Trip to New England

Hi everyone!
Is everyone enjoying this wonderful Spring weather we've been experiencing? I know I am! Of course, along with the warmer weather comes a lot of outdoor work and projects, and those tend to cut into blogging time. But such is life. :-)

Last weekend Karen, Abigail, and I went on a brief trip to New England to visit some friends of ours. We left Friday morning and return Monday night. I hope you enjoy the pictures half as much as we enjoyed the trip!

Benjamin

Visit with the Harris Family

Karen adds New York Bronx driving to her list of experiences.

At around 3:30 p.m., we arrived at the Harris family's home in New Hampshire. Nice place, huh?

I slept all by myself in this beautiful room Friday night. And yes, it was hard to decide which bed to sleep in. My poor brain isn't used to making such decisions. :-)

Breakfast time!

Isn't it so much fun getting to know new families? We think so!

The Harris Family
(along with a few Pennsylvanians mixed in)

The man and his dog.

At my request, Joshua, a license airplane pilot, used his flight simulator to show me how pilots land a plane in low visibility conditions. In this picture, he has just completed an instrument landing at the Boston airport. Thanks Joshua, I really enjoyed the demonstration!

On Saturday, the Harrises took us to a local maple syrup farm. They warned us it was sort of a tourist trap and we tried to take their warning seriously, but then my sisters and I saw the souvenir magnet display...

... and it all went downhill from there.

I was feeling a little lost until I found this tree.

The ONE and ONLY Thomas Family

The next stop on our New England trip was the Thomas family's home.

Michael, a very kind hearted man, offers bread to the weary travelers.

After a long, boring supper with almost no conversation between all the socially awkward homeschoolers, we decided to play a game of Four on a Couch in hopes of breaking the ice. (You know I'm kidding, right?)

Matthew copes with having his name changed to Monica.
(BTW, nice hair.)

Agent Micaiah

The boys team scores a victory! Hooah!

The girls team scores a major victory! Way to go!

Melanie does the photographer's routine...

Snap the Picture

Review the Results


(BTW, don't you love how the first picture came out? I do.)

Yes Harrises, the Thomases loved the flowers you sent!

Sometimes when computer techs visit other people's homes, they have to fix computers to pay for their room and board. I think next time I'll stay in a hotel.

Ever wonder who visits this blog?

Ryan

Friend, filmmaker, Life Through a Viewfinder blog visitor, expert chair stacker, and many other skills I don't even know about yet. Check him out online at http://ry-animation.blogspot.com

Sharing the Joy

After the church service on Sunday, I managed to capture two pictures which illustrate well one of the reasons why digital cameras are so popular. :-)

Sunday Afternoon Walk

In which we set out on an invigorating walk in the New England countryside.

Conversation

Mr. Thomas looking epic.

Visit with the Flynn Family

I don't remember what we were talking about, but it could've easily been about the "fish that got away". :-)

A common Thomas family activity: One smiling sweetly for the camera while another snaps a picture. You just usually don't see it from this angle.

What are they looking at? Let's see...

How 'bout that? A picture from when my sisters first met the Thomases and Flynns all the way back in 2004.

Time for an updated picture.

Final Stop: Hammer family in NJ

Self Portrait
(L to R: Mark Hammer, yours truly, Matthew Hammer)

A fellow photographer.

New Jersey Art

Simple Beauty

Power

Springtime

Victory!

And now, a special message from the NJ DOT...

Yes, it's really that simple. :-)

~~~

Well, that concludes my coverage of our trip to New England. If you want even more New England trip coverage, you can visit my sister Abigail's blog or Michael Thomas's blog (scroll down).

Thank you Harrises, Thomases, and Flynns for your wonderful hospitality to my sisters and I during our recent trip to New England. It was time of great encouragement and blessing to us!

And thank you everyone for visiting the Life Through a Viewfinder blog. May you have a blessed and Christ honoring week!

Benjamin E.

The Week of serious catch-up

Hello All,

This is Josiah here, Ben deserted me and ran off to New England so I am left to take care of our blog all by myself.. We have a lot of interesting stuff for you this week, with Jon coming home from the hospital, me getting my learner's permit, and a long overdue update about my new job we have plenty to keep us busy.

Right now Ben and my two sisters are in New England visiting friends, I, unfortunately had to stay home because of work. :-( Oh well maybe next time!

Now to the pictures! Enjoy...

A Visit with Jon in the Hospital

While Jon was in the hospital our family visited him every day at least once and he got many other visits from church members, family, and friends. This is a series of pictures from just one visit.

The outside and inside view of his room.

"So are you feeling any better today, son?"

It is hard work but some people can find art anywhere.

(I decided to let Ben have the camera for most of this ;-)

Jon

Can you do this?

We sincerely hope that you can not! If you could that would probably mean you had Bell's Palsy which by all accounts isn't much fun.

Checking out the gifts.
"He doesn't really need all of these does he?"

"Well you know Jon, my wife had Bell's palsy three times in a row. One time is rare, two times they look at you strange, three times and they want to do a feature on you! She recovered every time so don't loose hope!"

So which is it, a hospital visit or a social gathering?

No we didn't forget about the reason for visit ;-)

Like I said some people can find art anywhere!

Telling jokes, sharing stories, and generally having a good time characterized all hospital visits.

Yes we did leave before they booted us out!
I mean really what is a few minutes after closing time anyways?

What more can be said?