The Great Ballon Toss Game of '09

Finding that perfect water balloon could be the difference between winning, and to put it bluntly, losing.

The referee lines everyone up.

Ready?
Set?
Go!

Skillful throwing...

... precise catching.

Nicolas looks like he knows what he's doing. Me? I think jury is still out on that one...

First the lines are close together, then they start to move further apart.

Further...

and further ...

And... maybe next time, Marissa.

Awards

It's time to hand out the awards for the shooting competition.

Good shooting, Andrew!

David - husband, father, programmer, friend, and of course, winner of the scoped rifle competition!

Water Cannon

OK, this is definitely the neatest thing I've seen in a while, Rick Rea's Water Cannon!

Powered by over 100 psi of air, this exciting development in water balloon technology hurls balloons high into the air, from which height they then fall back toward the ground at a tremendous speed, much to the delight of the crowd waiting for them below.

Pow!

The crowd of thrill seekers eagerly await their chance to catch a speeding water balloon.

Surprise!

Mayhem erupts as the speeding balloons slam into the crowd.

The End

After all that excitement, I think it appropriate to end this post with a nice, calm picture.

Thank you, Stoltzfus family, for hosting such an enjoyable event!

~~~

Take care and God bless,
Benjamin E.

Announcement: Somebody just got engaged!!

No, it isn't me... ;-)

My brother Jonathan and Monique Hoffman are engaged to be married!!

Reenacting for the camera:

"Will you marry me?"

Calling the family to share some really, really, exciting news.

Making plans.

Praise God for His goodness to us. We serve a truly awesome God!

Congratulations, Jonathan and Monique!

Hello World

No, this blog is not dead. Really.

I'm currently organizing my pictures and preparing for another post which hopefully will be up here within the next few days.

But if you really want to see some pictures, head over to my friend Carmen's blog and check out the pictures from a taffy pull our families did together. Since I didn't have time to post my pictures from that event, I gave them to Carmen and subcontracted out the blogging privileges to her. Click here to view the post.

God bless,
Ben

Trip to Texas

Hi everyone!
Welcome to my updated-every-once-in-a-while blog. Life has been quite busy and full since my last post. Right now, I'm at a camp in the beautiful countryside of Tennessee. I'm here for New Venture Lab's week long entrepreneur training academy.

If you think of it, I'd really appreciate your prayers this week. I'm sure it's going to be like drinking from a fire hydrant. I'm really excited about it though!

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Take care and God bless,
Ben

2009 Texas Trip

Early Friday morning, the Great Road Trip of 2009 started in grand style with much pushing, pulling, and huffing as we tried to fit our luggage into the my little Honda.

After a smooth day of travel, we stopped for the night at the Carpenter's home in Franklin, TN.

Happiness

Talking about life.

Any guesses which side of the Mason Dixon Line this family favors?

Shhhhhhh... Better not let anyone see that belt you have on. *

* DISCLAIMER: Shad's belt doesn't represent his political views. It's just a quality belt he got a good deal on.

After a very delicious breakfast Saturday morning, we said our goodbyes and hit the road again. Next stop: Kaufman, TX.

Ahhh......

Moore's House

We arrived at the Moore Family's home Saturday evening.

Pizza, antioxidant vitamin drinks, Christian fellowship, and intellectually stimulating conversation... what a great time we had that evening!

Man's best friend.

The cooling fans on Jon's extreme video editing computer.

Last minute changes.

Yes, he is actually working on the Blu-Ray copy of The Widow's Might that was showed at the festival.

Film Academy

We're finally here!

Getting acclimated to our name tags and notebooks.

Catching up with friends we haven't seen in a while.

Making some new friends.

Two of the talented and knowledgeable teachers at the academy.

Students

Advice

Cameras everywhere!

All cameras are not created equal.

Places to go and things to do.