all the prayers that so many people prayed and all the time that my family willingly scarified so I could work on homework to complete this project!! Thank you to everyone that prayed for God's wisdom to be upon me... because I know that without those prayers this day would not have come!! All Glory Is HIS alone!! Oh the ring? Well... Sandra felt that because this was such a major accomplishment in our lives that I should have a reminder of how much sacrifice was involved in this achievement she gave me this ring!

Art of Trading Pins

So... what else did we learn while in Florida (besides the weather is nice for this time of year) ? Oh yeah... the art of trading pins... oh boy... talk about something that can become quite addictive.... trading pins with cast members was indeed a lot of fun... and the girls became quite good at it...

Pluto Love's Ohio State

What was really cool was to learn the Pluto is a BIG Ohio State fan!! How do I know such a thing?? When Pluto saw my shirt... he made the "O" for Ohio... if Pluto had been a fan of any other school.... the "O" would not have come naturally... but as it is... "Go Bucks!!"

Who You See

Of course.. when you go to Disneyland or Disneyworld you are suppose to meet the two that are the official representatives of Disney... Mickey and Mini...

Time with Grandpa and MiMa

Although we spent plenty of our time at the "Mouses' House"... it was time made special because of who we were there with... and that was Grandpa and MiMa... all we can say is thank you for a great time at the parks... and for sure after seeing you guys in action together after all these years... you two were (are... whatever the right term is) really meant to be together ... and we're so glad you are :-)

Disney and Epcot

No trip to Florida would be complete without a trip to Disneyland... on the left is the beginning of the day and on the right... the end of the day :-) at Epcot we all seemed to thing that Soarin' just might have been the best ride in the park... but the whole day was great... and there were still 3 other parks to go to :-)

So This is Clearwater

Indeed it was... and welcome to the Gulf of Mexico... yes it was December... and the water felt a little chilly when you first got in but once your legs got use to it... it was ok. It was funny... seems there were a lot of people that were looking to go to the beach this day and enjoy the sunny Florida beach weather ... as you can see Mia is was willing to head into deeper water (she actually swam) while Angela was content with just getting her legs wet in the "liquid cold stuff".

I Hear it's Warmer Down South...

... And so it was... we headed down to Florida to visit Dad and Mom over New Years for the first time in... well... more years than I'd like to admit (about 12...) and they were so glad we had made the trip... and we were too. Although the warmer weather was more akin to what we're accustom to here in Egypt... the warmth in their home was what really made the trip special.

Stingy on the Snow

Although we didn't have a White Christmas where we were in Ohio... when we drove up to Michigan to see Josh and Liana just before Christmas... we found the snow that was used for a White Christmas... and it was all up there in Michigan... here we were at a rest stop on our way up... as you can see... snow and all this "lovely" cold air is quite a novelty to us... by the way... we were toying with the idea of spending the night in Michigan and driving back the next day... but it was suppose to snow the same night we drove up... 8 to 10 inches ... so instead of staying we decided to drive as far south as we could to "out run" the impending snowstorm. After we were on the road for 30 minutes it started... and within 15 minutes the roads were had a nice coating on them... the good thing is it was so cold the snow was frozen powered instead of slushy mush... so once we were on the interstate... there were lanes where the snow had been "whisked" off the road by the speed of the cars... and again by God's grace we drove far enough south to outrun the snowstorm before taking a real rest and heading the rest of the way home in Ohio... oh yeah, it actually snowed 10 to 12 inches in the storm so... it was the right decision to try to outrun the storm.

Vacations are also for Togetherness too

It was great to see Josh and Liana together.... funny thing about brothers and sisters and how they get along (or don't) when they grow up...

Vacations are Also for Meeting New Relatives

In this case... it was the first meeting of baby Hayden with Liana... yep... this makes me a Grand-Daddy now... hard to believe how kids have a way of "aging" a parent...

New Glasses after Eye Test

How about these glasses? One of the things we attempted to do on this trip was to eat at places we don't have back home in Cairo... and these were given to Mia by a waitress at a Waffle House (yes we at at W.H. twice, Taco Bell 2x's, Wendy's... and BK onion rings just to name a few)... with these glasses though went you look at lights everything looks like snowflakes ... all together now... aaahhhhh....

Visit to Ohio

Although there was no snow in Ohio for Christmas... it was still plenty cold enough for the white stuff... more importantly though it was great to see Mom doing so well after the last year of fighting cancer... her ability to get around was great considering how she was fighting for her life last Christmas.

Vacations are for Visiting Friends

Our vacation to the states was pretty busy considering everywhere we went... but what else are vacations back home for but to see as many of the people that are important to you as possible... Bentley... you're hat is in the mail...

Seventh Grade Art

Our kids seem to be fairly artistic... these are genes that go further back than "mom and pops" because neither of us are very artistic ... here's a few pieces of Angela's art work... the guy in the center was a art project that went bad... and now has a sort of "disturbing" look to it...

Good Bye Adrian

One of those things that happens when you move around the world... either you move yourself or people that become close to you move before you do... in this case it is Adrian that is moving on and a few of Adrian's friends gathered to wish him God's blessings on the next journey God is leading him on. It's funny... for a lot of the time while Adrian was here in Egypt a prayer for him was for God to provide him with employment... and God did provide enough employment for Adrian to subsist here in Egypt... but when God provided a full time job, who would have known that it would have been in another country... still... we were very glad to have a man of God like Adrian around and look forward to being reunited again.

Hard Time Just Getting in to Blog

Yeah... that's what happens when it's been ages since posting anything on the site... the entry to the site is changed around now and I had a hard time just finding my way back to blog here... but why no postings for so long... well... the excuse I'm sticking to is all the work that was needed on the last two courses (with a 16 week semester) that are now complete with passing grades... all by the grace of God... and now... not just are these two courses done but the entire degree is now complete... Thank you to everyone that prayed for God's wisdom to be upon me during this time (yeah... I still need wisdom... but now for practical purposes...). If anyone wonders what I've been reading for the last 2 1/2 years... here's a pic of the last 15 or 16 courses.